In the basin nestled among the mountains, reports circulated about the dire situations faced by allied forces attempting to recapture various checkpoints.
The Coordinator soldiers tasked with attacking the Allied Forces headquarters in Alaska were, to varying degrees, aware of these developments.
While lower-ranking soldiers might not have known much, mid- to high-level officers largely accepted the fact that their allies in those areas had been completely wiped out.
In response to the inevitably harsher reality that lay ahead,
a group of high-ranking Coordinator officers held a brief meeting on the battlefield.
"How many DINNs are still available for aerial combat?"
Faced with this question, many Coordinator officers glanced skyward.
A batch of DINNs had been left at the coastline. Although ZAFT's formation, including its predecessor the Zodiac Freedom Alliance, spanned only a year or two at most,
they still understood the importance of maintaining air superiority to secure their retreat.
Based on this consideration, a significant number of DINNs had been stationed along the coastline—and as a result, those DINNs were the first to be destroyed.
Then, when the East Asian Army's massive transport aircraft fleet arrived, the DINNs assigned to air combat engaged the enemy.
Many more were lost in that encounter.
After all these calculations, it became clear that their own DINNs had dwindled to a handful.
This was the fundamental reason why DINNs were absent from the battlefields at various checkpoints.
"Alright." The Coordinator officer who had asked the question let out a deep sigh as he observed the expressions of his colleagues.
He realized he had asked a foolish question.
Then he, too, looked up at the sky, gazing at the dense formations of the East Asian Army's air units.
The remaining DINNs could barely provide enough cover to keep the skies clear for their side.
It was already a stretch to prevent the East Asian Army from freely dropping bombs on their heads.
They couldn't ask for much more—they had to be content with what they had.
"So, how is the assault on the Allied Forces headquarters in Alaska progressing?"
Next, the Coordinator officer posed what seemed like another equally foolish question.
As the highest-ranking officer on site, how could he not know the true situation on this battlefield?
Clearly, that was impossible.
Faced with this question from their superior, the group of Coordinator officers fell into silence once again.
Because the assault on the Allied Forces headquarters in Alaska had also run into problems.
The original plan was to capture it as a bargaining chip, but just like their allies at the checkpoints, the current progress was unfavorable.
Although they hadn't suffered a disastrous retreat, they were unable to advance any further.
The root cause remained the sudden intervention of the East Asian Army.
"Admiral Halberton, we're saved!"
Rushing back to the command center from the energy core beneath the base, Halberton's adjutant was visibly overjoyed.
"I know."
Addressing his adjutant, who was beaming with childlike innocence, Halberton stared grimly at the large display screen in the command center.
It showed the combat situation outside the base.
"Hah, the East Asian Army?"
Combining the circumstances with his experience as a seasoned strategist known for his wisdom, Halberton weighed the East Asian Army's actions against those of the Atlantic Federation.
He had reached his own decision.
"Admiral?" The adjutant had expected his superior to be happy about the arrival of reinforcements.
But seeing the expression on his commanding officer's face, the joyful adjutant suppressed his smile and asked,
"Is it too much of a coincidence?"
"Coincidence?" Admiral Halberton walked aside with his adjutant upon hearing this.
"Do you really think it's a coincidence?"
He asked this way.
"No," the adjutant answered honestly. Those who could reach the position of Admiral Halberton's adjutant were rarely fools, having witnessed enough internal scheming and deception.
By now, the adjutant had formed a realistic judgment in his heart.
"The Atlantic Federation detected the Coordinators' combat plan in advance. To achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy's effective forces,"
"Both the Allied Forces headquarters in Alaska and we have become bait."
"What the Eurasian Federation Army said about the higher-ups wanting to reactivate the Cyclops System is also true, right?"
Staring at his adjutant, Halberton hoped he would give a negative answer.
"Yes." However, Halberton was destined to be disappointed, as the adjutant affirmed without the slightest hesitation.
"The East Asian Army sent special forces in advance to secure the energy hub."
"Indeed." Halberton closed his eyes in disappointment. After a moment, he said,
"The East Asian Army also detected the Coordinators' plan and clearly knew about the Atlantic Federation's scheme as well."
"But unlike the Atlantic Federation, the well-prepared East Asian Army chose to defeat the Coordinators head-on."
"Using both the Coordinators and the Atlantic Federation as stepping stones to ascend and crown themselves as the ruler of the new world."
"Admiral?" The adjutant followed well at first, but the more he listened, the more something felt off.
Admiral Halberton mentioned the Atlantic Federation several times but never used "our Atlantic Federation."
The implications behind this were numerous!
"Enough." After a moment of silence, Admiral Halberton waved his hand and walked back to the giant display screen.
His eyes flickered as he stared at the screen, showing the Mobile Suit belonging to the East Asian Army, the Gundam that was far more successful than the G Project he had proposed!
With the first and second phase combat objectives achieved,
Wang Hu, piloting the Lightning Z Gundam, no longer needed to hover in the air, continuing to snipe the stubborn enemy forces.
So, leading his troops and coordinating with allied Rem units,
They conducted an amphibious assault to the entrance of the Allied Forces headquarters. If the battle progressed smoothly but the headquarters still fell to the Coordinators,
It would become an international scandal and a major stain on this campaign.
This was something the East Asian Army could not tolerate.
"Fire!"
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom."
Grasping the Beam Cannon on the Lightning Pack behind him, Wang Hu experienced a moment of unparalleled dominance.
Before the scorching red Beam torrent, Wang Hu cleared vast open areas.
