The East Asian Republic had played all its cards. With the mass driver at Gao Xiong Port completing accelerated repairs in the final half-month (it had already been under repair for over half a year, not finished in just two weeks), Earth's outer orbital space soon gathered a fleet primarily composed of thirty Kunpeng Battleships, supported by over a hundred supply vessels.
Following suit, the Eurasian Federation also fulfilled its promise, assembling its space forces via the mass driver at Victoria Port. However, compared to the East Asian Republic, the Eurasian Federation was practically destitute—their fleet still consisted mainly of Nelson-class and Drake-class ships, with barely any Agamemnon-class vessels.
The troop transports were largely modified from Antietam-class Freighters already delivered by the New Miserly Kingdom. To maximize Mobile Suit capacity, these ships didn't even mount main guns, just a few anti-aircraft machine guns before deployment.
Similarly, the New Miserly Kingdom's forces assembling above Australia stood out conspicuously.
After the East Asian Republic unveiled its Kunpeng-class Battleships, Reid felt somewhat uneasy about proceeding without the Balkis in this campaign. Thus, he decided to construct the Granshaio.
Now that Reid could openly build warships, the assembly of Granshaio's various modules was completed in less than a week.
As an Eternal Peace-class Battleship, the Granshaio wasn't as massive as the 3,000-meter-long Eternal Peace, but it still measured a formidable 2,000 meters. The ship also housed a factory capable of producing small-scale weaponry and equipment.
Additionally, the Granshaio was equipped with the same Electronic Camouflage System as the Eternal Peace, enabling visual stealth.
The nations of Earth reacted indifferently to the New Miserly Kingdom unveiling yet another super-large vessel—even though it was clearly built in Australia.
After all, the New Miserly Kingdom's rapid military production had long been an accepted fact. With the 8,000-meter Balkis setting the precedent, a mere 2,000-meter warship was hardly surprising.
Unfazed by the lukewarm response, Reid reassigned Brian Eno from the Balkis to serve as the Granshaio's captain.
He was also appointed commander of the expeditionary fleet.
However, in terms of rank, Brian Eno was only the third-highest in the fleet. With Une left behind to oversee domestic affairs, Queen Angelise insisted on personally leading the campaign. Unable to dissuade her, Reid had no choice but to bring her along, relegating Brian Eno to third-in-command.
Fortunately, neither Reid nor Ange would remain aboard the Granshaio for long. The ship was crewed by an elite squad newly trained by Noin, along with MS Pilots who had graduated from the Star Palace-era officer academy, and Flay.
Reid and Ange typically stayed aboard the Argama-class ship under Hoshino Ruri's command, accompanied by the Xia sisters. Meanwhile, the Black Tri-Stars remained behind to defend the homeland.
Given that the system had established their origins as PLANT citizens, their exclusion from the assault on PLANT territory was seen as perfectly natural.
After half a month of joint training, the pilots of the five Delta Plus units—aside from the newly recruited Salia and Hilda—were all elite operators brought by Mina from Orb.
The three individuals were Las Winslow, who had previously served as a Mobile Suit test pilot for ZAFT in the Arctic region (she was the test pilot for the Baku Prototype), along with two Coordinators formerly affiliated with Orb's International Rescue Team—Ya Otto Kiyo and Ken Nolan Sousse.
Las Winslow's story of joining Mina's faction was similar to the original plot, but the process had been heavily influenced by Reid.
Back when Reid was at the Star Palace Colony Satellite, he had passionately discussed the Suez Canal Battle with Siegel and Patrick, even directly mentioning the existence of the BuCUE. This led Patrick to launch a thorough spy hunt within ZAFT afterward, trying to pinpoint the source of the leaked intelligence.
At the time, Las Winslow, a native of the Scandinavian Kingdom, happened to be the test pilot for the TMF/A-802 Baku Prototype.
Thus, she became the first suspect. She was placed under house arrest and investigated for a long time before ZAFT, lacking evidence, finally released her. However, she was inevitably expelled from the testing unit.
After returning to the Scandinavian Kingdom, Las Winslow faced hostility due to her association with ZAFT. After all, none of the Earth nations had a favorable impression of PLANT following the Neutron Jammer incident.
As a result, Las Winslow and her father had no choice but to relocate to Orb.
But this turned out to be far from a wise decision. Her father was killed during the Atlantic Federation's invasion of Orb, while Las Winslow herself was captured and imprisoned by the Atlantic Federation.
Mina, during her regency, secured her release. With her hatred for the Earth Alliance and no possibility of returning to a PLANT that distrusted her, Las Winslow naturally pledged allegiance to Mina and the New Miserly Kingdom.
