GINN dazzles the eyes, and money can make the devil push the mill.
Many believe that once humanity ventures into space, gold will become cheap.
But that's not actually the case. Even in space, gold remains a scarce and precious metal.
If you want to understand why, you can look it up yourself; no need to elaborate here.
So, when someone of General Zheng's stature—practically at the pinnacle of the East Asian Federation—saw the gold sent by their Coordinator comrades, he was taken aback.
Upon hearing the suggestion from his old partner, Chief of Staff Jiang, he was stunned for a moment before collecting himself and adjusting his mindset.
"While mining the gold, try to fill the pre-prepared mercury in as well."
At these words, Chief of Staff Jiang, who had first proposed the idea, was greatly surprised.
Although the suggestion was his and he was genuinely tempted, just as General Zheng understood him, he knew the other man equally well.
Had he truly been bewitched by the gold before his eyes?
Fortunately, before Chief of Staff Jiang could offer advice—after all, the Coordinators weren't fools; activating Genesis required immense resources, and if it ended up benefiting the East Asian Federation again, why would they make the same mistake twice? If they couldn't breach the shield of Boaz Fortress, wouldn't they just turn their guns toward the Moon or Earth?—General Zheng's new orders came down.
"Ignite the Planetary Engine, target the enemy's Genesis."
"Mobilize all forces. Since the Coordinators have cleared the obstacle of the Atlantic Federation Army for us, we must not waste their goodwill. Now it's our East Asian Army's turn to take the stage."
"Heh."
Hearing this, Chief of Staff Jiang chuckled softly, then felt a twinge of embarrassment. So, he had misjudged the other after all.
"What?"
Puzzled by his old partner's failure to relay the orders immediately, General Zheng turned to look at him.
"You didn't really think I just wanted to earn more gold, did you?"
Seeing Chief of Staff Jiang's relieved expression, General Zheng teased him with a smile.
"If it's possible, why not? Don't forget, we can still gain something from that final strike against Genesis."
"Though the East Asian Federation is vast, we shouldn't be too wasteful. Frugality has always been our tradition."
Back to his usual self, Chief of Staff Jiang responded to his partner's jest, then turned and declared in a clear voice:
"All forces, advance!"
With this military order, the Planetary Engine installed on Boaz Fortress ignited, spewing forth blazing flames.
Though its focus differed from the Radiance Transmitter developed by the D.S.S.D., the Planetary Engine—created by the Breaking Ball World with the full force of global resources to propel Earth—delivered astonishing power and speed!
In a short time, the fortress, as massive as a mountain, roared forward, rushing like a crushing avalanche toward Genesis.
Behind Boaz, the main fleet of the East Asian Army stood ready, eager and prepared for battle.
Battleships formed into long serpentine formations, using the former Coordinators' guardian deity Boaz Fortress as a figurative steel helmet perched above their heads.
They were waiting for Boaz Fortress to instead destroy the ZAFT Forces' hope—Genesis.
Then it would be the East Asian Army's turn to swing their long-sharpened blades and sever the enemy's prized head.
"How could this be?"
First, their original Boaz Fortress, once the guardian deity of PLANT, had transformed into an excellent shield for the East Asian Army.
The brilliance of Genesis had not ushered in a new era for the Coordinators; instead, it had delivered a massive wave of artificial gold to the East Asian Army.
This had already dealt a severe blow to the morale of all Coordinators, both military and civilian. Before the disheartened Coordinators could recover, they now witnessed Boaz Fortress becoming a cataclysmic projectile.
It was hurtling toward Genesis at an incredibly high speed!
The stark contrast between past and present made it difficult for their hearts to remain calm.
Especially for Patrick, who had believed victory was assured—he was likely the one among all Coordinators who found it hardest to accept reality.
"The East Asian Army did this on purpose, on purpose!"
Fuming with rage, Patrick shouted wildly in Genesis's central control room, finally grasping the East Asian Army's scheme.
The idea of relying on Wang Hu to break through the defenses alone was nothing but a carefully crafted illusion.
Its purpose was to make him believe the East Asian Army was at its wit's end, so he would confidently fire Genesis's second shot toward the shield they had prepared in advance!
To prevent Genesis's crucial second shot from targeting the Moon or Earth!
But...
His predatory gaze fixed on the Chief Librarian beside him, who could no longer maintain his composure.
Patrick's icy tone was like a frigid wind blowing from the depths of the abyss.
"Chief Librarian, why was the East Asian Army so certain in preparing so many measures specifically targeting Genesis?"
"If the earlier sabotage team led by Wang Hu, which dropped the Goddess of Love precisely on our Genesis, was due to leaks from Lacus's faction..."
"Then the cooperation between our two organizations was conducted under extreme secrecy."
"I can guarantee that no one within the ZAFT Forces could have secretly colluded with the East Asian Army."
"So... shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
Before the Chief Librarian could respond, Patrick thought of another point and continued.
"Chief Librarian, combined with your ability to immediately recognize the East Asian Army's secret weapon, the Dendrobium..."
"It's hard not to make me suspect something unpleasant."
"Is your Library Organization trying to play both sides?!"
