On the bridge of the Archangel, Reid, Ange, Mu, Murrue, and Bargiruel were engaged in final discussions while observing the distant Artemis Fortress.
Murrue looked at Reid with a serious expression and said,
"The Artemis Fortress has approved our request for docking and stated they'll conduct an inspection upon boarding. Reid, do you really think they'll detain us the mont they co aboard?"
Reid nodded, reaffirming his stance.
"Given what I know about Gerard Garcia, there's a 99% chance he'll detain you all.
As for Ange and , he'll probably try to detain us too. Unfortunately for him, he's just a major general, Ange is European royalty, and I still have so connections in Artemis Fortress.
He's stupid, but not completely brainless. The relationship between European royalty and the governnt is complicated, especially with neutral nations involved. The people from the New Misurugi Republic will likely be separated from you, but Ange and I might have so room to maneuver.
By the way, Mu, did you tell Kira to lock down the Strike? They probably won't dare touch my mobile suit recklessly—I've set up safeguards—but the Strike is fair ga. They'll try brute-forcing it since you don't have an IFF code."
Mu gave a thumbs-up in response.
"Of course. Didn't need you to remind . I've seen plenty of the Atlantic Federation and Eurasian Federation's tricks."
Reid nodded, then turned to Ange.
"Ange, go to the civilian quarters and bring Flay out. Tell her she'll be temporarily serving as your attendant. You're a princess—it's only natural to have people waiting on you. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to volunteer."
He then addressed Miriallia Haw at the CIC station.
"Miriallia Haw, how about you play the role of an attendant too? Stick with Ange, and they won't dare lay a finger on you."
Reid's plan was to prevent Flay from betraying Kira while also ensuring Miriallia couldn't be used as leverage against the others.
Ange had no objections. She didn't dislike Flay, who had been well-behaved around her. Coming from a diplomatic family, Flay had decent acting skills—playing the obedient girl was easy for her.
Besides, in Flay's eyes, Ange probably felt far safer than Sai. Unlike in the original tiline, she wasn't clinging to Sai but instead often sought Ange's company.
Once Ange agreed, Miriallia had no reason to refuse either. She was just a volunteer soldier temporarily assigned to the bridge—sticking with Ange wasn't a bad deal.
After Ange and Miriallia left to fetch Flay, Reid turned to the remaining three.
"Mu, Murrue, Bargiruel, I'll only report to Artemis Fortress as a temporary passenger. Make sure you three act the part. Their ship's already on its way—I'll go see which old friend they've sent."
Without waiting for a response, Reid exited the bridge—the advance party from Artemis Fortress had already boarded.
Soon, he arrived at the hangar and spotted a familiar face staring intently at the NT-X Gundam.
Recognizing the person, Reid strode forward with a smile and said,
"I was just wondering who'd co this ti. Major Bidarf, didn't expect it to be you. Long ti no see."
Major Bidarf, an officer from Artemis Fortress's security departnt, was a by-the-book soldier who always wore a poker face that made people doubt he could even smile—his personality similar to Bargiruel. When Reid first arrived at Artemis Fortress, he had frequent interactions with the major due to being unfamiliar with the layout. Their relationship was neither good nor bad, just the kind where they could sit down for a drink and chat if they ran into each other privately.
Hearing Reid's greeting, Major Bidarf looked at him and forced out a stiff smile, saying with relief,
"Reid Isaac, I never would've thought that brat from back then would turn out so capable. Seems my eyes are only good at spotting troublemakers, not potential. Still, I'm glad you're alive."
After speaking, the major floated over to Reid and placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering,
"Don't act rashly when we return to the fortress. Play along with my work—don't worry, your standing in the military system now far outweighs even our commander's. He wouldn't dare do anything to you or Princess Angelise."
With that, his poker face returned as he followed the escort to the bridge.
Reid, avoiding any suspicion, didn't return to the bridge. Instead, he waited to regroup with Ange after she changed into civilian clothes (the outfit from her academy speech). As for Flay and Miriallia, since Reid couldn't magically produce New Misurugi Republic escort dresses, he had to settle for having Archangel provide Flay with a standard soldier's uniform—at least ensuring both won matched.
