Reid realized that after activating the system and waking up, his mind seemed to have become sharper. After confirming the current time and actual situation, he quickly formed a rough plan for what came next.
First, the task given by the system was to defend against an attack on the base by either the Earth Alliance or ZAFT. This meant that at least one of the two factions—the Earth Alliance or ZAFT—would inevitably attack this Colony Satellite for various reasons. There was no avoiding it.
What Reid needed to do was simple: take control of this attack as much as possible—determine who would launch it, when it would happen, and so on.
In truth, the easiest way to complete this task on the surface would be to openly declare support for either the Earth Alliance or PLANT. The opposing side would then certainly attack as a warning to others.
However, this approach didn't guarantee that the side he supported would provide any real assistance—especially if he sided with the Earth Alliance. They were likely to offer every kind of support except actual military action.
On the other hand, facing PLANT's retaliatory strike with their "make an example of you" attitude would be hellishly difficult.
The reverse was also true. Given PLANT's current desperate need for support from Earth's original factions, they probably wouldn't leave him completely unsupported, forcing him to withstand an Earth Alliance attack alone.
But Reid's identity was a major problem. He was, after all, an Earth Alliance Forces pilot who had directly participated in the Junius Seven massacre.
If the Earth Alliance discovered he was siding with PLANT and publicly exposed his identity, his reputation in PLANT would instantly turn to hatred. He wouldn't even need the Earth Alliance to act—ZAFT might throw him in prison themselves.
So, in reality, Reid couldn't side with either faction. The Earth Alliance was unreliable, and PLANT—until his reputation issue was resolved—was even less reliable than the Earth Alliance.
Neutrality was the only path Reid could take. Right now, the Earth Alliance and PLANT were engaged in battles on multiple fronts, and both sides were stretched thin.
If a nearly annihilated neutral nation declared its dissatisfaction, both factions would most likely ignore the matter for the time being, dealing with it only after they had the resources to spare.
This was especially true for the Eurasian Federation, which was the most emotionally volatile. They were locked in a desperate struggle with PLANT, nearly being pushed back into their own backyard—the Mediterranean. They absolutely had no time to care about some small, land-lost city-state declaring independence.
But with the system's intervention, a battle was inevitable. The attacking force, however, might not be large. Without political significance, neither side would spare a major force for the assault. The pressure Reid faced might actually be less than if he had outright joined one side.
Moreover, now that the system was active, Reid's ambitions as a transmigrator were gradually awakening. The more he had been oppressed by life before, the stronger the rebound now. In any case, Reid no longer wanted to live under someone else's roof.
So he explained his reasoning for declaring neutrality to Angie in detail.
After his explanation, to his surprise, Angie didn't oppose his plan to play both sides between two major powers that could crush them effortlessly. Instead, she praised him approvingly.
"Not bad. Although we've only truly known each other for about ten minutes, you've already shown qualities that satisfy me. I don't want to live under someone else's roof, just following orders either. But don't get me wrong—for now, I don't mind taking your commands. After all, you're the one chosen by the [God], and whether that's a blessing or a curse remains to be seen."
Without waiting for Reid's reply, Angie stood up and added,
"Alright then, my current Commander, can you still stand? Do you need me to fetch you something to eat?"
Reid shook his head. The grogginess from waking up had faded, and he didn't feel particularly weak or hungry. The three months in a vegetative state didn't seem to have left any side effects.
Reid could only attribute this phenomenon to the system's wonders. He got up straight away, slipped on his shoes, and said,
"No need. Honestly, I don't feel like I've been lying down for three months at all. Let's head to the factory you mentioned. I haven't officially met Lucrezia Noin yet. Since we're all going to be on the same ship from now on, I might as well greet her while I'm able to move."
Seeing that Reid was agile and didn't appear weak, Angie didn't object. She opened the door to the infirmary and took the lead, guiding the way. After all, she had been living on this Colony Satellite for three months and knew the layout far better than Reid, its owner, who had been unconscious all this time.
However, as Reid followed Angie out of the infirmary and rode with her through the Colony Satellite, he couldn't help but feel the desolation of the place firsthand.
Vast stretches of land lay flat, overgrown with weeds, though it seemed the Colony Satellite still maintained a functional environmental recycling system.
In the distance, Reid spotted people near a few scattered buildings, and as Angie led the way, the number of unfamiliar faces grew.
Puzzled, Reid asked,
"Angie, were there already people living on this Colony Satellite? Did you gather refugees here over the past three months?"
Angie shook her head and explained,
"No, these people were here before Noin and I arrived. But they don't seem like real humans... Well, that's not entirely accurate. They are human, but their behavior is more like robots. Aside from maintaining the Colony Satellite, their activities are limited to basic human functions—eating, sleeping, using the restroom, and so on.
If you try talking to them, they'll mostly just listen. They'll answer if you ask about things they know, but they'll refuse if you try to order them to do anything unrelated to their work. They said Noin and I don't have the authority to command them, so they probably only take orders from you.
Oh, I forgot to mention earlier—all of them are male. Noin and I did a rough count—there are about three thousand of them. And when we arrived, this Colony Satellite already had enough water and food stockpiled to last these three thousand people for half a year. We've got about two months left, so you'd better figure out a way to secure basic supplies to feed everyone. Otherwise, we'll all starve."
When Angie mentioned this, Reid finally understood why his equipment pool draws had given him so many food and drink items. It turned out he now had a whole family of NPCs to feed, and the supplies he'd drawn so far probably wouldn't even last this small community of three thousand people for half a month. However, food and water were quite cheap to exchange in the mall—just single-digit G-Coins could get you a whole bunch. For example, 2 G-Coins could exchange for ten tons of rice.
This only strengthened Reid's resolve to remain neutral. After all, both the Earth Alliance and PLANT were currently facing food shortages.
The Earth Alliance was suffering from an energy crisis caused by the Neutron Jammer, which in turn affected food production. This had led to the collapse of many smaller nations with weak risk resistance, while major powers like the Muslim Conglomerate—which had little arable land to begin with—were teetering on the brink of survival.
PLANT's food shortage was an even bigger problem. Space farming technology hadn't made any major breakthroughs, and their agricultural satellite Junius Seven had been destroyed, resulting in the deaths of numerous researchers. If not for the support from the Oceania Union and South American Union on Earth, even their powerful Mobile Suits wouldn't be able to sustain large-scale operations due to the food crisis.
However, Reid remembered that the Atlantic Federation had quickly subdued the South American Union after the war broke out. Right now, PLANT likely only had the Oceania Union's support, meaning their food crisis would soon return. This was his chance to reconcile with PLANT.
If he waited until after the Suez Canal Battle, when PLANT gained control over vast territories in North Africa, his chances of reconciliation through food aid would plummet.
Thinking this, Reid could only sigh inwardly. Neutral nations—what a tragedy for small countries. Without independence or neutrality, they'd most likely be swallowed up by major powers in the current climate. And even if they remained neutral and independent, survival depended on playing both sides. In the end, only sufficient military strength could make others willing to talk properly.
(End of Chapter)