"Got it!"
As the screen lost its final image,
Ino hurled the powerful magnetic grappling hook he had prepared, relying on memory.
The Strike's chain hook latched squarely around the Strike Gundam's waist. Kira, still unsettled by having taken down an enemy, suddenly felt a powerful tug from outside his Mobile Suit.
Thwack—
The next second, the chain snapped taut.
The chaos caused by air rapidly escaping through the breached inner walls swept across the entire colony at that moment.
The powerful pull dragged the Strike Gundam straight down.
"Ino!"
Michel, still stunned, was also swept up and flung away by the gale.
Seeing the sudden turn of events, Athrun hurried forward and caught Michel, who had lost control.
But when he turned to look for the Strike Gundam and Ino, he saw that both Mobile Suits had been swept into the sky by the gale.
All he could do was watch as the Mobile Suit apparently piloted by Kira and Ino's machine vanished together into the turbulence.
Rumble!
Buildings and vehicles, already reduced to rubble, whirled through the air like dead leaves.
Flames burst from explosions everywhere, but there wasn't even enough air to feed them. They soon faded into space.
All the shelters shot out at once, becoming escape pods for the void.
"Aaaah!"
Kira let out a wretched cry. Faced with such powerful currents, the Strike Gundam, dragging the wreckage of another Mobile Suit, couldn't possibly resist.
The roofs of nearby buildings were torn away, glass shattered, and roads split apart. Behind him, the darkness yawned like a gaping maw.
The turbulence tossed the Mobile Suit around without pause. Kira tried to stabilize it by using the momentum to fire the thrusters, but the wreckage hanging beneath him and the air rushing outward were more than the Strike Gundam could withstand.
Before long, the two Mobile Suits connected by the chain hook were swept outside together.
"Captain Le Creuset, Heliopolis—"
Watching Heliopolis break apart, Adis rose from his command chair without thinking. His eyes, fixed on Le Creuset's back, were filled with unease.
The colony was gone just like that.
Yet, on the side Adis couldn't see, the corners of Le Creuset's mouth slowly curled into a smile.
In the Vesalius's crew lounge, Dearka and the others also watched Heliopolis fall apart on the screen.
At that moment, even Yzak's face took on a grave expression, with a hint of pity.
But Yzak quickly suppressed that flicker of pity.
Compared to Junius, where no one had survived, Heliopolis had been incredibly lucky.
"Hmph. What a pointless farce!"
Remembering the terrible state of Junius, Yzak turned and walked away with a cold snort.
"Yzak?"
Dearka stared in surprise as Yzak turned and left without another word, wondering what had gotten into him all of a sudden.
"Athrun, Ino... You have to be safe."
Nicol stood before the screen, worrying about Athrun and Ino.
Under the force of gravity, Heliopolis had been reduced to cosmic dust.
Who knew how long had passed?
Wooo, wooo—
The constant blare of alarms in the cockpit roused Ino from unconsciousness.
He patted his woozy head, and his vision gradually cleared.
Looking at the dashboard's flashing red lights, Ino managed a bitter smile. "Now I'm really done for."
He had planned to rely on the Archangel to escape the battlefield, but now...
"Michel, you've really screwed me over—"
Still smiling bitterly, Ino opened the distress signal.
He had no idea what fate awaited him, but this was all he could do.
Still, perhaps this was for the best. At least he had done everything he could.
As for whether it had been worth it, Ino truly didn't know.
From a purely personal perspective, it definitely hadn't been worth it. It had even been stupid.
But from another angle, it did have some value.
At least he had proved that he could use his own power to change the events he remembered.
What people called fate was not set in stone; it could be changed. In a way, that was comforting.
Besides, he wasn't in any danger of dying.
When he'd taken the blow at the last moment, Ino had carefully chosen where to get hit. There was practically no chance of being killed with one strike.
And by doing this, he wouldn't count as a defector from ZAFT. Besides, no one would dare call him a traitor.
As for whether he'd end up in a mobile coffin,
That was impossible too.
Heliopolis was a resource colony. Even the two warring sides, PLANT and the Earth Alliance, would have to mount a rescue operation after its destruction.
The only uncertainty was which side would find him. He hoped it wouldn't be ZAFT.
"Why do I feel like I've forgotten something...?"
As his thoughts wandered, Ino couldn't shake the feeling that he'd forgotten something.
What could it be—
[X105 Strike Gundam, please respond—]
Inside the Strike Gundam's cockpit,
The communicator had repeated the same call for quite some time.
But the only sound in the cockpit was Kira's quick, ragged breathing.
Heliopolis had actually ended up like this...
Not long ago, he'd stood firmly on its ground. Now it had shattered and scattered everywhere.
Debris floated through space, mixed with metal fragments and pieces of familiar signs and buildings, all drifting before his eyes.
The ordinary life he'd assumed would never change, tomorrow or the day after, had turned out to be so fragile.
"...X105 Strike Gundam! Can you hear me? Please respond!"
There was urgency in the voice coming through the communicator, but Kira couldn't bring himself to answer.
Then, suddenly—
"...Kira Yamato!"
Hearing his name, Kira jolted back to his senses. It was the female officer's voice—Captain Murrue's.
"If you can hear me... if you're safe, please answer, Kira Yamato."
"Ah... yes, I'm... I'm Kira."
Kira hurriedly switched on the communicator and replied.
He still felt grateful toward Captain Murrue, because she had given him and his friends a place to take shelter in this desperate situation.
That was right—his friends. Tolle and the others were waiting for him to come back—
At that moment, Kira gradually pulled himself together.
"Are you all right?"
There was a hint of relief in Murrue's voice. He could also hear Mr. Mu cheering in the background.
"Yes."
"Do you know where we are? Can you make it back?"
Listening to Captain Murrue, Kira pressed his lips together and gripped the control sticks again. "I can."
"Good. Come back, then. We'll be waiting."
After Captain Murrue finished speaking, she gently ended the call. Only then did she slump into the command chair, her anxiety finally easing.
"I told you not to worry so much."
Mu had watched the whole exchange and couldn't help smiling as he spoke. "That kid's pretty capable."
"Who was it that was just running around in a panic? And now you show up with that?"
Captain Murrue rolled her eyes at Mu's carefree manner.
"Uh... heh..."
Mu gave an awkward chuckle.
"I should head back."
Inside the Strike Gundam's cockpit,
Kira tightened his grip on the control sticks, preparing to return to the warship.
He was worried about his parents, but he had no way to find them now. All he could do was believe they had escaped safely.
Beep, beep—
Just then, two electronic tones sounded in the cockpit, and a message appeared on the screen.
"These are distress signals... One of them is below me?"
Only then did Kira notice the two distress signals nearby. One was right beside him.
As the display zoomed in, Kira's mouth gradually fell open at the image on the screen. He murmured in disbelief, "That's... a ZAFT Mobile Suit!?"
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