Reid had been having a tough time these past few days. After finalizing the follow-up plans for the new module, he should have started working on infrastructure construction.
But during this period, Reid fully experienced the saying: "When wealthy, distant relatives come knocking; when poor, no one cares even in bustling streets."
Ever since the New Misurugi Republic completely captured a mothership and all Mobile Suits in its conflict with ZAFT (the unlucky pilot who got his head spun around survived and was successfully recovered), the entire L3 Colony Cluster was thrown into chaos. Colony administrators from other satellites came visiting in an endless stream every day.
Even a few friendly nations from the original Misurugi Republic on Earth shamelessly sent visit requests. It was worth noting that although this country was fabricated out of thin air by the system, not a single letter had arrived from these so-called friendly nations during Angie's wandering in space. So, Reid directly had these countries' visit requests politely declined.
As for their neighbors in the L3 Colony Cluster, Reid and the other two knew exactly why they were coming. The matter of the Union Flags couldn't be hidden. Although the other colonies in L3 hadn't taken sides during ZAFT's attack on the New Misurugi Republic, they had all been watching closely.
So, using the G-Coins obtained from completing the first phase of the main mission, along with the three GINNs disabled by EMP bombs and half of a damaged GINN that was dismantled into metal after analyzing the blueprints, Reid built two more Union Flags for himself and Noin to pilot.
However, the outer shells of these two units weren't made of E Carbon Steel but rather GINN materials, with only the frames using E Carbon Steel. As a result, they couldn't match the speed of Angie's custom machine. But thanks to the ultra-compact battery technology obtained from the GINNs, their endurance was improved.
These units were more than enough to bluff the other colony administrators. Reid found it hilarious watching their jaws practically hit the floor upon seeing the New Misurugi Republic with three transformable Mobile Suits. They all acted extremely humble, and upon learning that the New Misurugi Republic was collecting various metal ores, they sent fully loaded transport ships—all free of charge.
Reid understood this was their way of paying protection money to avoid future trouble from the New Misurugi Republic. If he refused, they probably wouldn't sleep soundly at night.
So, Reid instructed Angie to accept everything graciously. The base construction module needed vast amounts of basic stone and steel, resources they were already short on.
However, what they didn't expect was that these visitors were actually scouts for their masters.
Just one day after the L3 Colony Cluster representatives left, external visit requests from the three major Earth Alliance federations and PLANT landed on Angie's desk.
The current situation was this: the Atlantic Federation and the East Asian Republic were ecstatic. The two major powers were pleasantly surprised to discover that a small country driven off Earth had independently developed Mobile Suits—transformable ones at that—operable by Naturals. It would be a crime not to find a way to secure this technology, a feast practically served to them by the heavens.
While the Atlantic Federation and East Asian Republic were overjoyed, the Eurasian Federation was drowning in regret. The Misurugi Republic had been a member state of the Eurasian Federation. But due to some messy internal affairs, they had forced it into declaring independence in space.
Most crucially, the Eurasian Federation remained completely silent when the New Misurugi Empire declared independence, seemingly acquiescing to it. They even stationed Eurasian Federation officials in the territories of the former Misurugi Republic.
It didn't take a genius to realize that without sufficient concessions, the New Misurugi Empire would never return to the Eurasian Federation. At the same time, the New Misurugi Empire wasn't worried about lacking protectors—just a flirtatious glance, and the Atlantic Federation, the East Asian Republic, or even PLANT would eagerly rush to shield it.
As for PLANT, they were breaking out in a cold sweat. The battle at the Suez Canal had reached a stalemate—or more accurately, ZAFT's ground forces were being pummeled by the Eurasian Federation's newly deployed super-large heavy tanks (ground motherships).
In the air, ZAFT's Dinn mobile suits were being relentlessly pressured by the Eurasian Federation's overwhelming fighter squadrons, leaving neither side able to secure air superiority.
The only reason ZAFT's ground forces hadn't collapsed yet was the lack of underwater dominance on the Eurasian Federation's side. ZAFT's aquatic MS, the Guerrilla, stubbornly held the Suez Canal, preventing the Eurasian Federation's ground forces from crossing.
