Dangerous PLANT

Across the vast expanse of northern Australia, covered in red soil and sparse eucalyptus groves, Carpentaria Base stood out as abrupt and forbidding.

The gray metal buildings reflected a blinding glare beneath the scorching sun. The footsteps of ground crews and soldiers echoed and intertwined across the enormous hangars and runways, creating a noisy, disorderly symphony.

The air was thick with the distinctive smell of engine oil, overheated metal, and salty moisture blown in from the nearby bay.

Transport vehicles carrying repair parts and ammunition shuttled through the base, kicking up red dust like a fine mist of blood that lingered in the air.

The disastrous defeat off Orb's coast hung over every ZAFT soldier like a heavy shadow.

The retreat order had come abruptly, and many units had fled the battlefield in disgrace. For soldiers who had always considered themselves elites, it was an unspeakable humiliation.

Now, they were forced to huddle within one of their few remaining footholds on Earth, licking their wounds and counting their losses.

Inside the hangars, damaged MSs (Mobile Suits) stood silently. Torn armor, severed wiring, and blackened cockpits wordlessly told of the battle's intensity.

Maintenance crews bustled around the steel giants. Welding arcs flashed intermittently, and the clanging of metal rang out one after another, but everyone knew repairs could never keep pace with the losses.

Alaska's Cyclops System, that indiscriminate destruction of friend and foe alike, lingered like an inescapable nightmare.

Even though ZAFT's upper ranks had declared it a strategic victory, the reports brought back by survivors revealed another side of the truth—countless comrades and their machines had been instantly vaporized by microwaves, leaving not even ashes behind.

The immense sacrifice had won them control of Panama, a victory that should have been decisive, sealing the Earth Alliance within the American