Each One's Actions

"Colonel Lugo said he would take responsibility for what happened before, so he would not leave. If we consider ourselves already dead, then we should go to the Archangel—there was also..."

Orb fleet deputy officer Captain Amagi stood before Cagalli, his voice trembling as he said, "We must keep fighting for the brothers who died with regrets today... That was Colonel Lugo's final message."

Hearing this, tears welled up in Cagalli's eyes.

Besides its crew, the Archangel's bridge was filled with many Orb soldiers.

Though they looked exhausted and kept their heads lowered, each of them still listened to Amagi with solemn expressions.

Marlu and the others mourned for them, but they were also confused.

Once the battle ended, the officers and soldiers who escaped would normally seek refuge aboard surviving Orb warships or Alliance carriers. Yet now, this small group had quietly piloted boats or MS units over to the Archangel.

They might have been only a small group, but when they stood shoulder to shoulder across the bridge, their numbers still looked considerable.

The hangar was also packed with MS units. Though most were damaged, they still constituted a force that could not be ignored.

For so many people to be moved by Colonel Lugo's final words amid that chaos and follow his deputy to the Archangel showed just how deeply the colonel had earned his subordinates' trust in life.

Amagi continued in a clear, soldierly voice, "Representative Cagalli, we did not come here to seek revenge. We joined the military because we believed in the ideals upon which Orb was founded... Therefore, we are only willing to fight for the true spirit of Orb."

Amagi's words prompted the officers and soldiers to nod one after another, as though reaffirming their resolve.

Every one of them had clear