Under Genesis's thunderous strike, the once impeccably arrayed, invincible Earth Alliance fleet had been shattered beyond recognition. The Ginns and CGUEs, once hunted as prey, had now, inspired by Patrick Zala's incendiary speech, become hunters of vengeance, baring their fangs at the Dagger Team, whose will to fight had been utterly crushed by the hellish scene before them.
The balance between attack and defense had reversed in an instant.
In space, the roles of hunter and prey had undergone a cruel exchange. The MS and MA units that had lost their motherships—their only refuge—fell into complete chaos, scattering in every direction like a startled herd. The remaining mobile ships tried to turn around and organize a retreat, but countless vessels had damaged propulsion systems and simply could not reach the speed they needed. Like sharks smelling blood, ZAFT's MS forces precisely pounced upon these immobile steel coffins, sending them one by one into the abyss of destruction.
"Damn it!"
The roar echoed through the cockpit as Unicorn Gundam's Beam Rifle spat blazing fire. A beam accurately pierced a Ginn that had been pursuing a Dagger, and then another CGUE, racing about to mop up the remaining Earth Forces units, had its cockpit shot through from behind by Xia Ya's DRAGOONs. Its movements abruptly stopped before it exploded into a brilliant firework in the silent void.
Xia Ya swept his gaze around. Freedom Gundam was fighting fiercely as well. Jiliang's multi-target locking system was running at full power, while the Cetus Plasma Converging Beam Cannon and Swordfish Railguns fired in alternation, doing everything possible to halt ZAFT Forces' one-sided slaughter. Close behind came Canard's Experimental Nuclear Zaku, the three Strike Gundams piloted respectively by Mu, Sven, and Nicol, as well as Michel's Blaze Gundam, all racing across their respective fronts to