The Archangel Alliance's formation slowly rotated on the projection table—the Archangel and Dominion had completed their turn and were now using a wedge formation to help the Eternal and Kusanagi break through ZAFT's encirclement. As long as they crossed the Vesalius directly ahead, the entire fleet could escape the deadly pocket formed by the Earth Alliance and ZAFT's pincer attack. They were only one step away. But that one step required everyone to be present.
"Where is the Unicorn?!" Murrue's voice drowned out all other noise over the command channel. Her hand clenched the armrest of the captain's chair. "Notify Xia Ya to retreat, now!"
Miriallia Hau, seated before the communications console on the left side of the bridge, immediately began hammering at the keyboard with all ten fingers at top speed.
No response.
Miriallia sent it again. Her keystrokes grew faster and faster, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
"The Unicorn is fighting enemy MS!" Sai Argyle, seated at another console beside her, looked up. The monitor's glow reflected off the lenses of his black-rimmed glasses. His voice trembled. "But... this is—I'll play the footage!"
He pressed the main screen switch.
The massive floating display at the front of the bridge switched from the fleet tactical map to a live feed from a high-magnification optical camera. What it showed was breathtaking.
The Unicorn Gundam.
The pure-white machine darted across the black-cloth backdrop of space. It was no longer in its standard mode—its armor had fully unfolded outward, exposing the Psycho-Frame within. The frames radiated a searing red glow, enveloping the entire machine in a flickering halo.
With its NT-D Destroy Mode fully activated, the Unicorn's silhouette looked a size larger than usual. Crimson streams spilled from every joint seam, as though the machine itself were burning.
And