Inside the briefing room on the bridge of the Eternal, a rather unusual scene was playing out: every captain and commander gathered around the table was quietly munching on rice balls.
Andrew tossed the last bite into his mouth. Stomach finally satisfied, he dusted off his hands, looked down at the latest intelligence report on the screen, and broke the silence.
"The numbers are in. A single blast from GENESIS wiped out forty percent of the Earth Alliance's fighting strength. Absolutely terrifying..."
"We also have fresh intel from the Lunar Base. Their Seventh Orbital Fleet has already sortied. They intend to rendezvous at Coordinate 1242 with the Dominion and what remains of its escort fleet."
Andrew paused, took a deep swig from his water bottle, and continued.
"Now, about GENESIS itself. Our only real opening is the fact that it cannot fire in rapid succession."
He tapped a control on the console. The display on the tabletop shifted, and a simplified three-dimensional schematic of GENESIS began to rotate on the main screen ahead.
"After a single discharge, that giant primary reflector mirror on the front burns out completely. If they want to fire again, they have to swap it out for a new one."
Appearing via video link from aboard the Kusanagi, Erica chimed in.
"Even so, GENESIS itself is protected by Phase Shift Armor, and ahead of it lie multiple defensive perimeters, including Jachin Due. The Earth Alliance will certainly throw everything they have into this assault, but breaking through will be far from simple."
Murrue took a sip of water and asked, "How long does it take to replace the reflector mirror?"
"The replacement process is already underway," Erica answered. "By our estimates, it will take a little over an hour. Factoring in the power recharge cycle... the Earth Alliance reinforcements should arrive right around the charging phase for the second shot."
Andrew nodded, crossing his arms as he studied the tactical map. "Is the second blast aimed at the Moon? It seems they intend to obliterate the Earth Alliance base entirely. What's more..."
Orga closed one eye and remarked quietly, "The Earth Alliance will keep using nukes. That's one thing that isn't going to change."
Beside them, Mikazuki stood quietly eating two rice balls. He had barely absorbed a word of the tactical briefing. At most, a few stray phrases might have registered, certainly nothing beyond ten sentences in total.
"Mika..."
Before Murrue could finish speaking, Mikazuki answered plainly, "Don't worry. I'll take out anyone who gets in our way."
His blunt response caught Murrue, Cagalli, and Lacus completely off guard, leaving all three women with an unsettling sensation in their chests.
Orga offered a helpless smile. "Captain Murrue hadn't even finished her sentence and you jump straight to that. Aren't you being a little too blunt?"
Mikazuki blinked placidly, popped the rest of a rice ball into his mouth, and chewed. "Is that so? But fighting is the only thing I know how to do. It's all I'm good for. Besides, there are plenty of enemies blocking our path. If I don't take them out... things won't work out."
"Heh. Fair enough."
Both Tekkadan youths shared a faint grin. The surrounding officers looked on in bewilderment, yet an inexplicable, suffocating weight settled over the room.
To be precise, that suffocating feeling was closer to dreadan instinctive fear of the two boys' worldview, their detachment, and the chilling ease with which they approached slaughter.
"Mika..."
Murrue stared blankly at him. Even though she had witnessed the unbreakable bond between the two boys many times before, seeing it always left an ache in her heart.
"Why?"
The sudden, trembling question pulled everyone's eyes toward Cagalli. She lifted her head, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.
"Do... do you people in Tekkadan actually enjoy war? Why must you destroy anyone who stands in your path? What are you even thinking?!"
Mikazuki looked back at her with flat, indifferent eyes. "Is there something wrong with that? If they're enemies, wiping them all out is just what you do, isn't it?"
"No! That's not what I mean!" Cagalli burst out. "I'm asking how you can kill and fight so casually, without a second thought! Don't you have... any respect for life at all?!"
"Respect? What's that?" Mikazuki asked in return.
His clear blue eyes bored directly into hers, sending a shiver straight through Cagalli's heart.
"Mika..."
Cagalli could not comprehend it, but Murrue and Lacuswho knew far more about Tekkadan's pastunderstood why he seemed so cold. In truth, it wasn't that Mikazuki felt nothing for life.
Rather, in his world, only the things he cared about truly mattered. That meant his family in Tekkadan. Everything and everyone else was irrelevant.
"I... Never mind. There's no point talking to you," Mikazuki muttered, stopping himself before he said more. He turned back toward Murrue and the others. "I'm heading down to Barbatos."
With that, he walked out of the briefing room.
Orga let out a heavy sigh, looking at Cagalli with a tired, helpless expression. "I already told you once... Why can't you seem to understand?"
"Told me what?!" Cagalli snapped back.
"When I explained the Alaya-Vijnana System to you, that was part of Tekkadan's story. If you want to survive, you have to get stronger. If you want to protect your family, you have to crush any enemy that threatens them. Tekkadan... is just a small outfit trying to stay alive."
Orga paused, a bitter, self-deprecating smile touching his lips.
"When it comes down to it, the only place where people like us have a right to exist is the battlefield. We were born into it, and we'll end up dying in it... It isn't just Mika. Every last one of us brats... has long since forgotten how to do anything other than fight."
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