As the last ZAFT Army MS inside the colony satellite was heavily damaged and forced to retreat for repairs, the brief yet intense battle finally came to a temporary end.
Although ZAFT, the attacking side, had lost several Ginns, one Red Uniform Elite, and several ordinary soldiers,
they had successfully seized all four new MS developed by Orb Dawn Company for the Earth Alliance, along with all their data. They had even come close to wiping out the enemy force sent on its secret mission. No matter how one looked at it, they had made a huge profit.
The Earth Alliance, on the other hand, had not only lost its most important new machines, but nearly all the senior officers who had arrived with the warship had been wiped out. Only a handful had survived by sheer luck.
Fortunately, after a difficult and dangerous battle, Murrue La Mias had managed to preserve the Strike Gundam, while Nataru Bagiru had restarted the new warship that had fallen into paralysis—the Archangel.
Together with Mu La Flaga, an ace pilot among Natural humans, they still retained a certain degree of combat capability.
That meant the entire plan had not yet completely failed.
If they could escape back to Earth alive and hand over the warship, machines, and data to the executives, it could become a turning point in the war and make them heroes of the Earth Alliance.
As for Allen and his machine, he was an utterly unexpected bonus.
About ten minutes after the battle ended.
Inside the Archangel's hangar.
After the two Gundams of vastly different styles finally docked in their designated positions, their cockpit hatches slowly opened.
The moment the pilots stepped out, everyone present except Murrue, who knew the truth, was stunned.
That was because Strike's pilot was a