"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The GINNs' machine guns roared as a deadly storm of bullets rained down upon a convoy of vehicles.
The convoy—belonging to the Earth Forces—had come under sudden attack by ZAFT troops on an elevated bridge, and immediately returned fire.
"Destroy all immovable cargo and factory equipment!"
Amid the descent of ZAFT's assault team, a white-haired young officer gave the order.
"To prevent this place from continuing to produce MS units for the Earth Forces, all factory production facilities have been marked!"
"Once we've captured their Mobile Suits, MS Team One will cover the retreat. MS Team Two, continue the demolition!"
As he spoke, he glanced at the convoy below.
"Hm? Only three units? Intelligence clearly said there were five!"
"Probably still inside the factory. Yzak, Rusty and I will handle the retrieval."
A youthful voice came through the comm line.
Yzak turned his head, eyeing the blue-haired youth who had just spoken over the channel.
"Fine. Then I'll leave the other two to you—Athrun."
Amid desperate resistance from the Earth Forces on the ground, ZAFT's assault team finally made their landing.
And thus began another round of classic Gundam tradition—chaos descending upon the battlefield.
-----------------------------------
Roz Links rode his little electric scooter straight into the factory hangar.
"Heliopolis has already declared a state of emergency! What's the situation?"
He jumped off the scooter before it even came to a full stop and ran toward the locker room.
"ZAFT has seized three Earth Forces MS units. Some of the GINNs are escorting the captured suits away, but others are still destroying Heliopolis's factories," Christina's voice reported over the comm.
Roz pulled out a red-and-white pilot suit, paused for a second, and slipped it on.
"Unfortunately, when you registered this warehouse with Orb, Roz, you claimed it was for metal processing. It seems ZAFT has obtained Heliopolis's factory layout—our location has been marked as a target."
"Take the storage units and Haros down to the personal shelter. I'll handle the rest."
Roz put on his helmet, lowered the visor, and sprinted toward the Jegan's cockpit.
His eyes fell on the emblem painted on the Jegan's left shoulder—the same unicorn insignia over his own heart. Narrowing his gaze, he climbed into the cockpit.
The hatch closed with a hiss, plunging the chamber into darkness.
Roz took a deep breath, as if sealing a decision within himself.
"As expected… no one can stay neutral in times like these."
The Jegan, resting on its maintenance rig, suddenly came alive—its large mono-eye glowing faint blue like a giant awakening from slumber.
Inside, the panoramic display lit up, projecting a full 360-degree view of the surroundings. Interface data began to flicker across the HUD.
Roz gripped the control sticks, maneuvering the Jegan to pick up its prepped shield and rocket launcher from the rack.
At that moment, the red Haro fixed beside the control panel powered on—its twin eyes flashing.
"Roz, I've linked into the system. I'll assist you with operations."
Christina's voice came through the Haro's speakers.
"Have you reached the shelter with the others?" Roz asked, adjusting system parameters on the side display.
"I've brought the storage unit and the Haros to the personal shelter. We're safe for now," Christina replied, her tone steady through the Haro.
"Be careful—one GINN is approaching."
"Understood. Adjustments complete."
Roz exhaled slowly, both hands tightening on the controls.
"Roz Links—Jegan, launching!"
-----------------------------------
Two GINNs descended near Roz's factory.
"This is the industrial district. Destroy all factories processing metal components."
"This is the price they pay for assisting the Earth Forces!"
One of the GINNs raised its machine cannon, ready to strafe the area as usual.
"Let's finish this quickly. Athrun still needs our support."
"Wait… what's that sound?"
Through the mobile suit's audio receiver, they caught the sound of an engine roaring to life.
"Hold on… something's not right—"
Boom!
Before the two GINNs could react, the roof of a nearby factory exploded outward.
A black shadow shot into the sky.
"What the—"
Before they could finish, the dark figure dived toward one of the GINNs at lightning speed.
In the next instant, they saw it perform a powerful flying kick, slamming precisely into the GINN's cockpit.
"Gahhhh!"
The pilot screamed as the sudden impact threw the machine off balance.
