In October of C.E. 73, within Area 1 of the Armory One Colony Satellite in the L4 Colony Cluster, this colony was about to experience the most bustling moment since its inception, in every sense of the word.
The New Misurugi Kingdom's newest and most advanced warship, the Mystic Angel, arrived a day before the launch ceremony, carrying Queen Angelise and Orb's Prime Minister, Cagalli Yula Athha.
Yes, PLANT had invited Reid for the tour, but in the end, it was Ange who went.
Reid could roughly guess that Durandal's invitation certainly involved some sort of scheme, and it was best not to go unless absolutely necessary. Besides, his main priority was to get through the impending colony drop incident and complete the system's mission.
However, on the surface, the New Misurugi Kingdom and PLANT were on very friendly terms, and it would be inappropriate not to send someone of sufficient stature in response to such an invitation.
Thus, Ange volunteered. According to her, she was getting a bit tired of staying in the country anyway and wanted to go to PLANT for a change of scenery. It was definitely not because she heard from Reid that various factions would be making moves during this Armory One trip, and a fight was inevitable.
Still, given Ange's status, she was more than qualified, giving PLANT plenty of face.
Of course, Reid would certainly not let Ange go to a military colony to protest with only Athrun as a guard, like Cagalli did in the original story.
(In the original story, Cagalli went to Armory One because she was pressured by the Atlantic Federation, who claimed that engineers from Orb's Dawn Company were helping PLANT develop military equipment. They demanded that Orb retrieve its people. Of course, no one expected Cagalli to actually succeed; it was just standard political pressure.)
Therefore, the New Misurugi Kingdom directly informed PLANT that their Queen Angelise was prepared to personally tour the Armory One Colony Satellite to give PLANT this honor, but she would need to bring a warship and escorts.
Furthermore, Reid used secret intelligence as a pretext to tell Athrun that ZAFT's secretly developed Mobile Suits would be on display at the warship "launch" ceremony at Armory One, and that an organization already had its eyes on them.
Upon hearing this, Athrun's default assumption was that hardliners from the Zala Faction were targeting these Mobile Suits.
Based on the several previous incidents where ZAFT had lost Mobile Suits, the more Athrun investigated, the more he felt there was a mole within PLANT. He just hadn't considered Durandal, instead thinking that some high-ranking ZAFT officials were supporters of the Zala Faction hardliners, deliberately playing these games to provide them with new advanced Mobile Suits.
Thus, just like in the original story, Athrun assumed the identity of Alex Dino and accompanied Cagalli to Armory One as her private secretary. The only difference was that this time, the Mystic Angel would be bringing the Hong Long Mobile Suit along.
As for Ange's escorts, they were Salya and Hilda, and the three of them would also be bringing their personal Mobile Suits.
Adding in the elite MS Squad trained by Noin aboard the Mystic Angel, Reid genuinely believed that the handful of ZAFT rookies at Armory One (the base was mostly staffed by new ZAFT recruits) couldn't possibly defeat the Mystic Angel on its own.
To be honest, the act of bringing a warship and Mobile Suits into another nation's military colony was something no normal country would readily agree to.
However, Durandal took into account that Queen Angelise herself was a significant combat asset for the New Misurugi Kingdom. Moreover, if the new warship was busy protecting the queen, it naturally wouldn't have the capacity to meddle in other affairs. So, he used his authority as Chairman to personally approve the request.
Durandal's justification for persuading the council was quite high-minded: if ZAFT at Armory One couldn't even handle a single one of the New Misurugi Kingdom's newest warships, how could they possibly fight if a war were to break out between the two nations in the future?
Besides, having the New Misurugi Kingdom's latest warship come over would also provide a convenient opportunity for their side to "observe" it properly.
And so, PLANT Chairman Durandal, leading a team of colony officials, went directly to the military port to welcome them.
After Ange and Cagalli disembarked, the two sides formally shook hands, and Durandal then led them on a tour of the Armory One Colony Satellite's interior.
Of course, during the tour, Ange and Cagalli only brought three guards—Salya, Hilda, and Athrun. Everyone else remained on the ship on standby.
Meanwhile, in the Mystic Angel's hangar, Shinn Asuka—the young man who was supposed to be the protagonist for a time (Kira stealing the protagonist spot from Shinn later on was a major event in that era; at least, that was the first time I learned a protagonist could be forced out by fan boycotts)—was staring at the Ice Phoenix Gundam, Gundam Eclipse, and Z Plus Gundam with eyes overflowing with envy.
