Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 46 - The Face of Darkness

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“Shinn was fighting his friend,” Stella observed quietly, floating next to the brooding youth on the gantry overlooking the Megami’s cavernous mobile suit hangar. “Wasn’t he?”

Shinn cast a weary glance towards Stella— she stared back blankly at him. He returned his attention to the silent Destiny Gundam, as the mechanics reloaded it for its next battle. He heard Rey’s screaming voice again, still ringing in his ears.

“I entrusted all my hope to you, and you betrayed it, just as my body is betraying me!” Rey cried again. Shinn squeezed his eyes shut.

“Shinn always has to fight his friends,” Stella murmured. “…because Shinn is protecting Stella.”

“I’m not going to abandon you,” Shinn said resolutely, glancing up at her. “Even if I have to fight my friends again.”

“…but then Shinn wouldn’t have any friends…” Stella replied slowly, turning her wide violet eyes towards him. Shinn shook his head.

“I won’t leave you,” he said, “but…I don’t want to hurt Rey either…”

Stella looked up towards the Destiny, her eyes blank. “…Shinn should tell his friend to come here,” she said, “…so Shinn doesn’t have to fight him anymore…”

Shinn stared down at the floor painfully. “I tried to,” he answered. “He doesn’t want to.” He shook his head again. “It’s more complicated than that anyway.”

Stella watched Shinn emptily for a moment, and then took a step closer to him, hesitatingly putting her arms around him. Shinn blinked at her, a blush spreading over his face, as Stella pulled him close. “Stella is sorry…that she’s making Shinn fight his friends…”

“It’s not your fault,” Shinn sputtered. “I told you I’d protect you no matter what.”

“But what about Shinn?” Stella asked, lifting her gaze up into his eyes. “Shinn should be happy too…”

“I’m trying to, Stella,” Shinn said, glancing bitterly at the Destiny.

Stella paused for a moment, before resting her head gently against Shinn’s chest. “Stella wants to make Shinn happy…”

“Wha— ?!” Shinn exclaimed, looking back at her, his face reddening. “Stella— ”

“Stella doesn’t want Shinn to be alone,” Stella murmured.

Shinn smiled and gently put his hands on Stella’s shoulders. “When the war is over,” he said, “then we can be happy.”

Stella smiled back.

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Aoma glanced hesitantly at Rey as he stared emotionlessly at the silent backdrop of space, gliding by as the Minerva raced towards Lagrange Point 5. Their orders were clear— to join the burgeoning ZAFT fleet at Lagrange Point 5 for their final blow against the Earth Alliance, to take on a quick resupply, and to charge forth to their destiny, whatever it may be. However, they had not yet come to that final reckoning, and since there was little for the Impulse’s pilot to do now that the mobile suit was repaired and reloaded, she found herself carefully watching the cold young man as he stared out into the inky sky.

“It’s pointless to say anything,” Rey said quietly, not turning to face her.

“Maybe it is to you,” Aoma answered, stepping up next to him and risking a glance at his emotionless face. “But I don’t want to watch anymore of the people whose sides I’m fighting by die.”

Rey turned his cold blue eyes towards her. “That is how human life works,” he said. “They are selfish and destroy each other. And those who survive are left with their sorrow.” He scowled. “There is no sense in trying to oppose it. One can only fight for the day when people will understand.”

Aoma watched him as he stared bitterly at outer space. “If you don’t have anyone you care about,” she said carefully, “then you’ve forgotten why you’re fighting.”

Rey narrowed his eyes and said nothing. Aoma shook her head.

“It was pointless,” she sighed, and she turned and left.

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“’The world will perish at the hands of its greatest creation,’” Lacus repeated solemnly, glancing over at Mwu, standing next to her on the observation deck. “He’s going to use Kira.”

Mwu snorted in disgust. “He’s been using Kira for a long time now,” he grunted. “Knowing Rau, he’ll probably use some kind of technological weapon. He wouldn’t settle for anything slower and subtler.”

“Then ZAFT must have some manner of endgame weapon that they intend to use against the Alliance,” said Lacus, looking back at the panorama of outer space before her. She cast her eyes to the left, at the Earth. “And Kira will probably be defending it.”

“If we want to destroy that weapon, we’ll have to go through him,” Mwu concluded, grimly following Lacus’s gaze to the Earth.

