On the bridge, in mobile suit cockpits, and on the maintenance decks, countless soldiers agreed with the speech, shouting at the top of their lungs as their roars merged into a frenzied tide across the communications channels.
Fists slammed against consoles, teeth ground together, and mobile suits scraped against metal. All those sounds mingled into a chorus on the verge of madness.
Orphee, listening to those sounds from inside the Covenant Gundam's cockpit, chuckled quietly.
Only after confirming that his own transmission channel was shut off did he openly reveal a mocking smile.
"What do you mean, we never intended to retaliate with nuclear weapons? They killed hundreds of millions of people, yet she actually had the nerve to say that. Even I can't be that shameless."
Orphee's voice echoed through the sealed cockpit, carrying both ridicule and a certain sick delight.
He leaned back in the pilot's seat with his legs crossed, his blond hair faintly gleaming beneath the cold light of the displays.
Just as Ezalia had said, PLANT had not retaliated for Bloody Valentine with nuclear weapons. But it had launched Neutron Jammers, and as a result of Earth's energy shortages, a billion people on Earth had died, including fellow citizens who had not emigrated to PLANT and remained on Earth. In contrast, Bloody Valentine had claimed 243,721 victims—the difference in scale was simply too vast.
Even Orphee had been surprised that the people living in PLANT did not know the disparity in casualties between the two incidents. Even the soldiers did not know—the upper ranks of PLANT had concealed that information.
When he learned of it, Orphee could honestly say it had been the happiest he had ever laughed in his life. He laughed until tears streamed from his eyes, until his abdominal muscles ached.
Those