"Hmm?"
Mikazuki's brow furrowed the moment he heard that voice. It carried a resonance that made him feel inexplicably uncomfortablea truly repulsive sensation.
Immediately after, the voice spoke again.
"Even though I've asked others what they would do, you really are full of surprises, Captain. If dialogue could lead to mutual understanding, there would be no war in this world. It is precisely because we cannot understand one another that we become enemies. And since we are enemies, we must be eliminated, isn't that right?"
"Councilor Azrael..."
The name Natarle uttered inadvertently sent a jolt of shock through everyone aboard the Archangel.
"Azrael? Is it Muruta Azrael?"
"The leader of Blue Cosmos..."
Inside the cockpit of the Barbatos, Mikazuki tapped the screen and spoke into the comms.
"So it's you, the guy doing all that chirping."
"Mika?!"
Mikazuki's sudden intrusion into the communication channel stunned everyone. Azrael's brow twitched.
"Who are you?"
Mikazuki ignored the question, speaking as if to himself.
"You managed to run away last time. This time... I'll destroy you along with that black Archangel."
Azrael's expression twisted violently. He even lost his composure, bolting upright in his seat.
"You! You're that monster from Orb!"
Mikazuki cut the connection immediately and hailed the bridge of the Eternal.
"I'm heading out. Open the hatch."
"Eh? But Captain Murrue's side is..."
Lacus interrupted Andrew Waltfeld's hesitation.
"I understand. Please open the hatch, Captain Waltfeld."
Waltfeld let out a helpless sigh.
"Ha... fine."
Aisha, acting as the CIC, tapped rapidly at her keyboard.
"Hatch opening. Barbatos, you are cleared for launch. Long Distance Transport Booster Kutan Type-III confirmed. You're testing the performance of the booster this time, right, Mikazuki?"
"Yeah."
Mikazuki gripped the control sticks. In front of him, the massive hangar doors slid open.
"Mikazuki Augus, Barbatos, launching!"
"Booster control and maneuvering fully transferred to the computer."
The Barbatos shot off the Eternal's catapult deck, followed closely by the white Kutan Type-III booster unit.
On the bridge of the Archangel, Miriallia's voice rang out. "Sortie of the Barbatos from the Eternal confirmed!"
Murrue blinked in surprise at the news, then watched the monitor as the Barbatos and the transport-like craft behind it charged out from the port.
"Mikazuki... Send out the Strike and the Buster! Have them act as guards to cover the Archangel!"
"Strike, acknowledged."
"Buster, acknowledged."
The Freedom and Justice had already launched from the Eternal. The M1 Astrays carried by the Kusanagi and the Sassari had also deployed in full. On the other side, the number of Strike Daggers was staggering.
On the bridge of the Dominion, they also spotted the Barbatos launching from the port. Azrael shouted in a panicked frenzy.
"Quickly! Send out the Forbidden, Calamity, and Raider! Have all the Strike Daggers launch as well! Do not let those monsters get close!"
Natarle frowned with displeasure but repeated the order to the controllers. Although she was the captain, the man before her was a member of the Combined Military Executive Council. Her superiors had explicitly ordered her to follow Azrael's instructions. Despite her resentment, she had no room to refuse.
Once the sortie orders were finalized, Natarle stared at the Barbatos on her screen, momentarily dazed.
Mikazuki... Augus. So, you're still alive.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and sat back in her command chair.
"Missile tubes one through six, load 'Corinthos' anti-air missiles with terminal guidance set to Auto-Variable Mode B. Aim for coordinates Orange Alpha 17 through 42. Fire in a five-point rotation."
"Firing missiles at such an offset position? What exactly are you planning to do?"
Azrael, who had just regained some color in his face, looked at Natarle with confusion. Though he wasn't a soldier, he was a weapons merchant of sorts; he had a decent grasp of firing angles and bearings in space.
The missile coordinates Natarle had just ordered were nowhere near the Archangel or the other two warships. They were aimed directly into a dense asteroid belt.
"If you do not understand, then please watch in silence."
Natarle's reply was curt and strictly official, causing Azrael to shrug helplessly. In that moment, he shared the same sentiment as Murrue and the others: this captain was far too rigid. However, as a soldier, she was highly qualified, for a soldier's first duty was to obey orders.
On the other side, the Barbatos was in the process of linking with the Kutan Type-III. The Alaya-Vijnana system in Mikazuki's brain rapidly processed the stream of feedback from the mobile suit.
"Internal thrusters shutting down. Inertial control system confirmed active. Booster docking position confirmed. Transitioning to manual control after connection. System docking initiated."
The Barbatos slowed down. The computer within the booster's cockpit processed data at a lightning pace, matching Mikazuki's own speed.
The Barbatos entered the forward section of the expanded booster unit. Once the mobile suit was precisely nested, the membrane chamber of the booster rotated, locking the Barbatos inside. For a moment, the cockpit went dark, and then Mikazuki's vision shifted as the Panoramic Monitor reactivated.
"Docking complete. All booster systems green. Alright... let's go, Barbatos."
The eyes of the Barbatos glowed within the darkness of the booster unit. With a thunderous boom, the rear thrusters erupted with staggering speed, propelling the machine toward the approaching Earth Alliance fleet.
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