"—My father?"
Flay beamed radiantly.
The moment Sai heard the news, he came straight to tell her.
Kira could feel Flay's grip on her hand tighten.
"Mm. I heard he came with the advance force. Of course, he didn't know you were here either, but apparently they've already sent over the passenger and crew list…"
Because Sai hadn't been helping on the bridge as he had in the original timeline, it had taken him considerable effort to learn the news. Fortunately, it wasn't classified information.
Rather, Murrue and the others were planning to announce it belowdecks to calm everyone.
Watching Flay's smiling face, Sai smiled with relief as well.
Then he looked at Kira behind her.
A Coordinator's voice and appearance were both artificial.
Sai believed that deep in his heart.
But even if they were artificial, he still…
"Kira."
A voice suddenly rang out.
"—!"
The instant she heard it, Flay, who had been so happy just moments earlier, suddenly tensed.
She clutched Kira's hand as though to keep the other person from stealing her away.
"Cagalli, located."
"Cagalli!" Kira's eyes lit up.
Both acted like older sisters toward Kira. Kira liked Flay more, but she felt more at ease when she was with Cagalli.
And there was something strangely familiar about Cagalli.
"I'm going to find Cagalli!" Kira said.
But Inori shook her head. "Kira, cannot go. The Strike lacks energy. And the Archangel needs Kira."
Inori continued, "Only the Blue Frame can reach Cagalli's rescue coordinates at present. I am the only one capable of piloting it. I require your authorization, Kira."
Kira might be spacey, but she understood the implication behind Inori's words.
"If an unexpected situation occurs…"
"I also require authorization to defend myself and counterattack."
"Go… but try not to do anything unnecessary," Kira said.
"Understood."
[Inori can't pilot an MS?]
[Looks like she can't pilot one alone without authorization. And judging by Kira's attitude, she's pretty cautious about opening up those permissions]
[Kira is a naive sweetheart, but she isn't an idiot. What happens when you give an AI high-level permissions?]
[Terminator?]
Yes, the Terminator franchise existed in the GBN world too.
[Excuse me, do you mean the Terminator where the villain Skynet gets one-shot by an RTX 4090 graphics card?]
[Bro, right in the heart lol]
[Kira likes Inori, but she doesn't actually know Inori very well. Their relationship looks close, yet there's a thick glass wall between them]
The scene shifted once more, this time to the officer's quarters.
Lacus stopped singing, gathered the spinning Haro into her lap, and gazed at Inori's signature on it.
The two signatures sat on opposite sides, perfectly symmetrical.
Inori's handwriting was beautiful and precise, almost as if it had been printed.
This was an Earth Alliance ship, and Lacus had never interacted with Naturals at such close range before.
She had tried to understand war, but imagining something and experiencing it were never quite the same.
"Naturals and Coordinators really are the same," Lacus murmured. "But…"
One person was different.
That Songstress-san.
She looked like a Coordinator, but for some reason, Lacus sensed that she wasn't quite like other Coordinators.
Lacus bobbed Haro's tiny head.
"—Then here is my question. Where are we heading now?"
Where were they heading?
The answer seemed about to reveal itself, yet in truth, no one knew.
"—A question?"
Wait.
A crucial piece of information flashed through Lacus's mind.
A question.
A question…
Someone… had posed a question.
Lacus had a faint sense of it.
She tried to understand everything.
Her lips parted, and she hummed softly, "Aimo, Aimo…"
You, you…
It was some unknown language, as if someone were offering a greeting—but who?
"Inori-san!"
Lacus rose to her feet.
There were questions she wanted answered.
No—questions she needed answered.
By then, however, Inori had already entered the Blue Frame.
"Inori-san, are you certain you'll be all right?"
Mechanic Murdoch was still worried.
"Inori, please be careful." Kira wanted to go too.
But she couldn't.
Her companions were still aboard the ship and needed her protection. And… Flay was here too.
"The battery is fully charged, and the propellant tanks are completely filled." Murdoch checked the maintenance data provided by the nearby AI, then gave Inori a thumbs-up.
"Mm. Then I will bring Cagalli-san back."
The cockpit hatch closed.
The Blue Frame then moved into the launch catapult.
"Inori, MBF-P03 Gundam Astray Blue Frame, launching."
The Blue Frame ignited its thrusters and sped toward Cagalli's location.
"That girl has launched."
Mu returned to the bridge from outside.
"Mm."
Murrue also looked out through the viewport.
To conserve propellant, Murrue had the Archangel temporarily change course and accelerate at full speed, giving the Blue Frame the highest possible initial velocity.
Only after the Blue Frame launched did the Archangel turn again.
"Everything aboard this ship is a complete mess. No telling how this will turn out when we arrive."
Mu sighed.
"We'll deal with it one step at a time."
In any case, preparations had already been made to destroy the ship's records.
Just then, a transmission from the advance force arrived on the bridge.
Murrue sat upright, and Mu straightened as well.
Captain Koopman of the escort ship Montgomery appeared on the screen.
Beside him stood a man in a suit.
"Our fleet will arrive at the designated rendezvous point on schedule. After rendezvous, the Archangel will temporarily come under this ship's command and proceed to the Lunar Fleet's assembly point."
Captain Koopman's steady voice filled Murrue with reassurance.
She had never realized how comforting it could feel to be placed back within an organization's chain of command.
—We're safe!
That was the only thought in Murrue's mind.
Then the man in the suit spoke. "I am George Allster, Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation."
"First, allow me to thank your ship for doing everything possible to rescue civilians…"
—Right.
Murrue remembered.
This was the man Sai had mentioned when he came to inquire earlier—Flay's father.
Flay was the beloved daughter of an important Atlantic Federation official.
From that perspective, this might work in her favor at the eventual inquiry.
Perhaps it could even spare her from a court-martial…
Yes, Murrue had already prepared herself to take the fall.
Given the Archangel's current situation, she had no choice but to shoulder all responsibility alone.
"And… I was both shocked and overjoyed to see my daughter Flay Allster's name on the passenger list. If possible, I would like to see her…"
Huh?
Murrue stared in astonishment.
Sir, do you not realize this is a warship?
He was letting personal matters interfere with official business a little too much. In a sense, he was rather similar to Flay.
Though Murrue wasn't exactly in a position to criticize him.
For the Archangel's sake, she had already violated many regulations and principles.
Captain Koopman hurriedly interjected. "Vice Foreign Minister, we will arrange a meeting as soon as we rendezvous."
The transmission ended.
Murrue smiled.
It was finally going to end.
"It is finally about to begin."
Meanwhile, aboard a ZAFT ship elsewhere, Le Creuset wore the same smile…