“I understand,” Lacus said at last, closing her eyes somberly. “We must uncover this weapon and destroy it now, before it can be used.”

Mwu shook his head. “I don’t want to fight Kira,” he said. “We’ll try to talk him down, but…”

“Our purpose takes precedence over my personal feelings,” Lacus said; Mwu blinked as he heard her voice falter. “If we must fight Kira in order to protect the world from people like Rau, then will have to fight Kira.”

Mwu shifted uncomfortably. “We’ll be in PLANT airspace soon,” he said awkwardly. “I’m going to go check on the Akatsuki.”

As Mwu rounded a corner and disappeared, Lacus shook her head and turned away from the windows, a trail of tears following her.

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As the mechanics hurriedly reloaded the Strike Freedom Gundam’s railguns, Kira watched from the overhead gantry, arms crossed. He glanced to his right at the sound of footsteps, and dutifully saluted as Rau Le Creuset alighted on the deck next to him.

“I understand you confronted Athrun again,” Rau said, duly returning Kira’s salute.

“I failed to kill him again,” Kira said quietly. “Even with this new machine.”

Rau put his hands on the railing, leaning down and peering inquisitively at the Strike Freedom. “Push Athrun from your mind,” he instructed. “He is irrelevant and powerless now. What we have started is too powerful for he or Lacus Clyne to stop now.” He glanced at Kira. “They will, of course, try to stop us when ZAFT launches its final attack on the Earth Alliance forces. That is when you shall have your revenge.”

Kira nodded soberly. “I will have to protect the Sword,” he said.

“And when it fires, we will inherit a new world,” Rau said, smiling. “It will be the painful birth of a new world where we will not have to suffer.”

Kira smiled back. “I won’t fail this time,” he said. “This time we’ll have peace.”

Rau grinned. “This time we’ll have peace.”

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“Six Nazca-class destroyers are moving forward towards us,” Sai reported dourly as the Megami sailed into the territory of the PLANTs. “They’re launching mobile suits! At least thirty ZAKUs approaching fast!”

All eyes turned to the bridge windows, at the massive form of the ZAFT fleet, and the twisted, alien structure of ZAFT’s new headquarters, Messiah, cruising forward steadily.

“ZAFT likely has a new weapon of some kind, along the lines of GENESIS from the Valentine War,” Lacus said, staring resolutely at the approaching ZAFT fleet. “Everyone, we must find and destroy that weapon at all costs.”

“Murasame teams, stay close to the ship,” Murrue added. “Commander Bartfeldt, your team will go forward into the fleet to find this weapon.”

Andy smirked, closing the helmet of his visor. “Alright, boys and girls,” he said with a chuckle. “Bartfeldt team, launch!”

Inside the Destiny, Shinn scowled. Rey was somewhere out there.

“Shinn Asuka, Destiny, going out!”
The Destiny took off with a flash, spiraling into the black sky over the Megami and falling into formation next to the Gaia and the Infinite Justice. Shinn looked up ahead, at the imposing form of ZAFT’s advance fleet. It was moving forward, leaving the Orb Raiders with a narrow window of time during which they could find and destroy whatever new weapon ZAFT was planning on using. If they failed, the Megami and her mobile suits would have to pull back, or be forced to take on the entire ZAFT fleet.

“Heat sensors are picking up a huge spike somewhere up there,” Athrun said grimly, as the Gundams shot forward. “But there’s too much interference to pinpoint it.”

“That must be what we’re looking for,” Andy said. “All units, lock onto the heat spike and find it!”

The ZAFT mobile suits came charging towards them— Shinn narrowed his eyes and engaged the booster, blasting through their ranks and sweeping his blazing beam wings through their ranks. The devastated first squadron tried to shoot at his exposed back, but a moment later a beam cannon volley from the Judicator cut them down.

“Don’t forget about us!” Dearka shouted. “You’re not the only hero here, Asuka!”

The Destiny went spiraling through another volley of beam fire; Shinn’s eyes flashed and he returned fire with his beam rifle, as dozens of afterimages filled the sky around him, and beam shots went searing through the shimmering illusions. Three Blaze ZAKU Warriors went down in flames before they were able to take evasive maneuvers— Shinn scowled, charging towards a Gunner ZAKU and crushing its cockpit with a palm cannon blow. He whirled around, squeezing off a long beam cannon shot that drilled through the back of another ZAKU, and turned again, taking off towards the ZAFT advance fleet.

