The Archangel took the lead out of the port, followed immediately by the Eternal, the Kusanagi, and the Sastri.
On the Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset was waiting for the right moment to strike. When he heard the report, his brow furrowed behind his mask.
"What? The Legged Ship, the Eternal, and two other warships have all left the port?"
The captain nodded. "Yes. It seems they are leaving the L4 Colony Cluster."
Damn it.
Creuset cursed inwardly. He realized the enemy had already guessed his intentions. His true goal wasn't just to pick off stragglers; he was using the pursuit of the Eternal as a pretext to achieve a much darker objective.
"Tch, that princess is no fool. It seems I can't wait any longer. Vesalius, maximum speed! Close in on the Legged Ship and the Eternal!"
"Yes, sir!"
Because he wore a mask, no one could see the expression on Creuset's face. Although he gave the order, he didn't actually care about the pursuit itself. The Three Ships Alliance had caught him off guard with this sudden departure, and his initial calculations seemed to be falling through.
Those useless Earth Alliance fools... why haven't they shown up after all this time?
What Creuset didn't know was that the Dominion had only just rendezvoused with reinforcements sent from the Lunar Base less than two hours ago. It was estimated they would need another half-hour to arrive.
Creuset pulled a disk from his pocket.
Just a little longer. I just need to stall them for a while. As soon as the Earth Alliance warships appear, the victory is mine...
"So, Earth Alliance... Muruta Azrael, don't let me down with your ambition."
On the Archangel, Dalida shouted from his station in the CIC.
"The Nazca-class is moving toward us! Their main guns are locked on!"
"MS signals detected! It's a GINN! And the Duel Gundam!"
Murrue Ramius calmly issued her orders.
"Lock weapons on the Archangel. Proceed according to the predetermined battle plan. At the same time, notify the MS units on all ships to prepare for sortie. We must break through the Nazca-class blockade!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Aboard the Eternal, Mikazuki Augus sat inside the Barbatos. Hearing the sortie command through his headset, he glanced at the Freedom Gundam behind him before speaking.
"Mikazuki Augus, Barbatos, launching!"
The Barbatos departed, its auxiliary thrusters following closely as it reached the catapult deck.
"Barbatos auxiliary thrusters, ready. Launch!"
Inside the hangar of the Vesalius, Creuset, now dressed in a silver-white pilot suit, turned to face a person in a standard spacesuit. If any crew member from the Archangel had been there, they would have gasped in shockbecause the person wearing the ZAFT spacesuit was Flay Allster.
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
Flay looked at Creuset with a dazed, lost expression. To be honest, she was still confused as to how she had ended up aboard a ZAFT warship.
"You hate war, don't you? I have the key. The key to the final door that ends the war."
As he spoke, Creuset held out the disk. "As long as you give this to the Earth Alliance, the war will end."
"Uh..."
Flay instinctively reached out and took the disk. Creuset's lips curled upward; he was clearly smiling.
"In a moment, you'll have to squeeze into an escape pod. Soon, the Earth Alliance will appear, and I will release the pod you're in. That way, you can leave this dangerous place full of Coordinators. All you have to do is deliver this key to the Earth Alliance. How about it? Simple, isn't it?"
"..."
Flay stared at the disk in her hand for a long time. She looked up, staring straight at Creuset's mask. "If I give this to the Earth Alliance, will the war really end?"
"Of course. I wouldn't joke about something like this. After all, I'm a bit tired myself. I hope the war ends quickly so I can finally get some rest."
Creuset nodded, his true expression hidden behind the mask.
"...I understand. I don't really have a choice anyway, do I?"
"A wise decision. Then, until we meet again, Flay Allster."
With that, Creuset pushed off lightly with his feet, drifting toward his own machine. As his body floated upward, the smile beneath his mask widened into a predatory grin.
The rest is up to you... Earth Alliance.
The battle had been raging for nearly twenty minutes. In that short time, Mikazuki had managed to directly destroy the thrusters of one Nazca-class warship, despite the heavy interference.
Moreover, at this distance, the auxiliary thrusters weren't very useful for maneuvering. After unleashing two barrages, Mikazuki switched the auxiliary thrusters to computer control and sent them crashing directly into the Nazca-class ship, using the explosion to cover the four friendly warships.
The loss of one Nazca-class ship significantly reduced the pressure on Murrue and the others. Seeing the opening, Lacus immediately issued an order.
"Charge out through the route Mikazuki cleared!"
The Eternal was the first to rush through, with the Sastri following close behind. Just as the Archangel and the Kusanagi were about to break out, a beam struck the Kusanagi's lower main gun.
Following the impact, the bridge staff felt the pressure drop.
"What happened?"
Erica Simmons looked back and cried out, "Large heat source detected! It's the Earth Alliance's Archangel-class ship, the Dominion, and the Agamemnon-class!"
The screen displayed the Dominion alongside multiple Agamemnon-class carriersat least six of them, double the number from the previous wave of attack.
Seeing this, Cagalli slammed her fist against the wall, her face pale with frustration.
"Damn it! Have they caught up to us? What's the damage report?"
The controller reported, "The bottom No. 2 main gun is damaged and inoperable. Everything else is stable."
"Full speed ahead! Don't let them pin us down!"
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