Within Genesis's defense network was a particularly famous special MS defense unit: the Mobile Suit 08th MS Team. Every member of this squad was an elite among elites. It even included ZAFT super aces and had deployed a unit from the same generation as the Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam—the Rebirth Gundam that Xiao Ran and Nicol had once destroyed.
The Rebirth Gundam was named "Rebirth" entirely because of its fully modular design. Its various modules were mass-produced on a large scale, so no matter how many times it was damaged, it could be reborn simply by replacing the modules, as though it had never been damaged at all.
In other words, the Rebirth Gundam that Xiao Ran and Nicol had destroyed would inevitably appear again. The one they had destroyed before might have merely been cobbled together from a pile of spare parts, and it had not been piloted by the special defense team's Ace-level pilot, Ash Gray. Otherwise, how could Xiao Ran, with D-class Piloting Skill, have so easily destroyed a B-class machine while piloting a C-class mecha, even with Nicol's assistance?
So this time, the Rebirth Gundam that appeared again would be completely different from before. There might even be more than one of them.
In the original story, Athrun had been able to break through Genesis's defenses and charge into Genesis so easily not only because he piloted the Justice Gundam, a machine that left ZAFT's defense forces at a loss, nor because his name was Sala. The more important reason was that the Rebirth Gundam and this special defense team had been held up and destroyed by Luo and Murrue Ramius. That was why Athrun had been able to rush into Genesis without obstruction.
Ash Gray was a madman, someone so crazed that he dared