Before long, Archangel docked at Artemis Fortress. Just like in the original tiline, the hangar soon flooded with soldiers ordering the crew to drop everything and raise their hands.
The team belonged to Major Bidarf's unit, and Reid recognized the squad leader. Ignoring the surrounding rifles, he walked up and punched the man lightly in the chest, saying,
"Jocuri, you got promoted? Made squad leader, huh? But how co your rank's still sergeant first class?"
Normally, Reid approaching the squad leader like this should've drawn warnings from the guards. However, many of the older soldiers recognized him and stopped the rookies from intervening, even chuckling along after Reid teased their leader.
Jocuri stared at Reid with exasperation. He'd enlisted a year after Reid, and since Reid was a pilot, he technically outranked him by half a grade—always acting the senior. Still, the two shared common interests, often swapping magazines, so they were quite close.
Left with no choice, Jocuri lowered his rifle and sighed,
"Reid, quit ssing around. Take your people and stand aside. If you wanna chat, wait till I'm done."
Reid didn't press further, just pointed at Flay and Miriallia and said,
"Fine. But those two in Earth Alliance uniforms are with . They're Princess Angelise's subordinates. Since she and I took refuge on this ship, we needed extra hands. They were assigned to CIC, so they had to wear Earth Alliance gear."
Jocuri took one look at Flay and Miriallia—neither of whom looked the least bit like soldiers, being so young with the red-haired girl even showing fear on her face—and imdiately believed Reid's words.
He then rolled his eyes at Reid and grumbled,
"Envious of your damn luck. I really feel like punching you right now to vent my frustration. So many high-quality beauties... Unbelievable... Whatever, I'll settle this with you later. Take your people and step aside for now."
After saying that, Jocuri turned to his deputy and ordered,
"Josi, leave a couple of n here to keep watch. The rest, follow
to round up and detain all these unidentified individuals."
With that, Jocuri led the Archangel's crew away under guard.
As for his deputy Josi, he simply shrugged at Reid and said,
"Alright, Captain Reid. You and Her Highness the Princess can do as you please. Just don't try to leave before Major Bidarf disembarks with his n. As for your people, we won't impose any further restrictions."
Reid nodded without giving the unfamiliar deputy leader a hard ti. He had the locals open the cargo containers to begin assembling the Green Astray, intending to use it as bait. After all, to deal Gerard Garcia a significant blow, he first needed to lure out the man's greed.
However, Reid didn't stay long in the hangar. Soon, Major Bidarf and Jocuri returned with Mu, Murrue, and Bargiruel to et the commander.
The trio acted convincingly—especially Murrue, whose expression of three parts resentnt, three parts anger, and four parts resignation could have earned her an acting award. Truly, mature won were masters of deception.
Upon returning to the hangar, Major Bidarf approached Ange with formal military decorum, saluting as he said,
"Your Highness Ange, I am Ingvar Bidarf, head of security for this fortress. Commander Gerard Garcia requests your presence, along with Mr. Reid. Would now be a convenient ti?"
Ange glanced at Reid, and after his subtle nod, she adopted her princessly deanor and calmly replied,
"Major Bidarf, I have no objections. We may proceed now, but I will be bringing my two personal attendants."
With that, Ange joined Reid with Flay and Miriallia in tow.
Naturally, Major Bidarf didn't object to the two harmless-looking girls accompanying them and promptly led the way for Ange.
Inside Artemis Fortress, under Bidarf's guidance, the group split into two. Ange, Reid, and the others walked ahead, chatting and laughing as if on a sightseeing tour, while Mu, Murrue, and Bargiruel were surrounded by Jocuri and five soldiers, treated like prisoners—a stark contrast in treatnt.
Upon reaching the commander's office, Mu's group was made to stand outside, while Flay and Miriallia were allowed to wait on a sofa.
Reid and Ange, of course, were imdiately ushered into the office.
