On January 30th, after several days of long journey, the remaining forces including the Athena successfully arrived at Carpentaria Base.
Upon returning here, the troops began their rest and reorganization.
Felix went to the base administration building. "How is the prisoner exchange proceeding?" he asked urgently, looking at the base commander.
Commander Brown looked up at Felix upon hearing this, placing a document in front of him as he spoke. "The negotiations are going smoothly. The Earth Alliance is willing to proceed with the prisoner exchange."
Hearing this, Felix felt relieved. He reached out to carefully examine the document contents. After a moment, he put down the document and said with reassurance, "That's good."
"Captain Griffith, would you like to participate in this prisoner exchange operation?" Brown asked, looking at Felix.
Shaking his head, Felix replied, "I won't be participating in this matter. After resting here for a day or two, I plan to go to the African Front to take a look and help out there if needed."
"You really don't know how to rest, do you!" Brown said, examining Felix with a laugh.
Looking at him, Felix shrugged helplessly. "I have no choice!" he said, sighing before continuing. "If we don't resolve this now, I'll just be dispatched to handle it later. Rather than coming back then, it's better to deal with it now."
"That makes sense," Brown agreed with a smile after considering it.
Looking at Brown, Felix checked the time and said, "I don't have any other matters here, so I won't disturb you further."
"Take care, Captain Griffith!" Brown smiled slightly and stood up to see Felix out.
On February 1st, the Athena set sail again after two days of resupply at Carpentaria Base.
"Liftoff!" Aric ordered Joss after confirming the Athena had successfully departed the spaceport.
"Yes, sir!" Joss replied, then issued instructions to Skyler and Aubrey. Upon hearing this, the two carried out their assisting duties according to Joss's commands.
"In position!"
"In position!"
Skyler and Aubrey reported one after another moments later.
Gripping the control yoke, Joss responded, "Acknowledged!" With this reply, he began pulling the control yoke while firmly pressing the pedals with both feet.
The Athena responded to Joss's actions, lifting its bow and soaring directly into the sky.
"Extend wings!" Upon reaching the appropriate altitude, Joss leveled the pitch angle and ordered Aubrey. Aubrey immediately took action upon hearing the command.
"Wings fully extended!"
"Initiating cruise flight," Joss reported verbally while pressing the cruise flight button. After completing the action, he turned to report to Aric. "Captain, the Athena has successfully lifted off and is currently in cruise flight."
"Acknowledged," Aric replied.
February 3rd, at Barthfeld Team's base on the African Front
"I'm really envious of your battleship!" Andrew remarked, looking at the Athena with a smile.
Hearing this, Felix turned to Andrew and joked, "If you like it, I can apply to the Ministry of Defense to assign you as my deputy commander. Then you'd get to enjoy this battleship just like I do."
"I'd be quite willing," Andrew replied, turning to Felix with a grin before shrugging. "But I doubt the Ministry of Defense would agree to your proposal."
Felix chuckled at this but said nothing more.
A few minutes later, in a room—
"Have you heard about the situation in space?" Andrew asked, carrying two cups of coffee. He handed one to Felix and sat down.
Taking the coffee, Felix nodded at Andrew. "Yes, I have. On January 25th, Creuset's team infiltrated the Orb Union's Colony Heliopolis and seized the new Mobile Suits being secretly developed there."
Pausing briefly, Felix continued with a smile, "It seems the operation wasn't entirely successful. Creuset's forces clashed with the Earth Alliance Forces inside the colony, causing it to collapse, and the targets still managed to escape."
"Not only that," Andrew added, looking at Felix, "on January 27th, they fought again near the Eurasian Federation's Artemis in an attempt to capture the fleeing Earth Alliance units. They ended up destroying the asteroid base, and the targets got away again."
Changing the subject, Andrew asked, "What's your take on all this?"
After blowing on his coffee and taking a small sip, Andrew watched Felix intently. Instead of answering immediately, Felix lifted his own cup, blew on it gently, and took a careful sip.
"Your brewing skills are as excellent as ever!" Felix praised.
Setting down the coffee, Felix replied seriously, "This is a precursor—the war is about to escalate."
"A precursor?" Andrew murmured.
Nodding at Andrew, Felix continued, "The performance of those stolen Mobile Suits is far superior, especially compared to our own MS. Their development will inevitably create a sense of crisis among top officials, which will drive them to develop even more advanced MS. This cycle will only push the scale and intensity of the war higher and higher."
"Hearing you explain it, everything suddenly makes sense," Andrew said, offering a sincere smile.
Felix waved a hand and smiled. "Don't say that. You would've figured it out even if I hadn't spoken—I just put it into words while you were momentarily puzzled."
"Even so, you've saved me a lot of thinking," Andrew replied, taking another sip of coffee.
Felix picked up his own cup and drank some of the now lukewarm coffee. Turning to Andrew, he asked with a smile, "Should we do something about it?"
"What are you planning to do?"
Andrew turned to look at Felix, raising an eyebrow with a hint of caution in his heart as he asked. Felix looked at the somewhat wary Andrew, still wearing a smile as he spoke to him.
"I'm just doing something to prevent the intensity of the war from escalating."
"That's quite an ambitious goal!"
Hearing this, Andrew looked at Felix with admiration.
Felix simply smiled it off, stood up, and gazed at the scenery outside the window. After a moment of contemplation, he said,
"Although the goal is grand, I truly don't want to see the war escalate to an irreversible point. If we wait until then to act, it will be too late."
"Aren't you afraid I'll report what you said to the Chairman?"
Andrew didn't answer directly but instead asked Felix another question. Felix turned to look at Andrew, shook his head, and confidently replied,
"We've worked together many times over a long period. I know you well enough."
Taking a deep breath, Felix continued,
"I know you won't do that. I believe you, like me, don't want to see the war escalate to an irreparable extent."
"I'm truly honored!"
Feeling the trust in Felix's words, Andrew was genuinely pleased. He looked at Felix and replied with a smile.
After speaking, Andrew rose from the sofa, walked over to Felix, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, gazing at the scenery outside.
"How do you plan to do it?"
"Unite all the forces we can, and at the critical moment, pour a bucket of cold water on this overheating war."