Panama Base | Briefing Room
The briefing room lights dimmed, leaving only the glow of the tactical display suspended in the air.
Kyousuke sat among a half-dozen pilots, their faces illuminated in cold blue light as a three-dimensional map of Central America rotated slowly before them. Red markers pulsed offshore, creeping toward the coastline like an infection.
First Lieutenant Hale stood at the front, arms crossed.
"ZAFT task force confirmed moving through the Caribbean," he said. "Intelligence believes they're testing our response time, possibly scouting for a larger operation."
A ripple of unease passed through the room.
Hale continued, "Our job is simple. Intercept, identify, and if necessary—neutralize."
The final word hung heavy.
Kyousuke's eyes fixed on the red icons. ZAFT. Coordinators. The enemy OMNI had taught him to hate. And yet, somewhere deep inside, a bitter thought surfaced—Orb would have tried to talk first.
He pushed it down.
"Second Lieutenant Asagi," Hale said suddenly. "You'll sortie as Wing Two. Stick close to me. No heroics."
"Yes, sir."
A few pilots glanced his way—curious, skeptical, some openly wary. The newcomer. The Orb-born pilot in OMNI colors.
The briefing ended with the familiar chime of readiness alarms.
"All pilots to launch positions."
The room erupted into motion.
Panama Base | Hangar Bay
The Strike Dagger stood fully armed now, its beam rifle secured to the rack, shield magnetized to its left arm. As Kyousuke climbed the ladder into the cockpit, the smell of recycled air and lubricant filled his senses—comfortingly familiar.
He slid into the pilot seat.
Initializing systems…
The panoramic monitor flickered to life, wrapping the world around him in digital clarity. Status indicators scrolled past his vision, each green light easing the tension in his chest.
This is it, he thought.
"Strike Dagger, Asagi. Launch check complete," he reported.
"Copy that," Hale's voice came through the comms. "Remember—trust your instincts. They got you this far."
The catapult engaged with a low, mechanical growl.
Kyousuke closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
Mother… Father…
Then the world lurched forward.
Launch Deck
The Strike Dagger was hurled into the open sky, its thrusters igniting in a blaze of white-blue light. Gravity vanished as Kyousuke stabilized the unit, the endless blue stretching out before him.
"One more OMNI unit launching," a controller announced. "All units, form up."
Kyousuke brought his machine into position beside Hale's, the two suits moving in practiced synchrony despite having never flown together before.
"Not bad," Hale remarked. "You're smooth on the controls."
Kyousuke allowed himself a faint smile. "I learned early."
Radar warning tones suddenly blared.
"Contacts confirmed!" the controller shouted. "ZAFT Mobile Suits incoming—multiple signatures!"
Red icons flared across Kyousuke's display.
His heartbeat spiked—but his hands remained steady.
ZAFT machines appeared on the horizon, silhouettes growing sharper by the second. ZAKUs, their green armor unmistakable even at distance.
Hale's voice cut in, calm and firm. "All units, weapons free. Engage."
Kyousuke raised his beam rifle.
For a brief, terrifying moment, he wondered who sat inside those enemy cockpits. Another son. Another pilot fighting for a side they hadn't chosen.
Then the first beam fired, scorching the sky.
Kyousuke pulled the trigger.
The war—his war—had truly begun.
Caribbean Airspace
The first exchange shattered the calm.
Blue-white beams tore through the sky as OMNI and ZAFT units collided head-on. Kyousuke's Strike Dagger jerked sideways as he fired, the recoil vibrating through the frame. His shot grazed a ZAKU's shoulder, molten armor spiraling away into the clouds.
"Wing Two, don't fixate!" Hale barked over comms. "Maintain formation!"
"Roger!"
Kyousuke rolled hard, narrowly avoiding a ballistic round that screamed past his cockpit. The battlefield unfolded in every direction—contrails, explosions, and frantic comm chatter blending into a storm of noise. This was nothing like the simulators. This was chaos with intent.
