"Izak!" Athrun barely managed to shout his name before becoming powerless to intervene.
Because this inexplicably hostile teammate who had broken formation was already beyond help.
He might as well turn back now, otherwise...
Next year's anniversary might very well mark Izak's memorial day...
Indeed, Izak believed he was piloting a Gundam, and as a Red Coat Elite in the military, he had every reason to be confident.
More crucially, the Gundam was equipped with PS Armor, rendering physical ammunition useless.
Additionally, the Gundam had specialized anti-beam shields!
As for that Wang Hu, the so-called "Coordinator's natural enemy" whom Naturals praised to the skies—his Qilin's weapons were beam-based!
Since the enemy's attacks couldn't penetrate his defenses, didn't that mean he could easily overpower Wang Hu?
The advantage was clearly his!
With such thoughts, Izak confidently broke away from the formation.
Relying on the Gundam's superior performance, he set out alone to claim Wang Hu's head.
This would prove to both Captain Creuset and that privileged Athrun—whose father was a committee member—that he, Izak, was the true top graduate of the military academy!
"Open your eyes wide and watch, Athrun!"
Inside the cockpit of the Duel Gundam, Izak's loud declaration drew everyone's attention.
And then... nothing else happened.
Armed with a freshly acquired Duel Gundam, its systems not yet fully optimized, and with little experience piloting it, Izak was essentially trying to operate the Duel with the same skills he used for GINN.
How could that not lead to disaster?
As he raised his gun to aim at the Qilin, before he could even fire, Wang Hu had already closed the distance like a phantom.
Four Beam Pods detached, unleashing eight intersecting beams!
Izak's debut in the Duel Gundam ended right there...
To be fair, when he saw Wang Hu approaching, he did attempt to evade.
But the commands he gave the Duel Gundam, combined with the excessive force he applied to the acceleration pedal, left the machine utterly confused—it simply lurched forward uncontrollably!
Either that, or his movements were too exaggerated, making precise maneuvers impossible.
Even Wang Hu was taken aback—was this white-haired guy here to deliver himself as a free kill?
Still, Wang Hu had no reason to turn down such a generous gift.
Effortlessly—hardly more challenging than hitting moving targets at the military academy—three Beam Pods forced Izak to expose his rear.
The remaining free Beam Pod then unleashed a barrage at the Duel's thrusters.
If not for the Gundam's formidable PS Armor, Creuset's team would be holding a funeral feast aboard their ship today.
"Damn it!" Izak stared at the crimson warning alerts flooding his cockpit screen, wishing he could die on the spot.
The humiliation was unbearable. His face twisted into a terrifying expression of rage.
With nothing left to lose, the white-haired pilot resolved to fight to the death—if he couldn't kill others, he'd let them kill him.
Anything was better than returning to face his comrades' pitying stares!
It's important to note that at the beginning of the battle, Captain Creuset hadn't ordered them to engage.
It was only after seeing Athrun persistently demanding to fight that he voluntarily followed!
"Yzak, fall back!"
At that moment, Creuset charged forward in his CGUE, issuing a stern command to the white-haired youth.
"Captain, I—!" Yzak, eyes red with fury and relying on his mother's influence, attempted to defy Creuset's order.
"Fall back!" Creuset's tone grew even harsher, firing a few warning shots to prevent Wang Hu from taking the life of his subordinate.
With a rigid command, Creuset ignored the white-haired pilot and focused entirely on engaging Wang Hu.
"Hey, wouldn't it be to your advantage if I took out that privileged brat?" Wang Hu sent a directed communication to Creuset as usual, chuckling over the channel.
"Hmph." Creuset naturally accepted the transmission, responding with a cold snort to Wang Hu's teasing.
Yzak's mother, a high-ranking official, was already a member of Zala's faction. His death here would be nothing more than icing on the cake—hardly meaningful.
Moreover, these first-generation officials had placed their children in his unit precisely so he could look after them.
If one died on their very first mission, he'd gain nothing but trouble!
Had it been Athrun or that green-haired kid, he might have considered it.
While Creuset saved Yzak and clashed with Wang Hu, Athrun, wanting to avoid complications, intercepted Kira before Michel could.
"Tch!" Seeing Athrun engage the Strike Gundam, Michel had no desire to join in a two-on-one fight—it would look like he couldn't handle Kira alone and needed backup.
Annoyed, he led five GINN units toward the Archangel instead.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Michel glanced around—on one side, Wang Hu and Creuset were locked in a fierce duel, their lethal maneuvers enough to make anyone's teeth ache with dread.
On the other side...
Well, Michel wasn't sure how to describe it. It felt almost like watching a romance drama, except Kira was just a civilian and a rookie.
He couldn't very well criticize the kid, so—
"I'm the man who turns the impossible into the possible!"
Steeling himself, Michel charged toward the five GINN units, determined to prove his mettle single-handedly.
"Kira." Athrun halted the Strike Gundam with his Aegis Gundam but took no further action—neither attacking nor letting Kira leave.
"Athrun." Kira gazed at his childhood friend, now before him again.
In an instant, the resolve and ambition he'd felt at the outset melted away, leaving only tenderness.
Lost in memories, Kira's eyes grew misty, his heart tangled in countless emotions.
"Why did you go to Orb? We promised to meet again in PLANT, didn't we?"
With no one to interrupt, Athrun pressed for answers to the questions weighing on him.
"Athrun, I—!" Flustered by his friend's questioning, Kira flushed with shame, his cheeks tinged red.
Why hadn't he gone to PLANT?
For one, his parents were Orb citizens. For another, the tense situation in PLANT made it unsafe.
Thinking of the reasons mentioned above, Kira decided to use the first one to explain to Athrun.
But just then...
A thunderous explosion rang out, followed by the screeching sound of metal tearing apart.
"Could it be—?!" Whipping his head around, Kira saw the scene he least wanted to witness.
Six GINNs were besieging the Archangel, with Mu fighting alone against overwhelming odds.
Though the Moebius Zero fighter gave its all, the enemies weren't made of paper either.
Missile after missile launched from the GINNs streaked toward the Archangel.
The Archangel dodged left and right but still took several hits, while a few others—perhaps due to poor aim—
Slammed straight into the Colony Satellite's internal connecting axis. Several more struck the satellite's residential sector.
Witnessing this, Kira felt unbearable agony, even resenting the Strike Gundam's visual tracking technology.
Because the cockpit cameras detected Kira's gaze, they magnified the images of the missile-stricken residential area.
Thus, the bloody scenes were laid bare before Kira's eyes—unlucky escape pods caught in the missile blasts...
Debris danced amidst human remains, crimson liquid splattering like spilled paint.
"Wang Hu... Wang Hu warned me about this!"
It felt as if a venomous serpent were gnawing at Kira's heart. He let out a soul-rending scream:
"ATHRUN!"
(End of Chapter)