Inside the Laurasia-class MS transport ship.
Athrun was violently slammed against the wall by the enraged Yzak.
"You bastard, you actually... you actually..."
Yzak's handsome face twisted with fury as he grabbed Athrun by the front of his uniform.
"If you hadn't done something so unnecessary back then, I would've destroyed that Strike Gundam already!"
"Thanks to you ignoring orders, we've really made fools of ourselves now."
Leaning against the locker room wall, Diakka added with a half-mocking tone.
Yet in the face of their accusations, Athrun said nothing. He merely looked away, gazing at the MS beyond the lounge window.
Athrun and Yzak had never gotten along, and Yzak had always found Athrun unpleasant.
Diakka, who aspired to rise through the military ranks, had always regarded Athrun as a rival as well, though his attitude was much milder than Yzak's.
In contrast, Athrun had no interest whatsoever in his military standing or battle record.
Just as Yzak was about to press him further, the door opened.
Nicol, who had just climbed down from his MS, hurried in. Though he had expected it, he still had to step in when he saw the scene. "Yzak, what are you doing?!"
"We deployed all four units this time! And we still couldn't deal with that annoying fly! That humiliation, you..."
"It's already come to this. Blaming Athrun here won't change anything, will it?"
Despite his gentle appearance, Nicol remained unmoved by Yzak's anger.
The quiet, well-behaved boy was unexpectedly calm and composed.
Whenever Athrun and Yzak clashed with the others, Nicol had always played the role of mediator.
Of course, Noer had initially been the same, but ever since Yzak started dragging Noer into training every day, Noer had suddenly begun finding ways to stir up trouble between Athrun and Yzak.
Luckily,