In the conference room, the large screen displayed recent video footage and images, and everyone's expressions were grim.
"I have absolutely no intelligence on these new mobile suits..." Lacus Clyne shook her head, looking at the Impulse Gundam on the screen, which continuously adapted to various battle situations through rapid silhouette pack changes.
"This is the first I've heard of it too."
Andrew Waltfeld pressed a few buttons on the screen installed on his left prosthetic arm, and a photo of a person appeared on the conference room screen.
"Councilman Durandal. He styles himself as the neutral faction in PLANT politics. The research and development of these four units, called GUNDAMs, ZAFT's new generation of mass-produced mobile suits, and the mysterious GENESIS—all are his work."
"While we don't know where the Earth Alliance got their intelligence, if it weren't for this operation to steal the mobile suits, these units, which were greenlit at almost the same time as the Freedom and Justice, might have remained hidden indefinitely."
Andrew Waltfeld sighed at this point.
"The stalemate is about to be broken, it seems..." Murrue Ramius looked at the four distinct mobile suits on the screen and sighed with a complicated expression.
"It looks like he's a research talent similar to Roz... We might end up opposing him later."
"I wouldn't claim to be a researcher; all my designs are merely standing on the shoulders of giants." Roz Links shook his head, looking at the photo of the blue and white Core Splendor fighter, his expression a little strange.
To be honest, that core fighter reminded him of other mobile suits from blurry memories.
"Core fighter, rapid silhouette change... it looks like his battery pack was designed into the interchangeable backpack..." Roz Links analyzed the Impulse's design concept and scratched his head. "But why are these units still using traditional high-energy batteries when the Freedom and Justice are nuclear-powered?"
Just by watching a segment of the fight, Roz Links had already estimated the units' approximate output and figured out that none of the mobile suits in the video were using nuclear power; they were all relying on high-energy batteries.
This was completely illogical. The Freedom and Justice used nuclear batteries, yet these units, which were commissioned around the same time as the Freedom, did not use nuclear energy?
"Because the nuclear battery project was designed by the Clyne Faction, and the cost is very high, both for technical verification and other reasons." Andrew Waltfeld waved his hand, revealing the truth. "However, according to our operatives still undercover in PLANT, subsequent units have started reserving interfaces for nuclear batteries. Perhaps these units have them reserved too."
"Reserving nuclear battery interfaces?"
Hearing the keyword "nuclear battery," Kira Yamato, who had been sitting quietly next to them with a frown, suddenly widened his eyes. "Does that mean..."
"My personal feeling is that the worst-case scenario is the Earth Alliance getting their hands on Neutron Jammer Canceller technology, and that it falls into the hands of Blue Cosmos." Mu La Flaga, sitting in a chair nearby, shook his head. "But perhaps the final outcome won't be so bad."
"In any case, even with this intelligence, it's difficult for us to intervene right now... unless we find an opportunity." Roz Links tapped his head, forcing his runaway brain to calm down. "Besides... Cagalli, you have a lot going on right now, too, right? I've heard about the situation in Orb recently."
"It's nothing major... I can handle it." Cagalli Yula Athha, who had been silent in the conference room until now, shook her head upon hearing Roz Links' words.
Cagalli glanced at Athrun Zala, who looked worried beside her, smiled, and held Athrun's hand.
"Besides, Flay has already started getting the hang of things lately, and she's helping me quite a bit."
-----------------------------------
On the surface, Orb seemed to have entered a period of tranquility and non-involvement since successfully completing the massive evacuation, relocating its military forces and most of its production capacity to Industrial 7.
In reality, however, an undercurrent invisible to the general public was surging within Orb.
Although Orb was nominally a unified nation previously held together by Uzumi Nara Athha, internal power struggles had always been underway in secret.
Now, with Uzumi gone, having sacrificed himself to extricate Orb, the families he had suppressed began to display their ambitions for power. Among these families, the Seirans were the most blatant.
It should be noted that while Orb's territory on the map was small, it maintained several visible artificial colonies in space.
The Seiran family, which had been based in one of these artificial colonies, **Mendel**, ever since Uzumi initiated the "Industrial 7 Plan," began frequently proposing reconciliation and cooperation with the Earth Alliance after Cagalli Yula Athha took office.
