Burning trees and grass, alongside a hillside turned to lava, had transformed this once lush green forest into a literal hellscape.
Setting aside the dense missile bombardment from the Penelope's entrance, the sheer power of the Beam Magnum was terrifying.
Even a slight brush against the violet high-energy electricity crackling around the beam was enough to sever a Hellion's limbs. This instantly caused all the Hellions to cease their attack; they watched the Penelope from a distance, not daring to make a reckless move.
At this moment, two machines emitting green light particles from their backs had already retreated to a safe distance. Inside the cockpit of the green-painted unit—which held a weapon resembling a sniper rifle—a young man was observing the Penelope through a long-range camera feed.
"What kind of monster is that machine...?"
Seeing the Beam Magnum fired by the Penelope, he couldn't help but marvel. "Those two consecutive shots... their power likely exceeds the Virtue's burst mode."
"Danger! Danger!"
Just as the youth finished speaking, the orange Haro fixed to his console began flapping its two oval-shaped ears, emitting its "artificial idiot" voice.
"Setsuna, what do you think?"
The youth turned his head toward the blue-and-white machine flying alongside him, which was equipped with a physical blade weapon.
"That machine... is a Gundam."
Inside the blue-and-white machine's cockpit, the youth known as "Setsuna," who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
"...Eh?"
Hearing that familiar name—one that was supposed to be a model designation exclusive to the units they piloted—the youth in the green machine froze for a second.
"It passed me during its descent. I saw the machine's face."
Recalling the sight of the Penelope soaring through the sky and the fleeting glimpse of its head sensors as it brushed past his own unit, Setsuna remained solemn.
"Really now..."
Hearing Setsuna's words, the pilot of the green machine scratched his head. "Inexplicable attacks aside, something like that actually exists?"
"This is the Ptolemaios. Setsuna, Lockon, instructions are coming in from Veda."
At that moment, communication from the Ptolemaios reappeared. Over the comms, the girl known as "Christina" relayed the latest orders with a helpless expression.
"Veda requests long-range observation. Record as much visual data as possible regarding the unit Setsuna calls a 'Gundam.' A new extraction route will be arranged for you afterward."
Veda—a quantum computing hub with ultra-high-speed processing capabilities, able to handle massive amounts of data and perform complex predictions. Furthermore, Veda was the core of the Celestial Being organization; whether it was tactical planning or mission distribution, it was involved in everything.
"Alright... looks like we're working overtime."
Inside the green unit, the youth called Lockon sighed helplessly and maneuvered his machine onto a hillside.
As the machine lay prone on the slope, the thick V-shaped antenna on its head lowered, shielding the machine's dual-eye sensors. Lockon pulled down a component resembling a large optical scope from the top of the cockpit.
"As the sniper-type Gundam, Dynames, my locking range is quite extensive."
As Lockon spoke, he deactivated the machine's active targeting mode to prevent being detected by the Penelope. After all, according to Veda, they only needed to gather visual data and didn't need to engage the Penelope. The fewer misunderstandings, the better.
"Setsuna, I'm sharing the feed with Exia. Keep watch around me."
Lockon moved the optical scope component in front of his eyes and began constantly adjusting the magnification.
As he watched the Penelope—now magnified and hovering in mid-air—on his screen, Lockon lost all desire to joke around. That monster-like machine brought immense psychological pressure just by floating there.
Under Lockon's filming, the Penelope's appearance was clearly displayed to everyone. And when that distinctive Gundam face appeared, everyone instinctively froze.
"It really is a Gundam?"
Looking at the Penelope's face on the screen, even Sumeragi back on the Ptolemaios drew a sharp breath.
"No... I don't accept it."
Just then, another voice crackled over the comms.
"That thing is absolutely not a Gundam."
Just as Setsuna was about to speak up and retort against the person who said this, the Penelope—which had been hovering in a stationary state—began to move.
-----------------------------------
Sitting in the Penelope's cockpit, Roz continuously scanned the units highlighted by the panoramic monitors.
His pursuit had been interrupted by that GM Sniper K9 earlier; the crippled GAZuOOT had used the chaos to escape, and now there was no trace of it on the sensors.
Even a Psycockpit reading... found nothing. The GAZuOOT seemed to have truly vanished. Was it the effect of some item, or perhaps a specific skill?
