"Is this really the area where Cagalli landed?"
Kira, piloting Strike Gundam, looked a little worried.
It had been an hour and a half since departure, and it had rained not long ago.
"No matter what, Cagalli can pilot a Skygrasper."
Mu spoke over the comms, keeping the aircraft steady while observing the information displayed on the scanning system.
"When crashing, if possible, human instinct tends to choose landing on land."
"As someone who specializes in flying, I have some authority on that point."
"Don't worry, Kira."
At the same time, Roz was hovering Jesta at low altitude.
"Jesta's marking system hasn't detected the Skygrasper's distress beacon. Keep moving forward."
Although Jesta's battery didn't seem to last long during combat, that was because it was engaged in high-intensity movement and frequent bursts. At cruising speed, with the high-mobility backpack, Jesta could still operate for a long time.
"Beep… beep… beep…"
As the sun appeared on the horizon, Roz was about to call Kira and Mu back when a warning sound rang in the cockpit.
An inverted triangle marker appeared on the distant sea surface.
"Distress beacon detected. Follow me."
Roz pushed the control stick and pressed the pedal.
Jesta quickly changed direction and accelerated, the flames from its thrusters hitting the water and splashing up a series of droplets.
Soon, an uninhabited island appeared ahead, and the crashed Skygrasper was marked in Jesta's cockpit.
The cockpit door of the crashed Skygrasper was open, but there was no one inside.
"…This is Roz. Cagalli, can you hear me?"
Roz switched to the distress beacon's communication channel and tried to contact Cagalli.
There was no reply. Only static filled the channel.
"I repeat, this is Roz. Cagalli, can you hear me?"
Seeing no response, Roz frowned and unlocked Jesta's weapons.
The beam rifle activated, ready to attack at any moment.
"I repeat again. This is Roz. Cagalli, please respond."
Jesta slowed slightly, raising the beam rifle to destroy anything that might appear suddenly.
"Zzz… This is Cagalli. I'm safe!"
Just as Jesta was about to reach the shoreline of the island, Cagalli's voice came through the comms.
She suddenly ran out of the dense forest beside the crashed Skygrasper, waving continuously toward Jesta.
Seeing Cagalli, Roz relaxed slightly.
But when Jesta landed, a marker appeared in a remote area of the cockpit, the numbers and label causing Roz to pause for a moment.
"Seeing that you're safe is such a relief, Miss…"
Mu's voice came through the comms. Everyone relaxed knowing Cagalli was unharmed.
"Kira will be here soon."
The Skygrasper started circling in the air but apparently didn't detect anything else.
"This is an uninhabited island. There might be wild beasts in the forest. Count yourself lucky, Cagalli."
Roz thought for a moment, wanting to see if he could get some information from Cagalli.
"Have you seen anyone else here?"
"People? Y-you said this was an uninhabited island. Where would anyone else be?"
Cagalli looked surprised at Roz's question but quickly denied it.
Unbeknownst to her, Roz had already zoomed in on the image to closely observe Cagalli.
The clothes were dry, but it had just rained. Lighting a fire in the dense forest was impossible, and there was no shelter nearby—not even a campfire…
"Is that so… then, my friend over there can come out now."
Roz suddenly activated the loudspeaker, the voice echoing across the uninhabited island.
At the same time, Jesta raised the beam rifle and aimed in a direction. Seeing this sudden development, Cagalli almost had her heart stop.
"Dodging is useless. My mobile suit's radar has scanned you and completed the mark."
Roz squinted. Jesta extended its left hand to grip the beam rifle, entering sniper mode.
"Next is a warning shot!"
Jesta fired, the beam hitting a small slope near the mark, blasting a chunk of terrain.
At that moment, a red mobile suit took off from there, flying into the air.
"GAT-X303 Aegis?!"
Mu, circling in the air, gripped the controls tightly. "How is it here?"
"…Cub, your new mobile suit's performance is really impressive. If I'm not mistaken, the Earth Forces' fighters shouldn't have detected me just now."
Athrun, inside Aegis Gundam, remained silent for a moment before speaking through the loudspeaker.
"Considering that both she and I ended up on this uninhabited island, and that I helped her, let's just pretend you didn't see me, okay?"
At the same time, Strike Gundam lifted its rocket launcher, walking ashore from the sea.