"Absolutely not!"
The Chief Librarian, now sweating profusely, faced Patrick's near-accusation of betrayal and noticed the ZAFT soldiers closing in menacingly.
Seeing that he might be physically assaulted if things went wrong, he hurriedly explained.
"Our Library supports you Coordinators—how could we possibly secretly invest in the East Asian Alliance?"
"In fact, the collapse of the clans in the old history was due to the impact of the East Asian Federation's rise, which caused them to disintegrate!"
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing this secret known only to those directly involved, Patrick was somewhat convinced by the other party's words.
Waving his hand to stop his soldiers' movements, Patrick signaled the Chief Librarian to continue explaining while simultaneously questioning his technical officers about when Genesis's third shot would be ready.
He also ordered that this third shot be directly targeted at the capital of the East Asian Federation. This way, even if they couldn't stop the East Asian Alliance's Boaz projectile, they could at least vent their frustration after Genesis's destruction.
However, Patrick's technical officers delivered more bad news: after technical comparison, Genesis's third shot was impossible.
Due to the astonishing speed of the Boaz Fortress projectile, Genesis would be destroyed before their own preparations were complete!
"Damn those evil East Asians!"
Cursing furiously, Patrick glared viciously at the screen showing the Boaz Fortress - originally their own property that had carried infinite hopes.
To be honest, he didn't want to abandon Genesis if there was even the slightest alternative!
"I think we should retreat first," the Chief Librarian said while wiping sweat from his forehead.
"The East Asians' habit has always been to plan before acting, considering how to respond to the worst-case scenario in everything."
"Now I realize that having the Atlantic Federation fleet attack first was entirely the East Asians' scheme!"
"They wanted the Atlantic Federation to test whether we had repaired Genesis or not."
"This explains why the East Asian Army, after being ambushed by the Atlantic Federation Army, raised the punishment rod high but brought it down gently."
"Nonsense! Do you think I don't know that?" Patrick snapped angrily, showing his utilitarian nature.
"Let's go."
Uttering these words reluctantly, Patrick led the way out of the central control room.
Though leaving, he still ordered his subordinates to continue replacing Genesis's mirrors in a last-ditch effort to prepare for an attack on the East Asian Army's capital.
What if, just what if, the East Asian Army's projectile encountered problems mid-course?
Standing in the elevator heading to the shuttle hangar, Patrick still clung to a sliver of hope.
Meanwhile, as Patrick prepared to escape to the ZAFT fleet's flagship, there had been some delays in information transmission due to Genesis's earlier firing.
Remember how Patrick had previously issued a strict order requiring Athrun and others to surround Wang Hu and ensure his death on the battlefield?
And the Chief Librarian, during their cooperation, had taken Creuset - the Brain in a Vat - from Patrick.
Now these people were finally mobilizing.
Athrun piloted the Justice Gundam at the forefront, with Nicol following closely in the Destiny Gundam that Wang Hu had pierced through yet miraculously hadn't exploded.
Behind them was the Blitz Gundam piloted by Heine, with its Mirage Colloid activated.
Naturally, Yzak and Dearka were also present.
Since their previous mobile suits had been destroyed in the Boaz Fortress battle, and though Heine had rescued them, their units were beyond recovery.
And ZAFT Forces weren't exactly wealthy - even if Yzak's white-haired mother searched through all of ZAFT's reserves in the current situation.
In the end, she still couldn't find any suitable new mobile suits that could be deployed immediately.
Thus, they had no choice but to reluctantly assign them the urgently enhanced Qilin.
Patrick couldn't wait to send the two of them out, pushing them to rush to the battlefield to meet their doom.
However, considering their past overall combat records, it was hard to say whether they could confidently take down Wang Hu in terms of fighting capability.
After all, these individuals had previously ganged up on Wang Hu when he was piloting the Zeta Gundam.
So, the ones heading out had mentally prepared themselves for the possibility of sacrificing their lives in this battle.
Until—
"What is that?"
Heine's jaw dropped as he stared at the massive crimson weapon released from the battleship that had suddenly appeared beside Genesis after its deck opened. He couldn't close his mouth for a long time.
"I don't know?"
Their advancing footsteps halted, including Athrun and the others.
They were all astonished, gazing at the giant semi-humanoid machine that exuded an aura of malevolence.
The machine slowly appearing before them looked as if it were composed of two small and one large triangle stacked vertically.
The largest triangle in the center had been elongated.
At the top center, a sharp, human-like face was installed, while the bottom was stretched, thickened, and enlarged to form the main thruster.
The two smaller triangles on either side were connected to massive beam claws at their bases, giving off an extremely intimidating appearance.
After a casual inspection,
they also spotted what seemed to be beam cannon ports on the machine's shoulders, abdomen, and rear skirt armor.
On both sides of the chest, they noticed devices of unknown purpose, resembling some kind of specialized generator.
As for missile launchers, they were everywhere and not particularly remarkable.
Additionally, it was worth noting that on the upper part of its back, there were devices similar to Dragoons, though the quantity...
In short, it made Nicol feel utterly embarrassed.
(End of Chapter)