All Three Sides Lost

Heliopolis's structural signal had vanished completely.

All that remained in the L3 Sector was an expanding cloud of debris and dozens of civilian escape pods fleeing in every direction.

Lin Yuan leaned back in the command chair, his fingers resting motionlessly on the armrest.

"Director, the ZAFT fleet has withdrawn from the engagement area, taking four G Weapons with them. The Atlantic Federation has confirmed that the Archangel escaped, carrying the Strike Gundam and some civilians." The communications officer's report came from his left.

Lin Yuan did not respond.

Sheng Lan stood behind him and placed a fresh communications interception record on his desk.

"Twenty minutes ago, Atlantic Federation Pacific Fleet Command issued an all-band notice requiring all vessels passing through the L3 Sector to submit to routine inspections. Their stated reason is to prevent ambushes by remaining ZAFT forces."

Lin Yuan opened the record, his gaze lingering on several lines of encrypted fields for two seconds.

"They aren't searching for ZAFT."

"You mean they're looking for what they lost?"

"Of the five G Project units, they only got one back—and a civilian flew that one away. What the Atlantic Federation fears most right now isn't what ZAFT took. It's whether a third party also made a move amid the chaos."

Sheng Lan's breathing did not change, but her right hand withdrew from the desk.

"Where is Ye Qingluan's evacuation ship now?"

Lin Yuan brought up another small screen. A blue dot was moving slowly along a civilian route.

"It just passed the L3-7 relay station. It's about forty minutes from the Atlantic Federation patrol craft blockade."

"Will her cover identity hold?"

"Shenghe Logistics' registration runs through a legitimate third-party commercial port in Orb. The ship registration and cargo manifests are all complete. But if Atlantic Federation personnel board and conduct a physical search, they'll find the storage device."

Sheng Lan looked at the blue dot.

"Do we need to support her?"

"No." Lin Yuan shut off the screen. "Ye Qingluan can handle it herself."

At that moment, at the edge of the L3 Sector, the medium cargo ship TS-074 continued forward at standard cruising speed.

Ye Qingluan stood in the communications compartment behind the bridge and saw distant points of light through the forward window.

Two Drake-class Frigates blocked the route, their bow identification lights flashing alternately—the signal for a mandatory stop-and-search inspection.

"Team leader, interception ahead." The helmsman's voice came from the forward compartment.

Ye Qingluan pulled up the zipper of her work jacket, removed the encrypted terminal from the inner lining of her waist pouch, and handed it to a member of Team Two beside her.

"Remove the casing. Put the storage chip into the packaging boxes for the communications components at the bottom of Cargo Container Three. Mix it in with the spare circuit boards."

"Understood."

"Where's Huili?"

"In the crew rest area, with another Dawn Society technician."

"Tell them that from now on, they're resident communications technicians for Shenghe Logistics. They started in March this year, and the contract numbers are written on their fake IDs. Don't say anything unnecessary."

The cargo ship slowed. One of the Drake-class Frigates deployed a small inspection craft, which slowly docked with the cargo ship's interface port.

Ye Qingluan removed her hard hat, replaced it with a baseball cap bearing the logistics company's logo, and went to wait at the interface port.

The hatch opened, and three Atlantic Federation military police officers entered.

The lieutenant leading them was not very old. The shoulder patch on his uniform sleeve bore the designation of the United Army Pacific Fleet.

"Where's the captain?" The lieutenant glanced down the corridor.

Ye Qingluan stepped forward.

"I'm the acting captain. The official captain went missing while collecting cargo at Heliopolis Port."

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow.

"Heliopolis?"

"Yes. We were originally supposed to leave after unloading communications components at Freight Port Seven, but the satellite suddenly came under attack. The main port was sealed off, so we could only make an emergency departure through an auxiliary port. We have a batch of undelivered cargo aboard, along with two stranded resident technicians."

"The cargo manifest."

Ye Qingluan took a printed electronic certificate from her pocket and handed it over.

The lieutenant accepted it and scanned it, his gaze pausing over several item codes.

"Communications relay maintenance parts?"

"Yes, standard Orb civilian specifications. The buyer for this batch was the Heliopolis Communications Authority. Now that the satellite is gone, we're preparing to return the goods to our registered port and cancel the order."

The lieutenant returned the certificate, then nodded to the military police behind him.

"Routine inspection. Open Cargo Containers Three and Five."

Ye Qingluan's expression did not change.

"Be my guest."

The military police headed toward the cargo area. Ye Qingluan followed at an unhurried pace.

