Gundam: Changing the World Even with a Mass-Produced Unit

Chapter 190: One After Another

"Cima, you bastard—have you betrayed me? Betrayed Zeon?!"

Delaz remained seated, but the bulging veins on his hand betrayed his inner turmoil.

"It's just that the times have changed and power has shifted. The moment Zeon abandoned me, I started fighting solely for my own survival."

Cima replied with a condescending tone, looking down on this old-school Zeonist.

"Then what about you, Char Aznable? Under what banner do you stand here today?!"

Delaz turned his furious gaze toward Char, who was also present on the screen.

Char remained silent for a long while, not responding.

But his silence was, in itself, a form of answer.

And this turn of events was even more shocking than the four Gundams hidden beneath Jaburo—there were five of them!

"You, who have always fought under the Zabi family's command... have you really sunk so low as to collude with the Federation?"

Delaz accused Char with deep anger.

Though the Zabi family had always been rife with internal conflict, in the eyes of Zeon's remnants after the One Year War, Char had made notable contributions to every Zabi faction.

That alone had caused many remnants to view Char as a steadfast pillar of Zeon.

But now, what a cruel joke. He was just another coward, a traitorous dog who served three masters!

Char remained linked to the communication channel—until the Zabi family was mentioned. Then, from behind his mask, he cast a cold, deathly stare at Delaz and severed the connection.

"What a heartless man. Say, why don't you come with me after this war? At least you'd get to live."

Cima, intrigued by this man showing a side few had ever seen, finally revealed a rare moment of interest—and even made an offer.

Char considered it for a moment, but ultimately shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to go. I can't let the Federation catch sight of me—I still have things I need to do."

"For Axis?"

"For myself—and for the woman I love."

Char answered calmly.

"I see... you're exactly my type. Head in that direction—I've prepared a backup plan there. If I don't arrive within three hours, don't wait for me. Just leave."

Having seen his loyalty and depth of feeling, Cima decisively revealed her contingency plan, originally set in place in case Eli turned on her.

After all, the nuclear blast range had already been shared. That meant Eli likely wouldn't try anything after the war.

Yes, the nuclear blast range.

Under Arcadia's control, GP02 retrieved the other barrel hidden within its shield and slowly mounted it onto the nuclear rocket launcher on its right shoulder.

After launching a round of attacks against the surrounding Zeon remnants—crippling most of the mobile suits and warships—the others each found a way to board the Dendrobium and retreated under the thrust of its high-output engines.

But Gis continued to sob uncontrollably in his cockpit.

The old soldier who'd once planned to open a bakery and retire... he had stepped in to protect Gis, who had been forced into close combat by Zeon MS due to a mistake. Drawing his beam saber and facing off against a beam halberd, he was struck by a surprise attack from another direction—his cockpit pierced.

Gis, in a near-frenzied state, destroyed the two enemy MS with his beam spear and dragged the wreckage of the old soldier's mobile suit close to the Dendrobium, hoping to take it with them.

A green light lit up beside the nuclear rocket launcher—it was armed and ready.

Arcadia felt like he should say something in this moment, for the friends and subordinates who had died in Sydney and just now.

But then he thought again—if he needed to invoke the names of the dead just to pull the trigger, how different was he from the Zeon remnants in front of him?

The launcher's device began to spin—that was the laser ignition warming up.

"Well then... all of you damn Zeon remnants, go to hell."

The light that had appeared not long ago once again flared within this region of space.

Those beyond the blast radius watched as the mobile suit, bearing a heavy shield, was swallowed by the nuclear fireball.

But before that, the tightly packed Delaz fleet—organized that way in a desperate bid to punch through the remaining ships of the Jamitov fleet—was consumed first.

"Is this... beautiful?"

Watching the blinding sphere that resembled a second sun, Kou Uraki murmured from within the Dendrobium.

"It's not beautiful at all, Uraki. If the Zeon remnants at Axis are allowed to continue like this, then nuclear fireballs like that—ones that snatch lives away—will only appear more often in this universe."

Eli understood that Uraki had merely made a subconscious remark in such circumstances.

Even so, he couldn't help but vent the thoughts that weighed on his heart.

"Axis?"

Uraki was stunned upon hearing the name.

"Still only interested in machines, aren't you, Kou..."

Amuro gave a heavy-hearted quip.

Even he couldn't stay emotionally detached after seeing so many lives lost in battle.

It was also due to the Psycommu system loaded on his machine—while it helped Newtype pilots gather more battlefield intel, it also greatly amplified their emotional sensitivity.

No one else in the team spoke. Only Gis's occasional sobs could be heard.

Eli stood in silence, remembering the face of the grim, taciturn veteran who had survived the One Year War.

Amid the fading glow of the nuclear fireball, Eli looked back at his subordinates. The high-performance units were relatively unscathed, but the GM Customs were all bearing battle damage.

"The GM Customs will rendezvous with the Jamitov forces. The rest of you, come with me—we're bringing Arcadia back."

As the light gradually faded, space returned to its original darkness.

The nuclear fireball had vanished, leaving behind only the scattered wreckage of the Delaz fleet.

Many of the ships weren't destroyed by the blast itself but had shut down due to electronic systems being fried by the radiation flux.

The Gundams ignored those derelict ships and drifted toward the GP02, which remained motionless in space.

Whether Earth or the Moon, the threat to them had been completely neutralized.

With Delaz's fleet now out of action, they had plenty of time to correct the colony satellite's orbit. As long as they refueled it, the colony could slingshot around the Earth and return to space.

For both the Federation and the Zeon Republic, that outcome would be a win.

Now, they could finally turn their attention to the Federation's internal affairs.

That was what Eli thought.

"All units, retreat!"

At that moment, the remnants of Jamitov's fleet suddenly issued a retreat warning.

There was no time to hesitate—Eli immediately maneuvered his unit, bringing Arcadia along as they exited the danger zone.

And almost the instant they left that radius, a concentrated beam—so dense it was nearly tangible—pierced through space and struck the colony satellite.