Chapter 205: Accelerating the Plot III
Floating adrift in space, Trowa was rescued by the rescue crew of a colonial satellite—but he had lost his memory.
While wandering the streets, he encountered Catherine and the members of her circus, who had come to perform at the colony.
In order to protect Trowa and allow him to live an ordinary life, Catherine decided to conceal his past and the fact that he had once piloted the Heavyarms Gundam in battle.
Meanwhile, after completing the Altron Gundam, Zhang Wufei continued his training under the guidance of his mentor, Master Chao. Seeing Zhang Wufei's confusion, Master Chao reminded him to hold firm to his own beliefs—that true justice must be decided by oneself.
At that very moment, the Romefeller Foundation learned that a Gundam was present in this colony and launched an attack on it. Zhang Wufei immediately took off in the Altron Gundam to intercept.
However, to keep Zhang Wufei from being distracted during the battle, Master Chao activated the colony's self-destruct system.
Watching his home—the colony where he had lived—explode before his eyes, Zhang Wufei was consumed by rage and annihilated every single enemy unit.
Elsewhere, Milliardo and Dr. Howard were traveling aboard the Eternal Peace, a spaceship wandering the cosmos in search of comrades to fight alongside. When they encountered Zhang Wufei, the two inevitably clashed.
During this battle, Milliardo once again succumbed to the illusions produced by the ZERO System, launching wild and uncontrolled attacks.
At the same time, Zhang Wufei had already concluded that Milliardo was his enemy and withdrew in the Twin-Head Dragon Altron.
Within the Kingdom of Sanc, Noin began gathering the remnants of Treize's faction and the old United Earth forces.
Quatre, meanwhile, set out for the desert to retrieve the Sandrock Gundam. But upon witnessing the future shown to him by the ZERO System, Heero came to believe that the Kingdom of Sanc was not worth protecting.
On Earth, the Romefeller Foundation's forces suffered repeated defeats. Following the advice of his niece, Dorothy Catalonia—who was also Treize's niece—Duke Dermail decided to head for the space colonies.
He planned to seize control of the colonies' military power, unify them under his rule, and then use their strength to conquer the entire Earth in one decisive strike.
Thus, Duke Dermail set off for the space colonies and ordered the forces stationed there to construct the Libra, an enormous space battleship that would serve to unify all the colonies.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Relena began advocating for a policy of absolute pacifism. Influenced by her stance, voices within the Romefeller Foundation also began calling for disarmament.
With Duke Dermail no longer standing in her way, Relena's proposal gained overwhelming support during a council meeting. In the end, she was chosen as the new leader—the Queen—of the Romefeller Foundation.
Out in space, Zhang Wufei, fighting alone, turned his sights toward the Libra, the massive battleship under construction.
At the same time, among the colonies, an armed resistance known as White Fang emerged, opposing the Romefeller Foundation's oppression.
They gathered colonies that longed for independence and the development of their own military power, forming a unified force.
When Zhang Wufei discovered White Fang, he decided to test whether they were truly worthy of protection—or whether they were merely another enemy.
In battle, unable to defeat the Altron Gundam, White Fang's forces fired the Libra's beam cannon, forcing Zhang Wufei to retreat.
However, the blast also destroyed many of their own unmanned units. Witnessing this callous disregard for their comrades, Zhang Wufei became even more certain that White Fang was his enemy.
Not long after, White Fang moved to seize control of the Barge Fortress. On their way, they encountered the shuttle carrying Duke Dermail to the colonies—and destroyed it without hesitation. Thus ended the Duke's dream of conquering the world.
At the same time, White Fang's supreme commander Quinze introduced their new leader amid chants of "Down with the Gundams and OZ!"—Milliardo Peacecraft.
Standing before everyone, Milliardo declared war on the colonies' enemy—Earth itself. He reignited the war between the Earth and the space colonies, a conflict that also became the war between siblings: Relena and Milliardo.
Soon after, White Fang launched its assault on the Barge Fortress.
Inside the Barge Fortress's main command room, a radar operator reported, "Lieutenant Colonel Lady, the enemy's MD units have suddenly appeared near the space minefield. Time until contact with the first defense line: six hundred seconds.
"Virgo II units have already entered formation with their new laser beam rifles—thirty seconds remaining until full deployment."
Lady remained stern as she asked the gunnery officer, "Status of the Barge main cannon?"
"Reporting, ma'am—link operations complete. All systems normal."
"Begin charging preparations. Fire the moment it's necessary."
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!"
Tolle spoke to the tense Lady with a grin. "Hey now, don't get so worked up. We already managed to fend off the Romefeller Foundation, didn't we? White Fang's just a bunch of clowns. There's nothing to worry about.
"Besides, I've left the Tallgeese Wing Zero Prelude here as your personal unit. I'll sortie in the Wing Zero Gundam Snow White Prelude. We'll push them back in no time."
Lady nodded slightly, smiling. "All right. If necessary, I'll join the fight as well. After all, I still want to fight on the battlefield—as a soldier."
Then she turned to her deputy commander. "All hands to first combat readiness! Deploy the entire Virgo II squadron—stop them before they reach the Barge Fortress!
"This is the final stronghold in space—the last line of defense. We cannot afford to lose!
"Deputy, I'm leaving command here to you. I'll lead the troops myself."
With that, Lady and Tolle headed toward the hangar together.
They launched in their mobile suits and arrived at the designated defense zone. Everyone waited tensely for the final countdown to contact.
As the last ten seconds ticked down, the communications officer began the countdown to attack: "Ten… nine… eight… two… one… zero!"
At that instant, the deputy commander gave the order: "All Barge beam cannons—aim at the incoming MD units! Fire!"
With that command, the fortress's beam cannons unleashed a storm of light toward White Fang's forces, their barrage as dense as pouring rain.
Across the battlefield, the enemy's unmanned Virgo units swiftly deployed their reflective magnetic drums, forming layers of electromagnetic shields that absorbed most of the incoming fire.
At the same time, the Virgo II pilots around the Barge Fortress raised their laser beam rifles—specially designed to penetrate electromagnetic shields—and opened fire on the MD formations ahead.