"You want to go back to the Plants?"
A few days had passed since we set a course for the L4 sector. Athrun had crossed over from the Kusanagi to the Archangel specifically to make this request: he wanted a shuttle to return home. As the words left his mouth, a ripple of unease spread across the bridge.
"Yes," Athrun said, his eyes fixed with an unshakable resolve. "Based on what Axel-san told me, my father may truly believe that Naturals are a species destined for extinction. But even so... I have to try. I have to talk to him."
The bridge fell silent, the air heavy with skepticism.
"I cannot say I support this," Cornelia said, her voice sharp. "Your father is Patrick Zala, yes? Judging by his actions thus far, he isn't the type of man to be swayed by a son's plea—no matter how earnest."
"Cornelia-san... I know. But regardless of what he's done... he is still my father!"
Blood is thicker than water, I thought. The sentiment was human, but in this war, it was a liability.
"I'll support it," I said, drawing every eye on the bridge toward me. "On one condition."
"Axel?" Murrue asked, surprised.
"If we force him to stay here against his will, he'll be plagued by doubt the moment we engage ZAFT. A hesitant pilot is a dead pilot—and a danger to the rest of us. It's better he goes now and finds his resolve, one way or another. Besides, there are a few things I need him to do while he's there."
"Things for me to do?" Athrun asked.
"Three things. First: GENESIS. I need you to find out how close that weapon is to completion. Second: Contact the Clyne faction. Whether we aim for a ceasefire or a total peace treaty, we need a legitimate representative for the Plants. Your father is too much of a hardliner to sit at a negotiating table. Reach out to someone like Eileen Canaaba. And third... if the opportunity arises, provide support for Lacus Clyne."
"Support Lacus?"
"Yes. Your return will likely trigger a series of events that will force her to flee the Plants. I want you to help her escape if you can."
Though, I mused internally, the timeline says she only makes her move after Athrun gets captured. There might not be much he can actually do. If he took the Justice, it would be a different story, but Patrick Zala would just confiscate the suit the moment Athrun stepped off the shuttle.
"Escape the Plants? How?" Athrun pressed.
"She'll be hijacking a state-of-the-art battleship," I said casually. "And she'll have help from a certain someone."
"Someone we know?" Mu asked.
I nodded. "A very familiar face for the Archangel crew. Andrew Waltfeld."
The name hit the bridge like a physical shock. The silence that followed was absolute.
"But... Waltfeld-san is..." Kira stammered.
"Dead because you killed him?" I finished for him.
"..."
"Relax. He's alive. Not exactly 'whole and in one piece,' but he's breathing. Call it a miracle of the desert."
In the original story, surviving the explosion of the LaGOWE was indeed a miracle. Then again, in this universe, Mu La Flaga survives a direct hit from a Lohengrin, so 'impossible' is a relative term.
"The problem is the ship they're taking," I continued.
"What's the problem?" Mu asked. "If it's state-of-the-art, it should be top-tier, right?"
"It is. But that ship was designed specifically to support the Freedom and the Justice. Both of those suits are currently here. Lacus and her team likely won't have any high-spec mobile suits to fill their hangars."
"You mean... because of the way you know history flows?" Kira asked.
"Exactly. So, here's the plan: Kira, you'll escort Athrun's shuttle in the Freedom. You'll stay out of ZAFT's sensor range and wait for the signal. Once Lacus makes her move, you'll provide the muscle to get that ship out of the starport and back to us. Take ten Megillots with you as backup."
My proposal was accepted. Kira and Athrun would depart, with the Justice staying behind on the Kusanagi under Cagalli's watchful eye.
Ten days passed since Athrun's departure. The Archangel and the Kusanagi finally arrived at their destination: the L4 sector.
Athrun should have reached the Plants by now, though we had yet to hear from him. According to the timeline, Victoria Base would have fallen by now, and the Alliance would be massing their forces at the Moon. It wouldn't be long before the Dominion—and Natarle Badgiruel—showed up.
