"Thor!?"
The moment the communications screen connected, Laser was startled by Thor's sudden voice, as if he had seen a ghost.
Mileina, meanwhile, covered her mouth in excitement and stared at the communicator image on the main display with disbelieving, affectionate eyes.
"Thor, have you come back? Where... where have you been all this time?"
"That's a long story, Mileina. I'll tell you everything properly once I'm back.
But for now, have Ptolemaios fall back. I'll take Ptolemaios's place and help Setsuna carve out a path for dialogue."
After speaking with Mileina, Thor did not forget to glance at Fillete behind her.
"And my little sister Fillete, I've got a huge, huge surprise for you later. Just wait for me to come back!"
"I'll wait for you, Thor."
"Mm, me too, big brother."
After ending the communication with the bridge of Ptolemaios 2 Kai,
Thor used the ELS Mother-Child Body DG Cells aboard Gundam Haliel to absorb and eliminate every section of Ptolemaios 2 Kai that had been assimilated and corroded by ELS fragments.
Even the battered, pitted portions of the hull were perfectly restored.
Then he sped toward Tieria.
Only Ian, still busily working away, stared blankly at the tablet data showing that the ship's hull had completely returned to normal before contacting the bridge.
"Do you know what just happened? Every corroded section of Ptolemaios has disappeared, and even the damaged parts have been restored."
"What!?"
"Huh? You don't know either?"
Just as everyone stood there bewildered, Mileina cried out excitedly.
"It must have been big brother Thor. He came back just now."
"That guy Thor came back!?"
"Ah, that's right, Dad. So it had to be big brother Thor. Only he has that kind of ability!"
Seeing the absolute confidence in his daughter's eyes, Ian's eyelids twitched involuntarily. He suddenly felt that even his little padded jacket with holes in it was about to be gone.
After Thor rescued Tieria, he glanced at the Seraphim Gundam GN Heavy Weapons / 5G, which had lost most of its five backpack units.
He first released ten GN Scissor Units, had them unfold their fan-shaped Beam Blades, and combined them into a huge, offensive beam force-field shield.
Then, with a sly grin, he released a mass of silver metallic fluid formed from ELS Mother-Child Body DG Cells. Right before Tieria's astonished eyes, it restored his mobile suit's equipment to pristine condition.
"Th-this is... something like those ELS?"
"Oh, that's right. The instant I was assimilated by those ELS last time, I somehow traveled through time again and returned to the past era..."
As he traveled while repairing Tieria's mobile suit,
Thor began spinning a grand tale for him. As he led them in their charge, he recounted some of what had happened after returning to the past.
After somehow merging completely, without any side effects, with the small ELS autonomous units that had been assimilating and corroding him,
he had helped Aeolia establish the Celestial Being Organization, and had also brought him and the elders back.
Tieria was left utterly stunned, feeling his eyes twitch nonstop.
Regene, on the other hand, revealed an excited expression, feeling that her choice back then had been extremely wise.
After hearing the explanation, Tieria's eyes suddenly lit up as he asked, "Since you've already assimilated with the ELS, can't you communicate with them and stop their attacks?"
"Sorry, but I can't do that either."
"Why not?"
"After all, I only merged with a small autonomous unit. At most, it was merely a soldier controlled by the collective consciousness.
If there were just one or two, that would be manageable. I could simply go over, grab them, and assimilate them into part of myself.
But I don't have the authority or ability to directly exercise large-scale control over the other ELS units.
And I've always had this feeling.
If I assimilated too many ELS units, I might lose my own consciousness and become just another part of the ELS collective consciousness."
"What!? Th-that's far too terrifying!"
Hearing Regene's alarmed cry, Thor felt he might have exaggerated a little, so he reassured them, "But don't worry. I won't assimilate too many of them.
And obtaining true, permanent peace is actually very simple.
Once Setsuna completes his dialogue with the Mother-Child Body and obtains the coordinates, he just needs to successfully assimilate with the ELS main body. If his consciousness merges with the main body, he can become their new king."
"So this is the only way?"
"Mm. Anyone with even a trace of selfishness or evil intent cannot do it. That would only lead to an even worse outcome, so we can only rely on Setsuna."
After hearing Thor's words, Tieria fell into deep silence.
Meanwhile,
all fourteen Courage Types of Solar Squad had almost each taken turns charging with two GN-T Solar Furnaces and GN Particle Tanks, entering Crimson Burst Mode for six rounds of full GN Particle release.
The GN-T Solar Furnaces' particle reserves were also nearing their limits.
Even Graham, who had been covering Setsuna's advance, had already activated the full-power Trans-Am System three times.
Several Courage Types had also had parts of their frames assimilated and corroded by ELS fragments.
So, to cover their other teammates and give them a moment to catch their breath, they silently agreed to drive toward the densest concentration of ELS units and use self-destruction to slow their advance.
Although their remaining teammates and Graham were heartbroken, they still continued to resolutely protect Setsuna as they broke through toward the ELS Mother-Child Body.
After approaching the Mother-Child Body, the remaining pilots in green Courage Types activated the Trans-Am System for the seventh time.
They attempted to blast an opening into the moon-sized Mother-Child Body and enter its interior.
But they failed without any suspense.
The ELS Mother-Child Body deployed its beam-refraction barrier again, completely blocking their attack.
Before you continue