The more Yzak thought about it, the more convinced he became that his strategic judgment was correct. He immediately opened a communication channel to warn his subordinates.
Indeed, after Athrun diverted with the Justice and the other two members became "missing in action," the original Creuset team was effectively disbanded. Yzak had since become a tactical commander leading an entire MS combat squad on the battlefield.
Now, sensing something amiss in the battle situation at ORB, he wasted no time in contacting his troops:
"Don't charge too far ahead! ORB might have some secret weapon... proceed with caution!"
"Huh? But Chairman just broadcasted orders through the public channel, telling us to seize the initiative and not lose to the Earth Alliance Forces..."
Yzak couldn't help clicking his tongue in frustration at his subordinate's words—he had indeed heard Chairman Patrick's speech earlier.
Patrick's address contained no substantive tactical guidance, just empty rhetoric about Coordinator justice... attempting to use the banner of righteousness to push living soldiers to the frontlines, forcing them to become pawns in ZAFT's deadly race against the Earth Alliance.
If this were his former self... Yzak thought he might have actually believed such emotionally charged propaganda from Patrick.
But now, having seen through the man's true nature, Yzak could only feel disgust.
Still, outright ordering his subordinates to ignore Patrick's commands and retreat? That wouldn't be appropriate either.
After all, that would constitute insubordination and carry suspicions of desertion... serious offenses in ZAFT's military code.
He could only sigh helplessly... they would have to wait and see.
While Yzak was filled with concern, Azrael in the Earth Alliance Forces appeared quite exhilarated.
Watching the steadily advancing battle lines, he could barely contain his smirk.
"ORB's resistance isn't much to speak of... By the way, what's the situation with ZAFT?"
Unlike Yzak's caution, Azrael merely wore a dismissive expression as he glanced at the battle map with a contemptuous laugh, his eyes full of disdain for ORB.
What neutral nation...? When faced with the Earth Alliance's assault, they could only retreat like stray dogs, didn't they?
Now when he inquired about the battle situation, he hardly cared about ORB's reactions anymore... In his current view, ORB posed little threat. The only real threat was ZAFT—it was all about who would seize ORB first.
"Their progress is similar to ours... Sir, should we deploy the Calamity and Raider to speed up the occupation?"
His adjutant checked the reports nearby, then nodded thoughtfully before responding.
Currently, both their Calamity Gundam and Raider Gundam remained undeplyed. Sending these two units could significantly accelerate the occupation progress.
"No need. We'll need them to counter ZAFT's retaliation later... Attacking ORB is only our first phase objective."
Azrael waved his hand dismissively. He had some insight into who the real enemy was—at the very least, he knew that after conquering ORB, conflict with ZAFT would be inevitable.
The adjutant nodded and was about to say something when suddenly an alarm blared throughout the battleship.
"Report! The enemy mobile suit codenamed 'Freedom' has sortied from the Archangel... and we've observed the Archangel preparing to deploy its Positron Cannon!"
The mobile suit named Freedom had been classified as their highest-level threat since its first appearance—after all, its firepower capable of instantly destroying the defensive-oriented Forbidden was truly terrifying.
The Archangel posed a similarly significant threat level—this battleship capable of firing a Positron Cannon held immense deterrence and danger in fleet battles.
"Calculate the Archangel's firing range and have allied forces within its trajectory prepare to evade immediately!"
Azrael responded without hesitation. Though weapons like the Positron Cannon had devastating power, their firing angles were nearly fixed to the battleship's orientation. With minimal attention, they could minimize casualties.
Seeing this, the adjutant nodded and proceeded with trajectory calculations... but after some calculations, his expression became visibly troubled. After hesitating for a moment, he finally turned back to report:
"Sir... the Positron Cannon's target appears somewhat unusual."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Azrael raised an eyebrow, curiosity flashing in his eyes as he looked at the adjutant.
"According to our calculations, if the Archangel fires its Positron Cannon at its current angle, only one mobile suit would fall within its effective range."
The adjutant took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before speaking with some uncertainty:
"That would be... the mobile suit named Freedom."
——————————————
"Tianming, are you really going through with this?"
On the bridge, Murrue also harbored doubts about this operation. She remained concerned about designating Freedom as the exclusive target for the Positron Cannon...
After all, this was a matter that could potentially cost Lu Tianming his life.
"Don't worry, technical verification confirms it's feasible... absorbing the Positron Cannon's energy to power up Freedom."
Lu Tianming smiled, reassuring the worried Murrue.
Indeed—his plan was to absorb the Positron Cannon's energy while achieving 100% resonance amplification, enabling Freedom to unleash a powerful attack capable of instantly eliminating most enemy forces.
The interesting part was that this plan had been proposed by Xia Chuan.
Originally, Lu Tianming had merely been discussing with Xia Chuan about more efficient Area of Effect tactics when their conversation drifted to the Archangel's Positron Cannon, then further diverged to the original storyline where the Strike Suit blocked the Positron Cannon.
Then Xia Chuan had an epiphany—since Freedom could absorb external energy, why not directly absorb the Positron Cannon to unleash a ultimate attack?
Calling Xia Chuan a visionary genius wasn't an exaggeration—this idea was truly groundbreaking. After all, if the Positron Cannon absorption failed, even Freedom wouldn't escape being vaporized.
However, as the saying goes, bold hypotheses require careful verification. After Xia Chuan proposed the idea, Lu Tianming genuinely took the project seriously and proceeded with calculations and tests. The results showed that—if using linked energy amplification absorption—this concept might actually succeed.
Moreover, when the time came, the offensive power released through the Freedom would reach a terrifying level... so terrifying that even if the Alliance and ZAFT attacked simultaneously, this single strike would be enough to eliminate most enemy forces.
And what Lu Tianming was about to execute now was precisely such a world-shaking strike.