New Misurugi Republic Officially Occupies Oceania Union Capital – Oceania Union Collapses!
On July 14, CE 71, this headline dominated the front pages of every nation on Earth.
There was no helping it. After Reid's public address at 23:00 the previous night, media outlets, governments, and military staff worldwide had stayed up all night. Everyone was holding emergency meetings to discuss the situation.
Of course, regardless of how nations would handle the New Misurugi Republic's sudden return to Earth through a feigned eastern strike, the collapse of the Oceania Union was clearly something other countries were happy to see.
Even the Atlantic Federation, currently seething with frustration, subtly encouraged its media to revel in the tragic fate of the traitors who had sided with PLANT.
Given that most Atlantic Federation media leaned toward Blue Cosmos, they not only celebrated the Oceania Union's downfall but also lavished praise on Reid for wiping them out—while, as usual, taking the opportunity to criticize the government's incompetence. (This wasn't contradictory, since bashing the government was politically correct there. As long as it wasn't a matter of principle, the government had grown accustomed to it.)
As for why the Atlantic Federation was so furious—well, the chicken they had painstakingly corralled had been snatched away by the New Misurugi Republic.
To put it bluntly, the Atlantic Federation had initially agreed to Muruta Azrael's Orb strategy for two reasons: the Mass Driver and Orb's strategic location for attacking the Oceania Union.
The war to annex the South American Republic in CE 70 had filled the Atlantic Federation's government and corporations with immense profits.
A year later, after digesting some of those gains, the capitalists naturally activated their Greed of Capitalists skill. The only remaining target they could legally invade without public backlash was the Oceania Union.
For the Atlantic Federation government, successfully annexing the Oceania Union and then defeating PLANT would mean that within two decades, the Atlantic Federation could dominate Earth with its vast territory and industrial might.
The East Asian Republic? The Eurasian Federation? They'd be relegated to the kids' table. The Atlantic Federation would be the sole global superpower—maybe even achieve world unification.
But this grand vision was derailed at the very first step by the New Misurugi Republic. Orb, which they had fought tooth and nail to secure, had now become a useless burden.
And now, the Atlantic Federation had to publicly congratulate the New Misurugi Republic. So, their frustration was only natural.
The only problem? The Atlantic Federation didn't realize the chicken they had caged was a fighting rooster. In the original Battle of 8/8, they had been pecked bloody. From that perspective, they should be thanking Reid for minimizing their losses.
However, Reid paid no attention to the outside praise. After his speech, he slept soundly.
The next morning, Une handed over command of the Barge to Brian Eno and descended to Canberra aboard the Argama-class battleship under Hoshino Ruri's command to oversee government affairs.
As for Reid? He had some fools to deal with.
In response to Reid's warning, the cities in the central-northern and eastern regions of the Oceania Union, along with the southern metropolis of Melbourne and the eastern city of Sydney, surrendered before 6:00 AM. They were acutely aware of the disparity between their local defense forces and the military of the New Misurugi Republic.
Moreover, these cities were too close to the advancing forces of the New Misurugi Republic—its troops could reach their outskirts within half an hour, ensuring that the municipal governments would face severe consequences.
Of course, these cities might have coordinated in advance, exploiting a loophole in Reid's declaration by withdrawing all defensive forces from their surroundings to the southwest.
Meanwhile, Perth, the fourth-largest city in the western part of the Oceania Union, announced the formation of a provisional government, refusing to acknowledge the destruction of the Oceania Union and calling for nationwide resistance against the invaders from the New Misurugi Republic.
Upon receiving the news, Reid could only chuckle helplessly at these schemers, remarking that the municipal governments were being naive. Even if they managed to gather all surviving forces of the Oceania Union in the southwest, it would only make it easier for him to crush them in one fell swoop.
However, Reid intended to absorb the remnants of the Oceania Union's military, sending them to military academies for retraining—loyalty drills included—before reintegrating them into his forces.
Thus, Reid, accompanied by the Xia sisters, boarded Hoshino Ruri's Argama-class battleship. With a fleet of ten warships, they crossed the entire continent and descended upon Perth, ready to have a "heart-to-heart" talk with the provisional government.
The battle for Perth turned out to be far easier than Reid had anticipated. He had expected resistance as fierce as Canberra's, but upon landing, he discovered that the provisional government, upon learning of his fleet's approach, had abandoned the city and fled with their troops.
