Chapter 26: SEED – The Graveyard
Tolle Koenig, standing off to the side, gave a helpless nod.
"Yeah, better go as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more trouble it'll be.
Besides, the mission to protect this ship depends entirely on Kira. If something happens to him because he can't get over it… who knows what'll become of this ship in the future?"
Sai Argyle agreed.
"Right, Flay. And we didn't even get supplies back at Artemis Military Base, did we? ZAFT's still going to come after us too."
Flay Allster said dejectedly,
"Fine, I get it. I'll go apologize, okay?"
Tolle Koenig could only stand there shaking his head in resignation, at a loss for words.
The next day at noon, after finishing his shift, Sai Argyle headed to the mess hall for lunch.
The moment he sat down next to Flay Allster, she immediately got up and left.
When Sai moved to sit beside her again, she once more stood up and left. This repeated several times.
When Sai finally asked her what was going on, she looked annoyed and said,
"They said we have to save water, so I couldn't take a shower yesterday. I feel awful."
A group of people nearby, including Tolle Koenig, were left speechless at this "treasure" of a person, silently thinking to themselves:
[This woman Flay really is a piece of work—such a prime example of a refined egoist.]
At that moment, Kira Yamato walked in. Tolle Koenig, seeing him, asked,
"Kira, is the Strike Gundam's maintenance all done?"
Kira scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeah, it's done, but we can't use the wash unit to clean it. Having to save water is such a pain. I'm sure it's been a bother for you guys too."
Sai, sitting beside Flay, nudged her lightly a few times, signaling for her to apologize.
Flay Allster stood up with obvious reluctance, walked over to Kira, bowed, and said,
"Kira, I'm really sorry about what happened last time. I can't believe I actually said something like that to you."
Kira looked puzzled. "Something like what?"
"Back at Artemis, when I said you were a Coordinator."
Kira smiled gently at her, as if to say he really didn't mind.
"That's nothing to worry about. I didn't take it to heart. Besides, it's the truth."
Flay relaxed and smiled. "Thank you."
Then she turned back to look at Sai Argyle, her gaze holding none of the warmth she'd just shown Kira.
On the Archangel's bridge, Murrue Ramius, Natarle Badgiruel, and Mu La Flaga were discussing their next move.
The ship's water and food stores were critically low, and they urgently needed resupply—otherwise they wouldn't be able to make it to any Earth Alliance base.
After heated discussion, they decided to head to the nearest location: the debris field of the PLANT agricultural colony "Junius Seven."
There should be a large number of ice chunks drifting there in space, enough to secure their water supply for now.
Once the route was decided, Kira and the others were called to the bridge—likely to be briefed on the mission to search for supplies near the remains of Junius Seven.
Inside, Tolle Koenig was secretly excited—he was finally going to see Lacus Clyne in person.
Sure, he'd seen her countless times in anime and in doujin works, but this would be the real thing. The real thing.
And yes, since arriving in this world, he had secretly downloaded her music videos within just a few days. But those were still edited and polished—that didn't count as actually meeting her.
This—this would be the first true meeting.
She was, after all, his former dream girl.
With the encounter so close, he couldn't help feeling thrilled and overjoyed. It was like getting a new toy or game you'd always wanted—what man wouldn't be excited?
…Men are all the same. What they don't yet have will always seem like the best thing.
And if possible, he thought, they should also try to capture that reconnaissance GINN—that would be an early chance to pilot another Gundam.
Unfortunately, no matter how excited he was inside, he had to keep up an outward air of reluctance. That was hard.
Mu La Flaga addressed everyone. "We've found a place where we can resupply."
Sai Argyle asked, "Resupply? Where?"
Mu, looking a bit awkward, replied,
"Well… rather than saying we can resupply there, it's more like we can just help ourselves."
Murrue Ramius explained, "We're heading for the debris field."
Tolle Koenig feigned ignorance. "Debris field? Where's that?"
Sai Argyle's eyes widened. "Wait… you mean—"
Mu grinned. "You're pretty quick on the uptake."
Murrue added,
"The debris field contains all sorts of things drifting in space—of course, there'll be warships that were destroyed in battle as well."
Tolle put on a slightly nervous look. "You mean we're going to scavenge there?"
Mu said, "We don't have much choice. If we don't, we won't last much longer."
Murrue continued,
"I want you to use the work pods to help carry supplies."
Natarle added,
"We don't want to force anyone, but there's no other way. This is so we can survive."
Murrue finished,
"We're not trying to take from the dead. We only want to borrow a little of what they left behind—things we need now in order to keep living."
Tolle exchanged glances with Kira, Miriallia, and the others.
"Alright, understood. We agree."
Soon after, Kira Yamato launched in the Strike Gundam, while Tolle Koenig and Miriallia Haw piloted the refitted Moebius Kai.
The modifications included the Aegis Gundam's offensive shield system on the right, the Strike Gundam's spare shield on the left, and the Aegis's claw anchor mounted on the underside.
The others went out in engineering ships, all heading for the debris field to recover supplies.
When they arrived at the ruins of Junius Seven, they found floating cars, rubble, and even human corpses drifting in space.
Everyone was stunned by the colony's shattered state. They entered the remains of its buildings, searching for usable supplies and assessing the situation.
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