Just as Xia Ya hesitated, help came from an unexpected source. Mr. Bartfield turned back and continued speaking. His deep, magnetic voice interrupted Xia Ya's turmoil.
"At last, the Earth Forces are launching an all-out assault on PLANT... They're going to fire nuclear missiles again."
Those words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing every other topic on the bridge.
Jiliang's expression tightened, while Lacus Clyne lowered her eyes and slowly clasped her hands before her chest. Neither of them showed any further inclination to press Xia Ya about how he had arrived at that possibility.
That was right. What they needed to focus on now was the next battle looming ahead. Mr. Bartfield was right. It no longer mattered who had leaked the intelligence, or how the nuclear weapons had returned—at least, not at this moment. What mattered was that the nuclear weapons had returned. What mattered was that the Earth Forces had vaporized Boaz and all the defenders stationed there. What mattered was that they were now headed for PLANT itself, and they would not stop at the last moment. Just as Mr. Bartfield had said, the Earth Forces would undoubtedly launch their nuclear missiles without hesitation.
If even one nuclear missile struck PLANT, there would be more casualties than at Junius Seven. Two hundred forty-three thousand, seven hundred twenty-one people had died on Junius Seven. But tens of millions of Coordinators lived in PLANT itself. If nuclear missiles fell upon those colonial satellites, if those cylindrical green worlds burst like bubbles in space, the death toll would be counted in tens or even hundreds of millions.
Then the vortex of human hatred would accelerate, reaching a point where no one could stop it. ZAFT would retaliate. They would retaliate with every weapon available to them.