"Fine! Fine! Fine!"
Yzak shouted "fine" three times in succession, staring at Dearka's bleeding leg as he agreed without hesitation.
As the saying went, Durandal might be dispensable, but Dearka absolutely couldn't be harmed.
After all, he was Yzak's beloved friend and sworn brother!
"Then why aren't you going out to prepare?"
Gun smoke drifted from the barrel, accompanied by Dearka's pained gasps, as Wang Hu's subtly mocking voice floated over.
"Alright, I'll go prepare it for you right away."
Yzak signaled Wang Hu not to act rashly—as long as Dearka was returned, everything could be negotiated.
Seeing that Wang Hu was serious, clearly showing he'd take others down with him even if he died, Yzak didn't even hesitate to weigh the options for his dear brother's sake.
Stepping back, Yzak wasn't just employing a delaying tactic with empty words.
At least before Heine stopped him, he genuinely intended to prepare a Mobile Suit for Wang Hu.
"Are you really going to give Wang Hu a Mobile Suit?"
Heine asked Yzak with a serious expression.
"He has Dearka, I—"
Of course, Yzak didn't want to, but Wang Hu had his friend Dearka in his grasp.
Looking at Heine, who was staring at him, Yzak's face was full of helplessness.
"Think about the scene of Wang Hu piloting a Mobile Suit and causing chaos in the colonies."
Instead of directly opposing him, Heine chose a more persuasive approach to reason with Yzak.
Otherwise, Heine was worried that Yzak, who currently seemed willing to do anything to save his friend, might punch him the moment he voiced opposition.
Today, he had witnessed just how deep the bond between friends could be, and honestly, he felt a little envious.
"I—"
Just imagining Wang Hu piloting a Mobile Suit and wreaking havoc in the colonies sent a shiver down Yzak's spine—the scene was too dreadful to picture.
"But he has Dearka."
They say people can be like broken records, and even though Yzak had that image of Wang Hu causing chaos in the Satellite Colonies in his mind, he still wanted to rescue Dearka. Everything else could wait until Dearka was safe.
After all, he still had a dependable mother—she should, might, perhaps be able to handle the fallout!
Achoo!
For now, unaware that outside Durandal's residence, her dear son was ready to throw her under the bus without hesitation to save his close friend, Ezalia at the ZAFT Forces headquarters let out a loud sneeze in front of Patrick, who wore a stern expression.
That sneeze instantly drew everyone's attention to her.
"Excuse me, please continue."
Waving her hand, Ezalia feigned composure, signaling everyone to carry on and ignore her.
"Uh—"
At this, a black-uniformed officer who had been delivering a report stumbled over his words.
"The prison holding the main members of the Clyne Faction has been jointly attacked by the East Asian Alliance and the Clyne Faction."
Patrick, his face dark enough to drip water, suppressed his anger as he reminded them.
"Ah, yes, thank you, Chairman.The flustered man in black quickly pretended to regain his composure and continued speaking.
"According to reports from our surrounding forces, a convoy drove out from the prison's back gate during the attack."
"No specific information about the convoy is available yet."
"That concludes the report."
"Is that all?"
Seeing that he had essentially heard nothing useful, Patrick could no longer contain his anger.
"There isn't a single useful piece of information in this entire report! Why did we have to learn about the prison being attacked through reports from surrounding forces?"
"What about the prison guards? Why didn't they report? And what about that convoy that left through the back gate?"
"If you don't know anything, why are you even reporting?"
"Ah, this..."
Facing his furious superior, the reporting ZAFT officer in black uniform wore a miserable expression.
"Chairman, please calm down. Actually, when the intelligence came in, we immediately tried to contact the prison guards."
"But, but!"
"But what?"
The black-uniformed officer's fearful demeanor only made Patrick angrier.
"But the prison guards we managed to contact reported that nothing had happened at all."
"We've asked multiple times, but they insist nothing is wrong!"
The black-uniformed officer felt wronged - it wasn't that he didn't want to clarify the actual situation, but that the actual situation simply couldn't be clarified.
He didn't even know where to ask!
Remember, Lelouch had previously mentioned that he arranged for personnel to hijack all wired and wireless communications in the prison area.
So this black-uniformed officer was telling the truth - it would be strange if he could actually understand the real situation.
No matter how many times he called, all communications would be redirected to Lelouch's side.
"You!"
