The Message
Mu La Flaga floated silently in front of the Archangel in his crippled Strike Gundam,shield drawn as if anticipating an attack from the Dominion
He had a gut feeling,but a few moments pass and nothing happened. It all started to seem awkward.
But the uneasy feeling did not go away for the Archangel crew.
"Strike,Return to the Archangel"
Captain Murrue Ramius commanded over the communication.
"...Understood. Out"
Lt. Mu La Flaga regained his thoughts and began to move back to the hanger shaking off his embarrassment.
But Captain Ramius was still concerned. After such an intense battle the Dominion had become eerily silent. Could it be a trap to catch them off guard? Would Natarle resort to such tactics?
"Any activity detected from the Dominion?"
Murrue asked.
"No Ma'am. Wait! Something was launched from the Dominion. It seems like another ship"
Sai said. Captain Murrue considered her options.
"Is it an escape vessel? Are they abandoning the Dominion?"
What was odd about this was that no distress signal had been sent out. Wouldn't they call other Earth Forces vessels to come to their rescue?
"Just what are they up to? Everyone stay alert!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
They closely observed the Dominion. The Longer there was inaction,more it was becoming tense and uncomfortable.
But this tension was finally broken when La Flaga arrived at the bridge.
"Why so quiet? What's the situation right now?"
He said with his usual uplifting attitude.
Before Murrue could respond Miriallia said
"Ma'am! They're a transmission coming from the Dominion. It's on an open channel!"
"What!" Murrue was surprised "Put in on"
*static*
"This is from... the Dominion"
*static*
A visual appears with unconscious Azrael on the Commander's seat.
"Muruta Azrael,leader of Blue Cosmos and Head of National Defense Industry Association is our captive."
Everyone on the Archangel was surprised by what they were seeing.
But they weren't the only ones.
~At GENESIS ~
"We know the Blue Cosmos infiltrated ranks of the Earth Forces and bribed Leaders of various nations to gain influence."
This was live broadcasted at GENESIS Headquarters. Chairman Patrick Zala was not interested.
"Ignore it! Prepare to fire the Genesis again!"
The man standing next to him was Director of this weapon project who quietly said.
"Commander please! This could be important."
ZAFT intelligence knew who Muruta Azrael was and thus deeply despised so him looking beaten up and unconscious got everyone's attention.
Zala felt like shooting his subordinate for interrupting him when victory seemed so close but doing it now might lead to too much of a reaction so he was forced to listen quietly while seething.
"This is an ultimatum. The Earth Forces have exactly 10 minutes to call of their attack at PLANTS and return to Earth.
Non-compliance will lead to release of the names of everyone in the Blue Cosmos and their roles in steering this conflict.
I doubt the Alliance will survive after revelations that the Blue Cosmos have taken control of several countries.
They deliberately murdered Naturals after exploding the Cyclops system in Alaska and blamed it on the Coordinators.
There were many more incidents like this and the mastermind behind all of this was this man you see on the screen."
~LOGOS Headquarters~
Lord Djibril with his lackeys watched pensively on the screen in his luxury estate on Earth.
"Tch! Damn you Azrael! How did you let this happen?"
He knew the Blue Cosmos leader was too willing to visit the frontlines rather than staying behind the scenes and now he seemed to have been captured by mutinious Earth Forces personnel and spilled the beans.
*static*
"If we see any attempt to attack the Dominion,all information will be released immediately.
We will be tracking your every move."
~TRANSMISSION END~
Azrael was left unconscious on the Captain's seat as Hachiman took a deep sigh and assumed a sitting position.
It finally began to sink in the weight of his actions.
He had effectively tried to blackmail the Entirety of Earth Forces and Blue Cosmos and marked himself for death even if it was really his Captain's Idea.
That said Captain also got herself into sitting position despite the pain so she can face him.
"You did well"
Badgiruel said. Hachiman however avoided making eye contact and was deep in thought.
"It was a bluff. There is no list and I doubt Azrael would ever talk. Will it work?"
This wasn't the least of their worries. Captain Natarle had been shot three times and there was no medical staff here to treat her.
Red flashes from the ministers.
WARNING!
ALL SYSTEMS FAILING!
ATMOSPHERE DECOMPRESSION REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS!
The warship's A.I. announced over the speakers.
The Dominion had already been heavily damaged in battle and without it's crew the crippled warship was doomed.
"You should get out of here, Private. There must be an escape pod on board."
The Captain said. Private Hachiman shook his head.
"It was in the Hangar and that has been destroyed. Many died trying to seal it shut."
Silence as they both contemplate their grave situation.
Hachiman pulled out a photo from his pocket. It was him and Saika in their tracksuits at their high school's tennis court.
Hachiman could never beat him in tennis,the latter's being a Coordinator was one major reason but he had fond memories.
Saika and his family had to flee to safety of PLANTs when the war broke out and Hachiman could only hope that they were safe.
He knew his parents would be sad and Komachi angry for doing something so suicidal but was sure they would understand why he did or at least tried to do.
This may all be for naught. But at least he tried.