A gray haze of smoke shrouded the skies over Orb, and the once-clear air reeked of machine oil and gunpowder. Akira piloted a small aircraft temporarily allocated by Morgenroete, skimming low over the outer districts of Orb City. Armed soldiers and hastily evacuating civilians were everywhere below, and the oppressive tension of wartime made it hard to breathe. He had just left Erica Simmons's secret residence. The grave expression on the face of Morgenroete's key executive weighed on him even more heavily than the fighting outside her window.
"Mr. Akira, the situation is even more complicated than you expected." Erica sat in the dim room, her fingers clenched so tightly that they had gone white. "The day Major Kira Yamato stormed the wedding in the Freedom Gundam, all of Orb descended into chaos. He forcibly took Miss Cagalli away, saying he wanted to stop Orb from siding completely with the Atlantic Federation. As you know, the surrender faction is growing louder by the day. Councilman Yula's supporters have been fanning the flames behind the scenes. Many people believe that submitting to the Atlantic Federation is the only way to keep Orb from being destroyed by ZAFT."
Akira tapped his fingertips lightly against the table, quietly activating his ACCORD Ability to catch every fluctuation in Erica's voice. "What about Captain Murrue and my children?" That was what mattered most to him, and an involuntary urgency crept into his voice.
"Captain Murrue showed remarkable foresight. Shortly after Kira took Cagalli away, she anticipated that Orb would fall into internal conflict and took young Master Minghui and Miss Mingyue aboard the Archangel ahead of time." Erica's tone softened a little. "The Archangel has already left Orb's territorial waters. Its exact course is unknown, but judging by its last communications, it was most likely