Mercurio was the first to agree to the mission when he said, “I’ll follow you sir.” Right afterwards Milou gave his offer to volunteer while Gawel and Zachariah got their pilot gear ready.
Dana nodded at their offers when she ordered, “The three of us should be enough. Everybody else stay behind. We’ll need as many people defending our capital as possible.”
Naina agreed to the count when she eyed the Tallgeese Heaven, “I’ll remain behind to assist Donna. The system updates should be enough to handle the mobile dolls.”
Roy understood the plan but asked, “Will we even be able to handle against these things?”
Gawel removed a harddrive from his nearby computer when he explained, “The disruption viral systems from the Aquarius should be enough to cut down their effectiveness. If we’re going to gamble our luck on anything it’s gonna have to be on this.”
“Even if it’s only the Zero System it should be enough.”
Dana gave one final speech to the pilots when she explained, “Now listen up new guys. You may have been instructed by the academy to be ready for enemy contact against standard Coalition mobile suits. It’s time for a break in protocol now. These things regardless of your skill as a pilot will kill you. I don’t even mean that as a motivation to do better, these Sol Thero units are built to be that powerful. Unless the interference program works better than we think it might, attack the enemy from a distance and make defending our leaders the top priority. Am I clear?”
The pilots saluted before answering, “Clear sir!”
Dana began to rush towards the carrier when she ordered, “Let’s head out. Our guys need help.”
Mercuiro followed, “Yes sir. Prepared to move out.”
A few moments before takeoff Gawel adjusted the carrier’s jets he announced their time to leave, “Time to get our baby off the ground again.”
Zachariah checked the holding for the other mobile suits when he agreed, “Just make sure it’s ready to pick up some extra passengers. Ideally we get Nasir and the others out of there. Assuming three Gundams are enough to prevent any more damage.”

Malcolm looked over General Neustadt’s report in preparation for the next launch of their forces. Marcel gave his final point, “We may be able to reach Kecker’s location at the Sol Invictus if our course projection is correct. It will take the same amount of time to reach his destination as his own shuttle however. The longer we wait the more window of time he will have to use the Sol Invictus for whatever he has planned. Once Amsterdam is secured we must take begin the launch at the first available moment.”
Malcolm knew the plan was the best they had and signed an order to make it an official order. “What is the current status of our remaining forces?”
The General brought out another paper listing the pilots available for OZ and the Earth Sphere. “We have received confirmation that our remaining forces in Amsterdam have made contact with destructive forces. Our chance to pursue the Sol Invictus will depend on this mission.”
The sudden surge of the enemy from the first reports in Pasewalk to the destruction of Dusseldorf made Malcolm show visible concern whenever it was brought up. “Amsterdam cannot fall now. Can we still send our forces to defend the city?”
“Three Gundams are currently on their way Mr. President.”
“The others?”
The General shook his head when he answered, “We will require them for our own safety sir.” He brought out a copy of the Sol Thero photo with its planet defensors explaining, “We haven’t determined the enemy but we have an idea of what we are dealing with.”
“So this is their mission.” Malcolm cursed. “Assemble the representatives and order our ground forces to evacuate the civilian population that has returned. We cannot afford anyone to be lost.”
“Yes sir.” The General saluted.

|

The Captain looked at the mobile suits loaded and recognized one of them as the key component his men needed. He pointed to Oleg’s mobile suit when he ordered some of his men, “Get some answers from the technical team on that one. We’ll need as much help as we can get.” As soon as he heard Tano’s question on the status of the President he knew it was time to bring more soldiers to reality. “Regrettable the news has reached so few.” He said to himself. He dashed any final doubts when he announced to the Kaliningrad forces, “I’m afraid that the reclaiming of Brussels resulted in the death of President Falson. Lucas Lehrer has recently taken office as we have just found out about an hour ago. As it seems, both the reclamation of Brussels and the loss of our leaders has permitted the enemy to regain its footing.”
The confirmation weighed on Oleg’s mind when he commented, “If this continues we might not be able to retain our hold on the Earth.”
“We won’t. The President knew defeating the Earth Sphere would hinge on seeing Kecker brought to justice.” The Captain said shaking his head. “What’s more, we have found that even their victory may not accomplish much as their own leader has gone missing as well.”
Despite the questions that were brought to their minds, Oleg and Tano would meet the new President when one of the soldiers announced, “Sir. We have contact from the President.”
Kazantsev nodded when he gestured to them, “Please follow me.”
Within the remains of the headquarters there was one functioning hologram of Lucas Lehrer standing before the Coalition crew. He introduced, “Captain. It is most fortunate to see more of our forces have survived. Have you determined if the shuttle bay will be operational?”
Kazantsev confirmed, “Yes sir. We had a few barely operational mobile suits left but we managed to get the debris out of the way. Should we begin an escape sir?”
Lucas began acknowledged the issue when he answered, “I will accept it as your choice if you feel it the only one, but as of right now we must see a final mission achieved. The odds of returning will not be in anyone’s favor.”
The Captain was reluctant to hear his report but knew this was the sort of mission he had been trained to prepare for. He made certain his gestures on the concept couldn’t be seen when he requested, “Please tell us Mr. President.”
Lucas began by showing the plans for the Sol Invictus to the room’s occupants. “This construction is known as the Sol Invictus. We have learned from the Earth Sphere that this construction is built to be the most powerful weapon humankind has ever produced. It was through the unwitting cooperation of a few Earth Sphere pilots that permitted it to be finished. Worse it was under the turned eyes of the Earth Sphere that the funding and efforts were made to make it possible.” The plans were compressed at Lucas’ shutting hands when he continued, “We are uncertain of its target but we only recognize it is planned to be used for nothing short of destruction.” He commented grimly. He became even more solemn in the report when he explained the stakes, “Much has been asked of our numbers already and we have lost far too much. But if we do not act now, we may risk permitting untold numbers to pay the price of war the Falsons made an effort to prevent. I ask this of all remaining forces. Will you at least make one final effort in fulfilling the mission of the Coalition and prevent this weapon from destroying more lives?”