In the Archangel's hangar, the maintenance crew was busy, occasionally glancing at a pure white mobile suit with a sharp single horn.
Compared to units like Strike or Freedom, this suit seemed too plain; yet in contrast to the Narrative Gundam, it appeared robust and complete. If the Narrative Gundam gave the impression of being a "half-finished product," this mobile suit felt like a "finished product."
However, this suit lacked the various upgraded Jegan high-mobility packs, which made the maintenance crew somewhat unaccustomed.
"So this is your new mobile suit?"
Standing on the catwalk, Murrue carefully examined the suit before her, sighing. "It's beautiful…"
"Mm, Unicorn, Unicorn—that's her name."
Roz was performing the final check on the mobile suit's data.
"Although it's not the complete form, its current performance is sufficient."
"But propulsion—are you sure it's fine? This unit doesn't seem to have a high-mobility pack. In the upcoming battle…"
Murrue glanced at the original pack behind Unicorn and grew a bit concerned about the upcoming fight.
"No problem. The thrusters and reactor are new specifications, fully capable of supporting long-duration flight under Earth's gravity."
Roz checked the reactor's operation and spoke confidently.
Even the original Unicorn, which required a propellant pack, could fly in Earth's environment, though it consumed more propellant. Now, with a reactor and electric propulsion system matching the Archangel's, the Unicorn can naturally handle Earth-flight without issue.
"Anyway… what's the plan?"
Roz finished the system check and left the cockpit.
"According to General Halberton's intelligence… we will land on Earth when the target begins transportation. After landing, we start the assault operation."
Seeing Roz emerge, Murrue began summarizing: "At that time, you'll need to deploy the remote mobile units into the Garuda-class, ensuring the data is completely destroyed."
"And in the end, we need to destroy that transport as well…"
Roz looked at a dark gray storage box on the hangar floor.
"They must not be given any chance to survive."
Inside the dark gray box were hexagonal prism-shaped machines, waiting for activation.
These remote mobile units were temporary designs by Roz. Using Unicorn as a signal relay, the crew on Archangel could control them, and Roz could also operate them directly from Unicorn.
Considering the intelligence about the size and contents of the Garuda-class transport, MS may attempt interception. In that case, control would be handed to the Big Haro.
"…Anyway, there's still some time to rest for now."
Murrue reached out and held Roz's hand. "We still need to investigate the Kingdom of Foundation… there's a lot of work ahead."
"In this damned era, such work never ends."
Roz sighed and looked at Unicorn's head monitor.
When no one else was paying attention, the previously dark eye sensors lit up.
Although Unicorn did not move, Roz could feel those eyes watching him.
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At this moment, Shinn felt a sense of unreality.
His understanding of MS piloting was limited to a few manuals. Clumsily operating a training GINN for just a couple of steps, he had already been unusually selected as a test pilot by a MP named Durandal.
Carrying the envy-filled gazes of his former dorm mates, Shinn brought his luggage to this single-person dormitory.
Although he didn't understand why he was assigned to such a dorm, he accepted it. After all, working hard to earn money was the practical reality.
Thinking this, Shinn sat on the chair and flipped through the tablet in his hands, given by Durandal.
It contained no confidential information—just introductions to ZAFT and Earth Alliance mobile suits, which was relevant to his upcoming work.
When he saw a head monitor that looked somewhat familiar, yet different from his memory, Shinn instinctively widened his eyes.
"GUNDAM…"
Opening the entry, Shinn read it aloud: "Based on some design concepts of the Earth Alliance G-series mobile suits, to distinguish it, the name is GUNDAM…"
Shinn carefully studied each G-series unit seized by ZAFT, as well as the "Impulse" that Durandal mentioned he would be testing.
"Unknown mobile suit…"
Shinn turned to the next page, but his hand froze.
Compared to previous materials showing clean full-body photos, the current photo was blurry, the suit in mid-flight, clearly enlarged from video footage.
Yet the red-and-white mobile suit deeply imprinted in Shinn's memory resurfaced, reminding him of that life-changing day.
Shock, pain, fire, giants… unforgettable memories surged.
"Phoenix… GUNDAM…"
Shinn looked at the ZAFT-labeled name, the red-glowing psychoframe in the photo, and the string of question marks in the information below, clenching his fist.
He opened the video on that page. The "Orb Great Retreat" footage played.
Compared to the mass driver area, the frontline was even more brutal. Watching Orb's M1 Astrays being knocked down and destroyed by the Earth Alliance's Daggers and new G-series, Shinn's anger, suppressed by financial pressure, began to surface.
He finally saw the Narrative Gundam rampaging across the battlefield. At the end, seemingly receiving some order, it quickly reached the mass driver, instantly eliminating Calamity.
"Huh…"
Shinn tried to calm himself as the feed automatically continued to the next segment.
At the final moment of the "Orb Great Retreat," three MS defended the mass driver against the Earth Alliance's attack.
Shinn also saw the units labeled as "stolen"—Freedom and Justice—and their battle, but all his attention was on the Narrative Gundam.
Whether it was being overwhelmed by the number of Daggers or being flung by the Black Knight, Shinn instinctively clenched his fists, as if he were piloting that Narrative Gundam himself.
But when the Narrative Gundam emitted yellow flames, slaughtered the Black Knight, then turned red, flew into the sky, and used "Aurora" to push the Archangel away, Shinn began to suspect the video was fake.
After all, this was extraordinary. MS were machines, and what the video depicted seemed as if it housed a psychic inside.
As a materialist, Shinn trusted science. Even with the "uncut footage" note at the bottom right, he could not accept the video's content.
"However… it's beautiful…"
Looking at the Narrative Gundam's psychoframe glowing emerald green, Shinn stayed silent for a long time. Then, he took a screenshot.
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