Creuset's abilities were truly formidable.
With the satellite's collapse, the battle had naturally ended inconclusively.
Back in the Archangel's hangar, Wang Hu, who had just disembarked from the Qilin, had to admit this fact.
The timing of that masked man's retreat and subsequent orders had been calculated with uncanny precision.
It had essentially forced the crew of the Archangel into an impossible choice—protect the satellite and its civilians or safeguard themselves.
As Wang Hu pondered this, the grim-faced figures of Li Chengzhi, Murrue, and others appeared before him.
"What's going on?" Wang Hu asked the group.
"The satellite collapsed. Shouldn't you all be on the bridge? Why come down here?"
"Kira rescued a disabled escape pod on his way back. We came to check on it," Li Chengzhi answered first, his expression dark.
"I see."
Glancing at the other two trailing behind his friend, Wang Hu was certain the trio had already been arguing on the bridge.
The reason? Unnecessary to ask—ideological clashes were always the hardest to reconcile.
Soon, the blue-and-white silhouette of the Strike Gundam entered the hangar, the escape pod in its grip immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"Brother Wang Hu..."
After setting down the pod and disembarking from the Strike Gundam, Kira called out guiltily the moment he saw Wang Hu, then fell silent, unsure how to face him.
The guilt-ridden Kira was still drowning in regret—in his mind, he bore significant responsibility for the satellite's destruction.
He had failed Wang Hu's trust. Despite the warnings, he hadn't been prepared enough.
If Wang Hu lashed out at him now, he would deserve it.
"What's with that look? You did well."
Wang Hu stepped forward, ruffling Kira's brown hair with a smile, deliberately avoiding any mention of the satellite's collapse.
There wasn't a shred of blame in his tone.
Relieved, Kira's expression softened slightly.
Turning, he pointed at the escape pod as military personnel moved to open it, as if trying to make amends.
"I saved an escape pod—"
"We're not a rescue team, Kira. Do you even understand our current situation?"
"This ship is engaged in combat with ZAFT! Proper rescue vessels will handle the escape pod later!"
Just as in the original timeline, Natarle Badgiruel's rigid military mindset persisted even after her argument with Li Chengzhi.
What should have unfolded during Kira's return now seemed destined to replay in the hangar.
"Me?" Kira froze under Natarle's stern gaze.
Then, the lingering fury from his first battlefield kill surged within him, and he prepared to retort—
"You're still saying things like that at a time like this, Lieutenant Badgiruel?"
The speaker wasn't Murrue—it was Li Chengzhi, his anger barely contained.
Though both shared a soldier's discipline, Li Chengzhi's ideals differed. Pushed to his limit, he finally erupted.
"What are we? Soldiers!"
Pointing at the military uniform he wore, which was different from those of Murrue and Natarle Badgiruel, under the stunned gazes of Kira and the surrounding people, Li Chengzhi furiously lashed out at the frowning Natarle Badgiruel.
"In order to save yourselves, you allowed the enemy's attack to hit the satellite's central axis, causing the entire satellite to collapse and endangering countless civilians' lives."
"This is already a severe dereliction of duty, a disgrace to military honor. Now, seeing the distressed civilians, you still don't think about rescue efforts but use the ongoing battle as an excuse to evade responsibility."
"Do you think it's safe to leave the powerless escape pods drifting in this dangerous debris field?"
"Rescue teams? How long will it take for them to arrive? Given the massive scale of the satellite's collapse, how much time will they need to locate the escape pods?"
"Don't you know how human psychology changes in the face of unknown dangers over time?"
"Couldn't it lead to unspeakable tragedies due to various reasons before the rescue arrives?"
"Captain Li Chengzhi!"
Natarle Badgiruel was also angered by Li Chengzhi's direct confrontation. They had already argued earlier over the ownership of the Strike Gundam.
Having clashed again on the bridge, she didn't mind adding one more argument here.
The iron-faced lieutenant retorted sharply.
"And what if our ship is sunk during the battle? What will happen to the civilians in the escape pods then?"
"Who can guarantee that we can escort them to safety? Given this, leaving them to wait for the rescue teams might actually be the choice with the highest survival probability."
"We are soldiers. First, we must ensure our own survival to effectively stop the enemy from slaughtering our people."
"If we die, what happens to the civilians? This is putting the cart before the horse!"
The heated argument echoed through the hangar, with each side firmly believing in their own reasoning.
"This is why ideologies are the most troublesome," Wang Hu said to Mu and Murrue.
Murrue gave an awkward smile, unsure how to respond to Wang Hu, while Mu, the playboy, remained silent.
The core of their dispute stemmed from the differing values shaped by their respective civilizations and their positions.
Even in rescue missions, the approaches and civilian reactions differed between the two sides. How could such differences be reconciled?
"Brother Wang Hu?" After listening to the argument between Li Chengzhi and Natarle Badgiruel for a while, Kira, who was no fool, pieced together the reason from their words.
The collapse of the Heliopolis satellite could have been prevented if the Archangel hadn't allowed the enemy's missile attack to proceed!
Given the Archangel's size and defenses, it might not have been shot down by the missiles, and the satellite wouldn't have collapsed.
But Natarle Badgiruel and her crew didn't want to gamble on that possibility, nor did they anticipate that the missiles would hit the satellite's central axis!
"You are the real soldiers."
Kira spoke earnestly, his words coming from the heart.
At this, the people who had emerged from the escape pods nodded in agreement. They had been listening to the argument for a while now.
Raised under more Westernized education, these survivors could understand Natarle Badgiruel's choice.
After all, as Natarle Badgiruel had argued, they hadn't noticed or expected Commander Creuset's sinister calculations.
Is accepting and becoming a party involved really the same in terms of perspective and mindset?
It had long been said that soldiers from East Asia were completely different from those of the Atlantic Federation. Truly, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times!
Thus, the evacuees' gazes toward Wang Hu and Li Chengzhi were entirely different.
Their eyes were filled with trust and admiration.
"Uh..." Murrue and Mu grew increasingly awkward—they weren't blind.
How could they not sense the shift in the atmosphere? If only Murrue and Mu weren't so thin-skinned.
In truth, they really wanted to cry out in protest—they actually agreed with Wang Hu and Li Chengzhi's decision too!
"Ah..." With a faint sigh, they exchanged a silent glance, neither speaking a word.
"Should we stop them from arguing?" Mu whispered to Murrue. "This is too embarrassing."
"I'll go mediate." As if fleeing the scene, Murrue hurried forward and tried to pull Natarle Badgiruel away.
"Are you Kira?"
At that moment, a timid female voice spoke up. A red-haired girl had noticed Wang Hu and Kira.
Unlike Wang Hu, whom she had only briefly encountered on the satellite, she was far more familiar with Kira.
So even though the girl believed Wang Hu represented the more reliable option, she instinctively turned to the person she knew better.
(End of Chapter)