With military transfer orders signed by the Minister of Defense in hand, a sudden and swift military coup quickly began.
The officers who had long since coordinated with one another immediately gathered their soldiers, arresting and placing under house arrest those executives who refused to cooperate.
At the same time, they seized the armories, taking all the new mobile suits developed by Dawn Company. Under the pretext of military exercises, they assembled their forces and headed for Arphas Island, where Orb's capital was located.
Before the stunned public could even react to what was happening, key government facilities such as the Supreme Leader's residence, parliament, and police headquarters had already been occupied by the military.
As for the fleets stationed near the capital, they were disarmed at once as well.
Thanks to the Minister of Defense's signed authorization, things went far more smoothly than they otherwise could have.
By the time Uzummi Yula Athha realized something was wrong, he could already see several Gundam Astrays descending from the sky, their pitch-black gun barrels aimed at his bodyguards.
Faced with oversized energy weapons, the latter could not summon even the slightest thought of resistance. They obediently raised their hands and surrendered.
"F-Father! What's happening?"
Cagalli stared wide-eyed at the tense situation outside the window and asked uncertainly.
"It's a coup! Our military has launched a coup!" Uzummi Yula Athha answered grimly.
To confirm the situation, he had just picked up the phone and called several emergency numbers, but none of them had gone through.
The reason was simple!
All external communications from the Supreme Leader's residence had been completely cut off, both wired and wireless.
Forget contact—even the television signal had been blocked.
Everything pointed to this being a premeditated, organized operation, not some spur-of-the-moment act.
"A coup?"
Cagalli's mouth fell