Gundam, the Gundam journey of a certain glue guy and his mecha girl.

Aslan piloted Justice at high speed toward the Eternity, but an unidentified mobile suit launched from the Eternity and blocked his way.

Then, a message came from the MS that surprised him.

"Long time no see, Aslan Sara. I am the Skyfire Raven you shot down off the coast of Orb. How about it, do you remember me?"

Chapter 71 OPEN, GANDAM!

"Heavenly Fire Crow?"

Wasn't this guy dead? Right off the coast of Orb, when he was caught by the Aegis, he self-destructed and died...

Humans could not possibly survive such a situation. Wasn't he the one sitting in the short sword at the time?

The moment this thought arose, it stirred Aslan's thoughts, and a series of doubts came together in Aslan's mind.

Why did Dagger's fighting style change during that battle? Why would the revered Klein family hijack the Eternity and Freedom? Why did the Alliance's ace launch an attack from the Eternity?

Most importantly, what role did the ace of this coalition play in this series of events?

There is only one answer.

"It's good that you remember, Aslan Sara, we are not enemies..."

Raven had S-Gundam spread his arms out, assuming a non-aggressive posture, in an attempt to talk to Athrun.

However, the next moment, the two beam cannons on the Justice Gundam's backpack suddenly lit up without any warning and fired a salvo at the S Gundam.

El reacted the instant the beam cannon lit up, unleashing a series of jets from the attitude control nozzles, causing the beam to graz the S Gundam's body.

"You faked your death by self-destructing off the coast of Orb, all for this day! You created your own death, then led the Allied special forces to infiltrate PLANT, kidnapped Mr. Sigur and Lacus, created the illusion that the Klein family had betrayed PLANT, and finally seized the Eternity and escaped freely!"

"Wait, why did it turn out like this?"

"Hand over Lux and freedom!"

Athrun wasn't listening at all. Under his control, Justice Gundam transformed into a red lightning bolt, instantly closing the distance between the two machines, while its dual-headed beam sword slashed down at S Gundam.

However, the S Gundam's speed was no less than Justice's. Its large propulsion backpack started firing at full power, and the flickering of its attitude control nozzles dodged Justice's attack, then quickly created distance.

"Wait, you seem to have misunderstood me."

"If you don't hand it over, I'm going to shoot you down!"

Justice, relentless, pursued the S Gundam relentlessly.

"What a blockhead!"

Faced with Aslan, who wouldn't listen to anything he said, Raven was at a loss.

"Although I think it's Raven who has a problem with how he spoke, are we going to fight now?"

Al's steady voice rang out.

"Of course, we should take away his fighting power to wake him up!"

S Gundam drew the beam sword hidden in its knee armor, and the four beam cannons on its shoulders and waist were aimed at Justice.

"Turn the power down a bit, don't actually shoot him down."

"Understand".

With all four beam cannons firing simultaneously, Raven not only halted the momentum of the Justice Charge but also attempted to regain the initiative.

However, Aslan would not easily relinquish his advantage and immediately devised a strategy.

Justice drew the beam boomerang from its shoulder, and the cherry-red light blade sliced ​​towards the S Gundam's flank in a crescent-shaped arc.

At the same time, the Mirage 00 backpack on its back flew out, and in the form of an independent flying turret, it attacked the S Gundam from another direction.

It was thrown towards the S Gundam, attempting to attack the S Gundam from another direction, while the Justice Gundam itself actively met the S Gundam.

Meanwhile, the embodiment of justice is on the front, charging straight at the S Gundam.

Faced with Justice's multi-directional attacks, Ravens showed no sign of backing down, brandishing her two beam swords to confront Justice head-on.

Raven first made a small movement to let the beam boomerang pass by, and then came in front of Justice and swung the beam saber down at Justice.

However, the most troublesome part of the beam boomerang is never the attack that comes from the front, but the attack that comes from behind after it has spun around once.

But Raven had already used this weapon many times when he was using a sword-equipped backpack.

Justice caught S Gundam's beam saber with his shield. At the same time, the beam boomerang had already returned from behind S Gundam, and Mirage 00 had already pointed its cannon at S Gundam's back.

"Al, now! Gundam Separation!"

Just before the beam boomerang and Mirage 00 were about to hit the S Gundam, the S Gundam suddenly split into two parts. The lower body transformed into the form of the G Bomber and headed towards Mirage 00, while the upper body remained in human form. Using the jetpack on its back, it flew over Justice's head and narrowly avoided the fatal blow.

Although the beam boomerang, under the control of the program, urgently corrected its trajectory and did not harm Justice itself, the cannonballs and beams that had already been fired would not.

