Regarding what was seen and heard that day in the hangar, those who experienced it firsthand remained silent.
Halberton, having had a close look at the Archangel, returned to his own ship, the Menelaos.
"General Halberton, everything has been completely disassembled."
While Halberton sat in his office, lost in thought, the door opened.
His aide entered, holding a tablet, expression complicated.
"That man called Roz was right. SmartBrain, or rather Blue Cosmos, the ones who developed these devices, have been using the structure he designed all along."
The aide handed Halberton the tablet, which displayed photos and detailed videos.
"The tablet has been fully cut off from the network — it cannot be remotely controlled."
Halberton swiped through the screen, his expression serious, a certain fire burning in his eyes.
"All the components… they're all brains that have already gone insane." The aide felt a mix of nausea and dizziness. Even though he'd seen dismembered bodies on the battlefield, for some reason seeing these brains in the instruments triggered a deep instinctive aversion.
"…Have they been dealt with?" Halberton closed his eyes, putting the tablet aside.
"All of them have been handled," the aide nodded.
"That's good… that's good. Hopefully, when they are born into this world again, the wars will end." Halberton sighed and continued questioning. "What about George Allster's investigation? I remember he was also a Blue Cosmos member."
"After investigation, he's just a peripheral figure," the aide shook his head. "He doesn't know the true nature of these components. He joined Blue Cosmos only to advance his political status."
"Heh… a politician." Halberton stood from his chair. "A warrior who wants to end the war gets sent to die carelessly, and then they hand you tools to accelerate it?"
"Arrange the transport ships quickly — civilians and the Archangel must land on Earth immediately." Halberton adjusted his hat, walked toward the office door. "We have many tasks ahead, and the enemies we face next will be cunning."
"You plan to withdraw?"
"I will follow you, General Halberton," the aide straightened and saluted.
"…Very well." Halberton nodded, patting the aide's shoulder. "The Archangel and Roz each have their own battlefield. Now, it's our turn to enter ours."
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Roz had already put on his pilot suit, sitting silently in the Jegan cockpit, observing everything.
Civilians were boarding the landing craft in an orderly fashion, preparing to take the supply ship to Earth.
Fortunately, Halberton had taken all the remnants of the automatic combat component away; otherwise, the civilians would have been traumatized.
Roz spotted Flay, standing beside her father George, smiling brightly.
Suddenly, Flay turned, gave a slight bow toward the Jegan, and then, prompted nervously and dotingly by George, boarded the landing craft.
Then, in front of Roz appeared hair as fiery as flames — Christina's red hair.
"Roz, the Jegan has been fully calibrated." Christina floated into the cockpit, holding the right-side console, looking outside. "After this battle, the Jegan can only use the beam rifle and beam saber. All the rockets left have been loaded."
"Also, since I don't have your level of skill, the Buster Gundam's cannon components will have a shorter usage time than the original. After firing, the Jegan can't recharge them, so I installed explosives on top."
"Well done, Christina." Roz reached out with his right hand, grasping hers on the console. "You've been a huge help."
"…Roz, do you think we'll win?" Christina moved her hand slightly, responding to Roz's gesture. "We have no information on enemy numbers, positions, or combat power."
"There's always a way, Christina." Roz looked at the hatch where the mechanism was loaded. "There's always a way."
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On the other side of the hangar, Kira was having an intense discussion with his companions.
"Sai?! Why aren't you all disembarking?" Kira held the service and retirement certificates given by Badgiruel, staring at his friends in a daze.
"Oh, that," Sai smiled and explained. "On one hand, we've gotten used to it. Besides, the Archangel's route passes through Orb territory — we'll get off there."
"And on the other hand… you understand, Kira." Sai patted Kira on the shoulder. "When an MA fights an MS, the situation is often utterly overwhelming."
"Not everyone has Captain Mu's piloting skills. We also thought it better to stay on board and protect the supply ship."
"It's fine, Kira." Tolle stepped forward. "We'll meet in Orb."
Leave, huh?
Kira was lost in thought; his friends all had clear paths.
And himself?
Suddenly, the alarm sounded.
"Hey, kid! Get on! We're departing!" A soldier on the landing craft shouted at Kira.
Watching his friends drifting toward the passage, bidding farewell, Kira remained silent for a long while.
"…Don't wait for me. You go ahead."
Then, Kira followed his friends, floating toward the passage.
He seemed to have some awareness of what his blade should fight for.
