Chapter 374: Heading to P.L.A.N.T 1
Cagalli looked unhappy and forcefully pinched Tolle's thigh, whispering, "Eating from the bowl while still staring at the pot—you really are a total bastard."
"Ow! That hurts! No, that's not it, I didn't—don't say nonsense." Tolle immediately put on an exaggerated expression of pain and explained, "Isn't it because of those three Gundams we seized from the Earth Alliance earlier? They're far stronger than the original M1 Astrays.
"And Asagi, Juri, and Mayura just happen to be three people, so I was thinking of switching their machines for them. There's absolutely no other meaning behind it."
"I'm sorry." Seeing Tolle's pained expression, Cagalli couldn't bear it and gently rubbed the spot she had just pinched.
Tolle lightly stroked Cagalli's hair and said, "Alright, I didn't mean to blame you either. The reason I take such good care of them is because those three are your close friends.
"The battlefield changes in an instant. Without an excellent machine, it's extremely dangerous.
"Besides, I'm also mass-producing floating shields right now. Once we reach the L4 colony cluster, you can arrange for every unit to come aboard the Huayan for modification and installation. That way, everyone's survivability will improve."
"If you had this kind of technology, why didn't you bring it out earlier? Maybe then… Orb wouldn't have ended up like this…" Cagalli recalled the performance of the floating shields she had seen on the bridge, and as she spoke, her mood sank again.
Looking at Cagalli, who clearly harbored some resentment toward him, Tolle could only brainwash her while coaxing her along. "Disasters fall from the sky, and people's hearts are unpredictable. Even if I had brought it out earlier, someone with ulterior motives would have secretly taken it and handed it over to the Earth Alliance.
"Just like the PX system and the intelligent assistance system before. If they hadn't been stolen and given to the Earth Alliance, maybe Orb wouldn't have ended up like this.
"So… from now on, I can only manufacture truly important things aboard the Huayan."
After being further brainwashed, Cagalli said with a guilty expression, "I'm sorry, Tolle. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it…"
Seeing Cagalli on the verge of tears, Tolle immediately pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.
After a long while, he comforted her softly. "Alright, it's all in the past. We need to cherish the present, cherish this hard-won time of peace.
"Don't think about those sad things anymore. Lord Uzumi definitely wouldn't want his little princess to always be a tear-faced little kitty."
"You're the little kitty." Cagalli puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, then returned to her usual bold and energetic self and continued, "Alright, let's stop dragging this out. Hurry up and do the accelerated power transfer, and you should go get your machine too—leave early and come back early."
After that, without even turning her head, she grabbed Tolle and, completely familiar with the place, dragged him straight into the captain's rest room.
Cagalli removed her belongings, proudly straightened her chest, and said, "I'm ready. You can start."
"Mm, alright. I'll begin now."
Tolle then followed his usual method and ran his hands over her once, completing the accelerated power transfer.
Throughout the process, Cagalli didn't make a sound, cooperating with Tolle like a wooden doll as they went through the motions of the accelerated transfer.
After it was finished, the two simply hugged each other for a short while, without doing anything improper. Tolle merely soothed her emotions and let her cry properly on his shoulder.
After all, Cagalli's father had just passed away. No matter how much of a beast Tolle might be, he couldn't disregard someone else's feelings.
"Alright, you can go now. I'm heading to the Flight Armor Strike for training." After her emotions stabilized, Cagalli returned to her brisk, no-nonsense manner and started shooing him away. Still, with a flushed face, she softly added, "Be careful on the way. Stay safe."
"Mm, I will."
After all preparations were complete, Tolle piloted the VF-1SS alone and departed from everyone, preparing to head directly to the P.L.A.N.T satellite where Lacus was located.
Mu, watching the departing VF-1SS from the Archangel, said with a curious look, "Huh? That shape… isn't that an old-style fighter used in the atmosphere? And yet it can fly so fast in space. I've really got to find that kid Tolle someday and borrow it for a spin."
"Achoo!" Tolle rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, "Huh? Is someone talking behind my back? Sneezing once for no reason means someone's badmouthing you; sneezing twice means someone misses you; sneezing three times… that definitely means you've caught a cold."
Tolle guessed half of it right, but still had no idea that Mu had already set his sights on his Valkyrie fighter.
After leaving the monitoring range of the three warships, Tolle pushed the VF-1SS into maximum cruising speed.
After experiencing the maximum acceleration, Tolle stretched his body and said to Nami, "Nami, the Ahab Reactor really lives up to its name as a gravity engine. Even at the Valkyrie's maximum acceleration, the G-forces don't affect the body much. The burden is far lighter than before.
"I wonder what it'll be like in the future with the 00 Gundam's solar furnace or Macross's G-force storage technology. Would they be even more impressive? Both seem perfectly suited to the Valkyrie series."
"Master, although I don't understand the working principles of GN particles, based on the performance of the solar furnace, it should also be a type of gravity-controlling engine. However, it feels far more powerful than the Ahab Reactor.
"As for G-force storage technology, that feels like outright alien tech. The technological gap is too large—it's hard to compare."
"Sigh, fine. Those are still distant things anyway. We'll talk about it after going to the 00 Gundam world and the Macross Frontier world.
"For now, begin dispersing Ahab waves. Limit the Ahab wave range to the immediate vicinity of the fuselage and enter optical camouflage stealth mode. Destination: the P.L.A.N.T satellite."
"Understood, Master. Initiating stealth mode now. Leave everything to Nami—I guarantee mission success."
---
[Thanks for reading! Support future releases and read more at patreøn.com/craxx_real.]