Checkmate

"Distance to target: 180."

On the Archangel's bridge, Chandra's voice reported the distance.

After leaving the lunar city of Copernicus, they had successfully rendezvoused with the Eternal and headed for Requiem's first relay station.

They were following ZAFT's previous strategy.

"The two fastest ships will take the relay station first, then Orb's main force will destroy Requiem's main gun emplacement. This..."

Standing beside Marlu, Mu spoke in his usual flippant tone, though a trace of bitterness still slipped through. "...There's a ZAFT Moon Fleet nearby too. Oh, man!"

"But we can only fight head-on... if we don't want to lose to them."

Marlu answered stiffly.

The Orb fleet led by the Kusanagi, the Klein faction, and remnants of the Earth Alliance—forces resisting the Destiny Plan—had now formed a main fleet and were heading for Daidalus Base on the far side of the moon.

Paralyzing the relay station was only a way to buy time. The other relay stations could still be repositioned freely, and as long as the cannon itself remained intact, Earth would still be under threat.

The scenery of Orb surfaced in Marlu's mind.

Clear skies, a jewel-blue sea, children's laughter mingling with the sound of waves—it was a gentle, warm world...

She could not let that country come under attack again...

At that moment, Lacus, now aboard the Eternal, sent a communication.

"The key to victory is speed. Before enemy reinforcements can surround us, we must seize the relay station."

Lacus and the others did not know how far Requiem's repairs had progressed.

But they could not gamble, so the relay station had to be taken.

ZAFT's defenses around the relay station had not yet been fully prepared. Besides, they had only taken over the base recently; repairing and operating Requiem had probably consumed no small amount