Memories came flooding back like a tide. In that brutal battle, her father had been killed when his shuttle was destroyed, and she had suffered a mental breakdown because of it. Later, due to a series of misunderstandings, she had believed Xia Ya had also died in battle, leaving her completely alone in this world. Unable to suppress her grief and her hatred for the source of it all—the Coordinators—she had ultimately chosen to leave the Archangel.
She had been so desperate and helpless back then.
Jiliang knew that she hated Coordinators, and she knew Flay had endured pain beyond anything ordinary people could imagine. But even so, Jiliang had always believed that the days they had spent together aboard the Archangel, supporting one another and facing death together, had forged some kind of bond between them. Her longing for her companions had to be real. That was an emotion that could not simply be erased.
"Why...?"
Jiliang asked instinctively, her voice filled with confusion and disbelief. The Archangel should have been an important ship to her—her former home. Why could she pilot a Mobile Suit without hesitation and point a gun at the companions who had once risked their lives to protect her? Had she truly fallen so far that hatred had consumed her completely, leaving her unable to distinguish friend from foe?
No, more importantly... she had just said, "getting in my way"? And that attitude, as if she were looking at a stranger... what did it mean?
A terrible premonition rose in Jiliang's heart.
...I don't know who you are, but you're asking the same questions as that guy.
Flay's cold reply came through the communicator. There was not the slightest joy of recognition in her voice, not even the most basic confusion. There was only icy