Mutation 2

Eizalia's speech continued, her tone growing more impassioned and her gestures more forceful.

Her words were highly inflammatory, deftly placing all responsibility on the Earth Alliance—the Naturals' side.

She made no mention of, or rather deliberately ignored, the strategic decision made by ZAFT's upper ranks, including the Zala Faction to which she belonged, to abandon Victoria Spaceport after their defeat in the Battle of Alaska in order to consolidate their forces and preserve their strength.

That decision meant that the troops stationed there had been treated as expendable from the very beginning. Their sacrifice had been meant to buy time for ZAFT's main forces in space to regroup.

And now, she was using the deaths of those abandoned soldiers as political capital to incite the people's hatred and win support for the hardliners' path to war.

What a splendid performance, the man thought.

He could even imagine the staff officer who had written this speech for her hiding backstage at that very moment, smugly admiring his masterpiece.

"Enough," the man murmured, so softly that he was almost inaudible.

His mouth felt a little dry, so he raised the coffee cup in his hand to his lips.

"Mm... as expected, nothing beats the aroma of mocha."

The complex fragrance, blending fermented liquor, cocoa, and dried fruit, refreshed him at once.

He muttered something under his breath, as though affirming the meticulous work he had just done.

Then he shifted his gaze away from the screen and toward the coffee pot in the corner.

About half of the brown liquid remained in the pot. He walked over, picked it up, and carefully poured all the rest into his cup.

More of that fragrance spread through the room with the motion.

He took another deep breath of the aroma, feeling its warmth enter