Time rewound a little.
At the construction dock where the new battleship Archangel was being built—
"How are things?"
Murrue Ramius, an Earth Alliance officer attached to the 2nd Space Region, 5th Special Duty Division, and holding the rank of lieutenant, questioned one of the soldiers.
"We haven't found anything unusual."
"The fact that nothing is unusual is exactly what's most unusual!!!"
The voice that cut in made Murrue turn her head.
It was her partner, Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, a woman who looked every bit the model soldier. She was strict about everything and gave off an almost unapproachable air.
"How are departure preparations going, Lieutenant Ramius?"
Natarle pressed further.
The "abnormality" she had mentioned was, of course, the current situation with that princess. There was definitely something wrong about it.
"We still need a little more time."
"For her to choose this exact moment to come here and perform, there is no way that's a coincidence."
Natarle did not believe that the princess's visit to this neutral colony satellite was simply for a performance.
Perhaps the girl herself had truly come only to sing, but the people behind her were likely using that performance as cover to infiltrate Heliopolis and investigate something.
Most likely, they had learned that the new battleship Archangel and the new mobile suits, the Gundams, were being built here in secret, and had come to confirm it.
That was why preparations to depart were being pushed forward in such a hurry. If they were discovered now, it would be disastrous.
And nearby, there were probably ZAFT warships already watching. The moment they found proof, they would attack without hesitation.
Which meant they had to get ready to leave as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances could the Earth Alliance's secrets fall into ZAFT's hands.
"Lieutenant Ramius, regarding the transport of the Gs, please go hurry them along!"
That order came suddenly from the captain.
"Understood!"
The units codenamed G were the new mobile suits the Earth Alliance had finally managed to develop, MS designed specifically for Naturals to use.
Once they were deployed, the gap between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT would be pulled back, and then reversed.
Because these would be weapons even more powerful than ZAFT's mobile suits.
And those machines were not here. This was the shipyard. The mobile suits were being built at their own separate facility.
Now Murrue had to go there, urge them to move faster, and escort the units back at once so they could be loaded aboard and nothing compromising would be left behind for the enemy.
After leaving the secret dock, Murrue led her team out in vehicles and immediately headed for the location of the Gs.
"I hope nothing happens."
The roads were quiet the whole way, just like any other day.
But for some reason, Murrue's unease only kept growing.
And when they had covered about half the distance—
Boom!
The sudden explosion made her slam down on the accelerator as her face changed instantly and she looked back toward the place she had just left.
"Lieutenant Ramius, I think the explosion came from the dock!"
"Damn it, that songstress showing up here was bad news from the start!!!"
"Turn the vehicles around immediately!"
"Do not turn back!"
Murrue immediately overruled the other vehicle.
"Our mission is to secure the Gs!"
After giving that order, all Murrue could do was bite her lip and pray everyone back there was safe.
She floored the accelerator, making the engine roar, no longer caring whether the noise disturbed people trying to sleep.
This was not the time to worry about that.
"Lieutenant Ramius, over there...!"
The person in the passenger seat suddenly pointed somewhere, and Murrue followed their line of sight.
One of the landmark buildings in the urban district appeared to be on fire.
Wait—
"That's where the princess is staying?"
"Yes!"
"Damn it!!!"
Murrue's face turned deathly grim.
If that princess was harmed here, the situation would spiral into something unimaginably ugly.
Because her father, Siegel Clyne, was the current Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council and one of its twelve members.
All this time, the Clyne faction he led had been the stable faction, the coexistence faction, advocating peace and opposing war. It enjoyed enormous support among the people.
If he had not been Chairman right now, and if he had not been keeping another hardline figure, Patrick Zala, in check, then this war would already have spun far further out of control.
If the Chairman's daughter died here, then even that moderate faction would be pushed fully into the camp of the extremists.
Murrue could not even imagine how violently they would respond.
"Which idiot did this?!"
She cursed again, only hoping the princess was unharmed.
"Lieutenant Ramius, I don't think it was our people."
"Right. We wouldn't be that stupid. Maybe they staged it themselves."
"It could have been one of their own people. A setup to frame us!"
"Enough. Quiet. Get to the G warehouse as fast as possible."
Murrue cut off the stream of speculation.
But no matter who had done it, if Lacus Clyne died here, then Earth and PLANT would slide three steps deeper into a war beyond horror.
...
Not far from the Heliopolis colony satellite, hidden behind an asteroid, were two warships.
One was a high-speed mobile suit carrier, and the other an escort ship. Between them, the two vessels could carry a total of twelve mobile suits.
"Commander Le Creuset, we've received reports of an abnormal explosion inside Heliopolis. Hm? No way—!!!"
The captain's face filled with disbelief, and everyone on the bridge stared at the transmitted intelligence in shock.
The display showed a massive explosion. Faintly visible within it was the silhouette of a warship.
That should have been the key point of concern.
And yet the fire in one of the residential sectors, shown in footage sent in by an intelligence operative, made even more people tense up.
That was where their princess was staying.
"Miss Lacus was attacked?"
"Damn it!"
"And that warship...?"
"Earth Alliance personnel?"
"So the intelligence was real after all!!!"
One after another, they erupted in anger, furious that the Earth Alliance had really stooped to something this shameless.
"Hah. That young lady never should have come here in the first place."
The masked Rau Le Creuset let out a low sigh.
"We advance on Heliopolis now. Le Creuset Team, prepare to sortie!"
After giving the order, a faint smile curved at the corner of Rau's mouth.
This really was a wonderfully convenient "coincidence."
It gave them a perfectly legitimate reason to move directly on Heliopolis.
Then again, there were never that many coincidences in the world.
And the coincidence before them now was, of course, a man-made one.
What a pity about that young lady, though. Her songs were quite pleasant. No one would be hearing them anymore.
Really, he had no idea what had given her the confidence to think that just because she suspected they might act, coming here to give a speech would somehow keep her safe.
If anything, her arrival had given them an even better reason to act.
Such a naive little girl.
Then again, he could only hope the people handling it had done the job cleanly.
It would be troublesome if that little songbird wound up being captured alive.
That could turn everything around.
At that point, whether she became a hostage willingly or unwillingly, this military operation would most likely be ruined.
(End of Chapter)
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