Mikazuki lay relaxed on the bed. The continuous battles had indeed made him feel a bit tired, though it was nowhere near as exhausting as defending against Gjallarhorn's three-day assault on Earth.
"I never thought you'd say something like that to that woman."
"It's a pain, being a leader or whatever."
Orga chuckled twice.
"Hehe, you worked hard. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the Transporter's energy reached 2.0. It seems to increase randomly."
"Is that so..."
Mikazuki's reply was a bit perfunctory, making Orga feel helpless but understanding.
"Alright, alright. Get some rest. I'll notify you if anything goes wrong with Barbatos. Don't worry."
"Mm."
With that, Mikazuki closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
On the other side, the Aegis, which had just returned to the Vesalius, truly startled everyone on the entire warship, including Le Creuset.
athrun opened the cracked cockpit. Blood was dripping from his forehead, staining the entire inside of his red helmet. Although the explosion hadn't destroyed the mobile suit,
The impact was no joke, especially at such close range. Many instruments in the Aegis's cockpit were broken.
"athrun!"
Yzak and Dearka were shocked to see the Aegis and athrun's state. athrun's piloting skills were something they, his comrades, knew best, yet he was beaten to this extent. It was unbelievable.
Le Creuset, who had arrived, decisively ordered,
"Quick, stretcher! Send athrun to the infirmary.
Maintenance crew, send the Aegis to the hangar for repairs."
After giving the orders, he and Yzak stared blankly at athrun being carried away.
"What exactly happened...?"
Le Creuset suddenly recalled the mobile suit that had severely damaged his GuAIZ.
"Could it be him? Maintenance crew, send the internal combat footage of the Aegis's sortie to the bridge."
Inside the bridge,
Le Creuset and his Red Coats team floated in the air, watching the footage playing on the main screen.
After watching, Le Creuset took a deep breath.
"Truly terrifying..."
"How is this possible!"
Yzak's face was filled with horror, looking at Dearka and Nicol, who had the same expression as him.
Dearka spoke, wide-eyed.
"This isn't real, is it? Leaving aside the mobile suit's maneuverability, that reaction speed... Can a Natural truly achieve that? It's even stronger than us Coordinators!"
Le Creuset pondered for a moment, then moved to the captain's chair and connected to the infirmary's communication.
"How is athrun's condition?"
"Nothing serious, just a minor concussion from a powerful impact. He's already woken up."
"Is that so? Ask athrun if I can come over now to understand the situation."
"Yes... Reporting, Captain Le Creuset, athrun says it's fine."
"Good."
Hanging up the communication, Le Creuset was about to leave when Yzak and the other two quickly followed.
"Captain Le Creuset, we want to go see him too."
"What do you think the infirmary is? Stay here. You can go after I understand the situation."
"Yes."
Although unwilling, Le Creuset was right. It was an infirmary, and too many people shouldn't go in at once.
Yzak and the other two reluctantly obeyed Le Creuset's command.
Arriving at the infirmary, Le Creuset saw that among the several sickbeds, only one had a person lying on it.
Due to the lack of gravity in space, sickbeds had restraining straps to prevent patients from floating around during rest.
Le Creuset floated to athrun's bedside and, through his mask, asked athrun, whose head was wrapped in bandages,
"Are you alright?"
athrun, lying on the bed, shook his head.
"I'm fine, Captain."
Le Creuset nodded, not wasting words, and got straight to the point.
"I've seen the combat footage. What do you think of that mobile suit?"
athrun's pale face darkened, and he said in a deep voice,
"That was a lunatic. That reckless fighting style was too terrifying."
"So you feel the same way, after engaging that mobile suit..."
"Captain Le Creuset, you think so too?"
Le Creuset nodded.
"Yes, that mobile suit isn't just about its capabilities; more importantly, it's the pilot.
Are those movements, reaction speed, and that reckless, madman-like fighting style truly achievable by a human?"
athrun's pupils contracted slightly.
"Captain, are you saying that pilot might be a Coordinator?"
"No, perhaps it's someone who has surpassed Coordinators... possibly the Earth Alliance's latest product in genetic engineering."
Le Creuset calmly analyzed the possibilities, but these were merely guesses. They had no idea about systems like the Alaya-Vijnana System.
"If that's truly the case, once the Earth Alliance fully masters this genetic technology, then our PLANT will be..."
athrun dared not continue, for the consequences were self-evident: Natural-born humans stronger than Coordinators would emerge.
Given the current relationship between the two sides, Earth would surely dispatch such genetically engineered products to attack PLANT's colonial satellites and eliminate the Coordinators.
But this was clearly impossible. After all, the Alaya-Vijnana System didn't exist in this world, and Barbatos's mobile suit parameters were strictly guarded by Orga.
The Ahab Reactor's semi-permanent energy source meant that the mobile suit didn't need energy replenishment, which meant it didn't need energy resupply other than propellent fuel and external equipment.
Even the world's most powerful hackers couldn't break through the data protection Orga had set up for Barbatos. Therefore, outsiders could only understand what Barbatos outwardly displayed.
For example, from the battle between the Aegis and Barbatos, they learned that its armor could be immune to beam attacks and the like.
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