As Fred thought this, his gaze sharpened.
People had died now—and not just anyone, but residents of the space colonies. This was a devastating blow to his plan.
He would never allow such a thing to happen.
Fred quickly scanned through the various reports before him.
At present, their position was at the very rear. The defenders stationed at August City in the middle had already sortied, and further out, he could faintly make out several small points of light through his mobile suit's monitors. Based on August City's surveillance equipment and magnification displays, they were unmistakably Atlantic Federation ships.
"Maintain formation, don't push yourselves, just hold one flank."
As Fred spoke, his mobile suit had already begun accelerating under his control.
The High Mobility GINN, leveraging its mounted Battleship Propulsion Unit, effortlessly surged past the many comrades beside him.
At that moment, Alec, who was beside Fred, seemed to share an unspoken understanding and instantly accelerated as well, closely tailing Fred.
"Huh? Captain?"
Seeing Fred suddenly speed up, Orphee's face showed both worry and surprise.
Though he knew Fred's mobile suit was fast, he hadn't expected the man to charge ahead like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"I have a mobile suit advantage—going ahead to scout," Fred said.
"If there's anything, I'll send you a signal, Orphee. After my signal, have the defenders begin shelling this coordinate."
Having quickly run through the battlefield situation in his mind, Fred spoke, simultaneously transmitting the coordinates and signal reception protocols to Orphee's computer.
He wasn't about to recklessly charge in, of course. If the enemy didn't deploy nuclear warheads, he could simply turn back.
If they did, locking onto them early was the best option—and if the opportunity arose, sinking them would be even better.
However, while he could barely manage the high speed of this machine and was confident he wouldn't lose to the Atlantic Federation's aces, the mobile suit's energy was a major problem.
Sustaining a Propulsion Unit with two-thirds of a Battleship's output using the GINN's own power supply was absolutely difficult.
Time-wise, at full speed, he only had five minutes of operational capability.
Though five minutes might seem like a decent amount, he couldn't just fight for five minutes straight.
He also had to factor in the return trip and other considerations.
In other words, calculating it all out: approaching the Atlantic Federation forces would take two minutes, retreating would take another two, leaving him only one minute to complete his attack.
Success or failure aside, his remaining energy would only be enough to drift back to base—no combat capability left.
He'd need to return for maintenance and battery replacement.
"I should've researched battery technology instead," Fred muttered in complaint, though his speed didn't slacken in the slightest.
Truthfully, he was just venting. After all, most of the powerful mobile suits in the later stages ran on nuclear power.
Researching electrical power now would be no different from joining the Nationalist army in 1949.¹
User comment
But the most numerous mass-produced units all use batteries, and the early SeedD machines are battery-powered too. Clearly, batteries are still a necessity that can raise the entire faction's strength. After all, Nuclear Powered Machines are too few in number—most mobile suits are battery-powered.
As he thought, Fred didn't forget to speak to Alec behind him.
"Our operational time is only one minute. Alec, stay by my side and help defend against physical weapons on the flanks—I'll handle the rest."
"Understood."
Alec had no objections, his focus sharpening to full alertness.
And as the two sides rapidly closed the distance—
Fred's appearance finally shattered the composure on both sides.
"Unknown enemy vessel...?"
Aboard the Agamemnon-class's Bridge, a soldier nervously watching the Radar cried out upon spotting the anomaly—but quickly his face twisted into confusion.
"No! That's not a warship... it's enemy mobile suits! Two of them! They're fast!"
"What?"
Hearing the soldier's words, the already tense Captain felt his turmoil and unease deepen further.
But as an Ace dispatched for an Ambush, after a brief ripple of disturbance, the Captain's face remained composed. He pondered only for a moment before speaking.
"It's likely a new ZAFT machine. Sync the information to the other ships and have them be on alert."
"Tighten the defense network! Cover those two Moebius units! Even if we die, the hammer of our justice must fall upon PLANT's space colonies!"
"Yes, sir!"
As a series of orders were issued, the two machines piloted by Fred and Alec appeared to both friend and foe alike as two dazzling meteors streaking across the battlefield.
But from the Atlantic Federation fleet's perspective, those two meteors quickly overtook the ZAFT fleet in the distance, heading straight for them.
"Those are... allies?"
Aboard the Laurasia-class, the Commander was equally dumbfounded at the sight.
How could he not know that they had such a fast MS?
But clearly, it had to be a friendly unit being developed in secret, right?
With that thought, the captain's lingering unease finally settled back into place.
"We are the Special Ops Unit, here to assist your fleet in defense. You can leave the green zone to us with confidence."
Orphee took the initiative to contact the other side.
However, he only sent an encrypted command without any self-introduction.
But the captain didn't press further at this point—after all, this was the Special Ops Unit.
They reported directly to the Chairman.
Their standing within ZAFT was effectively the highest. Although ZAFT had no military ranks, there was still a hierarchy of status.
By status, the Special Ops Unit was clearly above their garrison forces.
All they needed was to receive the encrypted command.
"Yes! Thank you for your hard work!"
Since there were no military ranks, the captain simply gave a military salute, using the gesture alone to convey his respect.
The Special Ops Unit—those were aces, and ones piloting two prototypes at that.
Not just the captain, but everyone on the bridge who heard the exchange also bowed their heads slightly toward Orphee on the screen.
"Defending PLANT is our shared mission. There's no need for such courtesy."
Orphee returned the salute in kind.
Even as the two spoke, neither let it interfere with what they were doing.
With the enemy at hand, they didn't chat for long. Under the orders given, the many MS followed behind Fred and charged at full speed toward the distant Atlantic Federation forces.
Orphee didn't hang up first, instead continuing immediately.
"The two units ahead are also our people. When the signal sounds, please provide long-range suppressive fire at these coordinates."
Orphee relayed the instructions Fred had given before leaving.
As for why Fred didn't say it himself—
Distance was one issue, but the main reason was that he needed to stay hidden.
The fewer people who knew of his existence, the better.
So, having Orphee speak on his behalf was the best option.
"Understood!"
The commander had no objections—in fact, he felt anticipation and excitement at the prospect of working with these true elites.
.
.