Ino's Unease

"So it has finally come to this—"

In the lounge, Ino heard the panic in the voice of the CIC operator over the broadcast.

In truth, this was only natural; facing the pursuit of the Le Creuset Team, their chances of survival were truly slim.

If not for the radiance of the protagonist's halo, this warship would never have survived to reach the Umbrella of Artemis, so such panic was to be expected.

But all of this was merely a "what if," and after all, the protagonist's halo was quite...

Beep-beep—

Just as Ino was floating in mid-air, calmly waiting for the end, the tightly shut door was opened from the outside.

"I have already confirmed with Sergeant Murdoch that the Ginn you piloted has been repaired to the maximum extent and is capable of sortieing for combat."

Mu stood at the doorway, his expression grave as he spoke to Ino: "I don't know if you are truly a soldier of the Eurasian Federation, but at this moment, I am willing to take that gamble."

"Huh?"

Ino was momentarily stunned by Mu's nonsensical words, but he quickly realized what was happening; this guy still hadn't given up on getting him to pilot a mobile suit into battle.

"I said I wouldn't go—"

"How you choose to use your power is your own will, but I hope you won't live to regret it later, having failed to use that power when it was needed."

After saying this, Mu turned and left immediately.

In truth, he wasn't entirely certain whether Ino was a spy for the Eurasian Federation.

But at this juncture, whether Ino was a spy or not no longer mattered.

If they could not survive the current crisis, the Archangel would become nothing more than space debris, so what would it matter if the other party was a spy?

With only Kira's strength, it would be truly difficult to contend with the Le Creuset Team.

Watching the retreating back of Mu La Flaga, Ino's eyes flickered with uncertainty.

Perhaps it was because of the man's attitude, but Ino suddenly felt a sense of unease; would the Archangel really be finished off here?

Although in his memories, the Archangel was known as the invincible warship that would never fall, that was only in his memories.

After all, in those same memories, Michel had died at Kira's hands, yet in the end, he had been saved by his own intervention...

"Forget it, I might as well go and take a look."

Ino thought for a moment, and for the sake of caution, he decided to leave the confinement room and head toward the Bridge.

Even though his own small butterfly wings had only flapped slightly, what if, just what if?

What if he accidentally knocked the protagonist's halo off?

His goal was to escape the battlefield and find a place to peacefully wait for the war to end.

But if the Archangel were to sink here by accident, would the world be destroyed?

Kira appeared in the hangar wearing his pilot suit; combat was indeed terrifying, but he had things he wanted to protect—

"Seeing you dressed like that, have you finally thought it through?"

Mu couldn't help but tease him with a smile as he watched the change in Kira's expression.

Yet, his heart still carried a trace of guilt.

He was a soldier, a grown man, and yet in the end, he was forcing an unrelated civilian to step onto the battlefield; it was a truly ironic scene.

Kira scratched his head and replied with some embarrassment: "Didn't you say that we are the only ones who can protect this ship now... I still don't want to fight, of course, but I want to protect this ship because everyone is on it."

"Then do your best, kid."

Mu looked at Kira and couldn't help but think of his own original intentions for stepping onto the battlefield, revealing a rare, serious expression as he said: "No one in this world likes meaningless fighting, but unfortunately, this absurd world forces us to fight for the things we wish to protect in our hearts."

After hearing this, Kira couldn't help but re-evaluate the man before him.

He had previously thought that soldiers were unreachable, but now it seemed that everyone shared the same basic feelings.

Seeming to notice that the atmosphere had shifted, Kira looked at the mobile suit still at the maintenance station nearby and couldn't help but think of the boy named Ino: "Um, is Ino going to sortie as well?"

"You already know him?"

Mu was somewhat surprised to hear Kira address the boy by his first name.

"Yes."

Kira nodded; "know him" was an understatement—he had almost let the other party pilot the Strike Gundam.

It was a pity the other party had insisted it was his own machine and that it could only be piloted by him.

Later, he had even been subjected to a lecture on philosophy by the boy.

Something about the strong and the weak, or the like.

"As for him, we'll see; I cannot sway his heart."

Mu sincerely hoped that Ino would pilot a machine and come out to provide support.

