Chapter 127: Overture
Australia was a heavy place for everyone aboard this ship.
Seeing the artificially formed circular harbor below with their own eyes, who could remain unmoved?
This was the embodiment of Zeon's atrocities.
This was the Federation's simplest form of patriotic education.
All they had to do was bring officer cadets here and tell them, "If you don't want your hometown to end up like this, or if you don't want your homeland to cause something like this, then fight with everything you have to protect the Federation."
At the very least, the current Federation wouldn't be dropping colony satellites anymore.
And yet, there was a grim irony in the fact that aboard the White Chaser, there were both those whose homes had been reduced to this and those whose homes had caused this.
Eli patted Arcadia on the shoulder as they stood together in the observation area of the White Chaser, looking down at the harbor below.
The ship was en route to Torrington, which was to be the gathering place for various leaders—and where Dozle would face his public trial.
"Alright, Arcadia, our time for mourning is over. It's time to fight."
"Yeah, I know. There's no place for Zeon remnants in this land."
Arcadia, usually more carefree in daily life, now carried the same dependable air he did when leading the charge in his MS.
As a native of Sydney, even he couldn't bring himself to smile in the face of such a scene.
——
There wasn't much to say about the mop-up operations.
Most of Zeon's forces in Australia had retreated to Africa long ago, and the remnants that remained hardly had any MS to speak of.
After two months of sweeps, Eli was confident that no organized Zeon remnants remained in Australia.
The fall of Iffish Island had happened on January 4th, and now, it was already December 31st—the last day of UC 0080.
As this day approached, Zeon remnant activity had diminished significantly; there hadn't been a single reported attack in nearly ten days.
Under such circumstances, the White Chaser had docked at a Federation base for a temporary rest.
That base was none other than the famous Torrington Base.
Located in eastern Australia, north of Sydney Harbour, this military base offered a direct view of Sydney Bay and even the scattered remains of numerous colony satellites.
Of course, Eli and his team weren't here just to reminisce—the reports coming from Torrington Base had been the most concerning in recent days.
A patrol report from the base indicated that an unidentified signal had briefly been detected near the shore. However, when patrol teams arrived at the scene, they found no significant traces.
Still, an experienced veteran stationed there noticed something amiss—the tide marks on the beach were abnormal.
Despite an attempt to cover up footprints, the difference in moisture levels on the sand allowed the veteran to deduce that an MS had landed there.
There was no need to say it—it had to be Zeon remnants.
Incidentally, the brief detection of that unknown signal had been made by a GM equipped with an intelligence-gathering system produced by Hachishu.
"Damn… If I remember correctly, Dozle's itinerary includes a stop at Sydney Bay, right? Looks like these remnants are planning to make a move to take him back."
Standing on the beach, Eli examined the area for a long time but couldn't glean much. However, the basic deduction was already clear.
By now, a full day had passed—any remaining traces would have disappeared.
"Hah, wouldn't that just be playing right into the Parliament's hands?"
Arcadia scoffed.
The issue of Dozle had been dragged out until now, all thanks to the Parliament's so-called brilliant strategy.
From their perspective, Zeon remnants were scattered and disorganized, making direct negotiations with each group impossible.
So, they came up with the idea of letting Dozle gather them first—then negotiating with him to resolve the Zeon remnant problem in one go.
Naturally, the military refused to support this idea, which led to a prolonged stalemate.
But with the remnants steadily dwindling due to the ongoing sweeps, Parliament finally relented, agreeing to hold Dozle's public trial on this symbolic day.
Of course, the verdict had been decided long ago—the trial was merely a show to demonstrate the Federation government's authority to its people.
Dozle would be executed.
To make an example of him, the recently captured Zeon remnants had also been transported here for trial—each of them to be judged alongside him.
Among them was the Red Wolf, whom Eli had only recently captured.
"Alright, have Ryan take his unit inland for a patrol. Who knows, they might find something."
Eli stood up and turned toward the helicopter waiting behind him.
In the distance, two MS were approaching.
One was the EZ-8 piloted by Sanders, and the other was Ryan's modified GM.
Strictly speaking, they weren't flying on their own but rather using SFS (Support Flight Systems).
During the One Year War, Zeon had developed the Dodai, an SFS platform, while the Federation had its G-Flyer, which could also function as one.
Now, in the post-war era, Hachishu's MS division had developed a new SFS based on the Dodai's design. This model, currently under evaluation by the Federation, was designated the Light Frigate-Class.
It could be operated directly by an MS or piloted individually as a bomber. Two of them had been assigned to the White Chaser for data collection.
Paired with an electronic warfare-type modified GM, they could even function as early-warning units.
Even so, Eli wasn't optimistic.
If the remnants dared to land here, they had surely accounted for radar scans.
Eli frowned.
His thoughts drifted to an incident a month ago—when the Zeon remnants had managed to pull off a surprise attack on the Kilimanjaro Base in Africa.
They had stolen a Zeon prototype MS that had been captured by the Federation— the Efreet Nacht, a night combat variant.
This machine had the terrifying ability to disrupt all sensors, radar, and heat detection systems within a certain radius.
Eli had tried to requisition the unit for his own team, but his request had been denied.
Now, a special Federation task force, the Exorcist Squad, was pursuing the stolen unit, but it seemed they hadn't succeeded in reclaiming it yet.
A nagging feeling gnawed at Eli.
The way the Zeon remnants had seemingly vanished before his eyes—was it possible they were using the Efreet Nacht?
That led to another question: even if they had managed to sneak in unnoticed, what exactly were they planning?
Eli couldn't quite remember how this part of the story played out, but he did recall that their ultimate goal was to use the mass driver on the Moon to threaten Federation military bases.