Two months ago—his unexpected reunion with Nicol at Mendel Colony on that evening still lingered vividly in his memory.
The scene from that day surfaced clearly in his mind. Dearka and he had been piloting the Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam, pursuing intruders inside Mendel, when they unexpectedly engaged a Strike Gundam.
The way that Strike Gundam fought felt strangely familiar to them, but it was not until the other side voluntarily opened the cockpit that they saw Nicol Amalfi sitting inside.
Nicol was alive.
That fact alone had shocked them so badly that they could barely think.
During the battle in Orb's territorial waters, Nicol's Blitz Gundam had been severed by Xia Ya, and Nicol himself had been captured.
Afterward, they had always assumed Nicol had been killed, or at least imprisoned in some secret Earth Alliance facility.
No one had expected to reunite with him in a place like this, in such a manner.
But what shocked them even more were the words Nicol spoke.
He stood on Mendel's desolate surface, unprecedented resolve on his young, earnest face.
He said he no longer wanted to fight solely to wipe out Naturals. He said he wanted to prevent Naturals from massacring Coordinators, and Coordinators from massacring Naturals.
He said he wanted to end this meaningless mutual slaughter and find a path that would allow both sides to live.
Miguel Aiman—the Coordinator elite known as Twilight's Magic Bullet, another of their comrades—had been with Nicol as well.
Miguel had likewise refused to continue obeying orders that existed only to eliminate Naturals.
Extermination—that day, when Yzak heard that word, his first reaction had been incomprehension.
He believed the war would end even without going that far. The Earth Forces would eventually surrender, PLANT would sign a peace treaty as the victor,