The densely swarming enemy Gene units, unable to offer any resistance, became burning scrap metal on the ground.
Using such an attack as the initial greeting caused the enemy's offensive to stall, stabilizing the current combat situation in the area.
Wang Hu retracted the energy-draining Beam Cannon and drew two Beam Pistols instead.
With thrusters on his back and feet activating, under the shining sunlight, he executed a beautiful 360-degree mid-air flip.
A crisp, clean movement that would earn high scores from even the most critical judges.
Wang Hu performed an aerial flip while continuously firing his beam pistols, destroying the surrounding enemy Mobile Suits one after another.
Landing with crossed pistols amidst the enemy encirclement, Wang Hu made their situation excruciatingly difficult.
The curtain of fire created by the beam pistols was so dense it made the Coordinators grit their teeth in frustration.
"Bastard!"
The Coordinators cursed wildly, all because of this East Asian Army's Gundam and those East Asian Army Mobile Suits blocking their path.
They were just one step away from victory, yet it felt like trying to cross an insurmountable natural barrier.
"You, you, you, and you."
The Red Coat Elite Coordinator in the assault team, piloting a Qilin, pointed out several known MS experts.
"Let's attack together!"
Equipped with anti-beam shields using technology stolen from the Allied Forces, they were confident that the rapid-fire beam pistols that had tormented the Genes would be nothing more than insignificant tickling to them.
As long as they could close in, it would be the Coordinators' domain.
"Good!"
The selected Coordinator elites needed no further discussion. As experienced Red Coat pilots, they operated purely on tacit understanding.
While advancing, they automatically formed a triangular assault formation.
The front Qilin was responsible for shield defense, the middle Qilin provided covering fire, and the rear Qilin had already deployed its beam claws.
They were ready to teach the East Asian Army's arrogant Gundam a proper lesson.
"Is the enemy retreating?"
A Coordinator in one of the charging Qilin mobile suits suddenly exclaimed with surprise.
The previously unstoppable Gundam before them, probably fearing their charge, was taking large steps backward to avoid their sharpness.
"Charge! Push harder! We must kill him here today."
Naturally unwilling to let the enemy retreat smoothly to their formation, a Coordinator in a Qilin shouted.
"You guys hold the enemy from behind!"
He commanded the remaining Coordinator Genes to block the enemy's retreat path.
"Good."Spirits lifted, the Coordinators in the Genes, emboldened by the Qilin's presence, charged at the Lightning Z Gundam from behind without hesitation."
For a moment, Wang Hu seemed trapped between a rock and a hard place, appearing doomed.
In response, the Lightning Z Gundam pivoted on one foot, turning from facing the Qilin to facing the Genes.
The Lightning Pack detached from its back and flew high into the air, firing down upon the Qilin from above.
"Still trying to resist?"
Quick as lightning, the Qilin's Red Coat Elite instinctively raised his shield overhead, blocking the Lightning Pack's attack.
As the shield lowered - in that brief moment when the line of sight returned to the enemy Gundam before them...
"What?"
The Qilin pilot's pupils dilated in shock. How had the enemy Gundam managed to close in on them so quickly?
What about the Genes that were supposed to delay him?
In his haste, the Qilin pilot glanced behind the Lightning Z Gundam and saw the Genes sliced in half.
"Dead?"Wide-eyed and in disbelief, the Coordinator pilot's gaze fell upon the beam saber now extended from the beam rifle held by Wang Hu."
"When?"
He could hardly comprehend how fast the enemy Wang Hu's hands must have been.
To assemble the beam pistols into a beam rifle in such a short time,
Eliminate his allies so quickly, and then immediately close in on his position.
"I am different."
The Coordinator pilot let out a tense roar. At this point, there was no use dwelling on it further.
But don't think you'll take me down so easily, he thought, holding his shield firmly in front, trusting his comrades behind him completely.
At worst, I'll die, but you, Natural, won't get off lightly either.
"Boom."
As the blade thrust toward him, the Coordinator soldier instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
The sound of clashing metal echoed in his ears, followed by the sensation of weightlessness as he toppled over.
"What's going on?"
Opening his eyes, he watched the ground in the display grow closer and closer.
"Behind?" He glanced left and right, spotting his fellow soldiers tumbling like scattered gourds.
"He slid! He slid!" shouted a Coordinator ally who had witnessed the whole thing.
"Huh?"
Crashing heavily to the ground, he became a stumbling block for his comrades behind him, throwing them off balance as well.
Pinned at the bottom of a pile of three to five Qilin units, the soldier fell silent.
"Sizzle."
Before the Qilin units could rise, like skewering candied hawthorn berries—
First, Wang Hu had slid to trip the initial enemy, then watched as they tumbled into a heap.
Springing up swiftly, Wang Hu manipulated the Beam Saber transformed from his Beam Rifle, cleanly skewering the bunch of warriors in a line.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
Repeatedly beaten down by the East Asian Army's Mobile Suits, the Coordinators were not without temper.
The thread of reason in their minds snapped, and they cast caution—and their lives—to the wind.
The Coordinator soldiers began vowing to kill Wang Hu at any cost, consequences be damned.
"About time, isn't it?" Watching the red-eyed Coordinator soldiers, Wang Hu smiled faintly inside his cockpit.
Glancing at the cockpit display, especially the section monitoring the airspace, Wang Hu decisively prepared to withdraw. If he kept fighting, he'd end up like these Coordinators—a roasted Mobile Suit.
(End of Chapter)