Chapter 192: Clearing Doubts
The area around Konpei Island was under lockdown. With three Pegasus-class ships trailed by the Zeon fleet, they were inevitably subjected to repeated rounds of questioning and inspection.
Fortunately, Cima showed some cunning. She ordered the MS units to disarm and head the fleet, continuously broadcasting their surrender over the general communication channel.
Eli wasn't concerned with Cima's thoughts for the moment. Seeing how she had lowered herself so readily, he understood that her ability to read the situation had become second nature.
Ships aligned with Revil's faction were dispatched to take control of the Zeon fleet, while the other two Pegasus-class vessels remained on standby at the perimeter. The White Chaser, however, headed straight for Konpei Island's port.
This time, the White Chaser encountered no resistance.
Clearly, General Revil was already aware of Eli's arrival—and was waiting to speak with him.
From the ship's bridge, as the White Chaser entered port, Eli could even sense someone's gaze locked onto him.
Turning his head, he spotted a familiar figure in the port's control center watching him closely.
It was General Revil.
Even from this distance, the two managed to meet each other's eyes clearly, which slightly surprised Eli.
The last time he had seen General Revil was during his year-end report in '82.
Revil gave Eli a slight nod, then turned and left the control room.
Eli knew: he was going to prepare for their meeting.
The way events had escalated—enough to rattle even General Revil—was telling.
Forty warships lost, including during the Space Forces' operations, the Zeon Republic's colony satellite disintegrated, Earth and the Moon both ravaged…
This was far beyond the scope of a typical Zeon remnant uprising.
Eli disembarked alone, while the others remained aboard on standby.
When Eli entered the conference room, General Revil was already there—alone, pipe in mouth but unlit, standing with his back turned, deep in thought.
"No matter what, tell me exactly how things developed."
Revil didn't bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point.
A heavy atmosphere immediately filled the room, and as Eli recounted the events, that weight only deepened, gradually drowning the space in somber tension.
"Nuclear weapons were already used, and yet they still launched the solar energy system… That doesn't sound like the Parliament's doing."
After hearing Eli's full account, Revil finally turned to face him and gestured for him to sit.
"If it were the Parliament, they tend to be conservative. Once the Federation had launched a nuclear weapon, Parliament would never approve of deploying the solar energy system to further provoke the space colonies."
This wasn't praise for the Parliament—just a statement of fact.
Whether during the Antarctic Treaty of the One Year War or the prelude to the Battle of A Baoa Qu, Parliament always sought negotiations first.
Some of that came from the desire of certain members to preserve their families' privileged political capital, but it also reflected the Parliament's overarching perspective: to ensure the "Federation," which they controlled, could weather the storm unscathed.
So, while Eli had taken the solar energy system's deployment as a sign that Parliament had abandoned pretense, Revil immediately realized it likely had nothing to do with Parliament at all.
"Eli, why do you think the Delaz Fleet chose Von Braun as the crash site?"
This was the most baffling aspect of the incident for Eli.
In the original timeline, the colony satellite had indeed been aimed at Von Braun—but that was to force the Moon's inhabitants to ignite the colony using their laser systems and redirect it toward Earth.
But the situation was different now. The Moon's facilities were under Federation control, so that plan was already a bust.
So if Cima's message was correct—that the colony's final crash site truly was Von Braun—then what was the reason?
There was certainly friction between the Moon's inhabitants and space citizens, but politically, they tended to share a natural alignment.
And Von Braun was also the headquarters of Anaheim Electronics—a company that had undeniably supported Zeon remnants to a significant degree.
Even so, the Delaz Fleet was still dropping a colony on Von Braun. Had they gone completely mad?
If Von Braun was destroyed, the mass driver would be affected too, weakening the connection between Earth and the space colonies. Transportation costs would skyrocket, and the living costs for space citizens would clearly rise as well.
"What if… Delaz's goal is exactly that—to weaken the connection between Earth and the colonies?"
"But what's the point? The mass driver merely facilitates cargo transport. Freighters can still handle logistics. At worst, there'll just be a temporary gap."
Eli had considered that possibility himself—but had dismissed it.
"At most, there'd be a three-month material shortage. Once enough freighters are allocated, things should return to normal pretty quickly."
He explained his analysis to General Revil.
Revil didn't refute him.
Against the Federation's overwhelming supply capacity, it wasn't really a big deal.
"True. Regular supplies aren't a major issue."
Revil nodded, then picked up a folder from his desk, sat down across from Eli, and handed it to him.
"Take a look at this."
On the first page were two large characters:
Top Secret
Eli's hand hesitated slightly, but under Revil's unwavering gaze, he turned the page.
Even Eli couldn't help but stiffen at what he saw.
"The Axis Fleet attacked the helium-3 storage base and caused massive damage?"
His voice trembled slightly in disbelief.
Since the dawn of the Universal Century, the majority of energy had been supplied through nuclear fusion, which required helium-3 as fuel.
And after the development of mobile suits, demand for helium-3 had skyrocketed.
Over the past three years, the Zeon remnants also needed to replenish their helium-3, which was why there had been an earlier attack on a storage base by Zeon forces in March.
At that time, the Federation's garrison repelled the attackers with minimal damage.
Oddly enough, the base had never been heavily guarded—not even during the One Year War. Both sides avoided targeting it, and Jupiter convoys were allowed to operate without interference.
After all, Zeon wanted to rule the Earth Sphere—not destroy human civilization.
Given that, no one could have imagined Axis would, after eliminating the fleet monitoring them, turn right around and launch a full assault on the helium-3 base.
After routing the garrison, the Axis fleet immediately began destroying helium-3 storage tanks.
This material, unless it reached critical mass, would only cause conventional explosions.
By the time Rear Admiral Blex's support fleet arrived from a nearby base, Axis had already destroyed nearly 40% of the Earth Sphere's helium-3 reserves.
"Those Axis bastards… are they trying to start a war all over again?!"
Eli shot to his feet, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at the freshly delivered briefing.