Rau Le Creuset was a man who always wore a composed expression. He carried out every task calmly and steadily, as if he could never be caught off guard or make a mistake.
He was also a man branded as a failure, who hated the world.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Rau Le Creuset. Although I'm nominally in charge of the Le Creuset Team, I won't interfere too much with your actions. I look forward to working with you all."
Le Creuset spoke in a magnetic voice, the corners of his mouth curled in a smile.
Confident, capable, and easygoing—those were Athrun and the others' first impressions of him, and Ino's as well.
Sometimes, you had to admit that some people simply had an indescribable presence about them.
If Ino hadn't known about the darkness and hatred of the world concealed beneath that mask, he wouldn't have believed that this man's dream was to destroy the world.
Even Yzak Joule, a real troublemaker, didn't dare overstep in Le Creuset's presence.
Of course, that also had to do with Le Creuset's own record.
As an ace pilot who had shot down nearly a hundred Mobile Armors in a single campaign, he commanded the utmost respect from every Coordinator on PLANT.
"Athrun Zala!"
"Yzak Joule!"
"Nicol Amalfi!"
"Dearka Elsman!"
"Ino Kamal..."
After a brief round of introductions,
everyone took their seats.
Perhaps because they were meeting for the first time, Athrun and the others seemed somewhat reserved.
Le Creuset had expected as much, so after making some casual small talk, he gave them a date to assemble and then made an excuse to leave.
"Good grief, we've barely graduated and we're already heading to the battlefield. They really aren't giving us any time to rest."
Once Le Creuset had left, Dearka relaxed, leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, and sighed.
"Dearka, what kind of nonsense are you talking? Isn't the whole point of joining ZAFT to go to battle and defend our homeland?"
After hearing Dearka complain, Yzak couldn't help but scold him loudly.
As the son of Ezakia Joule, a hawkish member of the Supreme Council, Yzak Joule had hated the Earth Alliance ever since he was a child.
Especially after Bloody Valentine, his dislike had turned into hatred.
To put it a little more kindly, Yzak was a passionate young patriot.
"Yeah, you're right."
Dearka nodded. Yzak did have a point; that was why he had joined the military, too.
But because of his father's influence, Dearka's attitude toward the Earth Alliance was much more moderate than Yzak's.
"What's with that attitude of yours?"
Yzak was speechless. What was with Dearka acting so casually?
"Relax, relax. I'm always on your side."
Dearka knew exactly how to get along with Yzak.
"You'd better be." Yzak shot Dearka a sidelong glance.
But he didn't say anything more.
"By the way, I wonder what our first mission will be. Athrun, have you heard anything?"
Dearka turned to Athrun.
As the son of the Minister of Defense, Athrun should have better sources of information than the rest of them.
"Most likely patrol duty."
Athrun thought for a moment before answering. "The Earth Alliance and PLANT haven't had any major clashes yet, and Boaz hasn't been completed. So there probably won't be much chance of us coming into direct contact with the Earth Alliance."
They might be so-called elites, but they really didn't have much combat experience.
And with the fighting not yet that intense, it was unlikely they would be sent straight to the front lines.
"Patrol duty... Sounds kind of boring."
Dearka scratched his head at the thought.
Yzak looked displeased, too. Patrol duty sounded like no fun at all.
The others, including Rusty, couldn't get a word in edgewise.
The difference in their status was just too great.
Rusty had some connections of his own, but compared with those three big shots, they didn't amount to much.
Ino knew a little, too, but because of Instructor Natarle, he wasn't in the mood for much conversation.
"By the way, Nicol, why have you been frowning this whole time?"
Rusty quickly spotted someone he could use to start a conversation.
At his words, the others looked over and saw Nicol with his brows furrowed, looking very serious.
"Nicol, what's wrong? Did you notice something?"
Michel hurriedly asked.
Even Yzak and the others turned their attention to Nicol.
Under everyone's gaze, Nicol pondered for a moment, then said gravely, "Have you noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
"What did you find?"
Their interest was piqued at once, and even Ino couldn't help looking over curiously.
"I realized that it seems like nobody has ever seen Captain Le Creuset without his mask—"
"..."
When Nicol finished speaking, the room fell completely silent.
"You've been sitting there looking so serious this whole time just thinking about that?"
Michel couldn't help teasing him.
"Aren't you curious? Captain Le Creuset has never taken off his mask!"
Nicol looked at them in disbelief.
How could they not be curious about something like that?
It was Captain Le Creuset, after all!
"..."
Yzak's lips twitched.
"Come to think of it, you're right."
Rusty realized that Nicol had a point. Thinking about it, he couldn't recall hearing anyone describe Captain Le Creuset's appearance.
"You guys have too much time on your hands. Why don't you just look it up online?"
Michel was defeated by their train of thought.
"I already checked. There's nothing. There aren't any photos of Captain Le Creuset without his mask—not on the public internet, and not even on the military intranet." Nicol answered at once.
"You already checked?"
"Then I guess I am kind of curious."
"Why don't we sneak a look sometime..."
"That's enough, you guys!"
Yzak couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and said, "If Captain Le Creuset doesn't want to take off his mask, that means he has a reason for wearing it. And we're here today to discuss the upcoming battles, not to gossip about someone."
"Discuss the battles?"
"Wasn't this a get-together?"
"Yzak, aren't you curious about Captain Le Creuset's real face?"
"..."
Listening to Dearka and the others tease him, Yzak froze on the spot. "You guys—"
"Hello, everyone. I heard... Huh?"
Just as Yzak was about to yell at them, someone suddenly opened the door from outside.
A girl in a white dress walked in, accompanied by two attendants.
Looking at what was going on in the room, she asked, "Um, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?"
Yzak had been about to say something, but he quietly shut his mouth and sat back down. This was someone he really couldn't afford to offend.
"Lacus?!"
Athrun reacted, quickly stood up from his chair, and went over to greet her. "What brings you here?"
"I heard everyone was gathered here, so I came to see you. But I didn't let you know in advance, so I may have interrupted you. I'm very sorry."
As Lacus spoke, she held her hands in front of her and bowed to them apologetically.
"Not at all, not at all. We were just chatting."
Seeing this, Nicol quickly waved his hands.
"That's right. We were only chatting; you haven't interrupted anything."
"Miss Lacus, you're too kind. We're delighted you came."
Michel and Rusty hurriedly chimed in, too.
"Then that's good. I'm glad."
Lacus looked relieved, a gentle smile appearing on her face.
Athrun didn't say anything, but quietly pulled out a chair for her.
"Thank you."
Understanding his gesture, Lacus thanked Athrun and gracefully took her seat.
Once Lacus was seated, Michel and the others sat down as well.
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