Chapter 277 - 278: How Could We Leave Out a Spectacle as Grand as a Colony’s Destruction?

Chapter 277: Chapter 278: How Could We Leave Out a Spectacle as Grand as a Colony’s Destruction?

Out in space, ZAFT’s forces had completed their preparations.

All four G-series units were in position.

"Excellent. Then... commence the operation!"

After receiving confirmation that the deployment was complete, Le Creuset issued his next order.

The thrusters mounted behind the asteroid began accelerating, while countless engineering machines followed in its wake.

"Captain Murrue."

Once she detected the asteroid’s movement, Inori immediately notified Captain Murrue.

It had entered the range she could directly observe.

"What is it?"

"An asteroid is approaching. A ZAFT engineering team is hiding behind it."

Murrue’s mind went blank for a moment.

Then she snapped back to her senses. "All hands! Secure yourselves to the nearest fixture! Brace for impact!"

Alarms immediately blared throughout the Archangel.

Countless demolition charges fitted with propulsion units streamed out from behind the asteroid.

Industrial demolition charges like these were hardly fast, but Heliopolis was now nothing more than an empty husk. It had no active defenses, so nothing stood in their way.

"Boom—"

"Bang—"

"Rrrrrumble..."

The charges tore one opening after another through Heliopolis, as though someone were slicing through an aluminum can.

The asteroid that followed was deadlier still. The enormous rock slammed directly into Heliopolis at its midpoint.

Amid the violent explosions, Heliopolis—broke apart.

[Holy crap, this time it’s really over]

[Gaia!]

[Gaia!]

[Tiga!]

[Zaku!]

[Gundam!]

[Char!]

From the audience’s perspective, right at this critical moment, the movie-length extended Episode One... had fucking ended!

Only then did the OP finally begin.

Unlike the crew over at The Ninja’s Path next door, the Gundam production team had chosen to prepare its OP in advance.

And honestly, the transition fit surprisingly well. The very first shot was Birdy flying through a field of space debris.

(Classic scene)

The OP was somewhat similar to the "original," yet also different.

Because the series was being broadcast "live," some footage from the original had been replaced with scenes from Episode Zero and Episode One. Other sequences had been edited together from earlier battlefield footage.

[This actually sounds pretty good]

[Holy crap, we’re cooked!]

[Huh?]

[Something’s wrong with this music. We’re cooked!]

[What’s happening? What’s happening?]

[Go back and watch the beginning of Episode Zero. The two songs have completely different styles]

[I like this one too]

[Is this really going to be okay?!]

The audience had realized something was off.

Episode Zero had not contained an OP, but it did feature a song—the music video Kira heard at the very beginning.

Many viewers had assumed that song was the OP.

Yet Episode One’s OP was completely different from the one in Episode Zero. It was the "original," after all.

As for why the production committee had made that choice, the reason was simple—local singers needed to sell records too.

Plastic models had to sell, and records had to sell as well.

Both markets had to be pushed—and pushed hard.

[Pink hair’s here! Pink hair!]

Although only Episode Zero and Episode One had aired, the OP still included shots of several important characters.

Lacus, for example.

However, only half of Lacus’s face could be seen, with most of it still obscured.

In the Archangel crew montage, Kira’s friends did not appear. Instead, Tolle, Miriallia, and the others were given a separate title card showing them in casual clothes.

The OP even gave Flay a shot—the on-screen Flay holding Kira’s hand as the two of them ran happily through a garden.

That scene seemed to be from about a year earlier, before Kira learned that Flay disliked Coordinators.

[Pretty gutsy of them to use a male vocalist]

[Girl bands are everywhere these days. It’s been ages since I heard a male singer]

[It’s nice once in a while]

[Sounds like Nishikawa...]

[Wait, it really is about to end this time...]

[It’s over...]

[There’s nothing left...]

[Gaia!]

[Char!]

Although it had an OP, Episode One did not have an ED. Once the OP finished, the episode was over.

But right as things ended here, a fresh wave of comments flooded the screen.

[Seven years! I’ve waited seven whole years!]

[Every day felt like a year! Every single day felt like a year!]

[You absolutely have to catch up on Episode Zero!]

[Go watch Episode Zero! Hurry!]

[The official releases are coming out so fast. I bought the Strike frame, the Red Astray, and the Blue Astray, and they’ve all arrived]

[You didn’t buy the black GINN?]

[I couldn’t freaking get one]

[Shocking! The most popular mobile suit in a Gundam production is actually a grunt unit!]

[You can import one. Buy the Japanese release—it’s cheaper than buying from scalpers]

[Don’t bother. I’m over here, and scalpers are everywhere here too. Red Astray Unit 2 is the hottest one here, though. You guys could bring some over from back home]

[The natural order’s been completely reversed, 233]

[I’m dying]

For the audience, an entire week had passed before they finally got to watch Episode Two. For the Archangel, Kira, and the others, however, only an instant had passed.

The transition from the external demolition to the asteroid strike had happened in a heartbeat.

After the OP ended, the scene cut to the streets of Heliopolis.

The streets were completely deserted, yet traces of the people who had once lived there still remained.

Then the camera shifted outside the colony.

Not a single sound could be heard in the vacuum of space.

At this point, the Stage adopted a more realistic style of cinematography.

Heliopolis’s outer shell buckled and shattered like an eggshell. The massive asteroid, fitted with guidance modules bearing ZAFT livery, became a meteor that delivered its kiss of death in utter silence.

The holographic billboards in the shopping district continued looping advertisements for carbonated drinks. The virtual avatar from an advertisement for Inori’s concert still stood there, gazing out into space.

Suddenly, the hem of virtual Inori’s goldfish dress flickered into a stream of pixelated distortion.

In the next instant, heaven and earth came apart.

Gravity failed. Cans of cola floated out of the vending machines, then ruptured into sprays of silver.

The power cut out, and the virtual idol vanished. A nearby poster was ripped free before being swallowed by the flames of an explosion.

The driverless taxi Kira and the others had once ridden was torn from its garage by the escaping atmosphere, reduced to wreckage amid the shriek of twisting metal and the roar of explosions.

The central spindle shattered. Steel cables snapped.

The ground broke apart into countless fragments. The atmosphere vented into space, while the water in the farmland froze into ice crystals in the bitter cold of the void.

It was as though the world itself were slowly shattering.

The Archangel shuddered and groaned continuously amid the violent decompression and explosions.

"Waaah!"

Kira’s classmates screamed amid the chaos.

"How—how could this happen?!"

Once the ship finally steadied, they turned toward the monitors.

The feeds showed nothing but a vast field of space debris.

Heliopolis had been completely destroyed.

(This unit actually appears in the OP)

(It even fought Mu in the OP)