He spoke to Nami, who was helping him adjust his Mobile Suit, and Mayu, who was there to help her good friend and her brother.
"They're so cool. When will I get to pilot my own custom unit?"
Faced with her brother's lament, Mayu could only retort speechlessly.
"Brother, if you want a custom unit, you'll have to be an ace first. With your current record of zero kills and barely passing your academic courses, how could you possibly get a new advanced Mobile Suit? (This was described in the official novel; Shinn only passed his academic courses to graduate as a Red Uniform because Reid tutored him every night).
"Besides, even though the Delta Plus is a two-year-old model, it's not outdated even now. Look at the Atlantic Federation's Windam or PLANT's non-custom Zaku Warriors. Which one of them can compare to the Delta Plus?
"And this unit used to be Captain Salya's personal machine. She achieved a brilliant combat record with it before she switched to the Gundam Eclipse."
Shinn was completely unable to refute his sister's complaints and could only protest in a small voice.
"I may not have any actual kills, but I've won almost all of my several thousand simulated battles. And even the academy instructors couldn't beat me in their training units."
Both of them nearby could hear Shinn's quiet protest. Since Shinn was Mayu's brother, Nami had known him for a while, so she bluntly retorted.
"I heard that your victories are built on the suffering of the ground crew. Every time you take a training unit out for combat practice, the machine comes back with varying degrees of structural damage. Your fighting style is a bit too reckless.
"Anyway, now that you're done complaining, get in the cockpit and see if the fire control system adjustments are okay. This unit has only been in your hands for a few days, yet it has so many parameter errors. What have you been doing with it?"
Shinn didn't dare offend Nami, because he really couldn't do without her adjustments to his Mobile Suit's systems. When it came to code modification, Shinn was in the lower-middle tier among Coordinators, not much better than the Green Uniforms in ZAFT.
At this moment, on the outskirts of the Armory One Colony Satellite, a Girty Lue-class warship with its Mirage Colloid System active was approaching Armory One.
On the bridge of this warship, a European man in a black military uniform and a full-face mask sat in the captain's seat.
He glanced back and forth between the Armory One colony in front of him and the countdown on his watch, clearly waiting for a specific moment.
Seated in the adjacent position was the ship's true captain, Ian Lee. He looked at the young masked man with a complicated expression and finally asked.
"Colonel Neo Roanoke, do you really think such a reckless plan can capture ZAFT's new Gundams?"
This Neo Roanoke was definitely not the Mu who was currently alive and kicking in the New Misurugi Kingdom. However, this man was just as calm as the one from the original story, and he replied directly.
"Don't worry, the three of them are elites, handpicked from thousands. Besides, when stealing Mobile Suits from ZAFT, what matters isn't how reckless you are, but the timing.
"The intelligence this time feels like ZAFT is inviting us to steal the Mobile Suits, even thoughtfully preparing the interface data to make hacking the systems easier. No matter what they're thinking, it's never wrong for us to get our hands on the units first."
Ian Lee looked at the confident and composed Neo Roanoke and said nothing more, but he muttered to himself inwardly.
"I guess that's to be expected from a clone of that person. Even if he's a failed clone, he's retained some of the original's abilities."
Meanwhile, inside the Armory One Colony Satellite, the new Three young aces—Stella Loussier, Sting Oakley, and Auel Neider—had already completed a series of operations including infiltration, killing, and boarding their machines. The Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss Gundams had been seized.
As a heavily injured ground crew member sounded the alarm, an attack alert blared throughout the entire Armory One Colony Satellite.
On Durandal's team, which was touring with Ange and Cagalli, no one except Durandal himself knew what was happening.
But they knew that whether it was a real attack or a false alarm, with the alarm sounding, ZAFT was about to lose face in front of the whole world again.
On the visiting delegation's side, out of the five of them, only the oblivious Cagalli became nervous for a moment. The others controlled their emotions with stern expressions to avoid revealing any sign that they had known in advance.
Similarly, Bargiruel, who had long since been informed that Armory One might be attacked, heard the alarm and immediately gave a command from the Mystic Angel's bridge.
"All hands, first combat alert! Bridge personnel take cover, activate the I-Field. Prepare the main cannon for firing. Have Shinn prepare to launch. His mission is to guide the AI computers of the Ice Phoenix Gundam, Gundam Eclipse, Z Plus Gundam, and Hong Long to Queen Angelise and the others."