"Phase Two incomplete. Transitioning to Phase Three."
Roz hadn't cut off communication with the Nahel Argama yet. He spoke to Murrue via the video link: "Penelope is beginning its breakout. I'm searching for a landing point for the Nahel Argama."
"The only thing we know for sure is that this group of Agents most likely has ties to the AEU. We can investigate in that direction later."
"Understood. We are already gathering data on the AEU," Murrue replied, nodding.
Before the eyes of the gathered witnesses, the Penelope, which had been hovering in mid-air, slightly shifted its attitude. Like a giant dragon, it began to soar through the heavens.
The Minovsky Flight units and the electric thrusters Roz had retrofitted worked at full capacity, the roar of the Minovsky system echoing across the sky.
Seeing the Penelope enter flight mode, the Hellions also began to transform their frames, attempting to keep pace with its movements.
Two Hellions blocking the Penelope's path steeled their resolve and lunged forward, grabbing onto the Penelope's arms.
The violent impact instantly knocked the pilot of the Hellion gripping the Penelope's right arm unconscious; the machine was eventually flung away, falling into the burning forest below.
The pilot of the other Hellion felt a massive shock, as if he had been struck by a hundred-ton truck. Forcing himself to stay conscious despite the shrieks of his machine's frame, he clung to the Penelope's left arm while raising the linear rifle mounted on his right.
Shells rained down like hail on the Penelope's head sensors, but every hit was deflected by the PS Armor Roz had installed. Massive amounts of heat were dissipated through the Minovsky Flight unit's cooling fins; the attack failed to even polish the surface of the sensors.
As the Penelope accelerated, the immense G-force threatened to crush the Hellion pilot.
At that moment, another Hellion suddenly appeared directly in front of the Penelope.
This was the last unit the AEU had capable of blocking the Penelope's path. At the Penelope's flight speed, it could easily outpace the Hellions chasing from behind, leaving them to helplessly spray linear rifle fire into the empty air.
With the Penelope executing an aerial tail-whip at a speed that defied common sense, this final Hellion was also swatted away by the machine's tail blade.
The Hellion that had been clinging to the Penelope—its frame screaming under the strain—finally had its arms snapped off by the sudden surge of power. Its pilot lost consciousness as the unit spiraled down into the burning sea of trees.
As the Penelope continued to accelerate, accompanied by the howl of the Minovsky Flight system, it gradually vanished from the Hellions' search radars.
For a brief moment, the AEU pilots in their Hellions felt they were no longer the eagles that conquered the sky; even the Celestial Being Gundams that had attacked earlier were not the spirits of the air.
This sky belonged to the Penelope.
"Where is that monster? Can the radar track it?!"
In the garrison command center, the commander was sweating profusely as he watched the Penelope disappear.
Firefighting, evacuation, fending off incoming MS... one crisis followed another. He felt that this brief window of time had been more taxing than the last several years of his life combined.
And yet, this chaotic battle had not ended in an AEU victory; instead, the attackers had escaped safely. This was a conclusion he found completely unacceptable.
"Reporting... the radar can't detect it!" the radar operator called out. "We've lost track of all unidentified units—the two initial attackers and the giant machine."
"Damn it... coming and going as they please, what becomes of the AEU's reputation?!"
Hearing the operator's report, the commander slammed his fists onto the table. He let out a piercing shriek like sodium reacting violently in a chemistry lab. "These people are no longer ordinary terrorists! A heavy hand! We must strike them with a heavy hand!!!"
-----------------------------------
In a jeep at the parking lot outside the AEU new mobile suit demonstration site.
"Truly... one farce after another."
A man wearing a white suit, his long brown hair tied into a high ponytail, sat in the passenger seat. He turned toward his companion in the driver's seat—a man with naturally curly blonde hair. "Graham, what's your take?"
"The attack by that blue-and-white machine definitely wasn't some random terrorist strike; it was done with a specific purpose."
The man known as Graham sat with his hands on the steering wheel, tapping his fingers rhythmically as he pondered.
Just then, a Hellion flew overhead toward the forest area to provide support. The mechanical whine of its flight sparked a realization in his mind.
"I've got it. The goal of that blue-and-white Gundam was to force out the AEU's hidden forces, Billy."
