GUNDAM-Gundam

"Watch out!"

The boy caught a glimpse of something glowing flying toward them and immediately pulled the girl away from the railing, leaping backward.

Gunfire erupted, the bullets grazing the railing by a hair's breadth.

The boy ran desperately as if shielding the girl, finally reaching the entrance of a fallout shelter.

He pressed the intercom, and a voice sounded from within: "Are there still people outside?"

Hearing the response, the boy let out a sigh of relief and replied, "Yes! There's me and a friend. Please, open the door for us."

"Two people?"

"Yes."

There was a brief pause in the intercom's response.

"It's already full here. There's another shelter, number 37, in the left sector. Can you make it there?"

The boy turned to look toward the left sector.

To get there from here, he would have to cross directly through the line of fire.

He might have been able to try it alone, but with this girl—

As his thoughts raced, the boy shouted into the intercom, "Please, even just one person is fine! She's a girl! I'm begging you!"

Perhaps the childishness in his voice and the word "girl" had an effect.

After a moment of silence, the intercom replied, "Alright, sorry!"

The indicator light changed from red to green, and the shelter door opened.

Inside was an elevator; seeing this, the boy shoved the girl, who was still dazed, inside.

She, who had been silent and seemingly drained of strength, finally realized the situation: "What are you..."

"Don't worry about it! I'm going to the other shelter. It'll be fine! Go!"

The boy finished speaking and forcefully closed the elevator doors.

Through the glass, he saw the girl's lips moving as if to say, "Wait!"

But the elevator had already rapidly carried her down to the lower shelter.

Confirming the indicator light had turned back to red, the boy ran toward the shelter the other person had mentioned.

"--Hamana Brian, hurry! Go start the X105 and 303!"

A female voice echoed through the hangar. It was Murrue Ramius, who, due to the ZAFT assault and the loss of the exterior, had to lead the remaining soldiers inward to find an opportunity.

The boy instinctively looked down at the walkway and saw a woman in a uniform hiding behind that MS, firing a rifle.

From the direction of another MS inside, a burst of gunfire erupted, mixed with roars and wails.

The boy recalled what the staff member had said earlier: ZAFT had broken in.

If the enemy was ZAFT, they were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

Because ZAFT soldiers were all Coordinators, their physical agility, vision, and judgment were all superior to those of a Natural.

"Watch out! Behind you!"

The boy realized with a start that a ZAFT soldier was aiming at the woman who looked like a soldier.

Hearing the voice, Murrue Ramius immediately turned and shot the enemy soldier.

Only then did she look up and see Kira standing above: "You, kid?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Murrue fired back at the ZAFT soldiers while shouting at the boy, "Come here!"

"I'm going to the shelter in the left sector! Don't worry about me!"

"There's nothing left over there but a door!"

Murrue's words made the boy stop in his tracks.

The boy made his decision quickly; without hesitation, he leaped from the overhead walkway, a sight that made Murrue's eyes widen.

The drop was at least five to six meters.

Even a well-trained soldier wouldn't dare jump like that, let alone land so steadily.

"Rusty!"

Just then, a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to the boy came from not far away.

"Ahhh!"

Athrun, who was leading the team inside, watched Rusty fall and roared, raising his gun to pull the trigger on the Earth Alliance soldiers.

Bang, bang, bang!

Gunshots rang out, and the soldier who had hit Rusty instantly lost his life.

"Hamana!"

However, the figure that had fallen made Murrue cry out in horror.

Because that person was the pilot of the MS beneath his own feet—

Murrue's voice caused Athrun, blinded by the heat of battle, to react instantly, turning to aim.

"Watch out!"

Bang!

Two gunshots rang out simultaneously.

Hit in the shoulder, Murrue cried out in pain and dropped her pistol.

Across from her, Athrun discarded his empty pistol, drew his blade, and charged forward.

As one of the few cadets at the ZAFT military academy capable of defeating the combat instructor Blade Fred in a head-on duel, Athrun possessed immense talent in cold-weapon melee combat.

Seeing this, the boy rushed over, attempting to help Murrue.

"—Kira!?"

However, the figure in the ZAFT uniform across from him stopped moving at that very moment.

Hearing that familiar address and tone, the boy turned around in surprise.

By the light of the explosions and fires burning within the base, Kira clearly saw the refined face hidden behind the helmet.

"...Athrun?"

Subconsciously, Kira blurted out the other's name.

Athrun's body trembled slightly, his green eyes, radiating a firm will, clearly reflecting the figure before him.

At that moment, Kira felt as if the world had slowed down.

In the three years that had passed, the gentle face from his memories had grown sharper with maturity.

While the two were stunned, Murrue clutched her shoulder wound and picked up her gun again.

At the critical moment, Athrun leaped aside to dodge; the gunshot rang out, the bullet slicing through the space where he had just been standing.

Still in a daze, Kira looked at Murrue, only to be shoved hard by her, tumbling with her into the cockpit of the MS.

"Get behind the seat!"

Murrue finished speaking and reached out to activate the MS's systems.

The dashboard lit up, and the humming sound of the drive gradually rose in pitch.

The screen brightened, illuminating the scene outside.

On the side monitor, a figure in a red pilot suit flashed by; it was clear he was currently sprinting toward another MS.

"Athrun has become a ZAFT soldier..."

Even though Kira desperately wanted to deceive himself, everything happening before his eyes made it clear.

In the eyes of Kira, who was momentarily unable to process this reality, a string of characters gradually appeared on the activated dashboard screen:

Gerneral

Unilateral

Neuro-Link

Dispersive

Autonomic

Manneuver...

Kira's eyes reflexively read the six flashing red letters: "GUN...D,A,M...?"

As if granted life, the MS's eyes lit up, and its fingers began to twitch.

The engine let out a low roar, and its massive limbs began to move stiffly.

The steel bars securing the frame to the maintenance rack snapped away with a series of popping sounds.

Like a toddler just learning to walk, it rose from the explosive flames with extremely jerky movements.

The firelight shone upon the iron-gray armor, highlighting its towering, vermilion majesty.

At the same time.

Outside the factory.

Yzak and the others had already cracked the authorization for the MS they had seized.

Soon, under the terrified and bewildered gazes of the surviving Earth Alliance soldiers, two MS slowly sat up from their trailers.

"Tch, thinking they can pilot an MS with a system like this—delusional Natural."

Inside the cockpit of the GAT-X102 Duel Gundam.

Feeling the sluggish feedback from the machine, Yzak couldn't help but feel pity for the competence of the Earth Alliance personnel.

"Let's head back and report; this system is too difficult to use."

Dearka also discovered that the feedback from the GAT-X103 Buster Gundam was problematic.

"Nicol, how much longer do you need?!"

As Yzak spoke, he activated the Duel Gundam's head-mounted Vulcan Cannon, obliterating a Linear Tank preparing to fire nearby.

"Ready!"

Almost as soon as Nicol finished speaking, the Blitz Gundam, codenamed GAT-X207, rose from its transport trailer.

"If you're ready, then prepare to head back! And remember, don't break it!"

With that, Yzak ignited the Duel Gundam's engines, lifting off the ground and flying toward the bombed-out port in the distance.

"But what about Athrun and the others—"

"Forget about them. If they can't even handle a simple task like this, then he wouldn't be Athrun!"

Yzak cut off Nicol's concern mid-sentence. "We're taking these three units back first!"

Though Yzak had always disliked Athrun, that didn't mean he didn't acknowledge the capabilities of Athrun and Rusty.