January 25, CE 71, around 14:00 Standard Time
Under the cover of dispersed Minovsky particles, the Gwamel, commanded by Luther, had approached to within several hundred kilometers of Heliopolis, completely undetected.
However, partly to maintain the cloaking effect of the Minovsky particles and partly to prepare for a potential battle, the Gwamel had already reduced its speed from the high-speed cruise it had maintained after accelerating along the lunar orbit, down to a combat cruise speed.
As a side note, the Zeon emblem on the ship's bow had been simply modified to the Neo Zeon style, with a Halo design newly added to the top of the insignia.
On the bridge, the combat information officer had just reported the latest optical and thermal observation results to the command platform.
"Report. The mobile suits launched from the unidentified ship have entered the colony satellite."
Tessa nodded in acknowledgment of the report, while Luther muttered to himself beside her.
"This must be the second wave Creuset sent to try and destroy the Strike Gundam after ZAFT finished stealing the other Gundams, right? Then, during the battle, the unrestrained firepower from both sides quickly destroyed the colony satellite's main axis, ultimately leading to the disintegration of Heliopolis. Dammit, we rushed here, but were we still a step too late?!"
Hearing Luther mention the colony satellite's disintegration, the women in the command area naturally showed expressions of disbelief. However, as it was a critical moment in the operation, they temporarily restrained themselves, allowing Tessa and Luther to finish their conversation first.
"In any case, the battle inside the colony satellite should have already begun. Even if we accelerate now, it's probably too late. Luther, let's plan the mission assuming the colony satellite will break apart. This operation will rely heavily on the intelligence from your memory, so you can assign the tasks."
Luther nodded, taking the specific operational command from Tessa's hands, a rare occurrence.
"Monica, take your people to the port and administrative districts. See if you can find the evidence needed for that plan. Cima, you take your people to the factory district. According to the side story's plot, there should be five Astray Gundams for Orb's own use. Collect as many as you can. Tessa, the Gwamel will continue to approach Heliopolis. You will be responsible for organizing the shuttle and maintenance crews to gather the supplies we need. Haman, you will lead the Newtype unit in a sortie. Your duty is to confirm the safety of the Escape Pods. If you find any pods in danger or damaged, temporarily recover them; you can ignore those in better condition. Orb personnel should come to collect them later, so we don't need to meddle. I will personally go and meet the great villain, Creuset. It would be even better if I could take him out right here. Now, have the Gwamel's main cannon open fire. Target the ZAFT warships. Let's see if we can draw back the forces they sent out. Do our best and leave the rest to fate. It would be great if we could prevent Heliopolis from breaking apart!"
Luther's arrangements were detailed and methodical. The women all nodded, especially upon hearing Luther's attempt to save Heliopolis. As for whether Luther would be in danger attacking two ZAFT warships by himself, no one was worried.
After all, Luther's personal machine, the "Time Observer," was a Qubeley the size of a Kshatriya.
Although it was built with technology from the period between the end of the One Year War and the Zeta Era of the original Universal Century timeline, it was a one-of-a-kind Newtype Custom Machine built at any cost, making its production efficiency abysmal. But in terms of performance, even if used all the way to the era of Char's Counterattack, it would likely be a treasured, powerful asset for the impoverished Neo Zeon.
Not to mention, Luther himself was a combination of a powerful Newtype and an ace pilot. Back when he was the "Grand Marshal of the 800,000 Imperial Guards" of the Principality of Zeon, he had been victorious in hundreds of simulated battles and exercises, to the point where he had become numb to winning.
Such a combination of a Newtype Custom Machine and a Newtype ace pilot would be safe against even the strongest of enemies, let alone a mere two warships that looked to be on the level of Musai-class light cruisers and their onboard machines.
Now that the plan was set, the group left the bridge together and headed for the hangar bay. Before the airtight door closed, Tessa's voice could be heard from the bridge, commanding the Gwamel's bombardment.
"Main cannon, twin-barreled Mega Particle Cannon, alternating ranging shots. Fire!"
—Meanwhile, inside Heliopolis—
The Strike Gundam, piloted by the rookie Kira who had been forced into the cockpit, was in a standoff with the Aegis Gundam, piloted by Athrun who had sortied without orders.