Graham turned his head to look at his close friend. "Don't you think the number of troops the AEU deployed here is a bit absurd?"
"I see... so it was to flush out the AEU's units and show the world that the AEU possesses hidden military power exceeding treaty limits."
Billy thought it over after hearing Graham's analysis; it did indeed seem to be the case. "True, the sheer volume of units the AEU just scrambled isn't a normal amount for a space orbital garrison."
"But why would they do that?"
Hearing his friend's question, Graham smirked.
"For that, you'd have to ask the pilot of that blue-and-white Gundam."
"But what about that monster-like Gundam that showed up afterward? Was it also part of the same group as the blue-and-white one?"
As he spoke, Billy took out his phone and swiped through some photos. They were shots taken while the Penelope was hovering in mid-air during its search; that Gundam face appeared clearly on Billy's screen.
"No... they probably aren't together."
Regarding the Penelope, which had left a deep impression on him, Graham shook his head.
"Remember the heavy fire that erupted from the forest just as the blue-and-white Gundam took to the sky?"
"Are you saying that the giant Gundam's target was the hidden force in the forest?!"
Billy froze for a moment at Graham's words. "How do you know?"
"Intuition."
Graham chuckled and pointed a finger to his temple. "My intuition is always quite sharp."
Graham had always trusted his instincts; they had never led him astray.
"Fair enough."
Billy seemed used to his friend's answers and dropped the subject calmly.
"By the way, the debris from the cargo bay used by that giant MS during its descent has been recovered."
As he spoke, Billy showed another photo to Graham.
"There's no technology there that's ahead of the world; it's all stuff we could do right now. It just uses a deployment method with a higher risk of failure."
"However, among the wreckage we collected, there was this."
Graham looked at Billy's phone. It was a piece of scorched outer armor. Painted on it was a red raven, its feathers seemingly engulfed in flames.
Like fragments of an eggshell left behind when a dragon is born, people were now scrambling for these pieces, desperate to analyze any scrap of intelligence.
"Higher-ups are planning to codename that large Gundam 'Raven'."
"Raven, huh?"
Recalling the high-pitched cry the Penelope emitted and its dragon-like flight silhouette, Graham smiled.
If the Exia descending from the heavens was love at first sight—flying and fighting with its green particles like an elf descending to the world—then the Penelope's entrance carried a sense of breathtaking mystery. The whine of the Minovsky Flight system was like a majestic singer chanting a soul-stirring melody.
"Simply... fascinating, Gundam."
-----------------------------------
In a secret AEU base.
The hangar, which had previously seemed somewhat empty, now played host to several brand-new Hellions.
Acquiring new units for the team should have been a good thing, but in the meeting room, the atmosphere surrounding this squad of Agents was so oppressive it was suffocating.
Ah-Bao was no longer the quiet person he had been during the previous briefing. Instead, he held a bottle of beer, constantly pouring it down his throat.
The GAZuOOT had been heavily damaged; the GM Sniper K9 had been destroyed and wiped from existence.
Gray-Eye's codename and real name had been crossed out from their squad list by the Lord God. Everyone knew he was dead.
"...Ah-Bao, stop drinking."
Seeing the state of the team, the captain of this Agent squad finally spoke up.
"If I don't drink, what else can I do?!"
No longer suppressing his temper, Ah-Bao suddenly slammed the table. "Gray-Eye is dead! He's dead! He was hit just once by that monster and crushed like a stray dog on the side of the road!"
"What use is your complaining here?!"
The captain slammed the table back. "This was a special circumstance that no one could have predicted. Do you think I wanted this to happen?"
Gray-Eye had been taken out by the Penelope, leaving not even a corpse behind. This was not only a blow to the team but an even greater shock to the idealized captain, who was determined to lead everyone in saving up enough points to escape the Lord God's control.
But to prevent the team from collapsing internally—and to stop them from being picked off one by one by the "Hunter"—he had to stand up and re-unify his panicked comrades.
In their current situation, only a united team stood a slim chance of survival.
"Now is not the time for complaints. The best course of action is to inherit Gray-Eye's will, complete the mission, and escape this world as soon as possible!"
Enduring his own inner grief, he forced his emotions to stabilize.
"This is only the first failure. According to the data provided by the Lord God, we still have a chance."
"Four-Eyes, do you remember the legends about Hunters we heard back then?"
