Chapter 331: Rest and Casual Talk
Miriallia also chimed in from the side. "Yeah, Sai. I don't want to be separated from Tolle ever again. I decided to transfer only because I want to live and die together with him. You really need to think it through carefully.
"If you make the wrong decision, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Sai lowered his head in disappointment and said, "Alright then. I'll think about it and give you an answer later."
Tolle nodded in agreement. "No problem, Sai. You still have plenty of time to think before we leave. No need to rush."
"Thanks. Then I'll head back to my room and think it over." With that, Sai left the cafeteria alone, quietly.
As soon as Sai left, Miriallia suddenly realized something. "Ah! Now that Sai's gone, no one's responsible for delivering meals to that ZAFT prisoner. Dear, I don't want to go—could you help me deliver it?"
Tolle then remembered that Dearka was still on the Archangel, and that Miriallia had never had any contact with him.
That was absolutely something he couldn't allow to happen. "Alright, dear, no problem. I'll deliver it."
"Dear, you're the best." As she spoke, Miriallia gave Tolle a kiss, then handed him Dearka's lunch. "That's everything. Thanks for your help."
Tolle took the meal and went to the detention area. Standing outside the cell, he called out to Dearka, who was resting. "Dearka, get up. Time to eat."
"Uh, coming." When Dearka saw Tolle, he said awkwardly, "Yo, long time no see. Didn't expect you to be the one delivering food today."
"Yeah. The person who usually brings your meals had something to take care of. I just got back to the Archangel, so I figured I'd help out and check on you.
"Of course, it's just simple food—no big feast to celebrate our reunion."
"Sigh. It's still nice of you to come see me. But since we're old acquaintances, can you at least tell me something?
"Why am I still being locked up on this ship? How much longer am I going to be detained?
"And what's going on with this ship anyway? What happened? Why are we still fighting?
"This really doesn't look right. Haven't we reached the Alaska base yet? …"
"Stop—! I'm not a walking encyclopedia!" Tolle was immediately overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, veins popping on his forehead.
He cut Dearka off and continued, "You asked so many questions—how the hell am I supposed to answer all of them? One at a time, got it?"
Dearka said helplessly, "Alright then. One by one. Why am I still locked up on this ship?"
"Because the Earth Alliance didn't accept you back then."
"How much longer am I going to be locked up?"
Seeing that Dearka was still repeating the same questions, Tolle answered helplessly, "I don't know either. Probably not too much longer. As for the rest of your questions, I'll just answer them all at once.
"After the Archangel reached the Alaska base, it was abandoned by the Earth Alliance and used as bait to lure your ZAFT forces…"
Tolle then explained everything that happened to the Archangel in Alaska, and continued spinning the story. "Right now, we've already arrived in Orb. Once we're able to disembark freely, they'll probably release you.
"But I can't guarantee that. I'm not the captain, so I don't have the authority to deal with you."
Dearka sighed. "Sigh… I knew the Earth Alliance had always been terrible, but I never thought they could be this bad.
"Abandoning their own troops without hesitation, blowing up their own base—this is just brutal."
"Who knows? Maybe in the future we'll even have a chance to fight side by side against the Earth Alliance."
"Hopefully. But more than anything, I just want to get out of here and return to P.L.A.N.T as soon as possible."
After chatting with him for a while, Tolle returned to his quarters.
That afternoon, Mina also arrived in Orb, piloting the Diana from the Orbital Elevator, and immediately took Tolle and the Astray Gundam Unit 0 off the Archangel.
After arriving at Morgenröte, Erica tightly hugged Tolle, her face full of concern. "Dear, is everything taken care of? Did everything go smoothly? Were you hurt at all?"
Off to the side, Erica shook her head repeatedly, while Mina clenched her fist, looking like she wanted to punch Yulia.
In the end, Erica sighed and tried to smooth things over. "Alright, Yulia, let go of Tolle first. He can barely breathe."
Mina also added, "Our dear is standing here perfectly fine, isn't he? What could have happened?"
Tolle also pretended to gasp for air. "Yeah, Sister Yulia, let go first—I'm about to suffocate."
Yulia released him, putting on an aggrieved expression. "It's just because I've been separated from my dear for so long. And we're about to be apart again for a while, so I wanted to stay close while I can."
Tolle could only comfort her. "Don't worry, Sister Yulia. We won't be apart for long—we'll see each other again soon."
Mina pulled Yulia aside and changed the subject, asking Tolle about what happened earlier. "Dear, what was going on with the Alaska base? How did it suddenly explode and get wiped out?"
"Yeah. There was a Cyclops System installed beneath the base. After luring the ZAFT forces deep inside, the Earth Alliance activated its self-destruct."
Hearing this, Mina asked in disbelief, "The Cyclops System self-destructed? But even if the enemy had advance intelligence, that kind of countermeasure still defies all reason.
"And the Alaska base relied on it to wipe out around seventy percent of ZAFT's existing forces. That's a devastating blow to P.L.A.N.T.
"The person who proposed that operation must be laughing themselves senseless at those results."
Yulia shuddered and said, "But that plan is far too cold-blooded, isn't it? Sacrificing their own people along with the enemy—was that really necessary?"
Tolle nodded in agreement. "The current Earth Alliance leadership is a bunch of brainless lunatics. There's nothing they wouldn't do.
"They don't value their soldiers or allies at all. They've become utterly insane and stone-hearted.
"But next, the Panama base is going to make them feel some pain. Or maybe not—if they do feel pain, it'll probably be for those Daggers."
Mina nodded as well. "Exactly. Forming an alliance with the Earth Alliance is absolutely not a good idea. This time, I won't have anything to do with them ever again."
Yulia nodded vigorously too. "That's right, that's right. Even if it kills me, I won't cooperate with them again!"
-------
[Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxx_real.]
[WN Exclusive Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, +1 chapter.]