Athrun's Resolve, ZAFT's Encirclement

At the same time, aboard the ZAFT warship Vesalius.

"Athrun Sarra! Report!"

Athrun Sarra's voice echoed from outside Captain Cruze's office.

"Enter!"

Cruze, who was writing a report, said without looking up from his computer.

"Beep beep~"

The door opened, revealing Athrun in his red uniform.

"Apologies!" Athrun saluted again at the doorway.

He then walked straight in and stood at attention.

Cruze stopped his work, turned his chair to face Athrun, and said, "I had to deal with some matters due to the collapse of Heliopolis earlier, so our conversation was postponed."

"Yes! I apologize for the battle just now!" Athrun readily admitted his mistake.

"Actually, I didn't call you here to punish you. I just wanted to hear your reasons."

Cruze knew Athrun's abilities and personality well. Under normal circumstances, that Strike Gundam should never have escaped.

But because Athrun held back midway and even broke formation, the Strike Gundam managed to escape, along with the Archangel.

Cruze couldn't understand it at all.

Based on past records, Athrun was a soldier who strictly followed orders, but this battle had completely overturned Cruze's perception of him.

Hearing this, Athrun seemed to recall something and bit his lip.

"If I remember correctly, you were nearby when that mobile suit activated, weren't you?"

Cruze ignored Athrun's expression and continued to ask from his seat.

"I'm truly... sorry!"

Athrun lowered his gaze and said again, "I'm sorry, Captain! I was shaken by something unexpected at the time! That's why I couldn't report it promptly!"

Cruze didn't reply, merely watching Athrun silently. He didn't care about the Strike Gundam's escape; he cared about Athrun's reason.

After a moment of thought, Athrun's face showed struggle. Then, as if making a decision, he explained, "The person piloting that last mobile suit is named Kira Yamato! He's a childhood friend from my time on the Moon! He's a Newtype!"

"Hmm?"

Hearing the familiar name, Cruze's pupils contracted slightly, and his heart trembled. A flicker of surprise appeared on his usually calm face.

Athrun, suspecting nothing, assumed Cruze was surprised that Kira was a Newtype and continued to explain, "I was so surprised at the time, I wanted to confirm it, so..."

"I see... This is truly..."

Cruze seemed to recall something and sighed, "How... ironic!"

He then stood up from his seat and said to Athrun, "It seems that person is a very good friend of yours, isn't he?"

"Yes!" Athrun nodded. Kira Yamato was indeed a friend he was perhaps too close to.

"No wonder you were shaken in that situation. It's understandable."

Cruze continued, "Then, you don't need to go on the next sortie."

"Eh!?" Athrun looked at Cruze with a shocked expression.

"You cannot fight against that kind of enemy, and I don't want you to. Although we are soldiers, it doesn't mean we have to be cold-blooded and indifferent," Cruze said understandingly.

If Athrun Sarra lost his emotions and became like his father, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

After all, people with rich emotions are more easily swayed.

"No, Captain, I..."

Cruze interrupted Athrun and said, "Even if he was your close friend in the past, it doesn't change the fact that he is now an enemy. And when facing an enemy, we can only eliminate them. I believe you understand this principle."

"No, Captain, Kira... Kira is just being used by the Naturals!"

Athrun quickly defended Kira, saying, "He's very capable, but a bit dense, and a very kind person. So I believe he hasn't realized he's being used. I want to try and persuade him!"

Cruze remained silent, his expression unreadable, just watching Athrun.

"Kira is a Newtype like us! He'll definitely understand!" Athrun desperately tried to find a way out for Kira.

It wasn't that he looked down on Kira, but Kira had too little piloting experience. With his current displayed strength, he couldn't possibly fight Cruze's team.

In his estimation, even if he didn't intervene, Yzak, Nicol, and Diakka could have dealt with Kira.

"I can understand how you feel, but..."

Cruze paused here and asked Athrun sternly, "What if he doesn't listen? What will you do?"

What Cruze was asking was Athrun's greatest fear, but for that sliver of a chance, Athrun hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, "If it really comes to that, I... I'll do it myself!"

C.E. 71, January 25th, 3:00 AM Earth time.

In the silent darkness, not far from Artemis, a red and white battleship glided by stealthily.

"Beep beep beep~"

Suddenly, a piercing alarm shattered the silence, and a dazzling red light flashed within the Archangel's bridge.

Everyone on the bridge tensed up instantly.

"Large heat source detected! Presumed to be a battleship engine!"

"Distance 200!"

"Course! 0-0!"

The soldier responsible for radar monitoring read out the detected information word by word.

"Two hundred distance, course 0-0!"

Upon hearing this, Flaga couldn't help but frown, gritting his teeth and saying, "Damn it! Is Lady Luck not on our side!"

Because they were traveling in silence, the Archangel's speed was extremely slow, and its radar power was also at its minimum setting, so they had discovered the enemy a bit late!

Furthermore, a course of 0-0 meant that the enemy's and the Archangel's forward directions were the same, moving almost parallel to each other.

"We've been discovered!" Marlu exclaimed subconsciously.

"The distance is still quite far, there's still a chance!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage said from the side.

"Target is ahead of our ship! Battleship model~ ZAFT Nazca-class battleship!" the intelligence officer beside them reported the radar situation again.

"Tsk~! Are they trying to get ahead of us and suppress us!" Flaga understood the enemy's intention instantly upon hearing this. Interception!

"What about the other Laurasia-class?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage quickly asked.

There were two ZAFT warships this time, one was the high-speed Nazca-class battleship, and the other was the Laurasia-class MS carrier.

"Slightly... a large heat source detected 300 behind our ship! This... when did..." The radar operator's expression was one of terror.

This was truly a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

"If we choose to start the engines and accelerate, the Nazca-class battleship ahead will turn to intercept. If we maintain this speed, we'll be caught by the Laurasia-class behind... The worst-case scenario has happened!"

As Flaga muttered, he turned his chair to the radar operator behind him and said, "Transmit the data of both battleships and the nearby space map to me!"

"Do you have a plan?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage was quite convinced by Flaga; she had heard of Flaga's bravery many times.

"Although it's just my hypothesis, if everything goes smoothly, there should be a chance of success! But the prerequisite is that you can hold out until then!"

These past few days have been truly frustrating.

Working overtime, moving, everything happened at once.

So the updates have been a bit slow.

But it's okay, I'll be on vacation in a couple of days.