The next moment, the shield of justice was hit by the artillery fire from Mirage 00.

The S Gundam, which had already arrived behind Justice, immediately locked onto Justice's right arm, where he was using his weapon, and swung down its beam saber.

However, Athrun reacted even faster than Raven had anticipated. After catching two beam cannon shots from Mirage 00, Justice Rider's remaining machine gun shells hit the body protected by PS armor, and then he immediately turned around to catch the S Gundam's slash.

However, the S-Gundam's attack did not stop. It kept swinging its beam sabers and launching continuous slashes at the Justice Gundam. But Athrun seized the opportunity. The moment his shield blocked the S-Gundam's slash, he suddenly thrust his beam saber out from under the shield, aiming straight for the S-Gundam's chest. Raven was forced to retreat by Athrun's shield thrust.

But his series of attacks had achieved their purpose. While Athrun focused entirely on dealing with the S Gundam's attacks, the G-Bomber, remotely controlled by El, quickly caught up with Mirage 00, transformed back into bipedal form, and landed on top of it. Through the contact loop, El used all the computing power he could muster to breach Mirage 00's firewall in an instant.

Athrun, who was chasing the S Gundam while holding a shield, was surprised to find that the Mirage 00, which had separated, suddenly went offline. The next moment, the beam cannon and machine gun equipped on the Mirage 00 fired in the direction of justice. And standing on the Mirage 00 was the lower half of the S Gundam that had separated.

"That new type of aircraft actually has this kind of function?"

The fact that Mirage 00 was hacked by the enemy was beyond Athrun's expectations. Under the cover of the distraction shots launched by Mirage 00, S Gundam reunited.

El piloted the Mirage 00 as it roared past Justice, its continuous fire forcing Athrun to raise his shield in defense. Meanwhile, the S Gundam seized the opportunity to step forward, using its shoulder to block Justice's shield. Its massive propulsion backpack fired at full power, and without the Mirage 00, Justice was unable to withstand the S Gundam's thrust. It was propelled backward by the S Gundam and flew towards the outer wall of the abandoned colony satellite.

However, Athrun wanted to make one last desperate attempt, thrusting his beam saber at the S-Gundam in front of him, trying to force Raven back. But the instant he raised his hand, the beam cannon on the left side of the S-Gundam flipped upwards under El's control, accurately piercing the Justice Gundam's raised right arm.

The next second, the Justice Gundam's back slammed into the outer wall of the colony satellite. The impact force was transmitted through the machine's frame to the cockpit, and the powerful impact almost made Athrun faint.

Then he saw a beam saber pressed against Justice's cockpit.

"Just as Kira said, you're a blockhead, always getting stuck on trivialities and being stubborn. So, Athrun Sara, have you calmed down yet?"

…………

Chapter 72 Revealed

Disarmed, Athrun slowly landed in the Eternity's hangar under Raven's instructions.

"It's been a long time, Aslan. You weren't injured in the battle just now, were you?"

A familiar voice came from ahead. Lux was speaking in a hushed tone.

Aslan stared at her, frozen in place.

Although Aslan didn't recognize many people, he was familiar with Andrew, who was wearing a ZAFT uniform and standing behind Lacus.

Although he was forcibly retired from active service due to his previous defeat, his reputation as the "Desert Tiger" and his ground tactics, which were written into textbooks, made him a well-known figure in the ZAFT army.

With him around, Lacus couldn't possibly have been kidnapped.

But wouldn't that mean that the Klein family really did steal ZAFT's newest warships and mobile suits and then defected abroad?

However, Aslan was certain that both Sigur and Lacus deeply loved PLANT and would never commit treason. But the surveillance footage Patrick showed him was not likely to be faked.

"Lux Klein, why would you do such a thing? Have you really betrayed us?"

Aslan looked at Lux in front of him and asked the question in a trembling voice.

Lacus didn't answer immediately, but turned around to look at S Gundam and Justice standing opposite each other.

“I never intended to betray you, but peace cannot be obtained by simply calling for it. To pursue peace, one must possess the corresponding power. Don’t you agree, Aslan?”

"Peace will come naturally if we win the war; there's no need for such methods!"

"So, when does Aslan think this war will end? By occupying a piece of land? By defeating the Earth Federation? Or by wiping out all natural beings?"

Lux turned around again, her deep blue eyes looking straight at him.

"This……"

Aslan couldn't give an answer immediately. He joined ZAFT to prevent the tragedy of Junius VII from repeating itself, but his father, Patrick, who was in charge of the war, seemed to want more than that.

