With the resurgence of the southern empire within the Eurasian Federation, the entire federation teetered on the brink of civil war.
In just two days, the Eurasian Federation had withdrawn a large number of troops from the garrisons in western cities, even transferring one-third of the forces defending Gibraltar.
It could be said that at this point, the western European city defense forces were left with only a dozen or so outdated Strike Daggers as their most numerous Mobile Suit units. All advanced MS and MA had been redeployed to the south.
Moreover, to protect their positions and wealth, the Eurasian Federation's parliamentarians and the capitalists behind them were prepared for the possibility that the New Misurugi Kingdom might abandon the Old Capital Base and turn the federation's southern region into their new stronghold.
Thus, even though the soldiers in these units were mostly second- or third-rate, the combined number of MS and MA had reached nearly fifty thousand. The Eurasian Federation had essentially mobilized every available Mobile Suit from the west.
As for the vast eastern regions of the Eurasian Federation, due to their distance from the western center and the fact that the eastern nobility had not been suppressed like their western counterparts, the mobilization of forces in the east was extremely slow. Many units that had received orders remained inactive.
Meanwhile, the southern noble alliance, with Reid's support and the MS they had previously purchased and hidden overseas (smuggled in with ZAFT's tacit approval), totaled just over ten thousand units. These were all miscellaneous models, with the best engines being the export versions of the Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors previously sold by Orb.
With such limited forces, inferior Mobile Suit performance, and almost no coordination, they stood no chance against the Eurasian Federation's fifty thousand second-rate troops, even if the latter were piloting outdated MS.
However, Reid did not expect these nobles to win. They only needed to avoid losing too quickly. With proper command, these forces could likely hold out for half a month by leveraging favorable terrain.
Moreover, it was rumored that these nobles had acquired several nuclear bombs. If the Eurasian Federation launched a reckless large-scale assault, these desperate nobles might give the federation a nasty surprise.
As for the issue of nuclear contamination, these nobles, in their quest to maintain power, would not care. Trading a city for the destruction of the Eurasian Federation's main forces was a deal they would gladly make.
After all, when it came to power, expecting them to care about the lives of civilians was wishful thinking.
Reid remained silent on the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in the southern Eurasian Federation's civil war, feigning ignorance. In any case, these nuclear bombs could be traced back to leftovers from the Atlantic Federation during the previous war.
It could only be said that the Atlantic Federation's frantic production of nuclear bombs had inevitably led to some being "lost" or "decommissioned due to malfunctions," so it was no surprise that a few had ended up in the hands of these European nobles.
As for the contamination issue, Reid noted that the fungus he possessed, which consumed high-radiation pollutants, would finally have a use. For humanitarian reasons, he would charge a little less when the time came.
However, even if the noble alliance were truly on the verge of collapse, Reid would not intervene now. His tactical objectives had already been achieved, and it was time to proceed to the next step.
After leading his forces back to the Old Capital Base, Reid immediately sent troops to flaunt their presence in front of the East Asian Republic's forces, putting on a show of conducting pre-battle reconnaissance.
Upon seeing the return of the New Misurugi Kingdom's main forces, the East Asian Republic's Middle Eastern troops decisively began advancing at a snail's pace.
Since the East Asian Republic's objective was clear—to pressure Reid into returning and not meddle in the southern affairs of the Eurasian Federation—fighting was best avoided.
The East Asian Republic was well aware that if they provoked Reid and he directly moved south to coordinate with ZAFT in a pincer attack, the favorable situation they currently controlled in the Middle East would be lost.
Moreover, the forces approaching the Old Capital Base were temporarily assembled, with only a limited number of Mobile Suits. Faced with the "tens of thousands" of MS from the New Misurugi Kingdom, they would likely be wiped out in a single charge.
Thus, this East Asian Republic force shared a similar mindset to Reid: they planned to advance slowly and retreat at any moment depending on the situation.
So, while the East Asian Republic forces began their slow, cautious advance, Reid was already communicating with the representative sent by ZAFT.
However, a minor complication arose.
Since Reid and Athrun had only reached a verbal agreement, which required complete confidentiality, Reid's subordinates were still unaware of the plan to abandon the base and withdraw from Europe.
The situation was similar on ZAFT's side. Athrun had only contacted a few trusted commanders involved in the logistics and deployment.
As for the forces dispatched to the Old Capital Base to face the pincer attack, they could only be the Minerva and its support units brought from South America.
Athrun's reasoning here was easy to understand. With the deputy commander of ZAFT's Earth Forces in Africa now belonging to the Zala Faction, if Talia Gladys, the temporary overall commander, were transferred, the deputy commander would naturally step up, helping Athrun quickly gain control of ZAFT's entire African forces.
