Reid's forces from the New Misurugi Kingdom's Ascension Island Base advanced northward without incident. Along the way, they encountered neither the Atlantic Federation nor even a single pirate.
Well, with Reid commanding so many warships and carrying a large number of Mobile Suits, any pirates that appeared would likely be affiliated with either ZAFT or the Atlantic Federation.
However, the primary mission of ZAFT's North African forces at the moment was to reinforce the troops led by the Minerva at the Old Capital Base, while also maintaining a standoff with the East Asian Republic forces on the opposite side of the Suez Canal.
In truth, the fighting around the Old Capital Base had never ceased. The Eurasian Federation had already abandoned the Suez Canal, focusing instead on having their elite forces in the Middle East break through the Old Capital Base's blockade and return to provide reinforcements.
Nevertheless, the East Asian Republic still believed the Suez Canal could not be lost and had dispatched additional troops from the homeland to defend it.
Of course, the East Asian Republic's offensive against the Old Capital Base continued unabated. Although ZAFT's North African forces provided constant support to the Old Capital Base, it was said that the Minerva was having a tough time these days—showers of bullets and falling asleep to the sound of artillery fire had become the norm.
It could only be said that the ZAFT forces led by the Minerva were more obedient to Durandal's orders, and Athrun naturally made full use of them, pushing them to their limits.
If the Minerva truly couldn't hold out any longer, Athrun would allow them to retreat, but afterward, they would have to recuperate in South America and not cause any further trouble in his area.
As for the loss of the Old Capital Base, the elite forces of the East Asian Republic and the Eurasian Federation would rush to Europe's aid.
Athrun remarked that there was still the Noble Alliance in southern Europe to contend with. Having secured Western Europe was already enough to fulfill his mission. The next steps would depend on the level of support from PLANT before deciding how to proceed with the offensive.
Thus, ZAFT forces in Africa certainly had no time to spare for Reid's troops.
As for the Atlantic Federation, they would have liked to intercept them.
However, the nearest large force to Reid's troops was the garrison at the Panama Base.
Unless the Atlantic Federation was willing to abandon the Panama Base, they would not mobilize those troops, as the main ZAFT forces in South America were watching intently from across the way.
Consequently, Reid easily led his forces to the Azores and stationed them there.
This move by the New Misurugi Kingdom forces left both the Earth Alliance and PLANT utterly bewildered.
Everyone was baffled: the New Misurugi Kingdom forces had blocked the Gibraltar Base's access route into the Atlantic—what were they trying to do?
Moreover, after arriving at the Azores, Reid immediately ordered his troops to clear the debris of various structures on the islands, repair the two original airports, and construct makeshift docks, giving the impression that they intended to stay for the long haul.
This move left even Athrun at a loss. Originally stationed in Luxembourg, he urgently traveled to Calais to contact the New Misurugi Kingdom forces to the north, hoping to speak with Reid.
Athrun was unaware that Reid had already left. Ange, who had not yet accepted the title of Queen of the British Isles, used the excuse of needing to prepare for a grand ceremony and other arrangements.
Thus, Athrun's attempt to reach Reid this time yielded no response, leaving him somewhat anxious and wondering if Reid was truly planning to turn against him.
Fortunately, Reid was already on his way to the British Isles at that moment, as he needed to deliver a Mobile Suit to Salamandine.
Athrun had been anxious for two days and was about to send a message to the PLANT Council about the suspected war preparations by the New Misurugi Kingdom's military when he finally received word that Reid was willing to meet.
Reid had just returned to the British Isles and, upon receiving Athrun's message, immediately replied, inviting him to meet in Canterbury.
Canterbury was just across the sea from Calais, so two hours later, Reid met Athrun at a small estate in the suburbs of Canterbury.
This time, Athrun was clearly wary of Reid and had brought guards with him.
Of course, the guards were all stopped outside the estate, and only Athrun was allowed inside.
Seeing Athrun enter with a slightly guarded expression and sensing his conflicted emotions, Reid decided not to tease him and instead offered reassurance right away.
"The troops in the Azores are not targeting the Gibraltar Base. I didn't meet you for two days because I was in the Azores and only returned today."
Hearing this, Athrun visibly relaxed, though his expression remained serious as he sat down.
