Thinking about this made me want to visit the ’Resident Evil’ universe. I wanted to collect various viruses and also meet Jill Valentine. But I had no plans to go anytime soon.

I first told Lacus that a battle between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance was likely at the decommissioned colony Mendel, and that I was going to check it out. In the original, Kira and Mwu would also go, but I didn’t see the need. Just bringing back the data would be fine.

’It’s better than them learning the secret of their birth in a hectic place and getting upset.’

I couldn’t just send them, and I had no reason to take them. Besides, I wasn’t going alone; I brought 2B and A2 with me.

We traveled for a while and arrived at Mendel. There, we saw the Earth Alliance’s Archangel-class second ship, ’Dominion,’ and three ZAFT Nazca-class battleships.

The Dominion was essentially a copy of the Archangel, differing only in its dark gray paint instead of white. Its captain was none other than Natarle Badgiruel, the former executive officer of the Archangel.

Recognized for her abilities by the Earth Alliance, she was selected as captain of the Dominion and promoted to Lieutenant Commander. On board were the Calamity Gundam, Raider Gundam, and Forbidden Gundam, with Muruta Azrael observing.

Natarle was a highly capable captain. But Azrael, who had high authority but poor judgment, constantly interfered, preventing her from fully demonstrating her potential, and as a result, the Dominion remained an unfortunate ship. If Azrael hadn’t been on board, the Archangel might have been sunk by the Dominion.

Anyway, the two forces were maintaining a considerable distance, not seeming to want to fight. We also watched, using stealth mode.

"Are they communicating? Aznable, check if they’re communicating, and if they are, hack it."

[They are not communicating.]

"Really? Then they’re just watching each other?"

Then the Earth Forces sent out Mobile Suits. Rather than attacking ZAFT, they began searching the Mendel colony, as if looking for something.

"Hack the communication between the Mobile Suits and the Dominion."

[Understood, Master.]

I gave the order and waited. Soon, I understood why they were here.

—"This is Strike Dagger. The Mendel harbor is clean. No signs of use by Celestial Being or the Archangel."

—"ZAFT ships are nearby, so be careful and search further inside."

—"Understood."

They seemed to think that the Archangel or Celestial Being was hiding here. In space, places where supplies can be obtained are extremely rare, so such a misunderstanding was understandable. In the original, the Triple Alliance (Archangel, Eternal, Kusanagi) stayed here and were attacked, causing them great difficulty.

The ZAFT side was quiet. They probably thought engaging now would be disadvantageous, so they didn’t attack.

—"This is Strike Dagger. We’ve searched the interior but found no trace."

—"I see... Understood. Return."

—"Understood."

The Dominion was about to recall its Mobile Suits and leave. But then ZAFT sent a transmission to the Dominion.

—"To the Earth Alliance warship, Archangel-class. We wish to return a prisoner currently held aboard our ship."

’Could this be, they’re trying to hand over Frey now?’

Listening to the transmission from ZAFT, it was definitely Rau Le Creuset. He would not only return Frey to the Earth Alliance but also hand over the ’key’ to escalate the war: the N-Jammer Canceller and the data on the Freedom and Justice Gundams. This would ultimately lead the Earth Alliance to decide to use nuclear weapons.

I was conflicted. Should I let this happen, or should I intercept?

’This is a dilemma... If I take Frey here, I’d screw over Creuset and the battlefield would calm down for a while, but it would diverge from the original...’

I was trying to decide between prioritizing fun and preserving the original story.

While I was pondering, ZAFT launched a pod. But the Dominion didn’t respond. They too seemed conflicted, suspecting a trap.

"I don’t know anymore. It’s almost done, so whatever will be, will be."

I decided to screw over Creuset. I immediately boarded the Double O Quanta Full Saber and launched.

Both factions, surprised by my sudden appearance, hurriedly launched their Mobile Suits. But I had already snagged the pod.

Then Creuset sent me a transmission in a furious voice.

—"Celestial Being!!! That pod is not yours!!!"

