Chapter 288: The Sky in Tears 3
At that moment, the Aegis's PS armor shut down instantly, its plating turning gray, making Athrun believe its energy had finally run out.
Seeing the High-Mobility Strike still struggling on his monitor, he didn't hesitate—he pulled open the Aegis's self-destruct panel and decisively entered the 2887 detonation code.
As soon as the ten-second countdown lit up, he opened the cockpit and used the small thrusters on his pilot suit to launch himself clear of the Aegis.
Kira saw Athrun abandon his machine and immediately understood his intent.
He frantically unlatched his harness, squeezed through the gash in his cockpit, and leapt out without a second thought.
At the same time, the Aegis's countdown hit zero.
Light erupted everywhere. The Aegis's explosion unleashed a massive shockwave, triggering the Strike's detonation as well.
The overlapping blasts merged, forming an even larger wave of destructive energy.
Kira, still midair when he jumped, was hurled violently away by the shockwave, flung an incredible distance.
Even Athrun, who had escaped early, was struck by the blast. He tumbled through the air and crashed heavily into the ground, losing consciousness.
After being blown far away, Kira was recovered by Rau, who had been watching from afar, just like before. Rau brought him to Coordinator Malchio once again.
Meanwhile, the Archangel also felt the distant tremor of the explosion.
Miriallia stared at the radar as the High-Mobility Strike's signal vanished.
She panicked, opening her communicator and shouting, "Tolle, can you hear me? Please respond! Kira, please respond! Tolle, answer me!"
But no matter how desperately she called, neither Tolle nor Kira answered. Even so, she refused to give up, repeating their names again and again.
Everyone on the bridge fell into silent dread.
In the hangar, Mu opened his comm to ask Murrue, "What was that explosion just now? What blew up?"
Murrue shook her head, sorrow on her face. "I don't know. We're not sure what exploded.
But right now… both the Strike and Skygrasper Two—we've lost contact with them."
Mu's face turned pale. He didn't want to connect the disappearance of their signals with the explosion he'd heard.
Miriallia continued calling for Tolle and Kira, her face twisting as if she were about to cry.
Natarle walked over, shut off her communicator, and said firmly, "Stop. There's no point in trying."
"Captain Ramius," Natarle said as she turned toward Murrue. But Murrue couldn't bring herself to declare Kira and Tolle dead.
Seeing Murrue frozen in silence, Natarle asked Neumann, "What's the Archangel's condition? Can we still continue?"
Murrue, unwilling to abandon any chance that Kira and Tolle were alive, said anxiously, "Lieutenant Baccello, we should stay here and send search teams—"
Natarle cut her off coldly. "Captain Ramius, staying here won't change anything. And we don't have the capacity to search for them.
It's better to leave immediately—to reach the Alaska base before ZAFT catches up to us."
Murrue still refused to give up. She opened a channel to the hangar and asked, "Sergeant Murdoch, what's the Archangel's condition? How long before we can perform emergency repairs?"
Murdoch, confused, answered, "The Archangel hasn't taken major internal damage. Once we patch the outer piping, we can take off. It shouldn't take long."
"Please repair it as quickly as possible. We must launch soon to search for Kira and Tolle—they've lost contact with us."
Hearing that both Kira and Tolle were missing, Murdoch felt a jolt of dread and answered, "Understood, Captain. We'll repair the Archangel at full speed so we can assist in the search."
Meanwhile, Dearka was dragged into the brig by two soldiers, staggering from fatigue. The Buster Gundam had already been stored away.
Elsewhere, Nicol watched the footage showing Kira and Athrun's self-destruction. Tears ran down his face.
He wiped them away quickly, then asked Tolle with determination, "Tolle, what do we do next? Do you have a plan?"
Tolle thought for a moment and said, "We wait for the Archangel to leave and for the people from Orb to arrive. Then we head to space—Lacus still needs someone there to protect her.
But you may have to work hard for a bit. We'll need to split up. You'll handle protecting Lacus in secret, while I prepare a few things."
"All right… I'll follow your lead. But… can I at least see my parents?"
Tolle shook his head. "You can watch them from a distance, but don't meet them. Doing that could put them in danger.
Once this war is over, you'll be able to go home freely."
Nicol looked disappointed, but he nodded. "I understand. I won't reveal myself to them."
Tolle nodded and took out a newly made compression-space wristband, handing it to Nicol. After explaining how it worked, he said:
"Use your nano-armor to disguise your appearance, then slip into the PLANTs quietly. That way, you won't risk exposing your parents."
Nicol had used a nano-weapon before, but the compression-space wristband fascinated him. After trying it out several times, he nodded to Tolle. "Thank you. I'll make sure to complete the task you've given me."