Perhaps ZAFT had suffered too many losses at the Alaska base and was now recuperating… or planning its next attack?
To avoid anchoring or sinking in the middle of the ocean, the Archangel chose to sail in a straight line towards Orb and was not pursued by ZAFT.
"We're about to exit ZAFT territory… can Archangel still hold up?"
Murrue sat in the captain's seat, her face showing some concern.
"Everything's marked in red, there's trouble everywhere… but it should be able to keep going a little longer…"
Arnold, the helmsman, looked at the readouts on the console, constantly estimating Archangel's condition. His palms gripping the wheel were slightly sweaty.
"Hold on a little longer… Archangel, please hang in there…"
A plane belonging to Orb's forces flew low, beginning to circle the battered Archangel, patched up in many temporary places.
Ledonir, Cagalli's "bodyguard," frowned at the sight, reaching to adjust the comm channel.
"Reni, Broze, prepare the tow cables. Be ready to tow Archangel at any moment."
At this moment, two ships detached from the Orb fleet patrolling this area and headed toward Archangel.
"Archangel has entered Orb waters… we're safe."
Finally relaxing, Murrue exhaled, slumping into the captain's seat.
"Wait… wait a moment, Archangel…"
Arnold, however, panicked slightly, "Just the last stretch left, don't stop now…"
With a sound of equipment overloading, Archangel's thrusters stopped functioning, losing power. The ship continued forward in Orb waters only by inertia.
"Archangel has lost power! Launch the tow cables!"
Ledonir, circling in the aircraft, clearly saw Archangel's condition. The heavily patched ship was now emitting small amounts of smoke in some areas.
The two Orb ships quickly turned, firing their cables from instruments installed at their stern, wrapping them around the extended parts of Archangel's hull.
With power lost, this was the only way Archangel could be towed.
"All right, everyone, take a short break for now."
On the bridge, Murrue also understood the ship's current state.
"Coming all the way from the Alaska base to Orb in this condition, we're already very lucky."
Her words caused the Archangel crew to sigh. Except for the damage control team checking the ship, everyone remained in their positions.
With nothing pressing to do, they noticed the nearby island where several ships were docked.
Orb's forward base had been temporarily constructed. Sparks occasionally flew from the remains of Shamblo, and a group of siege machines surrounded it, dismantling the massive MA.
"That's… a giant MA? It's been destroyed?!"
Seeing Shamblo's wreckage, Mu couldn't help but exclaim.
"It's called Shamblo, a giant MA manufactured somewhere by Blue Cosmos. The original plan must have been to land, eliminate George Allster on the island, and also blame ZAFT to draw Blue Cosmos into Orb."
Roz, still wearing his jeans and flight jacket, leaned against Murrue's captain seat, calmly explaining the giant MA.
"Shamblo's main weapons are scattering-type beam cannons, refracted via specially designed drones, and a positron cannon hidden in its head. But probably due to budget and design issues, it can only use one weapon at a time."
Although Roz described Shamblo as if it were an easily destroyed machine, seeing the dense traces of beam fire left on the battlefield caused everyone to swallow hard.
Even just looking at the remnants of the battle conveyed the despair brought by Shamblo's overwhelming firepower.
"…That battle must've been brutal."
Murrue reached out, grasping Roz's hand on the armrest.
"Actually, it wasn't that bad. The pilot on the other side didn't seem familiar with this giant MA; many of their actions were strange. So it wasn't really that difficult."
Roz casually assessed Shamblo's pilot skills and then fell silent.
On the deck of Archangel's Lohengrin turret, Kira stared at Shamblo, now almost completely dismantled, stunned.
-----------------------------------
"Truly… devastating…"
Erica stood at the edge of the dock, frowning as she looked at the battered Archangel.
The damage to Archangel was even worse than Erica had anticipated. To repair it properly, they would need to send personnel from headquarters.
As the powerless Archangel came to a stop in the dock, the entire dock crew began running.
Not for any other reason—just watching Archangel, as if a single second could make it explode, made them anxious.
"Archangel… how did it come to this?"
Cagalli stood in the dock control room, staring at the ruined Archangel, stunned for a moment, then began running toward the passageway that had just been linked.
Uzumi, standing beside her, also looked grim. Clearly, the intensity of the war had exceeded his expectations.
"Sigh… such a change… who knows what kind of consequences it will bring."
Recalling the sacrifices made for Orb's economy over the past several years, its layout in space, and the current situation on Earth, Uzumi increasingly felt that his reasoning had been correct.
"Let's go."
-----------------------------------
Archangel, Hangar.
