Chapter 363: 363 Gundam Seed 4
I boarded the Double O Quanta Full Saber and headed to the predicted battle point. Behind me, the Odyssey followed slowly, keeping its distance.
When I arrived, the battle was already in full swing. The ZAFT forces were concentrating their attack on three Earth Forces advance ships. The Archangel was still far away, approaching.
The Earth Forces tried to defend by deploying Mobile Armors, but they were no match for the stolen Gundams. The Duel, Buster, Blitz, and Aegis Gundams pressed their attack in turn, ravaging the fleet. Eventually, one ship was completely destroyed and vanished.
As the situation grew critical, the Archangel also launched Mobile Armors and the Strike Gundam to join the advance forces, attempting a coordinated response.
I too jumped into the battlefield without delay and sent a message via open broadcast once more.
"This is Celestial Being. Cease all hostile actions immediately and return to your respective formations."
—"There you are! I’ll definitely get my revenge this time!!! Shinigami of the battlefield!!!"
When I sent the transmission, Yzak responded with an excited voice. That guy definitely had anger management issues. But since he called me the ’Shinigami of the battlefield,’ I asked,
"Hey, friend with anger management issues."
—"What did you say!!?? I don’t have anger management issues!! And who’s your friend!!"
As expected, he got angry at my words. Yzak had just proven himself that he had anger management problems.
"Right, you, getting all worked up. Why do you call me the ’Shinigami of the battlefield’?"
—"You don’t even know what people are calling you these days."
It seemed another nickname had been arbitrarily attached.
—"But that nickname ends here! Athrun! Operation Shinigami Elimination, commence!"
—"Don’t shout the operation name so loudly!"
When Yzak called Athrun, the two began attacking me together.
Zing—! Clang!! Wing—! Clang! Clang! Crackle!!
Yzak and Athrun closed the distance instantly, crossing beam sabers. Their movements were smooth and meticulous, as if they had been coordinating for a long time, and it looked like they had already anticipated my appearance and prepared. Whenever their blades clashed, sharp sparks flew, and their coordination was astonishingly precise.
Moreover, whenever I tried to retreat even slightly, Nicol’s Blitz Gundam and Dearka’s Buster Gundam, waiting at a slight distance, would take turns sniping without missing an opportunity. Pressure from the front and harassment from the rear came simultaneously.
’These guys really prepared hard to catch me.’
But there was something they didn’t know. My swordsmanship, honed through numerous martial arts, was EX rank, and my machine itself was made of vibranium, allowing it to withstand those movements.
I briefly stepped back, holding the GN Sword IV attached to my right shoulder in one hand to block incoming beam rifle shots, while with the other hand, I combined the GN Sword V with the GN Sword Bits to create a GN Buster Sword. Now the Double O Quanta Full Saber Gundam held two massive greatswords. Athrun and Yzak hesitated for a moment at the sight, then immediately charged again, continuing their consecutive attacks.
Clutching those two greatswords, I stayed almost in place, calmly blocking or deflecting their attacks without a single wobble. In contrast, Yzak and Athrun moved busily, constantly changing positions, swinging their beam sabers noisily as they tried to find an opening. It was a stark contrast between stillness and motion.
Zing—!! Clang! Clang! Crackle!! Clang! Zing—!! Clang!
—"Th-this can’t be... after all the practice we’ve done together..."
After a period of attack and defense—or rather, one-sided attacking—they realized none of their attacks were working. Athrun spoke with a very surprised voice.
Pew—!!
Pzzzt...
Then Nicol fired a beam rifle from behind, but without even looking back, I raised the GN Sword IV and blocked it. Yzak shouted in shock.
—"Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something!!???"
"Heh! It’s standard to put eyes in the back when operating a Mobile Suit, as Amuro-sensei said."
—"What nonsense are you spouting! Who’s Amuro?!"
"Ah, just talking to myself. Isn’t it about time you realized? Whether it’s machine performance or pilot skill, you can’t beat me. So call it off and go back."
—"Are you looking down on us!!!"
Predictably, Yzak couldn’t tolerate my provocation and quickly approached again, trying to strike down with his beam sword. I lightly dodged to the side and, crossing the GN Sword IV and the GN Buster Sword, sliced off one wrist and both legs of the Duel Gundam Yzak was piloting.
Swish!
—"Guh!"
—"Yzak!!!"
Athrun flew in urgently and supported the damaged Duel Gundam. Yzak, furious, began shouting. Having lost not only a wrist but both legs, it was understandable.
—"Damn it!!!"
"Do you want to continue?"
Then Athrun said,
—"Let’s stop. We’ll withdraw."
"Originally, if you attacked again despite my warning, I would have put you down without mercy. But a guest asked me to show mercy. Consider yourselves lucky."
KABOOM!!!
At that moment, a massive explosion echoed from the side. The largest of the Earth Forces ships was engulfed in flames and exploding. While I was blocking Athrun and Yzak’s attacks, ZAFT’s GINNs and ships had apparently continued bombarding the Earth Forces ships.
In the end, just like in the original, I couldn’t save Frey’s father. However, judging by the absence of surviving GINNs on the battlefield, Mwu La Flaga, who had sortied with Kira, had effectively stopped them. But they couldn’t stop the attacks from the ZAFT ships, so sacrifices were unavoidable.
’Looks like Kira, having failed to save that guy, wanted to be comforted by Frey with her body.’
