"Mm!"
He nodded and voiced his agreement. Andrew replied, his words carrying a hint of self-reproach.
"I really didn't think this through."
"Report!"
A shout from the doorway cut off what Felix was about to say. He turned toward the entrance and saw a soldier in ZAFT green standing there.
"Come in!"
The two words reached the soldier's ears.
The soldier entered the room with something in his hands and walked up to Felix, raising a salute. Felix gave him a slight nod and asked,
"What is it?"
"Captain, we've finished compiling our losses from this battle." As he reported, the soldier held out what he was carrying.
Felix took the document from him, his expression grave. "What were our casualties?"
"In this battle, we deployed a total of one hundred MS sorties and destroyed 317 Earth Alliance Forces Vanguard Fighters, as well as 252 Earth Alliance Forces ground vehicles.
"Our losses came to fifty-six MS!"
At Felix's question, the soldier briefly summarized the battle report. Hearing that they had lost more than fifty units, Felix clenched his fist.
Their losses this time were even greater than during the airborne assault to capture Victoria Spaceport.
"Captain, during this battle, the Earth Alliance Forces found a way to communicate with each other and retarget their weapons. That nearly wiped out the advantage we had from the Neutron Jammer.
"Our losses were much greater than they were during the occupation operation."
Seeing Felix's grim expression, the soldier offered an explanation for the losses in the report. Felix nodded slightly and waved him away.
The soldier saw Felix's gesture, saluted, turned, and walked out of the room.
After he had left, Felix looked over the detailed report in his hands. With a helpless expression, he leaned back in his chair.
"We have fewer and fewer troops here. If we fight another battle, our losses will grow even worse.
"By then, even if we make it through a second battle, we might not survive a third."
Felix spoke with resignation.
Andrew didn't respond. He leaned quietly against the table, his eyes lowered, his sorrowful gaze fixed on his thoughts.
"Captain Waltfeld, take charge of the troops for now. I need to speak with the Ministry of Defense and make sure we can hold this place instead of being swallowed up by the Earth Alliance Forces."
Felix turned to Andrew and asked him to take care of things.
Andrew gave Felix a slight nod and assured him, "Don't worry. Leave everything to me."
With Andrew's promise, Felix stood and left the room, heading to his quarters.
Meanwhile
At the frontline command post of the Earth Alliance Forces troops trying to retake Victoria Spaceport
Hope gathered the staff officers and other personnel in the conference room.
"In this battle, we deployed 535 Vanguard Fighters and 400 ground vehicles. Despite suffering more than half in losses, this enormous force ultimately destroyed only a little over fifty ZAFT Forces MS.
"What do you all think of that result?"
Hope sat in his chair with a stern expression. His serious voice carried a hint of blame. The adjutants, staff officers, and others seated there all lowered their heads, and silence fell over the conference room.
The silence lasted less than a minute before Horton raised his head and spoke first.
"Commander, our poor results and heavy losses this time were entirely because of that ZAFT Forces MS!"
As he spoke, Horton brought up some data.
It showed the White Ginn piloted by Felix.
After doing so, Horton continued, "According to our estimates, this MS destroyed around a hundred of our Vanguard Fighters and about fifty of our ground vehicles. Nearly a third of our losses this time can be blamed on that thing.
"Without it, the forces we deployed in this wave would have been more than enough to wipe out the ZAFT Forces troops fighting on the front line."
"Exactly!"
As soon as Horton finished, a staff officer chimed in. He continued, "Commander, according to our pre-battle simulations, our deployed forces would have been fully capable of wiping out the ZAFT Forces frontline troops without that MS.
"After taking out that wave of troops, we could have followed up with our reserve forces and retaken Victoria Spaceport. But its presence made our pre-battle simulations completely useless."
"That's right, Commander! The pilot of that MS is like a monster. He's improving at an incredible rate. He was already formidable the first time he appeared on the battlefield, but he wasn't this powerful. After just a few battles, he can now destroy the strength of an entire fighter division on his own."
At this, the staff officer paused, his words turning pessimistic. "And so far, we still haven't discovered where this guy's limits are. Destroying a whole fighter division alone might not even be his limit!"
"Why are you making the enemy sound so impressive?"
Hope rebuked them aloud, but in his heart, he had to admit that this ZAFT Forces pilot was truly terrifying.
One pilot in a single MS could, at the very least, match the strength of an entire fighter division. They would never have imagined such a thing before.
"I'll report this guy's situation to headquarters and let them decide what to do."
After calming himself, Hope spoke.
Then he continued, "We'll spend the next two days resting here and revising our tactics. Against the ZAFT Forces at Victoria Spaceport, we'll use missile strikes.
"While carrying out the missile attack, steer clear of the spaceport's mass driver. Don't let any missiles hit it."
At this, Hope looked around and asked, "Does anyone have any objections to this plan?"
"No!"
Everyone present answered in unison.
Hope announced the end of the meeting.
"Meeting adjourned!"
As soon as he said the words, he rose and headed for the conference room exit. The others followed him out, chatting as they went.
"Is the pilot of that white MS really a Coordinator? I feel like he's a monster. Calling him a Coordinator almost sounds like an insult."
"Yeah! He's like a Coordinator among Coordinators, completely different from the rest."
Before you continue