Within the capital building of 3 Juno, the long hours had passed and Lucas Lehrer was forced to be among the many to wait for a return. He tried to keep sleep from overtaking him as he waited in his office. He was disturbed from his thoughts when he saw one of the Coalition Generals enter while saluting to his presence. “Mr. Lehrer, has the communications with the Earth Sphere come through yet?”
Lucas rubbed his eyes when he answered, “I’m afraid not. There is still something wrong with the communications.”
“Do you believe the President is still safe?”
“I wish I could say not with absolute certainty. But perhaps the Earth Sphere Gundams are proving to be more resilient than we anticipated.”
“We made them enemies of the entire human race and they still choose to battle for their old superiors?”
“It has become apparent that we are not utilizing the same chaos of Operation Meteor. We cannot rule out such a possibility.”
Lucas’s secretary entered their conversation when he reported, “Mr. Vice President, we have a contact signal coming from the Earth Sphere capital.”
Lucas stood up when he told the General, “Perhaps now is the time to find out.” He instructed his secretary, “Prepare the assembly.”
"It has now been decided. Edward Blare shall now be considered as part of the new OZ and is hereby for now exempt from trial."
Edward knew it was time for him to remain at peace when he simply thanked, "Your decision is most favorable Mr. Hunter. I will serve the new OZ to every extent I have at my disposal." He was escorted out of the meeting hall and back to the new hall for OZ members. He found the Earth Sphere guards along with his own escorting him and once again had a feeling of significance among men. Now I need only to continue playing this small game correctly. He thought as he made his way out. Before any discussion about Edward's case could be argued, the signal had reached 3 Juno and the representatives knew the time had come for diplomacy to run its course.
When the signal made its way to 3 Juno, a hologram of Lucas appeared before the assembly in the Parliamentary Building. He greeted the parliament with a displeased look, “Vice President Lucas Lehrer. Who am I currently speaking to?”
Malcolm greeted diplomatically, “Greetings Mr. Vice President. I am Interim President Malcolm Hunter. We have assembled the Earth Sphere government to bring about the first diplomatic speech between our two government bodies since the installment of Nathaniel Falson.”
Lucas was prepared to dismiss the offer when he answered, “As much as I would like to hear what the Earth Sphere has to answer for, I’m afraid that this form of business is only possible with the President himself.”
Malcolm took the opportunity to prevent being cut off when he added, “That is part of the news that I wish to bring. I have been required to take up position as Interim President due to Franz Kecker’s recent disappearance. Second, I regret to be the one to report this but Nathaniel Falson is dead.”
Lucas was visibly taken aback when he asked, “What? Are you trying to fool us Mr. Hunter?”
He prepared a link with the video feed at the nearby hospital. “We have live feed of his body and a DNA structure mapped out. It is yours to determine.”
A short amount of time passed before a background voice confirmed, “Mr. Lehrer… It’s a match.”
Lucas gave a sigh when he questioned the new president’s intentions, “Then… It would seem that we are forced to come to discussions. What are you here to offer?”
Malcolm was able to resume his formal explanation when he answered, “Mr. Lehrer, our two sides have dragged out this war beyond the point of sustainability. If we continue, we will not be able to claim anything left for the future of humanity other than a scorched planet that cannot support life. We must at the very least begin the discussion of a truce.”
Lucas gave an accusatory tone when he answered, “You may have been fortunate to claim the life of Nathaniel Falson. But this Coalition that he and his predecessors have built will not sink to the will of the Earth Sphere politicians. We began this war with the full intention of seeing humanity protected from the policies the Earth has threatened to reinstate and it will not end with our submission.”
Malcolm saw what Lucas warned him of and was quick to answer back in his favor, “Please understand our plight. There are areas of the Kecker administration we have not even come to fully grasp.” He saw Lucas was paying attention to this development and waited for his explanation. “While I cannot speak for the previous actions of our president, I can promise that I will offer an agreement so that both sides can begin our recovery. It has only been through the acceptance of our prior president that we were able to consider these dialogues. I beg you, please consider a truce until we can determine the root cause of this conflict.”
Lucas did not sound as displeased as before but was still giving an unsatisfied answer, “This conflict became unsalvageable when Neil Goslin was elected for executive office. Your people chose to elect the man who deliberately sabotaged the Earth Sphere economy and permitted for the future line of presidents into power. This conflict cannot end until he and his associates have answered for destroying the principals he was sworn to uphold.”
Malcolm saw some members of his house murmur in confusion when he pointed out, “I beg your pardon Mr. Lehrer but it was President Goslin’s policies that brought our economy out of ruin. He was even present for the funeral of Ewan Falson.”
