A lot had happened on the Archangel. Much had changed, yet somehow, nothing had changed.
When Natarle Badgiruel had mostly recovered and made her way to the bridge, enduring the pain in her right shoulder, this was her thought.
Along the way, she had witnessed Blue Cosmos' twisted atrocities and once again seen the comrades she had fought and survived alongside. After all the twists and turns, she had returned to the starting point.
On the bridge, the crew saluted her as she entered from the Cambridge gate.
"Welcome back to the ship, Major Badgiruel,"
Murrue Ramius said with a smile.
"Everyone missed you."
Natarle instinctively wanted to return the salute, but the pain in her right shoulder and the wound, which might bleed if she moved too much, reminded her of her current condition.
"…I missed you all too."
After a while, she sighed. "Sorry, given my condition, some of the formalities will have to be canceled."
"We're not the Earth Alliance anymore, so we don't care about such things,"
Murrue told the crew to lower their hands from the salute. "Honestly, we're fighting to survive, and we're also trying to find a way to stop this war."
"You've felt it too, Natarle. Right now is just the calm before the storm. The next large-scale battle will be a moment of mutual destruction."
"Speaking of which, can we contact General Halberton? There's something important."
Seemingly thinking of what the Blue Cosmos officer aboard Garuda 2 had said, Natarle's tone became urgent.
"The Blue Cosmos specialist on Garuda 2 wasn't the project manager of that Wet Project. That manager has already boarded Garuda 1 and arrived at the Heliopolis Mass Accelerator!"
"The Lunar Fleet is already under suspicion. General Halberton is in danger!"
"…Actually, the Lunar Fleet had already been under suspicion before."
At that moment, Roz Links, leaning against the railing, spoke. "Blue Cosmos on the Moon is collaborating with a force called the Kingdom of Foundation to build a secret weapon there."
"Although I destroyed that secret weapon in a surprise attack, it seems that the Kingdom of Foundation is quite wealthy and continues repairs."
Roz sighed. "The Moon base is currently investigating itself, and General Halberton's communications are mostly silent. I can't reach him either."
"I see…"
Hearing Roz's explanation, although anxious inside, Natarle realized there was no way to contact General Halberton now and tried to calm herself.
"So what is your current mission…"
"Our course now is to head to the Kingdom of Foundation to investigate."
Murrue spoke, opening several images on the bridge's screen. "The investigation includes the giant MAs that once attacked Orb, the black mobile suits, and their cooperation with Blue Cosmos."
"If necessary, we destroy them?"
Just hearing the name "Blue Cosmos," Natarle could already guess their intentions.
"How do you plan to enter? Just sail across the surface? They must have their own forces."
"No, we plan to go underwater."
Murrue shook her head. "When it was being refurbished Orb's Industrial 7, Morgenroete gave it modifications for underwater use. Now, the Archangel can also function as a submarine."
Currently, Orb could produce more Izumo-class ships, but due to time and resources, they could only ensure the combat effectiveness of existing ships. A lot of effort had been put into strengthening the remaining vessels.
However, the development of new MS based on the M1 Astray had never stopped, and it seemed Erica, the director of the MS development center, had new ideas again.
"I understand."
Natarle thought for a moment and nodded. "When do we start the mission?"
"Right now. Return to your deputy captain's seat first."
Murrue pointed to the empty seat that had been left for her. "This seat has always been reserved for you."
Natarle skillfully walked down to the lower bridge level, sat in her seat, and touched the slightly familiar armrest. She sighed. "It's… been a long time."
"Begin surface descent."
At that moment, Murrue's voice came over the comm. "All hands, prepare!"
The Archangel, hidden in the clouds, began lowering its altitude. Its massive hull broke through the clouds, revealing the blue ocean below.
As the Archangel continued to descend, the thruster flames struck the ocean, spraying water high into the air. The friction between the water and the outer armor caused violent vibrations.
"Slowly… completely fine!"
Having experienced the previous Earth landing, Arnold Neumann skillfully eased the throttle, letting the Archangel settle smoothly on the water.
"Switch to submerged mode!"
Seeing the Archangel move steadily on the surface, Arnold toggled several switches to operate the rudders.
The Archangel's vents closed, and the ballast tanks distributed throughout the hull began filling with water. The ship slowly submerged, creating a large number of bubbles around it.
In fact, the Archangel's hull shape wasn't ideal for diving, but its sturdy structure and outer armor allowed it to withstand the water pressure.
