"..."
Just as the space colony was thrown into chaos, Fred piloted the Strike Suit to the park near Kira's dormitory.
The sky had instantly shifted from night to day.
The evacuation sirens continued to blare without pause.
Many people assumed it was just a drill and grumbled as they got up—only to be greeted by the sight of the massive white MS outside their windows. Panic sent them scrambling for cover in every direction.
Among them, naturally, were Tolle and the others.
"Are they insane? Are those ZAFT's MS? Why are they here?"
Sai muttered in disbelief, quickly spotting a frantic Tolle among the students fleeing to shelter.
"Tolle, where's Kira?"
"He left a note saying he was going to a friend's place, then vanished."
"Uh... what?"
Even Sai, despite the urgency of the evacuation, froze at the news.
"This... let's just go for now? Everyone's heading to shelter—he shouldn't be in any danger either."
"Yeah..."
Though Tolle couldn't shake his worry over Kira's sudden disappearance, he couldn't think of any better option at the moment.
Besides, although the note hadn't mentioned the attack, every line urged him to prioritize his own safety.
Maybe Kira had known something and left ahead of time?
Either way, there was no way to find him now.
While the others worried and evacuated, Fred sat in the Strike Suit, facing Kira, who had been waiting in the park all along.
The cockpit was small—two people made it a tight fit.
But Fred didn't mind, offering a smile instead.
"Alright, the plan's on track. Once we grab their battleship, we're out of here."
"Just like that?"
Kira asked, a hint of reluctance and unease in his voice.
"Yeah—otherwise, ORB's people will be here soon."
The moment Fred finished speaking, as if his words had summoned fate itself, two rocket-propelled grenades streaked toward him with a trail of exhaust flames.
"See? Just like this."
Fred merely tilted the Strike Suit's head slightly, and the automatic Vulcan Cannon mounted on it unleashed a stream of needle-like yellow bullets.
In an instant, both rockets were detonated prematurely.
"This is a residential area!"
Kira exclaimed in disbelief at the sight.
Sure, Fred had stolen their mobile suits.
But those machines were never meant to be in their hands in the first place.
Not to mention—when his brother hadn't even fired first, they'd launched rockets directly into a residential zone, right around his friends.
Everyone has their biases.
At the very least, Kira's heart was now tilting away from ORB.
As for Fred, he showed no surprise either.
If they let them escape, ORB's reputation would be tarnished.
Why would they care about civilian lives?
" procedure. Hold tight."
Fred said simply, then without lingering to fight, he engaged the rear ejectors and easily lifted off within the simulated gravity.
At the same time, behind him, rockets fired from the rocket vehicles grew denser and denser.
Against the azure sky, they carved trails of fire as they hurtled toward him.
Seeing this, the youth—no stranger to battlefields himself—showed not a hint of panic. Under Fred's control, the Strike Suit turned with agility, its head-mounted Vulcan Cannons firing in rapid succession while the Beam Rifle in its hand picked off targets to cover the gaps, easily neutralizing yet another wave of the enemy's assault.
All that remained was the acrid smell of gunpowder in the air, the increasingly chaotic evacuation of the crowds below, and the frustrated faces of the defense forces.
"Damn it! How are those people already piloting those Mobile Suits with such skill?!"
The Commander slammed his fist against the console before him at the sight.
Even for Coordinators, this level of performance was abnormal, wasn't it?
Weren't those Operating Systems supposed to be unfinished?
The people from the Dawn Organization shouldn't be lying about something like that.
Or were Coordinators really just that terrifying?
But... no matter what he thought now, the situation wouldn't change regardless.
They couldn't hold the line.
Watching the Mistral forces outside completely collapse within just five minutes, the Commander closed his eyes in resignation.
The gap between the two sides—in both weaponry and personnel quality—was simply too vast.
It felt like an insurmountable chasm, and a profound sense of helplessness washed over him, as if he had reached the end of his rope.
If the enemy wanted to leave, there was no way he could stop them now.
"Report. The signal has been sent."
A voice cut through the Commander's despair at that moment.
"The homeland has been informed of our attack."
The soldier's grave words snapped the Commander back to reality.
"That's good enough."
"Have someone tail them from a distance."
With the Neutron Jammer disrupting their communications with the homeland, they still had the space station—using its cameras, they could relay messages via light signals.
Like semaphore.
Of course, it was slow, and to anyone paying attention, it would be quite conspicuous.
But he had done all he could.
If they wanted to punish him for dereliction of duty, there was nothing he could do about it.
With that thought, the Commander let out a deep sigh and sank back into his seat.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Fred—whose operation had gone off without a hitch—returned to the Nazca-class with the Strike Suit and Kira in tow.
"Captain! They sent a coded signal to ORB's space station."
"It's an independent cipher system—we can't decipher the contents for now."
No sooner had the hatch opened than Hawk's voice reached them, accompanied by his approach.
At the same time, the older man's gaze drifted toward the youth inside the Captain's quarters.
He looked pretty ordinary.
He wondered why the Captain would go through so much trouble for this little brother of his.
But that wasn't something he could question.
He could only keep his curiosity hidden in his eyes.
"No need to decipher it."
Fred shrugged as if it were nothing.
"It's the same old stuff every time. Just have the Captain set full speed toward PLANT."
"Also, maintain second-level combat readiness and watch for pursuers behind us."
"Understood!"
At Fred's words, Hawk quickly departed.
And in the bustling hangar, several maintenance crew members soon floated over with eager enthusiasm.
"Captain Freed, leave it to us!"
"Thanks."
Watching how the people around treated Fred, Kira couldn't help but fix his big, bright eyes on him.
The admiration in his heart only grew stronger.
In the few years they hadn't seen each other, his brother had not only proven himself a capable fighter, but had even earned the respect of so many Coordinators.
Even with his identity concealed, his brother was still a Natural.
That was just too impressive.
At least far more impressive than him, who was hiding his own identity as a Coordinator.
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "TLGod" on Patreon!"
Thanks!