"Bang!"
Returning to the mother ship Laurasia-class Battleship, GINN emerged from the cockpit.
Matsutaro violently slammed his helmet onto the floor.
Seeing his behavior, the other crew members who had returned to the ship simply watched in silence.
When had ZAFT ever been so humiliated before those uncivilized Naturals who merely had human forms?
Among the remaining four pilots, someone glared resentfully at the two empty docking bays in the hangar.
Eventually, Josie, who had operated alongside Matsutaro and the late Captain Tyler, stepped forward to his comrade's side.
"Stop this. Don't you understand the captain's final wishes?"
"If the captain knew you were acting like this, he'd scold you harshly."
"Get lost!" Matsutaro snapped ungratefully at his well-meaning teammate.
"The captain is dead! Dead! How can you remain so calm?"
"Or what?" Flames of anger erupted within Josie as he punched Matsutaro squarely in the face.
After knocking his teammate to the ground, Josie said:
"Captain Tyler faced the enemy prepared for the worst outcome."
"Just as he said, everything happened because of his mistakes."
"Therefore, ZAFT Forces haven't been defeated! Neither have we!"
"Don't you understand his intentions? The captain... the captain shouldered all the responsibility."
"All so that we, so that the entire force could continue fighting without burdens!"
"I know! Of course I know!"
Covering his face in anguish, Matsutaro wept bitterly. His background had made him obsessed with a book called Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The scene before him now mirrored one recorded in that epic novel.
Xiahou Yuan, as the Conquering West General of Cao Wei, held an undeniably high position with substantial military achievements.
Before his defeat in Hanzhong, he was a pillar of Cao Wei. After the defeat, he was mockingly called the Blank Slate General.
The underlying reasons were obvious to those who understood.
Today, their captain's actions carried the same profound meaning.
Wiping his tears, Matsutaro climbed up from beside Josie's feet and said:
"I'll avenge the captain. That Natural will pay in blood."
"Mm." Seeing his comrade regain his spirit, Josie was about to say more when—
A maintenance crew soldier rushed over shouting:
"Lieutenant Josie! Lieutenant Matsutaro! The captain summons you to the bridge for a debriefing!"
"Hmm?" Hearing the order, the two exchanged glances, guessing the reason.
Without delay, they hurried toward the bridge.
Meanwhile, aboard the Laurasia-class Battleship's bridge, gloom hung heavy in the air.
The primary reasons were: first, their ship had barely managed to repair its thrusters at the last moment before the Natural fleet arrived, allowing their narrow escape.
And second—
"Is this confirmed?" the Laurasia-class Battleship's captain asked his adjutant.
"Captain, it's absolutely true. The intelligence department has verified it multiple times."
The adjutant, with a bitter smile, held up a tablet, pointing at a photo on it.
"Look at this brightly lit night scene. Can you still doubt the resolve of the East Asian Federation?"
The captain's throat moved as he tried to speak, but his mouth was parched.
The photo his adjutant had shown him struck his heart like a magnitude 10 earthquake.
Due to the deployment of Neutron Jammers across Earth's sphere, regions heavily reliant on nuclear energy had instantly lost over 70% of their power supply.
Once upon a time, looking down at Earth from space at night, one could see vast stretches of glowing human civilization.
But now...
"How long has it been since we've seen lights like these?" The captain finally spoke after a long silence.
"Too long. And what's more important isn't that the lights are back on, but where they're shining."
The adjutant stared intently at the photo.
As a high-ranking officer in the ZAFT Forces, he had never believed that Neutron Jammers alone could bring Earth's regimes to their knees.
Like most military leaders, he had approached this with a blitzkrieg mentality.
The plan was to use this brief window of opportunity—before the Naturals could recover from the Neutron Jammer's effects—to establish an overwhelming strategic advantage.
Force them to negotiate from a position of weakness, and victory would be within reach!
"What kind of monster have we unleashed?"
At this moment, he deeply regretted why the military headquarters, why Chairman Zala had ordered the attack on the Nova Resource Satellite, on the L4 space colony cluster.
"Indeed." The captain closed his eyes and nodded, his heart feeling as if it were being gnawed by a venomous snake.
What kind of monster have we unleashed? The same thought filled his mind.
In the past, the lights in the photo would have been utterly unremarkable.
But now, they revealed the unshakable determination of an entire people!
On their opponent's territory in the photo, though it was nighttime...
Most areas remained dark, just like everywhere else suffering from the energy crisis.
The people there must be living in extreme hardship—without electricity, with scarce water supplies.
Every aspect of daily life had been severely impacted.
Personal safety was under constant threat.
Yet under these very conditions, stretching toward the East Asia Space Launch Center...
Five or six luminous dragons made of light snaked across that continent!
From north to south, from west to east.
Beneath those long, glowing roads must march countless soldiers with resolute faces.
Alongside those luminous paths must stand countless civilians—worried for their warriors, yet never doubting they would bring anything but victory.
United as one, directing all their strength forward, united from top to bottom as solid as bedrock!
"PLANT... what should ZAFT do now?"
A single tear fell unnoticed from the corner of his eye. The captain, whose strategic thinking remained sharp, asked a question no one in his position should ever voice.
"I don't know." The adjutant put away the tablet, answering his captain with near despair.
The thought of facing the soldiers of that great nation surging into space like a tidal wave...
The thought of confronting warriors with ironclad, unshakable convictions left the adjutant unable to see any future ahead.
"Reporting in, Matsutaro of Tyler's squad present."
"Reporting in, Josie of Tyler's squad present."
Meanwhile, at the command center of Nova Resource Satellite...
General Zheng studied the latest orders transmitted from the ground forces headquarters, watching the real-time mobilization scenes being relayed from Earth.
"Good, good, good."
"This is our nation. This is our people."
Having witnessed countless life-and-death situations on the battlefield, having seen all the joys and sorrows of human existence, even this battle-hardened veteran couldn't help but be moved.
Tears streamed down his face.
"General, we will not lose. We cannot afford to lose."
Standing beside General Zheng, Chief of Staff Jiang was equally inspired—and it wasn't just the two of them.
Every single person in the command center felt the same.
At this moment, those stationed far away in space could feel the support of their people behind them, the all-encompassing love of their motherland!
"Hmph, then let's show ZAFT on the other side what we're made of."
With a sweeping gesture, the impassioned General Zheng made his decision.