Chapter 21: SEED – The Umbrella of Artemis
Fortunately, Kira Yamato had finished re-equipping ahead of time and activated the Phase Shift Armor, so the grenade didn't cause the Strike Gundam any damage at all.
Fully re-outfitted, the Strike Gundam immediately fired its high-energy beam cannon, blasting apart the Duel Gundam's weapon and right arm.
Weaponless, Yzak Joule was furious and humiliated, but he wasn't stupid—he immediately turned the Duel Gundam around and retreated.
Watching the Duel Gundam flee, Kira quickly piloted the Strike Gundam toward the area where the Moebius Zero was engaged.
He continuously fired the high-energy beam cannon at the four Gundams ZAFT had stolen.
The Moebius Zero seized the opportunity to strike as well, hitting the enemy while they were down and launching attacks on the four Gundams.
Seeing the tide turn against them, the four ZAFT Gundams had no choice but to retreat in disarray.
On the Archangel's bridge, the radar operator reported, "Enemy mobile suits retreating."
At last, everyone could breathe again. Murrue Ramius relaxed and slumped back in the captain's chair.
Tolle Koenig wiped the sweat from his brow—finally, it was over. Now he could openly go train in piloting the Moebius mobile armor.
Meanwhile, after returning, Kira Yamato still hadn't emerged from the Strike Gundam's cockpit.
The mechanics nearby grew anxious and forcibly opened the hatch.
Inside, they saw Kira breathing heavily, his expression dazed—it was clear he hadn't yet recovered from the battle.
The fight had left him shaken, filling him with fear and dread.
Mu La Flaga stepped forward, gently prying his fingers from the control sticks, and said,
"Come on out. The battle's over. You and I are still alive, the Archangel is intact—you did well."
Only then did Kira, still dazed, release the controls and look down at his hands.
Tolle and the others returned to the Archangel's crew quarters.
Flay Allster, spotting Sai Argyle, rushed straight to him, threw her arms around him, and began sobbing and complaining nonstop—how terrified she'd been, how much she'd suffered, and so on.
Listening nearby, Tolle felt deeply irritated. He knew full well about Flay's spoiled-princess temper, but actually hearing her now made him want to slap her just to shut her up.
It was as if the rest of them hadn't just been through the same battle—as if they weren't scared themselves.
Thinking of this, Tolle decided his own girlfriend, Miriallia Haw, deserved some comfort too.
Let Kuzzey Buskirk eat that couple's-dog-food alone.
So he pulled Miriallia into his arms and said reassuringly,
"Don't worry, Miriallia. I'll always protect you."
She leaned against him and murmured softly, "Mm. Thank you, Tolle."
…
On the bridge, the comms officer reported, "Artemis has accepted our docking request—they'll be sending an inspection vessel shortly."
Murrue replied, "Understood. Thank you."
Elsewhere, upon hearing the news, Mu La Flaga leaned close to Kira in the lounge and whispered,
"Forgot to tell you—
I've locked the Strike Gundam's startup system. No one but you can activate it now."
Kira was taken aback.
Before long, Artemis's inspection craft boarded the Archangel, and two Artemis officers arrived in the hangar.
Murrue Ramius and Natarle Badgiruel quickly went forward to greet them.
After a round of checks, the Archangel was granted entry into the Artemis military base.
The lightwave defense field of Artemis opened a gap, and following the guidance, the Archangel slowly flew inside.
Standing at the observation window on the bridge, Tolle Koenig practically drooled at the sight of Artemis's lightwave barrier system.
[I want one so bad. With this lightwave defense system, my Gundam could cosplay as the Hyaku Shiki.
An impenetrable defense… I have to get my hands on it.]
He immediately reached out to Nami through his mental link.
"Nami, separate some neo DG cells from the Archangel and transfer them into the Artemis base. Copy their entire lightwave defense system for me. Also, when the Blitz Gundam shows up to raid this place later, use the chaos to gather supplies for building Satellite Zea. And secretly assimilate one of the Federation's Moebius space fighters. Outfit it with four mechanical arms, load it with every weapon it can carry, add more thrusters, and top off the energy reserves. When I get the chance, I'll take that Moebius out myself and recover the resources."
"Understood, Master. Nami will see it done!"
"Oh? At this hour, you're sounding smarter than ever—your tone's even getting a little human."
"Heehee, caught me, Master. The core computational unit for Satellite Zea is complete. Ever since I linked to its processing power, I've started changing. You… don't dislike me like this, do you?"
"How could I dislike you? I like it—couldn't be happier.
Once Satellite Zea is finished, I'll make you a Shuma-class body.
You'll be my chief secretary, helping me with everything, hehe."
"Yes, Master. I look forward to the day I can stand beside you. I have a lot of work now, so I'll get started. Bye-bye."
Before he could answer, her voice vanished from his mind.
Tolle could only continue holding Miriallia, chatting and watching the scenery—leaving Kuzzey to eat dog food by himself.
After all, Flay was still leaning against Sai, watching the Artemis base through the observation window and chatting with him.
Tolle had a girlfriend—no way was he going to eat someone else's dog food.
Everyone seemed to think that with Artemis's massive "umbrella" overhead, they were finally safe—no more fear or danger.
Tolle scoffed inwardly.
[Heh… if only. This defense system might look good, but it's about to be useless. Besides, the people here aren't going to treat us well—they'll want the Strike Gundam's data and will run us through the wringer once we're inside. Not to mention, this place is about to blow, courtesy of the Blitz Gundam ZAFT stole. That big umbrella's about to be shredded into scrap…]
Not long after, Sai led Flay off the bridge to rest.
The moment they left, Tolle looked out the observation window and saw that once the Archangel had entered the base, it was clamped in place.
Dozens of Moebius mobile armors had their weapons trained on the ship, and a fully armed strike team was boarding the hangar.