Fifteen minutes earlier, in the ejection corridor of the Saphirus, a gray, sharply angular mobile suit floated silently.
Athrun, clad in his red pilot suit, replayed the events in his mind over and over.
"Why did you destroy Heliopolis?!!"
That was Kira's shout when confronting him at Heliopolis.
"Your childhood friend is now standing beside our enemy. He is now our enemy."
That was Captain Rau Le Creuset speaking to him in his office.
"No matter what, Junius 7 hasn't been located. So the Long Legs that resupplied there is the prime suspect."
That was what Creuset had just told Athrun in the lounge.
And…
"Athrun…"
In Heliopolis, the Migru swallowed by explosions, and that "Cub."
His hands instinctively gripped the controls.
"Athrun, it's time to sortie. Go bring Miss Lacus back," Creuset's voice came through the comms, calm but tinged with a slight smile.
"Understood… Athrun Zala, Aegis Gundam, sortie!"
With the Aegis Gundam's thrusters activating, the electromagnetic ejection track pushed the suit off the launch deck.
"…I have a lot to ask you, Kira."
"Just like you questioned me before."
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"Zzzz… Roz, now… zzz… how is it? Kira and Mu… almost there."
As the Jegan drew closer to the combat zone, the battlefield ahead became clearer.
Meanwhile, the communication interference grew stronger.
"I'll buy you some time; just speed up your actions," Roz thought, pressing the pedal as the Jegan angled sharply into the chaotic battlefield.
"Have you contacted the Montgomery?" On the Archangel, Murrue was anxious because Roz's mobile suit wasn't in the Eighth Fleet's identification sequence.
"Not yet. The interference is too strong; we need to get closer!" the Archangel's communicator shook their head.
"Estimated arrival at the combat zone: three minutes." The helmsman, though anxious, acknowledged the speed limitations.
"The Strike Gundam has already sortieed," Miriallia at the CIC reported, watching the data. "Moebius Zero has reached the launch deck!"
"Fast…" Murrue gripped the controls instinctively.
Meanwhile, aboard the Montgomery of the vanguard fleet:
Though the situation was grim, the crew were highly professional, handling the urgency with order.
"Bow down 30, turn port 20, delay ZAFT forces here at all costs!" The captain of the Montgomery gritted his teeth. "Cancel rendezvous with the Archangel; find the Eighth Fleet main force!"
"But… then what about our mission here?!"
Hearing this, Flay's father, George, looked surprised.
"The ZAFT units we're facing aren't ordinary. Didn't you see our MA pilots giving everything, yet failing to shoot down even one GINN?" The Montgomery's captain admitted that the enemy was stronger.
"Moreover, the Aegis Gundam has already joined the fight."
"Damn… being shot down by a suit that was supposed to be ours… it's soul-crushing."
George, realizing the facts, had to accept that he couldn't see his daughter right now, pounding the armrest in frustration.
"Unknown MS detected! Bearing… below us?!" The radar observer shouted, raising everyone's alert.
At that moment, a GINN broke through the fireline and appeared before the Montgomery's bridge.
Seeing it raise its anti-ship rocket launcher aimed at the bridge, many instinctively closed their eyes.
"Close-defense guns…" The Montgomery's captain started to react.
A deep blue unknown MS suddenly appeared from the other side of the bridge, kicking the GINN away at extreme speed.
The deep blue MS then raised its beam rifle, firing precisely at the GINN's cockpit.
The GINN exploded, debris scattering in all directions — after so long, one was finally destroyed.
The next second, the vanguard fleet ship Law was obliterated by the Aegis Gundam using a sea monster energy cannon.
"What is that?!" George was stunned at the sight of a mobile suit whose design language was unlike anything from Earth Forces or ZAFT.
"Friendly? From where?!" The Montgomery's captain quickly recovered, watching as the suit dodged incoming fire and flew toward the Aegis Gundam that had just destroyed a battleship.
"Cub? Perfect timing!" Athrun, having casually destroyed an MA, saw the familiar Jegan.
"Aegis… we meet again." Though the vanguard fleet hadn't classified the Jegan as friendly, and many weapons were targeting it, Roz's head had been hurting from the moment he entered the battlefield.
Yet Roz's consciousness only sharpened amid the pain.
The Jegan raised its beam rifle, firing at the Aegis Gundam while using the debris from destroyed ships as cover, advancing rapidly.
Though the Aegis was held back, reducing pressure on the vanguard fleet, the situation remained critical.
"Zzzz… this is Archangel, Montgomery, do you copy?" The message came through, prompting a fist strike on the armrest.
"Fools! Archangel, withdraw immediately!"
"Zzzz… we've deployed MS. The deep blue MS is a mercenary hired by Archangel. Watch your fire!"
"…Mark that deep blue unknown MS as friendly. Continue the fight!" After the confirmation from Archangel, the Montgomery's captain relaxed slightly and returned to analyzing the battle.
"That MS… who manufactured it? Its design and armament are completely unfamiliar." George stared at the Jegan dueling with Aegis, dumbfounded.
"Doesn't matter. Probably a mercenary modified it from GINN wreckage," the Montgomery's captain ordered. "The important thing: it's friendly. The battle isn't over. Beam volleys 16, 20, 21, fire at Sector 3!"
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Roz continued maneuvering the Jegan, keeping the Aegis Gundam occupied among the debris.
The Jegan fired twice, swapped out the depleted energy magazine, and nimbly circled around a piece of wreckage.
A flash of a blade followed, and the debris was split apart by the Aegis Gundam as if a hot knife sliced through butter.
"Has he been enraged?"
At such a short distance, Roz's controls were precise. He pressed and released the pedals repeatedly, bringing the Jegan to a sudden stop, then lifted it upward, causing the charging Aegis Gundam to swing its beam saber through empty space.
Just as the Jegan reloaded its beam rifle to continue firing, the Aegis Gundam, following the swing, turned around with its back to the debris and activated its thrusters.
At such close range, cutting with the beam saber was clearly too late. Luckily, the tip of the Aegis Gundam's shield was a sharp ram.
As the Aegis raised its left arm to thrust, Roz knew it was time to move into close combat.
Keeping his feet on the pedals, constantly adjusting the suit's posture, Roz retracted the beam rifle with his right hand. The Jegan extended its left arm, equipped with a shield, and grabbed the ramming tip of the Aegis Gundam's shield.
After retreating slightly, the Jegan held onto the Aegis Gundam's shield, moving backward along the direction of its attack.
In the next moment, the Jegan's rear thrusters activated, slowing the backward push.
Seeing this, Athrun controlled the Aegis Gundam to retract its shield, pulling the Jegan toward him, and swung his beam saber with his right arm.
Roz pressed the controls a few times, and the Jegan's left-hand shield quickly adjusted its angle. A forged rocket was launched from the shield, hitting the Aegis at close range.
"Bang…"
Another familiar explosion rang out. The Aegis Gundam's right-arm beam saber mechanism was destroyed, and its power supply dropped significantly from the strike.
Athrun didn't panic; gritting his teeth, he extended his right leg and drew another beam saber.
"Give Lacus… back!"
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