The fuel from the two trucks brought Barbatos's thruster fuel gauge to eighty percent.
Mikazuki sat in the pilot seat, staring at the screen with his usual dead-fish eyes. "Where can we even go with this much fuel...?"
"Mika, let's make a trip to P.L.A.N.T.," Orga said suddenly.
Mikazuki tilted his head, looking a bit lost. "Huh? P.L.A.N.T.? Where Lacus is? Isn't that in space? What are we going there for?"
"Lacus Clyne has something Barbatos needs right now. But even though I say that, how we get there is still an issue."
Just then, Lowe's communication signal rang out.
"Hey, kid, where are you headed next? I'm heading back to Orb!"
Mikazuki looked down at the Tekkadan screen, and he and Orga spoke in unison.
"He's the one."
Inside the Gundam Astray Red Frame, Lowe suddenly felt a chill and shivered involuntarily. "What? Did I catch a cold outside just now?"
Orb Airport.
Mikazuki piloted Barbatos down from the transport plane. Cagalli, dressed in formal attire, walked over angrily while holding down her golden hair that was whipping in the wind. She looked up at the battle-scarred Barbatos with a look of pure disbelief.
"Barbatos is actually damaged... What on earth happened?"
Stopping Barbatos alongside Lowe's Gundam Astray Red Frame, Mikazuki deactivated the Alaya-Vijnana System. Half of his vision went dark. He opened the cockpit and jumped down, stepping onto Barbatos's shoulder and arm to descend.
"How did you end up with that Junk Guild member who found the MBF-P02? Mikazuki, and... why is Barbatos like this? What happened?"
Mikazuki calmly tossed a Mars Date into his mouth and spoke while chewing. "Nothing much. We just ran into a troublesome guy. It took a bit of effort to handle him."
"What do you mean 'troublesome guy'? That guy was terrifying!" Lowe grumbled as he walked over, his expression sour.
Naturally, his mood was foul because Mikazuki had threatened him. If Lowe didn't take them to Orb, Mikazuki would hijack his Red Frame... or something along those lines.
"You're a terrifying brat, too. You and that black machine aren't human. You're demons! Devils!"
A petite girl ran out from the crowd behind them, looking Lowe up and down. "Lowe, what did you even do? You say you were threatened, but you look perfectly fine to me."
"Hey, hey, Juri, I really was threatened! This kid held a blade to the Red Frame's neck and said if I didn't bring him to Orb, he'd take me out! It was super scary! Hey, Mikazuki, I'll forgive you as long as you let me research your machine for a bit."
A murderous glint flashed in Mikazuki's eyes. "I'll kill you."
Lowe instantly ducked behind Juri Wu Nien. "See? Totally terrifying!"
Hearing that, Juri looked subconsciously at Mikazuki, who was standing with Cagalli, and covered her mouth in surprise. "No way... is the pilot of that machine really such a young child?"
"Oh my, this is truly impressive."
A very beautiful, glasses-wearing woman with a smile walked over, her hands tucked into the pockets of her white lab coat. She was accompanied by a man with hair as long as a woman's.
"Just by looking at its exterior, you can tell this machine is completely different from other Mobile Suits."
"Professor!" Lowe called out to the sexy woman. Not even their partners in the Junk Guild knew the Professor's real name.
"The flight thrusters on the Red Frame are perfectly fine. They're amazing!"
"Is that so? That's good. So, Erica, what's the deal with this boy?" The Professor looked toward Erica Simmons, the development director of Morgenroete and the M1 Astray, who was standing behind Cagalli.
Erica stepped up beside Cagalli and gave a wry smile as she looked at Mikazuki, who was quite a bit shorter than her. "To be honest, I don't know either. But Cagalli should know, right?"
Cagalli turned her head away, clearly unwilling to answer Erica's question. This left Erica feeling helpless, but there was nothing she could do. Cagalli was the Princess of Orb, and Erica was just an employee what could she do?
Having successfully dodged the inquiry, Cagalli put a hand on her hip and looked at Mikazuki with dissatisfaction. "Can you explain now? Just what happened?"
Mikazuki simply shook his head in his usual independent manner. "I told you. We ran into a troublesome guy. It took a little effort to handle him."
"So what kind of enemy was it? And where is the Archangel? The Junk Guild's communication said they only found you alone. Weren't you supposed to be with the Archangel? Why were you alone on that island?"
Lowe froze when he heard that. "The Archangel? Is this kid the Mobile Suit pilot of that Earth Alliance ship I repaired last time? What? So you're Earth Alliance?"
Mikazuki didn't feel like wasting his breath on this idiot. It was a pain.
"I had the Archangel drop me off on that island. Anyway, listen, Cagalli. I want to go to P.L.A.N.T. Can you send me there? And Barbatos too."
As he spoke, Mikazuki jerked his thumb back toward the Barbatos standing behind him.
Barbatos.
The members of the Junk Guild made a mental note of the name.
Cagalli grew anxious the moment she heard Mikazuki say he wanted to go to P.L.A.N.T. "Wait, you want to go to P.L.A.N.T.? What for?"
"As you can see, Barbatos is in this state... I'm going to Lacus to have her help me with the repairs."
Lacus? Who's that?
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