At this rate, even with public relations strategies, they would still be attacked by public opinion, right?
Of course, perhaps Blue Cosmos wouldn't mind.
After all, the Atlantic Federation bears the brunt of the blame.
They could easily explain it as Seed interference causing targeting failures, rather than a saturation strike.
Blue Cosmos and their faction are still layered behind them.
His goal is quite simple: to ensure Orb's safety while protecting Cagalli.
As the Atlantic Federation launched their attack, numerous Mobile Suits resembling the Red Astray began to appear throughout the military island.
No need to ask; those are Orb's mass-produced machines, M1.
He Kui wasn't particularly interested in mass-produced machines.
Although the heretics also had a Backpack System, and their performance should be slightly better than the Dagger series, the performance improvement was limited.
Compared to the GAT-X, they were still significantly weaker.
At this moment, his GAT-X had quietly infiltrated near the military island as the battle commenced.
"Blowing up the mass driver isn't going to work."
From the highest office building nearby, He Kui could barely see the deployment near the mass driver with a high-performance magnifying glass.
It was definitely the core of their defense.
It wouldn't be easy to sneak in.
He wondered which ZAFT support or special forces would arrive.
As the battle situation progressed, the Orb forces began to retreat steadily.
Gradually, a breach in defense was opened by the Dagger series, with airborne Dagger series equipped with Aile Strikers landing in the outer areas of the island.
Although the M1 was stronger than the Dagger series and there were some Coordinator squads among the Orb forces, the Atlantic Federation still had too many people.
No matter how advanced Orb was, it couldn't shake the massive scale of the Atlantic Federation.
If this continued, without the top combat forces from both sides, defeat was only a matter of time.
This was something everyone had anticipated.
Orb wouldn't just sit idly by, would they?
Just as he thought of this, a familiar black ship suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.
"Dominion."
"Why is it here?"
Although Dominion could move within the atmosphere, it was a space battleship; what was it doing here? Moreover, its speed clearly indicated it had adapted to atmospheric travel.
Perhaps it was something like a Scale Motor?
Truly impressive, the Atlantic Federation was indeed eye-opening.
As He Kui marveled, he saw the black angel slowly unfold its Positron Cannon structure.
What was about to happen became very clear.
As the cannon fully deployed, the Positron Cannon on the Dominion began to charge, light gathering at its muzzle, overshadowing the sun behind it.
In an instant, the previously calm sea was torn apart by immense power, as a dazzling beam shot forth, waves spreading outward at an astonishing speed, like a meteor streaking across the sky, heading straight for the command center of the Orb military island.
Did Orb have a light shield?
If not, they would be hit hard, right?
But that possibility seemed low; although Orb publicly couldn't master light shield technology, if they dared to challenge the Atlantic Federation, they must have something, right?
Just as he thought this, a light shield suddenly rose around the command center.
The red and white beam of the Positron Cannon was swallowed the moment it hit the shield, without even a ripple.
It was evidently a very mature light shield technology.
Who provided it to them, or did they develop it themselves?
For now, it wasn't the time to ponder.
He saw a familiar pure white long-legged warship quickly sailing out from the military port.
Who else could it be but the Archangel? However, in terms of speed on the water, it was still far behind the Dominion.
But on the Archangel, He Kui clearly saw the concealed light shield generators hidden in various places.
"Goodness."
Why was the technology here advancing so rapidly?
As He Kui complained, a strong assault equipped with a Scale System Equipped Backpack similar to the blue heretic quickly flew out from the ship, followed by another one of the same type, but it appeared to be pink, and the last one was… "Astray."
The already secretly split Astray was now appearing in Orb, and it was equipped with something resembling a future crimson assault, the Ootori Striker Pack.
Its speed was even faster than a typical aerial combat backpack.
He had indeed come at the right time; there was a lot of intelligence to be gained.
He never expected to see the Astray.
As for that pink Mobile Suit, it couldn't be Cagalli's, could it? He couldn't let the princess die!
While He Kui was surprised and prepared to secretly protect the young lady with his GAT-X, the atmosphere inside the Archangel was tense.
"Kira, how is the Mobile Suit status?"
He Kui's acquaintance, Director Erica, was asking from her technical officer position on the bridge.
"Energy output is stable, no issues."
"That's good, but since we've had this Mobile Suit for a short time and haven't done much tuning, be careful not to overexert it."
"I understand."
At this moment, Kira's tone was less childish than when he had met He Kui before; although he still wasn't completely confident, the look of confusion had faded significantly.
"Our strategy is simple. The threat from the enemy battleship is too great. While the defending forces are still holding them back, we will launch a surprise attack from the flank using the light shield."
"Disrupt the Atlantic Federation's command system."
Facing former comrades who were now enemies, and that same type of battleship, Murrue felt a sense of panic in her heart, but she still maintained her composure to command.
"Mu and Cagalli, you're about to leave our communication range. Is that alright?"
Murrue frowned with concern.
"Don't worry, I'll find their submarine!" Cagalli's spiri
ted voice replied.
"I'll take good care of her."
"Mm."
He didn't know why Uzumi had agreed to Cagalli's request, but it was now a done deal that Cagalli would be heading to the front lines.