"Pant... pant..." Kira gasped heavily, struggling to catch his breath.
Following Wang Hu's instructions, after the Archangel returned to the ruins of Heliopolis, Kira piloted the Strike Gundam, drifting silently via inertia to a concealed location. Using debris from the Collapsed Satellite as cover, he hid the Gundam's form along the enemy battleship's inevitable path.
Yet what surprised him was—
"This is unbearable."
Having waited here for some time, Kira now deeply understood just how torturous the loneliness of isolation could be.
Silence.
With the Gundam's active power and communication systems shut down, inside the cramped cockpit, even the sound of his own heartbeat seemed deafening. The helplessness of being utterly alone in the vast emptiness of space was enough to drive anyone mad.
"Is this the fear Brother Wang Hu mentioned?"
Kira picked up a photo Wang Hu had specifically printed for him before departure—an image of countless soldiers frozen solid into ice sculptures.
Compared to those in the photo, whenever Kira felt he couldn't hold on any longer, he couldn't help but wonder:
How did they endure it back then?
He was merely suffering the torment of solitude, yet it already felt impossible to bear. Though the soldiers in the photo had companions nearby, each warrior, for the sake of concealment, remained isolated like solitary islands, cut off from one another.
"Hah..." He inhaled deeply, drawing in the warm air left over from the Gundam's earlier engine activation—the comfortable temperature maintained by the cockpit's climate control.
Closing the photo, Kira glanced through the only illuminated external display in the cockpit at the ruins of Heliopolis—his former home.
"Maybe... I just don't want to see this sight again?"
Muttering to himself, Kira slowly seemed to transcend time, engaging in a silent dialogue with the soldiers from another era captured in that photo. Gradually, his breathing steadied. For peace, and to ensure the tragedy of Heliopolis would never repeat—
"I have to win!"
Eyes wide open, Kira waited for the signal—the flash of light that would mark the moment to strike!
"Damn Wang Hu! That bastard Wang Hu! Does he look down on me or something?" Mu, piloting the Qilin, was also lying in ambush among the ruins.
Wait—the Qilin?
Wasn't that Wang Hu's mobile suit? Why was Mu piloting it now?
This brings us to an incident—the very reason why Mu, a self-proclaimed playboy, was cursing Wang Hu so vehemently.
Just before the operation, Wang Hu had approached Mu, informing him that the Qilin would be entrusted to him for this mission. Meanwhile, Wang Hu himself would be piloting Mu's Moebius Zero.
"You? Piloting the Zero?" Mu had exclaimed in disbelief upon hearing the arrangement.
"Correct." Wang Hu nodded calmly in response to Mu's shock.
"Call it... telepathy, for lack of a better term." Wang Hu pointed first to his own head, then to Mu's.
"I've noticed something peculiar—whenever Creuset appears, I get this... strange sensation."
"It's like there's a voice in my head telling me they're coming. I originally thought only Creuset could give me this feeling."
"But after meeting you, I've sensed the same thing from you too. I believe you feel it as well, don't you?"
After listening to Wang Hu's explanation, Mu's expression turned complicated. In truth, he had noticed this too.
At first, Mu simply thought it was some twisted fate between him and Creuset that caused these inexplicable occurrences.
But just as Wang Hu said, Mu had also realized this connection existed between him and Wang Hu.
Both of them shared this phenomenon that could tentatively be called telepathy.
Could this be some common trait among elite ace pilots?
There was a time when Mu had smugly congratulated himself about this during solitary moments.
"So what?"
Mu stared at Wang Hu. "What does this have to do with me piloting the Qilin?"
"There's something I must say. Even if you're Wang Hu, taking on four Gundams in a Moebius Zero would be impossible."
"You know this - the PS Armor on Gundams renders physical ammunition useless. That means a Moebius Zero using conventional weapons would just become target practice against Gundams."
"I am Wang Hu. That's all you need to know."
Wang Hu smiled, accepting Mu's well-intentioned advice. Then his tone shifted, delivering words that would make Mu curse him.
"Compared to you, I'm the opponent Creuset values most. I mentioned earlier about ambushing them."
"But there's a prerequisite - you must reliably capture Creuset's full attention."
"Without me around, Creuset would consider you in a Moebius Zero worthy of his attention. But now that I'm here, that's unlikely."
"Through our telepathic connection, Creuset might mistake you for me initially. But the moment he sees the Moebius Zero, he'll immediately turn to hunt the Qilin instead."
"You—!"
A vein throbbed at Mu's temple as Wang Hu delivered this convoluted speech. Wasn't the core message simply that in Creuset's eyes, Mu - the famous Allied Forces ace - no longer qualified as his rival?
"Damn you, Wang Hu!"
Inside the Qilin's cockpit, Mu once again sent a "friendly greeting" to Wang Hu, wherever he might be.
Through the cockpit display, after lying in wait for so long, he could now see his target in the distance - the moving silhouette of the enemy ZAFT Forces' Nazca-class Battleship.
"I'll show you! I'll definitely show you!"
Mu had his own pride too. Behind his carefree playboy exterior lay a fiercely competitive spirit that refused to lose to Wang Hu.
"Just you wait!"
Pushing the control stick forward, Mu swore to himself - what was Creuset anyway?
Watch me pin him down!
Meanwhile, as Mu prepared to prove himself while nursing his grievances...
Aboard the returning Nazca-class Battleship from the Eurasian Federation's space fortress Artemis...
Behind his mask, Creuset's brow remained furrowed, even though all intelligence indicated...
The Allied Forces' new battleship Archangel was heading toward the enemy lunar base.
But Creuset couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Putting himself in Wang Hu's shoes, he didn't believe the man would resort to such simple tricks.
"Where exactly did we go wrong?" Unconsciously standing before the tactical platform, he voiced his doubts in a low murmur.
"Captain?" His adjutant noticed Creuset's unusual behavior and approached to check on him.
"Report!" Before the adjutant could speak with Creuset, the radar operator on the bridge stood up abruptly.
"Enemy heat signatures detected on thermal imaging radar! Analysis confirms it's the enemy Qilin!"
"What?" The adjutant, who had just reached Creuset's side, was stunned by this news.
Which Wang Hu was coming?
Weren't they supposed to be fleeing toward the United Forces Lunar Base?
Did they actually have the audacity to ambush us here?
Creuset smiled. Through some inexplicable psychic connection, he confirmed the approaching presence - this felt right. This was exactly the kind of move Wang Hu would make.
Cross-referencing with previous intelligence reports, this matched how Wang Hu had sunk four allied battleships before.
"Now this makes sense. This is exactly what that Wang Hu would do. Heh heh heh..."
All his doubts and strange premonitions vanished instantly. The previously gloomy Creuset became electrified with energy.
"Send Athrun and his team out immediately. The enemy definitely didn't come alone," Creuset commanded loudly.
"Captain Creuset?"
The adjutant stared in astonishment at his commander's battle-hungry expression - this was the first time he'd ever seen the captain like this since serving under him!
Wait, how many times had he thought that already?
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