Chapter 316: Freedom Sets Sail 2
Lacus turned to the person beside her and asked, "Please contact them and tell them that Lacus Clyne is coming to sing the Song of Peace."
Meanwhile, startled by the alarms blaring inside the Alaska Base, Flay ran fearfully in the direction Mu had gone, hoping to return to the Archangel as well.
Creuset, piloting his commander-type DINN, broke through the Earth Alliance's defensive line at the forefront. He swiftly entered an opening to a fighter hangar and slipped into the interior of the Alaska Base.
Inside the base, Mu sensed Creuset's infiltration through the special psychic connection between the two of them.
In the main control room of the Alaska Base, Creuset looked at the deserted scene before him and the monitors displaying the Cyclops System already in operation, ready to detonate at any moment.
He also suddenly sensed Mu approaching. Raising his pistol, he fired several shots toward Mu at the doorway while dodging at the same time.
Mu, leaning against the doorframe, immediately stepped back and pulled his head away to evade the shots.
After several gunshots rang out, Mu drew his own pistol, rolled forward in a crouch, and entered the control room, returning fire at Creuset.
Knowing that the Alaska Base was about to explode, Creuset wanted to shake Mu off as quickly as possible.
To distract him, Creuset took cover against a wall near the exit while speaking casually to Mu. "It really has been a long time, Mu La Flaga.
It's rare for us to meet, yet every time we do, we end up fighting. What a shame. Unfortunately, I don't have time to reminisce right now.
The fact that you were left behind here means you no longer have any value to the Earth Alliance. You're no longer the Eagle of Endymion you once were."
With that, Creuset fired several more shots in Mu's direction, then quickly dashed out of the control room, running toward where his commander-type DINN was parked.
Left behind in the control room, Mu stared in shock at the screen showing the Cyclops System in its self-destruction sequence, as well as the completely abandoned control room.
He finally understood. The soldiers left behind at the Alaska Base had all been used as bait to lure ZAFT deep inside. The Earth Alliance high command intended to recreate the massive explosion of the Endymion Base once again.
Elsewhere, Flay was groping her way through the dim corridors in search of the route back to the Archangel, when—just like before—she ran into Creuset head-on.
After seeing a base soldier shot dead by Creuset, Flay screamed in terror and collapsed in front of him.
In her panic, Flay picked up a pistol from the ground and aimed it at Creuset. But paralyzed by fear, she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
Looking at the trembling Flay, Creuset said, "I really didn't expect…"
Before he could finish, something completely unexpected happened. Upon hearing his voice, Flay subconsciously cried out, "Dad… this is… Dad's voice…"
Creuset instantly assumed that the girl in front of him might be the daughter of one of his own clones.
(At that moment, Creuset thought to himself: Yes, this must be the daughter of one of my clone brothers. We're all clones of the same person anyway.
If you think about it that way, then this girl is essentially my daughter. Yes, that's it.)
His heart softened. Before Flay could fire, he struck her unconscious with a single blow and carried her out of the Alaska Base.
Aboard the Huayan, Tolle finished watching this "father and daughter" reunion and immediately turned his attention to the feed showing Kira instead.
Lacus had already changed Kira into a red ZAFT uniform and, together with Liza and Nicol, was driving toward the hangar where the Freedom Gundam was stored.
As they went, Lacus taught Kira some precautions for posing as a ZAFT soldier, personally demonstrating the salute. "See, Kira, this is how ZAFT soldiers salute."
Kira immediately copied her movement and asked, "Like this, Lacus?"
Seeing how perfectly he did it, Lacus said happily, "Yes, that's exactly right. Later on, Kira, just follow behind me. You don't need to speak—just salute whenever you see me salute."
Kira nodded. "Mm, got it."
After arriving near the armory, Lacus saluted every soldier she encountered along the way. The ZAFT soldiers, stars practically shining in their eyes, excitedly returned her salute each time.
Kira followed along, mechanically saluting the soldiers one after another.
After fighting their way through checkpoint after checkpoint, they finally arrived in front of the hangar where the Freedom Gundam was stored.
Still wearing her professional, airheaded smile, Lacus said to Kira, "Come on, Kira. This is the place."
"Oh… okay." Kira followed her toward the final gate, thinking to himself that riding a shuttle back to Earth sure seemed overly complicated. It felt more like they were entering a highly restricted ZAFT military facility.
After Lacus led Kira through a pitch-black passageway, they stopped in an open space.
At Lacus's signal, a nearby soldier activated the lights illuminating the Freedom Gundam.
Staring at the Freedom Gundam before him, Kira exclaimed in shock, "A Gundam? Is this… a Gundam?"
Looking at Kira's astonished expression, Lacus smiled. "It's a little different from the others. This is ZGMF-X10A—Freedom!
Though perhaps calling it a Gundam does sound more powerful."
"Freedom Gundam?"
"That's right, Freedom Gundam. It incorporates the strengths of the mobile suits captured from the Earth Alliance and was developed by direct order of Chairman Zala himself. It's ZAFT's latest high-performance unit."
Kira felt utterly incredulous. He had thought she was sending him to board a shuttle, never imagining she was giving him a Freedom Gundam.
Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, "Why give such an important machine to me?"
———
Freedom Gundam
A-Class Mobile Suit
Terrain Adaptability: Sea B / Land A / Air A / Space A
Fixed Armaments:
Head-mounted machine cannons ×2; Beam sabers "Scorpio" ×2; Plasma clustered beam cannons "Balaena" ×2; Rail cannons "Xiphias" ×2; Beam rifle "Lupus" ×1; Laminated anti-beam shield ×1.
METEOR Equipment Armaments:
High-energy convergent fire cannons ×2; High-energy convergent fire cannons ×2; Large beam sabers ×2; Anti-ship missiles ×77 (22 mounted on each side of the METEOR system, 12 on each mobile arm, 9 on the tail).
Special Equipment:
Phase Shift armor; Anti-neutron jammer canceller; Multi-lock-on system; Nuclear reactor; External METEOR equipment.
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