"Mmh."
Felix nodded in agreement. Andrew spoke with a self-reflective tone as he replied.
"This was indeed my oversight."
"Report!"
A voice at the door interrupted what Felix was about to say. Turning toward the entrance, he saw a soldier in ZAFT green uniform standing there.
"Enter!"
The two words reached the soldier's ears.
The soldier entered the room carrying documents, approached Felix, and saluted. Felix gave a slight nod and asked,
"What is it?"
"Captain, we've completed the casualty assessment from this battle," the soldier reported, handing the documents to Felix.
Taking the papers, Felix asked with a grave expression,
"What are our casualty figures?"
"In this engagement, we deployed MS units one hundred times, destroying 317 Earth Alliance Vanguard Fighters and 252 Earth Alliance Ground Battle Tanks.
Our losses amount to fifty-six MS units!"
Under Felix's inquiry, the soldier briefly summarized the combat report. Hearing the loss of over fifty units, Felix clenched his fist.
These losses were even higher than those suffered during the airborne occupation of Victoria Spaceport.
"Captain, during this battle, the Earth Alliance Forces discovered methods to maintain communications and regain targeting capabilities, nearly neutralizing our advantage provided by the Neutron Jammers.
Our losses increased significantly compared to the occupation operation."
Seeing Felix's troubled expression, the soldier offered some explanation for the casualty report. Felix nodded slightly and waved the soldier away.
After saluting, the soldier turned and left the room.
Once alone, Felix carefully reviewed the battle report before leaning back in his chair with a sigh of resignation.
"Our forces here are dwindling. If we fight another battle, our losses will expand further.
By then, even if we survive the second engagement, we'd be hard-pressed to withstand a third."
Helpless words escaped Felix's lips.
Andrew remained silent upon hearing this, leaning against the table with downcast eyes, lost in sorrowful contemplation.
"Captain Barthfeld, I need you to temporarily take charge of the troops. I must communicate with the Ministry of Defense to ensure we can hold our position here rather than be devoured by the Earth Alliance Forces."
Looking at Andrew, Felix made his request.
Andrew nodded at the assignment and assured him,
"You can rest easy. Leave these matters to me."
With Andrew's response, Felix stood and left for his quarters.
Meanwhile...
At the frontline command post of the Earth Alliance Forces tasked with recapturing Victoria Spaceport...
Hope gathered the staff and other personnel in the conference room.
"In this battle, we deployed a total of 535 Vanguard Fighters and 400 Ground Battle Tanks. Yet despite such a large-scale force suffering over half losses, we ultimately only managed to destroy just over 50 ZAFT Forces MS.
What do you all think of these results?"
Sitting in his chair, Hope maintained a stern expression, his serious tone carrying a note of accountability. The adjutants, staff officers, and others present all lowered their heads, falling into silence within the conference room.
The silence lasted less than a minute before Horton looked up and spoke first.
"Commander, our poor performance and heavy losses in this battle are entirely due to this particular MS from ZAFT Forces!"
As he spoke, Horton pulled up some documents.
The data clearly displayed the White GINN piloted by Felix.
After presenting this, Horton continued.
"According to statistics, this single MS destroyed approximately 100 of our Vanguard Fighters and about 50 of our Ground Battle Tanks. It's fair to say that nearly one-third of our losses were caused by this guy alone.
Without his presence, the number of troops we deployed in this wave would have been completely sufficient to eliminate ZAFT Forces' frontline combat units."
"Exactly!"
Just as Horton finished speaking, a staff officer chimed in agreement. After speaking, he continued.
"Commander, without his presence, our pre-battle simulations indicated that our deployed forces would have been fully capable of wiping out ZAFT Forces' frontline combat units.
After eliminating this wave of enemy troops, with follow-up forces advancing, we could have recaptured Victoria Spaceport in this battle.
But because of its existence, our pre-battle simulations became completely useless."
"That's right! Commander, the pilot of this MS is practically like a monster, with an incredibly rapid growth rate. Although he was already formidable during his first appearance on the battlefield, he hadn't reached this level yet. But after just a few battles, he can now single-handedly destroy an entire Air Wing of our forces."
At this point, the staff officer paused, his tone carrying a note of pessimism.
"And so far, we haven't discovered this guy's limits. Destroying one of our Air Wings single-handedly might not even be his maximum capability!"
"What's the point of boosting the enemy's morale here?"
While refuting this verbally, Hope had to privately admit that this ZAFT Forces pilot was truly terrifying.
A single pilot operating one MS being equivalent to at least an entire Air Wing's combat strength - this was something they wouldn't have dared to imagine before.
"I will report this guy's situation to headquarters and let them make the appropriate assessment."
After calming his inner emotions, Hope stated.
Having said this, Hope continued.
"For the next two days, we'll regroup here and reformulate our tactics. We'll implement a Missile attack strategy against ZAFT Forces at Victoria Spaceport.
While conducting the Missile attacks, avoid the Spaceport's Mass Driver and ensure no Missiles hit the Mass Driver."
At this point, Hope looked at the others and asked.
"Are there any objections to this tactical arrangement?"
"None!"
Everyone present spoke in unison.
Seeing this, Hope announced the adjournment of the meeting.
"Meeting adjourned!"
After saying these two words, he stood up first and walked out of the conference room. The others followed behind Hope, chatting as they made their way out.
"Is the pilot of that white MS really a Coordinator? I feel like this guy is a monster. Calling him a Coordinator almost seems like an insult."
"Yeah! He feels like a Coordinator among Coordinators, completely different from the others."