After a long period of contemplation, Patrick's slightly somber voice broke the silence.
"Are there any leads pointing to Creuset?"
In response to the inquiry, a reply came through the communication.
"There is no clear evidence at the moment."
Upon hearing this, Patrick ended the communication in silence. Leaning back in his chair, he tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
After much deliberation, Patrick made a decision.
His fingers, which had been tapping the desk, pressed a button on the communicator, and a call was immediately placed.
"Chairman!"
A voice came through the communication. Upon hearing it, Patrick spoke.
"Continue the investigation, but withdraw the surveillance on Creuset."
"Yes, Chairman."
With that response, the communication ended.
Patrick then began making arrangements in other areas.
Half an hour later, the communicator rang in the office. Hearing the sound, Patrick turned his gaze to the device and pressed the answer key.
"What is it?"
"Zala, have you ordered the withdrawal of surveillance on Creuset?"
"That's correct."
In response to the question, Patrick nodded slightly.
After a moment of silence upon hearing Patrick's reply, Ezalia spoke.
"Are you planning to reinstate Creuset?"
"You are well aware of the current situation. We need high-level combat power to maintain our defenses and homeland security."
Patrick nodded slightly, speaking bluntly.
Ezalia did not respond immediately. After a long pause, she said,
"Zala, think more about Athrun."
The short, calm sentence struck Patrick, and his composed expression instantly changed. His hand gripping the pen tightened.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Patrick explained calmly,
"I will not let something like what happened to Athrun occur again. Although Creuset is no longer under surveillance, I will not assign PLANT's latest mobile suits to him."
After speaking, Patrick asked Ezalia,
"Joule, is there anything else?"
"No."
In response to the inquiry, Ezalia's voice came through the communication.
Seeing this, Patrick ended the call.
Looking at the communicator, Patrick quickly made another call.
"Chairman, what can I do for you?"
"Install security locks on the systems of the Providence and other MS. Lock them all down. The security lock keys must be entered simultaneously by multiple individuals, stored by multiple people, and each person responsible for inputting the key must report to me separately."
Having given the command, Patrick took a deep breath and continued,
"Without my order, the security locks on the Providence and other MS are not to be removed."
"Yes!"
Hearing the response, Patrick ended the communication.
A little over an hour later, after receiving multiple reports with the key contents, Patrick saved the keys based on the collective reports.
With everything completed, Patrick made another call.
Half an hour later,
Creuset, who had been summoned, stood in Patrick's office.
The two locked eyes, and in the mutual calm, Patrick was the first to speak.
"Creuset, this is your new mission."
Placing his hand on the document, Patrick pushed it forward.
Creuset looked at the document slid before him, slightly bowed, and reached out to pick it up.
After reading the document, Creuset raised his hand in a salute.
"Please rest assured, Chairman."
Patrick nodded slightly and gave a soft hum.
"Hmm."
Watching Creuset, Patrick waved him off. Seeing Patrick's gesture, Creuset lowered his arm, turned, and walked out of the office.
Gazing at Creuset's figure disappearing at the door, Patrick withdrew his gaze.
Lowering his head, he continued with his own affairs.
The ZAFT Forces and the Ptolemy Military Base troops were still engaged in combat.
On the battlefield
The Genesis Gundam maneuvered effortlessly under Felix's control.
His finger squeezed the trigger, and the Beam Rifle fired at a Strike Dagger ahead.
An explosion flared before his eyes.
Felix controlled the Genesis Gundam to evade, dodging the incoming attacks.
The Genesis Gundam raised its arm and fired to the left.
After destroying the target, the thrusters on the back of the Genesis Gundam erupted with even greater force.
Moving at high speed, the Genesis Gundam drew two Beam Sabers from its waist.
With swift strikes, two Strike Daggers in its path were instantly dismantled.
After dealing with these two, the Whale Plasma Cluster Beam Cannon was deployed.
A beam blasted from the cannon, piercing through two Mobius units instantly.
Having destroyed the two Mobius units, Felix contacted Aric.
"Any latest news from the Boaz Fortress?"
"Captain, we haven't received any messages from the Defense Department yet. We know nothing about the situation there."
Facing Felix's inquiry, Aric reported the current situation. Hearing this, Felix calmly thought for a moment before replying to Aric.
"Alright, I understand."
After this brief response, Felix ended the communication with Aric.
Once everything was settled, Felix threw himself back into the battle.
Aboard the Flagship of the Earth Alliance Forces Ptolemy Military Base Garrison
"Commander, do we have no means to counter this ZAFT MS?"
Thurman watched the battle footage and inquired over the comms to Richard.
Richard, questioned, sighed and said.
"Thurman, pilots for the 105 Dagger aren't easy to train. Once they're gone, they're gone. I can't just conjure them up!"
"Commander, is there no other way to counter it besides the 105 Dagger Unit?"
Hearing this, Thurman asked with a hint of hope.
Richard, listening to Thurman's hopeful question, bluntly shattered that hope.
"Not at the moment."
The hope in his eyes fading, Thurman resignedly replied.
"I understand."
Ending the communication, Thurman watched the Genesis Gundam wreak havoc and gave an order.
"Divert another portion of the battleship's firepower to attack this MS, and also request additional MS and Mobile Armor units to engage it.
Don't let it break through to the front of the battleships."
"Yes."
Landon, hearing the command, turned to Thurman and responded.
After saluting, Landon relayed the orders downward.
On the Frontline Battlefield
Felix maneuvered the Genesis Gundam into full firepower mode to shoot down the missile attacks, then swiftly steered it left to evade the beam assault.
"The number of missiles has increased."
Muttering to himself, Felix's hands moved again in quick succession.
The Genesis Gundam dodged an attack from the left.
The Beam Rifle fired, piercing through an ambushing Mobius with a single shot.
As soon as the shot ended, Felix spotted another wave of missiles approaching.
Watching the incoming missiles, Felix pressed a button, reactivating the Multiple Lock-on System.