Although they hated to admit it, there was no changing the fact that Coordinators were stronger than Naturals.
They were not merely stronger in terms of intelligence. Even their physical abilities surpassed those of Naturals.
Given machines with the same performance and equipment of the same quality, a Coordinator would definitely operate them better than a Natural.
And if the two sides were enemies, then if Naturals wanted to defeat Coordinators, their only real option was to surpass them in equipment.
Or, in a hostile engagement, they could rely on numbers to overwhelm a smaller force.
In reality, Naturals did indeed outnumber Coordinators. But war was not won by numbers alone.
This was no ancient war. This was modern technological warfare.
In a war like this, if the technological weapons controlled by Naturals were weaker than those of Coordinators, then their situation was even more pitiful.
Therefore, to counter the power of Coordinators, the Earth Alliance had been secretly cultivating units capable of matching them.
Information about such units could not be made fully public, because it would provoke controversy and condemnation from society.
The members of this force were biologically enhanced humans created through secret genetic experimentation.
It was inhuman experimentation.
Naturals had always criticized Coordinators as unnatural, condemning genetic modification as a violation of nature. But how was what they were doing any different?
Naturally, these enhanced humans could never be made public.
And at an Atlantic Federation base on an island near Orb, one such team of biological soldiers was undergoing training and adjustment.
At present, the commander of this base was in an excellent mood as he looked at the black smoke ahead.
That was a gift that had fallen from the sky. A gift that might allow the Atlantic Federation's military technology to make a dramatic leap forward.
Even if it had shattered in the crash, he believed they could still research something from it.
"Blocking a nuclear explosion, compressing a warship into a sphere, and even an ability like a solar flare eruption. Truly unimaginable."
The commander sighed in admiration.
If they could obtain all of those technologies, he could hardly imagine what position he might rise to.
His position within Blue Cosmos would also rise even higher.
Suddenly, a communication came in. After he connected, the person who appeared on the screen made him immediately straighten his posture.
"Director Azrael!"
The blond man before him was an extraordinary figure. He was the leader of the organization, a powerful man who held the Earth Alliance Forces in his hands.
"A high-speed mobile unit is already on its way. Make absolutely certain everything is secured. Understood?"
"Understood."
"If we cannot obtain it, then no one else can be allowed to obtain it either. Especially not ZAFT. Those monsters have already received the intelligence and know that the object fell into our territory. I'm afraid they may have already sent people over. They absolutely must not get it!"
"We will never let those monsters have it."
"Good. I look forward to better news from you afterward."
"For a blue and pure world!"
After the communication ended, the commander immediately raised the base's alert level to the maximum and turned the Neutron Jammers up to full power.
At the same time, he ordered one of his trusted subordinates to retrieve that item.
If their own people truly could not arrive in time, and if ZAFT attacked first to seize the wreckage, and if they could not hold it, then everything would be destroyed together.
The thing he had ordered his subordinate to bring was the activation button for a destruction device.
Hm?
Why had the flames over there suddenly flared up again? And he thought he heard gunfire.
"Commander, the enemy... the enemy is still alive!"
"Oh? He survived even that? Then capture him!"
"Understood!"
The communicator transmitted that excited response, followed almost instantly by gunfire.
But less than five seconds later, all kinds of panicked voices rang out. They were shouting that they could not hit him, that the other side was wearing metal equipment, perhaps powered armor.
Wasn't powered armor supposed to be bulky and clumsy?
And the armed helicopters circling overhead had even opened fire with heavy machine guns. That made him frown.
What were those useless fools doing? Did they really need to make such a huge fuss just to capture one man, even using autocannons? If they damaged that gift even more, things would become troublesome.
Just as he was about to contact them and give them a harsh scolding, a scream rang out, as if they had encountered something truly terrifying.
Could that machine still be usable?
No way.
In the next instant, his brain was struck by dizziness. It felt as if his head was about to split open, and his body swayed so violently he nearly fell.
The dizziness lasted for about five seconds before he recovered. Then the scene before him made his expression change.
An armed helicopter seemed to have lost control, flying erratically before crashing into one of the base's buildings and exploding.
"Damn it, what the hell is going on? Can that machine still activate?"
"N-No, it's not a mobile suit. It's not a fighter. It's a person. A person wearing armor. T-That thing is a monster!"
The voice grew more and more tremulous, more and more terrified.
"What monster?"
"N-No!"
After a scream, there was only silence.
Damn it. What had happened? That entire area had gone silent.
Following his new order, troops carrying heavy firepower entered the area. They also transmitted the live footage from their instruments to his device.
It really was a person wearing what looked like a combat suit. No, his body was covered in a large amount of metal armor. Was that powered armor? Could powered armor be that agile? Could it fit that closely?
This was clearly advanced technology as well!
The commander's eyes shone as he watched.
However, with the enemy displaying such terrifying mobility, capturing him alive was simply impossible. They also had to use heavy firepower. Otherwise, casualties would be severe.
And this man was truly brutal. That chainsaw-like weapon split anyone it struck directly into pieces.
In the end, the commander gave the order to eliminate the enemy by any means necessary.
So the armed helicopters fired air-to-ground missiles at him without hesitation.
And then...
"Huh?"
The commander stared blankly. The missiles exploded in midair before they could hit.
Several more times, the same thing happened. They exploded in midair again.
No. They had not self-detonated. The other side had shot them down.
Then have several armed helicopters close in and rake him with concentrated autocannon fire. He refused to believe the other side could still dodge that. Still...
"You have got to be kidding me!"
He really dodged it. What kind of reaction speed was that?
What chilled the commander even more was that the three armed helicopters encircling and blocking him were destroyed in the blink of an eye.
It was extremely strange. The helicopters looked as if they had been struck by some kind of high-energy radiation. No, it would be more accurate to say they had been hit by invisible high-energy spheres rather than irradiated.
Those high-energy spheres struck them, melting spherical holes through them and destroying them as they fell from the sky.
At that moment, the commander felt true terror.
As if sensing that he was being watched, the other party looked over. It was as though he could see him through the screen.
The next second, he began reaping lives at a horrifying speed, and the commander's terror surged even higher.
It was as if everything before this had only been a warm-up. Only now was he truly getting serious.
A dozen-plus armed soldiers were wiped out before the commander could even finish a single breath, reduced to chunks of flesh.
His whole body trembled.
No. He needed heavier firepower.
Deploy the mobile armors prepared to defend against ZAFT.
Blast him to death!
(End of Chapter)
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