Ezalia lightly raised a hand, gracefully signaling that they need not stand on ceremony. Then she leaned forward slightly, lowered her voice, and spoke quietly enough that only the few of them could hear.
"The second shot of Genesis will soon be ready. It is about to be fired."
"—!"
That calm yet crushing piece of top-secret information made Athrun Zala's body stiffen instantly. Blood rushed to his head before draining away just as quickly, leaving his hands and feet icy cold. His pupils contracted sharply in shock.
This was no baseless rumor, but a fact spoken directly by a core member of the Supreme Council. The second shot of Genesis—there was no way this could be false. In other words, the council truly intended to fire that monster again. How many more lives did they want to turn into cosmic dust? And where did they intend to aim that world-ending crosshair this time?
"Once this final blow is fired, this long and painful war will finally come to a complete end."
Athrun Zala instinctively recoiled from and felt sickened by such a cold-blooded decision, but Ezalia's next words crushed his rising fury beneath a profound sense of helplessness. Upon hearing that "the war will soon be over," Yzak, who had seemed somewhat agitated by his mother's appearance, also lost the urge to lash out and lowered his head in silence.
End the war. For those four damned words, all of them had lost far too many precious things and fought on until their teeth nearly shattered. What if the second shot really could bring the final peace the higher-ups had promised? What if this truly could protect PLANT, so their people would never again have to live beneath the shadow of nuclear bombs?
"You must be exhausted as well