"To be honest, it seemed strange. ZAFT would have no reason to return a prisoner so purely. But seeing you so furious confirms it. There’s something behind this. You’re trying to hand over something important to the Earth Alliance, aren’t you?"

—"Damn it!!!! cough..."

"My, I don’t know who you are, but shouldn’t you take care of your health? You seem to be in very poor condition."

Creuset, perhaps finding it difficult to communicate, didn’t respond further. So I stopped teasing, grabbed the pod, and moved to return to the Aznable. The Dominion, unable to grasp the situation, just guarded its ship and didn’t move.

ZAFT’s Mobile Suits chased after me like mad, but it was pointless. I lightly deployed my GN Sword Bits to destroy their weapons and warned them.

"Haven’t you learned anything? I think it’s about time you did. Stop this foolishness and return to your formations. That goes for you too, Archangel knockoffs. If you use this opportunity to attack ZAFT, you’ll regret it."

At my words, ZAFT began hurriedly rescuing personnel from their Mobile Suits and leaving. Having lost their Mobile Suits in an instant, they probably judged they couldn’t withstand an attack from the Dominion.

As ZAFT hurriedly left, the Dominion waited for a while, then, apparently judging there was nothing to gain, also withdrew. So I watched them leave, then brought the pod back to the Aznable. There was nothing suspicious installed in the pod.

"Jin, I’m so glad! You rescued me."

Frey must have been through a lot mentally in ZAFT, as she immediately hugged me. I was a bit flustered, but I understood to some extent, so I patted her back to calm her down.

"You’ve had a hard time."

"Yes, I was always on edge, not knowing when or where I’d be attacked."

"Let’s go first. I’ll show you to a room where you can rest."

"Oh, right. That man named Rau Le Creuset gave me this, saying it was the ’key’ to ending the war..."

Now relieved, Frey handed me a disk.

"I see. Got it."

I knew what was on the disk without looking: the N-Jammer Canceller and the data on the Freedom and Justice Gundams. I took the disk, stored it in my inventory, and assigned Frey a room so she could rest comfortably. Frey, exhausted from the tension, changed into comfortable clothes and fell asleep immediately.

Meanwhile, I entered the Mendel colony and began searching for data. I collected everything, including data on Kira, Cagalli, and Mwu.

"Wow... these madmen are truly impressive..."

As I went through the data, I found records beyond imagination. Among the experiments conducted by G.A.R.M. R&D were numerous cases of complete inhumanity. From extracting the brains of executed death row inmates to connect to Mobile Suits, to experiments forcibly enhancing the body with various bacteria and drugs... beyond simple genetic modification, there was a clear obsession with making Naturals into Coordinators by any means.

While searching through the data, I arrived at a deep underground laboratory and immediately knew this was the place. Inside enormous cylindrical glass tubes filled with an unknown green organic liquid were grotesque beings that looked human but had abnormally long arms and fingernails and teeth as sharp as beasts. They resembled the Necromorphs from the ’Dead Space’ universe.

There were many such tubes, some already broken, with bloodstains nearby. Presumably, the test subjects had attacked the researchers and escaped. I checked the research records to learn more. They had been conducting experiments to enhance the human body using bacteria. Due to the danger of infection spreading through wounds, like zombies, the subjects were ultimately marked for disposal.

But judging by the horrific state of the laboratory, the test subjects had clearly escaped. Infection spread rapidly, and as people one by one transformed into zombies, the situation spiraled out of control. In the end, the research team had no choice but to use a massive gamma ray burst as a last resort to dispose of all test subjects. This was the truth of the incident that occurred in the Mendel colony.

"So this universe could have been zombie horror instead of Gundam. That’s ridiculous."

I properly sealed the data and samples, then burned the entire laboratory with the power of the [Flaming Fruit]. After that, I got in my Gundam, left the Mendel colony, and thoroughly cleaned myself, the data, samples, and the inside and outside of the Gundam with [Life Magic] before returning to the Aznable. Thanks to my abilities, I wouldn’t become a zombie, but the people around me could, so I had to be careful.

I decided to use this zombie-related technology in another universe. Mecha and zombies just didn’t seem to mix.

