Cagalli's fierce protectiveness over her brother made her resemble a hissing kitten—more adorable than threatening. Reid turned to Athrun and said,
"Athrun, pull your Cagalli away. I haven't finished speaking yet."
Athrun, clearly just as interested in Kira's origins, ignored the teasing tone in Reid's words and simply dragged Cagalli aside.
Now that Cagalli knew Kira was her brother, she understood that the inexplicable bond she felt was due to their shared bloodline.
Since Kira and Cagalli had gone from lovers to siblings, Athrun naturally became Cagalli's only romantic option. Their relationship had noticeably warmed over the past two days. The same Cagalli who had just been baring her teeth at Reid now displayed a hint of girlish shyness after his teasing, obediently letting Athrun lead her away.
Once Athrun had pulled Cagalli aside, Reid continued solemnly,
"Kira, there's something you need to know. While investigating your background, I uncovered another hidden past."
"ZAFT's Rau Le Creuset harbors an unusual hatred for you."
"Mu's father, Al Da Flaga, was the primary investor in your father Dr. Ulen Hibiki's Super Coordinator project—though he withdrew funding for various reasons just before its completion."
"But during the eight years he funded the project, he had Dr. Ulen Hibiki clone two versions of himself. One of them is Rau Le Creuset. However, due to flaws in the cloning technology, Rau Le Creuset was born with shortened telomeres and chromosomal defects, causing him to age at an abnormally rapid rate."
"As a result, he grew to despise everyone involved in the experiment—and eventually, the entire world."
"Kira, during your recovery at ZAFT, the truth about the Super Coordinator must have been exposed. In the future, Rau Le Creuset will undoubtedly seek revenge against you."
Hearing this, Kira suddenly felt the weight of his misfortune—another disaster he hadn't asked for, with Creuset as his adversary.
But this was his own father's doing. As the ultimate beneficiary of that technology, Kira had no choice but to accept it.
Meanwhile, Athrun, who had been listening in, finally spoke up. He hadn't expected to hear about Captain Creuset's origins from Reid.
At this point, Athrun still held Creuset in high regard, so he filtered out the part about hating the world and asked directly,
"Mr. Reid, you said Captain Creuset has shortened telomeres and chromosomal defects? Does that mean his condition is deteriorating?"
Reid had no reason to hide the truth about Creuset and nodded.
"Yes, he's likely relying on medication to keep going. Under normal circumstances, his lifespan has reached its limit—whether he survives this year depends on luck. As for his condition... there's currently no cure."
Reid deliberately emphasized that there was no cure. In the Cosmic Era universe, the issue of shortened telomeres in clones remained unsolvable (forget about the Library's copy-people—they couldn't fix it in this story either). However, the Universal Century universe had mature cloning technology—Puru could grow up normally. Though Reid hadn't studied cloning in depth, solving the telomere problem might not be difficult in the UC era.
However, Reid had no intention of saving Rau Le Creuset whatsoever. Even if he told him he could be cured, it might just make him switch sides immediately.
As for the reason, Reid could only say he was a madman. Even if cured, who could guarantee he'd start loving life rather than shifting from destroying the world to tormenting it?
When Athrun heard Reid say Creuset's condition was incurable, his expression darkened with genuine sorrow. He truly didn't dislike Creuset.
Seeing this, Reid said nothing. Though Creuset had pushed Athrun and others onto the most dangerous battlefields, his guidance as squad leader hadn't been overly tainted by personal motives. Had he not wanted to destroy the world, he might have made a decent leader.
After some thought, Athrun suddenly declared with firm resolve:
"Mr. Reid, I want to return to PLANT."
Reid showed no surprise, responding casually:
"Go ahead if you want. I'm not stopping anyone from going home."
Hearing Reid wouldn't obstruct him, Athrun adopted a death-defying expression:
"I hope Mr. Reid can lend me a shuttle. I'll leave the Justice Gundam here—I'm returning to have a serious talk with my father about this war."
"But if my father remains obstinate, I likely won't return. In that case, you may dispose of the Justice Gundam as you see fit. Its Anti-Neutron Jammer could contribute to peace in your hands."
Reid immediately looked pained, waving his hand:
"Wait, Athrun, I think you might have misunderstood me—perhaps Kira and Cagalli too. When did I ever say I was on your side?"