Then—
A new warning tone pierced his display.
Unknown unit detected.
"What the—?" a pilot shouted. "Those signatures don't match ZAFT!"
Kyousuke's sensors struggled to lock on as a shape flickered into existence between OMNI and ZAFT lines—only for a split second.
A pale, ghostlike Mobile Suit materialized out of thin air.
"S-stealth system?!" Hale muttered.
The unit fully decloaked, revealing sharp white armor trimmed with gold and black. Its frame was unmistakably Astray in origin—sleek, angular, and wrong in all the right ways.
MBF-P05LM Gundam Astray Mirage Frame.
Before anyone could react, the Mirage Frame moved.
It vanished again in a burst of optical distortion, reappearing behind a ZAKU. A blade of light flashed once—
The ZAKU split apart, its cockpit detonating in silence before the sound caught up.
"ZAFT unit down!" someone cried.
But the Mirage Frame didn't stop.
Its rifle snapped up, firing on an OMNI Dagger next—precise, merciless. The Dagger erupted into flame, spiraling toward the ocean.
Kyousuke froze.
It's attacking both sides…
"Unidentified Gundam is hostile to all units!" command shouted. "Extreme caution!"
As if summoned by the chaos, another presence tore into the battlefield.
A dark silhouette screamed past Kyousuke's right flank, its thrusters burning far hotter than standard output. The unit was leaner than a normal GINN, reinforced with extra verniers along its legs and backpack, its movements violently aggressive.
ZGMF-1017M2 GINN High Maneuver Type II.
"Contact! Fast mover!" Kyousuke shouted.
The modified GINN unleashed a storm of gunfire, raking both ZAFT ZAKUs and OMNI units alike. Its pilot flew with reckless confidence, diving straight into the densest cluster of Mobile Suits, using sheer speed to stay alive.
"Are they working together?!" Hale demanded.
"No!" Kyousuke replied, watching the chaos unfold. "They're fighting each other too!"
As if to prove his words, the Mirage Frame reappeared above the GINN, beam saber igniting mid-drop. The GINN barely evaded, thrusters flaring as it twisted away, returning fire in a furious counterattack.
The sky erupted.
Three factions. No alliances.
OMNI units scrambled to regroup. ZAFT formations collapsed under the pressure. The ocean below reflected burning wreckage like falling stars.
Kyousuke's breathing steadied as instinct took over.
"Hale, we can't hold standard formation anymore," he said. "This isn't a two-sided fight."
"I know," Hale replied grimly. "All units, switch to independent engagement! Prioritize survival!"
Kyousuke swung his Strike Dagger around just as the Mirage Frame flickered into existence directly in front of him.
For an instant, their machines stared at one another—his mass-produced Dagger facing a phantom Gundam born of secrets and shadows.
The Mirage Frame's sensor head tilted slightly.
Kyousuke felt it then.
He was being measured.
The Gundam vanished again, reappearing miles away in the blink of an eye, leaving Kyousuke with a chill crawling up his spine.
"Wing Two, status?" Hale called.
Kyousuke tightened his grip on the controls.
"I'm fine," he answered. "But whoever that is… they're not here for territory."
He watched as the High Maneuver GINN slammed into a ZAKU at full speed, crushing it in a brutal collision.
"They're here to test us."
And somewhere between the fire, the ghosts, and the screaming engines of war, Kyousuke Asagi realized something terrifying—
This battle was no longer about OMNI or ZAFT.
It was about who was strong enough to survive the unseen hands moving the war from the shadows.
The battlefield collapsed into pure anarchy.
Radar screens were saturated with overlapping signals, warning tones howling without pause. Explosions bloomed across the sky as formations on both sides disintegrated under the pressure of the third and fourth combatants.
"Command, we're losing control of the engagement!" an OMNI operator shouted over open comms. "Multiple units down—unknown forces are disrupting all vectors!"
