"Ah… well done, everyone. We've linked up with the 8th Fleet."
Murdoch's voice echoed in the hangar as Roz maneuvered Jegan and brought it to a stop inside.
Along the way, though it was clear everyone had been running around nonstop, their expressions finally relaxed.
"Phew…" Roz also allowed himself a brief moment of relief, leaning back in his seat.
Soon, the cockpit of Jegan opened, and a "ball" of flame floated in from outside.
"Good work, Roz." Christina removed Roz's helmet and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"I'm fine…" Despite Roz's stubborn words, after facing four or even five opponents at once, he was drenched in sweat.
But compared to the physical exhaustion and tension in his body, the heartbeat of anxiety—the feeling that "there will still be battle"—weighed even more heavily on Roz.
Then again, it made sense: space was ZAFT's territory. The Earth forces had fought for so long just to gain a small area around Earth. It was only natural for ZAFT to gather troops and attack the 8th Fleet.
"Christina, charge Jegan in a moment," Roz said with a complex expression. Though he wanted to tell himself he was just overthinking, his instincts had rarely been wrong.
"Also, prepare the Stark components."
"Stark components? Here?" Christina was surprised, not understanding why Roz wanted to prepare the Stark modules now. "We've already linked with the 8th Fleet… premonition?"
"Mm…" Roz said nothing, simply nodding once.
"…I understand. I'll get them ready." Christina nodded. "Also, I made an adapter for the Buster Gundam's backup cannon barrel. It's not as stable as your design, but now Jegan can also use this equipment."
Though Christina's talents couldn't compare to Roz's, by understanding his design a little, using the prosthetic network to look up information, she could piece together a functional—if not perfect—adapter. Otherwise, she wouldn't call herself an "artificial genius."
"You've been a great help. Mount it on Jegan as well." Roz glanced at the transport ship flying into the hangar and at Murrue and the others already there, gripping Jegan's control stick tightly.
"Phew… the next battle… might be the final one, Jegan." After Christina left, Roz looked at the officers being greeted in the hangar by Murrue and the others, and a faint smile appeared.
"…" Though Jegan was just a machine, Roz inexplicably felt a change in the atmosphere inside the cockpit.
"Is that so… I see. Thank you for sticking with me through all this stumbling along." Was it fatigue? Or something else? Roz thought he heard a faint murmur.
"You're right… even if this is our last dance, at least we'll see it through to the end."
Unnoticed by Roz, the camera hidden under Jegan's visor flashed a barely perceptible, emerald green light.
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Thanks to its excellent outer armor design, Jegan's maintenance was remarkably fast.
The shoulder missile launchers, whose ammunition had already been loaded, were hoisted and attached to Jegan's shoulder armor by Christina, wearing a spacesuit.
Since the collapse of Heliopolis, Jegan's high-performance backpack and additional leg thrusters had never been removed; their performance had just been restricted.
Next, all that remained was to install the local defensive armor, load ammunition, and attach the recently completed adapter for the Buster Gundam's cannon barrel component.
"Oh! Two Skygraspers?" Murdoch looked at the checklist, somewhat surprised. "Aren't these atmospheric combat planes?"
"But what is this Armed Vehicle Intelligent Combat System?"
Hearing the unfamiliar yet strangely familiar name, Christina instinctively paused her work.
Her normally calm expression froze as she turned, staring at a small container marked with the "SmartBrain" logo being transported into the hangar.
"I don't know, apparently it's a newly developed unmanned control component for mobile suits, sent here for combat testing. General Halberton doesn't know the specifics either." The soldier transporting the cargo seemed equally unsure about what it actually was and could only answer Murdoch this way.
"Oh, I see. Put it over there." Murdoch didn't think much of it and simply pointed to an empty spot.
Christina kept her eyes fixed on the container until it was placed in the hangar.
Her hands trembled as she dialed Roz on the communicator.
"Roz…"
"I'm here. What's wrong?" Roz detected the trembling and helpless tone in Christina's voice. Ignoring the dampness from just having showered, he quickly put on clothes, intending to rush to the locker room and put on his pilot suit.
"SmartBrain… they haven't disappeared. They've appeared again."
Roz froze in place.
A wave of helplessness surged from the depths of his heart, crashing over him uncontrollably.
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About half an hour later, at the observation deck.
Roz leaned against the railing, his expression complex as he looked at the familiar Earth before him, that blue "cradle."
How could this be? He had clearly deleted the data and traces, destroyed the designs and all the samples and finished units… so why was this appearing again?
Was it data reconstructed from the wreckage? Or… had the information already been transmitted as soon as the samples appeared?
"Heh… of course…" Roz lowered his head, mocking his own naïveté. "An organization like that, how could they not have backups?"
Should he continue? Start over? Destroy all of it again?
But the target? The location? The people who modified and made them?
Thinking of this, Roz felt frustration and helplessness.
"…Roz?"
Murrue's voice came from Roz's left side.
Roz lifted his head and glanced at Murrue, and at the middle-aged man standing in front of her, with brownish-yellow hair and a beard.
"…General Halberton, this is Roz Links, a space junk recycler." Murrue hesitated slightly at Roz's gaze, then quickly adjusted her stance and introduced him to the middle-aged man. "He, like Kira, has been protecting the Archangel from Heliopolis until now."
"Oh, I saw your deeds in the reports. I'm grateful for your protection of the Archangel and the Strike Gundam along the way." Halberton smiled and stepped forward, extending his hand to Roz. "I didn't expect such a strong pilot among civilians. Using only the modified mobile suit pieced together from GINN wreckage, to achieve such capability."
A GINN wreck-modified mobile suit?
Roz stood up straight from the railing, glancing at Murrue behind Halberton.
Murrue said nothing, only shook her head slightly.
"Yes, that's me." Roz gripped Halberton's extended hand briefly, then let go.
Clearly, as Murrue's mentor, Halberton could see that she was intentionally protecting this young man. Out of concern and trust for Murrue, Halberton simply followed her words.
Upon seeing the young man in front of him, Halberton began to assess him carefully, aware that Murrue favored and protected him.
"I didn't expect someone to still like wearing this old-fashioned pilot jacket…" Halberton glanced at Roz's attire and opened conversation. "Clothes like this are rare now."
"It's from many years ago, after all." Roz nodded, not irritated by the interruption of his thoughts.
Rather, he needed a little time to digest this sense of helplessness and recover his composure.
"Haha, I didn't expect someone to share my taste." Halberton began to get to the point, walking toward the observation window, gazing at the familiar Earth. "This view… no matter how often I see it, I never get tired of it."
"Yes, Earth, the cradle of humanity." Roz also looked at the planet. "But humanity can't stay in the cradle forever."
"Oh, I didn't expect you'd think that way." Halberton smiled, turning to Roz. "Were you thinking about this just now?"
"…Not exactly." Roz gripped the railing at the window and looked out at Earth. "It's… something strongly related to me."
"Oh? What is it? Something about love?" Compared to the high-ranking officers of the Earth forces, Halberton now felt more like an old man chatting in a park. "You can tell me—I've been there, I can give you advice."
"It's not about love…" Roz sighed. "It's better if you don't know."
"If you know about it, you can't remain uninvolved."
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