A massive fireball was falling toward the surface. It had already passed through the stratosphere and begun entering the troposphere.
Because of atmospheric friction, parts of it had begun to break apart. Countless large and small fireballs surrounded it.
But the greatest threat was still the main body. That enormous fireball was plunging toward the ground like a meteor.
If it struck Orb's capital directly, the capital would suffer an impact equivalent to a one-megaton nuclear strike.
And that was only the destructive power generated by the object's own mass.
As an important supply space station for the Earth Alliance fleet, it was definitely storing a large amount of ammunition.
With the explosion of that ammunition added in, the destructive power would rise even further.
And if it contained anything worse, such as biochemical warheads or bacteriological warheads, the level of devastation would increase yet again.
As for whether it actually contained such warheads, the Earth Alliance had already done something as deranged as dropping the supply station on them. At this point, it was only reasonable to assume the worst and treat it as if those dangerous warheads were aboard.
Therefore, Orb's military had already prepared biochemical defense and rescue measures.
"Erica, how does it look?"
"There shouldn't be any more deviation. It's going to fall directly onto us!"
Before it began entering the atmosphere, the exact impact point could not be determined. It might have fallen into the ocean, but that did not mean it would have been a good thing.
An ocean impact would also create a massive tsunami, possibly causing even greater damage.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of weapon he uses this time!"
Seeing the bright-eyed look of anticipation and research interest on the technical director's face, Cagalli could only sigh.
The endless stream of new weapons that man had shown, along with the shock each one produced, made it easy to imagine how certain countries would view Orb from now on.
The Atlantic Federation in particular would absolutely push an Orb threat narrative as hard as possible, claiming that Orb harbored wolfish ambitions and was trying to dominate the world.
It was here!
The massive fireball was about to pierce through the troposphere. The sea of clouds in that direction had already been blasted apart.
The enormous fireball looked as though it was practically within arm's reach. It was almost as if they could feel its heat, and the red light it cast had dyed the area around them crimson.
Almost at that moment, the knight mecha let out a low roar, and something black seemed to fly out.
At the same time, a change occurred around the machine. Countless objects were dragged upward by an invisible force. Even great trees that would have taken several people to wrap their arms around were uprooted.
They were swept toward the sky as if caught in a tornado that did not rotate, rushing toward the falling supply station.
"That's a black hole. No, it still hasn't reached that level."
Erica murmured those words.
Cagalli, meanwhile, once again stared in shock at the massive fireball being pulled away. To the naked eye, the enormous fireball visibly shrank in one breath.
It looked as if it was being pushed back into space. In fact, it really was being pushed back, and its physical volume was also genuinely shrinking.
It was like firing a super-magnetic warhead at a soda can.
At the moment of impact, the overwhelming magnetic force would pull and twist the can, compressing it into a lump while drawing in nearby metal fragments as well.
Like a black hole.
The falling supply station was being pulled in, compressed, and shrunk. It rapidly turned into a point of light.
Because of the enormous inertia of the warhead, the matter it had pulled in was carried away with it.
At the same time, aboard the Archangel:
"Confirmed. The units are Aegis and Buster!"
"Blitz and Strike are about to engage the enemy."
"Damn it! Blitz just launched a sneak attack on Strike!"
"Damn it, ZAFT people really can't be trusted!"
"Lady Lacus misjudged him!"
"Blitz, GAT-X207, what are you doing?"
On the bridge, everyone watched in fury.
"Captain, Blitz has cut communications!"
"Miss Lacus never should have trusted him!"
The crew was angry, but Murrue was not especially furious, nor did she feel any particular guilt.
Because the robot designated 6O and Captain Flay's Ho 229 were both absent, having gone to standby in a certain airspace as a precaution, the only units that could intercept the two high-speed machines suddenly detected approaching the Archangel were Blitz and Strike.
After they launched, the result was Blitz betraying them on first contact. It ambushed Strike, destroyed its flight pack, and allowed Aegis to seize it.
Logically, Murrue, who had permitted Nicol to sortie, should have felt intense guilt.
The reason she did not feel much guilt was because this was part of the plan.
Still, she was nervous. She hoped Lacus had truly convinced him and that he would not genuinely betray them.
"The captain of the Legs is really stupid, isn't she? She actually let you pilot Blitz again, Nicol. She believed you would fight us?"
Dearka's tone was full of mockery.
Not only had they gotten Nicol back, but Strike had been "delivered" to them as well.
That said, the problem ultimately came down to how much the captain trusted Lacus.
With this, her trust in Lacus would probably plummet.
Speaking of which, the pilot of Strike actually knew Athrun too.
"Yzak will be all right, won't he?"
Yzak had already met up with Nicol. Nicol had contacted them through Yzak and told them to attack the Archangel first, thereby creating an opportunity for Blitz and Strike to launch.
Yzak would then remain hidden, wait for his chance, and see if he could take Lacus away.
"Yzak should be fine."
Nicol answered Dearka, his voice once again carrying a trace of guilt and apology.
At the moment, the group was not flying directly over the sea. Instead, they were circling along the island's edge toward the other side.
On one hand, this avoided exposing the submarine that was supposed to receive them, which would otherwise immediately become a target for enemy attack.
On the other hand, circling toward this side also allowed them to stay as far as possible from that transformable fighter.
This had been Nicol's proposal. It had seemed like a very good one.
And so:
"I'm sorry, Dearka, Athrun."
After apologizing again, Nicol did not wait for either of them to answer. Flying behind the two of them, he immediately launched an attack on their machines.
Completely caught off guard, neither of them had ever imagined he would do something like this. Their power engines were destroyed, and both machines crashed heavily onto the beach below.
"Nicol, what the hell is going on?"
Dearka sounded bewildered.
"Nicol, why?!"
Athrun's voice, meanwhile, carried anger he could barely suppress.
He understood now. He and Dearka had been fooled. Nicol had truly betrayed them.
In that case, something had probably happened to Yzak as well.
He could not understand it. Why would Nicol betray them?
"I'm sorry. I saw hope on Lacus's side. Captain Ramius, Buster and Aegis have been captured."
"Understood."
Aboard the Archangel, Murrue finally let out a full breath of relief after receiving that message.
Everything had gone almost exactly according to plan.
With this, all of the Gundams taken by ZAFT could be recovered.
At the same time, inside the knight mecha, the girl who had pulled the trigger lost consciousness the moment she saw that the threat was gone.
(End of Chapter)
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