Archangel Warship.
Noer followed Kira and Flay as they slowly headed toward the crew rest area.
At the same time, his mind raced as he searched for a way to escape this warship.
Unlike a Coordinator like Kira Yamato, he was a soldier officially registered with ZAFT. If anyone found that out... the picture would be too beautiful to bear!
Although ZAFT soldiers' records were supposedly subject to a certain degree of confidentiality.
Anyone with a brain knew that was completely unreliable.
After all, if Cruze could get his hands on information about the Earth Alliance's new MS, then checking whether some small-fry Coordinator was a ZAFT soldier would be child's play for the Earth Alliance.
Before long, everyone who had left the escape pods followed Kira and a group of Earth Alliance soldiers to the crew rest area.
Many Heliopolis refugees had already gathered there.
Flay's current fiancé, Sai, was among them.
"Sai~!" The instant Flay saw Sai, she broke away from Kira's side, ran over, and threw herself into Sai's arms.
"Flay?" Sai was startled by Flay's sudden appearance. He felt both relieved and worried. This was a warship, after all.
Noer merely glanced at the two of them before losing interest. Instead, he looked at Kira with great amusement.
"Tsk, tsk. Never thought Kira would have a moment like this too..."
Watching Kira's arms hang awkwardly at his sides and seeing that dejected expression, Noer grinned wickedly. What an innocent young man~~
But Noer soon found himself unable to laugh.
Five minutes later~
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage arrived with several soldiers in Earth Alliance uniforms and said to Noer and the others, "For certain reasons, we need to verify everyone's identity information! Those who have just boarded, please present your identity ID cards one by one!"
"!!!!!!"
Noer went completely numb when he heard that.
He did have an identity ID card when he entered Heliopolis, but it was fake—and the workmanship was not particularly good.
This was the Archangel Warship. Its identity verification system was more than a level above the one at Heliopolis Airport.
Could his identity ID card possibly work here...
Of course it wouldn't!
One was the security system of a military confidential facility, while the other was ordinary security in a neutral nation. They were not even in the same league. Getting past Heliopolis did not mean he could get past the Archangel Warship.
"What should I do..."
As Noer followed the line forward, he hung back and racked his brains for a solution.
In this situation, there was no way he could run, so he could only outsmart them. Force was not an option.
But the moment he handed over that identity ID card, there would definitely be a problem.
Just as Noer was considering how to deal with the identity ID card issue, the people ahead of him finished their checks one after another.
Soon, it was Noer's turn.
"Hmm?"
Seeing that Noer still had not taken out his identity ID card, the soldier responsible for verification frowned slightly. "Please present your identity ID card!"
"Well..."
Noer hesitated at those words, his mind spinning rapidly as he thought of a countermeasure.
"Please present your identity ID card!" The soldier noticed Noer's abnormal behavior, and his tone grew harsher.
"What's going on?"
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage noticed the issue and turned around to walk over.
"He keeps refusing to give me his identity ID card," the soldier replied.
"Young man, please present your identity ID card! Otherwise, we will place you under military arrest!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage said sternly, frowning.
"Um, do I have to?" At that critical moment, Noer suddenly had an idea.
"What do you think?"
After saying that, Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage ordered, "Take him away and lock him up!"
"Wait!"
Noer hurriedly raised a hand to stop them. Why was she so hot-tempered?
"Seize him!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage gave the order again without hesitation.
"What happened?"
At that moment, Captain Mu La Flaga, who had come looking for Kira, noticed the commotion and walked over to ask.
"Captain Flaga."
After saluting Flaga, Baggage pointed at Noer and said, "He refused to hand over his identity ID card. I suspect he is a PLANT spy!"
"What did you say!"
Before Flaga could speak, Noer spoke first, angrily snapping, "You old hag! You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want! What do you mean, a PLANT spy? I, Noer, am irreconcilable with PLANT!"
His top priority now was to distance himself from PLANT as much as possible.
"What did you say!"
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage was thoroughly provoked by Noer's words. She raised her hand, ready to fight him on the spot.
"Lieutenant, Lieutenant! Calm down, calm down!"
Flaga was startled and hurriedly held Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage back. A soldier beating up a civilian was a serious matter.
"I'll tell you what, what Lieutenant! I'm not refusing to hand over my identity ID card because I'm some damn PLANT spy! It's because I..."
At the end, Noer's expression suddenly froze, as though he had some unspeakable secret.
"Then say it already!" Flaga was speechless. Was this really the time to play coy?
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage was no ordinary person. She was a textbook soldier. Her words, actions, and even her way of thinking were all military through and through. Even he could not afford to provoke her!
Noer took a deep breath, as though making up his mind, then sighed. "I... Forget it, what's the worst that could happen! I'm a Coordinator!"
"What?"
"A Coordinator?"
The expressions of everyone who had been drawn over abruptly changed. They looked at Noer warily. Clearly, they were deeply resistant to the title of Coordinator.
The other soldiers also raised their guns and aimed them at Noer.
"Careful with those! Don't let them go off!"
Seeing those gleaming gun barrels, Noer was so frightened his legs nearly went weak.
"He's a Coordinator too?"
Kira, who had been drawn over by the noise, stood in the corridor. Looking at Noer, he suddenly felt a trace of warmth and comfort.
So I'm not the only Coordinator on this ship.
"So that's how it is. No wonder..."
After hearing that, Flaga suddenly thought of Kira's predicament. Hadn't Kira also been threatened by Earth Alliance soldiers at gunpoint back then?
He more or less understood why Noer had hesitated.
Even Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage reluctantly accepted Noer's explanation.
Under such circumstances, Coordinators could indeed easily cause misunderstandings. Being too afraid to take out his card at first was understandable.
"Come on, everyone, don't be so serious. This is Orb's satellite, after all. There will always be some Coordinators who don't want to fight and come to Orb to settle down. There's no need to make such a fuss."
Seeing that the atmosphere had become tense, Flaga released Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage and joked with the crowd.
Still, he found the situation absurd. Both times a Coordinator had been exposed, he had been present—and both cases had something to do with him.
He had discovered the first one, while he had questioned the second one into admitting it. The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed!
"I understand why you did not immediately present your identity card. But how will you prove that you are not a Coordinator affiliated with PLANT?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage adjusted her clothes and asked Noer.
She was a typical Earth Alliance soldier.
In truth, she had already been unhappy about letting a Coordinator like Kira pilot an Earth Alliance MS. But the circumstances were special, and she had no choice.
Still, through those two battles, she had more or less come to believe in Kira's stance.
Smack~!
After hearing that, Noer slammed his identity ID card hard against the edge of the machine. Feeling the abnormal texture on the card's chip, he said excitedly, "This is the proof! See for yourselves!"
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage nodded to the soldier responsible for identity verification.
The soldier picked up the identity ID card and inserted it. Then—
Beep beep~
[Identity ID card damaged! Please replace it!]
"Hmm?"
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage and the others were stunned, then looked at Noer with unfriendly expressions.
A little later, I might not be able to update at noon.
Sigh~~~
Thanks to "Salted Fish Without Dreams" for the tip.
I... can't hold on anymore!!!!
Before you continue