The door to Cargo Container Three opened, revealing neatly stacked boxes printed with the logo of a communications equipment manufacturer.

The military police randomly opened two boxes. Inside were standard circuit boards and wiring modules, their packaging intact and batch numbers clearly marked.

The storage chip was hidden in the anti-static bag among the third-layer stack of spare circuit boards. It looked no different from an ordinary memory module.

The military police took a few glances and closed the box lids.

"What about Five?"

Cargo Container Five was filled with lubricants and pipeline seals. The moment it was opened, a thick industrial smell rushed out.

The lieutenant wrinkled his nose and stepped back.

"Fine."

He returned to the interface port and glanced back at Ye Qingluan.

"Your flight records show that you didn't use the standard evacuation route when leaving Heliopolis."

"The standard route was blocked by debris. We left through the maintenance passage at the auxiliary port. The whole satellite was shaking at the time. We had no choice."

The lieutenant stared at her for three seconds.

Ye Qingluan met his eyes, her hands tucked into her work jacket pockets, her posture relaxed.

"Sign to confirm that you have accepted the inspection." The lieutenant removed an electronic signature pad from his belt and handed it over.

Ye Qingluan signed it using the acting captain's false name.

The three military police officers returned to their inspection craft, and the interface port closed.

The Drake-class Frigate's identification lights switched to a green clearance signal.

The cargo ship accelerated once more and merged into the civilian route.

Ye Qingluan stood in the corridor. Only after the inspection craft had fully detached did she press the communications key on her earpiece.

"Director, we've passed the blockade. All personnel are safe, and the cargo is intact."

Earth, East Asian capital.

After listening, Lin Yuan set his earpiece back on the desk.

"Estimated arrival time?"

"Seventy-one hours." Sheng Lan answered from beside him. The memo in her hand was already filled with reception procedure numbers.

"What about the technical dismantling team?"

"All twelve are in position. Xu Yanqiu is personally overseeing the materials group. He said he wants to be the first to see the Ceramic Steel benchmark data."

Lin Yuan rose and walked to the strategic situation display on the other side of the command room.

On the screen, three colors marked the territories of three separate powers.

Blue for the Atlantic Federation, green for PLANT, and gray for East Asia.

"The current situation." Lin Yuan tapped the screen with a finger. "The Atlantic Federation lost four G Weapons and a colonial satellite. All they recovered was an experimental warship and half a prototype unit flown away by a civilian. Their Defense Committee should be tearing itself apart right now."

"What about ZAFT?" Sheng Lan asked.

"ZAFT thinks it scored a complete victory, but the four captured units will take time to crack, both their operating systems and their technology. They have far fewer engineers than the Atlantic Federation. They won't be able to mass-produce them anytime soon."

"And Orb?"

"A colonial satellite has been scrapped, and the Heliopolis branch of the Dawn Society has been wiped out. Orb will swallow its anger and keep calling itself neutral."

Lin Yuan turned around.

"All three sides are licking their wounds. No one knows that a fourth player has already taken all the trump cards."

Sheng Lan closed her memo.

"Director, can the establishment procedures for the 811 Institute begin today?"

"Begin them."

Sheng Lan was about to turn away when the communications terminal rang.

She walked to the console, glanced at the caller identification, and her expression shifted slightly.

"Director, there's an urgent meeting request forwarded by the Foreign Ministry."

"From whom?"

"William Sykes, Atlantic Federation envoy to East Asia. The stated reason is an intelligence briefing and coordination between allies regarding the Heliopolis incident."

Lin Yuan tapped the desk once with a finger.

"When will he arrive?"

"He's already at the Foreign Ministry building. He wants to meet today."

Lin Yuan's gaze fell on the edge of the blue region on the strategic display.

"Make him wait. Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock, in the Special Equipment Bureau reception room."

Sheng Lan made a note in her memo.

"Director, Sykes has considerable authority. He is a special envoy directly under the Atlantic Federation Ministry of Defense and has the authority to submit technical review requests on behalf of the United Army High Command."

Lin Yuan walked back and sat in his chair.

"That's why the sooner he comes, the more panicked the Atlantic Federation is."

Sheng Lan paused for a beat.

"How do you plan to handle him?"

"Sheng Lan, when a panicked man comes to your door demanding to know whether you stole his things, what do you think is the best answer?"

"Deny it."

"No." Lin Yuan picked up a document from the desk and opened it. "The best answer is to ask him why he left his things in someone else's house."