Following the mobile suits, forces from both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance spotted four warships advancing toward the theater of battle: the Archangel, the Earth Alliance's newest Archangel-class vessel; the Eternal, ZAFT's latest warship, accompanied by a Nazca-class battleship; and the Kusanagi, confirmed to be the Orb Union's newest vessel.
Aboard the Eternal, Lacus opened an open-frequency broadcast.
"Forces of the Earth Alliance, cease your attack immediately! Do you truly understand what kind of weapon you are using? I repeat, Earth Alliance forces, cease your attack at once!"
"Is that... Lady Lacus's voice?"
Nearly everyone on the ZAFT side recognized who was speaking.
Aboard the Dominion, Natarle let out a silent breath of relief upon seeing the nuclear missiles shot down. Glancing over at the somewhat bewildered Muruta, she cleared her throat and asked, "What are your orders, Director Azrael?"
Snapping back to his senses, Muruta curled his lips into a cold sneer. "Anyone who gets in our way is an enemy. Besides, those machines are a persistent headache anyway. This works out perfectly... Barbatos... let them all be obliterated along with PLANT."
Natarle's eyes narrowed at his words.
Inside the cockpits of the mobile suits deployed by the Three Ships Alliance, the transmission from the Eternal came through. Lacus spoke in a solemn voice.
"Everyone, though many among us are Naturals, our goal is one and the same: peaceful coexistence. I pray that everyone can come to see Naturals and Coordinators as fellow brethren, but right now, I implore you to protect the ordinary people of PLANT.
Please... do not allow the nuclear missiles to strike PLANT. This is my pleanot as a leader, but as an ordinary citizen of PLANT who yearns for peace between Coordinators and Naturals."
Mikazuki glanced toward the Eternal. Without a word, he steered his machine, docked within its Kutan Type-III booster, and hurled himself into the fray, tearing across the battlefield like a force of nature.
In mere minutes, a great number of Earth Alliance Moebius units carrying nuclear warheads were wiped out. Yet even after clearing them away, Mikazuki did not let his guard down. His eyes swept restlessly across the theater of war.
"Not here..."
He was looking for Creuset. A month ago, everyone had agreed that Creuset was a threat that had to be eliminated, yet he didn't seem to be on the battlefield.
"Whatever. I'll deal with the Earth Alliance guys first."
Muttering to himself, Mikazuki locked back onto the Earth Alliance fleet and their mobile suits, unleashing a merciless onslaught.
The skirmish raged for about ten minutes before people began to notice something strange: ZAFT's fleets and mobile suits were falling back, pulling away toward the rear and the flanks.
The maneuver baffled many observers. Why were they withdrawing? Granted, the sudden arrival of the Archangel and the Eternal had intercepted the Earth Alliance's first wave of nuclear missiles, but the Alliance warships still carried plenty in reserveenough for a third, fourth, or fifth wave of nuclear strikes. ZAFT's retreat was decidedly bizarre.
Once the ZAFT forces had pulled back to a specific distance, both the Earth Alliance and the Three Ships Alliance detected an unknown signal suddenly appearing on their sensors.
Mikazuki zoomed in on the optical feed. Lurking behind the Jachin Due defense line was an enormous structure. In the back, it looked somewhat like a giant pot lid, while out in front stood a spire reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.
"What is that...?"
A sudden wave of foreboding washed over Mikazuki. Without hesitation, he hailed Orga.
"Orga, Orga!"
"What is it, Mika?" Orga's face appeared on the monitor before him.
"Pull back, now! Anywhere! Tell Murrue and the others to steer clear to the sides! Don't stay where you are!"
Orga was taken aback and asked urgently, "What's wrong?"
Mikazuki's gaze remained glued to the colossal structure that had emerged behind the Jachin Due line. "That thing... something isn't right about it."
"Understood."
Before long, Orga opened a comm channel to the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi. When Lacus and the others heard Orga urge them to disengage, confusion washed over their faces.
"What is happening, Mr. Orga?"
"It's what Mika said. He says that giant thing looks dangerous. Just get out of there, quickly! Don't drag your feet!"
"Mika?"
Lacus and Murrue both froze. Right at that moment, the titanic structure shifted in color. The originally pale exterior turned into a reflective, mirror-like sheen.
"...Could that be... Phase Shift Armor?"
Lacus's heart sank at the sight. Making an instant decision, she commanded, "Understood! Order all mobile suit units to retreat! Clear out of the central sector of this airspace!"
Andrew did not hesitate either. "Understood!"
All four ships broadcast the retreat signal simultaneously. Though the pilots still fighting out in space were confused, they quickly returned to their respective hangars. Following ZAFT's lead, the vessels of the Three Ships Alliance pulled away as well.
"What are they playing at?"
Inside the fortress behind the Jachin Due defense line, Patrick Zala sat at the commander's seat in the combat bridge. Sweeping his arm forward, he barked, "Fire GENESIS!"
When Muruta saw ZAFT retreating, he didn't think much of it and ordered the Peacemaker Corps to press on. But at that very moment, an operator in the Dominion's CIC cried out in alarm.
"High energy surge detected from the massive object behind Jachin Due! This... it's a nuclear reaction!"
"What?!"
Before Muruta could even process the words, Natarle shouted urgently, "Hard to port! Evasive maneuvers!"
A beam brimming with cataclysmic energy burst forth from the colossal weapon behind Jachin Due. Any Earth Alliance fleet caught in its path was obliterated without exception.
Fortune smiled slightly upon the Dominion, as it had already drifted to the upper left of the beam's trajectory. Pale-faced and frozen in sheer terror, the remaining personnel of the Earth Alliance stared at a spectacle that rivaled the devastating grandeur of their own nuclear arms, utterly struck dumb.
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).