With the Odessa Operation concluded, the Twelfth Independent Technical Division's mission on Earth was also complete. Only the South Africa theater remained with significant remnants of the Principality of Zeon's forces. However, the Zeon Earth Attack Force had lost its "brain." With two consecutive Commanders-in-Chief—one dead and the other fled—even their large units were now little more than scattered stragglers. They could be left to the regular troops to handle.
Even Revil himself was heading into space and would not personally command the recovery operations in the South Africa theater.
Before leaving, however, Revil arranged everything. He handed the position of Commander-in-Chief of the South Africa theater to General Vic Hancock, the Federation's third general to hold the rank of four-star general.
Originally, this General Vic Hancock would have served as the captain of a Magellan-class ship in the Federation's Second Space Fleet during the middle of the One Year War, transferred to be the captain of a Specialized Missile Torpedo Ship toward the end, and been assigned to the First Lunar Fleet after the war. During the Neo Zeon Rebellion, he would have served as a Salamis-class captain and eventually retired as the Commander-in-Chief of the Sixth Space Fleet as a reserve Lieutenant General, serving as the Director of the Federal Military Archives Administration.
In the future year of 0094, he would also write the "Strategic and Tactical Encyclopedia: Complete Record of the One Year War," which provided detailed accounts of the war's background and the combat strength of both sides, including tactical introductions to many heroes from both factions, as well as his own deeds.
But because of Yang Hui's existence, the original trajectory of history had changed drastically. This veteran general was still on Earth, and before Revil personally took charge of the European theater, he had been the one in command there.
Now, Revil placing him in the South Africa theater was not an act of marginalization or suppression. Rather, Revil did not trust anyone else with the task and could only call upon this veteran general with his rich combat experience and outstanding ability.
There was another very important matter: how to handle the nuclear bombs beneath the Odessa Base.
At Yang Hui's suggestion, it was finally decided to dismantle them and transport them to Triton Base to be sealed away with the Federation's other nuclear weapons. This task also had to be entrusted to someone trustworthy, so Revil gave it to... Ethan Rhea.
"I don't believe a word you say! You're a wicked old man!"
Yang Hui rolled his eyes at Revil. He really didn't know what Revil was thinking with this arrangement—Ethan Rhea was your rival!
However... Ethan Rhea was indeed suitable for the job. No matter how much he clashed with Revil, he wouldn't do anything foolish; he wouldn't be careless when it came to official business.
...
"I'm back again." Looking at the endless starry sky outside the window, Yang Hui couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Every world brought its own fatigue, especially this one, where he constantly shuttled between Earth and space, fighting, fighting, and fighting. It almost never stopped.
Back in the Gundam AGE world, although he also led a unit to fight everywhere, the battles in the Gundam AGE world were much easier than here. Moreover, his status back then allowed him to rest whenever he wanted, and he didn't have to run back and forth between Earth and space.
"The period is about to be drawn," Natarle Badgiruel said.
"Yeah, it's almost over."
The One Year War of the UC world would end two or three months early because of Yang Hui's arrival. Similarly, the war on Earth was nearing its end, leaving only space. They no longer needed to return to Earth. Once the war in space was settled, the mission in this world would be completely finished.
The destination of the Luna and the White Base this time was not Luna II, but Axis. While the Twelfth Independent Technical Division was wreaking havoc on Earth, Tianem had successfully led the Space Fleet to take Axis and moved the Space Fleet's general headquarters there. Luna II was left to a young man he thought highly of, Colonel Walker.
Yes, he had been promoted to Colonel. And yes, it wasn't a temporary rank, but the official Commander of Luna II. He no longer had to say things like, "Don't call me Commander anymore; as soon as those big shots from above arrive, I become a nobody."
With the transfer of the Space Fleet's general headquarters, the Twelfth Independent Technical Division's home base naturally moved to Axis as well.
Upon arriving at Axis, Tianem led all the generals at Axis to welcome them.
"General Revil."
"It's been a long time, Tianem. It's good to see you so energetic. And to the rest of you, I'm glad to see you all again."
"Everything for the Federation!" everyone shouted in unison.
"You've had a long and difficult journey, General Revil. Please follow me."
"Mhm."
The others were dismissed on the spot, and the Twelfth Independent Technical Division headed to their new quarters. Yang Hui walked with Revil and Tianem.
"A fruitful harvest, Tianem. You've even conquered Axis," Revil praised Tianem once they reached the office that had been cleared out for him.
"I wouldn't dare take all the credit. In fact, the reason I was able to capture Axis so smoothly is largely thanks to Colonel Yang Hui and his unit," Tianem replied.
"Oh? That sounds like an interesting story. While you were attacking Axis, young Yang Hui was wreaking havoc on Earth," Revil asked with interest.
