Chapter 34: SEED – Adjustments
Unfortunately, under the inertia of the plot, Natarle Badgiruel's despicable ceasefire announcement still happened.
Sigh… If Kira Yamato could just keep Athrun Zala busy, maybe I could've gone and sunk that Nazca-class battleship.
Risky, yes—but still a far better outcome than what we have now.
Although… if that had happened, it would've been very bad for Lacus Clyne's situation.
Forget it. As usual, I'll just take things one step at a time.
Tolle Koenig returned to the Archangel's hangar towing a whole string of damaged GINNs.
Sergeant Murdoch from the maintenance crew saw the lot of GINNs—and the Blitz Ginn full of bullet holes and missing its left leg—and shouted helplessly,
"You brat! You're trying to make me work overtime again, aren't you? You never quit!
Looks like what Ensign Natarle Badgiruel said was spot on—you've got a real knack for picking up junk. You're almost catching up to those scrap merchants."
Hearing "scrap merchants" made Tolle Koenig unconsciously think of a few Astray Gundams. He wondered if he could somehow get in touch with Lowe Guele.
But even if he couldn't, it was no big deal—leave it to fate. His own life came first.
Tolle Koenig climbed out of the cockpit, pointed at his Blitz Ginn, and said to Sergeant Murdoch,
"Uncle Murdoch, I'm just being thrifty, right?
Look—my Blitz Ginn's taken battle damage. If I don't bring back some parts, how are we going to fix it?
The Strike Gundam has spare parts, but my Blitz Ginn doesn't."
Then he jumped down from the Blitz Ginn and added,
"And don't forget, Uncle Murdoch—finish converting the Moebius Kai as soon as you can.
Once that's done, my Blitz Ginn can use the beam shield system. It'll definitely make your repair work easier later."
He took a few steps, then turned back.
"Ahem… Uncle Murdoch—
These three GINNs—can they be combined into one working unit? If so, we'd have a spare machine ready to go."
When he saw Murdoch's face darken even more, Tolle Koenig quickly added,
"Three-into-one was just an idea, that's all. No rush—take your time."
Just then, Kira Yamato returned to the Archangel's hangar in the Strike Gundam.
Feeling awkward, Tolle Koenig immediately said,
"Ah—sorry, I'll go check on Kira. You keep busy."
He bolted over to the Strike Gundam, leaving Murdoch so frustrated he slammed his wrench onto the floor, shouted "Ahhh—!" at the top of his lungs, and then went back to helping Mu La Flaga with repairs on the Zero-type Moebius.
Mu La Flaga told him,
"We've got to finish repairs quickly—things aren't over yet, you know."
Murdoch replied helplessly,
"I know, but this ship really is a magnet for disaster."
Mu La Flaga disagreed.
"The real disaster is ZAFT."
Tolle Koenig, standing beside the Strike Gundam as Kira opened the cockpit hatch, said,
"Thanks, Kira. If it weren't for you, I'd have been taken out by the Aegis."
"It's fine, no need to thank me, Tolle. Honestly, I didn't do much."
Kira shook his head and then hurried toward Mu La Flaga.
Tolle followed Kira over to where Mu and Murdoch were talking.
Kira asked Mu,
"What happened?"
"That's it. You heard it, right? That's how it is."
Mu answered and turned to leave.
Kira, dissatisfied, followed him.
"Using a girl as a hostage to threaten others and then running away—is that the Earth Alliance's way of doing things?"
Mu turned back seriously.
"We only make such ruthless decisions because we're too weak.
Neither you nor I have the right to oppose the captain."
Kira was left speechless, and Tolle could only comfort him from the side.
"Kira, don't think too much about it. We'll figure something else out later."
Kira didn't know how to respond and just said softly, "Tolle…"
The two of them went to the Archangel's lounge to rest, while Mu headed back to the bridge to discuss their next move with Murrue Ramius.
As soon as they reached the lounge, they heard Flay Allster's voice.
"No… impossible! It's a lie—it's all a lie—"
They looked over and saw Flay lying in Sai Argyle's arms, crying her eyes out.
Nearby, Miriallia Haw saw Kira and Tolle and called softly,
"Tolle, Kira…"
Kira didn't answer—he just stared at Flay. After a few seconds, he finally called out, "Flay…"
Flay, her eyes brimming with tears and blazing with grief and fury, cut him off mid-sentence.
"You liar! Didn't you say everything would be fine?
Didn't you say that because we were coming along too, nothing would happen?
Why didn't you protect my father's ship?
Why didn't you destroy them all?"
Miriallia couldn't bear to watch and tried to defend Kira.
"Flay, Kira really did try his best."
But Flay glared at Kira with pure hatred and shouted,
"Is it because you're a Coordinator? Did you never intend to fight seriously in the first place?"
Kira froze, unable to answer.
Flay kept crying, "Give me back my father!"
Tolle wanted to help explain for Kira, but didn't know how to start.
Flay wasn't exactly wrong—after all, the pilot of the Aegis Gundam was Kira's childhood friend.
At this point, there was no way Kira could go all out. He'd only be able to in the original plot—after the real Tolle Koenig died.
But me? I'm not sacrificing myself for anyone's drama. No way I'm dying just to help someone else move the plot forward. I still want another five hundred years at least…
Wait, no—if nothing goes wrong, I've already got at least two or three thousand years ahead of me.
There are countless worlds waiting for me to explore. I absolutely can't die this early.
I have to think of a way to get the best of both worlds. Worst-case scenario—once I master Magia—I can have Nami make a decoy.
There's also the fake-death option… but that could lead to getting cheated on. Tough choice!
While I was still lost in these wild thoughts, I saw Kira suddenly run off—probably driven away by Flay's words and Sai's public display of affection.
Well, that's his romantic fate to deal with. I'm not getting involved.
But… that doesn't mean I can't watch from the sidelines. Heh heh heh.
…Uh-oh. I think I'm getting more and more pervy. Must be Nami's bad influence. Yes, definitely Nami's fault.
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