Chapter 334: Pre-Battle Arrangements
After the meeting ended, Mu walked up and slung an arm around Tolle's shoulder, joking as he said, "You little punk, who would've thought your rank would end up higher than both Murrue's and mine. From now on, we'll have to call you 'sir,' won't we?"
"What's there to worry about?" Tolle replied. "Once you join Orb, you might get promoted a few ranks yourselves.
Didn't you hear it just now? Lord Uzumi was clearly very eager for you to join Orb."
Murrue first looked puzzled, then she also hooked an arm around Tolle's shoulder and joked, "Did he say anything like that? Why didn't I hear it at all?
Colonel Tolle~! Why don't you explain it to us as well?"
Three drops of sweat appeared on Tolle's forehead. He glanced at the sensation behind him—this was weight his shoulders simply couldn't bear—then explained, "The key was that sentence: 'If you cannot betray the uniform you're wearing, I can also lend a hand.'
The meaning is obvious. He's saying, 'Come join Orb. If you don't want to, that's fine too—I'll put in a word for you with the Earth Alliance.'
Even if his intentions might be good, if we went back to the Earth Alliance, would the Atlantic Federation really treat us kindly? Bullets are more likely than kindness.
So when I made that forecast about the coming battle, it was also to help raise your value a bit.
After all, war is about to reach Orb, and a powerful fighting force like the Archangel is something no one would ever willingly give up."
At that, Murrue suddenly understood. She reached out and said gratefully, "Thank you, Tolle. Even if we may not be serving on the same ship anymore in the future, don't forget about us, okay?"
Instead of shaking her hand, Tolle pulled her straight into a hug, putting on an aggrieved expression as he experienced her expansive embrace, and said, "Murrue, we're already this close, and you still want to shake hands?
Isn't a nice, warm hug better? What's with the handshake—so distant."
After saying that, he immediately let go of the bright-red Murrue, then, to avoid suspicion, gave Mu and Kira ordinary hugs as well.
"We're comrades who've lived and died together—closest of allies, and best of friends. Don't worry, I'll never forget any of you."
Kira said with emotion, "Yeah, we're best friends."
Mu and Murrue followed up, "Our closest comrades-in-arms!"
Hearing them say that, Tolle himself was fired up as well, and he shouted to them, "That's right! We'll advance and retreat together, and work hard to create a harmonious and beautiful new world!"
…
That night, Erica finally fulfilled her promise and came alone to Tolle's room.
Spring scenery could not be contained within the garden; a branch of red apricot stretched beyond the wall.
…
Early the next morning, just as dawn broke, Tolle was awakened by Yulia opening the door and kissing him awake. "Tolle, get up. It's time to start today's work."
Half-asleep, Tolle replied, "Yulia, let me sleep one more minute—just one minute."
Yulia then walked to the window, pulled open the curtains, and returned to the bedside.
She saw the faint sunlight fall on Tolle as he lazily turned over, groping at Erica lying beside him and making her let out a clear cry.
Seeing Tolle still refusing to get up, Yulia chuckled quietly, walked back to the window, and pulled the curtains tightly shut again.
Driven on by urgent oars, together they went and returned once more.
…
When the sun was already high in the sky, Tolle finally accompanied Erica and Yulia to the MS training room.
There, they conducted PX System testing on Asagi, Juri, and Mayura.
Under Tolle's guidance, the three of them stripped down and changed into skintight pilot suits worn in a manner similar to those from the G Gundam series.
These suits fully accentuated their figures, with every curve on clear display.
However, since everyone was already on terms of complete openness with one another, there was no excessive shyness or awkwardness.
After the three of them entered their cockpits, they connected the interface at the rear of the pilot suits to the intelligent auxiliary system.
The results were immediately apparent. With the boost to pilot attributes and the intelligent auxiliary system's 20% optimization bonus to piloting performance,
Asagi, Juri, and Mayura—originally B-graded pilots—were instantly raised to B+ level, only slightly weaker than Kira before his SEED awakening.
After testing a few joint movements of the M1 Astray Gundam, they quickly mastered the new piloting method.
They then began performing small-step movements, high-speed punches, leaping side kicks, and other close-combat maneuvers.
Next, they imitated what Tolle and Kira had done before.
They executed an extreme-speed dash, then at less than one meter from the wall, rapidly lifted off, lightly tapped the wall with one foot like a dragonfly skimming water, followed by a spinning flip and a "carp leaping over the dragon gate," landing safely.
They smoothly performed all kinds of actions, as well as extreme acceleration, extreme braking, and other maneuvers.
After entering overclock mode, their piloting skills leapt to an even higher level, and the enhancement felt even greater than when Tolle himself used the PX System.
However, Asagi, Juri, and Mayura could only sustain overclock mode for three to four minutes before reaching their limit. Fortunately, it only resulted in mental fatigue, with no other side effects.
Of course, this couldn't be compared to Tolle, who could sustain continuous overclocking for over ten hours.
Immediately afterward, Uzumi secretly ordered Erica to begin preparations for the mass production of the PX System and the intelligent auxiliary system.
But before Erica's mass production could even begin, Mina had Tolle manufacture a large batch of PX Systems and intelligent auxiliary systems for her first, secretly installing them across all of her subordinates' units.
At the same time, at Tolle's suggestion, the Buster Gundam's waist-mounted combined weapon was redesigned into a swappable backpack for the M1 Astray Gundam.
It was installed on the units of Asagi, Juri, and Mayura, and renamed the Buster M1 Astray Gundam.
On another front, the three destroyed Gundams—Strike, Aegis, and Blitz—were also reconstructed and manufactured anew.
Aside from the Strike, which was returned to the Archangel, the other two were retained to strengthen Orb's defensive power.
Soon, the date arrived—CE 71, May 25. ZAFT officially launched its attack on the Panama Base.
Orb received this shocking news immediately.
On the Archangel's bridge, Murrue hurriedly found Tolle, panic written all over her face, and said, "Tolle, you were right. ZAFT has launched an attack on the Panama Base."