Two Unusual People

Shin Asuka piloted his newly assigned machine back to the mothership.

In the past, Vino would always have been the first to rush over and greet him. Now, however, he merely turned his haggard face away. Yulan, who stood beside him offering comfort, also avoided Shin Asuka's gaze with a complicated expression.

At some point, Vino had begun constantly saying how cute Miriallia was. Maybe he had fallen for her.

For Yulan, her death must have been equally hard to accept.

Feeling their silent reproach, Shin Asuka headed for the lift the moment he exited the cockpit.

It was an order. A mission. There was no other choice—

Shin Asuka could only use such thoughts to soothe the turmoil in his heart.

Inside Gibraltar Base.

"Miriallia...?"

Lunamaria had been summoned here by the security department, and at that moment, she could not understand a word they were saying.

Armed soldiers had suddenly appeared and taken her away like a criminal, bringing her to this plain little room. Then an officer had sat before her, coldly speaking to her while holding the data laid out on the desk.

The man said that after infiltrating the base, Miriallia had attempted to escape alongside Athrun Sarra.

Shin and Ray had then been dispatched to pursue them, and not long afterward, they had been shot down—

Shot down.

She understood what that meant. She simply could not connect it to Miriallia.

Before Lunamaria lay the login records from the main computer and images extracted from the security footage—Miriallia and Athrun really did seem to have been planning to escape.

She gently shook her head, casting aside the suspicion.

She knew her younger sister well. Miriallia could not possibly be that kind of person. How could she be a spy?

Miriallia was innocent and guileless,