Pressing the advantage was only natural. After scattering and crushing the Combined Fleet's attacking force against Orb, the enemy had lost four ace units and nearly twenty regular MS squads. Their strength had been severely weakened. No matter how many ordinary MS squads remained in the fleet, the imbalance in high-end combat power would endlessly erase the Combined Fleet's numerical advantage. They simply could not rely on numbers to deal with Orb's several advanced machines.
After destroying the MS force that had come to raid and harass them, the pressure on this Orb fleet—and on the homeland behind it—seemed to vanish completely in the face of the Combined Fleet's overwhelming numbers, replaced by a longing for victory and confidence. Especially after the Justice Gundam had destroyed so many enemies in succession, numbers were no longer the decisive factor in battle. No matter how great the numbers, they were still only numbers. Before absolute power, quantity without quality was useless.
As the Justice Gundam led Orb's fleet toward the Combined Fleet, preparing to crush it in one stroke, Cagalli hurriedly piloted her Crimson Strike after the Justice Gundam and the Orb Fleet, which had already begun changing course. She shouted over the comms, "Xiao Ran, stop! Orb Fleet, stop immediately! What are you doing? Destroying that force doesn't mean Orb has the ability to fight that Combined Fleet! Stop, all of you!"
But no matter how she ordered the Orb Fleet to stop over the comms, not a single person, MS, or ship answered her. Even though some in the fleet knew who was telling them to stop, even though there were soldiers in this Orb fleet loyal to the Asaha family, all they did was salute in the direction of the Crimson Strike. They made no other move.
Inside the