Hands Up

"What are you going to do now?"

Mu asked Captain Murrue, who had finally relaxed.

Captain Murrue fell silent for a moment before replying, "We're still in a combat zone. Can we pick up the ZAFT ships?"

"No. There are too many heat sources. Neither the radar nor the heat sensors are usable right now."

Jackie, who was in charge of radar detection, hurriedly answered.

At long range in space, warships mainly relied on heat signatures to detect targets.

But the debris from the colony satellite was generating heat signatures everywhere, making it impossible to tell whether any one of them belonged to a warship or a Mobile Suit.

Captain Murrue turned around in silence. Having never truly commanded a warship before, she was now somewhat flustered and at a loss.

"Actually, that's good news too."

Seeing Captain Murrue's unease, Mu smiled. "At least the same goes for ZAFT. As long as we don't move, they won't be able to find us for a while."

"But..."

"Do you think they'll send pursuers?"

Mu continued.

"Mm. We have to consider that possibility."

Captain Murrue nodded. What worried her most was the possibility of pursuit. After all, her ship had almost no fighting strength left.

The Archangel was a high-speed warship, but the enemy's Nazca-class ships were fast, too.

If they were targeted, there was little chance they could escape.

Of course, if it were just her and the others, that would be one thing. But there were also ordinary civilians aboard...

"What did you say?"

As Murrue was thinking, Ensign Natal Badgiruel, who was in charge of communications below, suddenly raised her voice by an octave.

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

Mu and Captain Murrue looked over at the same time.

"The Strike Gundam has returned."

Ensign Badgiruel explained, "But it brought back a lifeboat and the wreckage of a ZAFT Mobile Suit. There seems to be a pilot inside."

"Huh?"

"A ZAFT pilot?"

Captain Murrue and Mr. Mu exchanged a glance.

Meanwhile.

In the hangar.

"They were drifting because their thrusters were damaged."

Kira had returned safely to the Archangel, but now he was stubbornly hovering beside the open starboard hatch, refusing to go inside.

The Strike Gundam held an escape pod in both hands, with the wreckage of a Mobile Suit trailing behind it.

The sight was as bizarre as it could get.

Kira was still angrily protesting. "You wanted me to just leave them out there? There are civilians from Heliopolis inside that escape pod!"

"Forget the escape pod for a moment. What's the situation with the Mobile Suit you're towing?"

Captain Murrue asked Kira through the screen.

"His Mobile Suit was badly damaged, so I..."

"So you picked him up? Did you even consider that no matter how badly damaged his Mobile Suit was, he was still ZAFT? They would naturally send people to search for him."

Captain Murrue felt a little dazed and exasperated.

She couldn't understand Kira's thought process. Picking up an escape pod could be called an act of kindness, but what was the point of bringing back an enemy?

A prisoner?

But where on the Archangel could they put a prisoner?

"But... he wanted me to bring him here, too."

"This isn't about leaving someone to die... wait, what did you say?"

Murrue suddenly realized that Kira's wording was odd and hurriedly asked, "You said he wanted you to bring him here? So he's still conscious?"

"Uh, yes."

The still-naive Kira nodded, but then seemed to remember something and quickly added, "But he's already turned off the distress signal. He didn't reveal our coordinates."

"Jackie!"

Murrue immediately looked toward Jackie, who was in charge of radar and signal detection.

"That's right. There haven't been any signals or transmissions," Jackie answered at once.

Murrue frowned slightly. What was going on now?

A ZAFT soldier was willingly letting himself be captured by the enemy.

It was possible he'd agreed because he was afraid he'd die if the rescue took too long, but something about it still felt strange to her.

"Actually, it's not that big a problem. There's nothing wrong with taking a prisoner, and we don't have time to waste here."

Mr. Mu had made up his mind as he looked at the half-wrecked Mobile Suit on the screen.

The damage made it hard to see clearly, but that paint job and those colors...

If it really was that guy, turning him into a prisoner might not be such a bad thing.

"Then we'll bring him aboard for now. Have the hangar crew stay alert. We'll be right there."

Captain Murrue sighed after a moment's thought.

He was already here. They couldn't just throw him back out there.

Though Coordinators and Naturals were at war, and she herself was an officer in the Earth Alliance, she couldn't bring herself to leave someone utterly helpless to die.

"Want me to come with you?"

Mu asked as he floated in the bridge. "It's not like I have anything to do here."

"Mm. Sorry for the trouble."

Murrue didn't refuse. Having someone there to help her think things through would be better.

After all, this was her first time dealing with a prisoner—and such a strange one, at that.

The docking area for the Strike Gundam and the escape pod was a double-sided deck with a narrow, elongated launch track on the right.

As soon as the Strike Gundam entered the hangar at the rear, the huge airtight hatch closed.

A maintenance cradle for Mobile Suits was stationed on the inner side. On the other side was the damaged Mobile Armor.

After pulling in the Ginn, Kira opened the Strike Gundam's hatch and floated out.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? He's just a kid! That's the one who was piloting that thing?"

A soldier who knew the situation but hadn't confirmed it for himself couldn't help voicing what everyone was thinking.

Kira glanced over when he heard them talking, but didn't pay it much attention.

Up ahead.

His friends had heard the Strike Gundam was aboard and rushed over in a crowd to greet Kira as he climbed out of the cockpit.

"Thank goodness, Kira!"

"Are you all right?"

Tolle hugged him tightly, while Sai ruffled his hair. The sudden warmth left Kira surprised and unsure how to react.

But as he felt his friends' affection, Kira relaxed and laughed with them.

Just then, a voice rang out from the other end of the hangar.

"—Sai!"

Her red hair streamed behind her as a girl flew out alone from among the refugees emerging from the escape pod.

Her smooth, lustrous red hair shone like a flame, and her skin was as fine and smooth as milk;

her regular features carried an air of nobility, and her every gesture was graceful. Flay Allster was a dazzling girl, as beautiful as a blooming rose.

Perhaps the battle had left her shaken. When she spotted someone she knew, she rushed straight into Sai's arms.

"What happened? What's going on? Where's Heliopolis? I got separated from Dicsika and the others... I was so scared!"

Sai was surprised when she threw her arms around him, but then happily put an arm around Flay's shoulders.

Kira's eyes widened as he watched them hold each other. A hint of gloom and bitterness crossed his face.

Still, at least everyone had made it back safely. That did much to ease the bitterness in his heart.

"Stay alert!"

"Hands up!"

Just as they were celebrating their narrow escape, a sudden, piercing shout from nearby drew their attention.

At some point, a boy in a red flight suit had been surrounded by Earth Alliance soldiers, who were already on guard.

His clean, fair face was sharply defined and coldly handsome;

his dark, deep-set eyes showed no sign of panic, even in enemy territory. Perhaps it was Kira's imagination, but he thought he saw a trace of relief on the boy's face—as if he'd finally been set free.