Additionally, having served as a Terminal intelligence operative for a time, Athrun knew that Talia Gladys was Durandal's former lover, and the two still had lingering feelings.
While Athrun wouldn't comment on Chairman Durandal's habit of sleeping with other men's wives, he saw no issue in taking advantage of the situation.
After all, if Durandal had promoted him in name while demoting him in reality, Athrun felt justified in causing some trouble for his lover.
Moreover, with his lover in such a position, Durandal, as chairman, would have to provide additional support. Using Durandal's resources to achieve his own tactical objectives showed how much Athrun had truly grown.
As for who would contact Reid next, the answer was obvious: Lunamaria Hawke, who was skilled both in verbally admonishing her friends and in physically confronting Shinn.
In the anime, she had even tracked Athrun and eavesdropped on his conversations with Kira and Cagalli, demonstrating proficiency in surveillance, infiltration, and other skills required for covert operations. Moreover, Lunamaria was proficient in operating vehicles across land, sea, and air—not just Mobile Suits, but also aircraft and submarines.
For the sake of secrecy, Lunamaria, a Red Uniform aboard the Minerva and a woman of many talents, naturally had to temporarily serve as the secret liaison.
Of course, Reid didn't know who the liaison was. He only knew that, according to the agreement, the liaison would arrive at the Old Capital Base at a designated time, use a code phrase to request a meeting with him, and be responsible for communication between the two sides while the New Misurugi Kingdom forces withdrew and ZAFT took over the base.
However, Reid never expected that even a simple rendezvous could lead to trouble caused by Shinn and Stella.
The issue began after Reid returned to the Old Capital Base and naturally allowed the soldiers to take turns resting.
Although there had been little actual combat during the previous activities in the southern part of the Eurasian Federation, the military had remained on high alert. Now that there was an opportunity, it was only natural for them to take turns resting.
As for Stella—sorry, she wasn't part of the military ranks. During the time in southern Europe, she had been serving as Reid's front desk secretary, of course, the kind of front desk secretary who only needed to look pretty. She didn't have to do any actual work at all.
However, after returning to the Old Capital Base, Stella, who was allowed to relax and wander around the base, naturally dragged her little friend Shinn to take a walk along the beach.
Moreover, Stella chose a rather eerie stretch for their walk—the kind where she went wherever there were fewer people, completely not for the sake of scenery.
As luck would have it, just as Lunamaria had finished hiding the Miniature Submarine and was walking along the beach wearing a shabby overcoat, a hat, and large sunglasses, she ran straight into Shinn and Stella.
Shinn and Lunamaria had met before in South America.
Lunamaria knew this was a secret mission, so she instinctively turned her head away.
It was this slight turn that caught Shinn's attention.
Shinn's body had always moved faster than his thoughts, and Lunamaria had aroused his suspicion. But it wasn't until after they passed each other that Shinn remembered who she was.
So Shinn's first reaction was that Lunamaria was a spy. After all, the New Misurugi Kingdom and ZAFT were not allied, so ZAFT personnel shouldn't be here.
Thus, Shinn's hand moved faster than his mouth, and he grabbed Lunamaria by the back of her collar before shouting,
"Wait, don't go!!"
However, Shinn used quite a bit of force in his grab, and Lunamaria was in a hurry to distance herself from Shinn, who might recognize her.
So with the combined force from both sides, the shabby disguise coat Lunamaria had hastily acquired in North Africa, along with the shirt underneath, couldn't hold up.
With three distinct "pop, pop, pop" sounds of buttons flying off, Lunamaria's collar was torn open, the front of her top split apart, directly revealing her fair shoulders and the straps of her purple undergarment.
In this scene, any third party witnessing it would immediately think Shinn was assaulting Lunamaria, tearing her clothes off.
Of course, faced with such a situation, accompanied by Lunamaria's ear-piercing "Eek!!", Shinn was thrown out with a Shoulder Throw.
Shinn was momentarily stunned by the throw. He was already a bit dazed from tearing a girl's clothes, and this impact left his mind completely blank.
Then Lunamaria immediately knelt down, pressing her weight onto Shinn's stomach, and began pummeling him with a rhythm of "You pervert!" followed by three to five punches from both sides.
At this moment, Shinn felt as if he were being ridden by a giant bear. Aware that he was in the wrong, he didn't struggle or fight back excessively, only trying his best to shield his head while being beaten.
And Stella didn't rush to rescue Shinn.
The tutor Reid had arranged for her had long since taught her the relevant common sense. She wouldn't expose herself to someone she had just met, because she knew it was wrong.