They even left behind messengers to relay a message, grandly declaring it a "strategic retreat," vowing that the provisional government would defeat the New Misurugi Republic through mobile warfare.
Reid was left speechless. He mused that even the most slapdash provisional government didn't need to reveal their entire strategic plan just to appear as if they were putting up a desperate fight.
So, Reid didn't bother pursuing this ragtag group. Instead, he circled the western region, encountering little to no resistance—city after city surrendered outright.
Government officials tearfully pleaded with Reid, claiming they had been forced by the provisional government not to surrender. After all, without military forces, they had no choice but to comply.
Reid's approach to these opportunists was simple. Patting the mayor on the shoulder, he would say:
"Mr. Mayor, you see, I also have quite a few troops. So, how about you deliver a nationwide address, publicly denouncing the provisional government and acknowledging the fall of the Oceania Union? Then, you can step down gracefully and let my people take over the city."
When delivering this ultimatum, Reid would usually unleash his Newtype pressure. While he did encounter a few stubborn holdouts—whose skulls he tested against bullets—most officials eagerly praised Reid's mercy. After broadcasting their televised statements, they simply went home, unemployed.
For those who knew what was good for them, Reid didn't do much. He left behind a dozen Mobile Dolls and two Assault GM Dominions to control the city, then promoted a few immigrants who had previously been low-level workers at the Star Palace Colony Satellite (based on Une's list, not random appointments) as mayors before moving on.
In short, after two more days, all major cities of the Oceania Union had surrendered. The so-called Provisional Government of the Oceania Union had been driven into the Australian outback to watch kangaroos bare their teeth.
One more day passed, and as the New Misurugi Republic's forces began encircling them, the remaining troops under the Provisional Government—starved and dehydrated after being chased relentlessly—mutinied. They captured the leaders of this slapdash government and surrendered to Reid.
This time, however, Reid showed little mercy. The surrendering officers were thrown straight into prison, while the soldiers, after being disarmed, were sent to POW camps. (Previously, surrendered soldiers had simply been disarmed, registered, and sent home.)
As for that makeshift government, Reid made sure there would be no chance of "wildfires rekindling with the spring breeze"—he had them all executed by firing squad.
With that, the New Misurugi Republic officially took control of all former Oceania Union cities. Though few troops were left in the southeastern cities, no one in Australia could deny that the Oceania Union had fallen.
Now, however, Reid had a more pressing matter to attend to—the construction of a secondary base under the system.
He had already chosen the location: a small plain south of the former Carpentaria Base and north of Mount Isa.
The plain spanned over ten thousand square kilometers, but it had no major cities—only scattered, underdeveloped small towns with a combined population of less than ten thousand. (He wasn't sure how accurate that was, but he'd found records of obscure Australian towns where a 40,000-square-kilometer area housed just over 30,000 people. Due to economic stagnation, locals were still migrating out—sparsely populated indeed.)
This worked in Reid's favor. There was zero relocation work needed because after the Carpentaria Base explosion, everyone had already left—there was nothing worth staying for.
So Reid transported the massive metal blocks smelted from the debris belt down to the plain, arranging them in a ring around the center. Using flexible steel, he quickly erected a makeshift wall, then leveled the interior to set up a temporary airfield for appearances.
Next, he accessed the system and selected the land beneath him as the secondary base.
The system acted fast—no sooner had Reid made his choice than it confirmed the secondary base's establishment.
He then immediately switched this location to the main base. Instantly, a few warehouses appeared at the temporary airfield, each with a door leading underground. Beyond those doors lay the entrance to the Factory Module.
Reid wasn't worried about other nations discovering anything unusual here. The Barge was monitoring the skies above, ensuring no foreign aircraft could conduct reconnaissance over his head.
Besides, two warehouses weren't conspicuous enough to raise suspicions—even Brian Eno, who was likely keeping an eye on things, wouldn't find it odd. After all, he couldn't stare at it with his own eyes; at most, he'd skim the Barge's computer scans. As for those monitoring surveillance, they were all locals anyway.
The main base was confirmed, and Reid arranged for the Barge to airdrop construction supplies to his location, along with a large number of indigenous people.
These indigenous people were merely a front. Their job was simple: build scaffolding. Reid would first assess the size of the structure he wanted to construct, have the indigenous workers set up the external scaffolding, cover it with camouflage netting, and then let the Base Building Module take over.
