February 2, CE71, about 18:00 standard time
8th Fleet 'Archangel Rescue Advance Fleet' flagship Nelson-class Battleship Montgomery bridge.
As the weakest integrated fleet of the Earth Alliance, 8th Fleet is responsible for early warning tasks rather than combat tasks.
Since the station is on the outermost side of Geosynchronous Orbit, the scale of 8th Fleet, which does not have a "stable station", is not very large.
The reason why 8th Fleet is stationed here is just to ensure that if ZAFT enters and exits the earth on a large scale, especially when the earth descends, there will be a fleet to contain and harass it, so as to buy time for the main fleet's combat operations.
After all, due to the existence of Debris Belt formed after years of accumulation on Geosynchronous Orbit, both Earth Alliance and ZAFT must slow down outside Debris Belt before landing on the earth to avoid heavy losses due to hitting a small piece of gravel at high speed;
8th Fleet maintains low-speed maneuvers for a long period of time, staying above a major gap in Debris Belt to 'set up camp', which can quickly contain any ZAFT troops trying to enter or exit the earth, and provide cover for friendly forces entering or exiting the earth.
At this time, after a timeout of more than ten minutes, the communication control officer on board Montgomery finally brought the long-awaited news to the captain, Colonel Koopman.
"Atlantic Federation Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency George·Alstar has completed the landing!"
"Invite His Excellency the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs to the bridge!
All departments should pay attention to start the inspection process before sailing, and be ready to dispatch immediately once the order is issued!"
In the response of the crew members, Colonel Koopman, who also belongs to Atlantic Federation, began to dress up, preparing to leave a good impression on His Excellency, George·Alstar, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
After all, compared to Foreign Minister Atlantic Federation who always stayed in eastern North America and was actually just a supervisor sent by the elected party;
The Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs George·Alstar is the political officer who is truly responsible for specific diplomatic work, and he also maintains good personal relations with both the ruling and opposition parties Establishment Faction.
Soon, amid the noisy preparations of the crew members, His Excellency the Deputy Foreign Minister George·Alstar arrived at the bridge.
"Sorry, sorry, Colonel Koopman.
Because I had to make final confirmation with His Excellency the President, I was delayed a little bit, and I'm sorry to cause trouble to your ship."
Facing the enthusiastic and cheerful Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alstar, although Colonel Koopman was slightly uncomfortable with it, he was not surprised by the courtesy and naturally did not feel resentful.
"You're welcome, Your Excellency, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs.
Now that you have arrived, if you don't mind, I will let the advance team set off first.
Regarding information exchange, can we wait until we set off?"
"Of course, you're welcome to do so, Colonel Koopman."
Seeing Sir George·Alstar sitting in the VIP seat next to him in a familiar manner, Colonel Koopman also nodded to him, then turned to the front and began to issue orders.
"8th Fleet'Archangel Rescue Advance Fleet', the entire fleet pulls anchor and sets sail!
Target Debris Belt is facing the L5 direction!
Because there is a possibility of encountering the ZAFT or 'Celestial Being' fleet, the air alert remains at 'strict'!"
As the first mate repeated the song and the crew members responded, various alarm bells with different meanings sounded one after another, including Nelson-class Battleship The 8th Fleet advance fleet, including Montgomery and 8 Drake-class Frigate, maintained the box formation and set sail and slowly began to accelerate, leaving the 8th Fleet station behind where the main force of 8th Fleet was located.
Ten minutes later, after the busy period of sailing, the advance fleet entered a stable sailing state, and Colonel Koopman finally had time to exchange information related to this operation with Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar.
"I'm sorry, Alstar, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, for keeping you waiting."
"In that case, after all, I made your ship wait for a long time before, so we can be even, hahahaha.
Also, you can just call me Alstar, and I can also call you Colonel, okay?"
For Colonel Koopman's somewhat stiff politeness, Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar skillfully brought the relationship between the two parties closer.
"I understand, Mr. Alstar."
"Well, Colonel. If you don't mind, could you please allow me to explain the reason for being late?"
Colonel Koopman was about to politely say that he didn't mind what the Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar said, but when he saw the Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar winking at him, he finally remained silent.
And Alstar's 'apology' from the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs was indeed not the polite gesture that Colonel Koopman thought it was.
"Since the Ministry of National Defense and Congress have received the 'G' plan development information and documents submitted by His Excellency Halberton, after review and approval by Mr. President, the process of promoting His Excellency Halberton to the rank of Major General has been officially started.
In order to deliver this good news to everyone at 8th Fleet in a timely manner, Mr. President specially contacted me temporarily through the diplomatic line, which caused my delay in boarding the ship, for which I deeply apologize."
With Alstar, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs is not so much an apology as an explanation of good news and taking credit;
Since Commodore Halberton had already won the hearts and minds of 8th Fleet, all the crew members on the bridge cheered.
Amid the cheers, Alstar, the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs continued to explain.
"I heard that the mission of this operation is to pick up the newly built battleship 'Archangel' and pick up the only surviving finished product of the 'G' series aboard it, Strike Gundam;
Presumably when we complete this operation together, the day when Your Excellency Halberton will be promoted to Major General will not be far away."
Looking at the increasingly high morale of the crew members, Colonel Koopman couldn't help but secretly praise the "good method" in his heart, and then carried out the relevant follow-up processing first.
"Okay, thank you Mr. Alstar for bringing us the good news.
Spread the news throughout the advance fleet, and then work with peace of mind.
We will definitely be able to successfully reunite Archangel and return safely, and offer the best gift to your Excellency Halberton for his promotion!"
Amidst the cheers of the crew members, Colonel Koopman looked at the smiling Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar.
"Thank you for the good news, Mr. Alstar.
Although you should already know the goal of this operation, please allow me to introduce it to you again."
With the nod of the Foreign Secretary Alstar, Colonel Koopman began to explain the combat objectives.
"On January 28, CE71, at about 15:00 standard time, that is, about 6 days ago, the 8th Fleet command received a directional telegram from Archangel.
'I, Archangel, have left Artemis Fortress safely and will return to Debris Belt via inertial silent navigation via the L5 side!'
Later, confirmed news came from the moon headquarters.
'Artemis Fortress under the control of 'Eurasian Federation' was captured by 'Celestial Being', and the whereabouts of Archangel are unknown.'
Combining the two, we judge that Archangel escaped from the fortress before Artemis Fortress was captured, and will return to the 8th Fleet station via Debris Belt on the L5 side."
Facing Colonel Koopman's explanation, Deputy Foreign Minister Alstar nodded again, indicating that he already had this information.