In a daze, Roz felt his consciousness drifting through a kaleidoscope of space, sinking deeper and deeper.
Voices of all kinds of people reached his ears; he could vaguely hear intermittent sentences, only for them to vanish again.
Regret, relief, longing... Roz could feel a vast surge of emotions wandering through this space, sweeping over him wave after wave like the tide.
Behind him, he felt a warm and soft touch as a pair of hands reached out from behind his back and embraced him.
His helmet fell off during the continuous descent, floating upward in Roz's line of sight until it finally disappeared.
"Is this the end?"
Roz spoke, questioning the presence embracing him from behind.
Roz's voice sounded as if it were in a vast, empty room, the echo reverberating in his ears.
"If you give up now, then this is the end."
The Machine Soul's gentle yet clear voice rang in Roz's right ear. In his haze, Roz could even feel the sensation of her chin resting on his shoulder and the breeze of her breath brushing against his ear.
"You're very tired, aren't you, Roz?"
"Yeah, that's right... tired beyond belief."
Roz allowed himself to keep falling through the spiritual space, staring blankly at the phantasmagoric sky.
"It feels like I'm about to drift off to sleep."
"So, do you want to rest?"
The Machine Soul's voice, like the enchantment of a succubus, gently cradled Roz's soul.
"If I fall into a deep sleep now, I suppose I would just die like this... What would happen to Murrue, Badgiruel, the Haros, and the people of this world?"
Roz couldn't help but recall the memories in his mind.
The struggle that began during the Blue Cosmos phase, the battle at Heliopolis, the grand escape being chased by ZAFT... so many things had happened. Now that he was detached from the outside world, Roz only felt a weariness rising from his very soul.
But... as expected, he couldn't just fall into a deep sleep like this.
The promise made with Ryan when escaping Blue Cosmos to change the world; the promise to give the Haros new bodies so they could live in this world again... there were too many promises left unfulfilled.
Various voices reached his ears, some familiar, some strange... they were all giving their everything for a single cause.
Brilliant light formed the image of the half-destroyed GENESIS before Roz. A vast number of light particles gathered in front of GENESIS; though they knew it was like a mantis trying to stop a carriage, they charged forward regardless of the danger.
"Sorry... I still can't give up like this."
Witnessing this scene, Roz slowly reached out and stroked the face of the Machine Soul resting on his shoulder.
This was the first time he felt a sense of "reality" from the Machine Soul.
"I heard them... their voices..."
Roz tried to take a deep breath, forcing himself to break free from this state of total exhaustion.
"My footsteps cannot stop yet."
"It's alright," the Machine Soul smiled, tightening her embrace. "I will always support you... always."
"But... do you still intend to fight? If you enter this space again... you will fall even deeper."
Just then, a male voice similar to Roz's own vocal range rang out.
It was an existence that looked like Roz, but wore a distinct pilot suit.
"Yes. They... still need me."
In the Machine Soul's embrace, Roz turned his head slightly, looking at the floating figure in the distance. "Even if I enter this place again, or even if I die, I... must go back!"
"This is my promise to them."
Hearing Roz's words and feeling his resolve, the blurry figure before him remained silent for a moment before making a decision.
He leaned backward, his body flipping as he continued to fall toward the bottom of the spiritual space.
Meanwhile, Roz felt his own body beginning to float upward.
"When you are prepared, the Reaper will not come for you... Roz."
The figure that had taken Roz's place in the descent became increasingly clear in Roz's eyes. Looking at that figure, a smile instinctively tugged at the corner of the rising Roz's mouth.
"Thanks for the reminder, but I've long since made my peace... Amuro."
"I am not the Amuro Ray of your memories," even though the falling "Amuro" had disappeared from Roz's sight, his voice still reached Roz's ears. "...I am merely an image generated by this psycho-space after reading your thoughts, representing our collective to communicate with you."
"However, every soul existing in this space looks forward to the emergence of the world you envisioned. So no matter what, you must not lose, Roz."
Roz felt the Machine Soul and this space lifting him together, floating higher and higher until the light above became more intense, forming a curtain of brilliance.
Breaking through that dazzling curtain of light, the return of physical fatigue and stiffness made Roz feel as though a lifetime had passed.
He slightly opened his eyes, his index finger twitching minutely, finally seeing his current state.