After giving the order, Bargiruel had the CIC contact the port authority here and tell them to open the passage for Mobile Suits to enter the colony. According to their agreement, in the event of danger, the New Misurugi Kingdom had the right to dispatch troops into the colony to ensure the queen's safety.
Since Armory One was in a state of chaos, with the higher-ups all accompanying Durandal on the tour with Ange's group, the person on duty was the deputy's deputy.
This person was just a temporary substitute and had no real decision-making power, so he could only follow the pre-arranged protocol and order the port to open the gates to the colony's interior.
It had already been confirmed that the colony had been attacked, with explosions and smoke everywhere near the warehouse storing the new Mobile Suits.
Besides, if he didn't grant access, it looked like the people from the New Misurugi Kingdom were about to force their way in; they had already launched their Mobile Suits.
In fact, the substitute officer's judgment was sound. If he had really refused to open the gate, Bargiruel might very well have had Shinn open fire and force their way in.
The sound of explosions from inside the colony could be heard even at the port. If they were still denied entry at this point, they could have directly accused PLANT of a ZAFT plot to assassinate their nation's queen.
Of course, in reality, Ange and her group inside the colony were still relatively safe.
The moment the attack occurred, Durandal's team, as per protocol, was supposed to move the leaders to the nearest shelter.
However, under Durandal's guidance, their location was naturally near the hangar for the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss Gundams. Therefore, the moment the attack began, explosions erupted right beside them.
But Durandal had clearly underestimated how reckless and fierce the three women from Arzenal were.
After the explosion, before Durandal, who had been pushed to the ground by his entourage, could even get back up, he saw that Ange and her group had somehow already taken cover behind a heavy-duty truck, even managing to save a few dazed ZAFT rookies in the process.
At that moment, Ange looked up at the Delta Plus and the other Mobile Suits already approaching their position (Ange naturally had a locator on her) and shouted across the road to Durandal.
"Chairman Durandal, it seems your security is truly lacking. But our Mobile Suits have arrived, so we won't impose on you any longer."
With that, Ange turned directly to Cagalli and said.
"Cagalli, let's not cause any more trouble for Chairman Durandal here. Let's get on our Mobile Suits and return to the ship. Let PLANT solve its own problems. We can't start a fight inside this colony."
After speaking, Ange sprinted toward a nearby open area with the speed of a world-class athlete. Salya and Hilda were no less impressive, vanishing in an instant.
Our Chairman Durandal could only wonder: was this a queen raised by European nobility? How was she even wilder than Cagalli, Orb's famously tomboyish princess?
Before Durandal could even object, the three of them were gone.
The only ones present who could probably understand the actions of Ange's trio were Cagalli and Athrun. They knew just how ridiculously proactive Ange usually was, so doing something like this was not strange at all.
And in this situation, Chairman Durandal had no face to criticize them for bringing Mobile Suits into the colony. Who told him to have such poor security that they got attacked?
However, Athrun still gave Durandal some face, symbolically asking for his opinion.
"Chairman, excuse me, but I need to escort Representative Cagalli away first to ensure her safety."
What could Durandal say at this point? He thought, Even if I protest, your Mobile Suits are already inside, and Queen Angelise's group has already run off. So, he could only nod and reply.
"Understood. Please escort Representative Cagalli to safety first. I will personally board your ship later to apologize."
Athrun nodded and quickly ran off with Cagalli, because the Delta Plus, leading the other four units, was already landing.
Ange and her two companions were naturally waiting at the landing point, boarding their machines the moment they touched down.
In the distance, the Gaia Gundam clearly noticed the situation here and, without a second word, fired a beam in their direction.
But Shinn reacted quickly, raising his shield to block the beam, then asked.
"Your Majesty Angelise, may I counterattack?"
Hearing Shinn's question, Ange naturally replied decisively.
"Of course, you can. However, you only have the time it takes for all of us to board our Mobile Suits and leave. During that time, you are free to counterattack under the justification of protecting us."
Shinn saw that the Orb representative he rather disliked was still being pulled along by her guard, and it looked like it would be a few more minutes before she could board her machine.
For the first time since leaving Orb, he felt that the Athha family of Orb was somewhat useful after all. This time, if he shot down one of the stolen, latest-model ZAFT Gundams, it would surely count as a presentable combat achievement.
Therefore, having received permission, Shinn fired two missiles directly at the Gaia, shouting, "You people, are you trying to start another war?" before drawing his beam saber and charging toward the Gaia Gundam.
(End of Chapter)