A captain wore a confident expression as he spoke, his words so self-assured that they bordered on arrogance. Felix listened without a word, calmly making himself invisible rather than arguing back.
He simply waited for the commander-in-chief to speak.
"Though the force we've deployed this time amounts to nearly one-sixth of our military, we must always approach war as students.
"Don't let our advantages in individual combat ability and equipment make you complacent. That attitude of yours is unacceptable. I don't want to hear it again."
The commander-in-chief's stern reprimand rang through the comms.
After that dressing-down, the captain who had just spoken fell silent, no longer daring to make such confident, almost arrogant remarks.
When nobody else spoke up, the commander-in-chief continued with the necessary arrangements and explanations over the comms.
A little over an hour later,
Once everything that needed to be said had been covered, the video conference came to an end.
As soon as it ended, Felix briefed Phipps and Miles on what had been discussed, then stayed in his room to get some proper rest.
The warships continued through space. About an hour later, the ZAFT forces traveling together began splitting up according to the prewar plan.
Felix's team took up position on the World Tree's left flank, accompanied by two other teams.
Inside the MS Pilot Ready Room aboard the Sebastian
Six MS pilots, including Felix, rested there while on standby.
As they waited, Felix checked the time and gave an order.
"Everyone, get inside your MS cockpits and stand by!"
At the order, Felix was the first to pick up his helmet and head for the door. Heine followed close behind, with the others moving after him.
Leaving the ready room, they took an elevator down to the Hangar. Seeing the MS units parked there, they each headed toward their own.
Once inside his Ginn's cockpit, Felix closed the hatch and powered up the Ginn, leaving it on standby.
Inside the Hangar
When the Maintenance Crew saw that all the MS pilots had entered their Ginn cockpits, they began preparations for launch.
A transport rack carrying Felix's white Ginn moved toward the starting point of the electromagnetic catapult. Once it reached the launch point, the rack lowered the MS.
The catapult's clamps locked onto the MS's feet.
The equipment preparation system began loading its weapons.
A Heavy Assault Machine Gun and two Heavy Slash Blades were fitted to Felix's Ginn.
Behind it, the other Ginns entered the standby area and waited.
Time ticked by. Before long, another half hour had passed.
Yalik's voice came over the comms.
"Captain, we've reached the deployment point!"
"Begin deployment!"
Felix, rested and ready, gave Yalik the order.
Upon receiving it, Yalik began the deployment.
The Hangar's forward hatch opened, and the electromagnetic catapult extended out ahead.
As the view of space opened before him, Felix gripped the control stick, pressed the pedals, and adjusted the thrust lever.
The Ginn's main thrusters began to fire.
"Ready for launch. Requesting permission to sortie!"
"Permission granted!"
A communications officer's voice came over the comms. Felix pushed the thrust lever forward.
The thrust from the Ginn's main thrusters increased.
"Felix Leo Griffith, launching!"
Felix's brief, forceful words rang out. With the catapult and thrusters working together, the Ginn shot forward at tremendous speed.
After Felix's white Ginn launched, the Ginns in the standby area moved to the equipment preparation system to have their weapons installed. Once fitted, they launched one after another.
In a continuous sequence, six Ginns shot out of the Hangar.
In space, they formed up around Felix.
Ginns from the other two warships launched as well. Led by Phipps and Miles, they moved alongside Felix's team and took their places in formation.
Once the formation was complete, Felix piloted his Ginn in a swift charge ahead. The other MS followed the white Ginn and advanced.
The warships moved in coordination with the Ginns.
At that moment, among the Earth Alliance Forces stationed along the World Tree defensive line,
"Commander, ZAFT forces have appeared about three hundred kilometers from our defensive line."
"Order the warships to begin firing. Keep the MAs on full alert!"
The commander heard the report and issued his orders.
Along the defensive line,
On receiving the commander's orders, the warship captains gave the command to open fire.
In an instant, missiles launched from the warships' missile tubes and streaked forward! Beams, electromagnetic shells, and other weapons were fired into space all at once.
Meanwhile, on the ZAFT side,
Felix led his team to rendezvous with the others. After coordinating with the other team leaders, they all maneuvered toward the battlefield together.
"Our mission this time isn't just to fight the Earth Alliance Forces and occupy or destroy the World Tree. Our most important task is to escort the warship carrying the Neutron Jammer to the front line.
"Before the Neutron Jammer is activated, we must make sure the warship carrying it isn't destroyed."
As he piloted his MS forward, Felix repeated the warning to his subordinates over the comms.
When he finished, a reply came through.
"Understood!"
After acknowledging the order, Heine asked over the comms,
"Captain, if the Earth Alliance Forces don't use nuclear weapons, couldn't this test end up accomplishing nothing?"
"Not all of the Earth Alliance Forces' warships currently in service have been refitted with nuclear fusion reactors. Some of the older ones still use nuclear fission reactors.
"We can just observe how those warships fare and determine whether the Neutron Jammer works.
"Besides, the World Tree is the Earth Alliance Forces' bridgehead to the Moon, so its importance goes without saying. They dared to use nuclear weapons against our PLANT. Do you think they wouldn't dare use them here?"
Felix calmly answered Heine's question. Heine didn't ask anything further and quietly piloted his MS with the formation.
They advanced calmly for a little over ten kilometers before the Earth Alliance warships' first barrage came hurtling toward them.
Seeing the beams, Felix and the others had no way to intercept them. They could only rely on the warships' maneuverability and defensive systems.
After the beams came shells fired from electromagnetic railguns.
Felix tracked them on his screens and radar, then raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun in his white Ginn's hands.
His finger squeezed the trigger, and bullets burst from the muzzle!
Before you continue