Chapter 572 Endless War
The unusual movements of the Rebel Strategic Communication and Information Operations Department were soon noticed by the Interstellar Federation's Counter-Information Manipulation Headquarters and the Federal Security Intelligence Agency.
The emergency report was signed by the two ministers and delivered directly to the Assistant to the President for Federal Security Affairs.
Also arriving at the same time were frontline battle reports from the Twin Star Fleet.
In the conference room, the core members of the cabinet sat upright, nervously looking at Speaker Hans, who had a heavy expression on his face.
Since they were called to the meeting, they have not left the Speaker's residence for a day and a night, and everyone's face shows an unconcealable fatigue.
Matthew, the youngest son of Old Hans, gulped down a big mouthful of strong black coffee, forced his eyes open and asked, "Father, what's wrong?"
Old Hans' lips drooped, and he tapped the handheld light screen. Two three-dimensional projections suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
It is the video "The Fall of the Earth" that is now going viral on the Star Domain Internet, and the video of the Binary Star Fleet biting the tail of the Rebel Fleet and entering the Void Star Vortex.
Matthew tilted his head and looked for a long time, and finally jumped up from his chair when he saw the figure of the Seraph.
“Father! Isn’t that someone’s mecha?!”
The cabinet members were also startled. The Minister of the Interior frowned and asked, "Mr. Speaker, what is this?"
Old Hans let out a long breath and said in a deep voice, "This is a video that the resistance army pushed on Xingdi. After technical analysis by the General Security Intelligence Bureau, it was confirmed that there is no trace of artificial synthesis and it is a real scene."
"It should be the scene of the Third Quadrant Fleet and the demons fighting on Earth."
Matthew was puzzled: "Huh? That mecha is...?"
Old Hans pursed his lips and said nothing.
He doesn't know what's going on with that mecha!
"Did Schnatter or the rebels deliberately create a mecha modeled after the Seraph?"
“What are they trying to do by pushing this video so hard?”
"Are you trying to say that the commander-in-chief is back?"
"Tsk—" Matthew glanced at the person who spoke, "What commander? He's a traitor!"
The man knew he had said something wrong and coughed tactically to cover up his embarrassment.
Old Hans raised his hand to stop Matthew: "What do you think?"
Everyone present was old Hans's absolute confidants, and they did not hold anything back. They spoke one after another and analyzed the matter directly.
The Minister of Public Information said: "Although the resistance has attached great importance to the public opinion front in recent years, it has never taken such a large-scale action. Look at the comment and forwarding section, it is like a pre-war parade. It is definitely a campaign to build momentum."
"And they deliberately released the video with that mecha, so they must have had ulterior motives."
The Chief Administrative Officer said, "They have been gathering forces under the banner of unification—under the banner of that woman. Now they have brought out this mecha, and I'm afraid that's their purpose as well."
"Mr. Speaker, I suspect that our previous analysis of Schnatter's motives missed a key link."
The Vice Speaker stood up and said, "That's right. Although disrupting the Earth's plan to join the Interstellar Federation can certainly hit the Speaker, it will not help him at all. Besides, he can never whitewash his actions of colluding with the rebels."
Old Hans narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So, they are not trying to stop Earth from joining the Interstellar Federation. Instead, they want to take all the credit for this tremendous achievement. They want to use the momentum of public opinion about Earth's return to start a rebellion and declare war on the Federation!"
Matthew was shocked: "What did you say?"
No one in the conference room paid any attention to him. The deputy speaker continued, "They released this video, exaggerating that the Earth was under fierce attack by demons and the home planet was on the verge of collapse. However, Schnatter and the resistance army managed to turn the tide and save the people from danger."
"In this way, they not only stole the glorious merit of retrieving the home planet, but also whitewashed the resistance army."
"Mr. Speaker, doesn't this move look familiar to you? It's the one that woman used before!"
There was dead silence in the conference room.
Old Hans looked around at the determined faces of the cabinet ministers, and his stomach ached and cramped as if he had swallowed a basket of sea urchins raw.
There is no doubt about it. Schnatter pretended to be stupid and allowed the resistance army to lie dormant for many years. Finally, they got the chance and took advantage of his carefully planned plan to return to Earth.
Old Hans was so angry that his eyes were about to bleed. The words he spat out from between his teeth were colder than ice: "They, should, not, even think about it!"
On the other side, in the boundless darkness of the void star vortex.
The screen ship at the rear of the rebel warship was always at the edge of the missile range of the Twin Star Fleet's vanguard. The two acting commanders stared at the radar map for a long time. Vice Admiral Leila said quietly, "Why do I feel like the donkey hanging by the carrot?"
Lieutenant General Fili sighed, "Haven't we been treated like dogs by the rebels many times? They were all generals who were trained by us personally."
This topic was not easy to expand, so Leila said, "I don't quite understand the intentions of the rebels. They didn't leave any ships behind at the Eclipse Fortress. Didn't they agree to ambush us?"
"But if we really want to ambush, we can't let the news leak out, right?" She quickly denied herself, "Why do I feel like I can't figure out the other party's pulse at all? Is Schnatter such a smart person, huh? Fili?"
Fili shook his head: "Even if he is playing dumb, I don't think he can mobilize the resistance army. I think there should be someone behind him who really makes the decision."
Leila raised her handsome eyebrows. "Who has such great power to control Schnatter and the Third Quadrant Fleet and mobilize the resistance?"
For some reason, Phil's heart was pounding. Just as he was about to speak, a communications officer came hurriedly and handed him a copy of the latest top-secret instructions from the new primary star.
Fili lowered his head and quickly scanned the light screen in his hand. When he realized what he saw, he looked up suddenly, and his trembling eyes met with Leila who had received the same order.
"Philip, am I seeing things?" Leila's eyes widened as she looked down in disbelief at the few lines of words on the screen.
"Schnatter bloodily massacred the citizens of Earth with the intention of seizing the home planet as a base for the rebels to establish a pseudo-regime. The cabinet passed an emergency resolution authorizing us to lift all weapons restrictions and allow us to do our utmost to regain control of the Earth."
"What does the last sentence mean? If we fail, we must stop Earth and the rebels from passing through the Void Star Vortex at all costs to prevent the Federation from being dragged into an endless war."
Fili's throat was dry, and after a long while he spoke in a hoarse voice: "I guess what this sentence means is that if we can't completely wipe out the Third Quadrant Fleet and the rebels, then even if we blow up the earth, we can't let them safely pass through the Void Star Vortex and enter the sight of the citizens of the Federation..."