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"Nazca-class 2, Laurasia-class 4, GINN 36, distance 500, estimated rendezvous in fifteen minutes."
"Landing craft detached, entering supply ship, hatches closed."
On the Menelaos bridge, Halberton donned his spacesuit, sitting in the captain's chair.
"Accelerate the Archangel and supply ship's Earth landing procedures." Halberton adjusted his suit slightly. "Deploy MAs — don't let ZAFT interfere with the landing."
"Everyone, as you likely know, what happened yesterday… we now face not only the aggressive ZAFT, but also some insidious, disgusting vermin, accelerating this war."
"To stop all of this, everyone — live to the fullest."
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On the Archangel.
"…There's no time." Roz calculated briefly in his mind; under the current circumstances, the battle would start before the landing procedures even began.
"I'll wait for you on the ship." Christina suddenly kissed Roz on the cheek and drifted away without looking back.
Roz touched his cheek, watched Christina float off, took a deep breath, and put on his helmet.
The cockpit doors closed, the mobile suit powered up, Jegan's visor glowing blue.
"This is Roz. I'm going out." Jegan moved skillfully in the hangar, stepping onto the launch platform.
At this moment, Jegan's waist mounts were equipped with two small missile launchers, the beam rifle and rocket launcher hung alongside them, hands holding the Buster Gundam's cannon tubes, shoulders fitted with triple missile launchers, and two large anti-ship missiles on the sides. The whole suit looked heavier.
In short, Jegan's armament was designed to assault the ZAFT fleet.
"Roz? But the landing procedure is about to start!"
Over the comm, Murrue, hoping to cover the Archangel and supply ship's descent with the ship's firepower, sounded surprised.
"No time. That Creuset guy will catch up, maybe even among the incoming enemies." Roz adjusted the suit's settings, removed the performance limiter, took a deep breath. "Trust me — let me engage."
"…Understood. Engagement authorized." Murrue replied, slightly resigned.
"Ejector deck activated. Jegan ready for sortie."
As the deck launched, Roz, inside Jegan, could clearly see Earth.
"Roz Links, Stark Jegan, sortie."
Stepping on the pedal, the electromagnetic launch system catapulted Jegan off the deck. The moment it entered space, the high-mobility backpack ignited thick thrusters, turning Jegan sharply and charging toward ZAFT.
"The Archangel deployed an MS — a modified GINN." Menelaos detected Archangel's movement. Halberton slammed the armrest.
"Nonsense!" His voice edged with urgency. "Notify the Archangel — leave this to us. They continue the landing procedure."
"Wait… the Strike Gundam is sortieing too!"
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"Longlegs… those bastards." Yzak activated the PS armor on his Duel Gundam, staring intently at the Earth Federation fleet ahead.
"Don't worry. With so many of us this time, nothing should go wrong." Dearka relaxed slightly, seemingly reassured by the performance of the Buster Gundam.
"Not so fast… you forget the last time… wait, something's happening." On the Blitz Gundam, Nicol had been trying to warn Dearka to stay alert, but the next second, the suit's alarm drew his attention to the radar.
"It's Cub… wait, that speed?!!" Seeing the blip rapidly approaching their forces, Nicol tensed up. "So fast… three times normal speed… he's trying to charge our fleet!"
"What? Again?!" Dearka's surprise quickly turned into focus.
Meanwhile, in Jegan, Roz, watching the ZAFT units already tagged by the all-around cockpit system, pushed the throttle further. Jegan's speed surged again.
He then assembled the cannon tubes into an anti-armor shotgun.
Glancing at the remaining ammo, Roz calculated the distance in his mind.
"Now!" He unleashed the anti-armor shotgun into the mixed cluster of GINNs and Gundams, emptying the magazine in barely two seconds.
Most GINNs raised their shields to block the spread, but a few unlucky units were hit directly and exploded on the spot.
"What?! Buster Gundam's armament?!" Seeing the familiar effect, Dearka immediately recognized the weapon Jegan was using. "No! The ship is in danger!"
Jegan cut through the chaotic ZAFT forces and headed straight for the ZAFT warship.
The ZAFT fleet, noticing this lone attacker, unleashed concentrated defensive fire.
Jegan reassembled the cannon tubes into a Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle, executed a rolling maneuver, and flew above a Laurasia-class warship.
"Solomon! I've Returned!"
Roz braced against the pressure from the high-speed maneuvering and pulled the trigger toward the locked target.
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