"You mean to say... after watching Matthew and O'Neill die before your eyes... you came slinking back like a drowned dog?"
Inside the ZAFT vessel, a white-haired man was gripping Athrun by the collar, his eyes sharp as he interrogated him.
This white-haired man was Yzak Joule, pilot of the Duel Gundam - one of the four Gundams stolen by ZAFT.
"I thought you went there to avenge Miguel, but instead you personally delivered two more comrades to the enemy's blade!"
"Answer me! Athrun!"
Yzak questioned Athrun with intense emotion. Three comrades had died before his eyes, and he had been unable to prevent it... He was deeply angered by Athrun's apparent incompetence.
"Do you think I wanted them to die?"
Athrun brushed away Yzak's hand from his collar, glaring back at him.
How could he not have wanted his comrades to return alive? How could he not have wanted to defeat that Assault Suit? But that Assault Suit... whether in terms of skill or unpredictability, was not something he could easily handle alone.
"So you're saying you were defeated by a Natural in terms of ability? Don't make me laugh!"
"You haven't even fought him! What right do you have to stand here and criticize! If you think it's so easy, why don't you go fight him yourself!"
Between these two, Yzak believed that a machine piloted by a mere Natural posed no real threat, and that their comrades' deaths were entirely due to Athrun's carelessness and negligence. Athrun felt that since Yzak hadn't even fought the enemy, he had no right to stand there pointing fingers.
As their argument grew more heated, even threatening to turn physical, the green-haired Nicol hurried over to intervene.
"Both of you, stop fighting—"
He stepped between the two who seemed ready to come to blows. Seeing Nicol's intervention, they glared at each other but said nothing more.
"Whether Athrun took it seriously or not... we'll find out when he personally fights that thing called the Assault Suit next time."
Dearka shrugged from nearby, expressing his confusion about the two who had been arguing for so long.
Hearing Dearka's words, Yzak nodded slightly.
What Athrun couldn't accomplish, the revenge he couldn't achieve... in the next battle, he would do it himself! He would be the one to get revenge!
Thinking this, Yzak snorted lightly and left with Dearka, slamming the door behind them.
"Athrun, don't take it too hard... Yzak just cares too much about his comrades..."
Looking at Athrun who was still breathing heavily to calm himself, Nicol tried to explain things, attempting to resolve the conflict between them.
Athrun nodded silently. This wasn't the first time he'd had conflicts with Yzak... he knew exactly what the other was like.
What occupied his mind now... was that Assault Suit.
A mere Natural... yet possessing such unusual piloting skills. Combined with that machine's strange capabilities...
He really couldn't accept this defeat.
Damn Earth Alliance forces. Next time we meet, I'll definitely—
Just as he reached this thought, Creuset's voice suddenly came from nearby. Athrun initially thought he was coming to hold him accountable, but then realized... Creuset's purpose seemed different from what he had expected?
"Nicol, if you have time, come with me. I have a special mission... to assign you."
"...Why do I feel like someone's secretly talking about me behind my back?"
Lu Tianming, who had arrived in the hangar, felt a small lightning bolt flash across his forehead, giving him the sensation of being coveted.
"Lots of people talk about you. Just here in the hangar alone, there are plenty. Why do you care about that?"
Sergeant Murdoch waved his hand dismissively. Lu Tianming was currently the star of the Archangel; merely standing here made him a topic of discussion—how could people not talk about him?
Lu Tianming scratched his head and thought about it, realizing that it was indeed the case.
"Ah, never mind that... While you were resting, we did a quick inspection and modification of the Assault Suit. Go take a look later and see how it is."
"What did you inspect and modify?"
Lu Tianming nodded, curious as he pressed for details.
"The inspection was just a full machine check and maintenance... That energy ball and Wings of Light you somehow managed to create exceeded the rated capacity of the energy transfer tubes, causing some parts to wear out."
"On top of the original setup, we made some simple modifications to the Assault Suit's energy transfer system so it can handle those excessive outputs, and we repaired the damaged parts."
"I also modified a sensor and installed it in the Assault Suit... Now the Assault Suit should have an additional 'Combat Sensor' mode. In this mode, it can see through the disguise of Mirage Particles and has slightly better close-combat processing capabilities."
"As for the Mirage Particles, we couldn't replicate them due to limited supplies... but we developed a similar interference coating that will make it harder for the enemy to target you in actual combat."
Murdoch explained the changes to the Assault Suit in detail. Hearing that the energy transfer tubes had been overloaded and strained to their limits, Lu Tianming felt a chill of fear.
Fortunately, the Assault Suit had run out of power earlier. If the Wings of Light had continued to operate, and one of the tubes had truly overloaded and burst, he would have been in serious trouble.
Even for Xia Chuan, it would have been a brain-hemorrhage-level incident.
After listening to Sergeant Murdoch, Lu Tianming smiled and nodded, indicating that he would go try it out right away.
Just as he was about to turn and board the machine, he heard Sergeant Murdoch hesitantly ask from behind:
"Tianming... do you think this Assault Suit really has a Machine Spirit?"
Initially, when Kira had paid his respects, Murdoch had thought it was just a blessing... but after seeing the Assault Suit unleash those powerful Wings of Light that weren't even mentioned in the manual, he had started to believe it.
Lu Tianming could roughly sense his doubt, but he couldn't fully explain Xia Chuan's situation. Moreover, he himself wasn't entirely clear on the activation mechanism of the Wings of Light...
So he could only shrug slightly and reply:
"Yes, my friend, it really does."
Was he just brushing it off? Not exactly, because he really was here to play with the 'Machine Spirit.'
After piloting the Assault Suit a few times, Lu Tianming had grown familiar with the motion of opening the cockpit. He pressed a few buttons on the panel next to the cockpit, lifted the hatch, and climbed in.
After making sure the hatch was properly closed and no one outside could hear him, he tapped on the dim control panel in front of him.
"Stop sleeping, stop sleeping, get up quickly."
At Lu Tianming's call, the Assault Suit's cockpit gradually lit up, and Xia Chuan's lazy voice tinged with a hint of resentment came through:
"...I was just in a deep sleep, what are you calling me for?"
"The Hangar just finished a round of repairs for you. Try it out and see how it feels."
"Huh?"
Hearing Lu Tianming's words, Xia Chuan was a bit dazed. Earlier, after he shut down to recharge, his consciousness had been like sleeping, completely unaware of what had happened outside.
Only after hearing Lu Tianming's words did he tentatively move his body—and then his whole person... or rather, the entire machine became excited.
"Whoa—it really does feel much better, doesn't it?"