When Angie's voice reached the interior of the Laurasia-class ship via laser communication, many still hadn't processed that they had already been defeated.
For most crew members aboard, their ship had been perfectly fine just minutes ago. Then, its various armaments suddenly went haywire, firing wildly until the attack ceased. Before they knew it, someone had a gun pointed at the bridge, demanding their surrender.
Especially when Angie's cockpit footage was transmitted to the bridge, Stefano Greco never imagined that the pilot of the unknown transformable mobile suit that had defeated them would be this princess. He had assumed the only truly combat-capable individual in the entire Misurugi Empire was that suspected former soldier, Reid Isaac.
However, Stefano Greco was, after all, the ship's captain. He quickly composed himself, suppressing his shock and fear as he spoke.
"Princess Angelise... I never expected you to be the pilot of this machine. I admit defeat in this battle. But you haven't won the war yet. Your colony satellite—the foundation of your nation—has already been invaded by three GINNs. Soon, they will suppress the entire colony. Why should I surrender to you?"
Hearing his stubborn defiance, Angie wasted no time shattering his illusions, replying coldly:
"Diplomat Stefano... no, your true identity should be Captain Stefano. What makes you think you've won inside the colony? Let me enlighten you—I launched this surprise attack only after receiving confirmation of victory from within the colony. So, unless you want the entire crew of this ship to die with you, you'd better surrender immediately."
Stefano frowned at her words. If there were mobile suits like hers inside the colony, then Legendre's squad might have indeed been overwhelmed. After all, no one knew how many units were stationed there. Three GINNs charging in against seven or eight enemy machines would make victory nearly impossible.
As for the issue of Naturals being unable to operate mobile suits effectively—Princess Angelise before him was a Natural, yet her machine's performance was nothing short of extraordinary. Stefano could only conclude that the Misurugi Empire had already solved the Natural OS System problem.
In truth, Stefano's mind was still in disarray. If the Misurugi Empire really had seven or eight mobile suits, why would they send the princess out alone to face the enemy?
But Stefano failed to consider this, so he believed Angie—even though what she said was true.
Moreover, just after Angie finished speaking, two Iron Balls emerged from the colony, piloted by none other than Reid and Noin.
Seeing the enemy even sending out engineering units to take over the ship, Stefano knew his squad had truly been defeated. Desperate, like a drowning man clutching at straws, he shouted:
"Princess Angelise! You can't take us prisoner—we're ZAFT! Capturing us means declaring war on PLANT! ZAFT will crush your nation effortlessly! And I'd rather self-destruct than be taken captive!"
With that, Stefano pulled up the self-destruct code input panel beside the captain's seat, striking a pose of heroic sacrifice.
However, at this moment, Reid joined the negotiation through the Iron Ball's communication channel linked with Angie and directly interjected:
"Captain Stefano, you want to self-destruct? That's perfect—go ahead and blow up. I've already convinced Legendre to testify that you abused public authority to attack our nation. Besides, I also have the recording from our last negotiation meeting. With both pieces of evidence, it's clear you launched this attack to profit from the price difference between PLANT's food supplies and those of other Colony Satellites.
By then, PLANT won't have the face to attack us again. And in the worst-case scenario, our nation could simply defect to the Earth Alliance. Given our current technological capabilities, do you really think the Earth Alliance wouldn't protect us at all costs?"
After speaking, Reid sent over a freshly taken photo of Legendre's three-man squad, captured and bound. Reid was certain—a greedy man would never truly believe others wouldn't betray him. In the eyes of the greedy, loyalty only lasts until the price is high enough.
Stefano Greco broke out in a cold sweat. Reid Isaac's scheme was utterly ruthless. He didn't dare gamble on whether Legendre would actually testify against him to save himself.
Moreover, Reid Isaac was right. Just the fact that the New Misurugi Empire possessed fully functional MS units meant the Earth Alliance would protect them at all costs. If Stefano self-destructed now, there'd be no evidence left, and he'd be branded a disgrace to PLANT. Meanwhile, the New Misurugi Empire would walk away unscathed—even worshipped by the Earth Alliance.
At this thought, Stefano Greco no longer wanted to die. There'd be no honor in it, and his enemies would continue living in luxury. This was a losing deal, and he wasn't about to take it. After all, the New Misurugi Empire was a neutral nation, not part of the Earth Alliance—so surrendering to them wasn't truly surrendering to the enemy.
Even if he were rescued later, his career would be over. A court-martial was inevitable. But since no neutral citizens had actually died, he wouldn't be sentenced to execution.
Having reasoned this out, Stefano withdrew the self-destruct keypad and sighed weakly:
"Ah, greed knows no bounds. I surrender the entire ship."
Seeing that Stefano had come around, Reid didn't press further. Instead, he said:
"Good. Have your crew—except the helmsman—disarm and gather in the escape pods. Then detach the pods from the ship. We'll take over from there."
Stefano complied without resistance, following Reid's instructions precisely.
Reid also had Noin pilot the Iron Ball into the damaged MS launch deck, entering the hangar to monitor the remaining two GINN pilots as they abandoned their mobile suits and surrendered.
Stefano had briefly considered seizing the incoming monitor as a hostage. But upon seeing it was just a mere princess's guard, he abandoned the plan.
He figured neither Princess Angelise nor Reid would care if a single guard were captured—especially Reid Isaac, a man who excelled at exploiting human nature, rotten to the core. There was no way he'd spare Stefano over some insignificant guard.
Thus, aside from the helmsman, the entire crew transferred into the escape pods.
Then they were slowly escorted into Star Palace with Reid pointing his 180mm Cannon at them. After everyone was sent to prison, the system notification for successful main mission completion popped up.
"Main Mission Phase One Complete. Rewards distributed: Base Building Module and G-Invasion Module unlocked.
Main Mission Phase Two Issued: Ensure Archangel rendezvous with Earth Alliance 8th Fleet. Reward: 100 Merit Points, 25,000 G-Coins. Failure: World difficulty significantly increased.
Note: After world difficulty increases, there is an extremely high probability this world will become an apocalyptic scenario. Once the world turns apocalyptic, the system will detach from the host."
(End of Chapter)