Kyousuke barely heard it.
The GINN High Maneuver Type II tore past him again, its engines screaming as it weaved through beam fire with brutal precision. It wasn't elegant like the Mirage Frame—it was raw speed and violence, a pilot forcing the machine beyond what it was ever meant to endure.
That pilot… Kyousuke thought, tracking it. They're not afraid of dying.
A ZAFT ZAKU lunged at him from below.
Kyousuke reacted on instinct—boosting upward while firing a quick burst. The beam rifle punched clean through the ZAKU's torso. The explosion jolted his Strike Dagger as debris slammed against his shield.
"ZAFT unit neutralized," he reported, voice tight.
Before Hale could respond, space itself seemed to distort again.
The Gundam Astray Mirage Frame reappeared—this time above the GINN.
The two special units finally clashed in earnest.
The Mirage Frame's beam saber carved a brilliant arc, but the GINN twisted away at the last possible moment, countering with a shotgun blast that scattered shrapnel and smoke across the sky. The Gundam vanished mid-explosion, reappearing behind the GINN with impossible timing.
"Visual lost—no, regained!" Kyousuke muttered, fighting his own sensors. "That cloaking system is beyond anything standard."
The Mirage Frame struck again—but this time, the GINN pilot anticipated it.
The GINN slammed its thrusters to full, ramming backward into the Gundam's chest. Armor scraped, sparks erupted, and both machines spiraled apart.
"They're learning each other," Hale said grimly. "This is a duel."
Kyousuke felt a strange tension coil in his chest.
Two predators. Two philosophies of combat. One born from secrecy and precision. The other from reckless speed and raw will.
And they were tearing the battlefield apart.
"Wing Two," Hale ordered, "you're clear to disengage if things get worse."
Kyousuke hesitated.
"Sir… if we pull back now, they'll keep slaughtering both sides."
Silence.
Then Hale sighed. "Damn it. You're thinking like a pilot, not a soldier."
"Permission to intervene?" Kyousuke asked. "Just enough to break their rhythm."
Another pause—then: "Granted. Don't die."
Kyousuke angled his Strike Dagger forward and pushed the thrusters hard.
He surged into the chaos just as the Mirage Frame reappeared to finish the GINN. Kyousuke fired—not at either cockpit, but between them.
The beam split the air, forcing both units to scatter.
For the first time, the Mirage Frame didn't vanish immediately.
Its head turned toward Kyousuke.
"Targeting me…?" Kyousuke whispered.
A cold, distorted voice slipped through an open frequency—calm, almost amused.
> "Interesting reaction time."
Kyousuke's breath caught.
The Mirage Frame raised its rifle—
—and then the sky shook.
A massive ZAFT reinforcement wave burst onto radar, cruisers launching fresh ZAKUs in droves.
"ZAFT reinforcements incoming!" command yelled. "All OMNI units, fall back immediately!"
The Mirage Frame tilted its head once more, as if committing Kyousuke's machine to memory.
The GINN High Maneuver Type II didn't wait.
Its pilot laughed over an open channel—wild, unrestrained—before boosting straight through the incoming ZAFT formation, vanishing in a storm of fire and debris.
The Mirage Frame cloaked again.
Gone.
As suddenly as they had appeared, the third players withdrew, leaving behind a broken battlefield and burning wreckage drifting toward the sea.
Kyousuke pulled his Strike Dagger back into formation, hands trembling only now that it was over.
"Hale…" he said quietly. "Those weren't mercenaries."
"No," Hale replied, watching the smoke-filled sky. "One of them belongs to Librarian Works. And the other…"
He paused.
"…is someone who doesn't belong to anyone."
Kyousuke stared at the empty air where the Mirage Frame had stood.
For the first time since donning OMNI colors, he felt it clearly—
The war was being fought on layers he couldn't yet see.
And somehow, impossibly, Kyousuke Asagi had just stepped onto one of them.