Lucas easily struck down the support for the old politician when he answered, “President Goslin fixed the economy. Not the Secretary of Treasury.”
Malcolm had become more concerned about what was being hidden from the government when he tried to maintain his professional demeanor asking, “What… How could anyone determine this?”
Lucas saw into Malcolm’s confusion and could see how the influence of Kecker’s administration did not spread. “I see. Your administration is ignorant to what Hermine Falson’s agents were able to discover.”
Malcolm tried to remain hopeful on the observation when he asked, “You have the information we need to see about this matter?”
“The Coalition has sent this information for the past decade. Every time it has been dismissed as circumstantial at best.”
Malcolm was quick to take this opportunity when he found Lucas was possibly on the same page as him. “Then our administrations have withheld information from us. Surely you must permit new leadership to fix what has been conveyed.”
Lucas considered the offer before he agreed, “If your actions should permit it then yes. Be warned however that the first sign of aggression regardless of its scale will mark the reigniting of conflict between our forces.”
Malcolm was relieved when he thanked, “Of course sir. But while we are able to confirm the information can we at least understand what has brought about this conflict from years ago?”
Lucas remembered the document that served as the rallying cry for the Coalition for the early days of the war. “The most that the first Falson administration was able to find was an undocumented file on the Recovery Profile of AC 207. It contained a message between anonymous individuals with one stating, ‘Sir Albert has the key’. Find him and we shall extract what information he has in beginning this conflict.”
He agreed with the proposal when he promised, “We shall search every case possible to find a ‘Sir Albert’. Thank you for your time sir.”
The hologram faded after Lucas thanked, “As with you Interim President.”
The assembly of the Coalition officials accepted the judgment of their new president when he permitted the truce to take place. Among the first questions he saw his secratary make his way with a concerned face. “Lucas. They were honest with the report weren’t they?”
Lucas nodded solemnly before he answered, “I’m afraid so Thomas. Your father knew what he was prepared for as he instructed you to be as well.”
Thomas tried to consider the best situation they had when he observed, “Indeed. But we can at least confirm that his legacy will not go without its accomplishment.”
Lucas made his way to the office halls before he agreed, “Should these new leaders of the Earth Sphere prove to be honest, yes. We will see a possible end to the conflict.”
Dana confirmed Milou’s question when she answered, “About right. You’re our best out of the group after all.”
When the repairs on the mobile suits had completed Zachariah and the other Panther pilots were able to marvel at the accomplishments the repairs had made. Zachariah found Gawel preparing several coding programs on the mobile suits when he asked, “So how long did it take for you to attach the plating anyway?”
Gawel thought for a while before answering, “About an hour fifteen. That extra ten came from a jam in the right shoulder that wouldn’t let up until we dug around for it in the right shoulder. Turned out to be a safety latch that could only be removed manually.”
Nasir found it to be an odd addition when he asked, “Anything special about that thing?”
Gawel scratched his head when he remembered, “Something on the sides saying ‘Sir Albert is German’. Not sure what that was doing there exactly.”
Mercurio overheard this message when he asked, “Wait, Sir Albert?”
Gawel nodded when he confirmed, “Yeah that’s what it said.”
The idea was much of a longshot but decided that it was at least worth considering. “Do you think you could find some German variation of Albert?”
Gawel moved out of the programming section and used a website to show the variations of the name Albert on a website. “Yeah, there’s some right here. What’re you looking for?”
There were results on the page but one name stuck out to Mercurio. “Ulbricht…” He saw Dana was nearby when she was only lightly curious on the coincidence. “Captain, is General Ulbrict still stationed at the Parliamentary Building?”
She decided that this was probably the only way they would have the way forward if there was any real substance on the revelation. “He should be. You got questions for him?”
Mercurio prepared his jacket when he answered, “A few yes.” He headed for the nearest jeep towards the Parliamentary Building regardless of anyone following him.
As soon as he found the General headed for a nearby office Mercurio announced his presence, “General. I apologize if this is an inconvenient time but I have to confirm something.” He waited a moment before he asked, “Were you in any way involved in oversight of the Lindemann case 19 years ago?”
The Sol Thero units made their way through Belarus without any mercy and leaving a fire in their wake. There was no humanity or forethought, there was only destruction for these mighty creations.
Oleg and his squad mates made their way to the hangar when he tried to find out, “The hell is out there?”
One of the soldiers prepared to make his way into a nearby Leo III when he answered, “Can’t say, something is basically blazing its way through the countryside right now.”
Oleg was amazed at the fact that this was happening when he asked, “How many dozen mobile suits have they got out there if they managed to set an entire portion of the Coalition operations ablaze?”
Another one of the soldiers was reluctant to answer, “From what our early reports managed to find out, maybe three.”