Chapter 12: SEED – Where Did the Z.A.F.T. GINN Go?
Not long after, Murrue Ramius awoke and shook her head at Kira.
Perhaps she was recalling those incredible scenes from just moments ago in the cockpit. Her eyes, deep in thought, fell upon Kira.
At that moment, Tolle Koenig noticed that Murrue had woken up and deliberately raised his voice.
"Wow, is that thing called a Gundam? Looks awesome!"
Kuzzey Buskirk asked, "Can it start up?"
Murrue turned her head toward the source of the voices—two boys who looked very much like students had somehow climbed into the Gundam's cockpit.
Startled, she jumped to her feet, drew a pistol from her side, and aimed it directly at Tolle Koenig and Kuzzey Buskirk inside the cockpit.
Her tone was tense as she said,
"Get down from there right now!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, a bullet shot out of the chamber and struck the armor plating just outside the cockpit.
Tolle, deliberately playing along with Kuzzey, pretended to be frightened—shrinking back, letting out a startled cry, and staring at Murrue with feigned terror.
Kira Yamato quickly ran forward, taking two steps in one, and stood in front of Murrue.
"What are you doing! They're the ones who carried you out of the cockpit just now!"
"Sorry," Murrue said, shifting her aim toward Kira.
"I appreciate you saving me earlier, but this is an important military secret—something civilians like you have no right to touch."
She continued in a stern voice,
"I have to inform the relevant authorities. Until we receive orders on how to handle you, you will all have to come with me."
Kuzzey exclaimed in shock, "How can you do this?!"
Tolle also feigned anger. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Sai Argyle spoke up angrily,
"We're Orb civilians from Heliopolis! We're neutral! The military has nothing to do with us!"
Murrue fired a warning shot into the sky, then said firmly,
"You naïve kids, be quiet. Just because you say 'we're neutral' doesn't mean this has nothing to do with you.
Right here lies an important Earth Forces military secret, and all of you have seen it. You must face reality.
Besides, between the PLANTs and Earth, between Coordinators and Naturals, there is a war going on in places you can't even see.
It's not as simple as declaring neutrality and washing your hands of it. For now, you've been requisitioned under my command, so cooperate with me."
Under Murrue's threat, the group had no choice but to comply and follow her work assignments.
Tolle glanced at the fallen GINN on the ground, unwilling to give up.
"Damn it, where's my GINN? That thing's huge—how could it just vanish?
Nami, check where that GINN went!"
"Master, the GINN was taken away by its allies. Should I have it return?"
"Aw, come on! You can't outplan fate. Z.A.F.T. sure is thrifty—dragging back even a wrecked unit.
This sucks—now my Gundam project's delayed again. Not happy about this at all.
Forget recalling it, Nami. I want them to pay me back for my Gundam.
Once that GINN reaches the Z.A.F.T. warship, secretly assimilate the entire ship and every mobile suit onboard.
As for the crew—infect them with the neo DG Cells and have them lie dormant until needed, at which point we can brainwash and control them.
One GINN for one warship—fair trade, right? I'll keep that ship as a hidden asset.
Let's see if they dare touch my Gundam again, hahaha…"
"As you command, Master."
"Good. I want to see which unlucky warship it turns out to be. If it's Rau Le Creuset's ship, that'll be even more interesting.
In the end, the one who comes out on top in this Gundam struggle will be me—the yellow bird swooping in at the last moment. Let's hope it goes smoothly.
Still, before we reach Earth, there's one more chance to grab a suit—the reconnaissance-type GINN stationed at Junius Seven.
It's going to be tricky though. Kira can't handle manual OS tweaks yet, so chances are slim.
Maybe I'll have to use the Sky Master option… Or perhaps grab a Moebius from Artemis's Umbrella first.
That base is going to be blown to pieces anyway—might as well grab one in the chaos and modify it.
Then I can claim it was a special unit found inside—no witnesses, no problem. Yep, let's do that first. Get a machine to play with before the main event."
Miriallia handled communications to request rescue from the Earth Forces, while the others drove vehicles and moved weapons and equipment.
Just as the work was nearly done, Rau Le Creuset piloting a GINN and Mu La Flaga piloting the Zero Moebius fought their way into Heliopolis.
Zero Moebius
D+ Class MA
HP: 600
Energy: 180
Mobility: 100
Armor: 160
Terrain Adaptability: Sea–Land–Air–Space A
Fixed Armaments: Linear Gun (700); Wired Pods ×4 (1200)
—
Ginn [Cigu]
D+ Class Mobile Suit
HP: 1100
Energy: 200
Mobility: 85
Armor: 300
Terrain Adaptability: Sea–Land B, Air–Space B
Fixed Armaments: MA-M4A Heavy Slash Sword (700); M7070 Arm-Mounted Shield with Built-In 28mm Vulcan (800); MMI-M7S 76mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun (500)
Kira Yamato switched the Strike Gundam to its artillery configuration, preparing to intercept Rau Le Creuset's GINN.
Mu La Flaga's wired pods on the Zero Moebius had already been destroyed by Le Creuset, leaving him only able to dodge under the GINN's assault.
While chasing the Zero Moebius, Le Creuset spotted the Strike Gundam below and immediately opened fire with the Vulcan and heavy assault machine gun.
Kira quickly activated the Strike Gundam's Phase Shift Armor, shielding Tolle and the others from the attack.
The Strike Gundam raised its arm, aiming the Agni hyper impulse cannon at Rau's GINN and firing. Rau dodged swiftly, and just like in the original story, only the weapon and arm were hit—while the blast also tore a massive hole in Heliopolis's structure.
Kira was stunned, shocked by the cannon's sheer destructive power.
At that moment, a beam shot up from the ground, followed by the Archangel emerging into view.
Seeing the tide turn, Rau took the opportunity to escape through the hole.
Meanwhile, Nami received intel: the GINN had been taken to a Nazca-class high-speed warship.
The ship carried five more GINNs and one GINN-type commander unit—but unfortunately, it wasn't Rau Le Creuset's vessel.
Still, it wasn't a bad haul—after all, the Nazca-class was a newer Z.A.F.T. warship.
Its only drawback was its smaller capacity, able to carry only six mobile suits at most.
Nazca-class High-Speed Combat Ship
C+ Class Warship
HP: 7000
Energy: 800
Mobility: 90
Armor: 600
Terrain Adaptability: Sea–Land–Air–Space A
Length: 255 meters
Fixed Armaments: 120mm Single High-Energy Beam Cannon ×2 (2200/30); 66mm Dual Railgun ×2 (1800); 58mm Automated CIWS ×10 (550); 450mm Multi-Purpose VLS ×5 (2800)