Rau Le Creuset Invades the Colony Satellite

The course of events had deviated slightly from the "original work" in Xia Ya's memories—mainly due to his own involvement and the changes in everyone's roles—but the core outcome seemed unchanged: Jiliang Yamato and her friends had ultimately joined forces with Murrue Ramius and boarded the warship that would soon become legendary.

"The next developments..." Xia Ya closed his eyes slightly, withdrawing his attention from the negotiations before him and focusing his senses outward.

His perception, far beyond that of an ordinary person, acted like an invisible radar and caught two presences rapidly approaching this place.

Those two presences grew clearer and clearer in his awareness. Their intensity and traits allowed him to make an immediate judgment.

"One is Mu... The other is probably that person."

He frowned slightly as a complicated emotion quietly spread through his heart.

There was both instinctive concern for the safety of his elder brother, Mu La Flaga, and a premonition of the inevitable confrontation to come.

That second presence was powerful and cold, carrying a familiar, unpleasant sense of oppression.

As he continued carefully sensing the direction and speed of the two approaching presences, he subconsciously raised his head and looked through the factory's blasted-open dome at the colony's artificial sky, stained by the colors of war.

Against that vast backdrop, a drama concerning destiny seemed to be raising its curtain.

Lost in his thoughts and perceptions, he did not immediately notice that not far beside him, Jiliang Yamato's clear yet profound amethyst-like eyes were fixed unblinkingly on him.

Her gaze was filled with indescribable curiosity, scrutiny, and a strange sense of connection that even Jiliang herself had yet to notice.

Who exactly was this mysterious man who had suddenly appeared and calmly resolved the crisis? He seemed to be hiding many secrets.

After a brief rest and some arrangements, they officially began "acting together."

As was customary, and in order to establish basic trust and communication, Captain Ramius suggested that everyone introduce themselves.

When it was Xia Ya's turn to give his name as "Xia Ya Flaga," he keenly caught the flicker of surprise and contemplation that crossed Captain Ramius's face.

Sure enough, the surname "Flaga" carried special significance in this world, especially among circles connected to the upper ranks of the Earth Alliance.

However, Xia Ya did not pay it much mind. There were more important things to focus on at the moment.

Mu's presence was getting closer and closer, and that unsettling presence was following right alongside it.

Captain Ramius soon gave Xia Ya his first specific order. "Flaga, pilot that machine and try to establish contact with our wingmen or mothership. Use the standard encrypted channel."

She was referring to the red-painted Gundam Xia Ya had previously ridden in—the X106 Blaze.

"Understood." Xia Ya said no more and turned toward the Blaze Gundam.

As he sat in the familiar cockpit, the beeps of the internal systems powering up and the sequential glow of the indicator lights gave him a faint sense of reassurance.

He brought up the communications interface and began calling out according to the frequency and encryption code Ramius had provided.

"This is X106 Blaze, calling friendly units. Respond if you can hear me. I repeat, this is Blaze, calling Earth Alliance friendly units."

However, the only reply was the irritating static hissing from the speakers.

The dense Minovsky Particles—or the technology known in this world as "Neutron Interference"—severely obstructed radio communications.

"...Interference?" he muttered. The Earth Forces' new warship, the Archangel, should have been nearby, but conventional communications had clearly failed. He switched through several backup channels, yet the result remained the same.

With a helpless sigh, Xia Ya temporarily gave up trying. Rather than calling out futilely, he might as well focus on the more urgent threat.

The two approaching presences had become extremely close, especially the one radiating intense hostility.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sai Argyle and several technicians unloading components from a large trailer outside the cockpit. Xia Ya recognized them at once—they were one of the Strike Gundam's replacement loadouts, the Launcher Striker Pack.

It seemed Jiliang and the others were preparing for a possible battle as well.

Sure enough, not far away, Jiliang's Strike Gundam slowly crouched down beside the trailer, preparing to swap equipment.

Heavy firepower support might prove useful in the battle ahead.

His gaze lingered briefly on the Strike Gundam, and a complicated emotion rose in his heart.

This girl, who should have been living a peaceful life, now had no choice but to pilot a weapon of war.

Then—

"—!"

A sudden, bone-chilling cold swept violently through his entire body!

Xia Ya's expression changed slightly in an instant. This feeling... he knew it far too well.

This was not physical coldness, but an instinctive warning of danger on a spiritual level.

More specifically, he had sensed an overwhelmingly powerful, utterly undisguised killing intent and hostility!

That hostility was not directed at him, yet its sheer intensity and malice felt like a tangible icy current, making his soul tremble.

His heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, as if it were about to leap from his chest, and an invisible yet extremely dangerous atmosphere instantly enveloped him.

Almost at the same moment, a deafening boom erupted near the colony dome above them!

BOOM—!!!

The blast wave and flames tore through the fragile structure like a raging beast, spraying debris and fire in every direction.

Xia Ya abruptly looked up through the Blaze Gundam's external monitors.

In his field of view, an expanding mass of rolling orange-red flames erupted, and two figures shot rapidly out of it—a white Mobile Suit with sharp, aggressive lines, and an orange Mobile Armor that was clearly damaged.

There was no mistake! Xia Ya's eyes sharpened instantly.

