In the following days, Lacus Clyne indeed kept the promise she had made.
Aside from appearing when the Archangel needed her assistance, she remained in her room without venturing out.
This quiet demeanor greatly surprised Natarle Badgiruel, who had been prepared to handle potential trouble.
From her perspective, having such an unexpected guest aboard the Archangel was bound to cause some commotion.
Yet, to her surprise, Leon Vance had simply used a small game to keep Lacus obediently confined to her room?
Natarle Badgiruel had even observed Tolle and other young crew members playing that little game to relieve stress during their breaks, but she couldn’t understand what magic it held that made Lacus Clyne so compliant.
“That’s probably one of Leon Vance’s clever tricks.
If you’re curious, Ensign Badgiruel, why not ask him directly?”
Murrue teased casually after learning about it.
“No.
That won’t be necessary.
I’ve seen that little game.
There’s no magic to it.
It’s likely that Lacus Clyne has simply recognized the situation and chosen to cooperate with us.”
Natarle Badgiruel didn’t dwell on it too much, nor did she have the time to ponder the matter.
Most of her energy was focused on the ZAFT fleet that could appear around the Archangel at any moment, constantly strategizing for the upcoming encounters.
“If that’s what you think, that’s fine too.”
Murrue didn’t offer any further explanation.
Unlike Natarle Badgiruel’s momentary curiosity, Murrue had already privately inquired about Leon Vance’s thoughts on the matter.
At the time, Leon had simply smiled casually.
“It’s nothing.
Lacus Clyne is quite familiar with my past exploits and wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to me.
So, I distracted her with a little game.”
Although Leon spoke lightly, Murrue’s intuition was sharp.
Especially after seeing the content of the game and the special effects Leon had specifically programmed, the clever Murrue almost immediately understood why Lacus Clyne wanted to get closer to Leon.
So, this was an attempt to poach him!
As her thoughts wandered, Murrue forced herself to refocus and discussed with Natarle Badgiruel how to deal with the impending ZAFT fleet.
On the other side, after completing the handover of the new Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset, Athrun, and the others finally set sail again to continue their mission of pursuing the Archangel.
However, due to the impact of the previous battle, Athrun’s Aegis Gundam had not been fully repaired and was far from combat-ready.
Originally, Rau Le Creuset hadn’t planned to include Athrun, but after news arrived about Lacus’s disappearance, Athrun volunteered to join the team and participate in the search mission temporarily assigned to the Le Creuset Team.
What could Rau Le Creuset say to that?
After all, the ship was already carrying several young masters he couldn’t afford to offend.
Adding one more didn’t make much difference.
“Everyone, I believe you have all heard by now.
Lacus Clyne has gone missing while participating in the recent memorial ceremony.
According to reports from the search fleet dispatched by the Ardnezia Line, the wreckage of the ship Lacus Clyne was aboard has been found near Junius Seven, and nearby were the remains of a ZAFT Long-Range Reconnaissance GINN.”
“Therefore, we have reason to believe that Lacus Clyne was likely abducted by some faction.
This faction could be the Earth Alliance, or possibly space pirates.”
After briefly outlining the mission, Rau Le Creuset concluded with his personal speculation.
“Finally, this is my personal conjecture.
Everyone, you need not place too much faith in my words—this is merely one possibility.”
“Yes!
Captain Le Creuset, please go ahead!”
Athrun was the first to respond.
Rau Le Creuset nodded and then had Adess switch the tactical display to a navigation chart related to Heliopolis.
“I trust you all still remember what happened at Heliopolis.
The core of that incident was the Earth Alliance’s new warship, which I refer to as ‘Long-Legs,’ and the new mobile suit with an unknown autonomous intelligent weapon system, which I call the ‘Halo Machine.'”
Everyone exchanged glances, tacitly accepting Rau Le Creuset’s naming.
“During the period when the Vesalius was disabled by the Halo Machine and unable to pursue, I entrusted a friendly fleet to investigate near the Eurasian Federation’s satellite fortress, reputed to be an unsinkable stronghold, but no trace of Long-Legs was found.”
Rau Le Creuset drew a long arc on the tactical display, connecting Heliopolis and Junius Seven.
“If my speculation is correct, Long-Legs likely abandoned its plan to head to the Eurasian Federation’s satellite fortress, bypassed that space sector entirely, and proceeded directly to Junius Seven.”
“What exactly is this?”
Yzak frowned, utterly perplexed.
Dearka was similarly confused.
Only Nicol, after pondering for a moment, suddenly had a realization. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“The people aboard Long-Legs don’t trust the Eurasian Federation.
They chose to undertake a long-distance voyage, arriving at Junius Seven to resupply using the resources there.”
Upon hearing this, Yzak immediately flared up.
But Dearka held him back.
This was the result of Rau Le Creuset guiding their thinking.
Not only had Yzak failed to figure it out, but he also wanted to berate Nicol—this was practically slapping Rau Le Creuset in the face repeatedly!
Rau Le Creuset didn’t seem to mind, however, and instead nodded approvingly at Nicol.
“Exactly.
Nicol, that is precisely what I think.
No matter how well-prepared Long-Legs may be, its supplies and ammunition are inevitably limited.
Moreover, to operate such a large space warship and engage in actual combat, personnel and ammunition are indispensable factors.”
“Therefore, after abandoning the Eurasian Federation’s satellite fortress, the only place Long-Legs could resupply is Junius Seven.
So, the mission we are about to undertake is not two separate tasks, but one: sink Long-Legs and rescue Lacus Clyne.”
“Understood?”
Rau Le Creuset asked solemnly.
“Yes!
Captain Le Creuset!”
Everyone stood at attention and saluted.
“Athrun, you stay!
The rest of you, dismissed.”
After keeping Athrun behind, Rau Le Creuset stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
“Now, do everything you can to restore that mobile suit to combat readiness!
Whether we can reclaim Lacus Clyne depends on your strength from here on.
Athrun Zala!”
Athrun Zala’s eyes were resolute as he responded loudly.
“Yes!”