Chapter 282 - 283: This Is Fate’s—No, the Director’s—Choice!

Chapter 282: Chapter 283: This Is Fate’s—No, the Director’s—Choice!

"So you’re the junk dealer who found the ’Black Monolith’ back then?" Le Creuse stroked his chin, looking at the man before him.

"Y-yes..."

Lowe Guele felt like he was about to cry.

A few hours after Heliopolis was destroyed, he’d taken a treasure-hunting job and come to Heliopolis hoping to find something valuable.

At Lowe’s side was a briefcase-sized artificial intelligence, "8," that he’d stumbled across a while back.

On the way in, Lowe’s companions had figured the trip might be dangerous—that battlefield-cleanup crews might double back. Lowe figured that with 8 at his side, there’d be no problem. If he couldn’t win, he could run.

"Leave it to me, I’m a professional-grade combat expert!" 8 had said as much too. "I’ve recorded the entire history of human warfare. First, the key points to note in battle..."

Except before it could even finish that sentence, three GINNs and two G-series units had already surrounded him.

immediately cleared the text from its display and wrote a new message.

"I recommend surrender."

And so Lowe was brought before Le Creuse.

As it happened, according to the records, a year ago that ZAFT fleet had said it was a junk dealer who first found the Black Monolith, which they then "requisitioned."

Yep—this very guy.

After Lowe recounted how he’d found it, Le Creuse fell into thought.

"So you’re saying you didn’t find the Black Monolith inside the colony, but in the zero-gravity zone outside the colony?"

"Right, right, right!" Lowe nodded hurriedly. "I heard there’d been a biohazard there—we only dared search the outside!"

Mendel was an abandoned colony, but there was actually still air inside.

A year ago, after finding the Black Monolith and having it taken away, Lowe had bolted, never getting a close look at the Mendel colony.

For some reason, if Lowe had admitted he’d entered the colony, leaving probably wouldn’t have been easy.

"Alright, that’ll do."

After finishing his questions and having the junk dealer taken away, Le Creuse stroked his chin and began to ponder.

"So that thing was sealed away on the outside—no wonder it wasn’t found..."

"Was it considered too dangerous even sealed inside the colony, so they wanted to be able to jettison it at any time?"

"Then why not just destroy it outright?"

Le Creuse sank into thought.

[Don’t tell me this part of the SEED arc is going to be about biology]

[They’ve already got genetically modified humans, so of course it’s biology-related]

[Le Creuse really does know some inside info]

[Mendel just sounds genetics-related]

Lowe didn’t get a chance to be "on camera." His whole appearance was just the posture of a head-bowed, trembling "junk merchant"—practically an NPC, and not even in high resolution.

As for the Orb crew coming to clean up the wreckage, and that other spin-off protagonist Gai Murakumo—they didn’t appear at all, either passing through and getting one-shotted, or, more likely, seeing they couldn’t win and bailing on the spot.

After all, Le Creuse’s team was just too vicious a lineup.

Le Creuse’s team couldn’t take down the Archangel, but the other side was the elite of the elite—on a battlefield, they’d basically be able to swing the outcome.

But in the fight against the Archangel, all they could be was "two supreme powers clashing until even the Great Dao itself was worn to dust."

And while ZAFT was investigating and making decisions, the Archangel was likewise discussing its next move.

"Le Creuse’s team has retreated for now, but ZAFT is sure to send more units as reinforcements," Mu spoke first.

"Why do they have to chase us so relentlessly?" Murrue was at her wit’s end.

"You’ve seen the G-series’ combat power, right? Against a G-series machine, a GINN is utterly helpless," Mu said. "If we make it all the way back and hand over this data, ZAFT’s advantage would vanish in an instant."

That was the crux of the problem.

Unlike the original.

In the original, Le Creuse exploited the information gap, keeping PLANT convinced the Strike’s pilot was a Natural—a Natural capable of such formidable combat power, which was exactly what kept the Supreme Council on edge.

Here, though—forget everything else—just seeing the AI system on the G machines had already nearly made the Supreme Council jump out of their seats.

At a time like this, whether the Strike’s pilot was a Natural or a Coordinator no longer mattered, because this system could turn every Natural into a "Coordinator" outright.

Add to that the fact that even elites like Le Creuse’s team couldn’t take down the Archangel, and it became all the more concerning.

Sure, ZAFT had the system too, but some things didn’t work that way.

The gap between a 1 and a 10 is large.

But the gap between an 11 and a 20 isn’t nearly as big.

"Retreat?" Murrue mused. "But which way do we go?"

"Heliopolis is on the opposite side from the lunar base. If we withdraw toward the lunar base, our supply situation is a bit dire." Badgiruel had reviewed their current stores; things weren’t looking good.

"This ship is a high-speed vessel—is there a way to shake off Le Creuse’s team?" Mu asked.

"Their Nazca-class is a high-speed vessel too." Murrue ruled out running. "And earlier, when the colony collapsed, ZAFT was able to lock onto the Archangel among all those heat sources. Shaking them off easily won’t be simple."

"If we get pinned down by ZAFT’s reinforcements, we’ll have no choice but to fight a couple of engagements." Mu was thinking too. "How about Artemis? The Eurasian Federation’s fortress."

"But their IFF won’t recognize us as friendlies. And we belong to the Atlantic Federation..." Badgiruel considered that relationship.

"How surprising. I thought you’d agree to my plan." Mu propped up his chin.

"It’s an option when we’re cornered. But the enemy also has four G-series machines. Artemis’s ’Umbrella’ is indeed strong, but I don’t think it’d help much—during the earlier battle, the Mirage Colloid system the Blitz used could bring the Umbrella down outright."

Badgiruel had made a different choice from the "original."

"Then how should we act?"

Murrue pondered.

"I’ve just been studying this AI assist system. This system really is strong, so we have another option... and that’s to go through the Debris Belt."

"What?!" Badgiruel’s words stunned both Murrue and Mu.

"The Debris Belt?"

"That’s right," Badgiruel said. "The Debris Belt is a field of wreckage—warships, colony debris, and asteroids—drawn together by Earth’s gravity. Normally it’s very dangerous. But for the Archangel as she is now, this route is viable!"

And Inori, who’d been eavesdropping, quietly walked away at this point.

Badgiruel’s choice saved her from having to do anything extra.

Otherwise... a certain lifepod from Heliopolis that had lost control, taken damage, and become stranded in the Debris Belt would be in danger—its oxygen wouldn’t last until rescuers arrived.