The gash on the Sinanju's head monitor was glaringly obvious; one could even see unknown internal components mangled and exposed by the recent explosion.
"The defense has been breached?!"
Inside the Joint Command, Mike grinned as he watched the scene, like a hunter who had finally seen his prey wounded. "All units, full power! Destroy that crimson machine!"
"Stop! If that red machine is destroyed and collapses—or worse, self-destructs—the civilians he's shielding..."
Seeing Mike completely disregard the collateral damage of a continued assault, Kenneth could no longer stand by. He spoke up, attempting to halt Mike's next move.
"But this is our only chance!"
George cut Kenneth off before he could say more and nodded toward Mike. "You both know the combat capability of that red machine. Now that he's tied down by the civilians, we strike and crush him in one go!"
"But what about those people?"
Kenneth froze instinctively, staring at their cold-blooded conduct. They were tossing the lives and safety of those civilians aside with such bluntness.
"What do you take those people's lives for?!"
"On Earth—in the American region alone—countless people die every day from accidents. Why don't you just forget this minor detail?"
Faced with Kenneth's shock, Mike merely smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "Dying in an 'accident' during a Federation strike against an enemy is just another form of accident, isn't it? At least they will have made a contribution to the Federation."
"You've only just transferred to Earth recently. Stay a few more years and you'll understand."
Watching Mike turn back to continue his command, Kenneth felt as though everything before his eyes had become foreign.
Perhaps it was truly as that "Char" currently giving the speech had said: the Federation had long been rotten to the core, and he, sitting within its system, had simply been unaware?
Just as Kenneth sighed, reflecting on his own situation, his eyes caught something in the video feed. Beneath the shattered armor of the "Zeon Remnant" MS currently enduring the onslaught, something was faintly visible.
"...White?"
-----------------------------------
As the battle raged outside, the sounds of various weapons firing and the thunder of explosions reached the assembly hall, triggering a minor riot among those inside.
Simultaneously, Char's earpiece crackled with reports from lookouts stationed on the perimeter. He glanced at the person beside him—Hathaway, who was still wearing his skull mask.
Though Char had just unleashed a storm of revelations and claimed his identity as Char Aznable with such intensity that it had left Hathaway momentarily dazed, the young man eventually regained his composure.
He pressed a button on a remote control in his hand and nodded toward Char.
Outside the chaotic battlefield, the sharp, piercing screech of a loudspeaker system suddenly blared to life.
During their days undercover at the hall, Char had instructed team members posing as electricians to install adapters under the guise of maintenance, linking the building's external PA system directly to the podium.
With the flip of a glass-covered switch, it was ready.
"Everyone, look at the Federation's actions today. They are so desperate to eliminate me that they have no regard even for the lives of those sitting here. This is the ultimate proof that everything I have said is reality."
The corners of Char's mouth curled up slightly as he continued to point the spearhead of his rhetoric at the Federation.
"Outside this hall, my friend is fighting the Federation army to protect all of you. Look! The Federation forces are completely ignoring the civilians evacuating in terror. Knowing full well that civilians are in the line of fire, they insist on shooting!"
A massive series of explosions erupted across the Sinanju. Fragments and debris from anti-MS rockets whistled past the machine, striking the ground or tearing into unfortunate souls who hadn't managed to run far enough.
Beams that struck the shield ricocheted, igniting roadside trees and even melting a car parked on the street.
The car's subsequent explosion tore through those nearest to it, the shockwave tossing a crowd of people through the air.
The air was filled with the agonized screams and terrified cries of people whose inner fear was reaching a breaking point.
"At this moment, they have torn away their veil of hypocrisy, revealing a form that has long since rotted into the Titans—or something even worse!"
Char stared into the hollow camera lenses as if trying to peer through them and see into the very souls of everyone watching his speech. "Citizens of Earth, of the various Sides, residents of the Federation—we cannot escape, for we are all already caught in the center of this storm."
Char's voice echoed over the assembly grounds, refusing to fade.
Like a drowning man seeing a floating straw, the broken and terrified crowd looked toward the Sinanju, which stood unmoved beneath the Federation's concentrated assault.
"Quickly! Get behind that MS!"
Prompted by an unknown shout, the survivors began to huddle behind the Sinanju, even dragging the living wounded with them to perform desperate first aid.
Two surviving reporters followed the crowd, clutching their cameras as they scrambled into the zone behind the Sinanju.
In the ongoing live broadcast, the screams of the suffering, the cries of the terrified, and the sight of that machine standing before them—its armor shattering under the Federation's fire yet remaining steadfast—formed a tragic and strange tableau.
If they survived, this scene would undoubtedly win first prize in any photography competition.
-----------------------------------
Today, Roz was not wearing his signature red pilot suit; instead, he wore a white suit identical to Amuro Ray's. His helmet rested to the side, and he wore only his mask and wig.
Looking at the survivors huddling behind the Sinanju, and then at the Federation forces—who, under their commander's orders, were firing frantically without regard for the severe collateral damage—Roz's expression darkened.
"These people..." Roz gripped the control sticks tight. "What exactly do they think a life is worth?"
"Who knows?" Kara glanced at the carnage behind the Sinanju and sighed. "I suppose since I'm in mental resonance with you, I can't stand the sight of this either."
"Let's focus. While the PS Armor is exceptional against live ammunition, it can't do much against a sustained beam assault." Kara floated beside Roz, her translucent hand manipulating something on an idle touchscreen. "The external armor and structure have been compromised. It's time to let it go."
As she spoke, another beam slammed into the Sinanju's head monitor. The red single horn was shattered, its outer plating breaking away to reveal a golden interior beneath.