The Psycho-Frame that had seeped into the cockpit had formed a large amount of green crystals. A small portion of the crystals had even pierced through his pilot suit, fusing with his body.
As expected, miracles do not come for free.
"But we can't let it end like this."
Though encased in green crystals and unable to move his body at all, Roz felt a sense of peace seeing the Machine Soul standing right beside him.
"I still don't know your name... but carry me through the sky one more time."
"Unicorn."
Its armor dazzling due to the crystals formed by the Psycho-Frame, the Unicorn seemed to wake from its silence once more, raising its head.
Le Creuset, whose cockpit was still being held by the Unicorn, naturally noticed this.
"Oh? I thought you had lost consciousness and were just idling here, Amuro."
Le Creuset watched the falling GENESIS with great interest.
"You've come too late. Having performed the miracle of the Aurora twice in a row, you've reached your limit, haven't you?"
"They can't stop GENESIS. So now, what do you plan to do?"
Roz did not respond to Le Creuset. Or rather, covered by the psycho-crystals, he had reached his limit long ago. Now, he was merely using his will to control the Unicorn via brainwaves.
The Unicorn, carrying Le Creuset's cockpit, flew toward GENESIS.
The emerald Aurora turned into a trail behind the Unicorn, like a paintbrush painting a magnificent picture across the universe.
-----------------------------------
"We're about to reach the critical point! GENESIS is still descending!"
"Where's Kira?! How much longer until Kira arrives?!"
"Ten minutes! He's almost here... please hold on just a little longer!"
"Nahel Argama, lower altitude! Deploy the towing grappling hooks!"
Inside the Allied Fleet's communication channels, everyone was in a state of total chaos, desperately trying to slow the descent of GENESIS.
While they struggled, the remaining Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces made their decision.
Drake-class and Nazca-class ships took the risk of descending to a dangerous altitude limit—one false move, and they would plummet toward Earth themselves.
"Nazca-class! Drake-class! What are you doing?!"
Seeing this, Lacus, who was commanding the Eternal to release its own grappling hooks, grew frantic.
"If your ships fall..."
"We are going to use our cannons and missiles to shift the impact point of GENESIS!" an Earth Alliance officer shouted over the public communication channel.
"It's nothing more than a crash at worst. But this is the chance to save Earth—it's worth the attempt." This time, a ZAFT officer with a mustache, commanding a Nelson-class, spoke up.
"It's a rare day that I change my opinion of you, you bearded Plant old man."
"The feeling is mutual, you Earthling potato."
Just then, an accident occurred.
Recall that in order to mass-produce the Dagger quickly after obtaining the Neutron Jammer Canceller technology, the reactors the Earth Alliance installed in the Daggers were quite crude.
While they functioned fine during normal combat, they began to fail under the dual stress of intense vibration and the high temperatures caused by atmospheric friction.
Bang!
An explosion erupted from the back of a Dagger. Losing power instantly, the Dagger lost its footing on GENESIS and began to drift upward uncontrollably.
"No... Daggers, evacuate now! Your reactors can't handle the strain!" Bridget, piloting her Jesta, shouted anxiously.
"Bzzzt... Everyone, I'm fine, don't worry about me."
Amidst a burst of static, the pilot of the Dagger that had been blown back by the reactor failure gasped for air. As the unit's emergency power kicked in, he spoke through the comms to the group pushing GENESIS: "Keep pushing! You absolutely cannot let GENESIS fall to Earth!"
"Since I'm making such a big sacrifice, remember to grab me a set of signed streamer merch..."
The Dagger pilot's voice gradually faded out of the comms, clearly having drifted out of range.
"You bastard, was that your plan all along?!" Hearing the Dagger pilot's words, a ZAFT commander in a white uniform piloting a ZAKU Warrior lost his composure. "Damn it, trying to snag limited edition merch while the streamer is graduating—how underhanded can you get!"
Though he called the Dagger pilot underhanded, the ZAFT commander wasn't actually angry; he continued to push against GENESIS with everything he had.
But soon, trouble arose on the ZAFT side as well.
A ZAKU Warrior pushing GENESIS alongside the Jesta saw its rear thrusters flicker a few times before they suddenly cut out entirely. The entire mobile suit began to drift upward.
"Damn it! What happened?!"
