February 7, CE71, before 10:00 standard time
Earth Alliance 8th Fleet advance fleet flagship, Montgomery bridge
Yesterday, after experiencing a series of changes such as first taking the blame for suspicious friendly forces, and then the guest deputy foreign minister George·Alstar leaving on his own to go to the 'Celestial Being' fleet, Colonel Koopman still managed to maintain his command.
Colonel Koopman first commanded the 8th Fleet advance fleet, and after confirming the retreat of the 'Celestial Being' mobile weapons unit, relied on the cover of Debris Belt to break away from the 'Celestial Being';
Then, after confirming that 'Celestial Being' was not tracked and expressing the 'expected' goodwill, he commanded the advance fleet to return to the task of searching and contacting Archangel.
Of course, although the command seemed stable on the surface, Colonel Koopman naturally felt huge uneasiness in his heart. Therefore, after forcing himself to fall asleep and wake up several times last night and this morning, seeing that the time was almost up, Colonel Koopman arrived at the bridge in advance.
"How's the situation?"
Faced with the inquiry from Colonel Koopman, the first mate on the night shift saluted and answered with a wry smile.
"What happened yesterday was like a dream, and when I woke up, it was still a day of nothing.
Now we have moved to the east side of the large fragment south of Junius Seven again, and this time there will not even be Silver Wind."
"After all, Lacus·Klein on Silver Wind should be the same as our Deputy Foreign Minister George·Alstar, who are conducting bilateral or even tripartite talks on the flagship of 'Celestial Being'.
Regarding this matter, please remember to keep your mouth shut and not cause trouble to Mr. Halberton."
Koopman, while returning the greeting to the first mate and responding to his words, carefully warned the first mate.
"I understand, after all, no one wants to be visited by those guys.
The daughter of Atlantic Federation's Foreign Affairs Undersecretary and Speaker of the Plant, on the 'Celestial Being' flagship, which was declared a 'terrorist' by Atlantic Federation, was probably discussing the topic of the real terrorist 'Blue Cosmos', right?
After all, that's what 'Celestial Being Formation Declaration' says."
Seeing that the first mate has no intention of going back to rest early, Colonel Koopman is also willing to chat a few more words to pass the time;
But at this time, just like Silver Wind was discovered yesterday, the radar control officer loudly reported it.
"Colonel, the electromagnetic radar has discovered... wait, there is electromagnetic interference from ZAFT!"
Colonel Koopman, who was still smiling after hearing the first half of the sentence, immediately changed his color after hearing the second half and shouted orders.
"Communications Control Officer, inform all ships in the advance fleet to prepare for the second level of battle!
Radar Control Officer, speed up the determination of the enemy's specific information!
Flight Control Officer, be ready for Team Moebius to attack!"
On the bridge of Montgomery, which quickly became noisy, the advance fleet showed its well-trained side:
The crew members present performed their duties and effectively promoted various tasks;
Under the organization and call of the chief officer, the crew members who were taking turns quickly took their places one after another;
Finally, after several minutes of intense positioning and searching, the enemy's intelligence was clearly reported by the radar controller.
"To the west-southwest, the optical radar confirmed the ship's silhouette. It is Laurasia-class!
According to the current relative speed, we expect to meet in 15 minutes!"
"Very good, the enemy only has a single ship and up to 6 mobile suits!
According to the combat plan, the advance fleet slowed down and formed a dense box array to respond!
Montgomery naval gun will start calibration after it is ready to enter the effective range!
Let the Moebius team prepare to attack and carry out mobile defensive operations in the box formation."
Regarding the command of Colonel ZAFT and Koopman, who were already in a state of war, they did not hesitate at all and immediately prepared to enter a combat state.
Unexpectedly, Laurasia-class on the opposite side did not immediately upgrade the electromagnetic interference as usual;
And not long after, Montgomery's communications control officer also reported to Colonel Koopman with a surprised look on his face.
"Received a message from the ZAFT ship Gamow through the international rescue channel, indicating that it is carrying out a search and rescue mission for Silver Wind, and asked us if we have relevant information."
"ZAFT, it turns out that there is a time to talk properly before the fight starts?"
Obviously, after a year of war, both sides have stereotypes about each other. The first mate who also heard the report spoke in an obviously weird way;
While the communications control officer was waiting for a reply, Colonel Koopman chose to tell the truth after comprehensively considering the secret mission of the Deputy Foreign Minister George·Alstar.
"Reply to ZAFT and say that yesterday our fleet witnessed the process of Silver Wind being rescued by 'Celestial Being' after being attacked by pirates. It is estimated that Silver Wind is still on the 'Celestial Being' flagship."
Watching the communications control officer take the order to reply, facing the slightly confused first officer, Colonel Koopman sighed and gave an explanation.
"It would be great if we could avoid a battle. After all, our mission is to search and rescue Archangel."
"That's what I said, but I don't think we will be so lucky this time and meet the easy-to-talk ZAFT."
Faced with the first mate's response, Colonel Koopman was speechless;
And it didn't take long for the latest reply from ZAFT from the communications control officer to prove this point.
"Reply from ZAFT Gamow:
'Thank you for your information sharing. This ship will continue to perform search and rescue missions in this space. Please leave this space quickly!'"
Faced with the harmless ridicule of the first mate, Colonel Koopman also made a last-ditch effort.
"Call back to Gamow: 'This ship is performing a mission in this space domain. I wish your ship a smooth search and rescue mission.'"
Although he made such a reply, Colonel Koopman himself was just a dead horse being used as a living horse doctor;
As expected, the advance fleet quickly received the 'response' from Gamow, but it was not through the communications control officer, but through the radar control officer.
"ZAFT ship Gamow has begun combat-level electromagnetic interference!"
"Sure enough, we have lost trust in each other..."
After muttering to himself in a low voice, Colonel Koopman issued an order loudly.
"Notify the entire fleet, red alert!
All departments execute box formation defense operations according to new tactics!"
"After all, the other side doesn't know if our side is the lunatic of 'Blue Cosmos', and we don't know if the other side is the extremist or revenge sect's war mad..."
After the first mate next to Colonel Koopman responded to Colonel Koopman's whisper in a low voice, he began to repeat Colonel Koopman's order loudly.
"8th Fleet advance fleet now enters the first level of combat preparation!
Drake-class Frigate adopts a dense box array defense formation!
Montgomery's main gun is ready to fire on the ship, and the weapons control officer organizes Drake-class Frigate to build a close fire network!
The Moebius team directly under Montgomery is preparing to carry out mobile defense operations!"
After the first mate repeated the order in detail, Colonel Koopman also made the final pre-war mobilization.
"Both quantity and quality are our advantages!
Don't be led away by the mobility of the mobile suit, the exchange of firepower is beneficial to our side!
Especially Team Moebius, you are an important mobile counterattack force. It is strictly forbidden to chase out of the box array firepower network!
Show off 8th Fleet's ambition and let ZAFT try the power of new tactics!"