Ino Hit by the Ship-Slicing Blade

"Yes!"

Kira was not a stubborn person. Upon hearing Mu La Flaga's reminder, he headed directly toward the Archangel.

"Finally decided to head over?"

Ino noticed the movements of the Strike Gundam quickly. Watching it draw closer to the Archangel, a glint of light flashed in Ino's eyes.

It was not much different from what he had envisioned.

As long as he applied enough pressure, the Strike Gundam would inevitably move toward the Archangel to seek support.

This was not hard to understand; the Strike Gundam was currently the last MS, and under such circumstances, the Archangel would absolutely not let it fall easily.

Therefore, once he displayed sufficient suppression, the Archangel would certainly let it come over to preserve the Strike Gundam.

This was also Ino's goal.

In fact, the reason Ino chose to launch a fierce attack on the Strike Gundam, besides preventing Michel from meeting a tragic end, was precisely for what was happening before his eyes.

Relying on the Archangel to withdraw from the battlefield—that was his plan.

But the problem was how to reasonably approach the Archangel, and how to face the people on the Archangel after approaching and withdrawing.

The latter—was actually never a problem.

Because inside the Archangel were the busty Captain Murrue Ramius and Mu La Flaga.

Unlike the kill-on-sight attitude other Earth Alliance personnel held toward ZAFT soldiers, these two possessed their own battlefield conscience.

As long as he boarded the Archangel, these two would not shoot him dead on the spot; at worst, he would be detained and handed over to the military, and at the very least, he would have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with them.

It was the former, instead—

But now, it seemed everything was proceeding according to his expectations.

"Ino, what the hell are you doing!"

Ino's self-reflection was broken by a voice coming from the cockpit.

Turning his head, he saw that Michel, who was responsible for attacking the Archangel, had rushed over at some point.

"Michel! What are you doing!"

Watching Michel rush off after saying that, Ino was so angry he almost cursed.

"Leave this guy to me!"

As Michel spoke, he pulled the trigger on his M69 "Barrus" modified heavy particle cannon.

Beep, beep, beep!

Hearing the lock-on alarm from the radar, Kira, who had basically grown accustomed to beam cannons, turned and raised his shield to block the beam.

He then piloted his machine and charged straight toward Michel.

Swish!

Seeing this, Michel hurriedly piloted his machine backward to dodge the attack from the ship-to-ship sword.

He then raised his gun again and fired at the Strike Gundam.

However, this time, due to the timing and angle, the Strike Gundam did not choose to use its shield, but instead dodged sideways.

Boom!

The next second, the beam from the heavy particle cannon struck the space colony.

A residential building collapsed instantly, and the powerful explosion and shockwave made Kira's pupils shrink.

"Die!"

Watching the Strike Gundam, which had not moved immediately after dodging the beam, Michel locked on again and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Rumble—

Another ground structure was torn apart by the heavy particle cannon.

"I can't let this go on!"

Looking at the tragic state left in the wake of the beam cannon's rampage, Kira's mind gradually grew heavy.

"Damn it, this guy is really slippery!"

Discovering that the Strike Gundam's movement speed was quite fast, Michel hurriedly said to Ino, who was standing guard not far away: "Ino, come over here, let's flank him!"

"What?"

However, before Ino could express his confusion, he saw Michel charging forward with the beam cannon on his shoulder, attempting to force the Strike Gundam in Ino's direction.

"Athrun! Go help Giles!"

Watching Michel rush over to throw his life away, Ino cursed angrily and gave chase.

Is fate truly impossible to change?

Must Michel really die at the hands of Kira, just as in his memories?

If that is the case, then what is the meaning of his own existence?

If fate cannot be changed, then what of the resurrection of Eno Kamal, who should have died?

At the same time.

The battle in the direction of the Archangel continues to rage.

Ginn missiles assault the Archangel without mercy.

ZAFT Mobile Suits weave through space, launching attacks with reckless abandon;

In contrast, the Archangel can only defend unilaterally to avoid damaging the space colony.