Looking at the cockpit monitors flashing red with damage alerts, the "Top Donor Pilot"—who had just been bickering with the Earth Alliance fanboy—quickly ran a diagnostic on his machine.
"Thruster output... line rupture?! Is it because of the prolonged operation combined with atmospheric friction fire?!"
Seeing his ZAKU Warrior lose propulsion and drift helplessly away, he instinctively slammed his fist against the control console.
Just then, two sets of MS hands reached out together to catch the spiraling ZAKU Warrior.
"The 'Top Sub' guy... and the streamer?"
Looking at the Dagger and the Jesta gripping the ZAKU Warrior's hands from both sides, the "Top Donor Pilot" froze for a moment.
"Forget about me! Hurry up and keep pushing GENESIS!"
Although interacting with the virtual streamer he adored gave him a surge of excitement, that feeling was quickly crushed by the sheer urgency of the GENESIS threat.
"You brat, you want to snag the merch early too?!" the "Second-Place Sub" shouted over the comms. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're using a voice changer! There's only so many pieces of graduation merch to go around!"
"Life fading away before my eyes... unacceptable."
Estelle's cold, aloof voice rang through the channel. Although these hardcore fans weren't sure why she was still maintaining her character persona at a time like this, it still warmed their hearts.
The scene before them looked like a classic "friendship" moment straight out of a shonen manga.
But clearly, the impact and friction generated by the descent of GENESIS were enough to tear such a scene to shreds.
Ultimately, the "Top Donor Pilot" sitting in that ZAKU Warrior could only watch helplessly as his unit drifted away from GENESIS, letting out the wail of a heartbroken fan.
"Don't forget my share of the merch..."
As GENESIS continued its plunge toward Earth, anxiety gripped everyone's hearts once more.
"It's no use... the speed of GENESIS has slowed significantly, but by our estimates, the Freedom still won't make it in time!"
On the Nahel Argama—which had already fired two steel cables and was running its engines at full power to pull GENESIS back—Miriallia Haw spoke, her face drenched in sweat.
"The cables are about to reach their breaking point!"
At that moment, Tolle Koenig, who was managing the cable deployment, delivered more grim news.
"The Nazca-class and Drake-class are still attacking GENESIS... the position shift isn't enough! According to the projected trajectory, GENESIS will still crash into Sydney!"
Sai Argyle gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at the values displayed on his instruments.
Are we out of options?
Murrue Ramius looked at the scene with a bitter expression.
Must we accept this? This kind of ending?
"Don't give up, Murrue."
Natarle Badgiruel's voice rang in Murrue's ear. "Now that Roz is gone, you are the backbone for everyone!"
"We'll buy you time. Think again—there has to be a way!"
Natarle continuously adjusted the weapon angles of the Nahel Argama, trying to find a firing position to support the two ships that were risking everything.
"Wait, this signature is... the Unicorn?!"
At that moment, Miriallia's eyes widened instinctively as she looked at the marker appearing at high speed on the radar.
"But... what's happening? The life signs are so low!"
Trailing a dazzling aurora, the Unicorn left a magnificent streak across space before flying beside the three Jestas. In a motion like a basketball layup, it slammed Le Creuset's cockpit onto the surface of GENESIS.
"Ugh... aaaagh!"
The violent impact forced a wretched cry of pain from Le Creuset.
Clearly, this was the Machine Soul's small revenge for Le Creuset's disrespectful remarks.
Suddenly, a powerful communication request from within GENESIS was sent repeatedly to the Unicorn. The Machine Soul, standing beside Roz, instinctively looked toward him.
After Roz gave a small nod, the Machine Soul connected the call.
The video feed opened, and two communication windows appeared before Roz.
One showed Le Creuset in his cockpit, which had been "dunked" onto GENESIS like a basketball. The other showed Gilbert Durandal, Talia Gladys, and Rey Za Burrel in the GENESIS command center.
At this moment, Roz's appearance looked both brilliant and somewhat terrifying. A massive amount of green crystals formed by the Psycho-Frame encased him; a small portion of the crystals had even pierced through his pilot suit, fusing with his body.
Durandal could clearly see several crystals piercing through Roz's helmet, merging slightly with his left cheek. The interface where they met produced patterns like a circuit board, flowing with green aurora light.
"...Is this the price of the miracle?"
After a long silence, Durandal finally spoke.
