Three MS of different colors stood quietly in their maintenance frames, and the strange person Hilde had recognized earlier near the station was shouting something anxiously.
"Move faster. Once the data input is done, prepare to detonate, and hurry up and stow the parts for the other two." Judging by the voice, the long-haired figure whose gender had been unclear was definitely male.
At that moment, Siegfried realized with some surprise that the world was not actually centered around the Archangel. It was just that his information had always been limited to the so-called protagonist side, while countless other events were happening in unseen corners, such as these three machines that closely resembled the future main MS of Orb.
"How did you know about this place?" What he found even harder to accept was that Hilde seemed to have known all along and had headed straight for this Secret Factory from the very beginning.
"I do not predict. I just analyzed the Dawn Society data network and found several places with very high access rights, so I could tell."
Hearing that, Siegfried could only once again sigh at the value of learning more skills. Everything he had learned in this world had been taught by Hilde, and while he had studied electronics as well, he could not come close to her almost wish-granting level. Even that strange Haro had already been built before he woke up.
He did not have time to dwell on it for long, as the explosions outside were growing more intense. The convoy transporting the Gundam had likely already engaged the GIN, and before long Duel, Buster, and Blitz would fall into ZFAT's hands, with Aegis and Strike being activated soon after. They did not have much time left.
"Haro, analyze the radio signals and detonate the bombs here in advance." Pulling Haro from his backpack, Siegfried gave the order directly.
"Haro, Haro, signal analysis complete. Scan results show fifteen receivers. Detonate all at once?" Knowing the situation was urgent, Haro followed orders neatly, without its usual back talk.
"Let me see. Set off the bomb under the gold one on the left." After a quick look around, Siegfried saw that a large number of parts were being loaded on the right, so he chose to draw attention by detonating the left side, and by coincidence the far-left unit was the gold-framed Astray.
A violent explosion rang out again, this time from inside the factory. Amid the flames, more than half of the golden Astray was buried under rubble.
"What is going on? How did it explode early?" the long-haired man shouted angrily from the center. The warehouse was already in chaos, and his shouting only pushed the situation further into disorder.
"Let's go." Seeing the plan succeed, Hilde slipped into the unguarded parts area first, and when Siegfried was about to jump down after her, resistance on his shoulder nearly made him instinctively throw an over-the-shoulder toss.
"Why is it you?" Siegfried glared at the panting blonde girl behind him, completely unaware of how Cagalli had followed them here. From her reaction, it also seemed the heir of Orb did not fully understand what was happening in this restricted area.
"You. You. Who are you, and what is your purpose at Orb's Dawn Society?" One hand pressed hard on Siegfried's shoulder while the other braced on her knee as she gasped for air. Everything today had shattered her image of her father, and what started as a simple check had turned into proof of secret dealings.
"Tch, what a hassle. My name is Reynard, and this is my sister Teresa. We are mercenaries from Mithril, here to steal some Orb technology. Let go, I said let go." Spinning a familiar nonsense lie, Siegfried tried to pry her hand off, only for her to grab on even tighter with the other hand.
Below, Hilde had already found the target and kept waving up at him. Siegfried could not shake the clinging girl, and with no other choice, he aimed for a transport truck loaded with soft padding and jumped down with her amid her scream.
The impact made Siegfried's vision blur, and before he could recover, Hilde had already climbed onto the truck after seeing the commotion.
"That way is the power pack. You drive, out through the exit." After quickly checking that Siegfried was not seriously hurt, Hilde indicated the confirmed target with her eyes.
"Let go, just let go already." Cagalli was still dazed from the impact but continued to cling to his clothes, and just as Siegfried was about to use some force, Hilde stopped him.
"Take her. Everyone here is from Orb. Otherwise, we cannot get out."
Before Cagalli could process what that meant, she felt herself lifted into the air. Because of the height difference, Siegfried had no choice but to carry the self-delivered hostage in a bridal carry as he ran toward the target vehicle.
After opening the door, he tossed Cagalli inside, checked the vehicle's condition, and silently thanked the infiltrating Cruzet team. The entire factory was in evacuation mode, and all the vehicles were already running.
He got into the driver's seat and opened the other door, and as the vehicle accelerated, Hilde slipped in neatly. Once all three were confirmed safe, he stomped on the pedal, and the unmarked transport truck smashed through debris and charged straight for the exit under stunned gazes.
"Stop them, that truck is a problem!" Standing atop the golden Astray, the long-haired man noticed immediately. Unfortunately, most people present were technicians, and Heliopolis was a non-military satellite with no combat personnel, while all of Dawn Society's security had been sent to the Strike Gundam warehouse, leaving only unarmed civilians who could not stop a fully accelerating truck.
As the truck was about to break through the gate, the long-haired man climbed into the golden Astray, which was half-buried in rubble. Its electronic eye lit up, and the 75mm Vulcan cannon chased the truck's tail with a spray of sparks.
"Is that guy crazy? Is this really necessary, using a Vulcan on us?" Seeing this in the mirror, Siegfried wanted to pull off a fancy maneuver, but the truck's top speed was low and its cargo made it sluggish. As the golden Astray forcibly twisted its head among the ruins, the screeching noise set everyone's teeth on edge, and the Vulcan stayed locked on them, forcing Siegfried to swerve repeatedly, the centrifugal force pressing Cagalli and Hilde together hard against him.
Another sharp turn made the Vulcan skim the roof, tearing it away. With the roof gone, all three were fully exposed to the golden Astray's cameras, and just as Siegfried was about to lift Cagalli as a shield, the Vulcan stopped in a strange way.
Looking at Cagalli beside him, shaking from facing death up close but biting her lip and glaring at him, Siegfried flashed a bright grin. The transport truck finally burst out of Dawn Society, revealing a scene of fire everywhere and, standing ahead of them, a ZAFT standard MS, a GINN.