Chapter 178: A Steadily Improving Federal Government!
The colonial satellite began charging toward its descent trajectory, heading straight for Earth.
Eli wasn't sure whether Jaburo had received Delaz's declaration yet, but even at his current distance from Side 3, he had heard it.
As luck would have it, the satellite was falling straight toward the Moon's surface, while Eli and his team were approaching from the direction of Side 2 — cutting in from the flank of Delaz's fleet.
This time difference meant that Eli's group had no way of intercepting the colonial satellite head-on.
Of course, with only the White Chaser at their disposal, stopping it wasn't realistically within their capability anyway.
"Yes, I'm sorry. We weren't able to stop them. We've already transmitted the distribution of enemy forces to your side."
When Eli stepped onto the bridge, Paolo was in the middle of communicating with the remnants of the Zeon Republic forces.
The Zeon Republic troops had shared all the information they had gathered about Delaz's fleet strength with Eli's side.
"Well, at least there's some small comfort in the misfortune: Lady Artesia didn't come for the inspection."
After receiving a damage report handed over by a subordinate, the other party sighed heavily.
"Inspection? You mean Prime Minister Artesia?"
"Yes. She was originally scheduled to arrive at this colonial satellite tomorrow to inspect the construction progress. But today, Delaz launched his attack instead..."
From his words, it was clear that this former soldier of the Principality of Zeon — now part of the Zeon Republic — held considerable respect for Sayla's leadership.
After all, that young woman was genuinely working to pacify the populace, assist the reintegration of veterans, and improve living conditions.
Moreover, the Deikun name itself had long been synonymous with the autonomy of space citizens.
Eli stood silent for a moment, feeling a complicated mix of emotions inside.
This might have been the closest he had come to Sayla since the One Year War.
But if she really had been here and found herself in danger, that was something Eli absolutely did not want to see.
"I see. Please convey my regards to Prime Minister Artesia, and offer my apologies for our failure to protect the colonial satellite."
"Understood!"
The Zeon Republic soldier merely took these words as a polite formality.
Soon, all the information on Delaz's fleet was packaged and sent back to headquarters, including the forces stationed at Konpei Island.
Due to the upcoming military parade, most of the Federation's Space Forces were already gathered there. Dispatching even a small portion of that force would be enough to eliminate the threat posed by Delaz's fleet.
Afterward, they could recover the colonial satellite and negotiate with the Zeon Republic regarding its redemption.
Undoubtedly, this was the plan brewing in the Federation Council's mind.
Frankly speaking, on a broad level, this plan was not unreasonable.
If, as in the original timeline, the satellite had forcibly performed two orbit adjustments and the Federation Space Forces failed to react in time, that would have been understandable.
But after the Tears of the Sky incident, the Federation Council had taken the lead in deploying the Titans to garrison the Moon's surface, precisely to prevent Zeon remnants from seizing facilities and stirring up trouble again.
The laser array that had made a mockery of the entire Federation in the original story was now under strict surveillance. There was no way someone on the Moon could simply make a unilateral decision to fire the colonial satellite's engines.
Thus, this time, Delaz had fewer tricks up his sleeve and opted for a straightforward strategy: following the model of Operation British, he simply set the coordinates and aimed to smash the satellite into Earth.
Capturing the under-construction colonial satellite factored into this plan, providing them with ample fuel reserves for maneuvering.
In this light, the Federation Council's current thinking actually appeared quite sound.
Even General Revil saw no issue with this operational approach.
Claiming illness, he gracefully declined to lead the troops himself, instead allowing Jamitov, stationed aboard the Birmingham-class warship at Konpei Island, to command half of the gathered forces and intercept the descending colonial satellite.
Clearly, this aligned with a previous agreement between them: "to help Jamitov become the leader among the factions."
Jamitov, for his part, gladly accepted General Revil's support.
The enemy had more than fifty ships — but counting only real warships, perhaps just over twenty. The rest were supply vessels and transports.
Meanwhile, their own side had over seventy genuine warships, including the Federation's latest class of battleships.
Setting out from Konpei Island, they had plenty of time to establish a defensive array ahead of the colonial satellite.
How could they possibly lose?
Jamitov couldn't fathom a scenario where they would.
Unless, of course, something like the GP02 — armed with nuclear weapons — were deployed against them, instantly crippling their fleet's combat capabilities.
Clearly, the Zeon remnants had similar concerns, which was why they had tried to steal the GP02.
Fortunately, the young officer whom General Revil had pinned his hopes on demonstrated remarkable instincts: he had quickly detected Delaz's fleet, made the necessary preparations, and ensured the GP02 was secured.
With such capability, if Jamitov did manage to seize power in his factional struggle against Revil, recruiting that young officer would be well worth considering.
Still leading his fleet toward the intercept point, Jamitov mused with satisfaction.
"You're saying another small fleet has joined up with Delaz?"
Monitoring from the rear of the colonial satellite — acting as the vanguard providing intelligence for Konpei Island's forces — the White Chaser once again detected three warships moving toward Delaz's fleet.
Since the White Chaser had started shadowing Delaz's fleet, occasional small groups of Zeon remnants had appeared and merged with it.
Moreover, there was even a Chivvay-class warship hauling a massive mobile suit.
That must be the Green Mantis.
Understanding the significance of this, Eli thought grimly to himself.
"The Zeon forces are closing in again. Slow down."
Naturally, Delaz's fleet wanted to shake off the ship shadowing them.
But whenever they dispatched MS units or a few warships to deal with the White Chaser, it handled them easily — sometimes even counterattacking.
And if they committed a larger force, the White Chaser would simply retreat without hesitation, only to tail them again once they pulled back.
At this point, both sides seemed to have reached a tacit understanding: occasional small skirmishes, but no full-scale engagement.
Everyone understood — now was not the time for a decisive battle.
"If only we just blasted the satellite's thrusters now, none of this would be a problem."
In the hangar, having just repelled another wave of harassing Zeon mobile suits, Io grumbled while downing an energy drink.
The colonial satellite's propulsion came entirely from three massive thrusters at its rear.
If the White Chaser fired its main cannon at them now, there was a high probability they could inflict serious damage.
Even destroying just one thruster would greatly reduce the satellite's risk of crashing into Earth.
"That's easy to say, but the councilors insist the satellite must be preserved intact for negotiations with the Zeon Republic."
Eli sighed, rejecting Io's suggestion.
Besides, there was also the practical issue: the White Chaser's firing range wasn't sufficient to hit the satellite yet. They would have to move in closer — and Delaz's fleet would immediately react.
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