So now, with their ground offensive stalled on Earth and a crisis erupting in space, PLANT was in a bind. A Colony Satellite under the Eurasian Federation's jurisdiction in L3 had independently developed a transformable MS—one that Naturals could pilot.
Fortunately, after careful investigation, PLANT discovered that this was a nation whose royal family had been forced off Earth and was no longer part of the Eurasian Federation—it was now an independent neutral state. That meant there was still room for negotiation.
Then PLANT looked into why ZAFT had clashed with this neutral nation.
The situation wasn't complicated, and the truth was quickly uncovered.
After learning the facts, Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala both unleashed a torrent of scathing criticism at the Fifth Space Zone's commander, immediately recalling him to PLANT. They then forcibly reassigned five of PLANT's most advanced Nazca-class battleships from the home defense fleet to the Fifth Space Zone.
These five ships weren't there to attack the New Misurugi Empire—they were escorts. Their mission was to protect Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala as they personally visited the New Misurugi Empire, with PLANT's Chairman and Defense Committee Chief paying an official visit to show the utmost respect.
Of course, with PLANT making such a move, the Earth Alliance wouldn't stay idle. The Earth Alliance Forces' Fifth Fleet—completely unmentioned in the original timeline—was immediately deployed near the Fifth Space Zone.
But neither the Earth Alliance nor PLANT allowed their forces to approach the New Misurugi Empire's territory. Even their skirmishes were restrained, clearly wary of scaring the New Misurugi Empire into joining the opposing side.
After all, MS technology only required development data—both sides were confident they could retrieve it under enemy fire, as long as the New Misurugi Empire cooperated.
And right now, the New Misurugi Empire's most valuable asset wasn't the MS development data, but the engineer who had guided them in developing the MS from scratch. This individual was more important than the entire nation.
The only problem was that the Earth Alliance's three major powers couldn't match PLANT's sincerity.
After deliberation, the three major powers dispatched a massive delegation composed entirely of mechanical engineers and representatives from military-industrial enterprises across the three nations. Established arms manufacturers such as Adikov Mechanical Industries (later developer of the Destroy Gundam), Actaeon Industries (future developer of the Noir Strike Gundam), P.M.P Company (Atlantic Federation's aerospace machinery developer), and Mount Fuji Company (a military enterprise of the East Asian Republic) all sent representatives to join the delegation.
The sheer number of personnel meant even second-tier military-industrial firms couldn't squeeze their people in.
Despite the Earth Alliance sending such a large contingent, the highest-ranking official among them was George Allster (Flay's father), who served as the Atlantic Federation's Undersecretary of State.
George Allster also led the Earth Alliance delegation.
Looking at the visitor lists from the four major powers of the CE universe, Reid couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his eyes. Originally, he had planned to prioritize building military factories across the Colony Satellites—both to mask the System's Factory Modules and to establish his own industrial base independent of the System. This way, if the System ever left him, he wouldn't be left completely defenseless.
But now, to intimidate these delegations—ostensibly here for a visit but actually probing—Reid had no choice but to scale back factory construction and instead erect numerous civilian facilities to maintain appearances.
Otherwise, keeping these people waiting at the port any longer would be a diplomatic incident.
And if they were allowed inside the satellite as it was—bare and unfinished—it would be obvious that the newly proclaimed Misurugi Empire was nothing but a paper tiger.
Fortunately, the System was reliable. As long as materials were available, any structure could be erected on-site within an hour. Then came waves of supposed former citizens of the old Misurugi Republic flocking to join.
After exhausting the "protection fees" extorted from the L3 Colony Cluster, Reid finally managed to make the Star Palace Colony Satellite presentable before the two delegations arrived. All essential urban infrastructure was completed, and he even set up a national television station to broadcast news.
Japan had been annexed by the East Asian Republic during the Reconstruction War, so Mount Fuji was now just a volcano in one of its provinces.
Though Orb never explicitly stated it, the nation was essentially a coalition of survivors from Japan and other developed countries that had been wiped out—which was why Dawn Company possessed such advanced technology.
(End of chapter)