Chapter 94: Post-Battle Affairs

Chapter 94: Post-Battle Affairs

"You pulled the ejection lever at the last moment, got blasted into space, and faced the explosion head-on without injury—just a few scratches on your standard suit from debris and a slight scare. Is that what you're saying?"

Eli looked at Arcadia, who was nodding in response, and felt a mix of indescribable emotions inside.

After helping the Federation's arriving Marines secure Dozle at the White Base, Eli had returned to the hangar. There, he happened to see Arcadia preparing to leave.

"Yeah, more or less. Feels like I got lucky somehow."

Arcadia scratched the back of his head and smiled at Eli.

Seeing that this guy was completely unharmed, Eli finally let out a long breath of relief.

"But... Dozle, that bastard. He didn't die, did he?"

Arcadia lowered his hand, his voice turning grim.

Whenever the Zabi family was mentioned, a shadow would cross his face.

"No, he didn't. He'll definitely live to face judgment."

Eli understood that Arcadia knew very well—death was too easy a punishment for Dozle.

"That so? Then I can rest easy."

Eli watched as Arcadia boarded the transport ship, preparing to leave White Base for Solomon Fortress, where he would await reassignment to a new mothership.

After all, Arcadia's ship had been destroyed, and everyone he knew was gone.

"Hey! Your machine took a beating, right? What's next for you?"

"No idea. Maybe they'll assign me another GM?"

Arcadia shrugged, indicating that he wasn't sure himself.

One thing was certain—given that he had taken down a Musai-class ship, he would definitely be prioritized for a new machine.

Still, Eli called out to him.

"Hey, until your replacement arrives, how about piloting this one?"

Eli pointed behind him at the Gyan Krieger.

The steel giant lay dormant.

"...You do realize I hate Zeon, right?"

"It's all the same as long as you're using it to fight Zeon."

Hearing Eli's reasoning, Arcadia nodded.

At the start of the war, the Federation had special units that disguised themselves as Zeon forces. These units piloted captured Zakus to infiltrate and sabotage behind enemy lines.

"IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) should be set up properly, right? Otherwise, I might get shot in the back."

Standing at the foot of the Gyan Krieger, the two of them examined its deep blue paint job and the prominently painted "E.F.S.F." insignia of the Earth Federation Space Forces.

"Don't worry, it's all taken care of."

Eli patted Arcadia on the shoulder.

"In that case—"

Arcadia pushed off the ground, floating toward the cockpit of the Gyan Krieger.

"Then I'll gratefully accept. Make sure CIC announces this three times!"

Eli chuckled as he watched the Gyan Krieger come to life and move toward the catapult.

After CIC broadcasted three times that a captured Zeon machine was in operation, Arcadia finally felt reassured enough to launch toward Solomon Fortress.

Eli waved, then blinked as he lowered his hand.

"...I never told him my name, did I? No wonder he didn't recognize me... His home was in Sydney, right..."

Watching the Gyan Krieger vanish into the distance, blending into the starlight, Eli turned and floated toward the captain's quarters.

Right now, Captain Bright was undoubtedly overwhelmed.

On a ship where the highest-ranking officer was only a lieutenant, there was no one qualified to formally negotiate with Dozle.

For now, Bright could only ensure that Dozle was treated properly and that no rash actions were taken.

Fortunately, most of the White Base crew didn't harbor the kind of personal hatred that would drive them to kill a Zabi on sight, which eased Bright's concerns somewhat.

"Eli, you've really given me a massive headache."

Sitting in the captain's quarters, Bright had just finished speaking with Commander Harkin when he voiced his complaint to Eli.

He still had a long list of people to meet and would even have to report directly to General Tianem.

Of course, since Eli had personally captured Dozle, he would also have to give a full report.

"I'm struggling with this too, Captain Bright."

Bright glanced at Eli and, seeing the genuine frustration in his eyes, softened his tone slightly.

"Two of those massive things... Is Zeon really losing? Where did they even get all these resources?"

Eli grumbled, unsettled by this unexpected development.

If two Big Zams had attacked the Federation fleet simultaneously, he doubted he could have changed anything.

Fortunately, Yashima Heavy Industries' weapons proved effective, and Amuro had managed to hold off the other Big Zam, allowing Eli to take one down immediately.

Though he wasn't sure why things played out that way, at least General Tianem had survived—that was enough.

"Speaking of which, according to the intel from Solomon Fortress, you played a role in Zeon having two Big Zams."

"Me?"

Eli pointed at himself in surprise, clearly not understanding what Bright meant.

"Zeon's Southeast Asia mining base. They developed the Apsalus III, which destroyed a Trojan Horse-class ship, killing Colonel Ethan Ryer. Your former captain, Lieutenant Colonel Kojima, took over command and had sniper GMs work with the EZ-8 to take down the Apsalus. But before that, a Zanzibar-class battleship escaped."

Bright's expression turned grim.

"That Zanzibar was carrying supplies and engineers who ultimately built two Big Zams. Zeon had originally planned to produce only one. The one Dozle piloted was even equipped with a Minovsky particle flight unit—its intended target was Jaburo."

To think that even after reaching space, he was still being chased by the Apsalus' aftermath.

Eli fell silent.

This was something he had never expected. Though he had managed to evacuate Aina and Shiro from the battlefield earlier, in some ways, he had almost escalated the war instead.

This was also a consequence of his actions…

"Alright, don't dwell on it. The important thing is that we thwarted Zeon's attempt to ambush the Federation fleet, securing a stronghold for the counteroffensive in space. That's enough."

Sensing Eli's unease, Bright patted the couch beside him, signaling for him to sit.

The next report was about to begin, and Eli, as a pilot, would have to give a full account of his actions.

It wasn't going to be an easy task.

Eli sighed heavily and slumped onto the couch.

He would rather join the pursuit force and hunt down that bastard Kado than be stuck here giving reports.

That was just the common mindset of MS pilots.

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