"Miracles aren't free, Durandal."
Roz's voice carried a hint of weakness, but his speech remained clear.
"Is it worth it?"
Durandal pondered for a long time before asking this question.
"Haven't you seen it already?"
Ignoring Durandal—and Le Creuset, who was currently coughing up blood from the Machine Soul's "slam dunk"—Roz slightly tilted his head, letting the crystals on his body crack minutely.
Seeing this, Talia instinctively covered her mouth, her expression deeply conflicted.
In Roz's field of vision, MS units from the Earth Alliance, ZAFT, and the Allied Fleet were all gathered together, pushing against this "GENESIS."
"This is what I wanted. This is what I wanted to see, and what I wanted to show the world."
"Miracles are not my exclusive privilege..."
Roz looked back at the communication screen on the cockpit monitor, smiling as he allowed the green crystals in the cockpit to continue growing.
"These lights of miracles, capable of changing the world, are generated from within people's hearts."
"And I have merely lent my body to everyone."
As Roz's voice trailed off, the communication camera inside the Unicorn's cockpit was covered by green crystals, cutting off the transmission.
The will of the people to stop the fall of GENESIS, their desire for peace... this spiritual energy was absorbed by the Psycho-Frame on the Unicorn. The light of the Psycho-Frame grew increasingly blinding.
Emerald aurora light surged from the Unicorn, eroding outward to surround GENESIS. The forward momentum of GENESIS began to slow, and the flames caused by atmospheric friction were swallowed by the aurora.
One by one, the units pushing GENESIS were pushed back by the green aurora, drifting above the weapon.
Watching the towing cables being snapped away and the green aurora gradually approaching, Yzak Joule instinctively frowned.
But then, a realization struck him.
"You bastard! Are you trying to play the hero by yourself again?!"
Vaguely, Yzak had a premonition. A premonition that if Roz truly succeeded, he would die for it.
"Damn it all...!"
Watching the Duel being pushed away by the aurora, Yzak, who had been holding it in, slammed his fist into the armrest, hating his own lack of power to help Roz resolve the GENESIS crisis together.
Under the gaze of everyone present, the plummeting GENESIS was forced to a dead halt by the green aurora.
Then, one by one, green meteors from various points in this sector of space shot toward the Unicorn.
-----------------------------------
During the Battle of Gryps, the souls of the many who perished wandered this sector of space. Naturally, they caught the attention of "cosmic ghosts" from other regions of the universe.
As the emotions radiated from the Unicorn, and after the souls attached to the machine sacrificed themselves to block the attacks of the three superweapons, a new resolve began to spread and assimilate among the "cosmic ghosts" infected by the newcomers: "We want to help the Unicorn and its pilot."
Thus, using their own power, they had manifested as that Aurora-composed Gryps, shielding the Unicorn from a direct blast from the colony laser.
Now, as the Unicorn moved once more, driven by the pilot's will, countless wandering spirits of the void surged into the shards of Psycho-Frame scattered during the previous battle from broken weapons. They turned into streaks of light, flying toward the Unicorn.
As Psycho-Frame fragments of various sizes merged into the aurora surrounding the mobile suit, a pair of emerald, colossal wings appeared in everyone's sight amidst the dazzling radiance.
These were not light-wings like those of a Voiture Lumiere; they were true wings of light, the kind seen only in fantasy.
Under the gaze of all present, these wings shimmered and enveloped GENESIS, shielding the superweapon from view.
With an otherworldly cry, the massive wings of light suddenly compressed. The Unicorn and GENESIS, which had been hovering over Earth, were shrunk into a single line and vanished from this sector of space as if flying toward some unknown destination.
Only the brilliant, green aurora remained.
"Unicorn signature... has vanished."
Looking at the radar where the Unicorn had disappeared in an instant, Miriallia instinctively bit her lip, suppressing her internal emotions.
"...Organize the fleets. Recover the mobile suits."
Watching the Unicorn vanish after releasing its wings of light, Murrue Ramius gave the command through gritted teeth, struggling to keep her composure.
Badgiruel walked to Murrue's side. Though her expression remained stern, anyone could see that her eyes were filled with the emotion known as grief.
"I... I just saw it on the instruments, right before those wings appeared..."
Badgiruel's voice trembled. "His life signs... they dropped to zero..."
