"The Eternal was shot down by Yzak?"
"Wasn't he pursuing those damned East Asian Alliance forces?"
Patrick's mind didn't work as fast as two others present. When he first heard the news, he hadn't made any connections yet.
But Ezalia and Lacus—their complexions changed upon hearing this.
Though Ezalia managed to maintain superficial composure, aside from turning pale initially, she quickly regained her usual demeanor. However, her hands behind her back were clenched into fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms, seemingly revealing her inner turmoil once again.
As for Lacus, standing right beside Balthلد—this pink-haired diva who had always carried herself with goddess-like grace—suddenly swayed on her feet. Had Balthلد not promptly supported the girl, she might have collapsed to the ground.
"Hmm?"
Staring intently at Lacus's reaction, Patrick—who had been grim-faced moments earlier—slowly relaxed his tightly pressed lips. Gradually, his mouth fell open.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Booming laughter erupted from Patrick, echoing repeatedly through the dim office. His mood felt as refreshing as drinking an ice-cold soda on the hottest summer day.
"The key escaped members of the Clyne Faction were aboard the Eternal!"
Overjoyed and immensely satisfied, Patrick couldn't imagine better news. Back when he'd imprisoned the main Clyne Faction members, he'd considered executing the entire opposition group. But on one hand, having just taken power, even with leverage over the Clyne Faction, outright eliminating them would seem too blatantly opportunistic—especially since the mess was created by Clyne and his daughter. PLANT had no tradition of collective punishment, and Patrick wanted to save face.
On the other hand, frankly, the Clyne Faction had considerable support within PLANT. Wiping out all their spiritual leaders at once would not only cause public backlash but essentially paralyze the local government's administrative structures.
Given these factors, the Clyne Faction issue had been delayed until now.
Who would have thought!
Staring at Lacus's face—which now resembled a boiling hotpot filled with ingredients of every color imaginable—Patrick's laughter simply wouldn't stop.
"Excellent! Yzak has proven himself one of ZAFT Forces' finest warriors."
"He hasn't betrayed ZAFT's training, nor disappointed our fellow Coordinators."
In his exhilaration, Patrick lavished praise on Yzak for this achievement. His next words even made Ezalia—who was struggling to maintain composure—lose her footing.
"I will award Yzak the Nebula Medal in recognition of his contributions to ZAFT Forces!"
Wow, others only received the extraordinary Nebula Medal for making exceptionally difficult achievements during the fight against external enemies.
Yet Patrick wants to grant such a great honor just because Yzak reasonably eliminated the core members of the Clyne Faction!
This shows just how good Patrick's mood is right now!
And how much he despises the Clyne Faction in his heart.
And the most important point of all!
But Ezalia would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
As mentioned earlier, the Nebula Medal is the highest honor in the ZAFT Forces.
Those awarded this medal also gain immense privileges.
And for what reasons were others awarded it?
For what reason is her own son being awarded it!
For wiping out the main members of the entire Clyne Faction!
This is practically like poking a hole in the sky!
If this news spreads outside and is known by countless supporters of the Clyne Faction on the homeland, it would be disastrous!
They'd be calling for his head in no time!
So, to protect her son and prevent Patrick from setting him up as a living target,
used to attract all the hostile gazes of the Clyne Faction supporters on the homeland,
staring at Patrick, who was clamoring to award her son the medal, Ezalia felt that the reason he wanted to give such a big reward
was more about wanting her son to bear all the hatred!
To take this opportunity to distance himself from the whole incident!
Thus, to prevent this from happening, Ezalia disregarded everything else and firmly opposed Patrick's proposal.
In short, she absolutely would not allow him to award the Nebula Medal to her son.
It was even necessary to downplay the entire incident, and it would be best to say nothing about it publicly.
It would be best to act as if nothing had happened at all.
So, one wanted to award the medal, the other refused to allow it.
The leader of the Sara Faction and the faction's second-in-command, the two of them argued fiercely in front of the many onlookers.
"Captain Balthلد, I'm feeling a bit better now, thank you."
Watching the two of them arguing loudly, after some time to recover, Lacus seemed to have regained her composure.
Gripping Captain Balthلد's arm tightly as he supported her, she whispered her thanks.
"Miss Lacus, are you really alright?"
After such a major incident, and seeing that everyone's attention was not on the two of them,
Balthلد quickly asked Lacus in a low, concerned voice.
"I'm fine."
A fleeting look of tragic beauty crossed her face, and Lacus shook her pale, delicate head.
Wang Hu, you are such a ruthless man!
