Battle Begins 13

No—Michel narrowed his eyes, his gaze deepening. He shook his head sharply, trying to drive these cheap, foolish possibilities out of his mind.

As an elite ZAFT pilot, his honor and dignity had long since been branded into his bones and blood.

Of course, he admitted that the possibility had indeed flashed through Michel's mind, leaving him with a faint, almost physiological sense of humiliation and disgust.

From the bottom of his heart, he felt: Don't be ridiculous!

Such an absurd reason could never be the real reason he had chosen to remain in this dangerous place, where his life could not be guaranteed.

Come to think of it, if Michel truly feared ridicule, if he would truly throw away his life for the sake of mere pride, then at the crucial moment when he had been captured last time, he would never have chosen to surrender. He would have chosen to die and prove his resolve, to perish gloriously as a ZAFT soldier without tarnishing ZAFT's honor.

Michel's heart pounded violently in his chest, the sound strangely clear beneath the roar of artillery fire.

That was right. He did not want to die!

No matter what, no matter the cost, he wanted to seize the hope of survival.

He had a clear goal—to see his family in P.L.A.N.T. again, to touch their warm bodies again, to breathe the air of his homeland again!

Michel had to survive! Only by living would he have the right to see the future!

—With that in mind, Michel's thoughts raced rapidly.

Since life was so precious, since his goal of survival was so clear, then from the most rational standpoint, what he should do now was find every possible way, at any cost, to seek help at Capantaria Base!

ZAFT's fleet was there,