Chapter 77: SEED – Landing Operation VI
Tolle Koenig watched the Duel Gundam leave and had just breathed a sigh of relief when the Aegis Gundam suddenly charged straight at him again.
He had no choice but to focus his mind and push his machine to full speed toward the Strike Gundam, hoping that Kira Yamato could hold his own and take on two opponents at once.
But the 8th Fleet's warships had already been reduced to a pitiful few by the Aegis Gundam's onslaught—just a handful still drifting in the void.
While fleeing, Tolle Koenig opened his communicator and called the Archangel.
"Captain Ramius, how many minutes until we reach the threshold? I can't hold out much longer, the Aegis Gundam won't stop chasing me!"
Murrue Ramius hurriedly replied.
"The Archangel will reach atmospheric threshold in two minutes and forty-five seconds. Tolle Koenig, if you can't hold out, return to the ship immediately."
"Copy that, Captain Ramius. I'll hold out a little longer—if I can last until the final minute, then I'll head back."
"Tolle Koenig, don't try to act tough—"
Before she could finish, Tolle Koenig cut the comms. He pushed his mental skills to the limit, turned, and fired several shots at the Duel Gundam.
Yzak Joule, seeing the beams streak toward him, quickly dodged—barely avoiding being struck by his own ally's fire.
Grinding his teeth, Yzak cursed the modified Ginn bitterly. He regretted not eliminating that seemingly weak Earth Forces volunteer when he had the chance, and roared in fury:
"Damn you! You bastard! If Nicol hadn't stopped me back then, I would've killed him, and none of this would've happened!"
The Duel Gundam immediately switched weapons, firing a barrage of beam shots at the modified Ginn.
Kira Yamato, seeing Tolle Koenig closing in, quickly covered him—now facing both the Duel Gundam and the Aegis Gundam at once.
But as the mobile suits drew closer to Earth's gravity well, they became increasingly harder to control.
The three ZAFT Gundams soon received the order to retreat after the battle was deemed a failure.
The Aegis Gundam, further from the fight, didn't hesitate—after one last glance at the Strike, it broke off and withdrew from the atmosphere, still firing at the Archangel with its beam rifle and composite phase energy cannon from a distance.
The Duel Gundam, however, refused to let go of the Strike. Seeing the Aegis leave, Kira immediately told Tolle Koenig to return to the Archangel first. Tolle agreed, warning him to be careful.
He broke off and sped toward the ship, but at such a low altitude, the hangar bay couldn't be opened.
Like Mu La Flaga before him, Tolle had no choice but to land his Ginn on the Archangel's upper deck.
With Nami's help, the Ginn's left hand clamped firmly onto the deck while its right hand raised the beam rifle, ready to cover the Strike.
Moments later, Mu La Flaga, in his Zero-type Moebius, also broke off from the Blitz Gundam and hooked his anchor into the Archangel's hull, securing himself as well.
But the Duel Gundam refused to relent, clinging to the Strike with a suicidal determination.
The remaining ships of the 8th Fleet fired beam cannons at the Duel and the Blitz, but distance rendered their attacks ineffective. Worse, the Strike was too close, forcing them to cease fire and watch as the Archangel and the Strike pressed on.
As gravity pulled them down, Kira, exasperated, had no choice but to execute a Char-style flying kick, sending the Duel Gundam tumbling away before racing back toward the Archangel.
Still, Yzak would not give up. He raised his beam rifle and fired at the retreating Strike—
But Tolle Koenig was ready. With Nami's control, the Ginn raised its own beam rifle and blasted several shots into the Duel's right arm, destroying its weapon completely.
The Blitz Gundam, realizing the danger, quickly rushed forward and grabbed hold of the Duel.
Both machines were caught in Earth's gravity and began plunging uncontrollably toward the surface.
The Strike, just like in the original timeline, failed to return to the Archangel and plummeted toward the African desert.
The Archangel altered its course, rushing to intercept, and managed to catch it in time.
Watching the ship's final trajectory, Tolle Koenig breathed a sigh of relief—it was dangerous, but the Archangel had still ended up heading toward the same destination as in the original story.
On the Minerva-class warship Menelaos, Admiral Halberton of the 8th Fleet could only watch helplessly as the Archangel descended.
Though it had landed safely on Earth, it had strayed far from its original destination—right into ZAFT-controlled territory.
He quickly ordered the surviving ships of the 8th Fleet to withdraw toward the lunar base.
The civilians aboard the Menelaos had survived by sheer luck, escaping disaster this time.
Back at the battlefield, only three ZAFT warships remained adrift, damaged and disorganized. Tolle Koenig released his control over them, and under emergency repairs, they eventually retreated hours later.
Several hours after that, the Archangel safely touched down in a desert in Africa.
Tolle Koenig piloted his Ginn, carrying the immobile Strike Gundam back into the hangar.
He then returned for Mu La Flaga's Zero-type Moebius, hauling it in as well.
By the time Tolle returned again, Chief Petty Officer Murdoch's maintenance crew had already opened the Strike's cockpit and rushed the unconscious Kira Yamato to the infirmary.
Climbing down from the Ginn, Tolle was suddenly tackled by Miriallia Haw, who threw her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Uuuh… Tolle, thank goodness you're back! I missed you so much… I was so scared I'd never see you again. When you were gone, I was so worried…"
Tolle, seeing Miriallia's tear-streaked face like that of a crying kitten, couldn't help but want to protect her, to hold her close.
He embraced her tightly, not knowing how to comfort her except to whisper softly in her ear.
"Miriallia, see? I'm back. I'm fine, nothing happened. Don't worry anymore. Be good, don't cry, don't cry."
Still crying, Miriallia gradually drifted off to sleep in his arms.
Tolle looked at the sleeping girl and smiled helplessly. He hadn't expected that his risky capture would worry her so much, making her cry herself to exhaustion.
If, during Kira and Athrun's inevitable duel, he faked his death again, she would only be even more heartbroken… and he couldn't bear that thought.
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