The soldier thought to himself as he opened the metal sliding door ahead.
But unlike the empty corridor from before, this time was different.
Standing before the opened door was a dignified East Asian face.
"Mr. Freed, we meet again."
Chen's smiling gaze swept over Fred.
He appeared to have grown a few inches taller since their last meeting.
Though the mask made it hard to tell his exact age, this detail alone revealed that the young man was definitely still in his early teens.
And yet, at such a young age, he had already risen to a high position.
While uncertain of the exact role, the clues suggested he was far from an ordinary battleship intelligence officer.
On the other side, the soldier stared at the East Asian general before him, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously.
What do you do when you run into someone else's commander the moment you step out?
Or rather, was this commander waiting right outside their door?
And from what this commander said, he seemed to know the young man behind him.
There were too many layers to this situation, and the soldier's mind went blank.
As for Fred, he simply nodded.
He appeared calm, as if he had anticipated this.
"Commander Chen, are you stationed here?"
"Yes, though it certainly got lively just now."
Chen was inwardly surprised by the young man's composure, but his face broke into a hearty laugh.
"Just didn't expect to find you here too."
"How about it? Join us for lunch?"
"..."
Hearing this, the soldier finally snapped back to reality and instinctively stepped in front of Fred.
Afraid that this East Asian commander might forcibly take away the mysterious figure behind him.
"Not for now—we're both quite busy."
Fred replied humbly, then continued.
"I believe there will be opportunities in the future."
"...That's true."
"Your people are quite capable."
Chen's smile remained as he patted the young man's shoulder, then strode away.
"Captain Freed?"
The soldier came back to his senses, looking at the young man behind him with lingering unease.
His mind had raced with possibilities—fear that the man behind him was a spy, fear that the commander had come to abduct him.
But neither possibility seemed to fit now.
Had it really just been a chance encounter and a few words?
"It's nothing—we've only met once before. Let's go."
Fred smiled.
He had no intention of silencing the soldier; in fact, silencing him would be pointless.
The man wasn't his subordinate, and it wasn't as if he could just kill him.
Besides, there was nothing wrong with what he had said.
Still, he would need to inform Lacus about his contact with Chen.
There was no way to hide it from her anyway, and it would also be a good opportunity to gauge the Clyne Faction's stance.
For now, though, it all depended on what Chen chose to do next.
"Yes."
Seeing that the young man intended to leave, the soldier quickly turned and headed in the opposite direction from where the East Asian had gone.
Afraid that something else might happen, the best course was to get him out of here as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the adjutant who had been silently observing floated forward.
"Commander, he turned us down?"
"Of course he would—that would've been a miracle."
Chen shook his head in exasperation.
That soldier was clearly wary of them, and while he seemed to be guarding against them, he was also keeping an eye on that Freed fellow behind him.
But then again, if they wanted freedom, they could always come over here.
In any case, it was clear that the young man carried many secrets beneath the surface.
"Then what do we do?"
The adjutant was still somewhat bewildered and could only ask a follow-up question.
"We go back and find an opportunity to establish dialogue."
He hadn't outright refused—that in itself was a signal of contact.
He had only come to test the waters, with no intention of inviting anyone over for tea.
Still, the results were encouraging, though it remained unknown what the other side wanted, or what their identity truly was.
And although East Asia was not in a state of war with PLANT, this kind of contact was still extremely dangerous, and required careful deliberation.
"Yes."
Hearing this, the adjutant's expression shifted from confusion to solemnity.
"But their new weapon..."
"Indeed. We need to go back and plan this out carefully."
That kind of jammer, capable of blocking signals and nuclear reactions.
It was enough to let ZAFT win against superior numbers.
It was also the main contributor to their success in this war.
If they continued to fight on their own, even they might fall behind in the future.
But that didn't mean they should cooperate with the Atlantic Federation either.
At the end of the day, they were simply not on the same path.
Better to rely on themselves than to serve as cannon fodder for others.
What they needed most was to obtain samples of those jammers, so they could formulate a follow-up plan.
"Compared to us, those Atlantic folks must be hopping mad by now, right?"
And the Atlantic Federation, which Chen had just mentioned, was still retreating toward Ptolemy at that moment, but news of ZAFT's new weapon had already reached the base at Ptolemy.
"With that weapon in play, we can't gain any advantage through numerical superiority. Those Coordinators—were they plotting this all along?"
The commander's face turned ashen, and his palm slammed heavily against the hard tabletop.
"And those so-called allies of ours!"
"We no longer hold the advantage. We should accelerate the Mobile Suit Research program."
What rang out before him was Halberton's calm voice.
"Easy for you to say. That kind of machine is difficult for Naturals to pilot."
Facing Halberton, the commander's tone softened somewhat, no longer the raging, unfiltered outburst from moments before.
"I've already discussed it with the research team. We can solve that problem through highly automated operation. Though the maneuverability will be lower than their GINNs, we hold the advantage in manpower and resources."
"They're trying to drag us into a style of combat we're unfamiliar with. At the very least, until we have countermeasures, we'll have to adapt."
Halberton's analysis was thorough and well-reasoned, gradually smoothing away the anger on the flustered commander's face.
"How soon can you deliver results?"
"With sufficient resources invested, we can have it ready by early next year."
"...Good! I'll convince the old fossils in Congress!"
The commander gritted his teeth and gave his assent.
Then he added,
"Also, arrange for people to spread word of ZAFT's new weapon. Let everyone know those despicable Coordinators had been planning this all along."
"Understood."
Halberton nodded, in good spirits now that he had secured support.
He didn't mind the commander's final, pointless remark.
In his view, that kind of propaganda would have no effect, and could easily be refuted.
After all, their own attempt to nuke PLANT's homeland had already been exposed.
With video evidence and various documents to prove it.
Now that they've put this narrative out there, PLANT's claim that it's to prevent nuclear attacks sounds perfectly reasonable.
This Commander-in-Chief is clearly grasping at straws in desperation.