The captain turned toward Four-Eyes. "It's said that after encountering a Hunter and surviving, the Lord God provides a certain amount of assistance."
"Yes, the entire team is granted three opportunities to purchase intelligence, at three thousand points each."
Hearing the captain's words, Four-Eyes raised his left wrist, and the bracelet projected a translucent screen. He tapped through the menus. "The authorization has come through. But Captain, we only have ten thousand points left..."
"If we don't use them now, we won't be alive to use them later."
The captain waved his hand. "Start the search. Use the appearance of that unidentified machine to search for its data."
"Understood..."
Four-Eyes began operating the virtual screen.
Images flashed by, and streams of information appeared like a waterfall. Finally, the image of a specific mobile suit appeared before them.
Its massive frame, sharp angles, and the flight preview video featuring that bone-chilling whine of the Minovsky Flight system—the sound that had engraved terror into the depths of their hearts.
There was no doubt. The machine that had destroyed the GM Sniper K9 in a single blow and killed Gray-Eye was this one.
Even if this machine were burnt to ashes, they would recognize it.
"One piece of bad news, and one piece of good news."
"The bad news is, the machine that killed Gray-Eye is called the Penelope."
Looking at the data provided by the Lord God, Four-Eyes instinctively swallowed hard. "The period this machine appears in is UC 0105."
UC 0105. As soon as that year appeared, everyone felt the world go dark.
Setting aside the AEU Hellions that had just been routed, the only two original machines left in their team were the GAZuOOT from CE 73 and the Sengoku Astray, a modified version of a unit from CE 71.
Using these units to fight the Penelope was undoubtedly suicide; they would be kicked to death by the Penelope in a heartbeat.
Furthermore, given the Penelope's status as a "Hunter," the "fight to the death" nature of their relationship had already deleted the option of surrendering by paying a price.
"What's the good news?"
Faced with such a desperate outlook, the captain took a deep breath, forced down his emotions, and questioned Four-Eyes.
"The pilot of the Penelope is Lane Aim."
Four-Eyes stared intently at the data, wishing he could break it down word by word to find a way out. "...The records show that Lane Aim is an upright person, possessing a degree of idealism and chivalry."
Like a drowning person clutching a straw, or someone in hell seeing a spider's silk hanging from the sky, everyone crowded around to read the data Four-Eyes sent over.
"This is good... this is good."
Looking at the data and comparing it to the combat footage from earlier, the captain let out a sigh of relief. "Although his piloting skills have likely become more proficient, if we can grasp his personality flaws, we aren't without a chance to counterattack..."
"Locksmith, you're the only one among us who knows how to do profiling. I want you to profile this Lane Aim and find his weaknesses."
The captain looked toward the man who had long since stopped cleaning his handgun. "Utilize your agent skill set. Our survival depends on you."
"Yes, Captain."
-----------------------------------
While the Lord God's Agents were busy obsessively profiling the "skillful pilot Lane Aim" to find his weaknesses, Roz Links was piloting the Penelope over the ocean, searching for a landing site for the Nahel Argama.
When the Nahel Argama descended to Earth, it would inevitably have to deactivate its Mirage Colloid system. Therefore, it would need to relocate shortly after landing. He had to choose a location far from military bases, ideally somewhere with recognizable island landmarks.
Roz slid his hand across the map, and eventually, he found his target location.
It was an uninhabited island surrounded by several smaller islets—a fairly conspicuous landing point.
The Penelope began to reduce its airspeed, shifting its attitude for landing.
Sand and seawater were sent spraying in all directions by the thrust of the electric engines, and the surrounding trees swayed violently, buffeted by the turbulent airflow.
Clang...
As the Penelope's legs made contact with the ground, its stabilizing braces deployed, allowing the machine to stand firmly on the island's soil.
Roz reached out with his right hand and tapped a few times on the right-hand touch screen. The Penelope began transmitting a continuous signal to the Nahel Argama.
"Phew. Target point confirmed. Signal has been sent."
Roz let out a small sigh of relief and turned his gaze toward the communication link, which had remained open this entire time.
"Nahel Argama acknowledges. Landing on Earth in approximately two hours."
Murrue nodded to Roz as the Nahel Argama began its final operational procedures.
"Understood. See you in two hours."
..........................