Chapter 31 – SEED: Rendezvous
Sergeant Murdoch thought for a moment, then replied with absolute confidence.
"Alright, brat, I'll bet with you. If you lose, you'll be helping out the maintenance crew until we disembark."
"Heh heh heh, don't think you can slack off just because we're about to leave the ship."
Tolle Koenig raised his right hand toward Sergeant Murdoch.
"Fine, no problem. Let's seal it with a high-five.
If I lose, I won't back out—I'll help the maintenance crew until we disembark.
But if I win, Sergeant Murdoch, you'll have to finish modifying the Moebius as soon as possible."
Sergeant Murdoch slapped Tolle's palm hard and said,
"Hahaha! A deal's a deal—no cheating. You're doomed to lose."
Good thing Tolle had decent endurance; otherwise, Murdoch's smack would have swollen his hand.
Tolle put on an exaggerated show of pain and yelled out loud, but inside he was thinking:
[Heh heh, betting with me on the storyline? You've already lost.
I've watched Gundam SEED at least ten times—there's no way I'd forget such a key plot point.
Hahaha, you're done for. You'll be my part-time lackey soon enough.]
"Ow, ow, ow! Sergeant Murdoch, next time I'm not sealing a deal with you by high-five.
Sheesh, you hit way too hard. Is this your way of making sure that even if you lose, you still come out ahead?
But I'll throw your own words back at you—you're the one who's doomed to lose."
Murdoch retorted indignantly,
"Humph, we'll see who wins and who loses.
Kira, you can be our witness."
"Yeah, Kira, be our witness. That way Murdoch can't deny it when he loses."
Standing to the side, Kira Yamato looked a little awkward and said hesitantly,
"I'd rather not… As long as you're both happy, don't mind me, hehe…"
Seeing Kira's discomfort, Murdoch dropped the matter and said he was going to rest, leaving the two of them alone.
Kira went back to adjusting the Strike Gundam's various parameters to match its performance deviation.
Tolle returned to his MS combat simulation training—after all, he'd taken the Duel Gundam's weapons.
On the battlefield, if he ran into any of the Duel, Buster, or Blitz Gundams, they would definitely attack him on sight—possibly even call in the others to gang up on him.
As for the Aegis, well, that was Kira's problem. Those two were like magnets—if they met in battle, it wouldn't involve Tolle much anyway.
Still, it was a headache. For one moment of satisfaction, he'd made three powerful enemies.
He couldn't reveal his true abilities, and he couldn't over-modify his machine.
Otherwise, he could just upgrade the Moebius himself—no need to bet with Murdoch over it.
…
"Radar has detected three warships—escort ships Montgomery, Barrington, and Lawrence."
On the Archangel, the radar operator excitedly reported the good news, and everyone else broke into cheers.
But moments later, the radar operator suddenly grew tense.
"This is…"
Murrue Ramius felt a bad premonition and asked sharply,
"What is it?"
The radar operator replied in a shaken voice,
"Neutron jamming! It's coming from that area!"
The atmosphere on the Archangel's bridge instantly grew uneasy.
Meanwhile, aboard a ZAFT Nazca-class ship, Ginn units were launching one after another, heading toward the Earth Forces.
On the Federation's side, battle stations were sounded, and multiple Moebius units launched to intercept ZAFT's attack.
The radar operator reported again, voice tense,
"Combat heat signatures detected ahead—likely the advance team is engaged in battle."
The tension on the Archangel's bridge only grew.
The communications officer reported, "Message from the Montgomery: rendezvous aborted—Archangel is ordered to turn back immediately and retreat."
The crew on the bridge froze, unsure how to react.
Natarle Badgiruel looked to Murrue Ramius in alarm and called out urgently,
"Captain Ramius!"
Murrue quickly steadied herself and asked the radar operator,
"How many enemy forces?"
"One Nazca-class battleship, three Ginn heat signatures… wait—
It's… the Aegis. GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam."
Hearing the name Aegis Gundam sent a wave of shock through the bridge crew.
Murrue asked again,
"You're certain that's a Nazca-class ship?"
Out in the battle, the Aegis was darting between Moebius units, taking them out one after another with precise beam rifle shots.
The three Ginns alongside it unleashed rocket and machine gun fire in turn, tearing through the Moebius formation as they pressed toward the three escort ships.
On the Archangel's bridge, Natarle pressed Murrue again,
"Captain Ramius!"
Murrue lowered her head in thought, then said,
"Even if we turn back now, there's no guarantee we can escape ZAFT's pursuit."
Then, firmly, she declared,
"All hands, battle stations!
The Archangel will move to cover the advance team!"
The ship's internal alarms blared.
Tolle Koenig turned to Murrue.
"Captain Ramius, Tolle Koenig requesting permission to sortie in the Blitz Ginn!"
Miriallia Haw stood up, shocked. "Tolle!"
Tolle stepped forward, gently embraced Miriallia, and looked into her tear-filled eyes.
"Miriallia, I'll be fine. Kira will be with me.
We'll protect everyone—and I'll protect myself, and you."
"But, Tolle, you…" Miriallia swallowed back her words, then said,
"Tolle, please… be careful."
Murrue shook her head slightly, then said seriously,
"Tolle Koenig, volunteer soldier—permission to launch granted."
Her tone softened.
"Stay safe, and good luck."
Tolle nodded, saluted.
"Yes, ma'am, Captain Ramius!"
He left the bridge at once, heading for the hangar.
On the way, running down the corridor, he spotted Kira Yamato and was about to call out—
—but saw Flay Allster stop Kira and ask,
"Kira, what's with the battle alert? Where's the advance team?"
"I don't know either," Kira replied. "I haven't heard anything yet."
Just as Kira was about to turn and leave, Flay grabbed his arm again, her face tense.
"It'll be okay, right? My father's ship won't be attacked, will it?"
Kira could only smile gently and reassure her,
"It'll be fine, Flay. We'll be heading back too."
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