Jiangnan's misty rain still hung over the flagstones of Pingjiang Road, but Mei Hock had already spread out a strategic map of the entire Earth Sphere in the Starry Sky's temporarily converted operations room. On the glowing screen, PLANT's colony clusters, the Atlantic Federation's military bases, the coordinates of Orb's Morgenroete, and Andrew's territory in North Africa were linked by red lines into an intricate web.
The operations room door opened quietly, and Murrue Ramius, Li Bing, Natasha Badgiruel, Shiho Hahnenfuss, Lunamaria Hawke, Meirin Hawke, and Flay Allster entered one after another. Lacus Clyne came in last, carrying a cup of warm ginger tea. She set it beside Akira's hand and glanced over the red markers on the map, the ease of their sightseeing days gone from her eyes.
Once everyone was seated, the lights in the operations room slowly brightened. With a tap of his finger, Akira shut off the background projection of Jiangnan's scenery and brought up a document marked "Top secret: Star-Hiding Plan." He turned and looked at each of them in turn. His voice was utterly steady, yet carried unquestionable authority. "Our travels through Huaxia are nearly over, but the destabilizing elements within PLANT and LOGOS behind the Atlantic Federation are still lurking in the shadows. They fear the influence Lacus and I command, and they fear the Silver Wing fleet's strength even more. As long as we remain in the spotlight, they'll never dare expose themselves completely."
He raised a hand and pointed to Orb's territory on the map. "So, effective today, the Star-Hiding Plan is officially underway. Step one: divide our forces and put everyone in position."
Akira's gaze first settled on Murrue, and he handed her an encrypted terminal. "Murrue, take the Archangel's original crew to Morgenroete in Orb. Since the war ended,