"Because of the defense of the Zeon Republic, Gihren Zabi mobilized a large number of troops from A Baoa Qu as retaliation. He even used a significant portion of the forces from the Solomon Fortress. This caused the Principality of Zeon's Space Force to suffer another heavy blow after Dozle Zabi's fleet was wiped out. To secure the defense of their homeland, Gihren Zabi transferred more troops away from Axis, which is why we were able to take it successfully," Tianem explained.
"Ho ho, it seems we really did benefit from your light, young Yang Hui."
Yang Hui shrugged, indicating that flattery was useless.
"Axis had already begun moving toward Side 3," Tianem continued. "Fortunately, I made preparations in advance. Otherwise, Axis might have actually slipped away. If Axis had moved near Side 3, I don't know what kind of price we would have had to pay to take it then."
"Mhm, it was indeed a good opportunity. Now, let's look at the remaining forces of the Principality of Zeon."
As he spoke, the lights in the office dimmed, and a map of space was projected, dividing the various factions.
"Currently, the Principality of Zeon's forces are mainly concentrated in this area." Revil drew a large circle around Side 3, the Solomon Fortress, the A Baoa Qu Fortress, and the Moon. "Meanwhile, the L4 Sector is the territory of the Zeon Republic. Our Space Fleet is mainly concentrated at Luna II and Axis. If we want to attack the Zeon homeland, we can only start with the Solomon Fortress and A Baoa Qu."
"In terms of distance and position, the Solomon Fortress is more suitable as a point of entry," Tianem suggested.
"Correct. But if we want to attack Solomon, we must watch out for reinforcements from A Baoa Qu and Side 3. The Lunar Fleet cannot be ignored either."
"Actually, you don't need to worry too much about the Lunar Fleet. It now exists in name only. If it weren't for companies like Zeonic still being on the Moon, they would have already abandoned Granada and Von Braun City," Yang Hui said. His nest was in Granada, and Cardeas was also holding the fort at Anaheim's headquarters, so he had always kept an eye on the situation on the Moon. "As for A Baoa Qu, we can have the Zeon Republic launch a feint attack."
"Mhm. In that case, we will have no worries about attacking the Solomon Fortress," Revil nodded.
"There's still one concern," Yang Hui sighed and shook his head.
"Gihren Zabi's trump cards?"
"Exactly. Neither the Federation's Intelligence Department nor my personal intelligence network has managed to find out exactly how many trump cards Gihren Zabi is holding."
"Even your people couldn't find out?" Revil asked in surprise. He knew that Yang Hui's personal intelligence network was even more formidable than the Federation's; his people could find information that the Federal Intelligence Department couldn't even touch.
"The security level is extremely high. We only found out that three colonies in Side 3 are undergoing major movements, but we couldn't get accurate intelligence. To ensure secrecy, Gihren Zabi has entrusted everything to his trusted confidants."
"Mhm... it seems we can only contact him then." Revil thought for a while and remembered Degwin Sodo Zabi.
"He probably doesn't know anything either. Gihren Zabi has been wanting to get rid of him for more than a day or two," Yang Hui said with a look of disdain.
Although he was a figurehead, Degwin Sodo Zabi was still the supreme political and military leader of the Principality of Zeon. Even though Gihren Zabi held the actual power, he couldn't commit parricide. Otherwise, his claim to power would be illegitimate, causing further unrest among the already demoralized military.
One must remember that the people within the Principality of Zeon were loyalists of the Zabi Family, not personal loyalists of Gihren Zabi.
"Let's contact him first. Maybe there will be some gain."
"Mhm... I think, rather than us contacting him, why not... leave it to Casval?"
"Casval?"
"Yes. Karma Zabi is in his hands. He has more bargaining chips. And... no matter how deep the grudge between Zabi and Deikun is, at least they are all Zeon, aren't they?"
...
In the capital of the Zeon Republic, at the Prime Minister's residence, Char looked at Karma Zabi, who was sitting in front of him, with a playful expression.
It could only be said that Mark Be had miscalculated. His idea was good, but he didn't expect Yang Hui to lead his men into the Odessa Base so quickly, terminating the HLV's launch sequence just two minutes before Karma Zabi's scheduled departure and taking him prisoner.
After the Odessa Operation ended, Char contacted Yang Hui and asked if he had captured Karma Zabi. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he requested that Yang Hui hand Karma Zabi over to him.
This was quite difficult. After all, capturing Karma Zabi was different from capturing Haman Karn; too many people knew about it, making a secret transfer impossible. The Federation also knew the importance of Karma Zabi, so handing him over to Char was nearly impossible.
Fortunately, Yang Hui managed to persuade Revil and held a remote meeting with Gopp, Char, and Creuset. In the end, they were convinced by Char and handed Karma Zabi over to him.
On the Federation's side, Gopp and Creuset had also prepared their explanations. Whether others agreed or not didn't matter; the group of people who would oppose them would be purged before long anyway.
"Should I say 'nice to meet you' or 'long time no see'?"
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