The Archangel's Astonished Crew

"Is he a ZAFT soldier?"

"He looks so young."

"He looks about the same age as us."

Kira and the others were seeing a ZAFT soldier for the first time.

They couldn't help but stop and stare for a moment.

Seeming to notice their gaze, Kira realized that the boy, who looked to be about his own age, smiled slightly and nodded toward him.

Taken aback, Kira instinctively responded.

"Yo, kid, you alright? Any injuries?"

Mu leaned in toward Kira with a beaming smile.

"No, I'm not hurt."

Hearing this, Kira snapped out of his daze and replied to Mu.

"Good, that's good. But you really are something else—a true Coordinator."

Mu patted Kira on the shoulder and chuckled.

In reality, he said this for the benefit of the soldiers who weren't fully aware of the situation.

"What?"

"A Coordinator?"

"This guy is a Coordinator!?"

Mu's words caused the air around them to freeze.

Murrue, who had just walked down from the bridge, gave Mu a sharp, strained glare. Kira hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Mu with a hint of displeasure.

"...Yes."

In an instant, the soldiers standing behind Murrue and Ensign Natarle Badgiruel instinctively raised their rifles toward Kira.

This was the microcosm of this war: Natural versus Coordinator.

Coordinator—a term referring to humans born with genes that have been artificially manipulated.

They can unleash the maximum potential of the human body; they could be called superhumans created by human hands.

Whether in intelligence or physical strength, Coordinators are superior to the average Natural (humans born without genetic modification), and their resistance to various diseases is near perfect.

Because this technology could effectively cure increasingly severe hereditary diseases, a wave of genetic modification swept the globe in the C.E. 20s.

However, because of the clear gap in ability between Coordinators and Naturals, a sense of exclusion naturally arose.

Humanity began to repeat its history of bloodshed, and the Coordinators, who were better adapted to life in space than Naturals, migrated to regions outside of Earth.

The place they eventually settled was a group of space colonies built in the L5 region—PLANT.

Therefore, it was inevitable that these soldiers would react with reflexive hostility the moment they heard the word "Coordinator."

"...What are you doing! What is this!"

Tolle shouted, rushing in front of Kira to shield him. "Even if Kira is a Coordinator, that doesn't mean he's an enemy! He fought against ZAFT to protect us! Didn't you see that?"

He glared fiercely at the muzzles pointed at Kira, stating his case passionately, looking as if he were ready to fight them himself.

"Lower your weapons."

Murrue commanded.

Mu also stepped forward at this moment and laughed, "What are you guys making such a fuss about? Heliopolis is a neutral colony. It's not strange for Coordinators who don't want to be caught in the war to move here."

"Yes... and I am a first-generation Coordinator..."

Kira murmured.

A first-generation Coordinator refers to someone whose genes were the first to undergo modification.

In other words, a child born to Natural parents who had their fertilized egg undergo genetic modification surgery.

"Oh my, my apologies. I didn't expect to cause such a stir, but this is a normal situation. I was the one who made too much of a fuss, haha."

Mu, the culprit behind the commotion, said with a chuckle.

"Just shut up, Captain Flaga!"

After Captain Murrue finished speaking and glared at Mu, she turned to Kira and the others. "I am truly sorry for this disturbance. You must be exhausted after fighting for so long; leave the rest to us."

"Yes."

Kira wasn't a fool; he understood that Captain Murrue was telling him to leave.

After all, some things couldn't be explained away with just words. However, before leaving, he looked toward the boy not far away: "Him, that ZAFT soldier—how do you intend to handle him?"

ZAFT soldiers are all Coordinators—

Even Kira and his friends, who had never been on a battlefield, had heard as much.

They just hadn't expected the enemy to be so young.

"Ugh..."

"House arrest, to be decided by the military command once we return to the Lunar Base."

Seeing Murrue at a loss for how to answer, Mu stepped in to provide the response first.

"Then he..."

"Don't worry. Every faction captures enemies during wartime; we can't just kill them all, so generally speaking, there won't be any major issues."

Mu interrupted Kira's question with a chuckle. There were some things better left unknown to Kira, at least for the time being.

"That's good, then."

Kira nodded, half-convinced by the explanation.

He took one last look at the boy before turning to leave with Tolle and the others.

In truth, he also had questions he wanted to ask the other party, such as about Athrun...

But it seemed now was not the time for such questions.