As for Ya Otto Kiyo and Ken Nolan Sousse, with Orb's destruction, the so-called International Rescue Team became a joke—Orb itself was now the nation in need of rescue.
Thus, with a single order, Mina recruited them. After all, the stubbornness that led to Orb's downfall left little nostalgia among its citizens and lower-ranking officials.
Once the fleet was fully prepared, Reid, as agreed, set out first. He planned to detour through the Fifth Space Zone, where the Star Palace Colony Satellite was located, before heading toward PLANT's home territory in the Third Space Zone—drawing the attention of ZAFT's space forces.
Meanwhile, the combined fleets of the East Asian Republic and the Eurasian Federation would rendezvous with the Atlantic Federation's forces on the Moon before advancing directly toward PLANT through the Second Space Zone.
However, while Reid was en route through the Fifth Space Zone as planned, he suddenly received a handwritten letter from Murrue, delivered by one of his operatives stationed aboard the Archangel. The letter contained just one line:
"The Junk Guild has joined the war, providing supplies and combat personnel to the Three Ships Alliance. The Strike Gundam has been assigned to Jiang Kelly, the Atlantic Federation's former ace pilot known as [Blazing Malevolent Star J]. Two mercenaries from Serpent's Tail have also been dispatched to assist in combat operations."
Upon reading the message, Reid let out a cold laugh, remarking that the Junk Guild had finally shown its hand.
In truth, the Junk Guild operated much like the Atlantic Federation's military-industrial complex.
The more intense the war, the wealthier the Junk Guild became. Moreover, in the Cosmic Era universe, the Junk Guild enjoyed special privileges. Thus, they had no desire to see PLANT completely annihilated by the Earth Alliance, which would leave the Earth forces as the sole authority in space.
Because in that case, the Junk Guild could be replaced at any moment if the Earth Alliance wished. After all, collecting space junk is a job anyone could do. Why let the Junk Guild act as middlemen and rake in massive profits?
As for how the Junk Guild got involved with Lacus, the original work pretty much spelled it out.
Reverend Malchio, the man with "old friends" everywhere in Earth's sphere, exerted his influence. Only he could persuade the Junk Guild to support what appeared to be the weakest faction—the Three Ships Alliance.
Although the Three Ships Alliance never truly remained neutral in the original story. During the final battle of the first season, aside from destroying Genesis, they spent most of their time siding with PLANT.
However, Reid had no immediate plans to move against the Junk Guild. These cunning operators wouldn't leave any loose ends. Besides, the people they sent for support were either mercenaries or expendables—hardly solid evidence to accuse the Junk Guild of violating neutrality.
As for Reverend Malchio, Reid knew very little about him. In truth, he was one of the most enigmatic figures in the Cosmic Era universe.
So, Reid didn't reply to Murrue's letter because he currently had no idea where the Three Ships Alliance was. They had undoubtedly long since left the area where the civilian evacuees disembarked.
Murrue was able to send Reid a message because he had previously shared his planned route with her. She could arrange for one of the Archangel's civilian crew to slip away during resupply and deliver the message via a transport shuttle.
Of course, if Murrue could send messages to Reid, Lacus could just as easily relay information to PLANT.
In his office, Patrick Zala received a letter—one personally written by Athrun—along with some photographs.
The Junk Guild's reach was truly impressive. They had somehow obtained photos of the Atlantic Federation loading nuclear warheads on the Moon.
In his letter, Athrun emphatically stated that the Anti-Neutron Jammer technology had not been leaked from the Freedom or Justice Gundams. He also warned them to beware of a nuclear attack by the Atlantic Federation.
Additionally, Athrun explicitly pointed out that there were undoubtedly spies within ZAFT's upper military ranks colluding with the Atlantic Federation.
At first, Patrick Zala was furious upon reading the letter, then slightly relieved, before finally erupting in uncontrollable rage.
His initial anger was directed at Athrun, his unfilial son—not only for disobeying orders but also for running around with Lacus Clyne. Did the boy not realize that he and Lacus Clyne were no longer betrothed, but enemies?
The subsequent relief came from the fact that Athrun hadn't completely betrayed his roots. This letter alone would at least spare his life when he eventually faced a military tribunal after the war. A bit of hardship to teach him a lesson, then release—that would suffice.
Yes, even a vicious tiger doesn't devour its own cubs. Though Patrick Zala had been furious enough to shoot at Athrun earlier, he had regretted it somewhat after calming down.