"Unknown mobile suit detected! Attack!"
The second GINN finally reacted, raising its cannon—
But the dark MS used the fallen GINN as a springboard, planting its foot on the downed suit's chest and hoisting a rocket launcher.
Inside the cockpit, Roz Links swiftly set the missile's proximity fuse.
Whoosh!
A missile shot from the launcher, streaking toward the remaining GINN.
In an instant, the proximity fuse detonated midair. The warhead exploded right before the GINN's eyes, spraying specially-made shrapnel that tore through its arm and cannon.
"What?! Left arm offline?!"
The GINN staggered backward, trying to put distance between them.
But the Jegan didn't pursue. Instead, it raised one leg—and crushed the downed GINN's head beneath its foot.
"Roz, the Jegan's legs aren't built for melee combat—they're not that durable," warned Christina, her red Haro's eyes flashing while its side panels flapped nervously.
"It's fine. The Jegan's frame can handle this kind of stress."
For some reason, once combat began, Roz found himself muttering instinctively: "Besides, the legs are just for show! The brass will never understand that!"
"…I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you mean. And we don't have any brass above us," Christina replied, clearly baffled by his sudden outburst.
"It's nothing—just something that slipped out."
Roz shook his head and guided the Jegan off the ruined GINN, hovering away on thruster-assisted movement to put distance between the wrecks.
"They're not following up?"
"Retreat for now. Our suits are too damaged. That thing was protecting the factories—let's report to Captain Rau first."
In the GINNs' comm channel, the two surviving pilots—both shaken—spoke quickly, their survival instincts in overdrive.
"We must report this unknown MS to Captain Rau!"
Moments later, the damaged GINNs wobbled skyward, retreating.
"They're gone… for now," Roz exhaled in relief. He had nearly fired a live round straight into the enemy cockpit.
Roz Links—"the best rocket launcher user in recorded training simulations"—was infamous for his accuracy. His favorite weapon type was the rocket launcher, and in combat sims, his cockpit-target hit rate exceeded 95%.
"Don't lose focus," Christina's voice reminded him. "MS have appeared at the junction between the university district and the industrial zone. The battle's moving this way."
"…Shit."
The single word left his lips—sharp, guttural, and packed with emotion.
Truth be told, Roz didn't want any contact with the Archangel and its crew.
When he first arrived in this world, he had briefly considered joining the so-called "unsinkable ship." But after being recruited by Blue Cosmos and witnessing their atrocities firsthand, that idea had long since died.
From body to soul, he had come to loathe everything that research division represented. Meeting others who shared that hatred—but were unable to escape—sparked his resolve to destroy the facility.
Even after rescuing those victims and finding them shelter, Roz fell back into his old habits—"intermittently ambitious, but consistently lazy." Still, he never truly forgot his promise.
"I really am a hopeless bastard."
Cursing himself, Roz gritted his teeth and stomped on the pedal. Flames burst from the Jegan's thruster pack as the mobile suit shot skyward, racing toward the battle.
"When the Jegan appeared… the world line was already changed."
"The current of this new era has begun. I can't just stand by."
No one could remain untouched by the flow of history. Memories flashed through Roz's mind—faces, moments, regrets. Finally, he made his choice. He would dive headfirst into the coming storm.
"…We'll be with you, Roz."
In her private shelter, Christina's red Haro blinked softly as she whispered, overseeing the Haros preparing spare Jegan components.
She didn't understand everything Roz said—but she knew one thing for certain: there were still things she could do.
-----------------------------------
In the university district, there were still civilians on the streets — people who hadn't yet reached the public shelters were running for their lives.
On the main road, a blue-and-white mobile suit staggered clumsily, clearly struggling to maintain control.
Chasing it closely was a GINN, its solid sword gleaming as it relentlessly attacked.
"…So it's those two fighting — the Gundam and the GINN."
From above, Roz Links, piloting his Jegan, spotted the battle as he flew at low altitude.
"Oh? Its movement changed."
Just as Roz was about to fire a rocket to separate the two, the blue-and-white Gundam suddenly rammed forward with a powerful shoulder tackle, sending the GINN flying.