“They’re just small change!” Mwu shouted, as the Akatsuki’s remote turrets formed up around it, sending beam shots sailing wide of their targets.

“We can’t ignore them!” Yzak shot back, as the Calypso somersaulted over a ZAKU and speared it through the head with a beam rifle blast.

Shinn took off towards the fleet, brandishing his anti-ship sword. “I’ll do it!” he shouted, diving through a wave of beam shots. The Nazcas opened fire with a swarm of anti-ship missiles, arcing towards the Destiny.

“Shinn!” Athrun shouted, as the Infinite Justice shot down a ZAKU with a beam shot to the cockpit. “What the hell are you— ”

Shinn cut him off with a scream; the Destiny’s eyes flashed, and the cloud of missiles veered off course, wheeling around and streaking back towards the ZAFT ships.

“W-What the hell was that!?” Lunamaria shouted, as the ZAKUs stopped cold, staring in disbelief as their motherships were battered by their own missiles. Shinn took off towards the ships, sword drawn back, and with a scream, sent it plunging down into the hull of the first vessel, tearing its prow open. He charged along the ship’s hull, slicing the hangar bay open, and pumped a beam cannon blast through the vessel’s innards. The ship broke in two with a flash of fire— Shinn roared up over the fireball and fired off another cannon shot, tearing through the port missile assembly of the next Nazca.

A wave of beam shots came down around the Destiny as Shinn charged towards his wounded prey— he pulled up, veering back and scanning the skies for his attacker. A sensation of danger pricked his senses— he turned, swinging his sword up to defend as a beam blade came crashing down on it.

As the ZAFT mobile suits went on the counterattack and the wounded Nazca returned the Orb Raiders’ fire, Shinn glared up at the Legend Gundam.

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Lacus stared stoically at the irritated face of Gilbert Dullindal on the main screen above her.

“I thought we would have to fight you again,” Gilbert said, cavalier as ever. “However, I did not expect you to be so bold as to bring that fight to us.”

“Few do,” Lacus answered coolly. “We have come to stop you from destroying the world.”

Gilbert snorted in amusement. “You believe I am going to destroy the world?” He shook his head. “Miss Clyne, it was the Alliance who started this war.”

“And it was you who escalated it,” replied Lacus. The Megami quaked as outside, a Murasame shot down a charging ZAKU with its beam rifle. “I know that you came to power by assassinating Chairwoman Canaver. I know that you have overseen a ZAFT military buildup to rival the Atlantic Federation. I know that you had a hand in the fall of Junius 7. And I know that you and Commander Le Creuset have orchestrated this war.”

Gilbert arched an eyebrow at her, his visage never cracking. “Such tall accusations you throw at me,” he chuckled. “Miss Clyne, you are a kindhearted person, but you are now meddling with forces far beyond your reckoning. Cease your attack at once.”

Lacus narrowed her eyes. “We cannot do that,” she said flatly. “If we do not stop you, you will destroy us all.”

Gilbert smirked. “I will not destroy the world, Miss Clyne,” he said, shaking his head. “I will remake it.”

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Beam shots went flashing around the Akatsuki as Mwu scanned his opponents. The crimson Savior Gundam opened fire with its plasma cannons and beam rifle— the shots went bouncing off the Akatsuki’s armor. The Force Impulse Gundam lined up for a killing shot behind him— he swung around and drove it off with a beam rifle blast of his own.

Inside the Savior, Shiho scowled. “Aoma, keep trying to get around him!” she shouted. “We’ll have to get in close…”

“He can’t be invincible!” Aoma shouted, swinging around the Akatsuki and squeezing off another shot. It landed harmlessly against the golden armor, as the Akatsuki swung around to return fire and force the two mobile suits back with a storm of remote fire. The Savior charged through the beam shots, drawing a beam saber, and slammed it down against the Akatsuki’s shield. The Impulse moved in from behind, its own saber drawn and pulled back.

“Oh no you don’t!” Mwu shouted, drawing the Akatsuki’s double saber and blocking the Impulse’s attack with the bottom blade. The remote turrets opened fire again, sending the Savior and Impulse back behind their shields under a beam barrage.

“Circle him!” Shiho ordered. “I’ll keep him busy in the front!”

Mwu scowled, pulling his remote turrets in around him, as the Impulse and Savior charged.

