D.S.S.D Colony Satellite, one hour before Reid and his group entered the observation range of the Gran Chaos.
Kira had been at D.S.S.D with Miriallia and Lacus for so ti now.
Although the three of them and their fleet had arrived as neutral personnel, everyone within D.S.S.D was well aware that Lacus and the others had been sent here by the major shareholder, Reid, for a break.
To put it bluntly, ever since the New Misurugi Kingdom entered the war, the international relief organization operated by Lacus was no longer seen as neutral in the eyes of others.
There was no helping it. For any international neutral organization to function properly, it needed backing. Civilians might not know who your backer is, but national governnts are perfectly clear about it.
In the eyes of other nations on Earth, Lacus was seen as a political marriage offered by PLANT to Reid, especially since the New Misurugi Kingdom had dealt ZAFT a fatal blow in the previous war.
After the war, the two nations, which had once fought bitterly, quickly restored their relations, becoming as close as family.
To other nations, this was all credited to PLANT sending Lacus for a political marriage.
As for PLANT, in the public's eyes, Lacus had chosen Reid herself. In the governnt's eyes, they were more than happy for this daughter, who had inherited a significant portion of Siegel's political legacy, not to return. The impression that Lacus was sent to Reid for a political marriage was deliberately crafted by PLANT's political circles from the start.
Subsequently, although Lacus's activities were claid to be neutral, with the organization's headquarters based in Orb, other nations were well aware that Reid's support was behind it all. Moreover, the subsequent provision of ships, Mobile Suits, and even dical Pods when they were available almost confird this.
Given that D.S.S.D was filled with highly intelligent individuals, a little analysis was all it took to figure this out.
In their view, after the New Misurugi Kingdom entered the war, Lacus could no longer move around freely and had to be placed under protection.
However, if Lacus remained in the New Misurugi Kingdom, the international relief organization she founded would likely no longer be able to claim neutrality.
It should be noted that the organization was still operational, but as its founder, Lacus had completely retreated behind the scenes after the New Misurugi Kingdom entered the war. The Mothership Pink Cross that Reid had given her organization was also abandoned and repurposed as Lacus's private vessel.
Therefore, Reid sent Lacus to D.S.S.D, another neutral organization, to help her relax and give her sothing to do.
For D.S.S.D, Reid was a major shareholder. As long as the individuals he sent to the Colony Satellite were still nominally neutral and did not violate any rules, D.S.S.D naturally had no reason to refuse.
As for Lacus and the other two, they had no objections to staying at the D.S.S.D Colony Satellite for a while.
No matter how busy life on the D.S.S.D Colony Satellite was, it had little to do with Lacus and her group. Moreover, most people here were driven not by KPIs handed down from above but by their own passion for scientific research and their dreams.
Besides, several of D.S.S.D's doctors were quite interesting.
Kira originally had nothing to do at D.S.S.D. It was quite nice to read books and bask under the artificial sun every day, living a carefree life. However, he ended up being caught by D.S.S.D.'s mathematician, Dr. Morikiyo, who dragged Kira into studying stocks.
Perhaps Kira also felt that he needed a way to make money in the future—after all, he couldn't keep relying on Miriallia forever—so he tried learning about the stock market as well.
And then things spiraled out of control. Kira, being a Super Coordinator, learned everything quickly as long as he had the motivation.
So, after arriving at D.S.S.D., Kira didn't stay idle for long before accompanying Dr. Morikiyo in stock trading. He even helped him complete the architecture of so computational formulas in computer programs from ti to ti.
Kira's skills in software programming were quite profound. After helping a few tis, D.S.S.D. even considered recruiting him to work there.
However, after learning that Kira was the younger brother of Orb's Pri Minister, D.S.S.D. gave up on the idea of recruiting an Orb prince.
At the ti, D.S.S.D. still didn't want to take sides. If they accepted Kira, others might suspect that D.S.S.D. was being controlled by the New Misurugi Kingdom.
Even Kira had found sothing to do at D.S.S.D., so the more disciplined Miriallia and Lacus certainly wouldn't stay idle either.
The two had been actively moving around D.S.S.D. these days, docunting the daily work routines.
As for Lacus, a major shareholder, D.S.S.D. basically let her roam freely as long as she didn't access confidential data or enter dangerous areas.
So, during this ti, Miriallia was genuinely accumulating news material, while Lacus was observing what kind of research D.S.S.D. was conducting, checking if there were any projects Terminal could get involved in.
However, peaceful days are always short-lived. With the announcent that the Luminous Pursuer Propulsion System had entered its final functional testing phase, the shadow of war began to gather over the D.S.S.D. Colony Satellite.