"The New Misurugi Kingdom's military has quietly established a base in the Azores, posing a direct threat to the Gibraltar Base. I cannot ignore this."
Reid nodded, understanding the concern perfectly. It was like another country setting up a military base on Saipan—something the New Misurugi Kingdom would never allow.
So Reid continued to explain,
"I don't plan to occupy the Azores permanently. It's just a temporary supply transit point. I can't share the details, as it involves our future strategy against the Atlantic Federation.
But I can promise that once Paradise Island Base is captured by our forces, we will fully withdraw from the Azores. Whoever takes over the facilities left behind is not my concern."
The room Reid was in had a map of the Atlantic and its coastal regions, deliberately hung in the most prominent spot, though it bore no markings.
This map was for Athrun's benefit. After hearing Reid's explanation, Athrun naturally needed to examine it to gauge the truth of Reid's words.
The Azores were certainly closer to Europe in the Atlantic, but they could also serve as a transit point for attacking North America, given their roughly central location in the ocean.
To be precise, the Azores were about 1,800 kilometers from the nearest European coastline and over 2,100 kilometers from the nearest North American coastline.
But because the distances were so similar, Athrun still couldn't feel at ease—the Gibraltar Base was too critical to risk.
After a long silence, Athrun replied sternly,
"Verbal assurances aren't enough, Reid. You need to sign an agreement."
Reid outright refused this request. In this war, Reid would not sign any agreements with PLANT, as the stage mission made it clear that the final boss to be conquered in the CE Universe would inevitably be PLANT.
So Reid shook his head and said,
"No. My stance remains the same as before: the New Misurugi Kingdom cannot sign any non-aggression agreements with PLANT.
The reason remains the same: the scars inflicted on Earth's civilians by PLANT during the First War are not so easily erased, and being associated with you would severely impact our subsequent governance over Atlantic Federation territories.
Athrun, some things don't need to be spelled out explicitly. You've already advanced into Europe, and you must have witnessed the hatred many European civilians hold for Coordinators.
Not all of them are fanatics brainwashed by Blue Cosmos ideology—they genuinely hate PLANT."
Reid's words were actually a diversion, meant to distract Athrun with other matters.
However, Athrun couldn't refute Reid's point. Long before, during the previous war, when Reid privately discussed PLANT's political and strategic plans with Lacus, Athrun, and Kira, he repeatedly emphasized that Earth's hatred for PLANT wasn't merely due to official interests being affected. Among ordinary civilians, there were many who genuinely despised PLANT.
These people weren't necessarily prejudiced against Coordinators; rather, PLANT had directly or indirectly killed their innocent loved ones.
As for why this happened, it circled back to the oft-discussed April Fools' Crisis and the Neutron Jammers, which continue to severely impact Earth's production environment to this day.
To put it simply, given Athrun's moral standards, no matter how many times this topic was discussed, he would feel that PLANT was in the wrong.
Even though Athrun now somewhat understood the PLANT Council's rationale for deploying Neutron Jammers on Earth, understanding didn't mean he believed it was right.
Although Athrun had changed from his portrayal in the anime—he had accepted Reid's theory that defeating the enemy was necessary before peace could be negotiated—and was now actively fighting the Earth Alliance to secure peace with Earth, at his core, he remained a kind person. He couldn't accept the idea that the hundreds of millions who died directly or indirectly due to the April Fools' Crisis were necessary sacrifices.
In short, the April Fools' Crisis was an unavoidable issue in discussions about trust between PLANT and Earth's civilians. So when Reid brought it up as a reason to refuse signing an agreement with PLANT, Athrun had no rebuttal.
Because Athrun knew that associating with PLANT would indeed cause a sharp decline in public goodwill on Earth, especially in the Atlantic Federation and the Eurasian Federation.
Seeing Athrun fall silent again, Reid decided to take a small step back and offer a compromise, smiling as he said,
"Although we can't sign an agreement, I can allow ZAFT to observe from nearby.
Athrun, send some idle personnel to the Madeira Islands to confront our military. That should give you something to report to the PLANT Council."
Upon hearing this, Athrun's first reaction was that Reid was scheming again, so he asked,
"Reid, what exactly are you planning? I don't have any idle troops right now. Reinforcements are pouring into the eastern regions of the Eurasian Federation, and I'd gladly assign even the kitchen staff to combat roles."
