Chapter 111: SEED—Another Naval Battle II
Flay gently kissed Kira and whispered, "I love you, Kira. We'll be together forever."
Kira also looked at Flay and said, "Mm, I love you too. We'll be together forever."
Perhaps someone might ask—why has Flay suddenly become like a different person, no longer the manipulative green tea girl she used to be? Why has she stopped saying those things that pressured Kira around?
That's because Tolle had decided to pursue Lacus. But since Kira was still his good friend, his brother even, he had to leave one for him, right?
Otherwise, given Kira's overwhelming passive cuckold attribute, even if Tolle managed to get together with Lacus, he wouldn't feel at ease.
Tolle decided to have Nami give Flay a thorough brainwashing.
She was made to change her personality and preferences whenever she was with Kira, deeply loving him, never saying hurtful things to him or doing anything strange.
As for when she wasn't with Kira, maybe she would go back to her old self. After all, this was Nami's doing—what did that have to do with Tolle?
Yeah, that's just how it was!
In the Archangel's cafeteria, Tolle and his companions were analyzing the ship's route.
Kuzzey whispered, "I overheard the captain and the others discussing… they said it's possible we'll head to Orb first."
Sai asked in puzzlement, "That still doesn't make sense. Our destination is Alaska—going to Orb is a detour. What's the point of stopping there?"
Miriallia, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered. "Yeah, what's the point? We're soldiers now, and during wartime, isn't it forbidden to quit?"
Kuzzey, looking displeased, continued, "But that wasn't the plan! I thought we'd head straight for Alaska. Once we got there, we'd be able to leave honorably, which is why I kept following along. Now the time is being dragged out again!"
Tolle glanced at Kuzzey and sighed helplessly. In truth, even if they reached Alaska, they wouldn't be able to leave—they'd just be used as cannon fodder.
Tolle thought for a moment, then decided to scare Kuzzey a little.
"Kuzzey, we can't go directly to Alaska. The Archangel doesn't have enough weapons or ammo. If we went straight there, we might get sunk by ZAFT forces halfway. The Archangel has no choice but to head to neutral nations like Orb to buy supplies and weapons. It's possible we'll be stuck on this ship for years… otherwise, we'll just end up sunk and feeding the sharks together."
Kuzzey was frightened and wailed, "Wha—years!? No way…"
Beside them, Cagalli was glad to hear Tolle agreeing with heading to Orb. At least someone else understood the advantages of going there.
She left the cafeteria smiling, with her bodyguard following close behind. Halfway down the corridor, she turned to him and said,
"I know I can't say anything. I really didn't say a word."
The bodyguard nodded. "Good."
Lowering her head, Cagalli muttered, "I did wonder—what if… But there's no helping it. Even though I know what happened, no matter what, I don't want to see this ship—or that person—sunk. The fact they're heading to Orb must be God's guidance."
In the days that followed, aside from resting, Tolle spent all his time in the hangar with Murdoch and some of the maintenance crew, modifying the Zero Moebius.
Another team worked on repairing the Strike Gundam's Sword Striker pack and the Skygrasper Unit 2.
Tolle knew ZAFT's second naval assault was coming, with even more forces than before—and this time, the underwater mobile armor ZnO would appear, even harder to handle than the GuAIZ.
So, the Zero Moebius had to be ready. Tolle had no intention of taking a Ginn underwater to play around with them.
If you can fly, don't go underwater—too dangerous. The ocean's pressure wasn't something to joke about.
Even specialized aquatic MS could end up crushed into scrap if they weren't careful.
After days of effort, the modified Zero Moebius was finally completed. The high-performance Ginn was turned into a wire-guided type, and a general-purpose underwater propeller pack was developed for its back.
The Strike Gundam's Sword Striker and Skygrasper Unit 2 were also repaired, though the Aile Striker pack still wasn't finished.
That was expected—after all, Murdoch now had to handle the extra workload of modifying the Zero Moebius, which caused major delays.
Still, it wasn't a big issue. In the original battle, Kira fought underwater using the Sword Striker pack anyway.
This time, with the added underwater propeller, the Strike's mobility was greatly enhanced. Its speed underwater was now on par with ZAFT's Ginns.
Finally, the day came when ZAFT forces appeared.
On the Archangel, the sonar operator suddenly reported, "Sonar contact! Eight MS detected! Torpedoes incoming!"
Murrue immediately gave urgent orders. "Archangel, leave the surface—ascend immediately!"
The ship, already familiar with underwater attacks, quickly lifted off and avoided the torpedoes.
But ZAFT's Ginns weren't letting up—they surfaced and launched beam rifles and torpedoes at the just-ascended Archangel.
Facing the incoming barrage, Natarle calmly commanded,
"Activate Vulcan automatic defense! Begin interception!
Load tubes 7–10 and 11–14, target enemy and fire!
Linear cannons—target enemy, fire!"
Murrue also gave orders,
"Lieutenant Commander Flaga, Ensign Yamato, Ensign Tolle—prepare to launch!"
Upon receiving orders, Kira turned to Murdoch.
"Uncle Murdoch, equip the Strike with the Sword Striker pack."
Murdoch could hardly believe his ears. The bazooka setup was working just fine—why suddenly switch to the Sword Striker? He repeated in disbelief, "Sword Striker?"
Kira nodded and explained,
"Yes. If rocket launchers and beam weapons don't work underwater, then the only option is close combat with physical swords. And with the underwater propeller, as long as I can keep up with the enemy, I can finish them."
"…Got it. We'll do as you say."
Under Murdoch's supervision, the Strike quickly switched to the Sword Striker pack, with propellers mounted on its legs and back.
The two extra propellers that had no place to mount on the Strike's shoulders were left for Tolle's high-performance Ginn—just in case.
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)