Just as everyone thought today would be another ordinary day, D.S.S.D.'s external communications were suddenly cut off. Kira, who was trading stocks, nearly smashed his computer in frustration over stocks he should have sold but could no longer offload.
Fortunately, the Phantom Pain Unit soon announced its intention to take over the D.S.S.D. Colony Satellite.
Lacus knew that the Earth Alliance might launch an attack on the D.S.S.D. Colony Satellite, which was also the reason she had co.
However, Kira actually didn't know that the D.S.S.D. Colony Satellite might be attacked. He had followed along because of Miriallia.
The reason Reid and Lacus didn't tell Kira about the possibility of an attack on the D.S.S.D. Colony Satellite was mainly because they were afraid that, if he knew, he would imdiately drag Miriallia back to hide in Orb. After all, getting this laid-back guy to move really required so trickery.
Fortunately, since Kira had already co along, he would still fulfill his responsibilities. Moreover, during this ti, he had made quite a few friends at the base and didn't want them to be in danger.
So, not long after Colonel Jacqueline, the commander of this Phantom Pain Unit, issued the warning, the Phantom Pain Unit's Mobile Suits slowly approached, intending to pressure D.S.S.D. into cooperating voluntarily.
As a result, the Pink Cross sailed straight out to confront them.
Moreover, in the original story, D.S.S.D. had no warships and still deployed all their Civilian Type Astray DSSD Modified units to resist. Now, with the backing of the New Misurugi Kingdom's new mothership, they ford a defensive formation around the Pink Cross and advanced, their montum not the least bit inferior to the attacking Phantom Pain Unit.
Colonel Jacqueline was sowhat stunned to see the Pink Cross and angrily cursed,
"Damn it! Why are New Misurugi Kingdom forces here? Intelligence didn't even uncover sothing this important!"
Colonel Jacqueline was clearly soone who had been handling dirty work since the war began, so he was unaware that Reid had assigned Lacus this new ship only after the war broke out.
Fortunately, the Pink Cross was registered in various nations, so the CIC imdiately reported,
"Thermal and MS signatures have been analyzed. This is not a New Misurugi Kingdom military vessel.
It is a mothership belonging to the International Rescue Team, commanded by Andrew Waltfeld.
The lead MS is the Strike Gundam, piloted by Kira Yamato."
Hearing this, Colonel Jacqueline seed to recall so intelligence and asked in surprise,
"International Rescue Team? So, this ship belongs to that PLANT princess in Reid Isaac's harem?"
The CIC imdiately confird, replying,
"Yes, this ship is registered in various nations and belongs to a neutral organization. Although the International Rescue Team possesses MS, they do not have a formal military structure. To date, whenever they have encountered combat, it has been the Strike Gundam piloted by Kira Yamato that has engaged.
As for the other MS on the opposing side, they are all Civilian Type Astray DSSD Modified units belonging to D.S.S.D."
Upon hearing this, Colonel Jacqueline stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"Kira Yamato... I recall he was the pilot of the Freedom Gundam in the last war. He's quite a skilled pilot.
However, how much of a threat can one ace pilot and a bunch of amateurs really pose? As for MS developed by Orb... Hah, if they were developed by the New Misurugi Kingdom, I might be a bit more concerned.
Speaking of which, if we capture this Lacus here, I wonder how Reid Isaac would react."
Just as Colonel Jacqueline was pondering, the CIC reported again,
"Enemy vessel is hailing us."
Hearing this, Colonel Jacqueline imdiately straightened his posture and said sternly,
"Put it through."
The next second, Lacus's image appeared on the bridge display.
Lacus also wore a serious expression and spoke without any courtesy,
"Commander of the Earth Alliance Forces' 81st Independent Mobile Unit, Phantom Pain, your recent declaration is a severe violation of the United Nations Charter. D.S.S.D. is a neutral organization, and your unit, as part of the Earth Alliance Forces, has no authority to take it over."
Hearing this, Colonel Jacqueline almost felt like laughing.
The United Nations Charter? That organization is practically defunct. That charter is too stiff even to use as toilet paper; even if it were publicly shredded into pieces, no one would co to punish him.
Using sothing like that to try and make him back off was less intimidating than simply saying, "My husband is Reid Isaac."
Therefore, Colonel Jacqueline replied without any courtesy,
"Sorry, I don't know anything about the United Nations Charter. I only know the orders from the Earth Alliance Forces. I have been ordered to take over this small Colony Satellite. Please cooperate. I have been granted attack authorization without permission. If you do not comply, I will directly order your destruction."
Lacus could see that this opposing commander clearly had no intention of reasoning, so she decided not to waste words either.
After two years of activities around the world, Lacus had long understood that not everyone could be resolved through communication.