However, the missiles dodged by the warship strike the surface or the main axis one after another, triggering numerous explosions, and the tracking warheads fired by the warship also cause damage to the space colony.

Beep, beep, beep—

A piercing alarm sounds inside Orni's cockpit.

Orni hurriedly rushes toward the internal connecting axis of the space colony above to take cover.

"Don't even think about it!"

Seeing this, Mu immediately pulls the trigger for the warship's main cannon.

Bang!

Rumble—

The next second, the Mobile Suit piloted by Orni is struck by the warship's main beam cannon.

"Oh no!"

At this moment, Mu instinctively cries out.

The explosion of the Mobile Suit ignites another support axis, triggering a series of chain reactions.

In just a moment.

The support axis collapses, trailing fire and thick smoke, and the powerful impact causes the entire space colony to emit a groaning sound of compression.

"Orni!"

Watching his teammate's tragic death, Axi, who is responsible for drawing fire as a wingman, roars and charges forward.

The main attacker, Giles, also fires the M68 Pardus 3-barrel short-range missile launchers equipped on his legs in rapid succession.

Seeing this, Athrun can no longer concern himself with the Strike Gundam.

He turns his unit around to provide support.

However, because they lost the wingman to draw fire, the missiles fired by Giles are all intercepted by the Archangel's automated defensive fire.

Some missiles graze the Archangel and land on the surface and the connecting support axis.

Due to the excessive load, the central main axis reaches its critical point.

With a series of deafening roars, the main axis, which serves as the backbone of the space colony, can no longer hold and begins to disintegrate.

The remaining support axes snap like broken strings, one after another, slamming into the ground and accelerating the rate of collapse.

The frame begins to twist and deform, tilting severely under the pressure.

The outer wall, having lost its main support axis, can no longer hold itself together; under the centrifugal force generated by its rotation, it begins to peel away and decompose layer by layer.

Like a flash of lightning, cracks instantly spread across the entire colony.

The sudden turn of events causes the thoughts of both sides to freeze for a moment.

Beep-beep—

However, the missiles do not delay in the slightest.

"Ahhh!"

Accompanied by Axi's terrified final cry.

The Mobile Suit he is piloting is struck by an anti-aircraft warhead and turns into a spark.

"Axi! Orni!"

The sudden change awakens everyone from their stupor. Watching his comrades die one after another, Michel falls into a complete frenzy: "You deserve to die!"

Roaring, Michel pilots his Mobile Suit and charges directly at the nearest Strike Gundam.

Bang—

However, as the beam is blocked by Kira with his shield.

As the two units cross paths, Kira turns and throws a beam boomerang at Michel.

Clang~

The beam boomerang appears abruptly, and Michel, lacking sufficient combat experience, is instantly severed at the legs.

"Michel!"

Ino felt his heart tighten at the sight.

After weighing his options, Ino gritted his teeth and charged forward.

If it came to it, he simply wouldn't detach from the Archangel!

"Die!"

At the same time, despite his mobile suit being off-balance, Michel forcibly locked onto the unit piloted by Kira and successfully pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A lethal beam erupted from the muzzle of the beam cannon.

Yet, as Michel's expression shifted from surprise to shock, the Strike Gundam lowered the shield that had blocked the beam and charged toward him with blade in hand.

"Aaaah!"

Kira, his face twisted by the mounting pressure, roared as he swung his blade toward Michel.

Michel felt a chill run down his spine.

Seeing the impending tragedy, Ino sat within his speeding cockpit, focused his mind, and took a deep, steadying breath.

Bang!

Before Michel could react, he felt a violent impact against the exterior of his mobile suit.

The unit, which had been unable to evade the Ship-Slicing Blade, was shoved sideways by the force.

In Michel's constricting pupils, a mobile suit with a paint scheme distinct from a standard Ginn took his place, having half of its body sheared off diagonally by the Ship-Slicing Blade.