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Stella charged towards the desperate Blaze ZAKU Warrior, beam saber drawn, and hacked effortlessly through the beam tomahawk it hurled at the oncoming Gaia. The ZAKU tried to raise its beam rifle— Stella rocketed into its face, impaling it through the cockpit on her saber, and kicked the sparking machine away as it exploded. She swung around, slapping a beam shot from another ZAKU aside with her shield. It drew its tomahawk as it dropped down towards the Gaia, but a beam rifle blast pierced its left arm, blowing it off with the tomahawk still attached. Stella seized the chance, slashing the wounded ZAKU in half at the waist, and glanced up at the mobile suit that had assisted her.

The Strike Rouge dropped in next to the Gaia. “I told you, I can fight too,” Luna said with a grin.

A Gunner ZAKU Warrior lined up for a killing shot through the two Gundams— the Gaia took off, drawing its beam rifle, while the Strike Rouge opened fire and forced it back. Stella lunged over it with a scream, drilling a beam shot through its back, and turned as it exploded behind her.

“Where’s Shinn…?” Stella murmured, as the Gaia swung around to pick off another ZAKU. The Strike Rouge drew back behind his shield, as a quartet of beam blasts slammed into it, and returned fire with her beam rifle.

“He’s fighting that new unit!” Luna exclaimed. Stella glanced up ahead, finding the Destiny rocketing back and forth as a cyclone of beam blasts surrounded it, spearing its translucent afterimages.

“Will Shinn be okay…?” Stella asked— the Gaia dodged another volley of beam fire and drew back behind its shield.

“Shinn will always be okay!” Luna shouted. “Now let’s show these guys how to fly!”

Stella looked over at the Strike Rouge. She smiled and took off towards the ZAFT mobile suits.

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“You are always standing in the way, Shinn!” Rey snarled, as the Legend moved in with beam javelin drawn. “Now you have even come to our doorstep to fight us! You will regret this, I swear!”

“Don’t threaten me!” Shinn snapped, swinging his sword towards the Legend in a devastating overhead arc to stop the Legend’s javelin. Shinn fired the booster, throwing the Legend back further— Rey scowled and swarmed his DRAGOONs around the Destiny, forcing to pull back behind its shimmering beam shields.

“I have nothing more to say to you,” growled Rey, as the Legend opened fire with its beam rifle. “I will not betray the future the way you did!”

“Damn you, Rey!” Shinn shouted, firing a blazing beam cannon shot at the Legend’s chest— it skirted aside effortlessly as the Destiny sailed backwards, letting its afterimages take the brunt of the Legend’s DRAGOON attack. “I thought you were a Newtype too!” The Destiny spiraled through another web of beam blasts, drawing its sword back. “I thought you could understand me!”

“I will not put one person above the fate of the world!” Rey shot back, as the Legend swung in and the two Gundams crashed together. “Your treachery has ensured that there will never be a world where everyone can understand!”

“Don’t try to blame me!” Shinn cried, the Destiny surging forward. The Legend somersaulted over its head— Shinn whipped around and slapped the Legend’s rifle shot aside with his beam shield, taking off as the DRAGOONs moved in again. “I can’t change the world! I’m only one person!”

“You’re wrong!” Rey exclaimed, rocketing up after the Destiny. “You are a Newtype!” The DRAGOONs flashed in around the Destiny— Shinn boosted towards the Legend, sword upraised, but the Legend stopped its overhead slash with a horizontal javelin swipe. “You have the power to see the future, to see into the hearts of human beings! And yet you do not use that power to bring an end to all this pointless conflict! You take part in it! You escalate it! For that you should never be forgiven!”

“These powers are for more than fighting wars!” Shinn screamed, his eyes flashing, as he put all his force behind his sword and threw the Legend back. “I will not believe that our powers are meant to kill people!”

“Many before you have said that!” snapped Rey, as he put his DRAGOONs between his reeling Legend and the charging Destiny. “All of them failed to realize that until the very end, they were merely tools of their superiors!”

“I DON’T CARE!” Shinn roared, as the Destiny slalomed through a wave of beam shots and came down onto the Legend with a crash. “You and the Chairman and Rau and your Dark History and your Newtype bullshit can all go to hell! I don’t have to dwell on all the mistakes they made! I have a life of my own!”