For those unwilling to communicate properly with her, the most effective approach was the one Reid had taught her: simply beat them down. Usually, after losing their guns and weapons, these people beca more willing to reason than anyone else.
So, Lacus directly cut off the communication and switched to team voice, speaking to Kira, who had already sortied:
"Kira, they're unwilling to talk. Just disarm these people as usual."
Kira was now quite familiar with this routine. In the international rescue team, no one would criticize him for only targeting weapons and not killing people. So, he maneuvered the Strike Gundam forward and replied:
"No problem, leave it to ."
With that, the Strike Gundam's cockpit displayed a multi-lock interface. The two M100 "Whale" Plasma Convergence Beam Cannons on its backpack extended from its waist, the right-hand Hundred-Face Beam Rifle switched to rifle mode, and the Heavy Particle Beam Cannon inside the right-hand Shield was readied.
Then, with no regard for martial courtesy, Kira began continuous volleys, attacking the still slowly approaching Phantom Pain Unit.
All of the Strike Gundam's armants had been fine-tuned by Kira at the code level, so the originally non-rapid-firing Plasma Convergence Beam Cannons and Heavy Particle Beam Cannon could now perform segnted rapid fire at the cost of reduced power.
This made the Strike Gundam's firepower no weaker than the Freedom Gundam's. The Phantom Pain Unit mbers were mostly Enhanced Persons, and they clearly hadn't witnessed the Freedom Gundam clearing out mobs during the last war.
So, when the Strike Gundam moved forward, everyone was alert but didn't take major action. As it turned out, they wouldn't need to take any action at all.
Kira's shooting was as accurate as ever. The three Slaughter Dagger Units deployed at the forefront of the Phantom Pain Unit imdiately lost their Mobile Suits' limbs and heads, completely incapacitated and turned into Limbless Suits without any ability to resist.
However, this unit still had skilled pilots.
The Strike Gundam's four-color cannon was similar in nature to the Freedom's Rainbow Cannon—both were effective at clearing out mobs but couldn't deliver lethal damage against skilled opponents.
So, the Custom Machines of this Phantom Pain Unit remained unhard. They either blocked or dodged, all avoiding having their Mobile Suits disabled in a single round.
Since the Azure Duel had been destroyed in the Faroe Islands, the Atlantic Federation, according to requirents, had provided this Phantom Pain Unit with another Duel Gundam.
Only, this ti it wasn't the Azure Duel, but a hastily assembled Duel Gundam IWSP.
This Duel Gundam IWSP was clearly a makeshift job—probably just a newly built Duel Gundam test unit fitted with the Strike Gundam E-Type IWSP's IWSP backpack and sent out for use.
But since this Mobile Suit could evade Kira's first wave of attacks, its pilot was likely still an Enhanced Person.
Since the Strike Gundam had already opened fire, the three Gundams from Phantom Pain naturally wouldn't allow the enemy to attack freely.
The Erald Storm Gundam's 94mm High-Energy Beam Cannon and 350mm Solid Projectile Launcher, along with the two railguns on the Duel Gundam IWSP's backpack, fired simultaneously.
The Dark Assault Gundam also charged toward the Strike Gundam.
However, the pilots of the three Gundams realized sothing was off as soon as they engaged the Strike Gundam.
The pilot of the Erald Storm Gundam watched as the Strike Gundam effortlessly sidestepped and dodged all their long-range attacks with a smooth lateral movent.
Then, facing the Dark Assault Gundam's charge and its M8F-SB1 Type "Shorty" Short Beam Rifle fire, the Strike Gundam easily blocked the attacks with its shield, drew its Beam Saber, and suddenly accelerated, sweeping past the left side of the Dark Assault Gundam.
In the next mont, half of the Dark Assault Gundam's left backpack was cleanly severed. At this point, Swen hadn't even managed to draw his Beam Saber—the difference in combat capability between the two sides was anything but ordinary.
In truth, Swen had already dodged with all his might. If he hadn't, the Dark Assault Gundam wouldn't have just lost half its backpack—its left arm would have been severed outright.
Though Swen was utterly shocked, he imdiately retrieved the severed half of the backpack, grabbed the MR-Q10 Responder III Large Anti-Ship Blade attached to it, and pulled it free. At least the half-backpack wasn't completely wasted.
By now, Colonel Jacqueline also realized that this Strike Gundam was not an easy opponent. He promptly ordered:
"Swen, you three take down this Orb Gundam. If you can't destroy it, at least contain it.
The rest of you, attack the enemy Mothership directly. Once we capture the Mothership, no matter how powerful this Gundam is, it'll be useless. Kira Yamato wouldn't dare stand by and watch Lacus Clyne be killed."
(End of Chapter)
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