While the leader of a faction is undoubtedly extremely important, serving as the banner that rallies people and morale,
the excellence of a faction is inseparable from the excellence of its leader.
But from another perspective, the core members of a faction are equally important.
Although on the surface, the core members may not be as dazzling as the leader, they are like the bones and flesh of a person's body,
playing a connecting role!
If the leader dies, the faction suffers a heavy blow; similarly, if all the core members die, sometimes the faction may even collapse.
Just because I refused to become a decorative plaque for your East Asian Alliance, to become your puppet,
you resort to such ruthless measures?
Blinking her eyes, Lacus had originally thought everyone present was a mature politician.
As long as mutual utility value existed between parties, nothing was off the table in negotiations.
So what if she hadn't acted according to their wishes this time and had secretly outmaneuvered them?
When interests aligned, they could still be good friends!
Yet she never expected Wang Hu from the East Asian Alliance to overturn the table outright.
By leveraging Yzak's hand to destroy both his and his father's hard work, he directly intensified the conflicts among the populace within PLANT.
This further weakened the overall cohesion of the Coordinators and indirectly achieved an effect equivalent to the Clyne Faction establishing a government-in-exile with the support of the East Asian Alliance.
Not only did it tear PLANT apart, but it also weakened PLANT's combat capabilities!
"Wang Hu, aren't you afraid I might join forces with the Sara Faction?"
Lacus murmured to herself—mature politicians were truly formidable.
For the sake of interests and goals, even bitter enemies could potentially shake hands and reconcile.
History was full of such examples, and for a moment, Lacus even felt the impulse to seize this opportunity and defect to the Sara Faction.
But she couldn't—for the sake of peace and the ideals of the Clyne Faction.
Lacus smiled bitterly as she watched Patrick and Ezalia still arguing.
Naive. These two were far too naive.
In truth, there was no need for them to take any extra actions; the East Asian Alliance would inevitably broadcast this incident far and wide.
They would surely dissect the rights and wrongs of the matter with penetrating insight.
"I've lost this round."
Shaking her head, Lacus stood up. Since her contingency plan had been thwarted by Wang Hu in such a manner, then...
Quietly surveying the scene, she refused to be crushed by such a blow. Lacus subtly took a few steps back.
Noticing that no one's attention was on her, she continued retreating step by step.
Absurd? Utterly absurd!
Amid the news of the Clyne Faction's core members being wiped out, Lacus managed to slip out of Patrick's office completely unnoticed.
Not a single person paid her any mind.
Later, under the cover provided by Captain Balthلد, she falsely relayed Patrick's orders, claiming that Lacus was to be taken into custody.
And just like that, they made a clean escape from the ZAFT Forces headquarters!
All while the argument in Patrick's office was still raging on!
Meanwhile, at the secret port where the Eternal was docked...
Having avoided the Eternal's explosion and fled the PLANT capital satellite via another route, Mu and his apprentice Zhang Peng exchanged glances inside the shuttle, unable to believe it was all over.
"What did I just see?" Mu muttered dazedly, replaying the scenes in his mind.
"Wang Hu piloted the Training ZINN and lured those three straight into the minefield Lelouch had set up."
"While the three were blinded by the flames from the minefield explosions, he used a pre-set autopilot mode to direct the Training ZINN to rendezvous with the departing Eternal."
"But he had already secretly ejected from the mobile suit, taken a detour, and successfully regrouped with us?"
"Yes." Zhang Peng also gazed ahead with admiration at Wang Hu, who was now huddled with Lelouch, discussing something in low voices.
"They even had that Yzak's psychology completely figured out. When the explosion ended, the other two mobile suits were still assessing the situation."
"To prevent any additional backup plans, that Yzak only saw the Training ZINN boarding the Eternal."
"Without even asking questions, he directly attacked the departing Eternal!"
"These two are terrifying!"
"We must never cross them in the future." Mu nodded repeatedly, adding with lingering fear.
"Those two not only kill but also torment the mind. After Yzak destroyed the Eternal, Wang Hu and the other person, to ensure he wouldn't pursue our shuttle..."
"They directly sent the list of people who were aboard the Eternal to that unlucky Yzak."
"Exactly." Zhang Peng's eyes showed apprehension as he secretly and sternly warned his apprentice Liu Peiqiang.
"Remember, stay far away from those two from now on."
"I admit the shuttle's safe departure was entirely thanks to that list. No matter who saw it, they'd likely lose all interest in pursuing enemies."
"But this method is too dirty, and the people who use it have black hearts."
"Pei Qiang, you must never learn from these people, understand?!"
(End of Chapter)