The Legend regained its footing, vaulting away from the Destiny and surrounding it with beam shots. “You shall see for yourself, Shinn!” he cried. “And when our new world is made, you will not be a part of it!”

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“What in the hell is that guy doing?!” Yzak snapped, as the Calypso dodged a storm of beam fire from a GOUF Ignited and swept in, beam saber raised, to bring it down with a shriek onto the GOUF’s shield.

“He’s tied up fighting the Legend!” Athrun shouted back, slaloming through a volley of beam fire and cutting a Blaze ZAKU Warrior down with his beam saber as he shot by.

“Should we help him?!” Dearka asked urgently, as the Judicator backed away from a beam rifle barrage by a trio of ZAKUs. The Mustang leapt up behind them, cutting two of them in half with its anti-ship swords.

“We won’t stand a chance against that thing!” Andy barked, as the Mustang swept around the third ZAKU and cut in half with a beam saber-assisted kick. “Just let Shinn handle it! He’s fought that thing to a standstill before!”

The Calypso ducked under a heat rod strike and cut the snaking weapon in half, charging up into the GOUF’s face and impaling it on its beam saber. “Well, we don’t have time for that!” hissed Yzak. A ZAKU came storming at him from behind, beam tomahawk raised— Yzak whirled around, slashing its arm off as it approached and kicking it aside, where the Judicator tore it apart with a beam cannon volley. “We don’t have time for this either!”

Athrun fired his Grapple Stinger forward, catching a Gunner ZAKU by the left arm, and yanked it towards him, slamming his boomerang blade through its cockpit. “We’ll just have to rely on Shinn!” The Infinite Justice whirled around, cutting down another charging ZAKU with its beam rifle. “Shinn, hurry it up! The ZAFT fleet is getting closer!”

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Shinn clenched his teeth angrily as the Destiny spiraled away from the Legend, dodging relentless beam fire from the invisibly fast DRAGOONs. He glanced back at the Legend, finding it leveling off its beam rifle for a finishing blow— the Destiny lurched aside and dove backwards. Shinn glanced over his shoulder, at the space behind him, and pulled up as he found himself approaching some kind of complex machine. He whirled around, finding the ZAFT logo printed on the front panel, and cut it in half with his sword. There was a blinding flash of light in front of him—

The battlefield went silent as a dark clawed structure materialized before the Destiny Gundam.

Shinn’s eyes widened disbelievingly. “W-What the hell is this?!”

The Legend swung in, its DRAGOONs spewing beam fire. “Get away from the Sword!” Rey screamed, ramming the Destiny with its shoulder and pushing it aside. Shinn narrowed his eyes— a beep sounded from his console, and he glanced over at the auxiliary screen.

“You shall go no further, Shinn,” an all-too-familiar voice said.

Shinn’s eyes flashed in anger. “You!”

The face of Gilbert Dullindal scowled back. “We finally meet again, Shinn Asuka,” he said. “But now you have committed terrible crimes. Crimes that shall not go unpunished.”

“Go to hell!” Shinn shouted. “I don’t need you using me as some kind of human weapon to make me happy, you manipulative bastard!”

The Legend rushed forward, javelin raised— Shinn somersaulted over its head and took off towards the imposing new structure.

“I don’t know what the hell this is,” he growled, “but I’m going to destroy it!”

The Legend’s DRAGOONs flashed back around the Destiny, forcing it on the defensive. “I will not let you destroy the Sword!” Rey shouted, sweeping in with a jarring beam javelin swing.

“You have troubled us on the periphery of the world long enough, Shinn,” Gilbert said dourly, glowering at him as the Destiny arced away and dove through Rey’s DRAGOON fire. “You failed to understand; thus, you shall perish!”

“I failed to understand?!” Shinn repeated, eyes blazing as the Destiny ripped its way through another DRAGOON volley. “You are the one using us to take over the world! You are the one who will get everyone killed for some damned world where you can be king!”

“That is not what our new world will be like!” Gilbert shot back. “We will build a world where everyone will have the powers you use and abuse!”

“Then what the hell is this thing for?!” snapped Shinn, diving aside from a javelin stab by the Legend and kicking it away. He turned and rocketed towards the mysterious dark structure, brandishing his anti-ship sword. “Don’t tell me this thing’s going to lead to peace! It just looks like a weapon to me!”

“This is the Sword that will change the world!” Rey cried, his DRAGOONs fencing the Destiny in and pushing it away from the structure. “Solomon’s Sword will mend this broken world, and I will not let you stop it!”