"…Now it's three against one. I think taking you down here isn't a bad choice."
Roz controlled Jesta, releasing the left hand from the beam rifle's grip, ready to step on the pedal and charge at any moment.
"But even as an ace, it'll still take you some time to destroy me, right?"
Athrun's words were calm, as if unaffected by Roz, though his hands were already gripping Aegis' controls.
"My teammates and the fleet searching for Archangel are almost here. As long as I keep dodging your attacks, I'm confident I can hold out until then."
In truth, Athrun didn't have much confidence—Aegis wasn't fully charged, and it could run out of power at any moment. But for now, the priority was to bluff Roz and the others, at least Mu and Kira.
"Roz, what he says is true. ZAFT's fleet is almost here."
At that moment, Cagalli's voice came through the comms.
"And… he's the one who saved me."
"Tch… what if after we leave, you tell your teammates our location?"
Roz clearly doubted this and still wanted to destroy Aegis here.
"Kira knows my character. Since you let me go, I won't do that."
Seeing Jesta ready to fire, Athrun spoke while keeping his finger near the trigger, ready at any moment.
"…Roz, retreat."
Just as Roz was thinking about firing, Mu spoke.
"Skygrasper and Strike aren't equipped for combat. If ZAFT's fleet follows, it'll be disadvantageous for us."
"Right now, acting like nothing happened is best."
Hearing Mu, Roz remained silent for a moment, then lowered Jesta's beam rifle, letting Athrun breathe a sigh of relief.
"Kira, pick up Cagalli."
Roz's gaze stayed on Aegis, controlling Jesta to lift the crashed Skygrasper and handing the beam rifle to the mechanical arm.
"…Kira, if we meet on the battlefield next time…"
Watching Strike Gundam bend down and lift Cagalli into its palm, Athrun's expression was complicated. "Then you and I will only have the choice to shoot each other down."
-----------------------------------
On the sea, Jesta, Strike Gundam, and Skygrasper were flying at incredible speed.
Soon, the three mobile suits entered Archangel's communication range.
"Welcome back, Roz. Did you find Cagalli?"
Archangel's comms connected, and Murrue's voice came through the communicator.
"We've found Cagalli. Archangel should start turning now and prepare to sail at maximum speed!"
Roz replied through the communicator, his eyes still scanning the mobile suit's radar.
"Prepare for possible combat."
"We found Aegis on the island where Cagalli crashed. According to him, ZAFT's fleet will appear shortly afterward."
Hearing Roz, Murrue's expression grew serious.
"Open the launch deck, recover the mobile suits and Skygrasper. Archangel, turn and proceed at full speed via Route Two toward Orb."
"All personnel to secondary battle formation. Maintenance teams, prepare for action."
A series of commands were issued, and the previously calm Archangel became busy. Meanwhile, ZAFT's fleet finally arrived at the uninhabited island where Athrun was.
"Athrun, glad you're safe."
Nicol, piloting Blitz Gundam, landed beside Aegis Gundam.
"Didn't expect Earth Forces and Captain Marco to be fighting here."
"I'm fine. Aegis' performance is solid. Even without the flight pedals, it can fly briefly, allowing me to reach this island."
Athrun connected to Nicol's comms but said nothing about his earlier encounter with Kira and the others.
At this point, Aegis Gundam had moved to a hidden location, staying as far as possible from Kira and the others' evacuation route.
Though he was mentally prepared to kill Kira on the battlefield, Athrun still wanted to delay as much as possible.
"All right, since you've returned, we need to start the search for the Long Legs mission."
Nicol's words brought Athrun back to focus.
"With the Copy units we brought, we have absolute numerical superiority this time. We can definitely destroy the Long Legs."
Regarding this Copy unit, Athrun had felt uneasy after returning to the PLANT and speaking with Lacus.
The Clyne faction had always been pessimistic about the Copy units and had tried to stop their deployment. But with PLANT's current pro-war sentiment, Chairman Patrick Zala and Senator Durandal were pushing the project forward, apparently even planning to develop some kind of "decisive weapon."
Hearing Nicol discuss it here, Athrun—caught between Lacus and his father—felt a bit dazed.
"Don't worry. With the Copy units, we can end the war quickly!"
Nicol seemed unaware of the change in Athrun's tone.
"…End the war?"
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