“Are these two Mobile Suits manufactured by Orb?”
After ZAFT temporarily withdrew, the boys who had been caught in the crossfire couldn’t contain their curiosity.
They gathered around the two Gundams, looking them up and down.
Especially the black-haired boy whom Murrue Ramius had pushed into the Strike Gundam—he was surrounded by his friends, bombarded with questions.
“Sorry, everyone!
These are not Mobile Suits manufactured by Orb.
Although this is an Orb colony satellite, unfortunately, these two Gundams are the property of the Earth Alliance.
Without permission, it’s best you don’t go inside the cockpits.”
Leon Vance crossed his arms, offering a friendly reminder.
“Well, alright…”
Although Murrue Ramius had fallen into a deep sleep due to her injuries, Leon Vance didn’t want a repeat of what happened in the original timeline—these reckless students sneaking into the Gundam cockpits and tampering with things.
Of course.
Besides refusing the boys’ curiosity, Leon Vance also had a way to redirect their attention elsewhere.
“By the way!
Aside from this student here, could you all help me with something?”
“Help?”
The boys looked at each other, then finally nodded.
After all, during the battle earlier, it was Leon Vance who piloted the Sky Raider Gundam and saved them.
Out of gratitude and reason, they had to lend a hand.
“Great!”
Leon Vance waved toward the bushes, and a mechanical cat immediately leaped down from a tree, landing lightly in his arms with graceful steps.
“A mechanical cat?!”
The boys stared wide-eyed at the lifelike, almost living-like Mechanical Cat Bao Bao.
The next moment, the black-haired boy suddenly realized something.
“You…
you’re the teaching assistant Professor mentioned, Leon Vance?!”
Leon Vance looked over the black-haired boy—this must be Kira Yamato.
“Yes, the Professor often mentioned you to me.
Kira Yamato.”
“Oh, so it really is the elusive teaching assistant Leon Vance!”
The boy with tea-colored glasses beside Kira Yamato clapped his hands in surprise.
“So the owner of the mechanical cat Flay mentioned before is you, Assistant Leon Vance!”
The appearance of Mechanical Cat Bao Bao quickly dissolved the boys’ unfamiliarity with Leon Vance and made them subconsciously choose to follow his instructions.
It had to be said, this was an unexpected bonus.
“Bao Bao discovered a few trucks on the street over there.
Could you help drive them over?”
Leon Vance pointed toward the street not far away, and the boys immediately agreed, splitting into small groups and following Mechanical Cat Bao Bao to search for the trucks.
As for the black-haired boy Kira, Leon Vance kept him behind.
“I’ll just call you by your name!
Kira.
I hope you can organize the OS System for the Strike Gundam.
Of course, this isn’t about writing it from scratch—it’s about referencing the OS System in this USB drive and organizing it accordingly.”
Leon Vance handed a USB drive to Kira.
But Kira was somewhat puzzled.
“Assistant Vance.
But earlier, you…”
“This is a special situation.
Next, ZAFT will continue their attack.
To drive them away, we need more strength.”
Leon Vance’s serious expression startled Kira.
Kira quickly pressed for an answer.
“Didn’t ZAFT retreat just now?”
“No.
As long as these two Gundams remain here, ZAFT’s attacks will not cease.
Moreover, aside from these two Gundams, there are other targets ZAFT is aiming for.”
“Other targets?”
Kira’s eyes gradually widened, and he murmured subconsciously.
“Could ZAFT be trying to destroy this colony satellite?”
Leon Vance shook his head and patted Kira on the shoulder.
“No one can predict ZAFT’s actions.
All we can do is strengthen our hand as quickly as possible.
Kira, I’m counting on you with the Strike Gundam.”
“I…
I understand!”
The future Leon Vance presented to Kira was not a fabrication meant to intimidate him into obediently helping to organize the Strike Gundam’s OS System.
It was real.
Because, after covering Athrun and the Aegis Gundam’s safe return, Rau Le Creuset immediately gathered everyone for a strategy meeting.
“Yzak, Dearka, Nicol, and Athrun, how are the mobile suits you seized?
Can you give a preliminary assessment?”
When the light fell on Rau Le Creuset’s silver mask, it reflected a faint, unsettling glimmer, causing the many ZAFT pilots who prided themselves on their skills to fall silent.
The first to respond was the outwardly gentle and elegant Nicol.
“Yes, Captain Le Creuset.
Although they are creations of those despicable Naturals, it cannot be denied that the performance these mobile suits have demonstrated truly exceeds our expectations.”
Upon hearing Nicol’s evaluation, the arrogant silver-haired youth Yzak immediately voiced his opposition.
“Nicol, you’re boosting the enemy’s morale and deflating our own!
They’re just flashy frames that can’t even get their OS System right!
How could they possibly be stronger than ZAFT’s Mobile Suits?”
“No, Yzak.
Nicol’s concern is valid.
Just as I was withdrawing, I encountered a powerful mobile suit that used some kind of new weapon whose operating principle we don’t yet understand.”
Athrun, standing beside Nicol, immediately defended his friend and also shared his own firsthand experience and concerns.
“Miguel was killed by that new type of weapon.
At first, both Miguel and I thought it was just a boomerang, but in reality, that new weapon might possess the ability to move and attack autonomously.”
“Miguel was killed by this bizarre characteristic.”
As Yzak instinctively opened his mouth to continue his protest, Dearka beside him patted his shoulder to stop him.
“Athrun, based on what you’re saying, the opponent used some kind of new unmanned weapon?”
“I don’t know.
That weapon moved incredibly fast.
In just an instant, it sliced the GINN into three pieces.
We couldn’t react at all.”
Athrun’s expression changed several times before he finally sighed.
“Alright.
Let’s end the debate here.”
Seeing that his troublesome, high-born young subordinates had argued enough, Rau Le Creuset raised a hand to signal for quiet and had his adjutant, Frederick Ades, play back a segment of footage extracted from the Aegis Gundam’s system.
“Everyone.
Look closely.
This will be the target of our next operation.”
Rau Le Creuset pointed at the Sky Raider Gundam on the screen, which was effortlessly controlling two beam rings to destroy a GINN, and spoke in a low voice.
“According to the original intelligence, there were five new Earth Alliance mobile suits hidden on this colony satellite.
But now, it appears that besides those five, there is also an MS we were unaware of.
And it is an unforeseen variable we cannot ignore.”
“A new mobile suit that has already destroyed our ZAFT GINNs in actual combat!”