Shinn scowled as he dove around the Legend’s beam shots, throwing his sword up to block the Legend’s javelin strike. “Damn you, Rey!” he shouted. “Do you really think killing everyone is going to make this world better?!”

“For all your power, you still fail to understand,” Gilbert scoffed. “We shall succeed where history has failed.”

“And you’ll build a world of understanding based on killing?!” Shinn snapped, whirling around and dodging more beam shots. “You’re just some genocidal madman! You’re not going to help anybody, otherwise you wouldn’t have this thing!”

“The world can only be remade by fire and destruction!” Gilbert fired back, glaring back at Shinn. “Out of death will come birth! That is the way of nature herself! You cannot oppose a force that strong!”

“But I can stop you from forcing it to happen!” Shinn screamed, knocking the Legend aside with a jarring kick to the side of the head and charging down at Solomon’s Sword. “I can stop you from toying with the world!”

The Legend lunged up into the Destiny’s path, stopping it cold with a downward javelin hack. Shinn glowered at the Legend through the flying sparks.

“Shinn!” Athrun’s voice cried through the speaker. “Pull back! We’re retreating!”

“We’re what?!” Shinn exclaimed.

“The fleet is opening fire on the Megami!” Athrun said, his face grim. “We can’t stay here any longer!”

“But Solomon’s Sword is still there!” Shinn protested. The Legend pushed the Destiny back, floating between it and Solomon’s Sword, glowering and daring Shinn to press his attack.

“We’ll never get another chance if we die here!” Athrun said. “Now pull back!”

Shinn glared up at the Legend, at Gilbert, and at the Sword. He squeezed his eyes shut and took off back towards the Megami.

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A hollow clang sounded through the hangar as the shuttle’s airlock tube was clamped into place, and as the doors opened, Lord Djibril could not help but smile.

Arrayed before him were thousands of soldiers, standing at attention at the feet of a line of gleaming new Windams. Djibril glanced over his shoulder at Joseph Copland, as the President of the Atlantic Federation brushed by him to step forward into the hangar.

“Never before has there been an impending battle as significant as this one,” he chuckled. “History shall honor us as the men who crushed the Coordinators.”

“This is not worth it,” Copland said pointedly. Djibril arched an eyebrow at him. “Millions of people will die in this battle,” he continued, shaking his head. “We must pursue peace, Djibril. We must stop this madness before it consumes us all.”

Djibril scoffed. “Caesar did not stop at the Rubicon because he feared the slaughter that would follow; neither shall we.” He turned his gaze back towards the army before him. “Even if we did make peace with the Coordinators, it would only be a matter of time before war broke out between us and them again anyway. This battle is inevitable.” He smiled. “And I no longer wish to put it off.”

“Millions of Naturals will die,” Copland protested. “Millions of our own people will die, just so that we can wipe out a few million people who are up against the wall and have nowhere else to go. Is killing this cornered rat that important to you?”

Djibril cast a heavy sigh. “Mr. President,” he said airily, “we stand on the brink of a great moment in history. The final extermination of these parasitic affronts to the natural order— the arrogance and hubris of the Coordinators will end. No man shall hang above our heads superior genetics that fate did not bestow them with. No man shall have the power to be superior when none else can be. We will wipe them out.”

“You are a madman,” Copland spat. “You are a murderous, vicious, genocidal madman.”

Djibril snorted in disgust. “The greatest men of history have been branded as such,” he scoffed. “Do not forget, Mr. President, who I am and what you have done. I will not let anyone stand between me and my destiny, not even you.” He cast a burning eye towards the silent President. “Now then,” he said, gesturing towards the waiting army, “Ragnarok awaits.”

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“Admiral, we have not yet received orders authorizing a sortie. Are you sure we should be doing this?” the captain asked warily, glancing towards his commandeered chair. Dressed in his pressed and decorated Orb uniform, Jona Roma Seiran scowled viciously.

“We are not going to let those terrorists have their way,” he growled. “Our country has been robbed from us, but our dignity and our strength has not. We shall use both to silence the followers of Cagalli Yula Athha forever.” His eyes flashed hatefully. “Orb Space Fleet, launch! Target: the Orb Raiders flagship Megami!”

The engines came to life with a rumble, and the ships began to move.

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To be continued…