The surveillance was directly connected to Heliopolis's central control hub.
Unless they took over the entire Heliopolis, there was no way they could leave without being detected.
But if they did take over Heliopolis, the commotion would definitely alert the satellites orbiting Earth.
Still, what they had now was already sufficient.
"Forty-five seconds until the scheduled attack time."
"Then, as planned, Athrun, the rest of us will seize the Mobile Suits, while the others begin evacuation once the airborne reinforcements arrive."
The plan wasn't complicated. Shortly after the raid began, the first squad led by Orphee would drop in directly as an assault team to cover their retreat.
Once the Mobile Suits were secured, half the mission would be complete.
Next, they would head to the secret port and forcibly take the Archangel as well.
However, given the sheer size of a Battleship—especially the Archangel, which was even larger—the security measures were far more stringent.
It was unlikely they could get the Archangel running in such a short time.
They would have to tow it by force.
Fortunately, space had no gravitational constraints.
By attaching a few external boosters, they could at least manage to pull the Battleship along.
The only issue was speed. Since the covert support unit was stationed at the edge of L5, they'd likely have to fight off pursuers a few times on the way to rendezvous.
"Hm?"
As he was thinking, Fred spotted a familiar figure collapsed on the ground not far away.
Even though she was wearing work clothes and lying on the floor, her striking figure still commanded attention.
"Tie her up and take her with us."
Fred pointed at the woman on the ground and said without hesitation.
"Huh?"
Suddenly hearing Fred's order, everyone turned to look at the person lying there.
Even in dirty work clothes, it was obvious she was a beautiful, intellectual-looking woman—not to mention her alluring figure.
Her looks rivaled those of a Coordinator.
But since when had their composed, refined captain turned into a thug who abducts women?
"She's an important informant."
No joke—this was Murrue, the future captain of the Archangel.
Even if she would never yield or voluntarily unlock the Archangel, taking her along could only bring benefits.
Perhaps she could even be used to influence the Atlantic Federation from within through Halberton.
These were all just possibilities, but even the mere possibility was enough to justify the action.
Besides, there was no harm in picking her up.
It was getting something for nothing.
"Alright."
Hearing the captain's explanation, no one raised any objections.
They were all aces, and within moments, the woman was bound and placed inside the cockpit of the Duel, which Yzak had already claimed.
"Why does it have to be mine?"
Yzak's voice came through the communication channel, full of grievance.
Having her placed in his cockpit meant he'd have to return to the mothership first, rather than continuing the operation with Fred.
"Backup ace."
Fred replied curtly.
But Yzak's face flushed at the words, and he muttered,
"...Well, I guess there's no helping it."
"So easy to handle..."
Athrun chuckled inwardly, though he didn't say it aloud.
"Stop daydreaming. Override the Operating System."
Fred's words snapped Athrun and the others, who had already entered their cockpits, back to attention.
"Though honestly, this Operating System is terribly written. And they expect Naturals to pilot with this?"
Dearka whistled and quipped.
"The Captain was wise to have us bring our own Operating System data to overwrite."
Thanks to Fred's foresight, the crew didn't need to return to the mothership for maintenance and could immediately continue their operation.
Just like Kira in the story.
"Once you're ready, start the operation."
"I'll go pick up Unit 0 first. Nicol, use the Blitz to activate Mirage Particles and approach the port. Catch them off guard, and once the Nazca-class moves in to support you from outside, get the Battleship out of there as fast as you can."
"Roger!"
Just as planned, after Fred repeated the orders once more, the crew scattered in different directions.
It was around this time that Fred and his team's actions finally reached the security center in Heliopolis.
"Someone's infiltrating the Dawn Organization!?"
"Hurry! Deploy the guard units immediately! Sound the alarm! Arrange for evacuation! Move!"
Facing this sudden situation, the colonel in charge of security barked out orders urgently, though he remained organized.
But even as he spoke, cold sweat was streaming down his back uncontrollably.
Who the hell is infiltrating the Dawn Organization? Why hasn't their base sent out any alarm at all?
This doesn't look like ordinary terrorists. The Atlantic Federation still has a cooperative relationship with them, and they've recently restrained Blue Cosmos from launching any terrorist attacks against them.
But aside from the Atlantic Federation, who else could pull something like this? Isn't it just ZAFT?
Did they find out that they were secretly helping the Atlantic Federation develop Mobile Suits?
Just thinking about it made this major's mind race with anxiety.
"No need to panic. Our warehouse is in a hidden underground zone. There's no way they could know—"
However, contrary to his hopes, an even more urgent alarm soon made the atmosphere in the control center even tenser.
"MS heat source detected! Coming from inside the Dawn Organization!"
"What?!"
The Commander's face turned ashen at the news.
"Deploy all guard units! Head to the Dawn Organization! Send out the space combat squad! We must stop them!"
These were the MS they were researching. If they got stolen—
Not only would they fail to answer to the Atlantic Federation, but they'd also face interrogation from ZAFT.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
And this happened while he was in command.
With such a huge blame falling on him, he might not even keep his life.
"But... isn't that area near a residential district?"
Someone hesitated and looked at the Commander.
That area was surrounded by a large residential district.
Whether it was originally to lull ZAFT into complacency or to use civilians as leverage, the Dawn Organization was really close to the residential area—close by the standards of MS and battlefield scale.
"The alarm has already sounded. Anyone who didn't evacuate has only themselves to blame."
"..."
The people exchanged uneasy glances at that, but facing the Commander's murderous glare, they reluctantly complied.
But just as their space defense forces were preparing to deploy, the sound of an explosion suddenly rang out behind them.
"Range 1000! One Nazca-class, one Laurasia-class!"
Facing ZAFT's relentless advance, the Commander's heart was on the verge of collapse.
With battleship support, that meant there was an MS combat squad too. And the MS had been stolen, leaving only that one battleship.
All they had on their side were a few Mistrals and ordinary transport ships—little better than fish on a chopping block, waiting to be carved up.
"Keep declaring our neutral status and have them withdraw. The Space Defense Force will engage the battleship and pull them away from the port."
After taking a deep breath and barely regaining his composure, the Commander spoke.
At the very least, they had to protect the remaining battleship.
But just then, another explosion rang out—and the source was exactly where that battleship was docked.