Hearing Athrun's question, Reid knew he had already agreed in his heart—he just needed a reason to concede. So Reid replied,
"Come on, with so many submarine carriers at the Gibraltar Base, can you really beach them all? The main battlefield between ZAFT and the Eurasian Federation isn't near the sea at all. Can you really deploy submarine carriers on a large scale deep into the Scandinavian Kingdom's interior? Just send those carriers over to put on a show.
Later, I'll transfer part of the British Isles forces to the Azores. Then we can exchange a few shots at sea to create the appearance of friction.
Once I've assembled my forces, you'll naturally know where my target is.
Besides, if I really wanted to go to war with ZAFT, why would I choose the Gibraltar Base as my first target?
To put it bluntly, if I landed in Europe directly from the western English Channel right now, the European cities there would instantly switch sides.
Then the forces in Brussels and Luxembourg would become isolated, facing attacks from all directions.
After dealing with your elite troops, the Gibraltar Base would be mine for the taking."
Reid's words made Athrun break out in a cold sweat. He understood that Reid was reminding him that those surrendered city administrators from the Eurasian Federation were utterly untrustworthy, and he must reserve measures to prevent them from switching sides.
But this outcome was terrifying. If his forces were trapped in central Europe, even if they could break out later, he'd likely have very few people left by his side.
So, Athrun decided to use the New Misurugi Kingdom's actions as an excuse to request more troops from PLANT.
Athrun knew Durandal was clearly controlling the number of troops he could command, but with the New Misurugi Kingdom getting involved, Durandal now had no reason not to send reinforcements.
After all, Athrun understood that since Reid had told him all this today, he would definitely ignore all subsequent meeting requests from PLANT.
Having figured out what he needed to do next, Athrun decided to temporarily trust Reid.
Of course, whether Athrun believed him or not didn't make much difference. As Reid had estimated when deciding to occupy the Azores, Athrun had no choice—ZAFT's forces in Europe simply couldn't fight a war on two fronts.
So the two men, having reached another verbal agreement, left satisfied.
Next, Reid and Athrun put on a grand show for the entire world.
Athrun's entry into the British Isles was no secret because ZAFT's control over European cities was so poor that the Eurasian Federation had left countless spies in the currently ZAFT-occupied areas.
So when Athrun returned, Reid immediately made a high-profile move, taking nearly half of the British Isles forces to the Azores, creating the impression that their negotiations had completely broken down.
Furthermore, Athrun deliberately leaked information about his request to the PLANT Supreme Council for reinforcements.
And Athrun genuinely did request support from the PLANT Supreme Council, citing that although the New Misurugi Kingdom had promised no hostile actions against ZAFT, their troop movements were too dangerous, necessitating more forces for strict vigilance.
Under orders from the Earth Alliance, their intelligence agents in PLANT desperately uncovered information confirming Athrun's request for reinforcements.
Moreover, PLANT had repeatedly sent meeting requests to the New Misurugi Kingdom, but the New Misurugi Kingdom ignored all of them.
At this point, the leaders of the Earth Alliance Three Nations said they could sleep smiling tonight.
The New Misurugi Kingdom and PLANT are already at odds now.
Although the reason for the conflict is unknown, it's easy to guess—most likely, it's due to uneven distribution of interests in Europe. This is going to be interesting.
Soon after, Reid and Athrun truly gave the Earth Alliance Three Nations something to watch.
The underwater forces from Gibraltar Base moved in large numbers to the Madeira Islands for defense, seemingly preparing to attack the Azores.
Not to be outdone, the New Misurugi Kingdom dispatched a large number of surface vessels and flying battleships to the western part of the Azores, facing off across the sea against the forces from Gibraltar Base.
Moreover, frequent friction occurred between the two forces, with both sides driving away each other's patrol boats and even exchanging a few artillery shots. The situation was extremely tense.
However, just as the New Misurugi Kingdom's forces finished assembling in the Azores and the Earth Alliance thought they were about to engage Gibraltar Base's troops—
Overnight, Reid first dispatched underwater forces to clear all ships along the route from the Azores to St. John's, then led all his troops in a swift assault on St. John's City.
By the time the sun rose the next day, the fleet led by Reid was already pressing right up to the gates of St. John's City.
(End of Chapter)