The Narrative Gundam, equipped with the A-Packs, wove through the battlefield like a "meteor" dragging a brilliant wake behind it.
Propelled by its four auxiliary boosters, pilots from both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT felt, in a daze, as if the Narrative was generating flame-like light effects due to the friction of its high-speed movement.
In reality, those were the streamers of light dragged along by the Psycho-Frame, which emitted a faint red glow during high-speed maneuvers.
"Such powerful thrust... is this why Big Brother Roz marked on the blueprints that it was enough to chase down a nimble bird?"
With his mind racing, Marvin continuously received and processed unit data from the connection cables. His hands did not stop, expertly maneuvering the Narrative Gundam.
"Just what kind of bird could possibly be faster than this A-Packs equipment!"
As he spoke, Marvin pulled the trigger on the control stick. The two micro-missile pods located at the rear of the A-Packs began to incessantly spray missiles. The missiles quickly overtook the Narrative Gundam, flying into the Earth Alliance forces that had just formed a defensive line in front of him, triggering significant chaos.
"Don't stand in my way!!"
Watching the Earth Alliance MS units attempting to regroup their defensive line, Marvin subconsciously grit his teeth.
The muzzles of the particle cannons mounted on the Narrative Gundam's skirt armor lit up with a dazzling radiance, bursting forth with a thick beam of white light.
The beam pierced through the Earth Alliance defense line, tearing open a gap.
For Marvin, that was enough.
The Narrative Gundam passed through the line at extreme speed, bringing the Earth Alliance fleet into view.
And behind those fleets lay his objective—that flashlight-like superweapon, Gryps.
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At this moment, inside the command center of Gryps.
In addition to the Blue Cosmos faction officers of the Atlantic Federation, Lord Djibril—the leader of "Logos" who had provided immense assistance during the construction of Gryps—was also present alongside several Logos members, watching the unfolding war.
Lord leisurely swirled the red wine glass in his hand as he looked at the battlefield, a satisfied smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Although the original plan was to invest in Blue Cosmos to have them provoke localized conflicts, he hadn't expected it to escalate into a full-scale war. However, according to analysis, this war would not end here; it would have to continue for several more years.
The war had only just begun, yet Logos's arms sales had already doubled. If it continued for a few more years? The potential profits were simply unimaginable.
Thinking of this, even he couldn't help but want to hum a light tune.
All the Logos members gathered at Gryps—which was now officially the Earth Alliance's "frontline base"—were observing the battle with the mindset of people watching a show.
But soon, a soldier's words interrupted everyone's good mood.
"Report! Radar shows a high-speed object advancing toward Gryps... It has already made contact with Representative Muruta's fleet!"
The soldier responsible for radar observation stared at the light dot on the screen that was approaching Muruta's fleet at extreme speed, his eyes widening subconsciously.
Hearing the soldier's report, Lord frowned.
"Lock the cameras on that target and put it on the main screen!"
Following the soldiers' operations, one section of the large screen switched to the camera view.
Fortunately, the Earth Alliance had spent a fortune when building Gryps; the external cameras were able to clearly capture the Narrative Gundam A-Packs as it continued its assault.
However, the scenery beside it was a blur, stretched almost into a single line. Even the Daggers intercepting in front of it appeared for only a split second as it bypassed them before being left behind, disappearing from the camera's field of vision.
"Can a normal MS pilot... actually do something like this?"
Seeing the speed of the Narrative Gundam A-Packs, everyone subconsciously gulped.
"And... it seems to be heading straight for us!"
Listening to the chaotic voices around him, Lord felt a surge of irritation; the red wine in his hand no longer tasted sweet.
Glancing at the screen, which showed the "Cooling Complete" icon, Lord made a decision.
"Lock Gryps onto the PLANT colony clusters. Fire!"
After speaking, he glanced back at the Logos members following him. "Prepare a transport plane."
Faced with a raid by an unknown MA, this place was no longer safe, and he had no intention of dying here.
After all, as long as Gryps fired successfully, a more violent war would follow, and Logos's arms sales would continue to rise.
With that thought, he nodded to a nearby officer and quickly left the command center.
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"Enemy MA is approaching Gryps..."
On the bridge of an Archangel-class battleship, Muruta listened to the soldier's report and slammed his fist hard against the armrest, venting his inner frustration.
The battle had dragged on for so long; the meat-grinder in the center had left the follow-up forces feeling exhausted, as if this fight would never end.
"Fleet, aim at the target MA! Activate anti-air fire!"
After a moment's thought, Muruta could only make this decision.
But the more he thought about it, the less secure he felt. He immediately asked: "Where is Chaos? Where are our Destroys?"
"The Destroy units have all crashed. Follow-up units are still en route. Chaos has been intercepted by ZAFT MS... it's the Buster, Blitz, and Duel?"
Looking at the identifiers on the radar, the guard paused for a moment.
ZAFT's new-model units were being held up by three of the Earth Alliance's old models? You've got to be kidding!
"Tsk... fire missiles, charge the Lohengrin! Shoot down that thing flying all over the place!"
Following Muruta's command, this Archangel-class ship deployed the positron cannons on its two protruding ejection tracks and began to turn, aiming at the steadily approaching Narrative Gundam.
"Hm? Using a positron cannon in the middle of a fleet?"
