Restart Plan

July 25, C.E. 70.

A military transport plane touched down at the spaceport in December City.

Soldiers stood in formation on both sides.

As the airtight hatch slowly opened, a white-clad officer with long golden hair and a white mask stepped out under the soldiers' gaze and boarded a dedicated vehicle bound for the Ministry of Defense building.

Due to the loss of their forward space bases and the defeat at the Nova Defense Battle, the East Asian Republic, the Eurasian Federation, and the Atlantic Federation faced internal disagreements, leading them to temporarily abandon plans for a large-scale offensive against PLANT.

Meanwhile, following discussions by the Supreme Council, it was decided that a resource satellite would be converted into a military fortress and relocated to L5 (later renamed "Boaz").

To alleviate logistical pressure, ZAFT made a tacit decision to hold their current positions and refrain from launching any further large-scale offensives for the time being.

Consequently, large-scale military operations between the two sides diminished, leaving only minor skirmishes on Earth and in space as the front lines reached a stalemate.

At the same time, Orb, Ame no Mihashira.

"Restarting Project G—it seems the Atlantic Federation is truly desperate if they've actually agreed to it."

Even his dark, long hair could not conceal the cold, flickering glint in his eyes. Rondo Gina Sahaku looked at the documents in his hand, a faint smile touching his lips as if he had realized something.

He continued, addressing the long-haired woman on the video screen: "I leave the rest to you. I hope you won't disappoint me."

"Understood. However, regarding Uzumi Nara Athha..."

"Uzumi?"

Before Erica Simmons could finish, she was interrupted by his voice: "Pay him no mind. The neutrality he speaks of only succeeds because we are the ones staining our hands in the shadows, handling the dirty work!"

"A group of people who cannot see reality—do they truly believe they can protect the people and the nation by relying on high-sounding rhetoric? It's laughable! If everything were left to his will, Orb would have ceased to exist long ago."

Rondo Gina Sahaku, heir to the Sahaku Family, one of the five noble clans of Orb.

As for the "Uzumi" he mentioned, that was the current head of state of Orb, Uzumi Nara Athha.

Unlike his sister, Rondo Mina Sahaku, who maintained a semi-neutral stance, Rondo Gina Sahaku was deeply dissatisfied with Uzumi's decisions.

Following the issuance of the Alaska Declaration on February 7, C.E. 70.

Uzumi Nara Athha had immediately and unilaterally issued the Orb Neutrality Declaration, proclaiming that no matter how the situation evolved, Orb would uphold the principles of independence and neutrality.

To Rondo Gina Sahaku, this declaration was foolish to the point of absurdity.

This world was dark, filled with filth and intrigue; perhaps it was because the Sahaku Family bore so much of that darkness that they had forgotten the law of the jungle, choosing neutrality instead.

Had the declaration not already been issued, and had his sister not been unwilling to fracture Orb, he would have long since led the Sahaku Family to strike out on their own.

Erica Simmons did not respond, merely taking a quiet sip of her coffee; such topics were not for a chief design engineer to involve herself in.

However, Rondo Gina Sahaku's words had made his intentions clear.

Sure enough, just as Erica Simmons was lost in her own thoughts, Rondo Gina Sahaku spoke with focused intensity: "Proceed with all work according to the plan."

Assisting the Earth Alliance in developing their own MS and warships, while simultaneously utilizing the Alliance's technology and funding to manufacture MS and warships for Orb—this was the Sahaku Family's plan.

In truth, Project G had been initiated before, but it had been temporarily halted due to a lack of full support from the Atlantic Federation.

"Yes, I know what must be done."

Though Erica Simmons felt a measure of unease, Rondo Gina Sahaku was her direct superior; she had no choice but to continue executing the mission regardless of her personal opinions.

"I look forward to your results."

With that, Rondo Gina Sahaku cut the communication.

I only hope this decision does not bring disaster upon Orb...

Erica Simmons actually hoped that Orb could possess its own MS; after all, there was a vast difference between not having a sword and having one but choosing not to use it.

But would PLANT truly be content to watch the Earth Alliance possess its own MS?

And once Orb possessed MS, would it really be able to secure a sanctuary as expected?

Lacking the answers, Erica Simmons looked toward the massive transparent window nearby, her heart heavy with anxiety.

There, the skeletal frame of a towering steel humanoid was already beginning to take shape.

When the answers remain unknown, people can only grit their teeth and press forward along the path of the unknown.

Inside the ZAFT military academy.

Eno Kamal welcomed his very first practical MS piloting lesson.

For the past few days, he had only used simulators to practice driving and operating an MS.

Due to the urgency of wartime, in order to ensure that new MS cadets had sufficient training time and experience, the ZAFT military academy had been equipped with hundreds of training MS.

These were the ZGMT-01 GINN Trainer.

The YMF-01B Prototype GINN was the first MS developed and manufactured by ZAFT.

At the same time, it served as the prototype for the first generation of ZAFT's mass-produced general-purpose MS—the ZGMF-1017 GINN.

The MS stands 18.45 meters tall with a base weight of 78 tons, powered by a compact energy battery; however, as it is a first-generation battery, it typically requires a dedicated wired power transmission system under normal circumstances.

Bang, bang, bang—

The ground trembled.

With graduation and deployment to the battlefield only two months away, nearly every MS at the training base was currently operational.

Standing on the perimeter of the training camp and watching hundreds of giants sprinting and maneuvering ahead, Eno Kamal felt a sense of awe he had never experienced before.

Although he had seen such scenes in his memories, nothing compared to the visceral impact of witnessing it in person.

For some reason, towering mechanical creations always held an inexplicable allure for men.

The constant roaring, the steel machines that almost completely obscured his vision—everything about it was utterly captivating.

Beside him came the voice of instructor Kelvin.

"Athrun Zaku, 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, not far away, called out his name in a loud voice.

"Here!"

Eno stood up from the ground as a conditioned reflex.

"Come with me."

After saying this, instructor Kelvin turned toward the machines piloted by Athrun and the others and said, "You lot are free to train, but remember, it is just training—no fighting! Especially you, Yzak!"

"Huh? If we aren't sparring, what do you want us to do? Dance in this designated area like those other people?"

Yzak's voice came through the intercom; he was clearly dissatisfied with the arrangement.

"Obey the order, Yzak."

Athrun's voice was soft and swift.

"Oh, wow~"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do."

"Yzak!"

"Shut up! You got lucky last time, but this time, no matter what, I'm going to beat you!"

Perhaps they were just incompatible, but Yzak had disliked Athrun, the talented "good kid," since they were young. After speaking, he turned his MS and headed straight for Athrun's machine.

"Yzak, stop!"

"Sparring is part of free training too! I'll definitely beat you this time!"

Soon, under Eno's bewildered gaze, the MS piloted by Yzak and the one piloted by Athrun began a game of cat and mouse across the training field.