The unspoken communication between Reid and Talia went very smoothly. After confirming that the four Coordinators would be sent back to space, Reid ordered his troops to clear the way, allowing ZAFT's forces to advance directly on the city of Bogota.
However, ZAFT did not attack immediately. The New Misurugi Kingdom's fleet had not gone far, and even though she knew it was unlikely Reid would backstab her forces now, Talia, as the frontline commander, had to prepare for such a possibility.
Reid also knew that his continued presence in South America made him a nuisance to everyone, and staying too long could lead to a host of problems.
So, after confirming that Lacus's ship had withdrawn from the front lines, his fleet left South America in a semi-escort formation, one following the other.
On the way out of South America, Reid arranged for the ship's original inhabitants to complete the Neo Roanoke flesh gene sampling. He then personally cremated the collected flesh and scattered the ashes over the South American rainforest.
Afterward, Bargiruel, having learned the full story of why Reid had appeared in South America, nagged him for a solid hour.
In the end, Reid had to shut her mouth with his own to end the lecture.
After a short nap, Reid prepared to visit Shinn in the Mystic Angel's brig, wanting to see how the little bird was reflecting after a dozen hours of confinement.
But as soon as he entered the brig area, he heard Mayu inside, reprimanding Shinn with unusual severity.
Evidently, Mayu had finished her own tasks and, during her break, had learned about the mistakes Shinn had made. Now she was here to scold him.
"Brother, I asked Sister Nami, who saw the Mobile Suit's records. I can't believe you disobeyed a direct order from the Chairman right after he gave it. Who is that Atlantic Federation pilot to you? You were willing to throw your life away for her?
"You need to remember, your duty was to protect Chairman Reid! But not only did you leave the Chairman to fight one-on-six during the battle, you later made the Chairman protect you when you were perfectly capable of tying up enemy suits?
"Brother! What you did is more than enough to get you shot by a military tribunal! Get over here and tell me just what you were thinking!"
After she finished speaking, Reid heard the sound of a tablet computer smacking against a head. Clearly, Mayu was getting angrier as she spoke and had started hitting the little bird's head with whatever was in her hand.
Shinn, on the other hand, was completely helpless against his little sister. And this time, sitting in jail, he thought it over carefully and realized he truly had no room for excuses.
If Stella had been an ordinary civilian, he could have at least used the pretext of rescuing a civilian.
But with Stella clearly identified as a Mobile Suit Pilot from an Atlantic Federation special forces unit, his blatant insubordination on the battlefield was an act that, Shinn admitted to himself, seemed sufficient for a treason conviction.
At that moment, looking at Mayu with tears welling in her eyes, Shinn could only guiltily confess the whole story to her.
What Shinn really meant was that if he was truly going to face a firing squad, he hoped Mayu could look after the clueless Stella a little.
But when Mayu heard that Shinn had already committed a serious violation during a covert reconnaissance mission before disobeying this latest order, and had even intended to go to an Atlantic Federation camp, she once again began furiously rapping on her brother's blockhead.
Mayu truly wanted to crack open her brother's skull to see if his brain circuitry was empty. How could this person act without any thought for the consequences? Or was that Atlantic Federation pilot some kind of vixen, to have stolen the soul of her brother, who had never shown the slightest interest in all the beauties he'd met, with just a single glance?
Mayu knew that Chairman Reid had already been incredibly lenient after her brother's first violation, merely requiring a written self-criticism and a fleet-wide notice. Yet her idiot brother dared to do it a second time, and in a manner far more egregious than the first.
Again, the first time could be explained away by saying Shinn thought Stella was a civilian and was just being kind.
But the second time, there was no excuse. Her brother's actions could be labeled as colluding with the enemy in any country.
In the end, Mayu could see that her brother now knew he had done wrong. But the fool didn't regret it. He was still going on about how pitiful that girl Stella was, trying to win his sister's sympathy so she would take care of her later.
Good heavens, Mayu thought. Her only remaining blood relative in the world was going to die because of this girl named Stella. How big would her heart have to be to not hate her, but pity her instead? Was her brother really an idiot?
So, as she hit him, Mayu began to cry her heart out in frustration. She felt so tired. What great sin had she committed in her past life to be stuck with a brother like this in this one?
