"Cagalli, you... should leave Orb."
"What?"
The moment Uzumi spoke, an uproar broke out, but Mikazuki felt that Uzumi wasn't finished yet.
Cagalli stared blankly at her father. Snapping out of the shock of his startling words, she asked urgently, "What do you mean? Father! Are you trying to drive me away?"
Uzumi shook his head and gripped Cagalli's shoulders, his expression grave.
"No, Cagalli. Listen well. Although Orb successfully defended its neutral stance, the war will not stop. Sooner or later, Orb will be dragged back into the conflict between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. You are leaving Orb to end the war."
"End... the war?"
"Yes. Currently, the Atlantic Federation holds absolute power within the Earth Alliance, ruled by Muruta Azrael, the leader of Blue Cosmos. Meanwhile, PLANT is led by Chairman Patrick Zala, who advocates for a world dominated by Coordinators.
The relationship between the two sides has reached a point of absolute irreconcilability. Just as Kira said yesterday, if this continues, the entire world will be destroyed by their war."
When Uzumi mentioned Patrick, Athrun, standing beside Kira, grew somber.
But Cagalli was still confused. "What does that have to do with me leaving Orb?"
"I want you to become a third party, separate from both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, to travel into space and stop the war. The Kusanagi is currently resupplying and is expected to depart at 11 PM tonight. Cagalli, answer meare you willing to go?"
In truth, Uzumi did not want Cagalli to leave. But as he had said, if the war didn't end, Orb would eventually face this situation again; it was only a matter of time.
The original plan had been to abandon Orb's mainland and send Cagalli into space with their legacy. Then, he would have initiated the self-destruct sequence for the mass driver, 'Kaguya,' and perished along with his nation.
However, the battle where Mikazuki had stunned everyone changed the situation. The Earth Alliance had retreated from Orb in humiliation.
Right now, Earth Alliance diplomats were desperately explaining the conflict with Orb to the international media. The result was that they had reached a reconciliation with Orb and would respect its neutral stance.
Of course, the Orb government had responded strongly to the Earth Alliance's shameless behavior.
No one was a fool. Since Orb had responded this way, the Earth Alliance's so-called 'reconciliation' was clearly a lie. Furthermore, once the Orb government leaked the Earth Alliance's ultimatum, it triggered a global backlash, pushing the Earth Alliance into a storm of public scrutiny.
In the end, the high command of the Earth Alliance had to personally send a telegram requesting reconciliation, guaranteeing they would never infringe upon Orb's sovereignty or ideology again.
But that was a story for later. Because the original plan had met with such unexpected success, Uzumi changed his strategy. He would send the Princess of Orb, Cagallisomeone accepted by both Coordinators and Naturalsinto space to convey the heartfelt desires for peace of the people.
His goal was simple: to hope that Naturals and Coordinators could set aside their prejudices and grievances to coexist in peace.
He didn't need to weave political conspiracies; he was the Lion of Orb, and it was as simple as that.
Yet, his earlier words remained truehe didn't want Cagalli to leave. After all, war was unavoidable once she went out there. However, he and the other leaders of Orb could not leave; the evacuated citizens still needed a leader to guide them. Thus, he could only send Cagalli.
"Father... I understand. I'll go."
"Is that so? Good."
Uzumi felt a bit depressed that Cagalli had agreed, yet he was also very happy to see her growth. His feelings were complicated.
Taking a deep breath, he looked toward Mikazuki and Akihiro.
"I would like to commission Tekkadan once more."
Mikazuki looked up and met Uzumi's gaze. "As bodyguards?"
"Yes. Please. You can name your price... please protect my daughter."
Cagalli and the Orb soldiers nearby looked at Uzumi in shock. The Lion, who had never bowed his head to anyone, was actually bowing to a young boy.
"Father..."
"It's not necessary."
Mikazuki and Akihiro shared a look. Akihiro nodded slightly and continued, "The deal involving PLANT that you proposed hasn't been finished yet. There's no need to propose the same job twice. Like I said before, once Tekkadan takes a job, we see it through."
Only then did the others realize what the deal between Mikazuki and Uzumi wasit was to protect Cagalli.
Murrue was relieved. She had more or less guessed why Mikazuki had relentlessly pursued the Earth Alliance fleet. For someone like Mikazuki, who wasn't fond of complex thinking, cutting things off at the root was the best way to protect something.
"Honestly..."
As she thought about it, Murrue felt a strange, inexplicable pang of jealousy. It even showed on her face as she pouted and looked worriedly at Mikazuki, who was a head shorter than her.
Uzumi stood up straight, a faint smile appearing on his lips. "Thank you very much."
Cagalli rushed up to Mikazuki and grabbed his coat, yelling angrily, "You jerk! So that was the deal you made with my dad? Why didn't you tell me?"
Mikazuki looked at Cagalli with his usual dead fish eyes. Uzumi stepped forward to pull her back, putting on the face of a strict father as he scolded her.
"Is this any way for a Princess of Orb to act? You are being extremely rude. I was the one who asked Mikazuki to keep it a secret from you."
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