Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Both Orb and ZAFT had been urgently preparing to assault the Moon Base. Attacking a base—especially a space base operated by the Earth Force for many years—was not as simple as sending troops over for a single overwhelming strike. This was even more true for Orb, which had to move from Earth into space for the battle. Even while racing against time, the preparations had taken nearly two weeks.
During those two weeks, Orb's forces had not remained idle in one place. They had been eliminating the remnants of LOGOS all over the world, wiping out the remaining Earth Force troops on Earth and creating the illusion that they were still busy stabilizing the planet. At the same time, they had not relaxed their watch over the Moon in the slightest, keeping a close eye on the Requiem hanging above them.
Xiao Ran had personally piloted Justice Gundam across the various battlefields, purging LOGOS forces and troops to increase the mission completion rate. Over those two weeks of fighting, Phantom Pain's Earth-based forces had been completely wiped out, as had the intelligence agencies hidden within the Earth Force. Xiao Ran had even encountered several pilots no weaker than Emilio or Sven.
Although Orb's main forces remained on Earth, the Archangel had quietly departed for space fully loaded, where it rendezvoused with Cruze and the fleet stationed at Heaven's Pillar. Those aboard included Mu, Billy, Mayu, Athrun, Kira, Eshe's group of four, Stella's group of three, and other Ace Pilots from Orb. They had also joined up with Lacus and the Eternal in space.
Dearka and Miriallia had also returned to Orb. Xiao Ran arranged for them to board the Second Archangel and head into space with the others. Miriallia became the