"Crackle—X-105 Strike Gundam! Please respond!"
"Crackle—X-105 Strike Gundam! Please respond!"
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage's voice echoed in Kira's ears.
"Why..."
"Why did this happen..."
Yet Kira had no mind to answer. He could only stare blankly at the scattered wreckage of Heliopolis in the distance.
The people aboard the Archangel were the same.
Having lost gravity and all restraints, Heliopolis had now completely become fragments drifting through space.
"Is that... an escape pod from Heliopolis?"
At that moment, Kira, seated inside the Strike Gundam, suddenly spotted an escape pod in the distance continuously broadcasting a distress signal.
He immediately piloted the Gundam toward it.
"Supreme Lord Lao, Buddha, God, Jesus, Jehovah, Guanyin, Jade Emperor..."
"Don't find me, don't find me, don't find me..."
"Please don't let that damned guy be the one to find me. Please, please..."
Inside the escape pod, Noer sat in his chair with his hands clasped together, muttering prayers without pause.
"Please..."
"Click—"
"Is everyone inside alright? I'll take you somewhere safe right away!"
The prayers stopped. Feeling the weightlessness brought on by the escape pod's movement, Noer painfully closed his eyes.
That voice sounded very young, and he had been picked up so quickly...
Noer really wanted to say, I've got a fucking complaint, but I don't know if I should say it!
"What are we going to do now?"
Inside the warship, because his Mobius had been destroyed, Flaga had no choice but to make an emergency landing aboard the Archangel. He was now speaking with Lieutenant Marlu, who had temporarily taken over as the Archangel's captain.
At his words, Lieutenant Marlu lowered her gaze and asked the radar operator behind her, "Can we determine the location of the ZAFT military warship?"
"No. There are too many heat sources. Neither radar nor thermal detection can be used!" the operator replied.
Marlu could not help frowning slightly. This was not good news.
"Heh, you don't need to worry so much. We're in this situation, and so are the ZAFT military."
Flaga smiled. Seeing the odd expression on Marlu's face, he continued, "Do you think they'll keep pursuing us?"
"For now, we can only act on the assumption that they will pursue us. Although after being attacked, we basically have no chance of winning..."
Though Marlu was not a professional captain, she was still a commander and held the rank of lieutenant. She possessed the military capability expected of her.
"Uh... I guess that's true."
Thinking of the Archangel's combat strength, Flaga gave a bitter smile. "But we only have one Strike Gundam, plus my wrecked Mobius. Our combat power is really pitiful."
For a moment, Marlu did not know how to respond.
"What did you say? Who gave you permission to do that?"
Just as the two were left speechless, the woman responsible for communications below suddenly burst out with a questioning shout.
"What is it, Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage?" Marlu asked, looking down in Baggage's direction.
The short-haired Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage replied, "The Strike Gundam has returned to the ship, but it also escorted an escape pod back!"
"Hm?"
"What?"
Lieutenant Marlu and Flaga were both stunned. In a situation like this, he had actually brought back an escape pod?
Five minutes later—
Although taking in an escape pod was not permitted, Lieutenant Marlu still approved Kira's request. Besides, time was pressing, and they could not waste it on something like this.
Soon, under the Strike Gundam's escort, the escape pod carrying Noer was brought into the Archangel's hangar.
"Click—"
"Click—"
"Bang!"
As the outer locks rotated open, the hatch of the sealed escape pod was lifted, and light poured in through the opening.
Because Noer was seated near the hatch, he could easily see the situation outside through it.
The familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling of the warship made Noer curse under his breath.
I prayed to every god and Buddha for so long, and this is what I got... FAKT!
Upholding the fine tradition of ladies first, Flay Alster was the first to leave the escape pod.
"Pudding, pudding~"
Just as Flay stepped out with the help of two Earth Alliance military mech technicians, a strange cry rang out. It was a little odd, but rather pleasant to hear.
"Ah! You're Sei's friend!"
Already exhausted from the attack, Flay became excited upon suddenly seeing someone she knew. She broke free of the maintenance crew's grasp and lightly rushed toward Kira, who had just disembarked.
"You are... Flay Alster?"
Seeing the goddess who had suddenly appeared before him, Kira was overwhelmed with excitement. He supported the rushing Flay and said excitedly, "I never thought you were in this escape pod too!"
"Helio..."
Noer did not listen carefully to the conversation above, nor was he in the mood to. After getting out, he silently hid among the people from the escape pod and glanced at the man in midair from the corner of his eye.
"So he's Kira Yamato. He still looks so young..."
Looking at Kira Yamato's youthful face, Noer could not help commenting inwardly.
According to the main story, Kira Yamato seemed to be only sixteen now, even younger than himself...
Elsewhere, aboard a ZAFT warship.
"Captain, destroying a neutral nation's colonial satellite... the Council..."
"Helping the Earth Alliance military develop a new MS—what kind of neutrality is that?"
Before Addis could finish voicing his concerns, Cruze cut him off directly.
What right did a nation that helped the Earth Alliance develop and manufacture a new MS have to call itself neutral?
"But..."
"The ordinary residents have mostly completed their evacuation. Compared to Bloody Valentine, this is not an issue at all!"
"..." Addis's pupils contracted slightly. The expression on his face abruptly changed, and the last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished.
"Besides, Orb has now chosen to help the Earth Alliance develop MS. Its status as a neutral nation no longer exists! It would not be an exaggeration to call it an enemy of PLANT!"
After saying that, Cruze turned and floated toward the radar operator. "Can you locate the new warship?"
"In these conditions... it'll be difficult," the radar operator replied after hesitating briefly.
"Do your best. Report immediately if you detect anything unusual."
Cruze did not make things difficult for the operator. With heat sources everywhere, it was indeed hard to determine which one belonged to an enemy warship.
"Captain, do you still intend to continue the pursuit?" Addis asked upon hearing Cruze's orders.
"A new warship and a new MS—we absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to them!" Cruze replied.
"But we don't have enough MS units right now, and our combat resources are also somewhat lacking!" Addis naturally understood what that meant, but given the warship's current resources, pursuing them was not going to be easy.
"Not enough? Don't we have the new unit?" Cruze turned around and said.
"Hm? You mean...?" Addis was stunned, faintly guessing Cruze's intentions.
"We already have the data on the new unit. There's no need to keep hiding it. Besides, I'm rather curious about its actual combat capabilities."
After speaking, Cruze floated to the space radar map at the rear of the bridge. "Pull up the radar map of the surrounding area, and notify the Gamov to expand its search range. Report immediately if any heat source makes an abnormal movement!"
"Yes!"
Before you continue