"In the battle to capture the World Tree, Rau Le Creuset fought bravely, shooting down a total of 37 Mobile Armors and eight warships. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, he is hereby awarded the Nebula Medal."
After the brief introduction, Patrick and Siegel repeated the same action, turning toward Rau Le Creuset and facing him once more.
They repeated the same words to Rau Le Creuset.
Then Rau Le Creuset turned and returned to his former position, standing beside him again.
Patrick turned to the two of them and pointed to the two empty seats below the stage. They immediately understood what he meant, walked down from the stage, and took their seats, waiting for the rest of the ceremony to conclude.
By the time the ceremony ended, an hour had passed.
Leaving the conference hall where the ceremony had been held, Felix prepared to leave Aprilia City. He had only just started walking away when a voice called out to him.
"Felix!"
The call made Felix stop and turn around. Seeing the figure approaching from a short distance away, Felix greeted her politely and respectfully.
"Mrs. Zala, good afternoon."
After greeting her, Felix asked Lenore,
"Mrs. Zala, did you need something?"
"Felix, there's something I'd like to ask you." Lenore stopped two paces in front of him and looked at him as she spoke.
Felix gave a slight nod, inviting her to continue.
Lenore asked,
"You look very much like a child I once knew."
As the brief remark reached his ears, Felix immediately understood. He knew who Lenore meant. After all, he had known for a long time that he looked about seventy to eighty percent like Kira Yamato.
He had once wondered about their relationship in his spare time as a child. But as the days went by, and he grew up with his parents by his side, he stopped thinking about it.
He understood that even if he figured it out, it wouldn't mean much, so he didn't waste time dwelling on it.
"Mrs. Zala, I'm my parents' only child. I don't have any brothers or sisters, so this is probably just a coincidence."
Looking at Lenore, Felix pretended not to know anything. He first showed a hint of surprise, then calmly replied.
Lenore said nothing. Her gaze lingered on Felix, intense and searching. After a while, she looked away, a faint smile on her face and an apologetic note in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I may have read too much into it. I didn't mean to bother you."
"Mrs. Zala, there's no need to apologize. It's all right."
Felix smiled faintly and replied graciously.
Then, checking the time, Felix excused himself.
"I'm sorry, but I have something to take care of, so I can't stay and chat with you."
"Go ahead. I'm sorry for bothering you."
Lenore nodded, her voice gentle.
After saying goodbye to Lenore, Felix continued toward the elevator.
He took the elevator to Victoria Spaceport, boarded a shuttle bound for Junius City, then piloted a single-seat shuttle to the Sebastian.
Aboard the Sebastian
"Captain, congratulations!"
Walking down the Sebastian's corridor, Felix heard congratulations from the subordinates he passed. He smiled and nodded politely at one of them.
"Thank you."
After replying, Felix continued on his way.
Back in his room
He opened a drawer and put away the box containing the Nebula Medal. Once he had done that, he got up and went to lie down on his bed.
Five days later,
"Felix, the Ministry of Defense has drawn up a plan, and the Supreme Council has approved it. We've decided to launch an airborne assault on the Victoria Spaceport, currently controlled by the Earth Alliance.
"Your Felix Squad will be assigned to the assault force. Your mission is to capture Victoria Spaceport."
Over the comms,
Patrick explained the new mission to Felix.
After hearing the mission, Felix thought it over, then spoke to Patrick.
"Chairman, all the Mobile Suits we currently use were designed for space combat. Their design and thrust are entirely unsuited to aerial combat on Earth.
"This will put us at a serious disadvantage.
"Also, we currently have no ground forces on Earth to support us. Even if we capture Victoria Spaceport, we may not be able to hold it."
"Are you suggesting we abandon this mission?"
Patrick understood what Felix was getting at. After a moment's thought, he interrupted to ask.
Cut off, Felix didn't continue. He simply nodded in response to Patrick's question.
"Not exactly. I think we should temporarily put off this somewhat premature operation. Once we've built a military base on Earth and can deploy troops there, we can launch an operation to capture Victoria Spaceport."
"Your concerns are valid, but don't worry. Our ground forces will take part in the airborne assault as well.
"Once you've cleared the spaceport's air defenses and defenders, the ground forces will be dropped onto Earth to capture the entire Victoria Spaceport."
Patrick acknowledged Felix's concerns and explained the plan. Even so, Felix still felt the operation was highly risky.
He was about to speak when Patrick continued,
"Felix, if PLANT wants to sustain operations on Earth, we have to control a spaceport.
"Only then can we ensure that our troops and supplies can be transported back and forth. Aerial deployment and other forms of transport alone won't meet our needs.
"So capturing Victoria Spaceport is part of our plan to expand our operations on Earth. It's a highly risky operation, but we have to carry it out now."
Patrick paused briefly, then continued.
"The main reason is that capturing Victoria Spaceport will give us a base for military deployments, which we can then expand into a military base. That's much faster than building one from scratch and will help us establish a foothold on Earth.
"We're also preparing plans for other military bases. Capturing Victoria Spaceport won't stop us from moving forward with them."
"I'm sorry, Chairman. My earlier remarks were rather presumptuous and immature."
Thinking over Patrick's words, Felix realized his concerns had been immature and that he had been too quick to jump to conclusions because he knew how the story went. He looked at Patrick and apologized.
Patrick smiled kindly and replied gently,
"You don't need to apologize. Your concerns make sense. This mission is risky, after all, so it's only natural to think that way."
Then Patrick looked at Felix and asked,
"Are you confident about this mission?"
"Rest assured, Chairman. I'll do everything I can to complete it." Felix raised his hand in salute and gave his solemn assurance.
"Good. I have high hopes for you!"
Patrick smiled and praised him.
After the call ended, Felix received the detailed operation plan for the airborne assault on Victoria Spaceport.
He opened the file, sat down, and began studying it closely, making sure not to miss a single detail.
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