After Roz resolved the commotion at the "shipyard," he headed toward the hangar.
For some reason, he had a strong premonition that a battle was about to happen. And most of the time, his premonitions were quite accurate.
On the way to the hangar, Roz noticed a figure.
"…Mr. Roz." Though still dressed in that pink outfit, it was clear the girl in front of him had just taken a bath and tidied herself up.
Seeing Roz, Flay tensed instinctively but still spoke.
"…Don't worry, you'll be home soon." Roz noticed Flay's tense expression, so he brought up a topic first. "Does your face still hurt?"
"Ah… it doesn't hurt anymore." Flay instinctively touched her face, but the hot, stinging pain from before was gone.
"After you get home, don't wander around. The world is getting more chaotic now." Roz passed by her, patting her shoulder casually.
"I… I came to apologize to you." Finally, Flay mustered courage and said what she felt. "I… I just apologized to Kira and Lacus."
She lowered her head toward Roz.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Roz, and thank you."
"…Go rest, Flay." Roz nodded at her and continued toward the hangar. "Soon you'll see your father."
-----------------------------------
Roz entered the hangar and floated toward his Jegan.
"Yo, Roz, checking your mobile suit in the hangar again today?" Murdoch, who was helping repair the Strike Gundam, waved at Roz as he floated in. "We'll be joining the 8th Fleet soon, probably won't be able to send you to Orb."
"Captain Murrue will probably make some arrangements; I'm not sure." Roz didn't add anything, merely sidestepping Murdoch's topic.
The hangar lights had been turned off, and in the dimness, Murdoch didn't notice Roz had already put on his pilot suit.
Though he wanted to say there would be a battle soon, it was only a premonition. If nothing happened, everyone on edge would probably complain.
"…I'll prepare first and buy them some time." Roz floated into the cockpit, beginning to check the mobile suit's systems.
"Mr. Roz? You're not resting?" Kira, still in the Strike Gundam adjusting systems, saw the Jegan being powered up and poked his head out of the cockpit.
"Ah… couldn't sleep, so I'm doing routine maintenance." Roz settled into a comfortable position and began reviewing the data.
"Besides, you haven't slept either, right?"
"True," Kira smiled, seemingly lost in thought. "Will Mr. Roz continue staying on the Archangel?"
"Not sure, depends on the situation." Roz's tone was calm, not confused like Kira. "If the Archangel continues its planned route, I'll stay aboard until Orb. If it changes course, I'll disembark with the civilians."
"…I see."
After Kira returned to the Strike Gundam's cockpit, Roz closed the database and rubbed his slightly dry eyes.
"What are you doing in the cockpit this late?" At that moment, Christina's voice came from the HARO, which had been on standby.
"Just had a feeling, I can handle preparations myself." Seeing the HARO's blinking eyes, Roz couldn't help but smile.
"Come on, your premonitions are always accurate." Christina's voice then sounded from outside the cockpit.
Then, a sandwich in a transparent plastic bag was tossed into Roz's lap, and Christina appeared at the doorway.
"If you're not in the dorm before midnight, you must be in the hangar." Christina leaned against the doorframe. "Made a late-night snack; the kitchen's not turned on."
"You can go rest first." Roz waved, smiling.
"You're not sleeping, and I don't plan to either." With that, Christina left the doorway. "I'll check the magazine charging status."
-----------------------------------
Roz was awakened by the ringing of the communicator.
Still lying in the cockpit, Roz instinctively pulled the blanket off himself, and Christina, who had been sleeping in the temporarily installed passenger seat, was also startled awake.
"Roz, the rendezvous has been canceled. The Montgomery, sent to pick us up, has been ambushed by ZAFT."
Roz, having slept only three hours, rubbed his eyes and heard Murrue's voice over the communicator.
At the same time, Christina quickly detached the passenger seat, tossed it outside, and floated away with the blanket.
"This is Roz, heading to the ejection station." Roz put on his helmet and began checking the Jegan's weapons.
Christina had already moved the chair and blanket to a safe location.
"Pfft…"
With Christina's operation, the access path to the cockpit was retracted, allowing the Jegan to start moving.
"So fast? You were in the Jegan cockpit all night?!" Murrue's voice came through the communicator, clearly surprised.
Hearing Roz's response, everyone on the bridge was stunned. They had thought staying up late on the bridge was tough, but Roz had actually slept in the cockpit? Was that his home now?
"No time. Open the hatch. I'm going out first."
In the all-around flight control room, Roz noticed Kira and Mu, who had just put on their pilot suits, struggling to float toward their mobile suits.
"G-Good… the ejection deck is open. Jegan is ready to launch," Miriallia said, clearly surprised by Roz's speed, quickly activating the ejection system.
Looking at the deployed ejection deck and the gradually lighting indicators, Roz took a deep, practiced breath and gripped the controls.
"Roz Links, Jegan, sortie."
As he pressed the pedal, the Jegan crouched slightly, the thrusters on its backpack igniting.
At the same time, the ejection system received the command and pushed the Jegan along the straight track.
After leaving the Archangel and entering space, Roz finally saw the "rendezvous vanguard fleet" Murrue had mentioned.
By now, this fleet of three ships was already in a fierce battle.
Even though the ships carried a large number of MAs, they were steadily pushed back against just a few ZAFT GINNs.
The MSs' overwhelming superiority over MAs was on full display.
Roz squinted, pushed the throttle with his right hand, and the Jegan's backpack erupted with stronger flames as he accelerated into the battlefield.
...................