Heliopolis Space Colony
Lu Tianming rubbed his slightly throbbing head. As his consciousness gradually cleared, he looked around with confusion and bewilderment in his eyes.
He found himself hiding behind a storage shelf inside a dilapidated factory. His gaze fell upon collapsed ceilings and broken walls everywhere he looked - not a single intact structure remained in sight.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of gunpowder and blood, along with the distinctive acrid odor of chemicals burning in the flames.
Gunfire and explosions echoed in his ears like drumbeats in a rock song.
The intense and chaotic sensory stimulation left Lu Tianming momentarily disoriented... After all, he remembered that just moments ago, he had been chatting with his good friend about newly available Mecha model pre-orders while holding a Gel blaster, preparing to participate in an informal wargame.
Yes - he, Lu Tianming, before somehow ending up here, was just a healthy young man who liked mechas and occasionally played with Gel blasters.
"Private First Class Lu, are you alright?"
A voice tinged with urgency and concern sounded beside him. Lu Tianming turned toward the voice and saw a woman in her twenties speaking.
Her short brown hair was disheveled from the rush of combat, and her work uniform, ill-fitting for her figure, clearly outlined her impressive physique. Seeing that Lu Tianming was unharmed, surprise flickered in her eyes before her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, as if seeing him still mobile had somewhat eased her burden.
Lu Tianming recognized this woman - Murrue Ramius, the captain of the Archangel, the battleship where the protagonist served in "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED."
And now, he roughly understood what situation he was in - the first episode's plot where the enemy ZAFT forces invaded Heliopolis to seize the five Gundams located here.
If he remembered correctly, this was a scenario with an extremely high mortality rate for background characters.
The civilians in the space colony were almost certain to die. Even if the war didn't reach them, the colony's disintegration would directly eliminate any survivors. Even those who managed to board escape pods had less than one in ten chance of survival.
And even though he had been reborn as a member of the Gundam escort team, his survival prospects weren't much better.
In the original story, with both local and reinforcement forces totaling only two or three ships, the remaining formal military personnel couldn't even fill the regular positions on the battleship, showing just how high the mortality rate was.
The identity he had been reborn into was probably just one of the many casualties in the original story.
"I'm fine. What's the current combat situation?"
Lu Tianming adjusted his state and, noticing he still had a pistol at his waist, drew it, released the safety, and held it ready for emergencies.
"We're at a stalemate... but given the enemy's firepower, it's only a matter of time before we're breached."
Murrue shook her head rather pessimistically, her eyes filled with worry.
"And we're almost out of ammunition."
Hearing this unfavorable news, Lu Tianming's brow furrowed slightly.
Memories of this body were gradually flooding into his mind... According to his recollection, this stalemate had been going on for some time. If Kira, the protagonist from the original work, were going to appear, he would have already shown up to pilot the Gundam and turn the tide.
It seemed there had likely been some plot deviation.
In that case... to survive, he would have to find a way to activate the Gundam himself.
With this thought, he looked up at the massive mobile suit quietly resting on the storage rack before him—the very storage rack he and Murrue were using as cover held the most crucial machine of all: the Strike Gundam.
However... there was no cover near the cockpit. From the moment he climbed onto the machine until he could open the hatch—the activator would become the most conspicuous target.
But rather than waiting around to see if that miraculous protagonist would appear... Lu Tianming preferred to take his chances.
Moreover... for some reason, he had a persistent feeling, as if the Strike was also drawing him in, waiting for him.
Noticing Lu Tianming's slightly furrowed brows as he gazed at the Strike, Murrue seemed to sense his intention and asked:
"...Are you going to activate the Strike?"
"Yes."
Seeing the faint concern in Murrue's eyes, Lu Tianming gave a slight nod.
Although the original owner wasn't a professional pilot, he did have some basic operational knowledge... plus the machine's systems contained manuals. Even if his skills were lacking, overcoming the current crisis through sheer performance difference wasn't impossible.
Murrue initially wanted to dissuade him, but seeing the determination in Lu Tianming's eyes, she swallowed her words.
Indeed... to break the current deadlock, risking activation of the Strike was the only option.
"Then I'll provide suppressive fire to distract them. Seize the opportunity when it comes."
"Right, I'm counting on you."
After exchanging glances and reaching a silent understanding, they both turned to face their respective battles.
Murrue leaned out from cover, emptying the remaining bullets from her firearm to draw the invaders' attention and create an opening for Lu Tianming.
Lu Tianming didn't hesitate either—with a running start he leaped onto the storage rack, dodging and weaving his way toward the Strike's cockpit.
During this process, the invaders seemed to notice Lu Tianming's movements, with several bullets whistling past his face.
Fortunately, Murrue's gunfire rang out immediately after, her suppressive fire forcing the enemy to divert attention from Lu Tianming.
Seizing this opportunity, Lu Tianming finally reached the cockpit.
Just as he mentally relaxed slightly and prepared to open the hatch using the operational methods from his memory—a startled cry came from Murrue's direction.
"Lu Tianming, get down!"
The desperate shout made Lu Tianming instinctively turn his head—only to see a grenade that had somehow been thrown by an invader, flying directly toward him.
He instinctively crouched down with his arms protecting his head, closing his eyes—but the grenade alone could hit him just by impact, and he didn't think this defensive posture would be of much use.
...Was he really going to fail when success was so close at hand?
This bitter thought rose unbidden in his mind... but then he realized something.
Neither the blast shockwave nor the heat wave... seemed to have arrived as expected?
He cautiously opened his eyes—and witnessed a scene that left him stunned.
The Strike Gundam... actually raised its arm to block the exploding grenade for itself?
But before his initial shock could subside, another even more astonishing event instantly followed—
The cockpit, without any operation from him, automatically opened.
And from the empty cockpit, a voice faintly emerged—
"No time to hesitate, get in here now, kid!"