Archangel

"Impossible! With so few of us, there's no way we can get this warship moving!"

Neumann protested from the bridge of the Archangel, docked inside Morgenroete's interior port.

But Natarle Badgiruel, who had temporarily taken over as captain after their commanding officer was killed, didn't stop the startup procedures.

Instead, she snapped at Neumann, "Do we have time for this right now? Rather than sit here and wait to die, we should be figuring out what to do next!"

At the same time, Jackie, one of the surviving members of the Archangel's crew, returned with several soldiers. "Reporting in! As ordered, I brought everyone who's still able to move!"

They were all members of the G Project, assigned to the new warship Archangel.

"Take your stations! If you don't know what to do, just follow the computer's instructions!"

"There are still ZAFT forces outside! We can't start a fight!"

Neumann still tried to stop Natarle.

"I know!"

Natarle glared at him, then ordered, "Prepare the special cannon to fire as we launch. You can handle that, Sergeant Neumann?"

Hearing her plan, Neumann guessed what she had in mind. He hurried to the combat helm and focused on the console.

Fire the cannon on the way out? What a reckless woman.

With that thought, Neumann set about carrying out his duties.

"Launch sequence initiated! In response to the emergency, skipping processes C30 through L21! Main power online!"

"Power output is rising normally! Four hundred and fifty seconds until startup is complete!"

"Too long! What's the status of the conduit to Heliopolis?"

Taken by surprise by the question, Jackie stammered, "I-it's still there!"

"We can draw power from it, too! Connect the conduit! Route the power to the energy buffer..."

Seated in the captain's chair, Natarle Badgiruel issued her orders in a calm, orderly fashion.

At the same time.

Captain Mu La Flaga pursued Le Creuset in his Mobile Armor, following him through the colony's inner wall.

The colony's interior opened up before him: shattered streets, debris from explosions, and bodies scattered around the blast sites—

But Mu, accustomed to the sights of war, merely frowned briefly before putting it all out of his mind.

His attention was soon drawn to a place where the smoke was especially thick.

"Is that the last one?"

At a glance, Mu spotted a Mobile Suit being resupplied on a transport vehicle, as well as people running about frantically beside it.

"That was easy to find."

Le Creuset had spotted the Mobile Suit, too.

As he spoke, he flew his CGUE straight toward the last X Series unit.

"Damn it, you—"

Beep beep beep!

Mu had just started after him when Le Creuset suddenly changed direction and turned back. "Still too green, Mu La Flaga—"

Rat-a-tat-tat—

At nearly the same moment, the two units crossed paths.

Both the Mobile Armor and the Mobile Suit opened fire.

But one was reacting in haste, while the other had planned this all along.

A piercing alarm blared inside the cockpit.

"Le Creuset!"

The CGUE's shots struck the Mobile Armor Mu La Flaga was piloting.

The damaged Moebius Zero trailed a thick plume of smoke as it plummeted toward the ground.

Le Creuset turned once more and flew toward the Mobile Suit nearby, but Mu was powerless to stop him.

"Get back to Morgenroete! You can't take on a CGUE without a weapon!"

Murrue clutched her bandaged shoulder and shouted toward the Gundam nearby. "The last battle must have used up a lot of power. You need to change the battery! If the power runs out, the Phase Shift Armor will fail!"

As the Earth Alliance officer in charge of the G Project, she knew full well what a CGUE was capable of.

But the moment Murrue finished speaking, the Mobile Suit, its Phase Shift Armor deployed, came under a fierce barrage.

"Waaah—!"

The rifle fire struck the Strike Gundam dead on.

The impact shook it violently from the outside, and the Strike Gundam lost its balance and fell to the ground.

"Ugh...!"

Inside the cockpit, Kira struggled to control the unit and get it back on its feet.

"Armor like a turtle shell, but—this ends now!"

As Le Creuset spoke, he brought his CGUE directly above the Strike Gundam's head.

Bang!

Boom!

But before Le Creuset could pull the trigger, a powerful beam cannon blast suddenly streaked past from the side.

The beam pierced the colony's inner wall, and the rock bed in the mining area collapsed in an instant.

As Le Creuset piloted his CGUE backward to avoid the incoming rocks and scattered debris,

a massive, snow-white warship burst out of the smoke and dust.

"......The Archangel?"

Le Creuset knew the warship's name. He just hadn't expected to see it appear before him like this.

"A warship... inside the colony...?"

Kira Yamato stared in utter shock. The city where he lived had a flagship inside it—and an enormous one at that.

"Mobile Suit detected! ZAFT forces, a CGUE!"

Aboard the Archangel, Corporal Jackie quickly spotted the nearby Mobile Suit on the radar.

"Fire anti-aircraft scatter missiles!"

Natarle gave the order at once.

The missile bays at the rear of the warship opened, and several anti-aircraft missiles shot out together, trailing smoke as they sped toward the CGUE.

"What a nuisance!"

Seeing this, Le Creuset had no choice but to abandon his attack on the Mobile Suit below and retreat toward the colony's main axis.

Rumble—

The guided missiles didn't track their target in time. They struck the colony's main axis and exploded.

The once-peaceful ground shook, groaning with the sound of twisting steel.

"...You've got to be kidding me!"

Feeling the colony shake, Kira Yamato tensed and hurriedly searched for a weapon.

If the warships kept fighting inside the colony, the main axis could snap—and the colony would be doomed.

Above them,

the battle between the Archangel and the CGUE continued.

Using his nimble movements and the colony's main axis for cover, Le Creuset fought as he retreated, searching for an opening.

"Hmm?"

But soon, he noticed something was wrong.

The Mobile Suit below had somehow equipped itself with a weapon.

Le Creuset's eyes flashed coldly at the sight of the enormous barrel and the energy conduit linking it to the unit.

"I can't let you live!"

Intent on killing him, Le Creuset evaded the missiles with a flip, then quickly raised his rifle and locked on to the transport vehicle below.

If he destroyed the transport, the Mobile Suit connected to it would be crippled, if not destroyed.

Beep beep beep!

But that split-second delay was enough to put Le Creuset behind.

A piercing alarm rang out.

A fierce beam of energy shot from the other unit's cannon, striking first.

At such close range, Le Creuset could only just barely evade it.

With his right arm melted by the beam and the warship looming menacingly nearby, Le Creuset could only follow the hole the blast had opened and fly out along the escaping air pressure.

"—H-how could this happen...?"

Kira Yamato stared at the consequences of his actions, his face filled with fear and uncertainty. He didn't even dare pull the trigger a second time. All he could do was watch helplessly as the enemy escaped.

It was just a Mobile Suit. How could it have such incredible firepower...?