In space, a transport ship, from which shadows of the Archangel could be seen, was moving toward the lunar colony at idle speed.
"All right, this is as far as we can take you."
Lowe Guele's voice came through the hangar broadcast. "If we go any further, the Re.H.O.M.E. will be detected by the lunar base."
The transport ship's hatch opened, and a pure white mobile suit, leading a space shuttle carrying a large container, flew out from the ship's hangar.
To allow the shuttle to tow the container holding the Strike, Lowe had specially added two thrusters to the shuttle.
"…Our next course is back to Industrial 7."
Through the comms, Murrue's voice sounded. "Honestly, now that we've lost the Archangel, I don't even know what to do."
Clearly, after losing the Archangel and relinquishing her captain position as an anchor, she felt somewhat lost.
"After returning to Industrial 7, Cagalli will probably assign us collectively to that Izumo-class Ame-no-Murakumo? Then… no, maybe it's also feasible to convert an ordinary transport ship like Lowe did…"
Murrue was constantly thinking about which warship they could use next, but facing Orb's limited number of ships, she felt like a clever housewife with no rice to cook with.
"…No, we're not going back to Industrial 7."
Roz spoke, interrupting Murrue's train of thought.
Looking at the message from Christina on the touch screen beside him, along with the attached work report, Roz calculated the time and decided against heading to Industrial 7.
"Not going back to Orb's Industrial 7? Then where are we going?"
Through the comms, Natarle's voice responded. "Even though our status is still neutral, we can't go to the Moon, we can't go to PLANT, and even becoming space pirates or scrap collectors isn't realistic!"
At this point, Natarle was no longer concerned about her military identity and was even considering the possibility of taking the Archangel's crew to become space pirates or scrap collectors to survive.
Unfortunately, all speculations failed. Relying solely on a modified space shuttle and its limited supplies wasn't enough for Murrue to lead the Archangel's crew through such a transformation.
Moreover, if such a transformation were truly attempted, the crew, originally united under the goal of "stopping wars," would inevitably fracture.
"I'll take you to get a warship."
Roz thought for a moment, then tapped a few points on the touch screen. A set of coordinates was sent to the shuttle. "Follow me next and head toward this coordinate."
At this moment, Mu, temporarily acting as the shuttle's co-pilot, squinted instinctively at the coordinates Roz sent.
"An asteroid belt? Why go there?!"
Arnold, operating the shuttle beside him, saw the coordinates and exclaimed. "If we take this route, the shuttle will have to make a huge detour back to Industrial 7!"
"Besides, there's no large base in that asteroid belt."
Mu scratched his head. His previously solid impression of Roz's reliability began to waver. "Roz… the warship you're talking about… you don't mean we're going to scavenge like Lowe, do you?"
"Captain, you decide—return to Industrial 7, or follow Roz's plan?"
Murrue looked at her crew, who had turned toward her after Mu's words, her expression complicated.
After thinking for a long while, Murrue sighed.
"We really don't have many options now. Whether it's Orb or Miss Lacus, neither can spare extra warships."
"Then we can only follow Roz's plan. At least… this time, I still choose to trust him."
Murrue's words weren't without reason. Roz always came up with solutions when facing various difficulties.
Although the people on the Archangel verbally complained that Roz's decisions were unreliable, deep down they still hoped Roz would find a way out of the current predicament.
"Just stick close to me."
Roz steered the Unicorn Gundam to make a turn and proceeded in a direction. "That area has many anti-air cannons and missile launchers. Without identification codes, we'll be shot down."
"Anti-air cannons and missile launchers? Does that place have a base?"
Hearing Roz's words, Mu scratched his head. He hadn't expected the asteroid belt to actually contain a base. And judging by Roz's tone… it seemed the unknown base might even be his.
-----------------------------------
Although the asteroid belt where Roz's shipyard was located consisted mostly of large chunks of asteroids, the shuttle's maneuverability had significantly decreased due to towing a specially made large container. When navigating these asteroids, it felt somewhat constrained.
Roz glanced at the shuttle behind him, which had slowed down, slightly lifted the pedals, and the flames from Unicorn's thrusters weakened, reducing his speed.
"Looking at it now, this area really seems like an undeveloped space mine."