"...The Unicorn may have disappeared, but I believe Roz is still alive."
Murrue had clearly noticed Badgiruel's state. After the battle of the Garuda-class, Badgiruel—who viewed Roz as her emotional pillar—was now on the verge of collapse.
"We can't give up like this... Even if he has truly died, we must find his body."
-----------------------------------
Inside GENESIS, Durandal held Talia as they watched the magnificent spectacle unfolding before them.
Driven by the Unicorn, GENESIS passed through a realm formed by two gargantuan banks of gray mist. One after another, bubble-like existences of varying colors streaked past the superweapon.
Durandal could even see glimpses within those bubbles—different endings for himself, Talia, Rey, and Le Creuset, unlike the ones they were currently experiencing.
Is it parallel worlds? This theory is actually true...
Durandal shook his head and held Talia tighter.
"It looks like... this is our destination."
Durandal looked at Talia, his expression carrying a hint of apology.
"Are you satisfied?"
Talia also held Durandal tightly.
"Yes. I've seen many things... things I never could have imagined, and many miracles originating from the hearts of people."
Durandal looked at Talia and smiled. "I am very satisfied."
"...Rey, come here."
Durandal looked to the side at Rey, who seemed to have been in a daze this entire time.
"This is finally the end. Let us stay together in the final moments of our lives."
The somewhat wooden Rey blinked, then obediently walked to Durandal's side, where he was pulled into the embrace of Durandal and Talia.
These three awkward individuals finally took on the appearance of a family in the end.
"Showing off your affection without even trying to avoid me? Durandal, you bastard..."
Le Creuset's voice came through the short-range communication.
He sat in his cockpit, having removed his helmet and mask. Spitting up blood, he stared fixedly at everything before him.
"Well, how do you feel?"
"Are you asking for my review?"
Le Creuset smiled, letting the blood flow from his nose and mouth. "I am also very satisfied. That fellow 'Amuro'... he actually moved me."
"However, this universe... it's still so cold."
After saying those words, Le Creuset chuckled and closed his eyes.
GENESIS passed through the dazzling scenery and entered a pitch-black sector of space, almost devoid of any light.
Then, as if time were flowing backward, they felt the world in their sight rewinding continuously, like a tape being played in reverse.
Finally, everything outside returned to silence. The Unicorn had vanished, and GENESIS reappeared in an unfamiliar sector of space.
"This is... I see. In the end, he actually sent us to the edge of the Solar System, so that we might see the future development of humanity..."
Durandal reached out and tapped the instrument storing the star charts.
But in the next instant, the machinery began to age rapidly and continuously. Durandal could also clearly feel his own life force ebbing away.
In their final moments, Durandal, Talia, and Rey held each other closely, like an ordinary family peacefully facing the arrival of death.
-----------------------------------
It was still that same phantasmagoric space.
However, unlike before, Roz was no longer sinking. Instead, held in the tight embrace of the Machine Soul, he was slowly flying toward the sky.
As their altitude increased, their spiritual energies fused together, seemingly on the verge of reaching a critical point and becoming some indescribable existence.
But soon, this "ascension" ritual was interrupted by an intruder.
Crimson chains, burning with red flames, reached up from below. They forced their way between Roz and the Machine Soul, winding tightly around Roz.
Roz's ascension was cut short by the entanglement of these chains. The Machine Soul instinctively displayed a hint of dissatisfaction, glaring down at the burning red links.
Following the length of the chain, an "anomaly" appeared within the space that had previously been filled with aurora-like light effects.
It was a large blue Haro. With emerald green eyes, it stared fixedly at the Machine Soul holding Roz; the chains burning with red flames extended from behind it.
"Allowing Roz to ascend, allowing him to lose his life—I do not agree to this."
The voice of the large Haro echoed through the space.
"...So, you intend to stop me?"
The Machine Soul's tone was entirely flat. Or rather, she maintained this attitude toward every existence except for Roz.
"No one can take his life away from my side. Not even the collective will of this world's spiritual space!"
The large Haro spoke plainly, its voice carrying a slight mechanical quality as if it were merely a heartless machine.
However, the content of its words was entirely at odds with its delivery.
"I can hold out against you forever, until he returns to my side."
Like a protracted tug-of-war, the Machine Soul and the large Haro remained deadlocked there.
.......
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