The Gears of Fate Begin to Turn

During the time Eno spent struggling with his thoughts.

On the bridge, Captain Le Creuset raised his hand and gave a light wave toward the rotating Heliopolis colony ahead.

[Operation commence!]

[Repeat, Mobile Suit seizure operation commence!]

The CIC prompt from the bridge echoed inside the cockpit.

"It's time..."

As Eno spoke, he took a deep breath to steady his nerves.

He could only take things one step at a time now.

[ZGMF-1017 Ginn, Eno Kamal unit, please prepare for launch!]

"Eno Kamal, roger!"

[Catapult system linked!]

[Flight path cleared!]

[Hatch opening!]

[ZGMF-1017 Ginn, Eno Kamal unit, please launch--]

As the hatch opened, the distant Heliopolis colony became clearly visible.

"Eno Kamal, ZGMF-1017 Ginn--launching!"

Almost as soon as Eno finished speaking.

The catapult system activated instantly.

With the powerful thrust pushing against his back, the Mobile Suit Eno piloted shot out from the hatch in an instant.

His body, already accustomed to piloting a Mobile Suit, instinctively pushed the engines, flying toward the Heliopolis colony in the distance.

Woo! Woo~!

Having detected two unannounced ZAFT warships approaching, the alarm sirens in the Heliopolis control zone blared loudly.

[Notice to approaching ZAFT ships! Your actions are a grave violation of the treaty with our nation; please stop your vessels immediately!]

[ZAFT ships, stop immediately!]

[Notice to approaching... crackle, crackle, crackle...]

The staff in the Heliopolis control zone continued to state their position; as a neutral colony, they would not accept the docking of any armed warships.

However, as the Vesalius and the Gamow ignored the warnings and drew closer.

Static filled all operating systems.

People inside Heliopolis also realized at this moment that their communication devices had suddenly lost signal.

"What's going on?"

"Why is there suddenly no signal?"

"..."

"High-intensity jamming! It's coming from the ZAFT ships!"

Inside the Heliopolis control center, a communications officer suddenly screamed in terror.

A chill seemed to sweep through the control room, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

The high-intensity jamming that ignored all protocols could only mean one thing.

"...This is an overt act of war!"

As one member pointed out the truth, terror and bewilderment gradually surfaced in the eyes of everyone in the control room.

At the same time, a cargo ship was entering the port from the outside.

The bridge of that ship was also transmitting equally urgent messages.

"Who is the enemy?"

"Two ships! A Nazca-class and a Laurasia-class. Mobile Suits were confirmed to have launched before the jamming started!"

"What about the rookies?"

"They should have already reached Morgenroete."

"That's good--Luke, Gael, you two go to the Moebius and stand by! Remember, don't sortie rashly or you'll get yourselves killed!"

The man issuing instructions over the ship's comms was a tall, lean blonde with refined features.

Strangely, even in such a tense situation, his expression still carried a hint of nonchalance, and the corners of his mouth were curled in a playful smirk.

After finishing his instructions, he immediately headed for the hangar.

Lined up there were several Mobile Armors—space fighters—that looked out of place on a cargo ship.

Although disguised as a regular cargo ship, the crew on board were all military personnel, and the man in the black pilot suit was Captain Mu La Flaga.

Known as the Hawk of Endymion, he was the Earth Alliance's top-tier MA pilot.

Their mission was to deliver several pilot candidates to this space colony.

Ino had no idea what the situation was inside Heliopolis.

At this moment, he had already arrived at the port piloting his Ginn.

Gazing at Heliopolis, now within arm's reach, Ino hesitated for a moment with his rifle raised before pushing the throttle to charge directly toward the port.

I might as well go inside and see what's happening.

As for the demolition work outside, he would leave that to the other green-uniformed pilots.

Beep, beep, beep!

However, just as Ino reached the port, a piercing alarm suddenly blared from his radar.

Without a second of hesitation, Ino turned and raised his shield.

Sparks from bullets striking the shield instantly covered its surface.

Two Moebius MAs had emerged from the flank, though he hadn't noticed when they arrived.

One of the Moebius units seized the opportunity to jettison its carried missiles, which streaked toward the shield-bearing Ino, trailing plumes of fire.

"Can you not go looking for death?"

Ino frowned to himself as he maneuvered his unit to step backward.

Simultaneously, he controlled the unit to aim its rifle at the missiles and pulled the trigger, then turned around without looking back.

Using this kind of MA to farm combat records was embarrassing just to talk about.

Rumble—

Almost the moment Ino turned, the two missiles detonated instantly.

Beep, beep, beep!

Bang!

However, just as Ino prepared to charge toward the port again, a beam from a linear gun suddenly appeared in front of him.

Bang!

Ino raised his shield to block the shot and looked ahead.

It was a Moebius Zero.

Unlike the standard mass-produced TS-MA2 Moebius with its gray-purple hue, the Moebius Zero's structure featured four wired gunbarrels mounted around its frame, in addition to the standard cockpit, fuel storage, and propulsion sections.

Each of the four wired gunbarrels carried its own independent thruster; when docked to the main body, the total of five thrusters pointed in the same direction, granting the unit superior propulsion compared to a Mobile Suit.

In terms of unit performance, the Moebius Zero was superior to a standard ZAFT Ginn Mobile Suit.

However, such units were only supplied to Earth Alliance ace pilots, and at this point in time, there was only one ace pilot who could possibly be here—the Hawk of Endymion!

Beep, beep, beep!

The alarm sounded, and two missiles trailing smoke appeared on the screen once again.

Bang, bang, bang—boom!

Almost the instant he turned his head, Ino raised his rifle and shot down both missiles.

At the same time, he managed to suppress the two Moebius units that were preparing to close in.

"This guy..."

Watching everything unfold, Captain Mu La Flaga couldn't help but raise an eyebrow; the reaction speed of this Mobile Suit was off.

Without the slightest hesitation, Captain Mu La Flaga immediately activated his wired gunbarrels: "Don't come over here! This guy isn't someone you can handle!"

As a veteran who had faced death on the battlefield for years, Mu La Flaga realized the problem the moment he saw how this Mobile Suit was operated.

This guy was definitely not an ordinary Coordinator pilot.

Bang, bang, bang!

The ensuing scene confirmed his suspicions.

The Mobile Suit showed no signs of panic while being pursued; in fact, it was even able to turn the tables and suppress him instead.

"An elite red-uniform..."

Only a red-uniform from ZAFT could possess this level of combat power, and there was a good chance this guy wasn't just any ordinary red-uniform.

"Mu La Flaga... this is going to be troublesome."

At this moment, Ino also felt that things were getting tricky.

The opponent's speed was too high, making it impossible for him to catch up, and the opponent's reactions and maneuvers were significantly better than those of a typical MA pilot.

For a time, the two of them remained at a stalemate.