"Then let's discard it." Observing the status monitor, where the external armor icons were flashing red, Roz made his decision. "Switching modes."
With that, the underslung rocket launcher detached from the shield and, with nimble precision amidst the explosions, coupled onto the battered beam rifle.
The Sinanju raised its rifle, and an entire magazine of high-explosive rockets was unleashed in an instant. Five rockets streaked toward two approaching Gustav Karls.
The two Gustav Karls reacted by rotating the shields on their left shoulder sub-arms to block.
Under the impact of the rockets, the mechanical arms were twisted and snapped, and the shield surfaces were torn to shreds, flying off as scrap metal.
The remaining three rockets slammed directly into the Gustav Karls' torsos. The violent explosions tore through their armor, shredding the cockpits and engulfing them in fire and shockwaves.
"Mmm. External armor thruster power interfaces disconnected. PS Armor deployment transitioning to internal frame," Kara reported with a small smile as she watched the Gustav Karls fall. "Psycho-Frame status: Excellent. Weapon interface status: Excellent. Ready to brush off this layer of dust at any time."
The PS Armor plating on the Sinanju's exterior began to detach, redeploying onto the internal frame. The outer red shell, ravaged by the enemy's attack, started to explode and peel away.
"Increase GN Particle output! We need to protect the people behind us!" Roz reminded Kara, casually detaching the empty rocket launcher and hurling it toward the Federation lines.
"Understood. GN Particles commencing release from external armor thrusters," Kara said, cranking up the particle output.
The thruster nozzles on the back of the machine began to shift direction.
After losing the protection of the PS Armor, the two wing binders—their outer shells battered and broken by the assault—turned their nozzles toward the crowd of people huddling behind the machine.
The four thrusters within the two wings extended outward, revealing their inner mechanisms.
Under the desperate, terrified gazes of the civilians, the thrusters did not erupt with flames capable of incinerating them to ash.
Instead, dense, dazzling green light particles surged from the GN particle belts into the thrusters, pouring out from every nozzle on the back of the Sinanju, washing over and shrouding the group of affected civilians.
Enveloped by the GN particles, the civilians felt no burning or discomfort. On the contrary, some of the wounded felt their pain ebb away in a daze, replaced by a sense of warmth.
The green light particles moved around them like a galaxy formed of auroras. The two surviving reporters captured this spectacular scene on their cameras.
Two ricocheting beams struck the torrent of GN particles amidst the terrified screams of the crowd.
But in the next second, the beams and the shrapnel from missile explosions were scattered and deflected to the ground, like water hitting a stone. The civilians sheltered within remained completely unharmed.
As if reaching a certain threshold, a delicate halo formed of GN particles appeared behind the Sinanju as the discharge continued. Seeing this, several religious survivors fell to their knees and began to pray.
"GN particle dispersion complete... At least until we pull the battlefield away and the particles dissipate, they won't be harmed by collateral damage." Seeing that the GN particle release had reached the target levels, Kara shut down the discharge.
Seeing the appearance of the delicate halo, the Federation forces couldn't help but cease their fire, staring at the scene in a daze.
"The external armor has reached its limit... Release the external armor locks." Observing the status, Roz made his decision.
Click, clack... Clang...
At that moment, the Sinanju's armor and structures—broken and mangled by the myriad of attacks—either crumbled away or were unlocked, falling heavily to the ground.
The damaged chest plate, arm guards, leg armor, and backpack fell away... like a suffering holy son shedding a mortal shell, or a butterfly's wings breaking through a hardened chrysalis.
The pure, sacred white within was revealed to all.
As the mangled outer armor of the Sinanju's head dropped, that unmistakable, stoic Gundam face appeared before everyone.
The golden antenna, previously folded to form the Sinanju's single horn, swept open once more, forming a classic double-V fin.
Staring at the machine standing before them—still haloed by a ring of delicate light particles—many Federation veterans on the scene instinctively held their breath.
Even among the reinforcements just arriving, veterans froze at the sight of the machine emerging from the Sinanju, hesitating to commence their orbital drop from the carriers.
As if brushing the last of the dust from her shoulders, Kara smiled. She stretched her translucent body slightly and floated behind Roz.
"Combat mode, activated."
Kara leaned close to Roz's ear, whispering softly, "RX-93, ν Gundam. Use my power to your heart's content."
Almost instantaneously, the moment the white machine shed the Sinanju's shell, every MS identification system on the battlefield flipped from "Unknown" to "RX-93."
"RX-93... ν Gundam?! How is that possible?!"
While the recruits remained confused, the veterans' eyes widened in sheer terror.
Even though the machine before them was standing empty-handed—its weapons and shield already destroyed—everyone felt an inexplicable, overwhelming killing intent.
"Weapon resupply command issued."
Kara smiled, transmitting the pre-arranged signal to the Nahel Argama. "Your new armaments are on their way via 'East Wind Express.' Char's delivery is on its way too."
Roz took a deep breath. Under the watchful eyes of the world, he lifted the ν Gundam's foot and began to walk down the street, closing the distance toward the assembly hall.
A recruit-piloted Jegan raised its beam rifle, but the muzzle was immediately slammed down by his team leader—a veteran in another Jegan who held the weapon down with an iron grip.
On the hall's podium, Char felt the waves of blurred emotions—what some might call "astonishment"—emanating from outside. He let a smirk play across his lips.
"...Now, seeing the current state of affairs from another identity, another perspective—what are your thoughts?"
Char's voice rang out over the loudspeakers once more: "Amuro!"
"Char!"
Roz's voice—a perfect, haunting echo of Amuro Ray's—spiraled over the assembly grounds through the ν Gundam's external speakers.
......................