He had experienced the other party's strength firsthand, and he even deeply suspected that the boy had held back when he had sparred with him and Kira.

Unfortunately, Ino's attitude remained ambiguous.

"Is that so..."

Hearing this, Kira Yamato did not know how to continue the conversation.

"Alright, don't overthink it. Just do your best to be yourself."

Mu continued, "Oh, right, I haven't told you my plan yet..."

In truth, Mu's plan was extremely simple and brutal.

Since they would be caught by the enemy sooner or later, he would take advantage of the enemy's focus on the exposed Archangel. He would secretly pilot the Zero-type to flank them and strike directly at the Nazca-class enemy ship ahead.

The distance to Artemis was no longer great; once the Nazca-class warship was damaged, ZAFT would inevitably choose to retreat.

After all, while the Eurasian Federation might not necessarily send troops to support them, if they saw a vulnerable Nazca-class ZAFT warship, they would certainly not pass up such a delivered military merit.

Having hurriedly finished the briefing and the explanation of the plan, Mu and Kira Yamato walked toward the Strike Gundam and the Zero-type, respectively.

[Laurasia-class approaching from the rear at 90!]

[Captain, it's about time. I'm launching!]

[Understood. I'm counting on you.]

The messages transmitted on the Bridge, along with the conversation between Mu and Murrue, leaked through the communication lines into the cockpit of the Strike Gundam.

"--The key to this plan lies in timing. I'll leave the rest to you!"

"I understand... Please be careful."

After ending the communication with the Bridge, Mu also spoke to Kira Yamato: "I'm off, little brother. Just focus on protecting this ship and yourself."

"Ah, yes! Captain, you be careful too!"

On the screen, Mu smiled dashingly before cutting the connection.

Inside the Bridge.

"Four heat sources approaching from the rear! Distance 57! They're Mobile Suit!"

"Prepare for Mobile Suit combat! Load scatter warheads into missile tubes 13 through 24! Activate the main guns on both broadsides! Input target data immediately!"

Mixed in with the regular soldiers, Tolle and the others also focused on their consoles with serious expressions.

All twelve large missile launch ports at the stern opened; the Valiant MK8 linear cannons, folded and stored within the circular shallow dishes on the outer sides of the wings, extended outward.

"Oh my, it's quite lively."

It was at this moment that Ino arrived at the Bridge without obstruction.

To be honest, the fact that the journey had been so smooth felt absurd even to Ino; were these people truly not afraid that he, a spy, might defect?

"Why are you--"

[Model confirmed, ZGMF-1017 Ginn, and... it's the X Series. It's the X Series X102, X103, X207!]

Just as Captain Murrue was stunned by Ino's appearance, Sergeant Dalida, who was analyzing the enemy situation, suddenly spoke with a hint of panic.

"What...?"

The crew members were all frozen for an instant.

Only Murrue's dry voice murmured: "...They've deployed all the G-Project units they seized onto the front lines!?"

"Why is there an extra Ginn... Could it be Michel?"

Ino looked at the Mobile Suit silhouettes appearing on the screen, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

If he remembered correctly, all the Mobile Suit of the Le Creuset Team had been destroyed in the battle at the colony.

But now--

"Tsk, we might actually lose this."

Ino looked at the extra unit on the screen, feeling uncertain.

One should not underestimate Michel just because he wasn't a red-uniform pilot; his strength was on par with the average red-uniform.

Plus, there was the buff of his own supposed death--I have a feeling something is going to go wrong, damn it.

While Ino was frowning in thought, outside, the warning of approaching enemy units sounded in the cockpit of the Strike Gundam.

It was a bright red unit--the X303 Aegis Gundam, the unit belonging to Athrun, as Ino had informed him.

"Athrun?"

"Kira! Is that Kira Yamato?"

Just as Kira was lost in his thoughts, Athrun's voice suddenly rang out from the loudspeaker.

"Athrun? It really is you!"

Although Kira had already confirmed the information from Ino, hearing that familiar voice for real still left him feeling dazed, despite having prepared himself mentally.

"Kira—"

With his suspicions confirmed, Athrun found himself at a loss for how to continue.