P.L.A.N.T. consisted of twelve cities, with each city governing roughly ten colonies on average.
The P.L.A.N.T. Supreme Council was composed of twelve councilors, one representing each city.
The chairmanship generally followed an annual rotation, while councilors served three-year terms before standing for reelection.
The colony the Archangel was heading toward belonged to Aprilius City. Its representative was Lacus's father, Siegel Clyne, whose primary fields of expertise included astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science, and astrobiology.
They were now only an hour away from their destination.
Naturally, the Archangel had already entered P.L.A.N.T. space. Several warships belonging to ZAFT, P.L.A.N.T.'s military organization, were escorting it on all sides.
The inner hatch leading onto the Archangel's bridge opened, and someone hurried inside.
"I'm sorry. I overslept."
An unusually apologetic admission escaped Natarle's lips.
After completing her previous shift, she had returned to her quarters to rest for a few hours. She should have awakened and reported back to duty on time, but she had accidentally slept longer than intended.
As she hurried onto the bridge and passed a certain person, her expression became slightly unnatural and a faint blush colored her cheeks.
It was incredibly embarrassing.
She had nearly drowned in such a ridiculous fashion and needed him to save her.
He had performed artificial respiration on her, but her sudden, desperate gasp for air had pressed their lips even more tightly together. Her tongue had even brushed against his.
That was not all. He must have seen her entire body clearly, since she had been completely naked in the water.
The embarrassment of what had happened was precisely why she had struggled to fall asleep afterward, which had ultimately caused her to oversleep.
"It's fine. If anything important had happened, we would've woken you."
Murrue glanced at someone as she answered.
She had noticed Natarle's reaction when passing him. The formidable woman who always presented such a cold and stern image had actually looked uncomfortable, perhaps even embarrassed.
Apparently, something interesting had happened during Natarle's previous shift.
"Captain, a newly launched ZAFT warship is rapidly approaching the Archangel!"
The sudden, urgent report made Murrue's eyes sharpen as she looked toward one of the displays.
A ZAFT warship was closing in at high speed without attempting to establish contact. That alone could be interpreted as a hostile act.
"They've locked their main guns onto us!"
The operator's voice had become extremely tense.
The enemy ship was already dangerously close. If it opened fire, evasion would be difficult.
"There's no need to evade. Maintain our scheduled course toward Aprilius City!"
Murrue gave the order, but her entire body tensed.
In the next instant, the enemy ship's main guns erupted with high-energy beams, making Murrue's heart leap into her throat.
Nearly everyone on the bridge either braced themselves in their seats or grabbed onto something nearby, preparing for the impact.
But in reality...
"Hmph."
Takao snorted.
The attack struck her Klein Field and was stopped completely. The Archangel barely even trembled.
Now the people aboard this ship should finally understand how powerful she was. They could stop worrying that her Wave-Force Armor might be unreliable.
Takao immediately retaliated, firing several of the main guns installed aboard the Archangel and destroying every missile the enemy had launched.
At that moment, a blinding flash suddenly erupted.
Takao's expression tightened slightly as she reinforced the Klein Field.
In the end, the field's operating load rose to thirty-three percent.
By comparison, blocking the previous barrage from the enemy's main guns had required less than three percent.
The brilliant light gradually faded, and the faint vibrations running through the Archangel settled.
"They actually detonated their own ship in a nuclear suicide attack!"
"Are they insane? They nearly caught their own people in the blast!"
"They're no different at all!"
The last remark came from Natarle.
She meant that P.L.A.N.T. apparently had its own fanatics who were no different from Blue Cosmos.
Natarle immediately entered combat command mode and began directing the Archangel's weapons systems to prepare for battle at any moment.
However, after the nuclear explosion failed, the enemy launched no further attacks.
A communication request soon arrived. The image that appeared on the screen was Eileen Canaver, a member of the P.L.A.N.T. Supreme Council and chairwoman of its Diplomatic Committee.
"What exactly is going on, Eileen?"
Ezalia Joule, another member of the Supreme Council who was also aboard the Archangel, questioned her with an ashen expression.
She had boarded the ship and returned with Lacus. P.L.A.N.T. had been notified of this in advance, yet someone had still launched such an attack against them.
"What's going on? Ezalia, as chairwoman of the National Defense Committee, surely you can see it for yourself."
The faint mockery in Eileen's reply silenced Ezalia for a moment.
Patrick was almost certainly connected to the attack.
Of course, he would never admit it. He would probably claim that the attackers belonged to the same extremist faction responsible for carrying out the Junius Seven plan.
After the attackers realized that even such an assault could not destroy the Archangel, and Eileen ordered the fleet under her authority to escort it, no further attacks occurred.
Eileen also informed them that Patrick was not in Aprilius City. No one knew where he was, but he was undoubtedly preparing something dangerous.
Something dangerous?
A possibility occurred to Ezalia, and her expression darkened.
She could no longer keep it secret. She had to reveal the truth immediately. Once that weapon was activated, it would already be too late.
The weapon was originally not expected to be completed for another six months. Over the past two weeks, however, Patrick had used his control over the military to concentrate resources on its construction without regard for cost.
Under his dictatorship, they might already have pushed it far enough to make it barely operational.
"Captain Murrue, we must head for the Yachin Due fortress immediately."
Lacus, who had remained silent until now, spoke before Ezalia could reveal what Patrick might be preparing.
Ezalia stared at her in surprise, then gave a bitter smile.
It appeared that Lacus already knew what Patrick was doing.
Patrick was most likely at Yachin Due, preparing to activate a superweapon.
...
Rau Le Creuset gazed at the enormous installation before him.
One mirror after another was currently being installed, and the system's calibration was nearly complete.
Once the installation process finished, Earth's destruction would not be far behind.
A report arrived at that moment.
Creuset read the information, and his expression darkened slightly.
He had not expected the Long Legs to possess the same type of defensive barrier as that extraordinary warship. Even a nuclear detonation at such close range had failed to inflict any significant damage.
"They're heading straight for Yachin Due? I hope Chairman Zala can properly defend his GENESIS and fulfill his wish. Accomplishing that would also fulfill half of my own wish."
A faint smile touched Creuset's lips.
"As for the remaining half, I'll let Messiah complete it."
Messiah originally meant savior.
Unfortunately, here it would become the instrument Creuset used to destroy the world.
He felt slightly apologetic toward his old friend, Gilbert Durandal.
(End of Chapter)
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