Once the structure was completed, the exterior remained concealed, so no outsiders could tell what was happening. All they had to do was wait until the right time to remove the netting. After all, this base was staffed only by indigenous people.
To the outside world, relying on spies previously embedded in the Oceania Union, the Earth Alliance only knew that the New Misurugi Republic was recruiting former Oceania Union civilians (new indigenous people generated by the system) to build a base—and had enlisted tens of thousands in just two days.
This development immediately unsettled the three major powers of the Earth Alliance, as they had all assumed the New Misurugi Republic would struggle to digest its forced annexation of the Oceania Union.
Especially after Une took power, she began purging former Oceania Union elites who had supported PLANT—confiscating their assets and executing them without pause. This left the former upper class of the Oceania Union in constant fear.
Under such circumstances, standard procedure would dictate that these former elites should rally the masses to rebel.
But in reality, while there were indeed those who wanted to rebel, almost no one below them responded—including the forcibly discharged soldiers.
The reason was simple: Une didn't funnel the confiscated assets into government coffers. Instead, she redistributed them entirely as wages and benefits for various jobs.
For example, all cities in Australia were now constructing public facilities, rebuilding war-damaged structures and roads. Even the ruins of Carpentaria Base had engineering teams clearing debris, filling in deep trenches, with plans to rebuild a new base on the original site.
Now, every civilian in Australia had a job, and food and supplies were plentiful. Most civilians felt that despite their nation having just been conquered, their lives had actually improved. So why would anyone rebel when they could live comfortably?
As for the forcibly discharged soldiers, they knew all too well how terrifying the New Misurugi Republic was. "You nobles only have a few rifles, some anti-tank weapons, and a handful of armored vehicles—and you want to rebel? Go get yourselves killed if you want, but leave me out of it."
The result? The moment those elites tried to rebel, they were reported before they could even gather support. Soldiers from the New Misurugi Republic would then arrive in Mobile Suits to arrest them, confiscate their assets, and execute them in one swift motion.
Only the East Asian Republic understood what was happening, quietly remarking that Reid had clearly studied their nation's historical governance strategies—unabashedly borrowing from the methods of a great leader centuries ago while adapting them to emphasize a firm hand.
Because, historically, the people of Australia had European roots. They were famously responsive to strength, not kindness. If given preferential treatment, they'd see the government as weak and exploitable. So, being tough on them was far more effective.
The Atlantic Federation could only watch with envy, thinking the Oceania Union was full of spineless cowards. After all, resistance forces in South America were still active, occasionally giving their stationed government personnel unpleasant surprises.
As for the Eurasian Federation, they simply couldn't comprehend why confiscating assets from the upper class—a practice that worked elsewhere—was completely off-limits in Europe. Touching that red line would mean instant replacement of government leaders.
Regardless of what people in these three nations thought, they all agreed on one thing: if the New Misurugi Republic successfully absorbed Oceania Union's territory, the current tripartite balance on Earth would become a four-way conflict—a scenario nobody wanted to see.
Of course, the degree of reluctance varied. The East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation were relatively indifferent because Australia was difficult for either side to manage effectively. Neither wanted war with the New Misurugi Republic, knowing any conflict would only benefit PLANT.
Both nations clearly understood that PLANT remained their true enemy, while the New Misurugi Republic was at most a potential future rival.
Moreover, neither was foolish enough to miss the Atlantic Federation's transparent ambition to annex Oceania Union.
If they drove out the New Misurugi Republic, the East Asian Republic couldn't seize large territories without damaging its international image, while the Eurasian Federation was too geographically distant. The real danger would be the Atlantic Federation monopolizing Australia.
Thus, both nations firmly opposed fabricating excuses to attack New Misurugi forces in Australia, threatening to withdraw from the Earth Alliance if war was declared.
The Earth Alliance's three powers ultimately parted ways on the New Misurugi issue. The East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation decided to send envoys to sound out Reid's intentions before determining their next moves.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Federation began mobilizing military supplies to Orb in preparation for war. Since the other two nations had only forbidden declaring war in the Earth Alliance's name, the Atlantic Federation reasoned it could simply act under its own banner—after all, declaring war and actually fighting were separate matters, a lesson ironically taught to them by the East Asian Republic.
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