So Stella made it clear she wouldn't save Shinn for his current behavior. If the girl hadn't been hitting him hard enough, Stella said she would have had to teach Shinn a lesson herself to prevent him from breaking the law and getting executed in the future.
However, after being punched dozens of times, Shinn finally remembered that he seemed to be the one in the right—why was he being beaten? So he shouted,
"Stella, this person is a spy! Hurry back and notify the military!"
Shinn was unaware of Stella's combat capabilities. In his eyes, Stella had always been that timid, soft-hearted girl who was forced onto the battlefield.
But the moment Stella heard this girl was a spy, she instantly switched into combat mode.
Because spy = threat to the New Misurugi Kingdom = threat to Reid—this was absolutely unacceptable.
So Stella immediately kicked Lunamaria, sending her flying.
The reason she only kicked her was because Stella didn't have any sharp objects or firearms on her. To prevent any potential rampages, Reid had confiscated all such dangerous items.
However, after kicking Lunamaria away, Stella picked up a sharp stone from the ground and prepared to charge forward and crack Lunamaria's skull open.
Fortunately, Shinn, who had just gotten up, noticed Stella's murderous expression and rushed over to grab her, shouting,
"Stella, calm down! We need to capture this spy alive!"
Shinn's words saved Lunamaria's life, because Stella hadn't forgotten her killing skills. If Lunamaria were to fight Stella seriously, Stella would most likely win.
Half an hour later, Reid looked at the bruised and battered Shinn, the disheveled Lunamaria, and Stella, who wore an expression of "I did great, praise me," and felt a slight stomachache. What on earth was all this?
Reid couldn't help but wonder if these three were truly bound by fate. He had already completely altered the plot of SEED Destiny's second season, yet they still managed to cross paths?
Since he couldn't punish Lunamaria and was unwilling to punish Stella, Reid had no choice but to continue giving Shinn a hard time. He immediately adopted a stern tone and said,
"Ensign Shinn Asuka, based on the accounts from all three of you, it appears that you tore Miss Lunamaria's clothes on the beach, were mistaken for a pervert, and got beaten up. Then, you shouted that Miss Lunamaria was a spy, which led to her also being assaulted by Stella. Is that correct?"
Upon hearing this, Shinn felt that what Reid said was technically true, but the implication seemed off. So he stood at attention and replied,
"Yes, I suspected Miss Lunamaria was a spy, which is why I took action."
Seeing Shinn admit it, Reid felt things would be easier from here. He continued seriously,
"Ensign Shinn Asuka, encountering an active-duty soldier from another country near a military base and suspecting them of being a spy is perfectly reasonable. But who told you to tear someone's clothes? Have you been watching too many adult films, thinking female spies have no rights? Now, apologize to Miss Lunamaria first."
Shinn was well aware that tearing a girl's clothes was wrong, so he immediately bowed and apologized.
Lunamaria, however, was not about to forgive him just like that, so she didn't respond at all.
Seeing this, Reid decided that Shinn would have to bear the consequences of his own actions. He continued,
"Next, Ensign Shinn Asuka, I must inform you that Miss Lunamaria is not a spy. She is involved in certain international cooperation matters. You have inadvertently interfered in an event you should not have been part of."
Hearing this, Shinn felt a sinking feeling in his heart. If he had truly messed things up, the minimum punishment would be confinement. How many times had he been sent to the confinement room already? He felt more familiar with the bed in the confinement room than the one in his own quarters.
However, Reid wasn't planning to confine Shinn this time. Instead, a mischievous idea crossed his mind, and he ordered,
"Although it was an accident, since Lieutenant Shinn Asuka has already become involved, you will now be responsible for protecting Miss Lunamaria's safety."
As soon as Reid said this, before Shinn could object, Lunamaria spoke up first.
"Chairman Reid, with all due respect, the bodyguard you've assigned me is less capable in combat than I am. If we act together, it's more likely that I'll be the one protecting him."
Lunamaria's words made Shinn flush with anger, but he couldn't refute them, his face instantly turning bright red.
Reid, however, simply laughed and said,
"Miss Lunamaria, rest assured, the Old Capital Base is very safe. Having Shinn protect you is mainly to make up for today's mistake. During the mission, you can order him around as you please. Moreover, our cooperation should not be made public—the fewer people who know, the better."
Hearing Reid's explanation, Lunamaria found it much more acceptable. She then looked at Shinn with a dangerous glint in her eyes, already thinking about how to torment this rude fellow in the coming days.
As for Shinn, he had no right to object and could only accept this task that was nominally a bodyguard role but in reality amounted to being an errand boy.
(End of Chapter)