The Coming Beginning

"The damage is severe."

In the hangar of the Vesalius, Nicol looked at the nearly totaled Mobile Suit and couldn't help but speak.

"Serpent Tail is a very famous mercenary group, and their leader is Gai Murakumo. For Michel to achieve this much is actually quite impressive."

The logistics staff member in charge of the hangar had come out earlier than Ino and the others, so he naturally knew a few things.

"Gai Murakumo?"

Ino frowned slightly; he had indeed never heard of this name.

At the very least, there was no such person in his memories.

Although the protagonists were Athrun and the others, Michel was at least someone who had left a name for himself.

To have someone pop out of nowhere and fight Michel to a mutual destruction...

"But it looks like Serpent Tail can become history now. After all, ejecting from a Mobile Suit in space and relying solely on a pilot suit makes survival almost impossible."

The older man had also heard about the situation of the battle.

"Even if he is alive, so what?"

Yzak, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "I admit he has some skill to be able to fight Michel to this extent, but that's as far as it goes."

"..."

Hearing this, the group fell silent.

Yzak's mood had been very poor these past few days.

The reason for this was the Mobile Suit situation.

For this voyage, Le Creuset had requested eight Mobile Suits, but in the end, seven of those were given to the green-uniformed pilots, and the remaining one was given to Ino, leaving Yzak feeling very frustrated.

"By the way, where is Michel?"

Ino, having guessed a few things, changed the subject.

"He went to Captain Le Creuset's office to report on the mission," Rusty explained. "Although he destroyed the opponent's Mobile Suit, the opponent also detonated the supply base. All in all, there were still some flaws."

"I see."

Ino looked at the older man in charge of Mobile Suit logistics. "Can this Mobile Suit be repaired in a short time?"

When Michel delivered the fatal blow, the pilot named Gai Murakumo had maneuvered his unit near the supply station and jumped out of the cockpit.

The result was that the Mobile Suit's explosion triggered a chain reaction, causing the supply base to be destroyed along with it.

"This level of damage is a bit difficult, but we are only five days away from the nearest supply point, so we can just replace it then," the logistics man replied with a smile.

It might sound a bit wrong to say.

But for them, having a unit totaled to this extent was just right.

"Five days, huh..."

Hearing this, Ino subconsciously looked at Rusty, who was standing to the side.

In the past, whenever they set out, Le Creuset would equip every red-uniformed pilot with a Mobile Suit, but this time, he had only equipped him.

When things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work. Ino only had to think about it for a moment to guess what was about to happen.

"What's wrong? Ino, that look in your eyes is a bit strange!"

Rusty, who had been mocking Michel along with Dearka and the others, noticed Ino's eerie gaze. He felt a chill run down his spine.

"...It's nothing."

Ino opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only say those words.

Because he truly didn't know how to save Rusty.

Given his current situation, Le Creuset might let him pilot a Mobile Suit to provide support, but he would absolutely never let him join Athrun and the others to seize the Mobile Suits.

Under these circumstances, Ino really didn't know how to save Rusty.

Moreover, he didn't have the ability to save him; after all, he couldn't even guarantee his own future.

"Are you sure it's nothing?"

Rusty frowned slightly.

"It's really nothing."

Ino patted Rusty on the shoulder and turned to float toward the lounge.

Perhaps it was because he was about to reach a crossroads of fate, but he felt his thoughts were in a state of chaos.

"What is this guy up to?"

Rusty watched Ino's retreating back, feeling that Ino was acting strange.

Athrun and the others also noticed Ino's abnormality.

However, they had no clue as to what the reason for his strange behavior might be.

Days passed by.

However, contrary to the expectations of Athrun and the others, the Vesalius and the Gamow did not return to the ZAFT base as originally planned.

Instead, they were advancing at full speed toward an unknown destination.

Even more unexpectedly, during this period, Ino had been spacing out and losing focus more frequently.

Due to war and history, there were many abandoned space colonies in space.

These colonies, discarded by major powers, had instead become footholds for those lurking in the shadows.

In a room somewhere within an abandoned colony named Triamila.

An old man, led by a woman, walked into a room where the gravity system was still operational.

This man was a soldier, and also a Coordinator.

He wore a uniform modified from an Earth Alliance military uniform; presumably for ease of movement, the sleeves had been cut to half-length, and there were no rank insignias or the like.

His name was Murakumo Gai, a mercenary who had just completed a mission and survived an encounter with the Le Creuset Team.

"Please repeat the details in order once more."

The tone of Murakumo Gai was much quieter than one would associate with his profession.

Before him sat a thin old man, the two of them facing each other across a small tea table.

The old man had just spoken to Gai about the contents of a commission.

However, what the old man said was so convoluted that he never got to the point.

"I apologize, there isn't much time left..."

The old man seemed very anxious and could not control his expressions.

His already thin frame looked even more fragile.

"Please, explain it in detail once again."

Gai Murakumo was bewildered by the words provided by the other party, finding it difficult to grasp the meaning for a moment.

Although the old man was impatient upon hearing the request, he had no choice but to recount it all over again...

A moment later.

Gai Murakumo roughly understood what the other party meant.

Located on the Orb colony Heliopolis was an MS manufacturing plant.

Several months ago, Morgenroete of Orb had accepted a research and development project from the Earth Alliance codenamed 'G'.

This project included the development of the latest type of MS, as well as the latest type of warship.

Heliopolis was primarily responsible for the development of the warship, while Morgenroete located on Earth was responsible for the development of the MS.

But just a short while ago, the old man had spent a large sum of money to obtain information from an intelligence broker—ZAFT had discovered that Orb was developing MS for the Earth Alliance.

Furthermore, they had already set out toward the Heliopolis colony; it was possible that they had already arrived at Heliopolis by the time they were speaking.

This was not the most fatal part.

The most fatal part was that while Orb was developing MS for the Earth Alliance, they had secretly used technology from the Earth Alliance to develop their own MS.

If the former matter meant offending PLANT, Orb, being on Earth, might still have a slim chance of survival.

But if the latter matter were exposed, Orb would essentially become an enemy of the entire world and could directly declare its national extinction.

Although the old man had contacted the person in charge of Heliopolis the moment he learned the intelligence, demanding that they immediately destroy all information and data should any special circumstances arise, he had still sought out the man before him just to be safe.