Xia Ya's Rescue

To make matters worse, during the earlier battle, Jiliang had already consumed a great deal of energy resisting the enemy's beam weapon attacks and maintaining the mobile suit's high mobility. Now, the PS Armor was enduring repeated impacts from physical weapons...

Suddenly, a low, urgent warning sounded through the cockpit. A crucial indicator light turned red and began flashing!

"The battery!?" Jiliang cried out, staring in disbelief as the energy gauge plummeted, finally falling below the critical threshold!

As the PS Armor powered down, Strike Gundam's once-glowing armor instantly lost its color. Like a giant beast stripped of life, it looked utterly helpless in the dark void of space.

The enemy, meanwhile, immediately noticed this disastrous development.

"The battery's depleted! Nice one, Michel!" Yzak's voice brimmed with triumphant delight.

"You really held on for a while," Michel said with a smug laugh. "But this is the end!"

Having confirmed that Strike Gundam had lost its greatest defensive barrier and part of its power, Yzak and Michel were like sharks scenting blood, their fighting spirit instantly flaring to its peak.

No longer holding anything back, they piloted Duel Gundam and the Ginn, charging from either side toward the powerless Strike Gundam with killing intent!

The Beam Saber and Heavy Cleaver were raised high at the same time, ready to deliver the final, fatal blow to this new Earth Alliance mobile suit that had repeatedly frustrated them!

"How could this... happen here...!?" Jiliang stared at the two enemy machines rapidly enlarging on her screen, her eyes filled with unwillingness and despair.

Her energy was depleted, and the machine was sluggish. She had no effective means of resistance left. The icy touch of death seemed to have already closed around her throat.

Was she really going to die here? She thought of everyone aboard the Archangel, of Flay's worried face, and of... Xia Ya.

If she died here, she would never see him again...

At that desperate, critical moment, the cockpit suddenly shook violently again!

But this sensation was completely different from Ginn's earlier ramming and slashing. It felt more like... being firmly seized and restrained?

Jiliang abruptly looked up and gazed outside through the viewport and cameras, her face full of confusion. When she saw the sight before her, she could not help crying out, "Aegis Gundam... Athrun!?"

A mobile suit transformed into the shape of a gigantic red mechanical claw—Aegis Gundam in its MA form, piloted by Athrun—had silently approached at some point. With its four enormous claws, like a bird of prey catching its quarry, it tightly seized the powerless Strike Gundam and began accelerating away with it!

"Athrun!?" Seeing this, Yzak was both shocked and furious. He immediately demanded over the comms, "What are you doing!? Let it go!"

Athrun's voice sounded exceptionally calm, even carrying an unquestionable resolve. "I'm taking this thing straight back to the Gamow."

"What kind of nonsense is that!?" Yzak was nearly driven mad with rage. "The order was to destroy it! Destroy it! And you want to bring it back!?"

Athrun patiently explained, though there was a faint complexity in his tone that was difficult to detect. "Wouldn't capturing this machine be more valuable than destroying it? Its technology would be useful to us."

Hearing their conversation, Jiliang's already pale face instantly turned ashen. Capture her... take her back to a ZAFT warship? She knew all too well what that meant.

She would be taken away from the Archangel, from Miss Murrue, Mr. Mu, Miss Badgiruel... from Flay, Sai, Tolle, and the others... and most importantly, from Xia Ya's side!

No! Absolutely not!

Jiliang desperately shook the controls, trying to make Strike Gundam struggle.

However, the energy-depleted machine was like a moth tangled in a spiderweb. Every movement was weak and futile.

Aegis Gundam's gigantic claws did not budge. Instead, they tightened their grip.

"Stop struggling, Jiliang!" At that moment, Athrun's voice cut directly into Strike Gundam's communication channel. It carried helplessness, earnest persuasion, and even a trace of pain. "You're a Coordinator! You're one of our people, someone we should protect! Come back with us... otherwise, I can only... attack you!"

"...Athrun." Hearing that familiar yet unfamiliar voice and those words, Jiliang felt a jumble of emotions, as though something had viciously stabbed her heart.

Yes, Athrun had been one of her closest childhood friends.