This left Kira, Athrun and Cagalli utterly shocked, their expressions screaming "You mean Reid isn't one of us?"
With a sigh, Reid continued:
"Fine, I wasn't clear enough. While I'm willing to help you to some extent, that doesn't mean I endorse your chosen path."
"I have my own choices and reasoning, though I don't deny you might offer alternative solutions. Diversifying our options means I'll support you without formally aligning. Can you understand that?"
The trio nodded uncertainly, interpreting this as Reid offering covert support while maintaining public neutrality—an arrangement they could accept, since overt alignment would give both the Earth Alliance and PLANT grounds for retaliation.
Seeing their incomplete comprehension but satisfied nods, Reid didn't bother elaborating further:
"Now about the Anti-Neutron Jammer. Truth is, I'd already resolved the neutron interference issue long ago. The Anti-Neutron Jammer holds little value for me."
This nearly made Kira's group's eyes pop out. Athrun asked incredulously:
"Mr. Reid, did you just say you'd already solved the Anti-Neutron Jammer problem?"
Reid explained that since the Show Sword Plan was entering its next phase—where his nuclear capabilities would inevitably be exposed—he'd soon deliberately disclose Minovsky Particles and the Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor anyway. Thus, he saw no issue revealing this early to Kira's group, proceeding to gloss over the details with his characteristic nonchalance.
"Yes, I solved it during the time after returning from Heliopolis. However, I didn't develop an Anti-Neutron Jammer—instead, I bypassed the Neutron Jammer entirely and achieved an alternative form of controlled nuclear fusion. So, the Justice Gundam is truly useless to me."
The moment Reid mentioned controlled nuclear fusion, Kira and the other two nearly dropped their jaws in shock.
Kira felt utterly speechless. He had been so wary of Reid stealing the Anti-Neutron Jammer, only to find out the man didn't even need it—he had already completed research on a nuclear fusion engine, surpassing even nuclear fission technology.
While Kira was dumbfounded and Cagalli stunned, Athrun quickly regained his composure. After all, Reid Isaac's scientific prowess was enough to impress even the top minds at the PLANT Military Research Institute. If anyone else claimed to have achieved controlled nuclear fusion, skepticism would be warranted—but when Reid said it, his words carried undeniable credibility.
After only a brief pause, Athrun spoke up.
"Mr. Reid, even if the Justice Gundam holds no value for you, I still intend to keep it. After all, if I take this Mobile Suit back to PLANT, it will inevitably be used in battle against the Earth Alliance."
Seeing Athrun's determination, Reid didn't try to dissuade him. Originally, Reid had planned to wait until Lacus escaped and the three ships regrouped, letting PLANT initiate the conflict—there was no need for Athrun to risk returning.
But upon reflection, Patrick Zala was still Athrun's biological father. Wanting to confirm his father's true intentions before making a judgment was only human. Without the weight of duty pressing down, anyone with a conscience would hesitate to raise their sword against the man who raised them.
So in the end, Reid provided Athrun with a high-speed shuttle to return to PLANT. He was confident Lacus wouldn't let anything happen to Athrun—after all, she didn't have many reliable fighters at her disposal. At this point, Athrun might even be more trustworthy than Kira, given their shared childhood. It was just a shame that after Patrick killed Siegel, their bond was doomed to fracture.
Moreover, Kira, unwilling to let his best friend go alone, decided to secretly follow Athrun and provide backup just outside PLANT's defensive perimeter. Noticing this, Reid even arranged a medium-sized cargo ship with additional thrusters for Kira, loading both the Freedom and Justice Gundams inside. That way, Athrun could immediately join the fight once he escaped.
However, the moment Athrun and Kira departed, Reid immediately announced that Operation Bright Sword had entered its second phase.
The shuttle Reid gave Athrun was a high-speed model—it would take no more than two days to reach PLANT. The Eternal, likewise a fast battleship, would take no more than two days to escape PLANT and return to the Star Palace Colony Satellite.
Round trip, that was four days. Add one more day for PLANT to process the intelligence, and at the earliest, Patrick Zala would have his excuse to declare war on the New Misurugi Republic in just five days.
