House Arrest

"Beep~"

"Click~"

After two soldiers pushed Noer into a vacant room, they locked the door completely.

"I'm innocent!"

"Hey! I'm not a spy! I'm a law-abiding citizen!"

"Ah~ I'm innocent······"

Noer leaned against the door, his hands incessantly banging on it as he roared in anger and despair.

"Crackle~"

While cursing, Noer feigned hitting the surrounding walls, his gaze constantly scanning the walls and corners.

Five minutes later~

Perhaps tired, Noer sighed and walked to the disheveled bed he had made, lying down with his hands behind his head.

After a glance at the corner of the ceiling from the corner of his eye, he silently turned over to face the wall and began to think.

"House arrest, still within acceptable limits······"

Once he confirmed the outcome, Noer couldn't help but take a deep breath. In reality, this result was still within his acceptable range.

After all, facing an unknown Coordinator, not being shot on the spot or thrown directly into jail was already an ideal outcome.

Don't think it's absurd. The Archangel is a warship in a state of combat readiness, and with the recent MS theft incident, its security level is practically sky-high.

Coupled with Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage, a hardline Earth Alliance soldier, a single misstep could lead to a secret execution.

It's important to remember that new MS are extremely crucial to the Earth Alliance. Haven't you seen how even the kind and gentle Captain Marlu directly opened fire when she first encountered Kira and the others?

Therefore, being under house arrest is already a good outcome.

"But how will I leave······"

However, Noer also knew that this was not a long-term solution. If he didn't find a way to leave here quickly, his identity would be exposed sooner or later.

But to leave here······

"How about I just steal the Strike Gundam······"

A 'very good' idea suddenly popped into Noer's mind.

"How's the situation?"

At the information workstation below the Archangel's bridge, Flaga asked as he approached the monitoring area.

Captain Marlu enlarged the monitor upon hearing him and looked at Noer's back as he breathed rhythmically, saying, "He threw a tantrum earlier, so he's probably lying down to sleep now."

"It's a special situation, so he'll have to endure it." Flaga replied.

"Captain thinks he's innocent?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage, standing nearby, couldn't help but retort.

Her expression clearly showed disgust at this moment.

"Hmm······"

Flaga recalled his discoveries from earlier and pondered for a moment before replying, "I don't know. It's impossible to determine for now."

"Then Captain, what you just······"

"That was a special circumstance. In that situation, I couldn't exactly say he was a spy, and Kira was there at the time too," Flaga said helplessly.

Seeing that both Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage and Marlu looked confused, Flaga continued to explain, "You have to understand that he was brought up by that boy. If he really were a spy, then according to regulations, could Kira still sortie with the Strike Gundam? And without the Strike Gundam, we might as well surrender and save our lives."

"Besides, we desperately need Kira's help right now. If we don't consider his feelings, what if he feels we hate Coordinators later and chooses not to participate in the battle?"

"But what if he really is a spy?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage retorted.

"Doesn't he still have his ID card? We can just fix it and find out," Flaga said.

"Fix it? His identity ID chip is already broken, and it's impossible to repair it in a short time," Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage replied.

"Then, if that doesn't work, let's hand him over to the people at Artemis. We're going to Artemis anyway, so we can just hand him over to the Earth forces there."

Flaga wasn't too concerned about whether Noer was a spy or not.

When Noer was exposed, it no longer mattered if he was a spy. After all, the most terrifying aspect of a spy is their hidden presence.

An exposed spy poses no threat as long as someone is monitoring them.

Moreover, recalling the situation and details he had observed earlier, Flaga didn't believe the ZAFT military would send someone like him as a spy······

"Besides, right now, instead of worrying about him, a Coordinator, we should be thinking about how to leave here and head to the Umbrella of Artemis," Flaga concluded his thoughts, unwilling to dwell on such a pointless topic.

Heading to Artemis was a decision they had previously discussed.

Normally, they should have gone to a lunar base, but that was too far, and they would have to pass through PLANT's blockade zone. It was simply unrealistic for the Archangel in its current state. Even without combat, they would be crippled by a shortage of supplies.

Although "Artemis" was a military alliance base belonging to the European Union, given the Archangel's current situation, there was almost no other choice but to go there.

Marlu pondered for a moment before revealing the plan she had just conceived: "Prepare decoys! Launch the decoys while firing the main engines to correct our course towards 'Artemis.' Then, switch to inertial navigation. Assume second combat position! Complete orbital control in the shortest possible time."

"If that's the case, a silent dive between here and 'Artemis' will take about two hours?" Flaga, who often operated in space, quickly calculated the approximate time.

"Mm, Captain Flaga, do you have any other suggestions?" Marlu looked at Flaga.

Suddenly being called "Captain" and thrust into this position was a severe test and psychological burden for her, who didn't have much practical combat experience.

At the same time, most of the crew members were like her, lacking practical experience, so she felt even more that the future was bleak.

Adding to that were this man named Mu La Flaga and Natal Baggage.

Although they knew each other, they had never served in the same unit, and she didn't know much about them.

So, whether she could successfully manage them was also a very troublesome problem.

It could be said that the entire Archangel was full of problems.

"I have no objections," Flaga replied quickly upon hearing this.

Actually, he quite agreed with Marlu's plan. To prevent the heat generated after the engine's operation from being detected by the enemy.

First, launch a decoy, use its false information to distract the enemy, seize the opportunity for minimal steering, and then rely on the thrust generated by the initial engine burst for inertial navigation.

This method was considered the best solution for now.

However, this was the expected situation, and there was no guarantee that everything would go smoothly.

After all, the enemy was led by Cruze. To be honest, facing Cruze, Flaga was a bit apprehensive about whether this plan could be completed.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade?" Marlu looked at Baggage upon hearing this.

"I have no objections either!" Baggage replied.

"Launch decoy! Engine burst! Course correction towards 'Artemis'!"

Upon hearing this, Marlu took a deep breath and issued her first true order to the crew.

Meanwhile~

Inside the ZAFT warship, Vesalius.

"I never expected it to turn out like this..."

On the bridge of the Vesalius, Addis stood on the bridge, constantly observing the space around Heliopolis. Destroying a colony satellite... he wouldn't have dared to dream of such a thing.

Seeing Cruze lingering around the radar map, Addis tidied up his emotions and then moved away from the command seat to ask, "Could they have already left this area under the cover of the Heliopolis wreckage?"

Because the heat source radiated by the Heliopolis wreckage made it impossible for their radar and thermal detection to determine if the heat source was the Archangel, there was a high probability that the long-legged one had already left.

"No, they should still be here, waiting quietly somewhere..."

Cruze shook his head. The Archangel's departure was unexpected, and it absolutely wouldn't carry much supplies. Under these circumstances, they couldn't possibly leave too far.

And the closest Earth Alliance base to here was only one—Artemis, known as absolute defense!

As for whether they would head to a lunar base, with the supplies and firepower the long-legged one carried, it was impossible to pass through the heavy defenses and reach the moon.

Addis didn't know Cruze's thoughts and was simply stunned into silence by Cruze's confident words.

Thanks to "Trooper1770," "Book Friend 20201128192806991," and "The Lazy Person Without Dreams" for their tips. By the way, can I owe you a little, perhaps until Saturday? I'm really struggling to keep up with 996 work during the day and writing at night. I'm actually starting to lose hair!