After shooting down the two Mobius units, Felix noticed a comrade's situation on his screen. His fingers moved across the controls, settling on the trigger.
The Dawn's Heavy Assault Machine Gun rose, firing a round that traveled hundreds of meters before striking a Mobius' propulsion system.
Seeing this opportunity, a GINN Pilot moved in to finish the job.
The Mobius exploded instantly in the void of space.
With the assist completed, Felix maneuvered the Dawn into an evasive leftward dodge. Avoiding incoming fire, he raised the Heavy Assault Machine Gun and returned fire.
The targeted Mobius executed a dodging maneuver.
Before its pilot could sigh in relief, a GINN closed in rapidly from the left rear flank—too fast for him to react.
The GINN's Heavy Sword came down upon the Mobius.
The bisected Mobius erupted into a fiery blast.
Watching the enemy eliminated, Felix continued piloting the Dawn, deftly avoiding attack after attack while his Heavy Assault Machine Gun claimed several more Mobius units.
"How annoying!"
Felix frowned slightly at the Mobius squad's movements on his screen, muttering in frustration.
Then, observing the launched Flash missiles on his display, he realized the optimal timing had been wasted dealing with these nuisances.
Destroying the Flash missiles now would be pointless.
The Flash missiles detonated across the combat zone, releasing blinding bursts of light that merged into a continuous glare. The intense illumination rendered the MS's optical sensors and photoelectric detection systems useless, completely obscuring visual field.
When the effects faded, the Mobius squadron was already several kilometers away.
"Captain, should we pursue?" Heine asked from his cockpit, watching the retreating Mobius units.
"Pursuit is necessary," Felix replied calmly, "but our mission isn't to annihilate them. It's to pressure the Earth Alliance Forces' Ptolemaeus Lunar Base from diverting troops elsewhere."
After explaining to Heine, Felix issued orders over the comms: "Pursue! But don't overextend. Just maintain pressure on the Earth Alliance Forces."
Following his own command, Felix piloted the Dawn to lead the chase against the retreating Earth Alliance units.
At Ptolemaeus Lunar Base, Seramon reported to Commander Richard: "Commander, we've received a communication from First Mobile Fleet Commander Iacus."
"Report!" Richard responded tersely.
"The white ZAFT MS appeared on the battlefield. To preserve our forces, he's decided to lead a tactical withdrawal," Seramon relayed.
Richard's expression remained unchanged as he nodded slightly. "Hmm."
After this acknowledgment, he continued: "Approve his request."
"Yes, sir."
Seramon raised his hand in a salute and responded before turning to relay Richard's reply to Iacus. Richard also stood up at this moment and continued speaking to Seramon.
"From now on, the base will enter a state of full alert, remaining vigilant against sudden attacks from the ZAFT Forces at all times. After the First Mobile Fleet and the dispatched portion of the Second Mobile Fleet return, have them join the aerial defense duties."
"Understood."
Turning to face Richard, Seramon raised his hand in a salute as he replied.
Richard glanced at Seramon before turning and walking out. After seeing the Commander off, Seramon turned around and began taking charge of temporary leadership duties.
Two hours later, Felix sat in the cockpit of the Dawn and issued an order.
"Retreat!"
After speaking these two words, he piloted the Dawn to turn and fly toward the Alighieri. Following the command, the others began clearing the battlefield.
They searched for any surviving comrades while collecting reusable fragments of Mobile Suits.
After the battlefield was cleared, the ZAFT Forces Mobile Suit Pilots piloted their MS back to their mothership. Once all the MS were recovered, the warships turned and headed back toward the Lorentz Military Base.
Aboard the Alighieri, Felix sat in his chair reviewing the post-battle summary report.
While reading the report, a communication came through.
Felix set down the report, reached out, and accepted the communication.
Aric's face appeared on the connected communication screen.
"What is it?"
"Squad Leader, there's a call from the base."
"What about?"
Felix inquired.
Aric continued, "The Ministry of Defense has issued new combat orders!"
"I understand."
After replying, Felix ended the communication. Picking up the report from the table, he continued reading it.
A minute or two later,
Felix finished reading the report, set it down, and began typing the post-battle summary report for the Ministry of Defense on the computer.
Two to three hours later, the unit returned to the Lorentz Military Base. Under Felix's arrangements, several damaged warships began undergoing orderly repairs.
The two previously empty repair docks were no longer vacant! Maintenance soldiers piloted repair robots into the docks to carry out repairs on the docked warships.
In the commander's office in the central administrative area of the base, Felix, who had disembarked from the warship via shuttle, sat in his chair, opened his computer, and reviewed the newly issued combat mission.
When he saw the word "Endymion," Felix frowned, recalling some details from the original work.
"I remember this place seems to have the Cyclops System. The first time the ZAFT Forces were severely beaten by the Cyclops System happened here, I believe."
While pondering, Felix muttered to himself internally.
With that thought, Felix pulled back his thoughts and continued reading the content. After finishing all of it, he leaned back in his chair and murmured.
"Fortunately, the Ministry of Defense isn't rushing us to organize the troops for combat immediately. Having about two weeks gives me time to consider some countermeasures." After pausing, Felix thought further and added, "I'll communicate with the Committee Chairman later to see if we can attack a different location."
After some thought, Felix used his computer to send the completed report to the Ministry of Defense. Once the transmission was complete, he leaned back in his chair to contemplate safer methods for attacking Endymion, hoping to prevent their troops from being decimated by the Cyclops System.
He pondered for several minutes until a communication alert snapped him out of his thoughts. Seeing the caller ID, Felix accepted the call.
Patrick's face appeared on the screen.
"Chairman!"
Felix raised his hand in a salute and greeted him.
Patrick gave a slight nod and said, "I've reviewed the report you sent. We'll replenish your losses as quickly as possible."
"Thank you, Chairman."
Patrick waved his hand dismissively.
"No need for thanks."