Junius Seven had once been one of P.L.A.N.T.'s agricultural colonies.
After the Bloody Valentine tragedy, when it was destroyed by a nuclear missile, it became a frozen grave drifting through space. Hundreds of thousands of people had died here.
Normally, no one would disturb this place unless they had specifically come to pay their respects.
Yet at that very moment, an unidentified transport ship and a large amount of equipment were operating among the ruins.
"Damn it!"
A figure in a spacesuit roared in fury from inside one of the houses in the colony's frozen, devastated city.
Countless objects floated through the room—clothes, a frozen cake, and even a gift box that had been half burned away.
The surviving decorations made it clear that this had once been a warm and loving home, one where the parents had doted on their daughter.
Items and decorations favored by a young girl could be seen everywhere.
There was no doubt that a little girl had lived here. Numerous photographs drifted through the air, having escaped from an album that had been mostly destroyed.
A few of the better-preserved pages contained pictures of a family of three: a smiling mother, a smiling father, and their happy daughter holding both their hands as she stood between them.
That happiness had ended on February 14th one year ago.
The agricultural colony had been struck by a nuclear weapon, killing nearly every resident.
The spacesuited man standing there now, his eyes burning with fury, had once lived in this colony.
This had been his home.
His wife and daughter had both lost their lives that day.
He had survived only because he had transported supplies to another colony the day before the attack.
Consumed by rage and desperate for revenge, he had naturally enlisted in P.L.A.N.T.'s military—the ZAFT forces.
He wanted nothing more than to destroy the Naturals.
To destroy Earth itself.
Now, someone had finally "funded" his wish.
They would disturb the resting place of countless souls, carry out their work among the dead, and unleash their vengeance.
"How's the Mirage Colloid system?"
"It's operating normally for now."
"Keep a close watch on it. Under no circumstances can we allow the system to shut down. Understood?"
"I understand!"
The exchange echoed through their communications channel.
Several men stood guard near one of the Mirage Colloid generators.
A closer inspection would have revealed Mobile Suits secretly protecting the position as well.
"Eighty-five hours remaining…"
A man operating one of the work machines murmured to himself.
In eighty-five hours, judgment would descend.
If their actions were discovered, they would undoubtedly become enemies of the entire world.
The Earth Alliance wouldn't be the only one enraged. Even P.L.A.N.T. would arrest them and put them on trial.
But so what?
They were avengers.
For the sake of revenge, they didn't care what infamy they brought upon themselves.
"How are the Neutron Jammers performing?"
"Everything is functioning normally. The high-powered radio interference is also operating at the designated maximum output."
"Good. Remain vigilant!"
Some distance from Junius Seven, a ZAFT warship waited in space.
"The Earth Alliance warships have left the area," the captain reported to the masked blond man standing behind him.
Several Earth Alliance warships had passed nearby only moments ago. Their appearance had put the captain on edge, making him fear that they might discover the activity around Junius Seven.
"Good."
Rau Le Creuset rested his chin on one hand and nodded.
The Earth Alliance ships that had just patrolled the area hadn't been informed of the plan.
If they had drawn any closer, things would have become troublesome. Their abrupt course reversal suggested that a superior had ordered them away.
After all, this plan could never be made public.
For more than twenty days, certain figures within the Earth Alliance and high-ranking officials in P.L.A.N.T. had been secretly "collaborating" on it.
Of course, the two sides hadn't negotiated the plan together.
Someone had been pushing events forward from the shadows.
That person was Rau Le Creuset.
He had provoked several vengeful figures within P.L.A.N.T. into moving Junius Seven and sending it crashing toward Earth—straight toward Orb!
However, an object as enormous as Junius Seven couldn't approach Earth without being detected.
That was where the Earth Alliance's cooperation became necessary. They had to turn a blind eye and pretend they had seen nothing.
But no matter how willingly the Earth Alliance ignored it, Orb's satellites couldn't possibly overlook such a massive target.
That was why the Mirage Colloid system was required. The technology had been recovered from one of the stolen Gundams.
Miniaturizing and mass-producing the system would have been extremely difficult.
Building a larger version, however, was much easier.
Nor did the equipment need to be particularly durable. It merely had to keep functioning for a limited amount of time. That allowed them to manufacture the necessary devices on short notice and conceal all of Junius Seven.
Even then, the camouflage wasn't perfect, so they also needed powerful radio interference.
Although the Earth Alliance and P.L.A.N.T. had suspended open hostilities, both sides continued launching electronic attacks against each other.
Nearly everyone assumed the two factions were merely interfering with each other out of habit. No one realized the jamming was intended to conceal Junius Seven's approach toward Earth.
They had also installed the Umbrella of Artemis—an enormous lightwave defense barrier—to ensure Junius Seven successfully struck Orb.
The technology had originally protected an Earth Alliance fortress, but it had somehow been "stolen" and delivered into the hands of the avengers.
The truth was that Blue Cosmos, a faction within the Earth Alliance, had secretly struck a deal with Le Creuset.
In exchange for their assistance, Le Creuset had given them N-Jammer Canceller technology.
Only then had Blue Cosmos felt comfortable allowing Junius Seven to fall.
After all, what if it missed Orb and struck Earth Alliance territory instead?
With N-Jammer Canceller technology, the Earth Alliance could use nuclear missiles to intercept it.
Of course, once Junius Seven struck the planet and caused unimaginable destruction, people would inevitably demand to know who had been responsible.
Such a deranged and inhuman act of mass murder couldn't possibly have happened without the support of some larger faction.
When the time came, Le Creuset would secretly arrange for evidence to be released.
Some of that evidence would convince the Naturals that this had been a clandestine P.L.A.N.T. operation.
Other evidence would convince the Coordinators that it had been a malicious Earth Alliance scheme—a false-flag operation staged to frame P.L.A.N.T.
Either way, the result would be the same.
The hatred between the two sides would intensify, dragging the world even deeper into chaos.
Heh. Let's see if he can deal with this one.
...
Lacus's eyes abruptly snapped open.
Her face remained tense as though she had awakened from a nightmare, but it gradually relaxed.
What was this sense of unease?
Lacus immediately extended her psychic awareness and scanned her surroundings.
She could sense Cagalli sleeping soundly.
Stella was also fast asleep.
As for Murrue—
Huh?
Lacus froze.
Someone was beside Murrue.
It appeared in her perception as a human-shaped void that absorbed her psychic scan whenever she attempted to probe it.
Only one person appeared to her senses like a black hole, rendering her completely incapable of observing him.
Mr. Kain.
The two of them were extremely close together. They almost seemed to be embracing.
From what Lacus could sense, Murrue appeared to be sitting face-to-face in Kain's lap while they held each other.
Their posture also felt somewhat strange.
Her psychic perception wasn't the same as seeing something with her own eyes. It resembled a thermal image, or perhaps the dim black-and-white shadows in an old photograph. She couldn't make out the precise details.
Even so, their posture and those strange movements—
There was no need to speculate any further.
Lacus had already guessed what they might be doing.
If she hadn't watched Kouzuki Yuuko's special broadcast, she might not have understood.
Now she did.
But was this truly the source of her unease?
(End of Chapter)
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