Black smoke billowed high from the charred wreckage of the recently destroyed units. In the blink of an eye, a quarter of the combined Kimeza Alliance and Dark Resistance forces had been wiped out, leaving behind nothing but molten metal and lost lives. In the center of the devastation, the Titan stood like a god of death. A powerful tremor shook the earth once more, but this time it wasn't from the Mobile Armor's footsteps—it was the thunderous roar of the massive engines behind it. Slowly but surely, the Garuda Base flagship rose from its underground hangar. Its massive shadow loomed over the battlefield, casting a grim realization that victory for the attackers was now a hollow dream.
Ans Silvet froze inside the cockpit of the Grai Gundam. His breathing was heavy, his eyes fixed on the Titan and the Garuda Base now standing side by side. He had never expected that the Neptune Colony, known for being calmer than Mars, would hide such a horrific weapon of mass destruction on Earth's surface.
Suddenly, the public communication frequency was forcibly opened. A deep, arrogant voice echoed in every cockpit. The King of the Neptune Colony, Sergeth Colombus, appeared on the main monitors.
"Welcome to your death banquet, you Earth rats and Dark Resistance traitors," Sergeth said with a sneering smile. His gaze locked onto the Grai Gundam. "Especially you, Klaus Kimeza. It has been a long time since I've seen those genius hands of yours create something, even if it is only to be used against us."
Zaki and Maki's hearts felt as though they had stopped beating. That name. Klaus Kimeza. Their father.
Inside the White Gundam, a heavy silence took hold. Zaki stared at the screen with wide eyes, while Maki covered her mouth with her hand, her body trembling violently. The identity of Ans Silvet, which had been a mystery for so long, was now thrown in their faces by their very enemy.
Ans Silvet remained silent for a moment before finally replying in a deep, cold tone, as if he were strangling his own past. "I cast the name Klaus Kimeza into the depths of hell long ago, Sergeth," he hissed. "I do not wish to repeat the same mistakes. I have paid for my sins with every drop of sweat spent creating these engines of destruction you call Mobile Suits. Now, my name is Ans Silvet, and I stand here with the Grai Gundam to end the greed of Colonial Kings like you."
Sergeth laughed—a dry, merciless sound. "Sins? You speak of sins in the middle of a battlefield? How pathetic." He turned to his pilot. "Starsha, my daughter. Destroy them all. Do not let a single one of these insects escape."
Inside the Titan, Starsha Colombus did not answer. She simply moved her fingers, which were connected to neural sensors. The five fingertips of the Titan glowed with highly concentrated energy. However, before Starsha could release her lethal shot, a white blur streaked across the sky with insane speed.
"Maki! Hold your breath!" Zaki screamed. He floored the White Gundam's thrusters to the absolute limit. The White Gundam soared high, dodging the Titan's firing trajectory. Zaki released the latch of the Hyper Bazooka on his back and aimed it straight at the giant's head.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted. Zaki reasoned that if energy-based weapons were ineffective due to the generator field, then solid physical projectiles had to be able to penetrate the defense. However, as the smoke cleared, Starsha merely snorted. The Titan's head was only slightly scorched; its armor plating was far too thick to be destroyed by a single bazooka shot.
The Titan raised its hand again, but Zaki gave it no opening. "Not finished yet!" Zaki roared. He fired the bazooka once more at point-blank range toward the Titan's eye sensors, then without hesitation, he accelerated the White Gundam to ram the giant Mobile Armor's chest. With full thruster power, the White Gundam pushed the Titan with all its might, forcing the finger-cannons to point toward the sky just as they fired. The massive beam streams spiraled into the atmosphere, missing the remaining alliance forces by a wide margin.
"Everyone, retreat now!" Ans Silvet commanded over the emergency channel. "This is no longer an attack mission! This is an escape mission! Fall back to the evacuation point!"
"We can't!" Augustina argued from the Sunflower Gundam. "If we let this thing and the Garuda Base take off, they will immediately attack the nearest cities! We have to destroy it here!"
"Augustina, listen to me!" Tasya cut in with an urgent voice, her Lavender Gundam now flying alongside the Sunflower to physically hold her comrade back. "We aren't ready. Our weapons aren't working, and we've already lost too many people. If you die here, who will protect the cities later? We must survive so we can strike back!"
Augustina gnashed her teeth, rage and frustration boiling in her chest, but she realized Tasya was right. With a heavy heart, she turned the Sunflower Gundam around. "Damn it! Everyone, retreat! Follow the instructions!"
The Alliance and Dark Resistance forces began to scatter, fleeing into the darkness of the jungle and the clouds. Meanwhile, the White Gundam was still struggling in the air, continuously pushing the Titan so it couldn't aim at the escaping allies.
"Zaki, they're far enough!" Maki shouted.
Zaki checked the radar indicators. "Now, Maki!"
Maki skillfully aimed the Hyper Bazooka one last time, firing directly in front of the Titan's face to create a burst of light and dust, momentarily blinding Starsha's sensors. Taking advantage of the momentum, the White Gundam flipped back and flew at full speed to catch up with the retreating armada.
Starsha attempted to pursue, her hand ready to lock onto a target, but her father's voice spoke again. "Let them go, Starsha. Let them run with the fear that haunts them. We already have the Garuda Base. Let them watch from a distance as their world burns."
Hours later, inside the silent Dark Resistance flagship, the atmosphere was haunting. Soldiers sat leaning against the corridor walls with hollow stares. Their physical wounds were nothing compared to the scars on their hearts after seeing their comrades obliterated in seconds. Despair began to crawl in like poison.
Ans Silvet stepped into the center of the main assembly room, still wearing his pilot suit. He stood before them all, not as the fragile Klaus, but as the iron-willed Ans Silvet.
"Do not hang your heads!" his voice echoed, breaking the silence. "Never think that the sacrifice of our comrades today was in vain. It is because of their courage that we managed to uncover the Colonials' most dangerous secret weapon. Today we lost a battle, but we gained the information that will win this war. We now know what we are up against. Prepare yourselves, because our counterattack will not give them a second chance!"
The short speech slowly reignited the remaining embers of spirit in the soldiers' eyes. They began to move, helping one another and preparing themselves once more.
However, in the dark hangar, inside the still-warm cockpit of the White Gundam, Zaki and Maki sat in silence. They did not exit the unit.
"Father... he's alive," Maki whispered, her voice breaking. The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over. "He's right there, Zaki. He's leading them. Why didn't he tell us? Why did he let Mom suffer all alone?"
Maki reached for the communication panel, wanting to contact the Grai Gundam privately, but Zaki's hand stopped her firmly.
"Don't, Maki," Zaki said in a voice that was incredibly calm, yet filled with deep sorrow. "Did you hear what he said? He has thrown away the name Klaus Kimeza. He feels he owes a debt of sin for creating these war machines. He is fighting in his own way, erasing his old identity to become a symbol of resistance. If we force him to be our father again now, we will only destroy his resolve."
Maki looked at her brother through tear-filled eyes. "But Zaki..."
"We must respect his choice, Maki. At least for now," Zaki continued. "We fight by his side as comrades, not as children. That is the best way to help him now. And I'm certain... Mom must have known from the very beginning. That's why she always looked so sad, yet strong at the same time."
Maki finally relented, leaning her head on Zaki's shoulder, sobbing quietly in the silence of the cockpit. Outside, the stars in Earth's sky seemed so far away, silent witnesses to the fate of a family torn apart by war and iron, yet still bound by the same blood.
The fight against the Titan and the Garuda Base had only just begun, and this time, the stakes were everything.
To be continued…