Although the records had been deleted, the Archangel had other crew members too, and not everyone knew the full truth. Once their superiors demanded explanations, some secrets simply could not be hidden.
So the fact that Kira had piloted the Strike Gundam was basically impossible to conceal.
Fortunately, everyone else knew only fragments of what had happened.
That meant there was still room to maneuver.
But Murrue could only give a vague account of the situation.
"…So, when ZAFT attacked, in order to resolve the crisis, you handed the Strike over to this uninformed civilian—a Coordinator girl at that—and allowed her to operate it, while you also failed to control her actions. Is that correct?"
"…Yes."
A leading question.
But she had no choice but to answer.
"And it was precisely your resistance that led to the destruction of Heliopolis."
Murrue: ???
"Are you saying… that fighting back was a mistake?"
"I would never say that," Sutherland said. "All I can say is that having a Coordinator child happen to be there was your misfortune."
"How can you say that!" Murrue stood up. "If it weren't for her, we—"
"—If it weren't for her, Heliopolis might never have collapsed!"
Not just Murrue. The other crew members were dumbfounded too.
At that moment, the scene switched to Mu.
"That's not true!"
Mu looked extremely agitated.
Then the scene switched again, this time to Natarle.
"This…"
Under questioning, Natarle was speechless too, though her position was somewhat delicate because she was not exactly part of Murrue's faction.
But regardless, everyone from the Archangel was being subjected to absurd questioning.
[If they didn't fight back, everyone would've died]
[Just defect already]
[Souls weighed down by gravity]
[But that really is how it is]
[Kira: Screw this, I'm joining ZAFT]
[What a disgusting attitude]
[They've been targeting Coordinators from start to finish]
[Looks like Inori still hasn't been exposed]
[If Inori gets exposed, all hell breaks loose]
[Maybe she already has]
[They're just looking for an excuse]
Sutherland was not finished. "The past cannot be changed. But if she had merely been an ordinary Natural child—and if she had not been aboard the Strike at the time—the outcome would have been completely different. Yet she was there, and you were the one who put her in the Strike, were you not, Captain Ramius?"
[Then they would've been wiped out ages ago]
[People at the top never know the suffering at the bottom]
[Without Kira and Inori, ZAFT would've taken the Strike long ago]
[Classic 'resisting is a crime' logic]
[With officers like this, the Alliance still expects to win?]
[He's with Blue Cosmos. He came here specifically to pick a fight]
By now Murrue was furious too. "Are you saying… this was my… error in judgment?"
"We are fighting Coordinators, Captain Ramius. Civilian or not, a Coordinator is still a Coordinator. The facts are right in front of you. How can you still not understand? It is their very existence that has brought chaos to the world!"
[Char, hold off on Axis for a while. Let's infiltrate the Federation first]
[Extreme racism. Better put them down humanely]
[Humanely? No—wipe them out inhumanely]
[Feels like Kira's in danger]
[Shame the combat records were deleted. If the higher-ups saw them, they'd drop to their knees]
[If they saw them, Kira might end up even worse off. She probably wouldn't even be allowed to die]
[Then Inori might go berserk]
[Never have I seen anyone so shameless]
[Backseat commander sitting safely at spawn]
[Without this Coordinator, your whole family would be dead]
"Until the final disposition is decided, you will remain here and wait."
Sutherland stood up.
"How can you do this?!" Murrue covered her mouth in shock.
This was house arrest in all but name!
Murrue and the others were all escorted to officers' quarters, one room for each of the three.
Murrue looked furious.
But after the door closed, Murrue actually let out a breath of relief.
"Um… are you there?" she called into the air.
A cloaked Fyu-Neru then appeared in front of Murrue.
A projection screen opened on it.
Mu appeared on the screen.
"Oh, this thing is really convenient. Our Songstress-san's magical Stage device." Mu had been furious earlier too, but now he looked fairly relaxed.
Natarle appeared as well.
"What did they tell you over there?" Murrue asked.
"They want to transfer me, but they say there'll still be an investigation," Mu said.
"Same here," Natarle agreed.
"Everyone from the Archangel on my side is being held aboard the Doolittle until the result is decided." Murrue sighed.
"They could've just taken it by force, but instead they staged a whole sham hearing." Mu curled his lip.
The Archangel's crew belonged to the Eighth Fleet, Halberton's people, and were at odds with Blue Cosmos.
By now, what these people wanted was as obvious as it could possibly be.
Unlike in the "original work," Halberton was still around, so the Archangel's crew could not simply be used as disposable pawns. In that case, they might as well just seize the ship outright.
At that point, Mu said, "I also managed to get a little information out of them during my interrogation."
Mu's expression turned serious. "Apparently, a ZAFT battle report leaked out, causing Headquarters to change its decision…"
"A battle report…?!"
Murrue did not understand at first, but then her eyes widened and she covered her mouth.
—It was deliberate.
"Le Creuset, that bastard. I didn't expect his shadow to follow us all the way here."
Mu shook his head.
They did not know the details, but the Archangel, an assault landing ship with only a single G unit, the Strike, had somehow fought one against four and destroyed three ZAFT warships!
In a game, that would basically count as a "Brilliant Victory."
"But according to Songstress-san's information, Headquarters should already have data on the Archangel, and they should have the G data too," Natarle added.
Before leaving, Inori had doxxed the Atlantic Federation as well.
As Admiral Halberton pushed the G-series plan forward, the data should have existed only on the Archangel and the Strike.
But in reality, Blue Cosmos, waiting to swoop in and claim the spoils, had already obtained data on both the G units and the Archangel.
Even Admiral Halberton had been kept completely in the dark.
"To Blue Cosmos, the Eighth Fleet itself… may already be disposable." Murrue felt a pang of sorrow.
"Anyway, based on the data they collected, the Archangel and the Strike may be strong, but there's no way they should be capable of destroying two Laurasia-class frigates and one Nazca-class destroyer while also fighting three G units and countless GINNs. So they suspect Halberton kept something in reserve."
"…A secret weapon that might be aboard the Archangel…?"
Following Mu's line of thought, Murrue quickly reached the same conclusion.
That made sense.
They had the data, yet the Archangel had produced results that should have been nearly impossible according to that data. It was only natural to suspect there was some hidden secret aboard.
"Letting those two Gundam Astrays 'go free' was the right choice," Mu continued. "Though it must have been a pain for Songstress-san."
The two Astrays were not inside the Archangel right now. They were outside.
After being covered in metamaterial to conceal them, the two machines were currently maintaining a cloaked state.
The explanation given to everyone else was that the two machines were no longer worth repairing.
Kojiro Murdoch's mechanics were dependable. With a few adjustments to the maintenance records, lowering the Astrays' listed performance to around GINN level would be enough to avoid suspicion.
Murrue clenched her fist. "I will not let you take the Eighth Fleet's Archangel!"