An angry questioning voice came through the public channel into the bridge of the Eternal.
Andrew and Aisha, among others, turned to glance at Lacus sitting in the captain's seat upon hearing such a voice.
Lacus remained calm and composed, not a single ripple of emotion showing on her face.
"Please do not continue this meaningless war. Humanity develops technology to better explore the universe, not to use it for harming our fellow beings and our own kind.
What is the meaning of such mutual conflict?
Please think carefully!"
Ignoring the angry questioning voices, Lacus continued to pose her question firmly and powerfully to everyone.
As soon as she finished speaking, furious voices erupted over the communications.
"Shameless traitor, stop spouting nonsense here!"
"We are not fellow beings or the same kind as those garbage Naturals! They are all scum with inherent flaws—don't lump us together with them!"
"Surrender now! Shameless traitor!"
Accompanying these angry voices were the furious MS from the ZAFT Forces advancing toward them.
Seeing the MS heading for the Eternal, Kira and Athrun did not hesitate and immediately pulled their triggers.
Beams fired out!
Several MS in motion instantly had their heads and arms blown apart.
Meanwhile,
On the bridge of the Earth Alliance Forces' combined fleet,
Thurman looked grave, leaning back in his chair and lightly tapping the armrest as he murmured to himself.
"Lacus Clyne?"
"Commander, she is the daughter of Siegel Clyne, the former Chairman of PLANT. According to our intelligence, she is wanted for stealing PLANT's latest MS and battleship and is currently a fugitive in PLANT."
Landon, hearing Thurman's murmur, turned to explain Lacus's situation to him.
After hearing this, Thurman thought for a moment and then said,
"So, in that case, she might be a potential ally we could win over?"
Landon shook his head at Thurman's idea.
"It's hard to draw a conclusion at this point!"
Thurman glanced down slightly at Landon, recalling the indiscriminate attacks by the Freedom and Justice that spared no one, and set aside the idea he had just casually mentioned.
"Order the troops to continue the attack. If these individuals obstruct us, designate them as targets as well!"
Looking ahead, Thurman gave the order.
In the GENESIS control room,
"Zala, according to reports from the lunar front, Lacus Clyne and her group have appeared there."
The voice came through the speaker.
Patrick tapped the armrest of his chair, his expression calm as he asked,
"What do they intend to do there?"
"They want to stop the war!"
Ezalia relayed the analyzed results to Patrick.
Upon hearing this idea, a cold smile appeared on Patrick's face, and a look of contempt rose in his eyes.
"Overestimating their own abilities!"
He said with a cold laugh, and then Patrick spoke again.
"Joule, inform Siegel about Lacus Clyne's appearance on the battlefield, and let him know not to blame us for being merciless when the time comes."
"Understood."
A flicker of regret crossed Ezalia's face as she responded, thinking of the child she'd watched grow up now facing death on the battlefield.
Patrick ignored Ezalia's visible sorrow and was about to cut the communication when her voice came through again.
"Athrun is there too!"
The brief statement made Patrick pause mid-motion. After a momentary stillness, he suppressed the pain in his eyes and nodded calmly.
"I know."
Ezalia's questioning voice followed through the comm: "Zala, have you thought about how you'll explain this to Lenore later?"
The question left Patrick speechless.
Silence hung between them in the communication channel, neither speaking for a long moment.
Finally, Patrick broke the quiet.
"That's none of your concern."
With that, he terminated the communication first.
The moment the connection severed, Patrick leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in deep contemplation.
Everyone in the control room wisely refrained from disturbing him.
As time ticked by, Patrick reached a decision. His finger hovered over the communicator to make a call, then stilled.
'No! If I inform Athrun and the others about GENESIS's launch, the information will inevitably leak to the Earth Alliance Forces. All our preparations would be wasted!'
The thought made Patrick's inner anguish surface on his face. He withdrew his hand from the communicator, his voice hoarse with pain as he whispered pleadingly:
"Lenore, don't blame me! Please don't blame me!"
He repeated the plea under his breath.
Patrick's hands clenched into tight fists on the armrests, forcing the pain from his expression back into his heart.
Once again, he regained his original iron-willed, cold demeanor.
Sensing the Vesalius's situation, Felix wore a light smile and spoke cheerfully:
"Creuset, aren't you going to do something about your subordinates?"
His question met with complete silence, Creuset offering no response whatsoever.
Receiving no reaction, Felix switched to the public channel to address the Vesalius directly.
"Still thinking of putting up a futile resistance? Your so-called commander has abandoned you. What good is continuing to follow him?"
Again, his words were met with dead silence, no sound coming through the comm.
Hearing no response and feeling like he was talking to the dead, Felix decided to waste no more breath.
His hands maneuvered the control stick right while his feet worked both the forward and backward pedals.
The Genesis Gundam executed a turning maneuver!
Simultaneously, Felix pressed both feet down on the backward pedals.
The Genesis Gundam rapidly retreated backward!
Evading the attack from the Providence Dragoon Wireless Guided Weapon.
After dodging once, Felix maneuvered the Genesis Gundam to position its Anti-Beam Shield in front of its chest.
The incoming beam was blocked, and the Beam Rifle fired toward the rear.
"Damn bastard!"
Watching the Genesis Gundam's movements, Creuset gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath.
His fingers moved into action at that moment, transmitting a series of commands.
Just as the commands finished transmitting, before the targeted Providence Dragoon Wireless Guided Weapon could react, a beam pierced through it first.
As it exploded, the Genesis Gundam raised its shield and closed in on the Providence Gundam once more!