Seeing the maneuver of this Archangel-class ship, Marvin was taken aback for a second.
But quickly, he operated the Narrative Gundam to extend the two slender, triangular gun barrels of the A-Packs.
Beams with a faint pink tint manifested from the barrels and erupted, striking the Archangel-class ship Muruta was on.
"Armor breached! Internal structures of the battleship damaged!"
Accompanied by a violent impact, everyone aboard this Archangel-class ship watched in despair as the laminated armor was pierced by these two beams, leaving a gaping hole while the internal structures melted under the beam attack.
Subsequently, Marvin did not stop the beam output. The still-flying A-Packs carried these two beams along like beam sabers, continuously slicing through the Archangel-class ship.
Under the terrified gazes of Muruta and the others, these two beams sliced through the Archangel-class ship's reactor and ammunition depot with unerring precision.
Marvin steered the Narrative Gundam without a moment's pause, continuing his advance toward Gryps.
Behind the Narrative Gundam, the Archangel-class ship carrying Muruta exploded into a sky full of fireworks.
As the man who incited this war and held prominent fame within the Earth Alliance, Muruta died in space just like that—no dramatic plot twist, simply dying on the Narrative Gundam's flight path toward Gryps.
The "wetware" that Blue Cosmos had tortured countless people to create had ultimately become the entity that killed their leader.
Evidently, the Narrative Gundam's performance in slicing the Archangel-class ship was too ferocious. Although many Earth Alliance battleships continued to fire, they subconsciously cleared the Narrative Gundam's path of advancement.
This allowed Marvin to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
But in the next second, a high-energy reaction appeared on the Narrative Gundam's radar.
A massive beam appeared not far to the upper left of the Narrative Gundam; it erupted from the muzzle of Gryps, flying toward the PLANT colony clusters.
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At this moment, inside the command center of GENESIS.
Durandal had naturally spotted that "meteor" which seemed so out of place on the battlefield, and he had a rough idea of Marvin's objective.
"If that is the case..."
As he spoke, Durandal turned his gaze toward those two METEOR units.
"As I thought. Is the goal all of the superweapons?"
Watching the Infinite Justice as it closed in on GENESIS, Durandal shook his head with a smile.
"Well then, your companions have made their move... What do you intend to do, Amuro?"
If anyone had been keeping a close watch on GENESIS, they would have noticed that this superweapon—constructed by utilizing an asteroid—seemed to be steadily moving toward the center of the battlefield.
Clearly, Durandal did not intend to fight according to Chairman Patrick Zala's original operational plan of using GENESIS as a static fire support pivot.
"GENESIS charging complete! Reflector mirror replacement finished!"
"The Minerva is heavily damaged and has returned to GENESIS."
Hearing the soldiers' reports, Durandal raised an eyebrow slightly.
The Minerva returning to GENESIS was something he hadn't expected... but it didn't matter now. Durandal could feel the atmosphere of the battlefield shifting.
"High-energy reaction detected from the enemy satellite, Gryps!"
It was time for the endgame. Who the victor would be depended entirely on this next wave of attacks.
"Target Gryps and Earth. Fire at maximum power!"
Durandal issued the command without a moment's hesitation.
Beams of light quietly emerged from within GENESIS, striking the reflector mirrors and reflecting off the main body once more.
Under Athrun's stunned gaze, the familiar beam appeared again. This time, the target was not the lunar base, but Gryps—and that blue planet.
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On the Moon, inside Requiem.
As the communication from the Foundation fleet cut off into white noise following a burst of explosions, this last remaining unit of the Kingdom of Foundation fell into silence.
"...It's over. Foundation is finished, and so are we."
Someone uttered these words, and the atmosphere in the room fell into a heavy state of depression.
"But there is no turning back for us either; the Earth Alliance has us surrounded outside."
Sighing, the commander of this unit shook his head.
"We are certain to die."
"Come then, everyone. Let us fire one last shot before we die. Let's do something mad."
After a period of preparation.
"Reflector satellite positioning adjusted!"
"Requiem energy accumulation complete!"
"Muzzle protective armor gates opening!"
As the voices rang out one after another, the commander of this remaining Kingdom of Foundation force pressed the button in front of him.
"Fire!"
With Requiem in operation, a thick beam of light erupted from Requiem's muzzle, striking the reflector satellite above. It banked at an angle and flew toward the direction of Orb.
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Three beams of light, differing in color but all manifested for the purpose of mutual destruction, flew toward their respective targets. Battleships and MS in their paths vanished one after another within these beams.
Seeing the three thick beams of light appear on the battlefield, almost everyone engaged in combat instinctively stopped their fighting maneuvers, staring blankly at everything before them.
Subconsciously, a chill welled up in their hearts.
They couldn't help but begin to question themselves: what on earth were they doing?
It was as if they had glimpsed a visible, dim future where everything they fought for and protected was turned into scorched earth, yet they lacked the power to stop it. Everyone could only watch powerlessly as these attacks flew toward the precious homes they cherished.
To stop all of this, perhaps only a miracle that could be called a "Deus Ex Machina" would suffice.
Amidst the despair, many people thought this to themselves in self-abandonment.
But at that moment, like a current hitting a stone, something blocked them at the intersection point of the three beams, halting their forward progress.
A green aurora quietly appeared in this sector of space, blooming wantonly.
.....................