But now, they stood on opposing sides. She did not want to go to ZAFT. She did not want to leave the people with whom she had formed bonds during her time aboard the Archangel, and even less did she want to leave Xia Ya, the person she had come to rely on and feel an indescribable affection for.

But she also understood that Athrun was not entirely lying. Perhaps he genuinely believed he was "protecting" her. But she did not want this kind of protection!

Athrun seemed about to say more, trying to persuade her. But at that moment—

Beep beep beep beep—!!

The sensors of Aegis Gundam and Strike Gundam detected, almost simultaneously, a high-energy, high-speed target rapidly approaching from afar!

On the radar screen, a striking red signal streaked through the dark cosmos like a burning comet, heading directly for them!

Deep in the universe set ablaze by war, inside Blaze Gundam's cockpit, Xia Ya's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's as he stared at the image from the distant sensors—Strike Gundam had been captured by Aegis Gundam and was being dragged away from the battlefield!

"Jiliang!" He let out an urgent, resolute shout. His voice shot through the long-range communications like an arrow toward the distant girl.

"Xia Ya!" Trapped within Aegis Gundam's claws, Jiliang heard that familiar voice amid her despair. It was like grasping a lifeline, and surprise and worry intertwined in her response.

"Damn... that's... Blaze Gundam!" Athrun stared at the rapidly approaching crimson signal on the radar, his brow tightly furrowed in shock and confusion. "Why is he here!? Where's Captain Creuset!?"

Based on the earlier state of the battlefield, Blaze Gundam should have been firmly held down at the front by Captain Creuset's CGUE!

What Athrun did not know was that, to Xia Ya at that moment, no tactical objective and no powerful opponent mattered more than Jiliang's safety.

During his fierce battle with Rau Le Creuset, though the fight was deadlocked, Xia Ya had kept part of his attention on the battlefield's movements through the tactical link, especially the area where Jiliang was located.

The instant he saw Strike Gundam run out of energy and get seized by Aegis Gundam, some string in his heart was violently plucked.

There was not the slightest hesitation. It was almost an instinctive reaction.

Just moments ago, when he had stunned Rau Le Creuset with a thunderous cry of "Lau La Flada," he had caught that instant of distraction from his opponent.

He could have used the opportunity to launch a fatal strike and completely eliminate this dangerous enemy.

But at almost the same moment, he caught sight of Strike Gundam being captured from the corner of his eye.

In that instant, his desire to defeat Rau Le Creuset and his urge to protect Jiliang clashed fiercely within him.

After only a second of consideration—perhaps it did not even count as consideration—his instinct to protect Jiliang overwhelmed everything else.

He gave up that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, yanked the controls, and Blaze Gundam's engines erupted in a howl far beyond normal output. The machine executed an almost impossible vectored sharp turn on the spot, exposing its undefended back to the CGUE that should have been behind it.

The crimson mobile suit shot away like an arrow loosed from a bow, like a bolt of vengeful lightning. Ignoring any pursuit that might come from behind, it raced at maximum assault speed toward Aegis Gundam and Strike Gundam!

Inside his cockpit, Rau Le Creuset had originally been fully focused on dealing with Xia Ya's attacks. Then he suddenly heard Xia Ya's meaningful cry, and his heart jolted as an inexplicable sense of familiarity surged up. He blurted out, "Wait—this feeling, could it be... ngh!?"

His thoughts were thrown into disarray in an instant. Could it be that person? His attention began to wander, and at last, he noticed Mu's presence.

However, it seemed that everything was already too late.

Mu had nearly reached the perfect position to launch his attack. Rau Le Creuset was frantic, knowing Mu's skill and determination. Once Mu attacked, the Vesalius would face enormous danger.

At that moment, Xia Ya had only one thought in his mind: protect Jiliang.

Without hesitation, he abandoned the CGUE with which he had been fiercely engaged and piloted Blaze Gundam at full speed toward Strike Gundam.

Strangely, the CGUE did not pursue him from behind. Xia Ya guessed that Rau Le Creuset had likely made an emergency turn to protect the Vesalius.

On the other side of the battlefield, Mu was preparing to carry out his battle plan. He said to Xia Ya through the communicator, "Xia Ya, the operation succeeded! As long as we shoot down this warship like this..."

There was a trace of excitement and anticipation in his voice, as though victory were already within reach.