Outside the Nova Resource Satellite of Orb, aboard a ZAFT Nazca-class Battleship.
"Hahaha, you know what? Those Naturals are like rats—we just poured a little boiling water in,"
"And they scurried out of their filthy holes in a panic."
The soldiers who had returned early from their mission were vividly recounting amusing incidents from their operation to their crewmates.
Their words dripped with contempt and disdain for the Allied Forces before them.
And truth be told, they had every reason to be confident—as long as the East Asian Army within the Allied Forces wasn't brought up.
But the cheerful atmosphere didn't last long. The mood shifted when Athrun returned piloting the red Aegis Gundam.
"Athrun, are you alone?"
A Coordinator soldier glanced behind him but didn't see another figure.
"Yes." Removing his helmet, Athrun's expression was complicated—grieving for the loss of a comrade,
And also because of the person he least wanted to see midway through the mission.
Kira!
Handing his helmet to a fellow soldier, Athrun's eyes flickered with a sense of betrayal.
Hadn't they agreed?
They were supposed to meet again on PLANT—so why was he here?!
"Uh..." Noticing the unusual reaction from their Red Coat Elite, the Coordinator soldier wanted to press further but didn't dare.
Soon, the soldier lost interest in questioning Athrun, as another figure returned.
"Michel, the Twilight Phantom Bullet, is back—but his GINN is gone!"
Shouts erupted around them, voices filled with disbelief.
After all, even though Michel wasn't a Red Coat Elite, no one aboard the battleship doubted his skills were any lesser.
Look, just look!
The Twilight Phantom Bullet! A pilot with his own nickname!
A Green Coat with his own custom GINN—could he really be just an ordinary Green Coat?
If not for some random bastard who damaged Michel's custom unit on the way to the mission,
He wouldn't have had to deploy in a standard-issue GINN.
But even piloting a generic GINN—who on Orb's satellite could possibly make Michel lose his mobile suit entirely?
"What?!" Jolted from his sorrow, Athrun was suddenly alarmed. Could it be—?!
Thinking of the most improbable possibility, Athrun rushed forward urgently.
"Michel, what happened?" he demanded from Michel, who was surrounded by the crowd.
"Tch." Michel wasn't keen on recounting the events—after all, it was downright humiliating for him.
But seeing the blue-haired noble, Athrun, approach and ask, he hesitated briefly before relenting, considering the other's Red Coat status and the figure standing behind him.
Damn nepo baby, Michel cursed inwardly before reluctantly answering.
"The Allied Forces have another Gundam. The GINN's weapons were completely ineffective against it."
"I took some losses because I didn't have intel on the enemy beforehand."
Even as he said this, Michel still tried to downplay his failure.
"Tsk." The Coordinator soldiers who heard the explanation gasped in shock, exchanging uneasy glances.
The development of this script seemed...
They suddenly recalled last year's battle at the Nova Resource Satellite.
Just like now, when everything was going smoothly, an unexpected obstacle had appeared out of nowhere.
"No way?" someone with weak nerves muttered quietly. "Could those lunatics be here too?"
"Don't be ridiculous. What are the odds of that happening?"
Someone immediately shut down this pessimist, shaking their head repeatedly, refusing to believe it.
Athrun listened to the chatter around him, his mood growing more complicated.
Had the entire army developed East Asia phobia?
As someone who might have guessed the pilot's identity, Athrun was about to speak up when—
"Captain Creuset has returned! It's his CGUE!"
Another shout rang out, this time with even more shocking news.
So shocking that whether it was Michel or Athrun, everyone present wondered if today was April Fool's Day.
Captain Creuset suffered a setback?
Don't joke around! That's Captain Creuset we're talking about!
Yet reality didn't bend to their subjective beliefs.
In the hangar, the arrestor net deployed as a battered CGUE—missing its left arm and right leg, with a knife still embedded in its back—staggered into view.
"That knife!"
Seeing red at the sight of an enemy, Michel immediately recognized the dagger lodged in his squad leader GINN's back and shouted, "Michel?" Athrun turned to stare at him.
"No mistake about it! That weapon belongs to the Allied Forces' Gundam!"
Michel growled through clenched teeth, feeling an odd sense of relief inside.
See? It's not that I'm incompetent—the enemy is just too treacherous.
Didn't you see? Even our squad leader took heavy losses.
Unbeknownst to him, Michel's words struck Athrun like a thunderbolt. Kira took out Michel and the squad leader?
Are you sure it's that meek little Kira?
Athrun felt his world crumbling. He couldn't fathom how the small, skinny Kira from their childhood could achieve such a feat.
"Captain." A Coordinator mechanic climbed onto the CGUE and opened the cockpit hatch before asking with concern, "Captain Creuset, are you alright?"
"Notify all units to prepare. Half the GINNs equip Type-D gear, the rest take Type-A."
"Ten minutes to regroup, then we sortie immediately. We must sink the enemy battleship and Mobile Suit."
"Huh?" The crew froze. All units prepare?
Was this a joke? Even if the enemy still had one battleship and one Gundam, wasn't this lineup a bit excessive?
"Captain Creuset." Athrun pushed forward, speaking on everyone's behalf.
"Shouldn't we retreat? Though the mission wasn't fully accomplished, the enemy only has one Gundam."
"Besides, this is neutral nation Orb's satellite. If we deploy Type-D anti-fortress equipment, what if—"
His implication was clear—the potential backlash from public opinion if things escalated.
Moreover, Kira was still on that satellite. Athrun genuinely didn't want to see Kira lose his life.
"Wang Hu is piloting that Gundam."
Creuset gave the chairman's son a sidelong glance, lacking the patience for subtle manipulation at the moment.
He cut straight to the most compelling explanation.
"Wang Hu? The Prodigy of Nova? The Strongest Natural? The Fangs of the Alliance?"
Michel's voice cracked as he shouted, and with his cry, the entire hangar fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
A man's reputation precedes him like the shadow of a tree.
Despite the Plants' best efforts to suppress information and spread disinformation about the battle at the Nova Resource Satellite years ago, rumors still circulated among the Coordinator community. Moreover, it would be unthinkable for the ZAFT Forces not to report the truth internally.
Thus, Wang Hu's name was like thunder in the ears of the Coordinators.
"That biggest traitor among Coordinators?"
After a long silence, someone finally spoke up.
To save face and prevent morale from collapsing, the Plants had pinned 70% of the blame for the Nova Resource Satellite's failure on Wang Hu. They also heavily emphasized that Wang Hu was a Coordinator, which gave rise to the label of "the greatest traitor among Coordinators."
"Understood, Captain Creuset. We'll complete our sortie preparations as quickly as possible."
Though their hearts pounded with unease, the group responded with a united front. No one dared to object now.
"Hmm." Creuset gave a slight nod before turning to take a few more pills.
He was determined to test his strength against Wang Hu once more—this time, surely the East Asian Army wouldn't have brought an entire swarm of reinforcements!
"Captain." Just as Creuset began walking away, Athrun hurried after him.
(End of Chapter)