"In short, they have completely ignored the fact that the Orb mainland was attacked by the Earth Alliance and constantly push for cooperation with them... they have brought this up many times in meetings."
In the Chief Executive's office on Industrial 7, Flay Allster handed several documents to the people present.
Regarding Orb's internal private affairs, Lacus Clyne and Andrew Waltfeld found an excuse to leave, leaving only those who had a direct connection to Orb.
At this moment, Flay was wearing a smart, professional outfit (OL attire) and square, blue-light-blocking glasses. Compared to her past innocent appearance, she looked much more mature.
Flay had initially wanted to join Cagalli's command alongside her father, George Allster. However, George, to prevent his past involvement with Blue Cosmos from becoming a liability, refused Flay's request and instead began transferring his political experience to her.
"And these, and these. They are completely ignoring Cagalli's strategic plans for Orb's current situation."
"There is still a physical distance between Industrial 7 and Mendel." Natarle Badgiruel, looking at the summary in the report, narrowed her eyes.
"With a time delay in transmitting command directives, the Seiran family has a great deal of operational room."
"An artificial colony in space is like an isolated island. To unite and form a consensus, they need to be physically close..." Murrue Ramius put down the documents she had just finished reading and rubbed her forehead.
"...Just like PLANT."
As former Earth Alliance officers, it was second nature for both of them to extract key associations from these documents, and they quickly understood the meaning conveyed by the report.
Meanwhile, after examining the document for about a minute, Roz Links, following his inner judgment of the Seiran family, spoke up: "This Seiran family... has vested interests with the Earth Alliance."
"That much is obvious." Regarding the Seiran family, Flay had long reached a similar conclusion to Roz Links. "If we were looking for cooperation, we are currently in space, ZAFT's home turf. Logically and reasonably, we should be looking to cooperate with PLANT. Why insist on the Earth Alliance?"
"Furthermore, their actions are far too hurried, as if they're afraid of us catching our breath. They went straight to proposing: 'In order to maintain domestic stability in Orb, we hope Cagalli can enter into a political marriage with Yuna Roma Seiran of the Seiran family...' "
Mentioning this move by the Seiran family, Flay couldn't help but cover her forehead. "Isn't that just a blatant attempt to swallow Cagalli's identity and power as Orb's Chief Representative...?"
At Flay's words, the expressions of the people present were slightly strange, as they had clearly never encountered such a maneuver.
"There must be a way to resolve this, right?" Mu La Flaga flipped through the documents in his hands again. "Are the garrison forces on Mendel under the Seiran family's control?"
"No, only one-third are. The remaining two-thirds only follow the orders of the Orb Chief Representative." Flay sighed and shook her head.
"All in all... although anyone with eyes can see the Seiran family is colluding with the Earth Alliance, we don't have clear evidence. Furthermore, acting against the Seiran family would require a vote from the other families."
Cagalli and Flay naturally wanted to move against the Seiran family for betraying Orb, but doing so might prompt the other families in Orb to create obstacles, making Orb even more chaotic, or even causing Orb to fracture.
This was an outcome Cagalli and Flay could not accept.
"After all, what they present on the surface is merely fear that Orb will continue to be attacked by the Earth Alliance."
"In that case... as long as we find evidence of their betrayal of Orb and collusion with the Earth Alliance, we should be able to move against them." Roz Links put down the documents.
"Exactly, that's what I thought too." Flay stated her plan. "Cagalli and I are waiting for them to expose a weakness. Until then, we can only temporarily maintain Orb's stability and keep stalling. After all, they can ignore some of Cagalli's directives, and we can ignore their proposals."
"To deal with these insatiable wolves, we must ensure that justice and legitimacy are on our side. We must strike them quickly, accurately, and fatally, with one devastating blow."
Recalling the bloody, broken image of Mayu in her arms when the Earth Alliance attacked the Orb mainland, and the metallic smell of blood that still remained vividly in her memory, Flay narrowed her eyes.
"No betrayal can be forgiven, let alone treason..."
Flay gritted her teeth, speaking every word clearly. "Against people like this, we cannot hesitate. We must deliver a heavy blow!"
......