Meanwhile, aboard the Archangel, a ship full of rookies, the veteran Mu had just manually used the ship's cannons to destroy the last D Equipment GINN. At the same time, he watched, dumbfounded, as the two large Anti-Ship Missiles the GINN had fired before exploding flew uncontrollably toward the main axis of Heliopolis.
At that moment, Mu, whose Moebius Zero was now just a "bare stick," was controlling the anti-aircraft fire from the combat information officer's seat on the Archangel when he suddenly sensed something again.
"This feeling... something's coming!"
Although they were baffled by Lieutenant Commander Flaga's words, Mu's intuition had just bought the Archangel precious preparation time, so everyone began observing with all their might.
Soon, through the cracking land—or sky, if you will—of Heliopolis, Ensign Badgiruel keenly caught sight of the traces of a Mega Particle Cannon beam passing through a "fissure in the earth."
"Captain Ramius, look over there! Is that the trace of a high-energy beam cannon? Are they reinforcements?"
"I don't know! Lieutenant Commander Flaga, did you know about any reinforcements? It looks like they're bombarding the ZAFT warships!"
Captain Murrue was clearly clueless about Badgiruel's question and threw it directly to Mu. Fortunately, Mu was a seasoned veteran and remained calm, knowing what was most important right now.
"At least it doesn't look like a new enemy! Captain, now is not the time to dwell on this. We need to take this chance to escape! Our priority is to save this ship and the last remaining G-unit!"
"But..."
Captain Murrue was still hesitating, but the mission-oriented Badgiruel had already begun to act on her own.
"X-105 Strike, can you hear me? We are retreating. Return to the ship immediately! Kira Yamato, if you can hear me, please respond!"
—Meanwhile, inside the Aegis Gundam's cockpit—
Having also noticed the traces of the Mega Particle Cannon clearly heading for his own mothership, and with all allied forces inside Heliopolis wiped out, the red-uniformed Athrun Zala once again tried to accomplish the goal of his unauthorized sortie before retreating.
"Kira, come with me! You're a Coordinator, aren't you? The Earth Alliance is the enemy. You should be on our side!"
Faced with the persuasion of his childhood friend and the call from the annoying Ensign Badgiruel on the comms, the indecisive Kira finally made a decision.
"I'm sorry, Athrun. I have no intention of taking part in this war, and my friends are on that ship..."
With that, Kira retracted his weapons and, braving the air venting from Heliopolis, approached the Archangel, which was moving toward him.
Faced with his childhood friend's "unreasonableness," Athrun ultimately couldn't bring himself to deliver a "righteous backstab."
Watching the colony satellite disintegrate further, with the increasingly continuous traces of the Mega Particle Cannon visible through the widening fissures, Athrun slammed his fist on the seat in frustration. He watched the Strike Gundam carry Kira away into the distance and had no choice but to turn the Aegis Gundam around and leave.
At this point, the insert song "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni" should be playing.
Escaping through the air venting from Heliopolis, Athrun's field of vision instantly widened. The first thing he saw was the Nazca-class High-speed Battleship Vesalius and the Laurasia-class Escort Ship Gamow struggling to turn under the unknown enemy's bombardment, beginning to return fire with their own main cannons.
As he broke free from the communication interference of the colony satellite's outer wall, short-range communications under their own jamming were re-established.
"Athrun Zala, why are you alone? What happened to the others?"
"Regrettably, the attack failed. All were killed in action except for me."
Although Athrun brought shocking news, it was clear that the Vesalius had no time for such minor problems.
"What! Dammit, I understand. Please return to the ship as soon as possible!"
"Athrun Zala, roger."
Evidently, Athrun didn't have to worry for the time being about the troubling question in his heart: how to explain to Captain Creuset his unauthorized sortie, his failure to achieve his objective, and the fact that he had effectively fraternized with the enemy.
Glancing back one more time at the Archangel, which was escaping in another direction under the cover of Heliopolis's collapse, Athrun put aside his worries for his old friend, returned to the Vesalius, and prepared to face his new destiny.