The chilling idea of ​​annihilating all natural people was probably more than just a slogan to his father.

Lux's ever-present smile vanished, replaced by an extremely serious and earnest expression.

“Aslan, PLANT is gradually becoming unable to sustain this war. Almost all able-bodied men who can be mobilized have gone to the front lines, and the effects are beginning to appear within PLANT itself. Traffic accidents are frequent, and accidents are constantly occurring in factories. While supplies are not yet scarce, they are becoming increasingly monotonous. PLANT is gradually losing its vitality. And…”

Lux paused slightly, recalling the intelligence she had obtained through wiretapping the other day.

"The campaign to invade Alaska has failed, and ZAFT has lost many soldiers in this battle. How much more will we have to pay in this war?"

Aslan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He recalled the scene he saw when he returned to PLANT the day before, its lifeless state, just as Lux had said, PLANT was losing its vitality.

"If you're so troubled, why don't you come with me to Earth and hear what Kira has to say?"

Raven could sense Aslan's trembling, so he came up behind Aslan and put his arm around his shoulder.

"So Mr. Raven is indeed returning to the front lines?"

Lux's tone was somewhat reluctant.

"Equip the S-Gundam with the anti-neutron jammer and nuclear engine, then set off. Earth needs my strength. Besides, I can't just leave my students on the battlefield while I live a peaceful life in the rear, can I?"

-----------------

At the same moment, PLANT.

Since the results of the Alaskan campaign reached PLANT, Patrick has been in a state of utter distress.

“Led by Erin Kanaba, several members of parliament have jointly requested that we provide more details. They may be looking to convene an extraordinary session of parliament.”

"Tch, those cowards! Have the Justice Bureau arrest them all!"

Patrick's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was extremely deep.

Because of the outcome of the Alaskan campaign, he hadn't had a break in a long time.

"but……"

"The Klein family colluded with enemy spies to steal our army's newest and most advanced warships and mobile suits, and then fled, their whereabouts unknown. At the same time, the objective of Operation Breakthrough was leaked. The relationship between these two events is so obvious that even a child could understand it."

Patrick slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

"The Klein family are traitors, and Erin Kanaban and her gang are actually trying to hold me responsible? What a joke! They must be the ones harboring the Klein family, otherwise how could they have evaded the search!"

"I understand. I'll go and notify the Justice Bureau right away!"

Several subordinates hurriedly took their leave, and the office quieted down again. Patrick leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and pressed his throbbing temples with his fingers.

His secretary then pushed open the door and hurriedly handed Patrick the tablet in her hand.

"Your Excellency Chairman, look! This is Siegfried Klein's live stream! All of PLANT's channels are playing this right now!"

-----------------

"Fellow citizens of PLANT. I am Sigur Klein. I am taking up your precious time to inform you of something extremely important that concerns our future."

"Our ZAFT forces suffered heavy losses in the offensive operations in Alaska the day before yesterday. Seventy percent of the troops involved in the attack were lost there, which is a truly tragic event. But the culprit behind this tragedy is none other than Captain Rau Ruru Cruze, who is deeply trusted by Chairman Patrick."

"At first, I also found it hard to believe, but the evidence I had was enough to lead to this conclusion."

Then, Sigur's figure disappeared from the screen, and then a photo of Kruze in casual clothes meeting with a strange man appeared on the screen, along with a recording with blurry but barely audible sound.

"Next stop is Alaska. It's definitely the highest peak that's worth climbing."

"Well, you have a good eye, buddy. Looks like I need to prepare some warm clothes in advance."

The live stream abruptly ended. Patrick crossed his arms, rested his face on his desk, and stared at the black screen for a long time in silence.

Finally, he managed to squeeze out a sentence in a low, hoarse voice.

"Don't stop the manhunt for Sigur Klein. Also, bring Kruze back and ask him what exactly happened."

Chapter 73 Uzmi's Choice

Nearly a month and a half has passed since ZAFT launched its disruptive operation. However, the several changes in the world situation during this period have made the situation of Orb, a small country located in a corner of the Pacific Ocean, increasingly difficult.

The changing global situation has put the Uzmi representatives of Ob in a dilemma.

The breakthrough operation ended in a disastrous defeat for the attacking ZAFT forces, who lost 70% of their strength. The coalition forces used the Eurasian Federation's troops as bait and burned the entire base, along with both sides, to ashes using the Cyclops System.

ZAFT lost an elite force assembled to capture the Coalition headquarters, while the Coalition lost only an old-fashioned force equipped with conventional weapons.