Mayu's crying broke the little bird's heart, but he didn't know how to comfort his sister. He tried to reach out a hand to stroke her head, but she slapped it away and ran off, crying.
However, as she rushed out of the brig area, crying and not watching where she was going, Mayu naturally crashed into Reid, who was eavesdropping around the corner.
Reid, quick-witted and nimble, caught Mayu just as she was about to fall on her bottom. He put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet.
Then, Reid deliberately made the nearby sensor-activated door open and close twice before slowly walking out. He looked at Shinn, who was punching the wall in agony inside the cell, and said with a blank expression, "I just saw Mayu run out. Were you two saying your goodbyes?"
When Shinn saw Reid enter, he quickly stood at attention and saluted, then deflated like a punctured ball. "Mr. Reid, no matter how you look at it, I'm headed for a military tribunal this time. It'll be a light sentence if I don't get convicted of treason. Mayu... she must be very disappointed in a brother like me."
Reid didn't comfort Shinn, because he was right. The fact that he no longer called him "Chairman" showed that Shinn himself felt he probably wouldn't make it through this.
However, to teach Shinn a profound lesson and make him understand that military discipline was inviolable, Reid had no intention of letting him off easy this time.
So, Reid continued with a cold expression, "It's good that you know. I came here just to tell you that the results of the physical examination for that Stella you risked your life to save are out.
"She's an Enhanced Person created by the Atlantic Federation. Due to excessive drug enhancement, her body is riddled with problems and can only be sustained by continuous medication.
"At the same time, there are signs of extensive memory deletion, indicating she has been under mental control for a considerable period. Her dazed and foolish mental state is also a result of repeated artificial interference with her memories.
"However, sustaining her life with drugs is not a long-term solution. These drugs all have side effects, create dependency, and are also toxic to some degree.
"Five to ten years. That's how long she can last under the most ideal conditions—no more fighting, sustained by the best medicine."
Hearing this, Shinn's heart turned to ash. He didn't doubt the truth in Reid's words, because Reid had no reason to come all this way just to tell such a lie.
Besides, considering all of Stella's previous behaviors, she fit the academy textbook descriptions of the Atlantic Federation's Enhanced Persons perfectly.
So Shinn slumped to the floor, his back against the wall, and muttered, "The Atlantic Federation... They persecute Coordinators, they killed my parents, they caused Stella's tragedy... How can a country so evil still exist..."
Seeing the darkening trend in Shinn, Reid said nothing more and prepared to turn and leave.
But then Shinn spoke again. "Mr. Reid, what are your plans for Stella?"
Reid replied with a mix of half-truths and half-bluffs. "Her body's dependence on the drugs can be slowly treated. Our country will not use an Enhanced Person who is mentally unstable as a soldier. But her mind is extremely volatile, so she can't be released into civilian life.
"Therefore, she will most likely be sent to a mental rehabilitation center. If her mental problems aren't resolved, she will probably live out the rest of her days there."
From Shinn's perspective, the solution Reid described was already the epitome of benevolence. So he said no more, simply sitting against the wall, lost in silence.
Seeing this, Reid turned and left, signaling for Mayu to follow as he went.
Mayu was very smart. She realized Reid's earlier actions meant her brother could still be saved. After following him out of the brig area, she asked with teary eyes, "Mr. Reid, will my brother really be executed this time?"
The moment Reid heard "Mr. Reid," he knew this clever little girl was trying to play the sympathy card. However, Mayu was highly regarded by Une, who seemed to intend to groom her as a successor. Having Mayu on the Mystic Angel now was also a way for her to understand the military before she was old enough to enter the political arena.
So, Reid decided to test whether Mayu would let personal feelings compromise public duty. He asked her directly, "If your brother were sentenced according to the book, what crime do you think he should be charged with?"
Mayu answered without a moment's hesitation. "Treason. A direct execution would be appropriate."
Reid was a little surprised. He asked with a smile, "You're a ruthless one, little girl, sentencing your own brother to that."
Facing Reid's question, Mayu replied with a deadpan expression, "Publicly, that's how it should be judged."
Hearing this, Reid deliberately followed her line of thought. "That's for the public. What about privately?"