Murdoch directed the maintenance crew busily, coordinating with the Morgenroete, Inc. technicians for inspections, with the "just joking" repair manual still in his pocket.
Having fully understood how Archangel had managed to reach Orb despite the constant risk of losing power, Murdoch was already considering whether he should buy an incense burner and go properly "praise the machine soul."
Roz leaned against the walkway railing in front of Narrative Gundam, looking up at its dual-eye monitoring cameras, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Haro idly swayed on Roz's shoulder, seemingly in standby mode, while its main body somewhere in the "shipyard" was nowhere to be seen.
The bridge had now become a temporary negotiation table. Though Roz could technically remain on the bridge, he was really not used to such formal situations.
"So this is Mr. Roz's new mobile suit?"
Erica, having somehow arrived on the walkway, squinted at Narrative Gundam.
"Looks similar to the G series."
Although she was curious about Roz and Kira's new mobile suits, Erica's main objective wasn't to negotiate.
Her priority was to recover the captured Buster Gundam—the data on it was essential for her.
However… why was this mobile suit's frame exposed, and why were the gray armor pieces with recessed grooves so fragmented? Could they really withstand enemy fire? Wouldn't they fall off during battle?
"Hmm… Narrative Gundam. That's her name."
Roz responded casually. "Also, don't even think about buying her design plans. I'm not selling her."
Not joking—this wasn't just Roz's only mobile suit; the modifications deeply integrated with its psychoframe made it impossible to sell.
Unlike Jegan or Jesta, whose psychoframe only slightly enhanced performance when attached to the cockpit, Narrative's modifications were entirely based on using the psychoframe.
"I'm not buying either."
Erica, apparently expecting Roz's reply, shook her head with a smile.
"Neither your mobile suit nor Kira's is our target. I'm just here to retrieve Buster."
"Also, I didn't expect Kira to have survived."
Erica looked at Kira, who was walking on the walkway toward the new mobile suit with Cagalli, and waved.
"Oh, and we recovered some of the stuff you lost earlier. Remember to stop by the Morgenroete, Inc. hangar later."
With that, Erica left the walkway, leaving Roz confused, while Kira and Cagalli seemed to have guessed something.
Roz scratched his head, glancing at the hangar. Noticing a familiar mobile suit missing, he seemed to realize something.
But then, a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Roz."
Murrue, having finished the negotiations, came to his side.
"Negotiations finished?"
Roz turned, moving from observing the hangar to leaning on the railing, looking at Narrative Gundam. "What was the outcome?"
"The Archangel crew cannot move freely for the time being. Even leaving the ship, they may only go to areas permitted by Orb."
Recalling the negotiations, Murrue sighed. "This is the best result we could get."
"But it doesn't apply to me. Prime Minister Uzumi probably said that."
Roz had guessed the likely restrictions on Archangel. Indeed, this was the best outcome.
"After all, your identity is still Orb's space scrap dealer, and Archangel has just left the Earth Forces. You're more like unemployed gun-wielding civilians."
Murrue imitated Roz, leaning on the railing, slowly closing the distance between them.
"Such an existence will surely be monitored until we declare our position."
Ignoring Cagalli's surprised exclamation at Roz and Murrue, Murrue leaned on Roz's right shoulder.
Haro, connected without Roz noticing, subtly turned, its monitoring eyes scanning everything. If Roz wore headphones now, he would hear Christina's complaints beside Haro.
"Since I can leave, should I buy something or bring something out?"
Roz extended his right hand to the railing behind Murrue, preventing her from falling.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent walkway, Cagalli—her worldview shaken after Kira's explanation—blushed deeply upon seeing Roz and Murrue.
Suddenly, Narrative Gundam opened its heat vents, and warm air blasted toward Murrue like a heavy punch, making her sway in surprise.
Thankfully, Roz had already extended his hand, preventing her from falling.
"Roz? What happened?"
Murrue, still startled, leaned on Roz, her hair slightly disheveled.
"…I don't know. Narrative Gundam sometimes activates heat mode. I still haven't found the reason."
Roz, equally helpless, adjusted her hair.
"The timing's tight, and it doesn't have a major effect. Full inspection is temporarily postponed."
If Roz had looked at Narrative Gundam now, he would have noticed a faint, unnoticed red glow on its psychoframe. Its head, originally raised, slightly lowered.
Cagalli, watching the whole scene, was puzzled.
"Kira, did that Narrative lower its head without Roz controlling it?"
"Did it?"
Kira turned to observe Narrative closely, shaking his head. "No, hasn't it always been like that?"
"Is that so… maybe I just misread it."
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