"Shani, use your Forbidden Gundam to do something!"
The other two, witnessing the overwhelming firepower erupting from the Freedom Gundam, immediately abandoned any thought of facing it head-on. They swiftly maneuvered their Mobile Suits behind the Forbidden Gundam.
"I don't need you to tell me!"
Shani's face twisted with irritation at his companion's urging, but he held back further complaints. He positioned the Forbidden Gundam's distinctive armor in front, intending to rely on its Distortion Beam capability to block the attack directly.
However, as he set up the armor... he sensed something was wrong.
"Wait... why is the Mobile Suit's energy dropping so rapidly?!"
"My Raider is the same! What's going on?!"
At that moment, Shani, Orga, and Kuroto all noticed their Mobile Suits' energy gauges... plummeting at an alarming rate.
"It's the particles! The Mirage Particles released by that Freedom!"
Orga quickly pieced it together, observing the shimmering particles dispersing from Freedom's large wings and the erratic electrical surges around them. He realized instantly: Freedom's Mirage Particles were somehow forcing their Mobile Suits to discharge energy!
"This is bad! If this continues, the Forbidden's energy will... Agh!"
Shani's expression shifted to sheer panic. With energy draining this fast, not only could he not distort the Beam, but he risked a complete power shutdown. He yanked the control stick to retreat... only to find the Raider and Calamity, still stunned behind him, blocking his escape route.
But... by the time he tried to adjust his evasion path, it was too late.
The concentrated multicolored energy pierced straight through the Forbidden's armor and frame... Had it not narrowly missed the Battery Pack, the entire Mobile Suit would have been blown to pieces.
The Raider and Calamity finally reacted, darting backward to avoid the residual blast from Freedom's full-power assault... As the attack's aftermath faded, they saw the Forbidden, its body impaled by the energy beam.
The Forbidden's upper and lower sections were severed at the point of impact, the edges of the breach still glowing red-hot, armor half-melted from the energy's scorching heat.
Seeing this, the Raider's provocative pilot squawked like a parrot:
"He's dead! Shani's dead! Killed by that big-winged pilot!"
"Stop shouting nonsense! Only the Mobile Suit was pierced! The Cockpit might still be intact!"
Orga snapped back, though the Cockpit's partially exposed state was far from ideal, at least it hadn't been directly hit.
"Hurry and retrieve the Forbidden! We can't just leave the wreckage behind, or we'll catch hell when we return!"
"Got it, got it, stop nagging!"
After a brief argument, Kuroto and Orga agreed to recover the remains. Each grabbing half of the Forbidden, they laid down covering fire and retreated along their original path.
"Aren't you going to chase them?"
"No need. Never pursue a desperate foe. Besides, they're only part of the joint forces. If we chase them and force the Alliance to launch an attack prematurely, it would be unfavorable."
Lu Tianming shook his head. The earlier full-power burst had consumed a significant amount of Freedom's energy, and continuing pursuit would carry certain risks.
Moreover, the enemy hadn't intended to go all-in initially. If they were chased and cornered, they might launch a full-scale assault.
After these words, the two fell into a brief silence, which was eventually broken by Athrun:
"Earlier... why did you save me? It would have been more advantageous for you to let me be shot down before making your move."
He hadn't wanted to ask, but... he was particularly curious about the motives of Freedom's pilot - not just the reason for saving him, but also his attitude toward the war.
Under normal circumstances, those Earth Alliance soldiers who deeply despised Coordinators would likely have used him as bait, only intervening after he'd been destroyed.
"You drew fire for me, I saved your life. A perfectly reasonable exchange."
Lu Tianming didn't overthink it, speaking plainly.
"Besides... if you really died, Kira would be very sad."
"What?! How do you know—"
Athrun was startled, surprised that the other had mentioned Kira. Normally... no one should have known about his relationship with Kira.
But at the mention of Kira, his heart softened slightly. He sighed quietly, seemingly ignoring his previous question, and asked instead:
"...You haven't done anything to Kira, have you?"
"Our ideal is to create a world where Coordinators and Naturals can coexist. Naturally, we wouldn't commit the discriminatory acts you're worried about."
Lu Tianming answered with a smile, well aware of what Athrun was concerned about.
"How could such a world possibly exist?!"
"Precisely because it doesn't exist that we must create it... Both I and Kira are working hard to realize this ideal."
"If you don't believe me, why not come see for yourself?"
As Lu Tianming spoke, Freedom extended its hand toward Athrun's Aegis - as if issuing an invitation.
Athrun found this scene utterly absurd... an enemy was actually extending a recruitment invitation to him?
Even more absurd was that at this moment - he actually felt somewhat tempted?
His temptation wasn't solely because of Kira, but also because of the so-called ideal Lu Tianming had described.
His father's rigid... even obsessive views had previously made him question the justification for war. After the Alaska battle, his convictions had grown even more unstable.
Could this fight to the death truly bring about peace?
Even if victory were possible, what kind of world would it bring... a world filled with postwar trauma, facing a demographic crisis due to genetic issues and war, or even more extremely, facing the crisis of national extinction?
Would such a world have any meaning?
Compared to that kind of world, he even felt that the world Lu Tianming described - where Naturals and Coordinators coexisted harmoniously - was actually more appealing.
"No... no, or rather, let me think..."
He felt he couldn't find a reason to refuse Lu Tianming's invitation, yet his sense of duty as a ZAFT soldier told him he couldn't do this.
The conflict between his beliefs and identity left his mind... momentarily in a state of utter chaos.
"I'll wait for your answer, but only until next time."
Tianming said in a calm tone.
"If you remain an enemy by then, I won't hold back against you anymore."
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