Moreover, Patrick had instinctively avoided aiming for vital areas—only grazing him. Had Athrun taken a direct shot to the shoulder, damaging bones or tendons, escape would have been impossible.
His final, uncontainable rage was reserved for the Atlantic Federation. To think they still dared to deploy nuclear weapons even now. Clearly, the lesson of the Neutron Jammers hadn't been harsh enough. They needed to be struck hard with Genesis, soon to be completed.
Thus, Patrick Zala gathered his staff and spent the night reworking a defensive strategy, which was promptly implemented.
At this point, Reid remained unaware that Patrick Zala had already prepared for nuclear strikes. Meanwhile, the Three Ships Alliance had begun stirring behind the scenes like an undercurrent.
Reid's current mindset was to wait for the Earth Alliance and PLANT to take center stage in their grand conflict while he observed from the sidelines. Once Genesis fired its first shot at the Earth Alliance, he would immediately launch a surprise attack on Genesis itself.
Therefore, when Reid maneuvered his forces to the border between the Fifth and Third Space Zones, he did not advance recklessly. Instead, he dispatched two previously mass-produced Wing Gundams (piloted by immigrants from the New Miserly Kingdom) equipped with Electronic Camouflage Systems to scout ahead.
The reconnaissance yielded unexpected results. It revealed that ZAFT had barely deployed any forces along his intended route—most of their space fleet had likely been redirected to the Boaz Fortress and Jachin Due Fortress.
Of course, Patrick Zala would never allow Reid to easily bypass defenses and strike PLANT's homeland.
Patrick Zala understood Reid well. After analyzing available intelligence, he concluded that Reid intended to sit back and watch the fight between tigers, waiting to swoop in for easy gains.
Thus, there was no need to deploy large forces to block Reid's path—only to position troops at the final defensive line.
As for the route in between, scattering a few obstacles would give the New Miserly Kingdom a reason to proceed slowly. Patrick's priority was dealing with the Earth Alliance, which sought to attack PLANT's homeland with nuclear weapons.
As a result, the path before Reid was left completely unobstructed—on the surface. The reconnaissance by the mass-produced Wing Gundams revealed that the main route was blocked by seven or eight sets of closed Solar Ray Systems, with over a dozen more lining both sides of the path. The entire passage was barricaded by these devices.
Reid was certain that at least two-thirds of these Solar Ray Systems were nothing more than empty frames—counterfeit decoys. While Solar Rays were commonplace, they still required specific manufacturing standards. Simply expanding production lines couldn't instantly yield unlimited units.
Even if PLANT had substantial reserves, assembling ten functional sets would be the absolute limit. Yet over twenty were visible here, with more likely hidden beyond visual range due to distance.
Similarly, the Earth Alliance's approach route would also be defended by Solar Ray Systems. After all, these devices were highly effective in defense—until destroyed, they could outright nullify an enemy's advance along a given path.
But Patrick Zala couldn't possibly divert PLANT's entire military-industrial production to manufacturing specialized glass for half a month.
Thus, this was an open stratagem. Patrick might as well have declared outright: Go ahead, Reid, ignore all these Solar Ray Systems and charge your fleet in—see if they're all fakes. Otherwise, clear them one by one from blind spots at your leisure.
Reid admitted he had no good solution for this many Solar Ray Systems. Even sending two mass-produced Wing Gundams to inspect each one would likely take days. After identification, they'd still need to plan a clearance route before actual removal.
As for detouring, it wouldn't be a minor adjustment—they'd have to cross Earth's orbital debris belt twice. This time, Reid had no need for misdirection, and wasting time navigating the debris belt twice was hardly ideal.
So Reid did the math—it might actually be faster to start by systematically destroying the blind spots and clearing the path. After all, the Solar Ray System's flaws were glaringly obvious. Not only could the attack blind spots be easily calculated based on the sun's position, but the mirrors themselves were fragile.
This thing couldn't be equipped with Phase Shift Armor. Forget missiles—even a GINN's 76mm machine gun could shred a whole cluster of them in one burst.
So, wrecking the undefended Solar Ray System wasn't actually hard. Granshaow's factories could just produce some Mobile Suit-grade steel pellet grenades. Sneak in from the blind spots, toss three to five of them, and you could basically cripple an entire Sunshade setup.
Of course, this would take time. Reid would rather crawl along for two days than charge straight into the Solar Ray System's firing range. If the one that could hit him turned out to be real, it'd be game over instantly.
Besides, if he didn't dismantle these "Solar Ray Systems" now, he'd have to do it later after the battle when returning home. Since he'd have to deal with them either way, might as well take them out now.
(End of Chapter)