Murrue and the others were "invited" back to the meeting room.
The Archangel had a "lock."
And that lock was genuinely difficult to open.
Actually, locking things was fairly common. Plenty of high-tech equipment in the real world had locks too.
And locks were not limited to passwords. There were plenty of other authentication methods. The Archangel's lock was a very convenient Biometric Lock: as long as the authorized person was present, it opened instantly, so smoothly that it was practically the same as having no lock at all.
Blue Cosmos might already possess data on the Archangel and the G-series, but there was no way they would simply give up the actual Archangel now that it was in their hands.
The Strike and the Archangel were already theirs. All they had to do was open one lock and they could use them. Why would they ever give them back?
"…I'm sorry, Colonel Sutherland, but we don't know how to disable this locking device either." Facing Sutherland, Murrue remained calm and firm.
"Bang!"
Sutherland slammed the table. "You are defying a superior officer's orders!"
"I'm sorry, but we truly don't know," Murrue said.
Sutherland narrowed his eyes at Murrue. "You used Lacus Clyne to make ZAFT submit without resistance, then destroyed three of their ships. I have to admit, I rather admire that."
"…Huh?"
Murrue was stunned.
That happened?
Mu, standing beside her, seemed to realize something—Blue Cosmos had probably obtained the earlier battle report.
The Archangel itself could not have had a battle report. The records had all been destroyed.
Then the only place it could have leaked from was… ZAFT?
That had to be it. Sutherland had not mentioned the Eighth Fleet's advance unit even once.
And from the way he was talking, it sounded as though the intelligence Blue Cosmos received had been embellished?
"That bastard Le Creuset!"
Mu understood almost immediately.
[No one knows a son better than his father]
[Mu: There isn't a scheme Le Creuset can cook up that I don't understand]
[Le Creuset: Surprise, idiot. I got played too]
[He set a trap for himself]
[Feels like the Archangel side doesn't know about the video Kira sent]
[Kira really did achieve Longchang Enlightenment lol]
[Making your enemy work as your hired muscle feels pretty great lol]
[Sigh, I feel like the SEED world is doomed. I don't even know how they're supposed to resolve the conflict between both sides]
[Get rid of Blue Cosmos and you solve most of the problem]
[How do you know there won't be Purple Cosmos or Orange Cosmos next?]
The Archangel's people had expected trouble, but being deliberately targeted like this still felt awful.
The situation was even worse than Murrue had imagined.
Blue Cosmos's actions made it obvious that they knew something.
Mu had already guessed that ZAFT probably intended to make the Archangel and Blue Cosmos fight first, then reap the benefits afterward.
No—even if they did not actually fight, merely tying down the Archangel's crew would be enough to make the situation dangerous.
Le Creuset knew more about the Black Monolith. Perhaps he had noticed something.
Mu had actually noticed something too.
Before doing anything, Inori would always request "Authorization."
That sounded like some kind of personal habit, but in reality, it was not.
Because that "Authorization" seemed more like… something a computer would ask for?
Mu suddenly understood what Le Creuset was trying to do.
"Songstress-san listens completely to the little girl (Kira), and she herself is connected to the Black Monolith. If she really does have AI-like characteristics…"
Then perhaps she could be restricted through something resembling "rules."
Was this Le Creuset's plan?!
Mu finally realized what was actually going on.
"This is bad. The situation is worse than we expected…"
Fortunately, Murrue had already locked down the Archangel. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Even so, things were not looking good.
If Blue Cosmos threatened Murrue with the crew…
Mu's mind raced.
Meanwhile, Sutherland was still trying to win Murrue over.
Perhaps, from Sutherland's perspective, the Archangel using Lacus against ZAFT was exactly the sort of underhanded move he appreciated, so he believed the Archangel could be recruited as prospective Blue Cosmos members too.
Le Creuset did not know Lacus was aboard the Archangel; the Archangel did not know Le Creuset had leaked the battle report.
The present situation had been created by that exact chain of misunderstandings.
But it also happened to give the Archangel an opportunity.
Mu gave Murrue a look.
Murrue understood immediately.
"So where is Lacus Clyne now?"
Sutherland asked.
Lacus was currently aboard the Astray Blue Frame.
The Astray Blue Frame itself was hidden outside the Archangel, where no one could detect it.
Lacus often wandered around, but she was actually very smart. Aside from the first group who had seen her climb out of the escape pod, almost no one else had ever seen her in person.
Even Flay's information was very limited.
At this point, only Murrue and a handful of others knew where Lacus actually was.
"She should be in the officers' quarters," Murrue said. "But since she's a Coordinator, her physical abilities must be exceptional. She may have hidden somewhere."
"I'll give you an opportunity," Sutherland said. "First, you will unlock the Archangel. Second, you will hand Clyne over. If you do that, there may still be room for discussion between us."
Murrue said, "I'm sorry, but the Archangel's locking system was not designed by us. We don't know how to alter its permissions either. But… we can place ourselves under Colonel Sutherland's command."
"Oh? You're pledging allegiance to us?" Sutherland raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Murrue felt dirty just saying it.
But there was no other choice.
"Hahahaha! Following Halberton will get you nowhere. You've made the right choice," Sutherland said with a smile. "How could someone like Halberton ever drive all the Coordinators out?"
"…You're right."
"For a blue and pure world!"
"For a blue and pure world…"
She wanted to throw up.
Disgusting.
But there was no other choice.
"Of course, the Archangel is severely understaffed right now. We'll also send some personnel to support you."
Calling it support was generous. It was really surveillance.
"Of course. We couldn't ask for more." Murrue "smiled."
"So hurry up and bring that Clyne to me."
"Mm…"
Murrue pretended to surrender, and the other side pretended to believe her.
But Murrue knew that if she truly handed Lacus over, the Archangel's crew might very well be silenced afterward.
For example, they could put the Archangel's crew aboard a shuttle back to Earth, only for that shuttle to suffer an "unfortunate accident."
Still, whatever happened later, at least the immediate situation had improved somewhat. The Archangel's people were allowed back aboard the Archangel.
There were simply a great many uninvited guests aboard now.
And Kira had not returned. Kira, who was a Coordinator, was still aboard the Doolittle.
Inori likewise remained in the reception room over there…