Still, thanks to my intervention, one Earth Forces ship was saved. Though they don’t know that.
Anyway, Athrun Zala and his group began to retreat, and the Archangel joined up with the remaining Earth Forces ship.
"Oh~ cute Captain, long time no see. You’ve been well?"
When I sent that transmission, Captain Ramias sighed heavily and said,
—"Thanks for the help, but we’ve taken heavy losses, so I’m not in the mood for jokes."
"Really? That’s too bad. Still, it was nice to hear your voice. See you next time, cute Captain."
—"You really—!" "Captain..." "I said I know."
Again, she got angry—the adorable Murrue Ramias.
While the two Earth Forces ships gathered for repairs, I returned to the Odyssey. Lacus greeted me with a smile.
"Thank you for listening to my request."
"What if I hadn’t listened to you and fought instead—I might have saved more people, you know?"
"Maybe. But as you said, Jin, I believe this method—preventing meaningless deaths—is what gives legitimacy to our actions. I see this not as a simple choice but as the right direction we must pursue."
"Even if the results are lacking, you want to go step by step, the right way."
"Exactly."
Listening to Lacus, I finally understood why Kira became a pacifist.
Then Lacus fidgeted with her hands and spoke as if troubled.
"But there’s something I’m worried about. I think you mentioned someone named Athrun earlier—it’s the same name as my fiancé."
I knew from the original, but I pretended not to.
"Really? You were engaged. Then this is a good chance to go back. The ZAFT forces haven’t moved far yet."
"But..."
"In my opinion, rather than staying here, you’d be better suited to participating in politics. That’s where you can have more power. Staying here seems pointless. You’d be much more valuable stopping war through politics. Different people have different strengths."
Then Lacus spoke with a slightly sulky tone.
"So you still want to send me away quickly, don’t you? Did I nag too much?"
"That can’t be. I’m opening a path for you."
As expected, sending away Lacus the cult leader wasn’t easy.
"Go back and try what you can do. If there’s no way, contact me. I’ll come pick you up again."
"Alright."
In the end, Lacus decided to return. I attached a small device to Lacus’s Haro so she could contact me. Then I contacted the ZAFT forces.
"This is Celestial Being. We have protected Lacus Clyne, the daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne."
ZAFT immediately replied.
—"A kidnapping? What do you want?"
"That’s a misleading statement. We rescued her drifting in a life pod in the debris belt. We will hand her over to the ZAFT forces now, so come pick her up."
—"How will you hand her over?"
"I will send one disarmed Mobile Suit."
—"Understood. Wait a moment. We’ll prepare."
After sending that transmission, Lacus and I began preparations. Lacus changed into a spacesuit and stuffed her clothes and belongings between the suit and her belly, just like in the original. As a result, the midsection of her spacesuit bulged out like she was pregnant.
"If you’d asked for a bag, I would have given you one... that looks a bit..."
"D-does it? Should I take it out?"
"No, just go. And when you get to the ZAFT forces, they’ll ask you in detail about the situation. Tell them exactly what happened. That way, you won’t run into trouble. Except, of course, that you wanted to join Celestial Being."
"Understood."
I picked Lacus up and boarded the Gundam.
"Oh my, you’re strong. My weight is a secret, but with the spacesuit, belongings, and Haro, it must be quite heavy..."
"Well, this is nothing. Anyway, let’s go."
"Yes."
We went out into space and moved to the designated meeting point with the ZAFT forces. After a short wait, the red Aegis Gundam flew in. As in the original, it seemed Athrun himself had come to pick up Lacus.
"Open your cockpit."
When I sent that transmission, Athrun obediently opened his cockpit. So I opened mine as well.
"Identify yourself."
"Athrun Zala, Mobile Suit pilot of the ZAFT forces."
Athrun Zala did not mention his rank or unit affiliation at all. It seemed he didn’t want to give away even trivial information.
Then Lacus waved to Athrun and greeted him.
"Ah, it is Athrun. Long time no see, Athrun."
"Lacus Clyne, confirmed."
Athrun, probably worried, relaxed upon confirming it was Lacus.
"Then take her."
Athrun came out of his cockpit and prepared to receive Lacus. So I pushed Lacus toward Athrun. Lacus safely moved to Athrun, took his hand, and looked at me to say goodbye. Athrun, seeing Lacus’s bulging belly, was briefly flustered, then realized it was luggage and sighed.
"Thank you for everything, Jin. If we have the chance, let’s meet again."
Then Athrun spoke.
"I heard about you. You’re doing this because of the Bloody Valentine, aren’t you? I lost my mother then too. In the end, this war won’t end unless one side collapses. Celestial Being is chasing an illusion. Instead, join us. Ending the war quickly, as you say, will prevent further sacrifices."
"That just means ZAFT winning quickly and ruling Earth, right? Then people will suffer under another form of discrimination. If we’re not on the same side, it’s meaningless. This conversation is over."
I closed my cockpit and slowly backed away. Then Athrun, with Lacus, boarded the Aegis Gundam, closed the cockpit, and returned to the ZAFT ship.
I watched them for a moment, then returned to the Odyssey. For now, I planned to leave Kira and Athrun alone for a while. They needed to grow and awaken SEED. So I intended to continue operating in space for the time being. Besides, I thought I should probably have a base. And Mobile Suits, too.
