Outside the Nova Resource Satellite, several days of intense, high-stakes skirmishes had unfolded.
Faced with the dire situation, a group of mid-ranking ZAFT Forces squadron leaders reluctantly gathered for a meeting.
"Let's hear it—what should we do?" asked the acting chairperson of the meeting.
His words hung in the air as the squadron leaders around the table exchanged silent glances.
They had known the East Asian Army would be tough, but never imagined they'd be this formidable!
When they first received the Chairman's military briefing, many of the squadron leaders present had dismissed the frontline commanders as incompetent.
After all, ZAFT Forces had been on an upward trajectory recently, their momentum unrivaled.
Just look at the Allied Forces—once so arrogant, acting like they ruled the world—what were they now?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say those self-proclaimed masters were getting beaten black and blue by these "monks who left halfway through their training"!
So how, in such favorable circumstances, did this anomaly called the East Asian Army suddenly emerge?
Ahem. The prolonged silence was becoming unbearable. Noticing the suffocating atmosphere in the room, one of the more senior squadron leaders cleared his throat.
"This matter is quite complex, so we need to align our granularity."
"Everyone should level the playing field, identify key leverage points, and clarify the rules to lay the groundwork for disruptive innovation."
Huh? The other squadron leaders stared blankly, utterly bewildered by the senior leader's words.
It sounded like he had said something, yet it also felt like he'd said nothing at all.
The phrasing was novel, but listening to him was like listening to a speech that said nothing.
Which corporate giant had this guy escaped from? How did he end up in ZAFT Forces, spouting such agonizing corporate jargon?
Several squadron leaders who had similar experiences exchanged glances, their heads throbbing inexplicably.
After a long pause, one of the youngest and least experienced squadron leaders couldn't take it anymore.
"Everyone, I'm the youngest and least experienced here."
"Since none of the seniors want to speak up, let me be the one to say the unpleasant things."
Perking up, the other squadron leaders focused their attention on this bold speaker.
The young leader began, "The two top brass back home can't agree, but I think we should set that aside for now."
"How this war is fought is something we frontline leaders have the most say in."
"It's not like crying day and night will make the enemy drop dead, right?"
"What are you suggesting?" one of the other leaders prompted, steering the conversation toward the crux of the matter.
"Whether we fight or not, we need to make a decision today."
Turns out, the young leader was sharp. Though he claimed he'd say the unpleasant things, when it came to the decisive moment, he left no room for blame.
"I'm the youngest here. Whether we fight or not is up to everyone else, but we must decide today."
"Neither advancing nor retreating—what kind of strategy is that?"
Tsk. The meeting's chairperson couldn't help but admire the young leader's slippery yet cornering rhetoric.
This was truly mastering the core techniques of a major power.
How did such a talent manage to complete his training and emerge from a major nation's grasp!
Clap clap clap. Before the assembled crowd, the meeting Coordinator delivered crisp applause.
For a moment, the strange looks directed at the Coordinator intensified due to the two consecutive speakers' remarks and this sudden applause.
"Take a look." Without further ado, the Coordinator picked up the remote for the screen behind him.
He publicly displayed a meticulously prepared PowerPoint presentation spanning nearly a hundred slides.
"The enemy's ace MA—Qilin, ace pilot—Wang Hu, codenamed 'The Prodigy of New Star.'"'"
"I believe everyone is aware that in recent battles, it is this Natural pilot and his machine that have inflicted significant losses upon us."
Significant?
Hearing this term, the squadron leaders below exchanged another wave of turbulent glances.
Experience truly prevails—such a lengthy PowerPoint and such carefully chosen words.
Impressive, truly impressive!
The damage Wang Hu has dealt us is far beyond "significant"!
A title like "The Prodigy of New Star" was forged atop the corpses of our Coordinator warriors!
That level of skill, that reaction speed—!
Speak of the devil.
Just as everyone recalled Wang Hu's battlefield performance, the Coordinator coincidentally reached the section analyzing Wang Hu's tactical prowess.
"The earliest documented instance of enemy ace pilot Wang Hu dates back to our attempted sabotage operation before the last major war.""
"At the time, Wang Hu piloted an ordinary enemy mass-produced Moebius unit."
"According to reports from surviving soldiers, even while piloting a Moebius, Wang Hu executed maneuvers deemed impossible, posing considerable obstacles for our forces."
"One could say that the failure of that sabotage operation was due to Wang Hu's sudden emergence."
"And as everyone knows, the root of our defeat in the last major war also traces back to Wang Hu's actions, which led to the annihilation of our left flank fleet."
"This forced our central fleet to face a numerically superior Allied Forces assault, leaving us no choice but to retreat and regroup."
"Recently, Wang Hu has repeatedly slaughtered our soldiers, building his lofty reputation upon the bones of our warriors.The Coordinator repeatedly emphasized "enemy ace pilot Wang Hu," deliberately ignoring the bravery of other East Asian Army soldiers.
It was as though he refused to acknowledge them, convinced that eliminating Wang Hu alone would cause the defenders of Nova Resource Satellite to collapse without a fight.
Another round of strange glances passed among the attendees. For the ZAFT Forces, which glorified individual heroism, attributing temporary setbacks to a single ace pilot was acceptable.
Far better than admitting their forces were outmatched by the united East Asian Army, wasn't it?
"I have a question." A squadron leader, privately briefed by the Coordinator beforehand, spoke up.
"Gentlemen, do you truly believe Wang Hu is a pure Natural?"
He stressed the word "pure" with particular emphasis.
"What?" The squadron leaders froze in surprise.
"Doesn't it strike you as odd?" The speaker spread his hands.
"Those foolish Naturals, bound by gravity—those unenlightened monkeys—could they truly achieve what Wang Hu has?"
As he spoke, he stood up and took the remote control from the host's side.
With a few clicks, he pulled up several of Wang Hu's most representative battle records.
"Look, everyone. These techniques—so unimaginably brilliant, as if performed by the hand of a god—could they really be executed by mere Naturals?"
The squadron leader, with deep meaning in his tone, looked each of his colleagues in the eye.
"Don't forget, East Asia is one of only two nations in the Earth Sphere where our brethren still live."
"In fact, the number of our brethren living in that country is even greater than in Orb, which claims to be neutral and non-discriminatory toward Coordinators."
"Understood."
If the squadron leaders still couldn't grasp the implication after such a clear explanation, they might as well hang themselves with a noodle.
"Damn it, what a disgrace to our Coordinator kind."
"Yes, yes. We never lost to Naturals—we were only defeated by traitors among our own people."
Question: Why couldn't we capture the Nova Resource Satellite?
Answer: Because our own people—elite brethren, no less—were on the other side, blocking us.
With this logic in mind, the ZAFT Forces had never truly been defeated!
We remain the invincible ZAFT Forces!
(End of Chapter)