Finally, before the Atlantic Federation's surface fleet could arrive, the Archangel completed its submersion and disappeared beneath the ocean.
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At this moment, inside a private airport of the Kingdom of Foundation, Orphee had just stepped off a shuttle.
Although the Requiem project had been delayed and two Black Knights had been lost, leaving him in a foul mood, the moment he saw the figure welcoming him in the distance, Orphee instinctively showed a smile.
"I'm back, Mother."
Seeing the petite figure before him, a petite girl with the same blond hair as himself, Orphee slightly bent down and performed a noble's bow.
The petite blonde girl before him was the Queen of the Kingdom of Foundation: Orphee Lam Tro's mother, Aura Maha Khyber.
"You're back, Orphee."
Aura played with her folding fan as she asked, "How is the project progressing?"
"There was a small accident. The White Devil attacked the lunar base, and the Requiem project has been delayed."
Thinking of that mobile suit that tore through the Earth Alliance with incredible speed, Orphee felt a headache. "Also, his output has increased. We lost two Black Knights. In total, we've already lost three to him."
"It doesn't matter… With ZAFT's Councilor Gilbert Durandal's support, and Blue Cosmos' cooperation terms, we can quickly make up for those losses."
Aura closed her fan and looked at Orphee.
Although the Kingdom of Foundation had gained independence from the Eurasian Federation thanks to Durandal's support—acting both as a backup piece in Durandal's plan and as a covert nail driven by ZAFT's hardliners into the Earth—
Given the current situation on Earth, Aura had also accepted Blue Cosmos' cooperation invitation, maneuvering between Blue Cosmos and ZAFT while continuing her own research.
And as for what she was researching…
Sensing a familiar wave of mental power sweeping over him, faint voices echoing in his mind, Orphee took a deep breath.
"It seems your new Coordinator project has made great progress, Mother."
"While you were away, the latest generation of New Coordinator surgery, based on the previous foundation, can now achieve simple mind‑reading and communication."
Aura glanced toward several young men nearby who were dressed in black noble uniforms.
"And the FT armor has moved into its next phase. Although its beam resistance has slightly decreased, it no longer requires a reactor for power."
"That's great news. It seems our national strength has increased once again."
Hearing this, the gloomy expression on Orphee's face finally relaxed into a smile.
"But there is a risk. Blue Cosmos is being attacked by that so‑called White Devil. We have so many Blue Cosmos factories in our country. If something were to happen…"
Thinking of this problem made Aura frown.
"...This problem was caused by Blue Cosmos. Naturally, they should be the ones to resolve it."
Orphee thought for a moment and offered his suggestion: "We can let Blue Cosmos take the brunt, and then have the Black Knights reap the benefits afterward."
"Although the feasibility seems low for now, I believe that technology emitting green light and ignoring physical laws is worth attempting."
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"Are you staring at that Phoenix again?"
Seeing Shinn zoning out at a video on his communicator during break, a blond young man felt a headache and instinctively rubbed his forehead.
"Although that mobile suit does look good, there isn't much data, so you can't analyze anything."
At that moment, he felt a sense of helplessness. After all, seeing your teammate staring blankly at a "GUNDAM" with almost no data—anyone would feel the same.
By the way, he didn't understand why Asuka was so focused on that "Phoenix." Did his family die at its hands? Was it to motivate himself?
The blond youth sat on the bench and came up with an answer wildly far from the truth.
"Rey, of course I have my own reasons."
Hearing the blond youth's voice, Shinn snapped back to reality.
"By the way, this afternoon is shooting training, right?"
This blond youth named Rey, although his fake identity name "Amuro Ray" overlapped slightly with what Roz once used, was actually called Rey Za Burrel, and he was now a pilot directly under Durandal's command.
"That's right. I still don't know why you're so interested in shooting training."
Talking about this topic, Ray felt a bit helpless.
"Look at it this way: the time it takes to shoot and destroy an MS is shorter than the time it would take me to cut it in half with a knife."
Shinn seriously looked at Ray: "Wasting time is losing money. Who's going to make up for the missing prize money?"
At this point, Shinn's shooting skills were extremely proficient. After lots of practice, using a single-core processor, Shinn had memorized the feel of firing with his body. Now, he basically only needed to lift the gun to roughly know where the bullets would land.
He didn't need to hit a perfect ten every time; as long as he could hit the target as quickly as possible, that was enough.
After hearing Shinn's explanation, Ray's mood became complicated.
Good news: the teammate wasn't a total idiot.
Bad news: the teammate was an ultimate money lover.
..........