Chapter 364: Toward the Dawn Universe 2
Clotho glanced at his remaining energy reserves and sneered at him. "Whose fault is that? You had no self-control and just fired wildly. Idiot!"
"What?! You bastard!"
"If you want to go back, then walk back yourself. Don't come looking for me."
But before Clotho had even finished speaking, the Justice Gundam suddenly burst out of the sea, catching him completely off guard and chopping off the right wrist of the Raider Gundam.
"You damn bastard!" Clotho shouted unwillingly as he quickly transformed into MA form and began retreating.
Now it was Orga's turn to switch into mockery mode. "So you're the real idiot after all. You even lost the machine's hand. Hahahaha."
"What did you say—" Before he could finish, Orga had already piloted the Calamity Gundam and leapt onto the back of the Raider Gundam in MS form. Startled by this, Clotho angrily shouted, "Hey, you bastard! Don't just climb on without permission!"
"Shut up! Hurry up and turn off overclock mode and get back for resupply. If we fail like this, you won't be satisfied either, right?"
"Damn it!"
Orga then shouted to Shani, who was still tangled up with Tolle. "Shani, hurry back for resupply. Remember to turn off overclock mode on the way. We're leaving first."
Shani glanced back at the Calamity and Raider Gundams, which were already moving away. He immediately projected both beam sabers and hurled them at the Flight Armor Strike. Taking advantage of the opening while Tolle evaded, he quickly changed direction as well and retreated at full speed toward the Earth Alliance fleet.
While withdrawing from the battlefield, the three of them immediately shut down overclock mode.
On the Earth Alliance battleship, the radar operator reported again, "The Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider Gundams are on their way back. All three units have sustained varying degrees of damage."
"Looks like another temporary ceasefire." Azrael shrugged helplessly at the Atlantic Federation commander and said, "Trouble you to issue the retreat order. After we reorganize, we'll continue the operation."
"They've already been strengthened this much, yet they still failed to achieve victory." The Atlantic Federation commander looked at the three returning machines and said to the signal officer, "Issue the retreat order immediately. Have all MS units return for resupply and proceed to the next phase of operations as soon as possible."
With his order, the signal officer immediately instructed his subordinates to fire the retreat signal flares.
In the final seconds of the countdown, the Earth Alliance MS units promptly shut down the PX system's overclock mode and began turning around to withdraw.
Azrael, wearing a wicked grin, muttered to himself, "Still far from enough, but a few more rounds like this should definitely drag Orb down."
At the same time, Orb's MS pilots also breathed a sigh of relief and shut down the PX system's overclock mode.
On the ZAFT side, seeing the Earth Alliance suddenly retreat, Creuset asked the recording officer, "Those machines with the blue glow—how long did they stay active from activation to disappearance?"
"About three minutes. None exceeded three minutes and ten seconds."
Creuset analyzed this for the captain beside him. "It seems that special mode has a time limit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have all retreated so suddenly. Next time we encounter machines emitting that blue light, we should try to stall them for three or four minutes and see what happens."
After thinking for a moment, the captain replied, "Yes, that's possible. I'll include this in the report."
At Orb's headquarters, a soldier was also reporting post-battle losses to Cagalli. "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief. Our M1 Astray units totaled 83 machines. Of those, 46 were destroyed, 16 suffered minor damage and require immediate repairs, and 21 remain fully operational.
"The eight MS aboard the Archangel and the Kusanagi are all intact. In addition, 22 Earth Alliance machines defected on the battlefield. Our total number of MS capable of combat is now 67."
"Damn the Atlantic Federation!" Cagalli slammed her fist heavily on the table when she saw the numbers, then continued asking, "How many machines does the Earth Alliance still have? Do we have a confirmed figure?"
"Based on heat-source reactions, there should be a little over 160 remaining."
"The Atlantic Federation's forces are about three times ours. If this continues, we won't be able to hold out even once more." Cagalli grabbed her hair in frustration and said to Kisaka, "Immediately direct rescue teams to recover any units that may still have survivors, and salvage whatever parts you can."
Just then, the communications officer reported to Cagalli, "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief. Representative Athha has issued an order for you to take the remaining forces to Kaguya Island as soon as possible and prepare to evacuate Orb."
Cagalli asked in disbelief, "What? What's going on? I'm going to ask my father what on earth he's thinking—how can he abandon Orb at a time like this?"
She immediately rushed out of headquarters, with Kisaka close behind, escorting Cagalli as they headed for Uzumi's location at the Dawn Society factory.
After the Archangel and the Kusanagi arrived at Kaguya Island, everyone gathered at the Dawn Society factory's command center.
Once everyone was present, Murrue asked Uzumi in shock, "You want us to leave Orb now? Are you asking us to become deserters again and flee Orb? Lord Uzumi."
Uzumi nodded and replied helplessly, "You should all be able to see it. The fall of Orb is only a matter of time."
"Father, what are you talking about?" Cagalli said in disbelief.
Lowering his head, Uzumi answered, "Orb's citizens have already been evacuated, and arrangements have been made for them to head to other nations for aid. The remaining attacks will be borne by us.
"But even if we lose the land of Orb, there are some things we cannot afford to lose.
"Behind the Earth Alliance stands the leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael.
"And now PLANT is in the hands of Chairman Patrick Zala, who advocates that Coordinators should rule this world."
At this, everyone unconsciously looked at Athrun. He could only lower his head awkwardly and avoid their gazes.
"If this continues, sooner or later the world will be plunged into endless conflicts caused by these two mutually incompatible forces.
"Can you accept such a future?
"That is why I hope that you, who know of another possible future, can take a small spark away from here now and move toward that goal.
"Though this is an extremely arduous road, I believe you can understand, Murrue Ramius."
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