"Talking about it now won't do much good. The only thing we can do is find a way to take this guy out. Even if it takes a massive force, we have to find a way to deal with him.
"Otherwise, as long as he's alive, he'll keep fighting with the strength of an entire flight squadron or more. The longer this goes on, the greater our losses will be."
Horton heard the staff officers chatting and let out a sigh. Then, with unwavering resolve, he voiced what he was thinking. The others all nodded in agreement.
Victoria Spaceport
In the room where Felix usually rested
Sitting in his chair, Felix used the signal relay of the forces stationed in outer space to place a call to the Ministry of Defense back on PLANT.
As soon as the call connected, Patrick's face appeared on the screen.
"What is it?"
Patrick's voice came from the screen, his expression grave. Hearing the chairman's voice, Felix raised his hand in salute and asked,
"Chairman, could the troop reinforcements be sent a little sooner?"
"Have your losses been that severe?"
Patrick's eyes widened slightly as he asked in return.
Felix nodded and replied over the call,
"Today, we fought another battle against the Earth Alliance Forces. We lost more than fifty Ginn in this battle. Including the roughly forty Ginn we lost earlier, we now have only about half of our original MS forces left.
"If we have to fight another battle like today's, we won't be able to hold Victoria Spaceport at all."
"Why were your losses so much higher this time?"
Patrick frowned as he asked over the call.
Felix replied,
"The Earth Alliance Forces have found a way to overcome the disruption to radar and communications caused by the Neutron Jammer. Their forces can now communicate with one another, and their missiles are no longer inaccurate.
"With this change, the Neutron Jammer has lost almost all of the advantage it gave us."
"I understand."
Patrick nodded and replied. Then he continued,
"The Ministry of Defense will send the reinforcements out ahead of schedule. However, the supplies aren't fully prepared yet, so I can only send you what's ready."
"Chairman, how long will these supplies last?"
Felix looked at Patrick and asked.
Patrick replied over the call,
"They'll easily last you one or two battles. Don't worry! I'll continue preparing supplies here and do my best to send you the rest according to the original schedule."
Knowing the supplies would last one or two battles, Felix felt a little more at ease. The situation was tight, but they should still be able to hold out until the new supplies arrived.
"Understood, Chairman."
Felix stood up, saluted, and said,
"Thank you for understanding!"
"No need to thank me. This is what we're supposed to do. I should be thanking brave soldiers like you for continuing to defend Victoria Spaceport for PLANT."
Patrick waved off Felix's thanks and thanked him instead.
After a few more words, Patrick and Felix ended the call. Patrick then summoned the three defense committee members, including Eileen.
The three soon arrived at Patrick's office.
"What is it, Zala?"
Eileen was the first to ask Patrick as she entered. Patrick looked up at her without answering, simply bringing up the report on the screen for the three of them to read.
After reading the report, Eileen's expression grew heavy as she said,
"I can't believe our forces have suffered such heavy casualties!"
"Given the situation, we'll lose many more excellent soldiers in the battles ahead. It seems the Neutron Jammer must be diffused."
Herman spoke gravely after Eileen.
Compared with the two of them, Yuri seemed much calmer. He offered no opinion on the matter.
His thoughts were conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to see the Neutron Jammer diffused; on the other, he hoped it would be.
Caught between these opposing feelings, he didn't know what to say.
Seeing Yuri remain silent, Patrick didn't ask him for his opinion. He simply nodded at Herman and said,
"You're right. Diffusing it is now unavoidable."
With that, Patrick stood up and continued,
"I've asked Siegel to convene a Council meeting. Shall we head over?"
"Mm!"
The three nodded.
Inside the PLANT Supreme Council chamber
The members of the PLANT Supreme Council had gathered. Siegel looked at the defense committee members led by Patrick and thought,
"Another war of words is about to begin!"
After thinking this, Siegel announced the start of the meeting.
As soon as the meeting began, Patrick sent Felix's battle report to everyone. While they read it, Patrick said,
"I'm sure you've all seen the situation. Our forces at Victoria Spaceport have suffered severe losses, losing half their strength after just two battles.
"If we don't act, our losses won't diminish in the battles to come. So, to reduce our casualties and prevent the Earth Alliance from producing nuclear weapons, I once again propose diffusing the Neutron Jammer."
As soon as Patrick finished making his proposal, Louise raised her hand in support.
"I support the proposal to diffuse the Neutron Jammer!"
After Louise spoke, Eileen was just about to add something when Eileen cut in, as if she'd anticipated it.
"Eileen, are you going to reject this proposal again? Do you have no feelings at all for our soldiers?"
The question put Eileen on the moral high ground and caught her off guard. But she quickly recovered and adjusted her argument, then said to Eileen,
"Of course I don't want to see our forces continue to suffer heavy casualties. But I also have to consider PLANT's future. We can't sacrifice long-term interests just to protect our immediate ones.
"So, rather than diffusing the Neutron Jammer to solve the problem, I think we should develop new weapons and equipment that can address it. That way, we can pursue both our present and future interests,
"instead of being forced to give one up."
"Eileen, I agree with your proposal. But the best way to reduce our casualties is to weaken the Earth Alliance's military production and prevent it from making nuclear weapons. That way, it can't use its production capacity or nuclear weapons to inflict devastating losses on us.
"And the best way to weaken its production and ban nuclear weapons is the Neutron Jammer. There's nothing else available that's better or more effective."
Before you continue