The final twenty days passed remarkably quickly. Countless mechanics were recruited from Earth into space as logistics and maintenance personnel. Even the old industrial robots were fitted with various weapons and added to Earth's final line of defense without altering their primary functions.
And during this period of final preparations, one ship carrying five mobile suits headed deep into space in the direction from which the ELS were coming.
Unlike the original scenario, where the Federation had sent an advance force to probe the ELS, the Federation ruled by Xiao Ran had begun preparing to fight the ELS half a year ago and had directly treated them as invaders. The probing stage had been completely skipped. The goal was to avoid allowing the ELS to fully analyze their MS and warships before the official battle began. After all, in Xiao Ran's understanding, the key to this mission was not to wipe out every ELS in the Solar System, but to hold out until Setsuna truly awakened and achieved peace with the ELS. Naturally, he had no intention of playing the role of a pig teammate delivering divine assistance.
Moreover, since the ELS possessed traits not much different from insects, that meant they did not exist only in the Solar System. Even if this wave was eliminated, another would come. Unless Setsuna became a true Pathfinder and fused with the ELS, Earth could never truly be considered safe. Thus, from the very beginning, Xiao Ran intended to use the defensive line as a foundation to unleash endless firepower upon the ELS and delay for as long as possible.
Yet Celestial Being, which upheld dialogue as its core mission, had taken it upon themselves to pilot the Ptolemaios II and make direct contact with the ELS. Throughout the process, they had not