The real question was the scale of the Alliance's force. Muruta Azrael had witnessed our power firsthand at Orb; he knew his standard Daggers wouldn't cut it. He'd likely bring the Raider, the Calamity, and the Forbidden, but those were only three suits.
Which leaves them with one option, I thought. Numerical superiority. The old Alliance standby: throw enough bodies at the problem until it goes away.
"Axel?"
I realized I'd muttered the last part aloud. Lemon was looking at me with a curious tilt of her head. I shook it off and gestured toward the monitor.
Mendel. The bio-engineering colony. The birthplace of Kira and Cagalli. The place where Mu's father funded the creation of his own clone—and where Rau Le Creuset was 'born.'
I need to find the right time to explain all of this, I thought. The Eternal would arrive within a week. A few days after that, the Creuset Team would arrive in pursuit. Finally, the Alliance would show up to seize the N-Jammer Canceller data. The best window for the "big reveal" would be after the Eternal arrives, but before Rau makes his move.
As for the 'Destiny Plan'... I'd probably have to let that one slide for now. If we ended this war as a third power, Durandal wouldn't have the political capital to push his agenda so easily. Even without hard evidence, a few well-placed "predictions" in his ear once he became Chairman would be enough to keep him in check.
"Alright," I said, standing up. "Let's dock at Mendel and wait for Kira and the others."
"Agreed," Murrue said. "Archangel, ahead slow. Prepare for docking maneuvers."
"So, what's the first move?" Cagalli asked over the comms once we were safely inside the colony's dock.
"We need to bring this facility back to life," I replied. "The ship Kira and Athrun are bringing is essentially a prototype; it's going to need immediate maintenance and calibration the moment it docks. Lemon, deploy the W-Series."
"On it," Lemon said, already tapping away at her console to relay orders to the android pilots. "We'll have the power grids and docking clamps operational in no time."
"I also want a constant Megillot screen around the colony's exterior," I added. "I don't want anyone sneaking in through a back hatch. I want eyes on every approach."
"Understood," Kisaka replied. "We'll use the Megillots stored on the Kusanagi."
I nodded. It was good for the Kusanagi crew to get used to handling the drones. My role as the "commander of the machines" wouldn't last forever; they needed to be self-sufficient.
"Until Kira returns, there isn't much else to do," I said. "We wait for the hammer to drop."
"In that case," Cornelia interrupted, "I'd like to conduct more live-fire drills. I need to be better adjusted to combat in a vacuum."
"An excellent idea," I agreed. "Mu, Dearka—you're with her."
"Huh? Me too?" Mu groaned.
"You're the 'Hawk of Endymion,' Mu, but you've spent most of this war in a cockpit on Earth. You need to shake the rust off your zero-G maneuvers. And Dearka..."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the 'escort,'" Dearka sighed. "I'm the only one here who actually went through ZAFT's space combat academy, right?"
"Precisely," I grinned. "You're the instructor. Don't let them slack off."
Dearka puffed his chest out slightly, clearly susceptible to the minor ego boost. He was surprisingly easy to handle if you knew which buttons to press. Having a former member of the Creuset Team as an instructor was a stroke of luck for Mu and Cornelia; they couldn't ask for a more experienced sparring partner.
"Heh... Cornelia really is something," Murrue whispered, watching the monitor.
On the screen, the Rapiecage was dancing through the debris of the L4 sector with terrifying fluidity. Despite this being only her third or fourth time in a true vacuum, she was handling the machine as if she had been born in orbit.
Mu was doing just as well, his natural spatial awareness translating perfectly to the Strike's thruster control.
"Are these people seriously Naturals?" Dearka muttered over the open channel. He sounded half-impressed and half-exasperated. He'd only given them a few pointers on thrust-vectoring, and they were already pulling maneuvers that would make a Red Coat sweat.
Watching the three of them move against the backdrop of the stars, I leaned back in my chair. The peace was fragile, a brief intermission before the final act. But for now, we held the stage.
Axel Almar - Status
Level: 37
Unit: Glowsavior
Location: Mendel Colony, L4 Sector
Current Objectives: Restore Mendel Dock / Wait for the Eternal / Train Pilots
Kills: 294
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