After receiving the news, the others left their stations and gathered around as well.
"Are they looking for us?"
"We're finally going to be rescued!"
"Thank goodness!"
Everyone crowded around Romero Pal, leaving him under enormous pressure.
"What's their position?" Murrue asked.
"Please wait… Whoa, that was fast!" Even Pal was startled by how "smoothly" the AI worked. "They're still fairly far from us."
"But if we can rendezvous with them!"
Jackie and Neumann exchanged a perfectly synchronized high five.
"Right! We can finally relax a little!"
With the Strike displaying near-godlike strength aboard the Archangel, plus two other MS, everyone had once felt confident about escaping.
But after the Red Frame was destroyed, much of that newly gathered morale had been crushed again.
The Archangel's supplies were limited, while ZAFT's pursuers clung to them like maggots in a wound, coming endlessly, one wave after another, like a nightmare that would never end.
Now, however, that nightmare was finally over.
The news was like a beam of light that illuminated the entire Archangel.
After hearing the message from the advance force, the crew's previously tense expressions relaxed into smiles, and even the atmosphere among the refugees became much calmer.
—They only had to endure a little longer. Just a little longer. Once they landed on Earth, they would surely be able to contact the family members they had been separated from…
And that wasn't the only good news.
Not long after receiving the transmission, Inori arrived on the bridge and gave Murrue another piece of good news.
"The probes have located Cagalli-san. Her vital signs are normal. She is safe and healthy."
"My, my. Now that's two blessings at once," Mu said with feeling.
"It's finally all coming to an end." Murrue, the acting captain, also let out a breath of relief.
[Holy crap, she's covered in death flags]
[What the hell do you mean, 'two blessings at once'?]
[Hey, poster above, do you even understand fidelity, expressiveness, and elegance in translation?]
[When they translate it literally, you complain it's too crude]
[Feels like disaster is coming]
[Dying laughing]
"Where is she?" Natarle asked. "We need to rendezvous with the advance force now. Any rescue team must depart immediately."
Natarle, Murrue, and Mu had all formed certain suspicions about Cagalli's identity.
Cagalli's attitude itself was unusual. It might not be polite to put it this way, but she always carried an air of "I practically am Orb."
And the students, Kira included, behaved strangely around Cagalli—almost respectfully.
That was rather telling.
So they had all vaguely reached the same conclusion: Cagalli was probably the child of someone in Orb's upper echelons, and might even possess considerable influence herself.
Of course, they didn't know Cagalli was the child of Uzumi, the Lion of Orb.
Otherwise, they would never have allowed her to take the Red Frame into battle.
But when Inori reported Cagalli's coordinates, Murrue, who had just relaxed, went rigid.
"She's… in the exact opposite direction."
That was right.
Cagalli was located in the exact opposite direction from the Eighth Fleet's advance force.
At this urgent moment, when they needed to rendezvous, there was no way the Archangel could turn around and fly in the completely opposite direction!
"With that heading… even if we send a rescue team, they may not be able to return."
Natarle considered the problem.
There was no air in space, and therefore no air resistance, but that didn't mean space travel required no fuel.
Especially when a detour was necessary.
Traveling in a straight line would be ideal, but from the Archangel's position, doing so meant crossing a densely packed wreckage field. One mistake could destroy the ship and kill everyone aboard.
So they could only take a detour.
But a detour would consume even more energy.
In other words, if they dispatched a rescue team, the team would most likely end up as more trash in the debris field alongside Cagalli.
What were they supposed to do?
Could they only… abandon her?
"…The Blue Frame has enough fuel," Inori suddenly said.
"The Blue Frame?" Murrue raised her head and silently waited for Inori to continue.
"After the Blue Frame's modifications, the Moebius Zero's original drive system remained intact. If it travels in a straight line, the Blue Frame has exactly enough energy to make a round trip."
All of this had been "foreshadowing" planted earlier, and now it was finally time for the "payoff."
The Blue Frame had two energy sources, so it could complete the journey there and back.
Even so, it couldn't take a detour. It had to travel in a straight line.
"Then Kira can—" Murrue began, only for Natarle to cut her off.
"No!"
Murrue had been about to suggest sending Kira on the rescue mission.
But from Natarle's perspective, without Kira, the Archangel would lose more than half its combat strength.
"It should be fine, shouldn't it?" Murrue said. "We'll rendezvous with the Eighth Fleet soon. Once that happens, we won't need to worry about being attacked."
"Captain! ZAFT's pursuit fleet may have vanished since the battle in the debris field, but they could catch up at any moment."
Natarle remained perfectly calm.
The fact that it was only an advance force also meant one thing: this wasn't the main fleet.
If ZAFT arrived in force, the advance unit's handful of ships… probably wouldn't be enough.
"Kira cannot do it. Insufficient fuel."
At that distance, Kira, who knew nothing about the terrain, would probably waste considerable energy navigating the debris field.
So even Kira couldn't make it.
At least, not the current Kira.
A Kira in SEED mode, or the fully developed late-game Kira, could have managed it.
But the current Kira was out of the question.
"I can," Inori suddenly said.
"…You?" Murrue was surprised.
"Yes. My precision is sufficient, but I require authorization."
Authorization again?
—What exactly did this authorization mean?
"If it's Inori-san, then it should be fine, right?" Mu saw no problem.
But Murrue suddenly thought of something. "May I ask, if Inori-san goes over there, roughly how much combat capability will Kira retain?"
"Hm?" Natarle didn't understand.
Did Inori somehow raise their side's combat strength by that much?
She had heard that Inori entered the Strike together with Kira, but was there something special about that arrangement?
"Seventy percent," Inori said. "But if Kira operates at full capacity, compared with her previous performance, she can reach one hundred and twenty percent."
Right. As long as Kira entered SEED mode, she could continue improving.
And as long as Inori remained nearby, Kira would rely on her and never enter SEED mode.
So, Kira, I'm sorry.
Dad's stepping out to buy you some oranges. You handle the teamfight by yourself for now…