The mont they entered, Gerard Garcia greeted them with a beaming smile, embracing Reid in a bear hug as he exclaid,
"Ha ha ha, the genius of our Artemis Fortress has finally returned! Reid, you have no idea how much I regretted lending out your squad after confirming the Roosevelt was shot down. Your team was the only ace squad we had at Artemis Fortress. Steve, Grelant... Just thinking of their nas makes
want to cry, sob sob..."
To be honest, Reid was barely restraining the urge to throw Gerard Garcia over his shoulder as the man hugged him. The worst part was how Gerard seed genuinely emotional, even squeezing out a few crocodile tears—enough to make Reid sick to his stomach.
But to set him up for a bigger fall later, Reid had to endure it for now. Gritting his teeth, he comforted,
"Commander, you're getting too emotional. Princess Angelise is watching."
Hearing this, Gerard Garcia seized the opportunity to drop the act. He released Reid and turned to Ange, performing a surprisingly well-practiced and rather elegant gentleman's bow before saying,
"Your Highness Angelise, please forgive my earlier outburst. You cannot imagine how heartbroken and worried I was after losing Reid. Ah, but I digress. In any case, as Major General Gerard Garcia, commander of Artemis Fortress, I welco your esteed presence."
Ange studied this silver-tongued fortress commander carefully. According to Reid, the man was nothing but a fool—short-sighted, selfish, arrogant, and conceited were just a few of the labels Reid had slapped on him. Yet, seeing him in person, it was clear he had so skills to have climbed to this position—at the very least, he was a talented actor.
So, even though Ange had no goodwill toward this commander thanks to Reid, she couldn't exactly rebuff his courtesy. Forcing a smile, she replied,
"Major General Garcia, you flatter . Reid and I are only seeking temporary refuge aboard the Archangel due to the incident at Heliopolis. Since we've arrived here, I'd appreciate it if you could quickly arrange contact with the Star Palace Colony Satellite. To them, I'm currently missing, and my people must be frantic with worry."
Ange's words were carefully coached by Reid beforehand—he was genuinely afraid that if he spent too much ti around Gerard Garcia, he might lose control and beat the man to death.
Reid could guess Gerard's intentions with his eyes closed. The Eurasian Federation dread of bringing the New Misurugi Republic back into the fold. If that happened, both Reid and Ange could be absorbed into the Federation's military strength.
So, Gerard Garcia would do everything in his power—without resorting to force—to keep Reid and Ange at Artemis Fortress, buying ti for the Federation to send envoys for private negotiations.
After all, the Eurasian Federation had absolutely no chance of pulling this off at the Star Palace Colony Satellite. The East Asian Republic and the Atlantic Federation kept too close a watch there—any suspicious moves would result in "unfortunate accidents" for those involved, not to ntion joint political pressure from both powers.
Having Reid and Ange at Artemis Fortress was a golden opportunity for the Eurasian Federation. Gerard Garcia would never actually contact the Star Palace Colony Satellite—he couldn't risk them being retrieved before the Federation's envoys arrived. Not that he could openly refuse, of course.
Instead, he'd dance around the request, buying ti with excuses.
He pressed a button on his desk, and the display screen behind his office showed the situation outside the Artemis Fortress. The screen clearly revealed the Vesalius and Gamov lurking in the surrounding space, waiting for an opportunity.
Then, Gerard Garcia said helplessly,
"Your Highness Ange, please look at the screen. The ZAFT forces outside haven't retreated yet, and our external signals are still severely jamd. At least until ZAFT withdraws, the fortress may not be able to establish remote contact with the outside.
How about this—I'll arrange for soone to give you a tour of the Artemis Fortress first? Reid is familiar with this place too; returning here is like coming ho for him. I'll grant you both access permissions, so you can take your ti exploring. Based on my experience, the ZAFT ships outside will retreat soon once they realize they can't breach the fortress's defenses. As soon as they're gone, I'll imdiately help Your Highness contact the New Misurugi Republic."
Gerard Garcia's evasion suited Reid and Ange just fine, so they took the opportunity to go along with it. They agreed to his suggestion for a tour and promptly left his office, avoiding a potential bloody conflict.
(End of Chapter)
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