Mayu once again answered without hesitation. "Privately, I'd find a way to get him sentenced to a few hundred years, let him cool off in prison, and then in a few years, find other ways to help reduce his sentence, aiming to get him out before he's thirty."
Reid listened and nodded in satisfaction, remarking directly, "You're not afraid to speak your mind in front of me, are you, little girl? You dare to say such things."
At this, Mayu blinked her eyes and sold out her friends with a smile. "Sister Nein and Sister Liuli both told me that Mr. Reid responds to a soft approach, not a hard one, and that you know everything. They said you're not afraid of subordinates having selfish motives, only that they try to deceive their superiors. So, telling the truth can often leave a good impression on you."
Hearing this, Reid wondered, have those two girls, Nein and Liuli, both become leaky jackets? He originally thought only Nein was a blabbermouth, but now Liuli was too?
Still, Reid had to maintain his composure. Mayu probably knew this and had said it deliberately.
For her brother's sake, Mayu was really putting it all on the line. With her current behavior, a less magnanimous leader would have already started making things difficult for her.
After all, few people in power want their subordinates to have their personalities figured out.
Fortunately, Reid's goal was to become the administrator of the Super G Universe System, managing countless universes in the future. He could certainly tolerate a clever little girl like Mayu.
So Reid nodded and promised, "Don't worry, your brother won't be executed. But the mistake he made this time cannot go unpunished. He will be stripped of his rank and exiled to the Nameless unit as a Private. For now, though, let him sit in jail a while longer. Don't you say anything to him."
Hearing this, Mayu forced herself to hold back the words to plead for her brother again.
As she had said, anything less than a treason conviction for what Shinn did was a light sentence. Now, he wasn't even getting prison time. What more could she ask for?
Of course, the Nameless unit was no paradise. It was a unit for exiling troublemakers who weren't welcome in their respective units and losers of internal power struggles.
It was called the Nameless unit because its members were not officially recorded on military rosters. They were assigned the most dangerous missions, given only basic equipment, and their identities would be disavowed upon capture.
This kind of unit, it could be said, existed in every country, just under different names.
Of course, one might ask if there was a fear of such a unit defecting on the battlefield.
To that, one could only say that there were reasons for the formation of such units. The people in them generally had deep ties to their home country and were usually quite skilled. The probability of them defecting was even lower than that of soldiers in regular units.
Moreover, the New Misurugi Kingdom's Nameless unit was different from those of other countries.
In other countries, people in nameless units were basically stuck there for life. The best outcome was receiving a meager resettlement fee before retirement, but the individual would still have no honor, no veteran benefits, or other compensation.
The New Misurugi Kingdom's Nameless unit allowed its members to redeem themselves through military merit. Basically, being sent to the Nameless unit meant the military recognized your outstanding abilities and was unwilling to waste them, and the higher-ups didn't think you absolutely had to die. So, you were allowed to undertake dangerous missions to accumulate merit and offset your crimes.
Of course, there was an unwritten rule for those who had been in the Nameless unit: those who got out could never be promoted to the rank of field officer. Even if they saved the world, they had to leave the military and seek promotion through other systems.
This ensured that those who ended up in the Nameless unit due to internal struggles wouldn't be maliciously targeted by their former rivals trying to prevent their comeback.
Therefore, Mayu knew that pleading any further would be pushing her luck. It was better to wait until her brother entered the Nameless unit and then help him based on the actual situation.
Besides, Mayu also believed that her brother's actions this time deserved a heavy punishment. Not punishing him would be undermining the rules.
Thus, Mayu accepted Reid's punishment. She bowed and said, "Understood. Mayu thanks Mr. Reid for his mercy. He's the only brother I have. To me, it's a million times better for him to die on the battlefield than at the execution ground."
Reid nodded at Mayu's sensibility. Her words were just for show, of course. In reality, she would definitely find ways to give the little bird some "special treatment" later on.
So, Reid also smiled and patted her little head. "Alright, little girl, go and see your future sister-in-law, the one your brother risked his life to save.
"Trust me, when you actually meet her, you'll want to go back to the brig and knock on your brother's head a hundred more times.
"Honestly, the girl has the mental capacity of a three-to-five-year-old child. She doesn't understand anything at all, she just looks mature. Your brother's actions are not much different from luring a little girl."
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