At the same time, aboard the ZAFT military space battleship Vesalius.
"Athrun Sarra! Reporting in!"
Athrun Sarra's voice rang out from outside Captain Cruze's office.
"Come in!"
Cruze, who was drafting a report on his computer, replied without turning around.
"Beep beep~"
The door opened, revealing Athrun in his red uniform.
"Excuse me!" Athrun saluted again from the doorway.
He then walked straight inside and stood at attention.
Cruze stopped working, turned his chair to face Athrun, and said, "There were matters to handle because of Heliopolis's collapse, so our conversation was temporarily postponed."
"Yes! I apologize deeply for the battle earlier!" Athrun immediately admitted his mistake.
"I didn't call you here because I intended to punish you. I simply wanted to hear your reasons."
Cruze knew Athrun's strength and character very well. Under normal circumstances, there was no way that Strike Gundam could have escaped.
Yet because Athrun had held back midway through the battle and even disrupted the squad's formation, Strike Gundam had ultimately escaped, taking the Archangel with it.
Cruze simply could not understand it.
Judging from his past record, Athrun had always been a soldier who strictly obeyed orders. But the battle just now had completely overturned Cruze's understanding of him.
At Cruze's words, Athrun seemed to recall something and could not help biting his lip.
"If I remember correctly, you were nearby when that unit was activated, weren't you?"
Ignoring Athrun's expression, Cruze remained seated and continued questioning him.
"I... I'm truly sorry!"
Athrun lowered his gaze and said again, "I'm sorry, Captain! Something unexpected shook me at the time, so I failed to report it promptly!"
Cruze did not respond. He merely watched Athrun in silence. He did not care that Strike Gundam had escaped; what he cared about was Athrun's reason.
After hesitating for a moment, a conflicted look appeared on Athrun's face. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he explained, "The person piloting that final unit was named... Kira Yamato! He was my childhood friend from my time on the Moon! He is a Newtype!"
"Hm?"
Hearing that familiar name, Cruze's pupils contracted slightly, and his heart stirred. Surprise appeared on his usually impassive face.
Athrun suspected nothing and mistakenly thought Cruze was surprised that Kira was a Newtype, so he continued, "I was too shocked at the time, and I wanted to confirm it, so..."
"I see... This truly is..."
As though he had thought of something, Cruze could not help sighing. "What... irony!"
He then rose from his seat and asked Athrun, "It seems that person was a very close friend of yours, wasn't he?"
"Yes!" Athrun nodded in reply. His bond with Kira Yamato had truly been a little too close.
"No wonder. It is understandable that you would be shaken under such circumstances."
Cruze continued, "Then don't sortie next time."
"Huh!?" Athrun looked at Cruze with a stunned expression.
"You cannot fight an enemy like that, and I do not wish for you to do so either. We may be soldiers, but that does not mean we must be cold and heartless," Cruze said understandingly.
If Athrun Sarra lost his emotions and became like his father, that would be no fun.
After all, people with abundant emotions were much easier to manipulate.
"No, Captain, I..."
Cruze interrupted Athrun and said, "Even if he was once your closest friend, it does not change the fact that he is now an enemy. And when facing an enemy, we can only eliminate him. I believe you understand that."
"No, Captain, Kira... Kira is merely being used by the Naturals!"
Athrun hurriedly defended Kira. "He may be outstanding, but he's somewhat slow-witted and an extremely kindhearted person. So I'm sure he hasn't realized that he's being used. I want to persuade him!"
Cruze said nothing. His expression remained utterly calm as he simply watched Athrun.
"Kira is a Newtype just like us! He'll definitely understand!" Athrun did everything he could to defend Kira, trying to find him a way out.
It was not that he looked down on Kira, but Kira had been piloting for far too short a time. With the strength he had displayed so far, he simply could not contend with Cruze's team.
In Athrun's estimation, even if he did not act, Yzak, Nicol, and Diakka could still deal with Kira.
"I can understand how you feel, but..."
Cruze paused here before asking Athrun sternly, "What if he refuses to listen? What will you do then?"
What Cruze described was exactly what Athrun feared most. But for that sliver of possibility, Athrun hesitated for a while before gritting his teeth and saying, "If it truly comes to that... I will... deal with him myself!"
CE 71, January 25th, 3:00 a.m. Earth time.
In the silent darkness, not far from Artemis, a red-and-white warship glided quietly through space.
"Beep beep beep~"
Suddenly, a piercing alarm shattered the silence, and brilliant red lights flashed across the Archangel's bridge.
Everyone on the bridge tensed at once.
"Large heat source detected! Estimated to be a battleship engine!"
"Range, 200!"
"Course! 0-0!"
The soldier in charge of radar surveillance read out the detected information word by word.
"Range two hundred, course 0-0!"
Flaga frowned deeply at the report and gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Is the goddess of fortune not on our side?"
Because the Archangel had been traveling silently, its speed was extremely slow, and its radar output was also restricted to the lowest level. That was why they had detected it so late!
And a course of 0-0 meant that the enemy was traveling in the same direction as the Archangel, moving almost parallel to it.
"Have we been discovered!?" Marlu blurted out instinctively.
"The distance is still considerable. We still have a chance!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage said from the side.
"Target has passed our ship! Battleship classification: ZAFT Nassau-class battleship!" The intelligence officer beside them reported the radar data again.
"Tch! Are they trying to get ahead of us and pin us down!" Flaga instantly understood the enemy's intent. An interception!
"What about the other Laurasia-class?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage hurriedly asked.
There were two ZAFT military warships this time. One was a high-speed Nazca-class battleship, while the other was a Laurasia-class MS transport ship.
"Wait... A large heat source detected three hundred behind our ship! Th-This... when did..." The radar operator looked horrified.
This was truly a case of a tiger ahead and a wolf behind.
"If we activate the engines and accelerate, the Nassau-class battleship ahead will turn around and intercept us. But if we maintain this speed, the Laurasia behind us will catch up... The worst-case scenario has happened!"
As Flaga muttered, he turned his chair toward the radar operator behind him. "Send me the data on both battleships and a map of the surrounding space!"
"Do you have a plan?" Lieutenant Junior Grade Baggage had considerable faith in Flaga. She had also heard many accounts of his bravery.
"It is only an idea of mine, but if everything goes smoothly, we should have a chance of succeeding! But the prerequisite is that you can hold out until then!"
These past few days have really been ridiculous.
Overtime, moving house—everything came at once.
So the updates have been a little weak.
But it's fine. I'll be on vacation in a couple of days.
~
Before you continue