They were the CGUE piloted by Rau Le Creuset, ZAFT Forces' rising commander, and... the Moebius Zero piloted by his brother, Mu La Flaga!

The situation was extremely critical!

Before Captain Ramius could give any order, Xia Ya was already moving on instinct and decisive judgment.

Click! The cockpit hatch quickly shut and locked behind him. Within the sealed space, only his own breathing and the low hum of machinery remained.

As the machine started up, the Blaze Gundam's armor instantly shifted from standby gray to vivid crimson, while the hum of flowing energy echoed through the machine.

His hands danced rapidly over the controls and levers as the Blaze Gundam's head sensors precisely locked onto the two machines fighting overhead.

After confirming the CGUE's position, the backpack thrusters erupted with tremendous force!

Mu! he shouted soundlessly in his heart, his consciousness filled with intense worry.

At the instant the Blaze Gundam launched from the ground, the display showed the CGUE's Heavy Cleaver, gleaming with cold light, slicing through the air with lightning speed and striking the Moebius Zero's last remaining main weapon—the long-barreled Railgun!

Sparks flew as the severed barrel fell helplessly.

Xia Ya's heart sank. During the previous battle, Mu's Moebius Zero had already lost its signature and most powerful weapon—the Wire-Guided Pods.

Now even its last Railgun had been destroyed. That meant Mu's machine had completely lost all armaments and become a target that could only take hits passively!

Rau Le Creuset's attacks were cold and precise, without the slightest hesitation. Every movement was filled with lethal efficiency.

After landing the strike, he piloted the white CGUE in a smooth turn like a hunting bird of prey. He raised the Heavy Cleaver again and relentlessly pursued the orange MA that was trying to evade and flee, preparing to deliver the final blow to this prey that had lost its fangs!

He could not let him succeed!

Xia Ya's gaze hardened, and his hands became afterimages as he pushed the Blaze Gundam's performance to its limit.

Calculating the lead, he tried to forcibly insert his machine between the CGUE and the Moebius Zero, using the Blaze Gundam's sturdy PS Armor to block Rau Le Creuset's killing blow and buy Mu a sliver of survival.

The crimson Gundam shot toward the heart of the aerial battlefield like a meteor.

However, at the instant the Blaze Gundam was about to reach its intended interception point, only a hair's breadth from that deadly blade—

A sudden change occurred!

The white CGUE, which had been pursuing at high speed with overwhelming momentum, turned its coldly gleaming mono-eye main sensor toward the crimson Gundam charging up from below—Blaze.

As the sensor turned, the CGUE's massive, intimidating frame also rotated smoothly, with a chilling elegance.

The entire motion was completed in one fluid sequence without the slightest pause, yet it radiated an even more terrifying pressure than when it had been hunting Mu.

"..."

Inside the Blaze Gundam's cockpit, Xia Ya Flaga felt an unprecedented chill surge up from the soles of his feet like a Siberian arctic storm, rushing straight to his scalp and making it feel as if every drop of blood in his body had frozen.

So cold. Truly cold.

His body began trembling uncontrollably, and his teeth lightly clicked together on instinct.

He knew very well that the colony's internal temperature was carefully regulated. There was no way such an extreme temperature difference could exist.

This cold did not come from the external environment. It stemmed from the depths of his soul, an instinctive reaction to the immense spiritual pressure and malice radiating from the being before him, so great it had nearly taken physical form!

Fear, like a lurking venomous snake, caught him off guard and bit down on his heart.

This is... Rau Le Creuset...!

Xia Ya forced the name out in his heart, his voice unconsciously carrying a trace of irrepressible tension and... awe.

Since arriving in this world, this was his first direct, face-to-face confrontation with the terrifying existence who had served as the final boss in the original SEED.

He was not merely an enemy from the original work. Through their bloodline in this world, he, Mu, and Rau Le Creuset were all special individuals born from the genetic legacy of Dr. Hibiki—or rather, Al Da Flaga. At this moment, the threads of destiny had wound them together in an extremely dramatic fashion.

Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his temples, but his hands gripping the controls tightened further, his knuckles turning faintly white from the force.

It was as though he wanted to draw courage and strength from this cold mechanical creation.

Though the shadow of fear shrouded his heart, Xia Ya's gaze did not retreat. Instead, an even fiercer flame ignited within it. Like a drawn sword, he stared without blinking through the monitor at the CGUE hovering in the air and aiming at him like the White Death.

He knew that a battle far earlier and far crueler than he had anticipated had become unavoidable.

At the same time, inside the cockpit of the white CGUE confronting the Blaze Gundam, the masked man—Rau Le Creuset—was likewise seized by a sudden and unprecedented strange sensation.

"Hm...? This feeling is..."

Behind his mask, Rau Le Creuset's brows drew together almost imperceptibly. In his eyes, hidden in shadow, flashed profound surprise and intense interest.

A feeling like a surging tide churned within him, clearly pointing toward the exceptionally conspicuous crimson Gundam below.

It was not merely a sense of threat, but something deeper—a resonance and... rejection that seemed to originate from the level of genes or the soul?

The killing intent he had originally fixed upon Mu La Flaga was completely overwhelmed by this sudden strange sensation. In an instant, all of his attention focused on that crimson Blaze and its pilot.

At that moment, the gears of destiny turned with a heavy, distinct sound.