Natarl impatiently roared into the microphone, "Hey, speak up! Who are you?!"
On the ground, Murrue, hearing the familiar voice, her previously suspicious expression stiffened. She looked up blankly at the Barbatos before her. Then, joy overwhelmed her, and she quickly called out, "Is that Ensign Natarl Badgiruel?"
Natarl, who was initially angry on the Archangel, was momentarily stunned when she heard Murrue's voice. She then grabbed the microphone and anxiously asked, "Is that Captain Murrue Ramius?"
"Yes, it's Murrue Ramius. That's great, we really connected!" Murrue felt surprised to have connected with the Archangel, and at the same time, she was surprised by Mikazuki. How did he manage to connect with the Archangel under such strong interference? But this wasn't the time to question that. Since they were connected, she quickly got to the main point.
"Ensign Natarl, how is the Archangel now?"
"I checked, it's fine. As expected of the latest model battleship, although it suffered some damage in that explosion, it's nothing serious."
"What about the Captain and the others?"
"Uh..." A hint of grief appeared on Natarl's pretty face under her military cap. She pulled down the brim of her cap and said solemnly, "Currently, I am the highest-ranking officer on the ship."
Murrue's pupils contracted, and she felt a bit lost. Natarl's words were clear enough, meaning all high-ranking officers except Natarl, including the Archangel's captain, had all been sacrificed. "How could this be...?"
Natarl seemed to see Murrue's expression at this moment, and she sighed faintly. She glanced at her colleagues behind her and continued, "The remaining survivors are other low-ranking officers. ZAFT's sudden attack left us no chance to react. The casualties are heavy... Almost forgot to ask, what about the new mobile suits?"
"...Only the Strike is left." Murrue was silent for a long while before answering Natarl in a heavy tone. Although Natarl had already guessed the outcome, she couldn't help but frustratingly slap the console in front of her, muttering "Damn it." Then she asked, "What do you think we should do next?"
Murrue answered without hesitation, "We must secure the Archangel and the remaining Gundam. Oh, right, have you heard of any other Gundams besides the five new models we transported? The name seems to be Barbatos." Murrue said, looking up at Barbatos. Natarl was stunned by Murrue's question.
"Others? Barbatos? Never heard of it. And there are only five in the plan. What's wrong?"
"No... nothing. Sigh, no choice. Natarl, find a way to get the Archangel out! We'll discuss the next steps afterwards." Natarl responded without hesitation upon hearing Murrue's command. "Yes!"
Mikazuki, who was sitting on Barbatos' chest, heard that the communication had been successful and had already returned to the cockpit. He didn't eavesdrop, nor was he interested in eavesdropping, because he wouldn't understand their conversation, nor was he interested.
However, Orga might be different. Just over ten minutes after Murrue and Natarl's communication ended, Orga spoke up. "Mikazuki, there's a mobile suit dogfight happening in the satellite bridge connected above you, and they're approaching this location."
Mikazuki heard this and looked up with Barbatos at the root of the colonial satellite formed by those satellite bridges, which Orga referred to as "pipes." There were quite a few of them, very long and intricately complex, perhaps over a dozen, running through the entire sky of the colonial satellite. If these satellite bridges were completely destroyed, then this colonial satellite would be annihilated.
"Chasing?"
"Yes, it should be ZAFT and Earth Alliance's... they're out."
Boom! Kira and Murrue, who were replacing equipment on the Strike, were startled by the sound from above. They looked up and saw a white GINN charging out. Murrue lost her voice. "Mobile Suit? Again? Kira, hurry up!" As soon as she finished speaking, another orange fighter jet charged out from the newly blasted-open passage.
Barbatos moved, standing in front of Murrue and the others, blocking their view. Mikazuki tightened his grip on the control stick and said faintly, "Stand back." Murrue heard Mikazuki's indifferent voice from her left ear, paused, then quickly said, "Mikazuki-kun, that orange Mobile Armor is an ally!" "I know," Mikazuki replied.
With that, Barbatos picked up its mace and a heavy assault rifle it had picked up from a destroyed GINN nearby. Although it wasn't his usual large-caliber smoothbore cannon, he had to make do with the current situation.
Cruze, who charged out from the satellite bridge, immediately spotted the Strike, which was replacing equipment, and Barbatos nearby. This made him, who had always had the situation under control, feel a moment of bewilderment.
"Hmm? What's that mobile suit? The intelligence didn't mention that mobile suit. Is it a hidden new model?" Mu, who was behind him, also felt something strange. "That mobile suit... I don't recognize it. Whose mobile suit is that?"
Mikazuki on the ground licked his lips, aimed at the silver-gray GINN flying above, and pulled the trigger of the heavy assault rifle. Rat-tat-tat. Cruze, who was previously in control of the situation in the sky, was caught off guard by Mikazuki's sudden attack and quickly dodged. Mu took the opportunity to knock away his shield.
"Damn it." Cruze's face under his mask was grim. He cursed silently and continued to dodge Mikazuki's bullets. The marksmanship was too accurate; he almost didn't manage to dodge several times.
Then, as if he had run out of bullets, Barbatos decisively threw away the assault rifle. Murrue only saw Barbatos' wolf-like eyes flash. A hurricane blew up, forcing her to raise her arms to shield her face from the wind.
🚨 Note : Consider to Support this Story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access +200 advance Chapters and To Support The Daily Update