Just as Xiao Ran set out from the MACROSS in his mecha to begin his first campaign in this world, Cruze stood beside a middle-aged man wearing a Federal Army regional uniform, watching with utter indifference as one well-dressed figure after another was arrested, each now wearing a different expression.
The man standing beside Cruze was the defense commander of this federal government. The insignia on his uniform identified him as a brigadier general. Someone who could become the commander at a nation's government headquarters could hardly be a simple figure. Even as only a brigadier general, he held considerable status. Yet this man of status looked at Cruze beside him with faintly ingratiating eyes.
Cruze merely glanced at the live battlefield feed, now being broadcast by their own people, and the corners of his lips rose slightly. Public support, public opinion, the tide of events... that man was becoming more and more skilled at playing this game.
"Um, Mr. Cruze, how should these people be dealt with?" the defense commander beside him asked ingratiatingly. Looking at the people in the room who had been captured and pinned firmly to the floor, he could not help wiping away the cold sweat running down the side of his forehead.
The defense commander thought to himself, Good thing I was wise enough to agree to stand with him. Otherwise, I might be among those people... no, I would probably be worse off.
Hearing the man beside him speak, Cruze turned with a smile. "What does Brigadier General Thomas think?"
The commander called Thomas by Cruze wiped his sweat away and asked tentatively, "Lock them all up?"
"Heh." Cruze only gave a faint chuckle. Feeling the communicator in his arms vibrate, he tossed out a sentence and headed directly outside. "You are right.