July 25, C.E. 70.
A military transport plane landed at the spaceport in December City.
Soldiers stood in formation on either side.
As the airlock slowly opened, a white-uniformed officer with long golden hair and a white mask stepped out of the ship under the soldiers' watchful eyes and climbed into a vehicle bound for the Ministry of Defense building.
After losing their space-front base and suffering defeat in the Nova Defense Battle, the East Asian Republic, Eurasian Federation, and Atlantic Federation found themselves at odds. They temporarily abandoned plans for a large-scale advance on PLANT.
Meanwhile, following discussions in the Supreme Council, it was decided that a resource satellite would be converted into a military fortress and moved to L5. It was later renamed "Boaz."
At the same time, to ease ZAFT's logistical burden, ZAFT tacitly chose to hold its existing positions and temporarily refrain from launching large-scale offensives.
Thus, large-scale military operations between the two sides decreased. Only small-scale clashes continued on Earth and in space, and the front lines between them settled into a stalemate.
At the same time, at Ame no Mihashira in Orb.
"Restarting Project G? Looks like the Atlantic Federation's gotten desperate. I can't believe they actually agreed to bring it back."
His inky black hair did nothing to hide the cold glint in his eyes. As Rondo Gina Sahaku looked at the document in his hand, as if something had occurred to him, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He continued speaking to the long-haired woman on the screen. "I'm leaving the rest to you. Don't disappoint me."
"Understood, but what about Uzumi-sama—"
"Uzumi?"
Before Erica Simmons could finish, he cut her off. "Forget about him. That so-called neutrality of his only succeeded because we got our hands dirty behind the scenes and took on the filthy work!"
"A bunch of fools who can't see reality. Do they really think those lofty words will protect the people and the country? Ridiculous! If everything had gone according to his wishes, Orb would have ceased to exist long ago."
Gina Sahaku was the heir to the Sahaku Family, one of the Orb Five Noble Families.
The Uzumi he referred to was Uzumi Nara Athha, the current head of Orb.
Unlike his sister Rondo Mina Sahaku, who held a somewhat neutral stance, Gina Sahaku was deeply dissatisfied with Uzumi's decisions.
After the Alaska Declaration was issued on February 7, C.E. 70,
Uzumi Nara Athha had unilaterally followed it with the Orb Neutrality Declaration, proclaiming that Orb would uphold the principles of independence and neutrality, no matter how events unfolded.
In Gina Sahaku's eyes, the declaration was laughably foolish.
This world was dark, full of filth and intrigue. Perhaps because the Sahaku Family had shouldered too much of that darkness,
they had forgotten the law of the jungle and chosen neutrality instead.
If the other party hadn't already issued the neutrality declaration, if his sister hadn't been unwilling to split Orb, and if they hadn't missed their best opportunity, he would have led the Sahaku Family in breaking away and establishing their own rule.
Erica Simmons didn't respond. She simply picked up her coffee and took a quiet sip. This wasn't a topic an engineering director like her should get involved in.
Still, Lord Gina's words had made his intentions clear.
Sure enough, just as Erica Simmons was pondering this,
Gina Sahaku said firmly, "Continue all work according to plan."
Assist the Earth Alliance in developing its own Mobile Suits and warships, while using the Alliance's technology and funding to build Mobile Suits and warships for Orb at the same time—that was the Sahaku Family's plan.
Project G had actually been launched once before, but it was temporarily halted because it had failed to secure the Atlantic Federation's full support.
"Yes. I understand what I need to do."
Although Erica Simmons had some concerns, Gina Sahaku was her direct superior. Whatever her opinions, she could only continue carrying out her orders.
"I look forward to seeing the results."
Gina Sahaku finished speaking and immediately ended the call.
"I hope this decision won't bring disaster to Orb..."
Erica Simmons also wanted Orb to have Mobile Suits of its own. After all, having no sword was very different from having one and choosing not to use it.
But would PLANT really accept the Earth Alliance having Mobile Suits of its own?
And once Orb had Mobile Suits, would it truly be able to secure a place to survive, as they hoped?
With no answers, Erica Simmons looked uneasily toward the enormous transparent window in the distance.
There, a towering steel humanoid frame was already beginning to take shape.
When they had no answers, all people could do was grit their teeth and press on down the unknown road.
Inside the ZAFT Military Academy.
Eno Kamal was about to attend his first practical Mobile Suit piloting lesson.
In the days before, he had only piloted and operated Mobile Suits in a simulator.
With the war pressing, the ZAFT Military Academy had prepared hundreds of training Mobile Suits to ensure that newly enrolled Mobile Suit trainees had plenty of time and experience for training.
They were ZGMT-01 training GINNs (GINN Trainers).
The YMF-01B prototype GINN was the first Mobile Suit developed and built by the ZAFT military.
It was also the prototype for ZAFT's first-generation general-purpose mass-production mainstay Mobile Suit, the ZGMF-1017 GINN.
The unit stood 18.45 meters tall and weighed 78 tons. It was powered by a compact energy battery, but since it was a first-generation battery, it was normally connected to a dedicated wired power transmission system.
Thud, thud, thud—
The ground trembled.
With only two months left before graduation and deployment to the battlefield, nearly all the Mobile Suits at the training base were now in use.
Watching hundreds of giants charge and move ahead from the edge of the training grounds, Eno Kamal felt a shock unlike anything he had ever experienced.
He had seen scenes like this in his memories, but seeing them in person was a completely different experience.
For some reason, towering machines always seemed to hold an inexplicable appeal for men.
The constant roar, the steel frames nearly filling his entire field of vision—everything about them filled him with awe.
Beside him, Instructor Kelvin's voice rang out.
"Athrun Zala, Unit 1!"
"Nicol Amalfi, Unit 2!"
"Yzak Joule, Unit 3!"
"Dearka Elsman, Unit 4!"
"Charles Reginald, Unit 5!"
"Carroll Matt, Unit 6!"
"Rusty Mackenzie, Unit 7!"
"..."
"Michelle Aiman, Unit 28!"
"Matthew Naden, Unit 29!"
"Giles Arthur, Unit 30!"
"Eno Kamal!"
Just as Eno Kamal was stunned by the scene before him, Instructor Kelvin called his name from nearby.
"Here!"
Eno sprang to his feet on reflex.
"Come with me."
After speaking, Instructor Kelvin turned toward the Mobile Suits piloted by Athrun and the others. "You lot train on your own, but this is only training. No fighting! Especially you, Yzak!"
"Huh? No sparring? You want us to dance around in this exclusive area like those guys?"
Yzak's voice came through the intercom. Clearly, he wasn't happy with the arrangement.
"Follow orders, Yzak."
Athrun's voice came through, quiet and quick.
"Oh-ho!"
"I don't need you telling me what to do."
"Yzak!"
"Shut up! You only got lucky and beat me last time. This time, I'll win no matter what!"
Maybe they were simply incompatible. Ever since they were kids, Yzak had disliked Athrun, the talented, well-behaved boy. After speaking, he turned and piloted his Mobile Suit straight toward Athrun's.
"Yzak, stop!"
"Fighting each other counts as free training too! I'm definitely beating you this time!"
Soon, before Eno could recover from his astonishment,
the Mobile Suit piloted by Yzak and the one piloted by Athrun began a game of cat and mouse in the training grounds.
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