Asaha had been poisoned, Patrick had suffered an assassination attempt, and the Apocalypse had been destroyed. All three incidents left Xiao Ran somewhat surprised. That meant Asaha could no longer lead the New Government, while Patrick, injured as he was, could only remotely direct the New Government Army. The destruction of the Apocalypse had also removed the sword that had been hanging over everyone's heads.
One person controlled the government to stabilize the situation, one controlled the military to suppress it, while the Apocalypse balanced the situation from the other side. This had originally been the iron triangle Xiao Ran left behind to restrain the New Government Army, yet it had fallen apart in just over a month?
Of course, it had only been a little over a month for Xiao Ran. In this world, however, a full year and a half had passed—no, not quite a year and a half.
But this time, it was not because Asaha and Patrick were incompetent enough to let the situation deteriorate to this extent. Both were unquestionably capable, and under normal circumstances, neither their vision nor their breadth of mind had been a problem. It could only be said that their enemies had been even more sinister and cunning, choosing such a method of cutting off the source.
After Kane and El-Elf, the two intelligence chiefs, left, Xiao Ran closed his eyes in thought before asking, "What about the Ironclad Dragon?"
Lacus said, "There has been no unusual movement from the Ironclad Dragon. But after so many incidents occurred, they sealed themselves off. Apart from normal communications, they have forbidden anyone from approaching or entering their Colony Satellite. They are acting as though they want nothing to do with any of this."
"ZAFT and the New Government each sent several groups to