Given Patrick Zala's temperament, he would undoubtedly seize the window of opportunity while the Earth Alliance was still assembling its space fleet. If he waited any longer, the Earth Alliance's forces would begin closing in on PLANT's territory, leaving him no room to divert troops for an expedition against the New Misurugi Republic.
Reid declared that he was done pretending. The components of the Barge-class super battleship had long been arranged outside the Star Palace Colony Satellite. It was time to show the Earth Sphere what Star Palace Speed truly meant.
At Reid's command, the immigrants and diplomats in the Star Palace Colony Satellite watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of unarmed Construction Iron Balls flew out of the colony, beginning to assemble the "engineering" equipment containers that had been piled up outside the Star Palace for months.
On the first day, the diplomats in the Star Palace merely marveled at the New Misurugi Republic's mobilization capabilities, astonished that they could deploy hundreds of thousands of people to build a new colony satellite at once.
They also couldn't help but comment on the hundreds of thousands of Construction Iron Balls. After all, it was common knowledge that slapping a cannon onto the New Misurugi Republic's so-called "Iron Ball" construction machines turned them into handy small-scale space turrets. Hundreds of thousands of Armed Iron Balls were a force to be reckoned with.
But by the second day, the diplomats began to sense something was off. The New Misurugi Republic wasn't building a colony satellite, was it? Colony support beams weren't that thick. And an eight-kilometer support column seemed too short. Plus, why were they installing what were clearly thrusters on it...?
Finally, on the third day, under the stunned gazes of everyone, the Barge-class super battleship was fully assembled in three shifts by over a million workers.
Reid had leveraged the advantage that system natives never made operational mistakes. As long as the assembly steps simulated by the AI and super-quantum computers were error-free, the Barge-class super battleship would be flawless.
In reality, the computers rarely erred because the Factory Module-produced components were guaranteed to be precise down to the last data point, with zero margin for error.
So when the eight-kilometer super battleship successfully completed a lap around the surrounding Space Zone, everyone fell silent.
By then, even a fool could tell that protests were meaningless. And to make matters worse, the New Misurugi Republic proceeded to act like madmen, moving all the factory equipment from the Star Palace Colony Satellite into the mobile fortress outside—right in front of everyone. (With the factory equipment gone, buildings were simply demolished, and construction modules could erect new ones on the spot—just without the native inhabitants.) It was as if they were preparing to pack up and flee.
Panic spread through the Star Palace. No one had any idea what Princess Angelise and Reid Isaac were planning.
However, Une then demonstrated her exceptional political acumen by announcing the completion of the New Misurugi Republic's interstellar exploration vessel, the Barge.
She held public lectures to explain the ship's functions to the people—such as self-sustaining hydroponic farms that could operate with just water, residential areas capable of housing 200,000 people, complete with shopping centers, hospitals, and parks. There were also fully independent factories, research institutes, and other facilities capable of processing raw minerals into industrial production.
In short, Une portrayed the Barge as the prototype for humanity's future cross-galactic colonization, leaving the general public utterly dazzled.
Of course, not a single diplomat from other nations bought Une's explanation. All they saw were the battleship's countless turrets and the massive "Planet Destroyer Cannon" supposedly designed to obliterate unavoidable asteroids.
In fact, even a rough estimate would show that the facilities Une mentioned didn't even account for half of the ship's conservative capacity. What were they planning to load in the remaining space? Engines and fuel shouldn't require that much room. It must be filled with Mobile Suits and warships.
Moreover, a fortress of this size couldn't possibly be powered by traditional laser nuclear furnaces. By deploying this vessel, the New Misurugi Republic might as well have openly declared they'd developed more efficient nuclear energy utilization technology.
As a result, the diplomats from the Star Palace Colony Satellite all fell silent, acutely aware that the surveillance on them within the Star Palace had intensified recently—and with unusual boldness.
Fortunately, the New Misurugi Republic hadn't cut off these diplomats' communications with their home nations, allowing them to easily relay the situation back to their respective governments.
While the diplomats anxiously awaited responses from their superiors, events unfolded just as in the original timeline. Lacus, who had inherited the core members of the Clyne Faction from Siegel's ranks, successfully rescued Athrun. She then rendezvoused with Kira, who had been waiting outside, and secretly brought the Eternal to the Star Palace Colony Satellite.