The Earth Sphere Defense Force had rehearsed invasion scenarios for decades.
Meteor impacts.
Colony drops.
Vagan incursions.
Rogue fleets.
None of those plans applied anymore.
The enemy advancing through the outer Solar System ignored every known law of spaceflight.
Within thirty minutes of appearing near Pluto, the Ascendancy fleet had reached Neptune's orbit.
No acceleration.
No detectable propulsion.
They simply... moved.
---
Inside Federation High Command, every available display showed the tactical map of the Solar System.
Red symbols advanced steadily toward the inner planets.
No deviation.
No hesitation.
No response to repeated communication attempts.
Admiral Hayes stood before the assembled commanders.
"The First, Second, and Third Defense Fleets are mobilizing immediately."
A younger officer looked up.
"They won't arrive in time."
Hayes nodded.
"I know."
The room grew quiet.
"The Fourth Fleet is already stationed near Jupiter."
Everyone understood.
The Fourth Fleet would be the first to engage.
And almost certainly the first to die.
---
Aboard the *Argonaut*, Leon watched the tactical display from the bridge.
"How many ships does the Fourth Fleet have?"
Rika answered without looking away from her console.
"Forty-two warships."
"And the Ascendancy?"
She hesitated.
"...Seven."
Mira blinked.
"Then why is everyone acting like we've already lost?"
Flint folded his arms.
"Because seven of their ships erased an entire listening station without slowing down."
No one argued.
---
The *Argonaut* broke orbit around the Moon.
Its engines burned at maximum output as it accelerated toward the outer system.
Behind it came Flit's ship and dozens of Federation escorts.
Not enough.
Leon knew it.
Everyone did.
---
Near Jupiter...
The Fourth Fleet formed a defensive wall.
Battleships stretched for hundreds of kilometers, mobile suit carriers positioned behind the main line while hundreds of mobile suits launched into formation.
Their commander, Vice Admiral Elena Voss, watched the approaching contacts.
"They're slowing."
An operations officer nodded.
"They've entered engagement range."
Voss took a deep breath.
"Open every communication channel."
The transmission carried across the void.
"This is Vice Admiral Elena Voss of the Earth Federation."
"You have entered sovereign human territory."
"State your intentions."
For several seconds...
Nothing.
Then a response arrived.
Not from one ship.
From all seven simultaneously.
**"Judgment continues."**
Voss frowned.
"You have no claim—"
The transmission interrupted her.
**"Civilization designated Human."**
**"Evaluation Phase Two."**
**"Resistance expected."**
The channel closed.
---
One of the seven vessels moved.
Just one.
It drifted ahead of the formation while the remaining six stopped.
Leon, watching from the *Argonaut*'s bridge through the live tactical feed, narrowed his eyes.
"They're only sending one ship."
Flit, connected through secure communications, spoke quietly.
"They don't think they need the others."
---
The enormous vessel changed shape.
Panels shifted.
Entire sections rotated.
The front of the craft unfolded.
Not into a cannon.
Into a launch bay.
Rika's eyes widened.
"Multiple contacts!"
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
Small craft poured from the opening like a swarm.
They weren't mobile suits.
They weren't fighters.
Each one resembled a faceted crystal wrapped in metallic armor, moving in perfect geometric formations.
"They're drones," Flint muttered.
"No..." Leon replied.
"They're soldiers."
---
The Fourth Fleet opened fire.
Hundreds of beam cannons lit the darkness around Jupiter.
Missiles streaked across space.
The opening volley was enough to destroy any fleet humanity had ever faced.
The Ascendancy drones didn't evade.
Instead...
Their formations shifted.
The beams bent.
Not reflected.
Bent.
Curving harmlessly around the advancing enemy.
"What?" Mira whispered.
Rika frantically checked her instruments.
"They're altering the path of the particles!"
"That's impossible!"
Flint's face had gone pale.
"No..."
He whispered.
"...it's technology beyond Minovsky physics."
---
The drones reached the Federation line.
Then the slaughter began.
One drone passed through a battleship's shields as though they didn't exist.
A beam of white light flashed.
The battleship split cleanly in half.
Another drone accelerated through a cruiser formation.
Three ships vanished in a silent explosion of light.
Within seconds...
The Fourth Fleet lost twelve capital ships.
---
Vice Admiral Voss remained calm.
"Launch all mobile suits."
Hundreds of Federation machines surged forward.
Genoaces.
Adeles.
Experimental units.
They surrounded the drones, overwhelming them with numbers.
For the first time...
The Ascendancy machines slowed.
One drone exploded under concentrated fire.
Then another.
Cheers erupted across Federation channels.
"They can be destroyed!"
Leon watched carefully.
"No..."
The celebration ended almost immediately.
The destroyed drones dissolved into shimmering particles.
Those particles flowed toward nearby units.
The surviving drones changed.
Their armor thickened.
Their weapons grew brighter.
"They're adapting," Flit said quietly.
"They're learning from every loss."
---
The tactical display updated.
**Federation Losses: 18 Capital Ships.**
**Ascendancy Losses: 2 Drone Units.**
Leon clenched his fists.
"This can't continue."
Captain Rolf nodded.
"The Fourth Fleet won't survive another ten minutes."
---
The bridge fell silent.
Then Admiral Hayes' voice came over the fleet-wide channel.
"Special Development Task Force..."
"This battle is now under your command."
Everyone aboard the *Argonaut* looked toward Leon.
He stared at the tactical map.
The Fourth Fleet was collapsing.
The Ascendancy had barely committed any forces.
If this continued...
Nothing would stand between them and the inner planets.
Leon looked toward Flint.
"How long?"
Flint already knew what he meant.
He looked down at the development report in his hands.
Then back at Leon.
"...The new Gundam isn't ready."
Leon nodded.
"I know."
"It doesn't even have full armor installed."
"I know."
"The control system hasn't been tested."
"I know."
Flint sighed.
"...You're going to ask anyway."
Leon smiled.
"Can it move?"
Flint was quiet for several seconds.
Finally...
"Yes."
Leon turned toward Captain Rolf.
"Prepare the prototype."
Mira looked at him in disbelief.
"You're taking an unfinished Gundam into battle?"
Leon answered without hesitation.
"If we wait until it's finished..."
He looked at the tactical display as another Federation battleship disappeared from the map.
"...there won't be anyone left to protect."
Deep within the *Argonaut*'s engineering deck, blast doors slowly began to open.
For the first time, the incomplete successor to Aegis stood beneath the hangar lights.
Its armor was unfinished.
Its frame was still partially exposed.
Six incomplete fin funnels rested on maintenance racks beside it.
Its head turned slightly as power flowed into its systems for the first time.
The next generation of Gundam...
Would make its debut before it was ever truly complete.