Observing the radar from the co-pilot seat, Mu looked somewhat incredulous at the scene before him.
"It seems like the resources are pretty rich. Why hasn't anyone come to mine here?"
"Because this area is too remote. Almost no trade routes pass through here, and the cost of transporting minerals back and forth is too high."
Just from glancing at the star chart, Murrue understood why Roz had chosen to secretly set up his "base" here. "Even if this place becomes a mining area in the future, it would take at least several to more than ten years."
Although Murrue had previously only been a technical officer, after taking the position of captain on the Archangel, she continuously absorbed the knowledge required of a warship captain. Star chart recognition and environmental analysis were naturally part of that.
"Be careful. It looks like a fire-control radar just scanned us."
Natarle noticed the shuttle's alarm flash for a moment and frowned.
"That must be what Roz referred to—the anti-air cannons and missile launchers."
Mu had clearly seen the brief alert as well and was observing the asteroid belt in front of him. Suddenly, Mu seemed to notice something and pointed in a direction.
"Look, there's an anti-air gun being retracted."
Natarle followed Mu's pointing and saw on a slightly larger asteroid a twin-barrel turret being systematically pulled back into the asteroid's interior. The camouflaged hatch closed, as if it had never appeared.
"…Almost there."
Roz's voice came through the comms.
The Unicorn, towing the shuttle, bypassed an asteroid and approached a slightly larger asteroid than the surrounding ones.
The camouflaged gate opened, revealing the internal hangar. Edge lights flashed, guiding the approaching shuttle into position.
-----------------------------------
"Wow… so big…"
For the first time, the Archangel's crew floated inside Roz's "shipyard," taking in everything before them.
Three MS frames, still in their semi-finished state, lay quietly in a nearby hangar, and not far off was a massive frame whose purpose was unknown. Only a few construction machines were working on installations, making it seem as though the construction had stalled.
"Wait… isn't that the Narrative?"
At that moment, a sharp-eyed crew member spotted the Narrative Gundam in the nearby hangar, already undergoing routine maintenance by construction machines.
Compared to Orb's ship maintenance docks or the Archangel's hangar, the enormous dock before them seemed highly automated. Apart from a young man with green hair, the machines were being operated by…
"Haro… there are so many of them?"
Seeing the Haros on the construction machines, Mu's eyes widened.
Haro, being the hottest "electronic pet" at the time, was something Mu had heard of—but could an "electronic pet" really operate such complex construction machines?
"They're not the electronic pets you imagine in your subconscious."
A slightly familiar voice sounded.
Crimson hair floated in the zero-gravity environment. Wearing a white lab coat and holding a Haro, Christina drifted in front of the Archangel's crew.
"Inside them are the victims of Blue Cosmos' wetware project."
Christina casually tossed the Haro in her arms onto an idle construction machine. Then, looking at Roz, she nodded as she always did. "You're back, Roz."
"Yeah, thanks for your hard work, Christina."
Roz floated over to her and gave her a hug. "Sorry for keeping you working overtime."
"Probably only the big Haro has a complaint now," Christina said, glancing at Murrue and Natarle, who were observing the base from a short distance away, frowning slightly.
Compared to observing the base, they were looking at Roz too often.
"Compared to a full body, with only a brain remaining, our energy consumption is very low. We can work continuously without stopping," Christina explained the current situation.
"So… those Haros are carrying…"
Hearing Christina, all of the Archangel's crew wore complicated expressions.
"Exactly. Here, aside from Roz and the big Haro, everything you see working…"
Roz released his hands, ending the hug. Christina blinked and looked at the crew of the Archangel.
"…contains brains that were meant to become part of Blue Cosmos' wetware project. That includes me, of course."
"Of course, you didn't come here just to chat or listen to my complaints."
With the sound of machinery operating, a metal wall used for isolation lowered, revealing vague shapes behind it.
Not far away, a previously dim area suddenly lit up, and a massive warship appeared before the crew of the Archangel.
"This is…"
Seeing the elegant warship, Murrue finally understood why Roz had brought them here.
"Welcome to Roz's very own shipyard."
Christina spoke, introducing it to everyone. "This is the place where all of Roz's designs come to life."
"Of course, this warship in front of you—both the funding for its construction and the design—comes entirely from Roz himself."
..................