Archangel's Path to Becoming a Auspicious Ship

On the Archangel, Captain Murrue stood up from her command chair in alarm as she witnessed the massive explosion where the Strike Gundam had been.

Miriallia, serving as flight controller, immediately began calling out to Kira in a panic.

"Kira, are you alright?! Kira, answer me! Kira, Kira, what happened to you!"

Amidst Miriallia's near-tearful voice, only Badgiruel remained calm enough to issue commands.

"Gottfried, fire at the last locked coordinates! Deck crew, is the Launcher Pack ready for launch? Stand by for my signal!"

Soon, as the uncolored frame of the Strike Gundam emerged from the thick smoke and fire, the bridge crew erupted in cheers, yet Kira still offered no response.

On the other side, the massive white mobile armor, despite losing its mechanical claw, nimbly evaded the Gottfried's attack and prepared to pounce on the Strike Gundam once more.

At this moment, Mu, having lost his Moebius Zero, arrived on the bridge and sat at the fire control station without a word.

"Transfer control of the Valiant to me, quickly!"

Badgiruel signaled Sai to comply while continuing to issue firm, loud instructions.

"Stern missile tubes, load all high-explosive shells! Target the airspace between the enemy mobile armor and the Strike Gundam—fire!"

At the flight controller's station, Miriallia continued her tireless calling, finally rousing Kira from his momentary unconsciousness.

"This is Kira Yamato..."

Although Kira's voice sounded extremely weak, his consciousness was at least clear. The bridge erupted in cheers once again, followed by Badgiruel's command, delivered with a hint of relief.

"Deck crew, launch the Launcher Pack immediately!"

Relying on the precision of Mu's manual control of the Valiant, combined with the barrage of high-explosive shells from the stern missile tubes, the timely deployment of the Launcher Pack provided the Strike Gundam with a chance to regroup.

Kira understood this without needing an explanation; he immediately maneuvered toward the Launcher Pack and nimbly began configuring the operating system.

As the opponent of the Strike Gundam and the Archangel, Haman naturally would not sit idly by and watch them "transform."

Although the high-explosive barrage, coordinated with Mu's suppression from the Valiant, successfully restricted the movement of the Newtype-use Bigro Custom, it could not stop the funnels from bypassing the screen to pursue their target.

Having suffered a minor setback, Haman was now truly incensed. She used her four-tube missile launchers to suppress the Archangel while simultaneously activating all 16 of her funnels—two having been lost in the previous explosion.

"I won't let you succeed! Funnels, destroy my enemy!"

Under Haman's full-power activation, Kira, who was frantically modifying his settings, once again felt a suffocating pressure. Forced by the intensity, he slipped back into the strange state he had automatically exited after losing consciousness.

As his perception sharpened in this state, he even seemed to glimpse some of Haman's memories and emotions.

"You and Luther share such a deep bond; it makes me envious..."

Haman reacted with a mix of shame and rage.

"Don't go peeking into other people's memories without permission! Why don't you just go spend your whole life with your good friend Athrun!"

Simultaneous with their brief mental resonance, a fierce exchange of fire erupted in the physical world.

At the final moment before the funnels could strike, Kira completed the connection between the Strike Gundam frame and the Launcher Pack.

Instantly, as he activated the Phase Shift Armor, he relied on his intuition to fire the 320mm Agni Hyper Impulse Cannon at full power toward a specific point. Several funnels failed to dodge in time and were caught in the red beam, detonating upon impact.

Next, still relying on his intuition, Kira fired the dual 350mm launchers from the Launcher Pack's multi-weapon pod and blind-fired the 120mm anti-ship vulcan cannons, once again using predictive targeting to shoot down several more funnels.

As for the shots from the final five remaining funnels, he had no choice but to take the hits with his armor.

Fortunately, Kira managed to adjust the posture of the Launcher Strike Gundam at the last second, using his shoulder shield to absorb two hits while the remaining three missed his vital areas.

For Haman, who had failed to defeat Kira despite unleashing her ultimate attack, the feeling of "unresolved resentment" was strong.

She was annoyed by the sudden resonance while thinking to herself, If I had gone all out from the start, I would have won!

At the same time, her rational side reminded her of the reality.

On one hand, she had insisted on testing the level of the "Ultimate Coordinator" Kira, and in a sense, that goal had been "perfectly" achieved—even if it didn't meet her expectations.

On the other hand, with the loss of most of her funnels and the Archangel now quite far from the Artemis Fortress, continuing the entanglement did not seem like a good idea.

Observing that a mobile suit squad belonging to Cima was preparing to provide support from the direction of the Artemis Fortress, Haman decided to retreat. However, before leaving, she intended to cause a little more trouble for Kira.

"I'll let you off for today, Prince of Orb, the Ultimate Coordinator, Kira Yamato.

Hmph, when I get back, I'm going to tell Cagalli and Flay all about your embarrassing moments!

Also, don't you dare go around talking about me and Luther, or you'll regret it!"

After dropping these harsh words, Haman quickly recalled the remaining funnels and turned back toward the Gwameir without hesitation, not forgetting to signal the incoming friendly forces.

On the other side, Kira was left in a state of mental confusion by Haman's words and actions, remaining in a defensive posture and standing dazed in the space filled with funnel debris and wreckage.

At this moment, as the combat situation eased, Badgiruel, having cleared her schedule, personally patched in the communication.

"Mr. Kira Yamato, please return to the ship as soon as possible; we are about to depart this sector.

Also, if it is convenient, could you check if there are any relatively intact funnel wrecks that can be recovered?"

Clearly, since Haman had been chatting on an open channel, everyone on the Archangel's bridge had heard her words.

Although the title "Prince of Orb" was technically inaccurate, if one considered that Cagalli Yula Athha would theoretically succeed as the Representative of Orb after the passing of Uzumi, then Kira, as Miss Cagalli's twin brother, was "rightfully" called the "Prince of Orb."

In any case, even for the rigid, military-minded Badgiruel—or perhaps precisely because she possessed a clear sense of rank—her change in tone and address toward Kira was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, with so many thoughts occupying his mind, Kira was not yet in a position to dwell on this point.

"Kira Yamato, acknowledged."

After giving this simple response, Kira quickly inspected the wreckage, gathered some debris with salvage value, and began his return to the Archangel.

The Archangel, having recovered Kira and the Launcher Strike Gundam, dared not linger. Though they did not know where to go, the priority was to put as much distance as possible between them and the soon-to-fall Artemis Fortress.