I put the Aznable back into stealth mode and moved to the base. Frey was still asleep. Her tension had probably eased, and she was resting deeply.

On the way, I thought about future events. Thanks to retrieving the disk, we had bought some time, but Rau Le Creuset would not give up. He would find another way to send the data to the Earth Alliance. His obsession was that strong.

’In the end, even after doing this, will things still go as in the original?’

As I was thinking, Frey woke up and came to the bridge.

"It wasn’t a dream. I’m so relieved... Where are we going?"

"Where else? To Celestial Being’s base. The Archangel and Kira are there. If you don’t like it, I can send you to the Earth Alliance."

"I don’t want that. The Earth Alliance tried to use me as a propaganda tool. I’d rather just go back to the Archangel."

Seeing her dislike it so much, things must have been bad for her at the Alaska base too. And there was the pregnancy issue. Frey was approaching the time when symptoms would begin to appear.

"I have no appetite. Sorry, the food is good, but... I must have been too stressed in ZAFT."

"Really? Then don’t force yourself."

I felt we needed to reach the base before Frey realized she was pregnant. Because I didn’t want to take care of her myself.

After another day of travel, we arrived at the base. As Frey got off the Aznable, people from the Archangel recognized her and greeted her warmly.

"Oh, it’s Frey! Long time no see. You’re safe."

"Hello, everyone."

While they were greeting each other, I called Siegel, Lacus, Ramias, and Andrew. In addition to them, several council members and Mwu also came.

"What is it?"

I told them about what had happened at Mendel and showed them the disk.

"I checked this disk. It contains the N-Jammer Canceller and the data on the Freedom and Justice Gundams."

"Impossible... Then someone intentionally tried to hand over information about the N-Jammer Canceller to the Earth Alliance? Was there any other information?"

"The person who gave the disk to Frey was named ’Rau Le Creuset.’ It seems someone is trying to escalate the war further. It could be Rau Le Creuset, or perhaps someone above him."

At that, Mwu was greatly shocked and said,

"Wh-who?"

"I heard Rau Le Creuset. Do you know him?"

When I asked, Mwu sighed and said,

"Yes, I know him. A bad connection. We’ve clashed many times. He was the commander of the unit that pursued the Archangel."

Then Siegel and several council members, also familiar with Rau Le Creuset, began talking about him.

"He’s an excellent soldier. He’s earned many merits."

"I see."

I immediately showed everyone the data I had recovered from Mendel and explained.

"This is data I recovered from Mendel. He was created when Al Da Flaga (Mwu La Flaga’s father) promised Uren Hibiki (Kira and Cagalli’s father) financial support for his Super Coordinator research, in exchange for having his own clone made."

At my words, everyone was shocked. Mwu, especially, as it involved his own family, seemed deeply shaken.

"Impossible... Wasn’t cloning strictly prohibited?"

"Well... money makes anything possible. Perhaps he dreamed of immortality through cloning. But as the data shows, clones have a limited lifespan. In the end, it was a vain delusion."

"Hmm... then Creuset is a victim created by Al Da Flaga’s greed."

"Right. In my opinion, he’s probably doing this because he despairs over his own short remaining lifespan and the reality of his existence."

Then Siegel thought for a moment and said,

"Hmm... isn’t that too extreme a conclusion? That just because his own life was unhappy, he would push all of humanity into nuclear war is hard to understand."

Even when I told the truth, Siegel didn’t easily believe it.

"We’re not the ones involved, so we can’t fully understand his pain. Besides, considering the various data and information, that possibility seems the most likely. That’s my personal opinion. Of course, the possibility of higher-ups being involved also exists, so I can’t say for certain, but given that he actually tried to hand over the information, it’s credible to some extent."

"I see..."

"It’s fortunate that I intercepted it this time, but such luck won’t come again. Whether it’s Creuset or some unknown higher-ups, it’s only a matter of time before information about the N-Jammer Canceller reaches the Earth Forces."

"Then, ultimately, nuclear war becomes unavoidable? Did I understand correctly?"

"Yes."

When I answered firmly, a sigh spread among the gathered people.