Patrick nearly laughed in frustration at such a foolish subordinate. Even without experience in managing covert operations,
Patrick knew that contradictory messages like these must have a reason behind them. Was hijacking communications really that difficult?
Couldn't he even think of that?
"Have you sent anyone to check in person?"
His mind racing, Chairman Patrick asked questions intermittently.
He was pondering all the sudden changes that had occurred.
The Qilin of East Asia, Wang Hu, was reported to be secretly meeting with neutral faction representative Durandal, followed immediately by a prison break.
Could it be!
A flash of insight struck him - it was a diversion tactic!
The classic military strategy of East Asians - they must be using Wang Hu's information to attract our attention,
then taking the opportunity to rescue all the key figures of the Clyne Faction.
"We have sent people over."
Unaware of the East Asian conspiracy theory forming in Patrick's mind, the black-uniformed officer continued rambling.
"Get out!"
Convinced he had seen through the East Asian scheme, Chairman Patrick had no patience left for the officer's nonsense.
Just as he was about to voice his thoughts, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.
"Didn't I say not to call during emergency meetings?"
Unable to contain his anger, Patrick picked up the phone and immediately began shouting at the caller.
After a moment of silence, the person on the other end probably didn't expect to be greeted with shouting.
"Speak! Which department are you from?"
Seeing that the person on the other end of the line dared to call and disrupt the meeting at such a moment, and then remained silent after the call connected, Patrick swore that if the caller didn't have anything important to say, he would make sure they guarded a pond for the rest of their life—until they died.
"Greetings, Uncle Patrick."
The voice from the receiver made Patrick freeze. This voice—it was unmistakable! It was all too familiar to him. He would never forget the voice of this woman who had almost become his daughter-in-law.
"Lacus Clyne!"
The fury in his eyes seemed to materialize. A fugitive wanted across all of PLANT, and she had the audacity to call his office openly. What did that even mean? No sane person could tolerate such a thing! Traitors, all of them!
His hand trembled as he gripped the phone, and Patrick's menacing gaze swept over everyone in front of him. In his eyes, every one of them now looked like a traitor.
But while his expression was one thing, his tone was another. Just as if he hadn't yet turned against Clyne and become a political rival, Patrick spoke gently to Lacus on the other end of the line.
"Lacus, come back. I'm sorry about what happened to Clyne. But you have to believe me, that wasn't my intention. Besides, Athrun is still waiting for you. Once this war is over, you and Athrun can get married. Our Zala family will treat you well from now on. Consider it the only amends I can make to Clyne now."
"Ugh." In the speeding car, Lacus felt goosebumps all over her body. Instinctively, she held the phone farther away, almost thinking she had dialed the wrong number and reached some unrelated person. Staring at C.C., who sat idly beside her, Lacus suppressed the strange feeling welling up inside her.
In truth, it wasn't just Lacus who felt strange; even the people standing in front of Patrick were fighting back waves of nausea.
Taking a deep breath, Lacus adjusted her mindset and spoke slowly, "Uncle Patrick, the current events on the satellite have nothing to do with our Clyne Faction. Although my father and you had political differences, we both acted for the good of PLANT and the future of all Coordinators."
"Oh?" Patrick found Lacus's words puzzling. What was this? Was the daughter representing her deceased father to surrender? If it really was a surrender, given that Clyne was dead and had once been his close friend, he might consider stopping the persecution of her.
Just as Patrick was about to persuade Lacus to turn herself in, she continued, "Actually, Uncle Patrick, my contacts have uncovered some special information. The East Asian Alliance members who attacked the prison—their command center is located at..."
In a flash, she revealed Lelouch's hiding place over the phone, leaving nothing unsaid. As soon as she finished, Lacus hung up with a snap and casually tossed the phone out of the speeding car.
"Hello? Hello?" Patrick called into the receiver, only to hear the dial tone. He stared blankly at the people in front of him. What in the world was that all about?
Or is the attack on the prison truly unrelated to the Clyne Faction?
"Chairman Patrick, I think we should send some people to investigate?"
"Better to believe it exists than risk ignoring it!"
Through a private phone call, Ezalia had learned what her dear son was planning to do.
Give that Wang Hu a Mobile Suit?
If she weren't so tied up with work, Ezalia would have immediately rushed over in her high heels to confront her son and ask what he was thinking.
Patrick, his mind somewhat muddled, stared intently at Ezalia who had made the suggestion and pondered for a moment.
"Mobilize the local defense forces. Recall all personnel on leave."
"Suppress this situation immediately!"
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