"It really is Long Legs! The number of ships matches the intelligence exactly!"
Le Creuset Team had now arrived in the target sector.
"Blue Cosmos… those bastards!"
Yzak was already itching for a fight.
ZAFT would much rather deal with Blue Cosmos than the Archangel.
For one thing, Blue Cosmos really knew how to make people hate them.
For another… they genuinely could not beat the Archangel…
"What should we do…?"
The group fell silent in thought.
If this were just an ordinary battle, it would be simple enough.
But they had another objective now: rescuing Lacus.
That made things troublesome.
"The Archangel is docked with the Doolittle right now. Could Lacus-san already have been transferred aboard the Doolittle?" Nicol guessed.
"We don't know what's going on with Long Legs either…" Dearka rubbed his chin.
"I have an idea," Athrun suddenly said.
"What?"
"What idea?"
"Athrun?"
Everyone looked at Athrun.
"The Blitz has the Mirage Colloid System, so getting into the center of the formation won't be a problem," Athrun said. "Then… I'll infiltrate the Doolittle myself."
"Athrun, I know Lacus is your fiancée, but don't do anything stupid!"
Yzak looked at Athrun.
Had Athrun lost his mind over his fiancée?
"No. I'm perfectly rational," Athrun said. "This is the best method. If we attack directly, they'll definitely use Lacus to threaten us. Only if I can find Lacus can we truly claim victory."
"But…" Nicol still wanted to object.
Yzak, however, supported Athrun. "He's right. We can't expect Blue Cosmos to return Lacus-san to us, and we can't rely on those people from Long Legs either. Don't forget, we were fighting Long Legs ourselves not long ago! If this is a trap, the enemy won't expect us to infiltrate the ship!"
They could not trust the enemy. The only people they could rely on were themselves.
"Even so, infiltrating an Earth Alliance warship is…"
Nicol still felt it was too risky.
But Le Creuset unexpectedly agreed. "It's a good idea. Once Athrun rescues Lacus, we can attack directly. I believe Athrun can accomplish it."
Whether Athrun could accomplish it did not matter.
It would be even better if he could not.
Because if Athrun failed, then he and Lacus might both die there… and that would be even better!
The conflict between PLANT and the Earth Alliance would escalate even further, perhaps to the point where reconciliation became completely impossible.
Ahhh, could anything possibly be more wonderful?
Of course not!
Le Creuset looked gentle and composed on the surface, but at his core he was a madman.
The more viciously the Earth Alliance and ZAFT fought, the happier he became.
"Mm. Nicol, I'm counting on you." Athrun looked at Nicol beside him.
Nicol nodded.
Since this was an order, he had no way to refuse.
"Athrun… you absolutely have to be careful!"
"Mm!"
[Why do I feel like Athrun wants to infiltrate them for someone other than Lacus?]
[Kira: Yeah, I wonder who that could be?]
[Wonder whether they'll run into each other]
[Cagalli: What are you people talking about?!]
[Take a guess. Will Athrun run into Lacus, Kira, or Cagalli?]
[I bet half a yuan on Kira]
[I bet one yuan on Lacus]
[Then I'll put two yuan on Cagalli]
[I'll bet ten yuan on Murrue]
[???]
[What kind of cursed ship is that?]
[Ridiculous]
[What the hell are you doing]
[I can't bear to look]
[Running into Inori would still be more likely than Murrue]
[Actually, Murrue really is possible. The Gundams Athrun and the others stole were Murrue's property, and one red-coat was killed by Murrue in episode one too]
This time, the Stage did not keep the audience in suspense.
In the next scene, the Blitz Gundam had already begun infiltrating.
Just as they had predicted, the Blitz Gundam entered the center of the Earth Alliance fleet without being detected.
The sight was rather nerve-racking.
"Athrun, please be careful!"
"Mm!"
Although they suspected the Archangel might have handed Lacus over, there was still a chance Lacus remained aboard the Archangel.
So Athrun's first objective was actually to infiltrate the Archangel, blend in among the refugees, and… find Kira.
But Athrun couldn't enter the Archangel directly. The Doolittle was actually easier to enter because Inori had provided its structural schematics.
As one Moebius was about to return to the ship, Athrun quietly slipped in alongside it.
Conveniently, the Doolittle was docked with the Archangel at the moment, so personnel from both ships were mixed together. Entering the Doolittle first and then taking the opportunity to reach the Archangel was the best option.
Only then did the camera finally leave Athrun and return to the Archangel.
"This isn't what we agreed on!"
Murrue's eyes widened.
After the Archangel's people unlocked the equipment, they were immediately detained again.
"Captain Murrue is still new, after all. Something like commanding a fleet is best left to experienced people like us."
They were wearing Earth Alliance uniforms, but there was no question that these people belonged to Blue Cosmos.
And the Blue Cosmos members were looking at Murrue and the others with mocking smiles.
—They had fallen for it!
No, that was not quite right. Sutherland had never trusted Murrue in the first place.
Even after their supposed "defection," he had no intention of letting the Archangel go so easily.
Since it was locked, the solution was simple—use a key.
And once the key had "opened the lock," naturally… the key had to be put away.
Murrue and the others had been treated as nothing more than living keys.
"Damn it!"
Confined to the officers' quarters, Murrue was seriously annoyed.
But there was nothing she could do.
The other side had refused to play by the expected rules, throwing all of her arrangements into chaos.
"Tch. Nice move."
An invisible Fyu-Neru revealed itself.
Mu's face appeared on it.
"Yeah. If I'd known, I should've listened to you and ignored these people completely."
Murrue sighed.
At least they wouldn't die if they were court-martialed.
But here, one wrong move could very easily get them killed.
The Archangel's people might be wary of Coordinators too, but they were certainly not Blue Cosmos.
Blue Cosmos was ruthless not only toward Coordinators, but toward Naturals as well.
"At least we're back aboard the Archangel now. That means we still have room to maneuver. And there's one more thing." Mu's voice grew heavier. "That Rau Le Creuset bastard—I suspect all of this was his doing. This time, our enemies may include not only Blue Cosmos, but ZAFT as well!"