The Troubled Eno Kamal

Heliopolis is a traditional cylindrical space colony. This massive cylinder utilizes the centrifugal force generated by its rotation to create gravity on its inner walls.

Its original purpose was as an asteroid for resource excavation, measuring thirty-two kilometers in total length with a diameter of three kilometers.

At its base, three large solar panels surround the outer layer like flower petals.

When approaching this colony from a distance, it feels eerie, as if it had suddenly sprouted from a massive rock.

Yet, this eeriness does not frighten people; instead, it has become a place that countless individuals yearn for.

Since March of last year, the ZAFT military's Earth invasion campaign, "Operation Ouroboros," has targeted spaceports as its primary objective.

This war, launched by the Earth Alliance against PLANT, has dragged various nations on Earth into the fray, showing signs of becoming a protracted conflict.

The roar of artillery fire fills the world everywhere.

But here, that war-torn world feels like a mere illusion; the scenery along the streets is so peaceful.

The shops lining both sides are filled with a wide variety of goods, and customers come and go in an endless stream.

Peace, prosperity, bustle—

Hiss~

Yet, behind this peace.

Three small troop transport shuttles arrived silently at the rock-wall vents of Heliopolis.

Dozens of figures clad in various airtight suits, led by Athrun, successfully climbed into the exhaust port leading to the colony's interior, following the intelligence map provided by Captain Le Creuset.

After confirming that all personnel were present, Athrun and the others glanced at their wristwatches.

In this deathly silence, even the sound of breathing became exceptionally clear.

When the watches displayed the scheduled time, the surveillance devices at the exhaust port were deactivated.

The group infiltrated in an orderly, silent, and pre-planned manner.

Without any orders or questions, and without the slightest hesitation while navigating the unfamiliar environment, Athrun and his team executed their mission meticulously according to the established plan.

In the main areas of the factory district, small black boxes with countdown timers were installed one after another.

"Don't look so sour, Adis."

Hearing this bitter smile.

Adis, the captain of the Vesalius, furrowed his brows even deeper: "But Captain, what Athrun said is not without reason. We could actually wait for the Council's reply before taking action."

With a sturdy build and a square face, he still voiced the concerns in his heart.

Inclined toward caution, he still favored Athrun's approach.

"Too slow, Adis."

Facing the captain's suggestion, Le Creuset explained: "My intuition tells me that if we miss this opportunity, we will sooner or later have to pay the price with our lives. Therefore, we must seize the Earth Alliance's new weapon before it is transported away from here!"

For Le Creuset, the current war situation is not optimistic and is highly unfavorable to his ideals.

Thus, he urgently needs a breakthrough to change the tide of the war.

And the thing before them is likely a good starting point.

Adis, sitting in the command chair, opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

In truth, there was no need for him to say that in the first place; after all, Athrun and the others had already departed.

Inside the colony.

At the ground facilities belonging to Morgenroete.

The men busy with engineering work are full of vigor, moving back and forth in a noisy bustle as they carry out the transport of materials.

Among them is a woman wearing the same work uniform as the men.

She is an officer belonging to the Earth Alliance, twenty-five years old, holding the rank of Captain.

Although she has the highest rank among this group, her striking appearance still draws unnecessary thoughts from some of her subordinates.

"Captain! Captain Ramius!"

A gruff voice called out her name from a trailer.

Murrue Ramius looked over at the sound, and a face covered in stubble poked out of the window, shouting: "We're heading to the battleship first; I'll leave this to you!"

He is Sergeant Kojiro Murdoch, an MS maintenance technician.

"I'll leave it to you!"

It was noisy all around, so Murrue naturally raised her voice as well.

After Sergeant Kojiro Murdoch gestured, he drove off, dragging the cargo.

"Captain, after things are finished here, could you come have a drink with us? Consider it our last night on Heliopolis."

Just then, an unknown voice suddenly came from not far away.

"Would you like your last night to be spent in the brig on charges of insulting a superior officer?"

Captain Murrue gave a direct and blunt answer.

"Haha, you bunch of cowards still want to chase after this big sister? Come back in ten years!"

Lieutenant Hamana, standing to the side, let out a boisterous laugh.

"Then you're over ten years older than us, and you still haven't managed to win over Captain Murrue!"

"What did you say, you little brat!"

"Hahaha! Lieutenant Hamana, you're no good either!"

"Damn it, you lot just wait for me tonight!"

"..."

Watching his rowdy subordinates, Murrue felt a myriad of emotions.

This top-secret 'G' project was finally coming to an end.

The transport of the units codenamed 'G' was nearing completion; all that remained was to finish the fine-tuning of these new weapons and load them onto the Archangel, where she would soon serve as vice-captain.

Her heavy burden would finally be lifted.

Thinking of this, a relaxed smile appeared on Captain Murrue's face, and for a moment, the surrounding soldiers were left staring in a daze.

Ino knew nothing of the situation outside.

At this moment, he was in the MS hangar of the Vesalius, waiting for the sortie order.

Having grown accustomed to sorties over the past few months, he found his heart racing, and beads of sweat were even forming on his palms.

He knew this was where it all began.

After the MS theft operation, Kira Yamato, known as the strongest Coordinator in history, would become a super ace at a speed that would leave countless people stunned.

In the days to come, he would join Lacs, Athrun, and others to stop this war between Naturals and Coordinators.

So, this was the beginning of Kira Yamato's destiny.

At the same time, this was also the place of his own crossroads; he would have to make a choice here.

Should he fully defect and join ZAFT, slash the Strike Gundam directly, or... no, the Strike Gundam seemed to be bulletproof.

Or should he land, defect, and help the Strike Gundam fend off ZAFT—

To be honest, Ino leaned more toward the latter.

It wasn't that he was ungrateful; after all, ZAFT hadn't treated him poorly.

The main issue was that even now, Ino couldn't determine what ZAFT's true attitude toward him was.

If it were someone else, like Lacs or Siegel, Ino would have defected already.

But his direct superior was Rau Le Creuset.

He was truly afraid that one day he would be sold out by the man without even realizing it.

At the same time, his identity was very awkward; what if his cover as a spy was exposed one day...

Furthermore, if he chose to stay with ZAFT.

He would definitely have to follow Rau Le Creuset in the later stages, which meant he would constantly have to face Kira Yamato, who could potentially activate his cheat-like powers at any moment.

The problem was that the so-called SEED factor was an utterly unreasonable thing.

It turned Kira Yamato, someone who had barely piloted an MS, into an ace pilot capable of suppressing Yzak.

What if the guy got desperate and shot him down?

Of course, he could choose to slack off like Athrun and let Yzak and the others risk their lives, but slacking off while carrying the identity of a spy...

"But defecting directly doesn't seem that safe either..."

Ino thought of Yzak and Dearka, especially that guy Athrun.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Athrun kept going easy on Kira Yamato.

If he were to defect...

Damn it, he didn't have Kira's SEED factor cheat.

If they didn't care about old ties and beat him to death, and with his unit at a disadvantage, he might really end up dead halfway through.