Enrollment

ZAFT was originally a political organization called the Zodiac Alliance.

It was founded in C.E. 50 by Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala.

The Zodiac Alliance was renamed ZAFT in C.E. 65.

Three years later, it was reorganized into an MS-equipped military organization.

At the same time, the ZAFT military was directly commanded by the PLANT Supreme Council and responsible to the National Defense Committee, chaired by Patrick Zala.

Every MS pilot graduated from the ZAFT Military Academy, or rather, every active-duty soldier had to study at the ZAFT Military Academy for a period.

The top ten students with the best grades were directly promoted to Red Uniform upon graduation.

Of course, in addition to Red Uniform MS pilots, the academy also trained various military logistics personnel such as battleship commanders, mech repairmen, battleship communicators, and battleship operators.

MS Mech... Maintenance Class 4.

"Swish~!"

The classroom door opened, and students in student uniforms stood up in unison and saluted towards the classroom.

A middle-aged man in a teacher's uniform walked to the center of the podium, placed his textbook on the desk, and said, "Please be seated, everyone!"

"Swish~"

The students sat down as instructed, but their eyes were not on the teacher. Instead, they drifted towards Cruze, who was standing at the door in a white uniform. If not for the strict military academy discipline that prohibited loud noise.

These students would have already jumped up excitedly.

There was no other reason than Cruze's immense fame. He had single-handedly destroyed dozens of enemy machines and returned unharmed. After the battle, he was awarded the Nebula Medal and promoted to White Uniform Captain.

And such a person actually appeared at the classroom door, and in the mech maintenance class, it was like a dream.

As for Noel, who stood beside Cruze with a gloomy expression, he was completely ignored by them. How could a firefly compete with the bright moon?

"Noel Cassia, come in."

The teacher naturally noticed the students' unusual behavior, but it was useless. Besides, he himself had been startled when he first met Cruze.

"Hmm?"

"Who is this person?"

"When did he arrive?"

It was only then that the students noticed Noel standing beside Cruze. Looking at Noel's slightly immature face, they couldn't help but speculate in their hearts.

Of course, this was all just in their minds. If you dared to speak nonsense in front of the teacher during class at the military academy, you could only say you were truly stubborn.

Noel walked onto the podium with a gloomy expression. He turned his back and gave Cruze a middle finger to vent his emotions.

Cruze looked at Noel's gesture and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

"Introduce yourself," the teacher said, slowly stepping back two paces to make room for Noel.

"Hello, everyone. I am Noel Cassia. Please take care of me!" Noel stood in the center of the podium with his hands behind his back and then took a step back, clearing the space.

"Uh, as you can see, starting today, Noel Cassia will be your classmate."

The teacher was clearly speechless at Noel's brief and uninspired introduction, but he quite liked this way of introducing himself.

After all, soldiers were like this; they liked to be straightforward. This kind of introduction was very good.

"Noel Cassia, the second seat from the back in the third row on the left is your seat from now on. Go and get ready for class."

Noel walked to his designated seat and sat down amidst the students' varied gazes.

As for Cruze, he acted as if he hadn't seen anything.

"Beep beep!"

Just as the teacher was about to say something else, a communication alert suddenly came from outside the door.

Cruze looked down, glanced at it, and answered the communication.

"I'll be right there!"

A moment later, Cruze ended the communication, took a deep look at Noel, nodded slightly to the teacher, turned around, and left with two attendants.

"Let's begin class!"

The teacher glanced at Noel, turned on the projector, and began to explain the dissection diagram of the Ginn, saying, "This course will mainly explain the first-generation Ginn mobile suit. As future mech repair personnel, we must fully master the structure of the mobile suit and its basic operating principles..."

"This is the Ginn ZGMF-1017 GINN general-purpose mass-production type MS. This unit is the first-generation general-purpose mass-production type MS developed at this stage. It is equipped with an MA-M3 heavy sword, two leg-mounted M68 3-tube missile launchers, an M59 "Walrus" Custom heavy particle cannon, an MMI-M8A3 76mm assault machine gun, and two M66 missile launchers."

"..."

It had to be said that there were many things that men could not resist, but no matter who it was, mechs were definitely among them.

Every man has a dream of piloting a mech, and Noel was no exception.

Especially when watching the video teaching materials, Noel's gaze and attention were inevitably drawn to them.

On a dark, long table sat a three-person photograph, which prominently featured Lenoya Sala.

This is the office of Patrick Zala, a member of the PLANT Supreme Council.

"Beep~"

"Shu~"

"Kaidō reporting!"

The door opened, and Kaidō, dressed in a white uniform, entered and saluted Patrick Zala, who was seated behind his desk.

Patrick Zala put down the documents in his hand, looked up at Kaidō, and said, "To prevent the failure of the Victoria offensive from happening again, the Council has decided to deploy neutron disruptors to Earth to suppress nuclear weapons and nuclear fission energy."

Kaidō's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he remained silent, standing there waiting for him to continue.

"Your Cruze's team will also be accompanying the mission," Patrick Zala continued.

"Yes!" Kaidō stood at attention and saluted.

"How is that experimental subject? I heard you sent him to the military academy. What are your thoughts?" Patrick Zala continued to ask.

"I wish to see what surprises Noel Cassia can bring after his secondary evolution."

After Kaidō finished speaking, seeing Patrick Zala's calm expression, he continued, "Noel Cassia's research data has been largely compiled. Rather than letting it go to waste, it would be better to have him become a member of the ZAFT military. He has reason to join us!"

"You think highly of him?" Patrick Zala couldn't help but glance at a photo frame on the side upon hearing this.

He was aware of Noel Cassia traveling to the January Colony on Lenoya Sala's shuttle at the time.

"Yes!" Kaidō nodded directly without hiding anything.

"Reason," Patrick Zala looked at Kaidō.

"Intuition!" Kaidō gave an answer that Patrick Zala couldn't quite understand.

"Intuition?" Patrick Zala was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Noel Cassia's parents both died at the hands of Naturals. Coupled with the tragedy of Junius 7, he hates Naturals more than most Coordinators!" Kaidō explained.

This was also one of the reasons why he valued Noel Cassia.

"It's up to you," Patrick Zala said, waving his hand slightly towards Kaidō.

He accepted this answer, and he was also very curious to see what kind of future a Pseudo-Coordinator who had undergone secondary evolution could bring.

Kaidō saluted, turned, and left the room.

"I hope you can bring me some surprises, Noel Cassia..."

Patrick Zala murmured as he looked at the profile with Noel's picture on his desk.