"Felix, let's rescue the escape pod!"
Heine's voice came through the communication channel.
Upon hearing this, Felix responded gravely, "If we both go, it will weaken our combat strength against the enemy. I'll continue fighting here while you rescue the escape pod, Heine."
"Alright! I'll follow your plan."
Understanding Felix's reasoning, Heine didn't argue further. Acknowledging the order, he piloted his GINN toward Junius Seven.
A Mobius unit attempted to intercept Heine's movement.
Felix, still controlling his GINN, provided covering fire with long-range shots to clear a safe path for Heine.
After Heine departed in his GINN, Felix focused entirely on engaging the remaining Mobius units. Gripping the control stick tightly, he maneuvered the mobile suit through space.
He dodged incoming bullets.
Raising his weapon, he returned fire, rounds ejecting from the barrel.
One Mobius unit accidentally moved into Felix's pre-aimed trajectory, its propulsion system pierced by the shot.
Its thrust capacity plummeted!
"Damn it!"
The pilot snarled in frustration.
Before the curse faded, Felix fired a second shot from his GINN, this time striking the cockpit with precision.
The Mobius exploded instantly.
Having eliminated that unit, Felix turned to confront the other enemies.
...
PLANT
Aprilius One, District 1
Ministry of Defense
Chairman's Office
Observing the destruction of Junius Seven on screen, Patrick clenched his fists, eyes bloodshot, his face contorted with rage.
"What the hell were our stationed forces doing?"
His furious shout echoed through the office.
As his anger subsided slightly, the office door opened. Looking up, he saw Aisharia standing at the doorway.
"Is something the matter?"
Regaining his composure, Patrick asked her in as calm a voice as he could manage. Aisharia nodded, entering with a report in hand.
She approached Patrick and set the document before him.
"We've received an initial report regarding the bombing of Junius Seven."
Aisharia informed him while he picked up the report to examine it.
She continued, "Although we had contingency plans in place, the combination of interception battles, the sheer number of nearly ninety Colony Satellites in PLANT, and our current ZAFT military capacity meant that while our preparations were theoretically thorough, significant deviations occurred in practical execution.
These deviations led to the tragedy at Junius Seven!
A detailed comprehensive analysis will require more time to compile and present."
Taking a deep breath, Aisharia added, "However, the emergency protocols within the Colony Satellite were executed with minimal deviation, allowing for a relatively successful implementation under the circumstances!"
"Although the emergency plan didn't deviate from expectations, according to our previous deductions and calculations, the best possible scenario would only allow us to keep casualties below thirty-five percent.
But as you said, reality never matches the ideal scenario. The death toll will exceed thirty-five percent."
As he spoke, Patrick clenched his teeth, his face contorting with rising anger that culminated in him slamming his fist hard against the table.
"Damn Naturals!"
He growled in fury.
Patrick then slammed the report in his hand onto the table as well.
Aisharia watched Patrick's furious display without speaking, but her reddened eyes from anger and grief, along with her tightly clenched fists at her sides, spoke volumes about her current emotional state.
...
16:35, February 14th
After prolonged combat, the Earth Alliance Forces attacking PLANT were completely annihilated.
On the battlefield near Junius City
Felix gazed at the now silent space before him and piloted his GINN back toward the mothership.
In the warship's hangar
Felix's GINN came to a steady stop. After the automated machinery secured the mobile suit, the cockpit hatch opened and Felix emerged.
The warship's hangar doors had already closed.
Scanning the hangar, Felix's eyes eventually settled on the maintenance chief.
Noticing Felix's gaze, the maintenance chief spoke calmly yet with palpable sorrow.
"On this ship, besides you, only Heine survived the battle."
"What about Captain Hawkins?"
Felix froze for a moment before asking urgently. The maintenance chief pressed his lips together, pausing briefly before responding.
"Captain Hawkins fell while intercepting missile attacks from the Junius 9 direction!"
Felix's mouth opened as if to say something, then closed again. He lowered his gaze and quietly walked away.
Seeing Felix's state, the maintenance chief said nothing more and led his team in preparing Felix's GINN for service.
Two hours later,
After rest and resupply, Felix piloted the GINN again, joining the rescue operations.
As he maneuvered near Junius 10, seeing the completely destroyed colony, Felix gripped the control stick tightly, clenching his teeth to suppress his emotions.
"Felix, why didn't you rest longer?"
Heine's voice came through the comm.
The sound pulled Felix from his thoughts, and he replied to Heine over the communication line.
"I've already rested two hours. I'm in good condition and don't need more rest. You should get proper rest, Heine. Your MS needs maintenance too.
Leave this area to me and go service your mobile suit!"
"I can still continue!"
No sooner had he spoken these stubborn words than his GINN's energy alarm activated. Seeing the low energy warning, Heine stopped insisting.
"I'll leave this to you for now."
With that, he piloted his GINN away.
...
Aprilius One, District 1
In the Council Hall
All members of PLANT's Supreme Council had gathered, each seated representative's face showing a mixture of anger and profound grief.
A heavy silence continued to spread through the council chamber.
After about a minute or two of this atmosphere, a report came through the communication channel.
"Chairman, the statistical task has been completed!"
The voice pulled everyone out of their silence, with Siegel being the first to speak.
"What's the situation?"
"Junius 10 casualties total 175,500 people. Among them, 74,800 died due to insufficient escape facilities, 75,000 died because they couldn't reach the evacuation shelters in time, and 25,700 died due to escape pod failures.
The number of people rescued via escape pods is 124,500."
The reporting voice came through the communication channel. The person delivering the report choked up several times from grief, but his professionalism allowed him to suppress his emotions and complete the briefing.