After all, a GINN was just a ZAFT mass-produced unit — it couldn't compare to a customized machine like a Gundam.
As the battle spread across the street, Roz noticed several students still within the danger zone. He raised his rocket launcher and shouted through his comm: "Both of you, stop it right now!"
Then, he pulled the trigger.
At that very moment, inside the cockpit of the blue-and-white Gundam, a young brown-haired pilot and a woman in an orange mechanic suit were crammed together. The young man's hands flew across the controls, his face drenched in sweat.
The Gundam was a newly developed Earth Forces prototype — but its OS was unfinished, forcing the pilot to hastily rewrite faulty code mid-battle.
"This should do it!"
Driven by sheer desperation, he finished the emergency patch, grabbing two armor-piercing combat knives from the side rack.
The GINN, in response, holstered its sword and drew its assault rifle.
"In a place like this— stop fighting, damn it!"
The young pilot shouted as he charged forward—
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Warning alarms shrieked — not from the GINN's shots, but from a new threat.
A rocket exploded beside both machines, scattering specialized shrapnel that shredded the Gundam's knives and obliterated the GINN's rifle and right arm.
"What the—?!"
The pilot yanked back on the controls, forcing the Gundam to retreat.
Then, both he and the woman saw it — a dark-blue mobile suit descending from above, moving with unbelievable speed and agility. It kicked the GINN square in the chest, sending it stumbling backward.
The rocket launcher in its hand made it clear who had fired that shot moments ago.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The woman's voice came through the public channel, tight with panic.
The situation was dire — their machine was still in emergency startup mode, its OS hastily patched, and now they had lost their only weapon.
Roz's voice came through, cold and irritated: "Fighting your little war right in front of a shelter? Are all of you brain-dead?!"
Seeing that the nearby civilians had managed to retreat a bit farther, Roz sighed in relief — though his tone stayed sharp.
"You… you're with the Earth Forces, aren't you?!"
The GINN pilot, likely driven by rage or panic, steadied his damaged machine and charged at Roz's Jegan, sword raised.
He must have taken Roz's warning shot as a challenge.
And judging by Roz's movements — smooth and precise — he likely assumed Roz was some kind of ace pilot.
Roz steered the Jegan into a defensive slide, weaving side to side to lure the GINN away from the civilians.
But the GINN's pilot quickly changed tactics. Realizing Roz was skilled, he suddenly turned and rushed straight toward the blue-and-white Gundam, hoping to take out the now unarmed rookie instead.
"Damn it—!"
Roz's eyes widened. Behind the Gundam, several exhausted civilians had collapsed, too tired to move.
There was no time to think. Roz slammed the foot pedal. The Jegan's thruster pack roared to life, spraying fire.
Clank!
Roz discarded the rocket launcher — useless at this range.
The Jegan's left arm opened, ejecting a beam saber hilt. Roz's right hand caught it mid-motion, igniting the glowing blade.
In a flash, the Jegan closed the distance. It seized the GINN's head with its left hand, and in one clean, surgical thrust, drove the beam saber straight into the GINN's cockpit.
"Damn… Earth Forces…!"
Roz could almost feel the pilot's dying curse echoing through the radio as the GINN went limp.
"Repeat— who are you?"
Snapping out of it, Roz released the ruined GINN and turned toward the blue-and-white Gundam, whose pilot was broadcasting over open comms.
Roz had thought long and hard about what identity he should reveal if something like this happened. He'd planned countless possible covers — but in the end, he went with the simplest.
"…Independent space salvage operator," he said calmly. "This is my personal mobile suit."
"You're safe now."
The woman in the orange mechanic suit exhaled in relief at the words space salvage operator.
The Junk Guild was one of the most famous neutral factions in the cosmos — known for cleaning up and recycling space debris across battlefields. They were harmless, nonaligned, and widely trusted.
But before she could ask more about the unknown mobile suit, fatigue — and the gunshot wound in her shoulder — caught up with her.
Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed in the cockpit, unconscious.
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