Chapter 136: The Falling Tears of the Sky
Augusta?
While instructing his team members to activate their thrusters and jump back onto the Chaser, Eli frowned.
Admittedly, he had known that the Tears of the Sky planned to drop a meteorite to threaten the Federation base, but he hadn't known exactly which one.
He hadn't expected it to be Augusta.
In that case, the enemy's strategy was clear—they wanted the remnants of Zeon in New York to hold back the mobilized Federation forces while they launched an attack on Augusta Base.
Eli was the last to ignite his thrusters and jump onto the Chaser.
At this moment, he once again felt the Chaser's hangar capacity was too limited.
Like now, when they needed to refuel their spent propellant.
"Arcadia, once you're resupplied, move to the deck and make space for the others."
"Understood~ Captain, aren't you the one who needs it the most? Hover mobility sure burns a lot of fuel, huh?"
Noticing Eli's tense state, Arcadia deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone.
"Don't worry about me. I can still fight, and we have enough time."
During the recent battle, Eli had barely used his thrusters—except for landing and a few quick assaults, he had refrained from engaging the hover propulsion system.
Eli ran a full system check on his machine, and after confirming no additional issues, he gripped the control stick tightly. Under Istha's anxious gaze—her arms crossed tightly over her chest—he pulled the lever to close the catapult hatch.
This was already pushing the ship's weight limits, yet they had to do it twice.
As a technician aboard this vessel, just watching it happen was enough to cause heart palpitations.
Upon arrival at the battlefield, the moment the twelve mobile suits touched down, the morale of the Zeon remnants noticeably diminished.
Their target was the large radar station—destroying it would allow their allies, who had occupied the mass driver, to effectively threaten the Federation base.
"Lieutenant Allison, stay back and guard the radar. The rest of you, listen up—no exaggeration, but the safety of North America is in our hands!"
With those brief orders, the battle erupted.
However, it was clear that the Zeon remnants—mostly Doms and Zakus—were no match for the specialized cleanup teams Undertaker and Exorcist.
Moreover, the Zeon side had only ten mobile suits, already at a numerical disadvantage.
The Night Battle-Type Efreet attempted to take down a few GMs first to ease the pressure, but before it could act, Eli had already locked onto it, dashing forward and suppressing it completely.
The Night Battle-Type Efreet, designed for stealth, was equipped entirely with melee weapons. Once caught in Eli's grip, all it could do was struggle to defend itself.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Zeon mobile suits were quickly subdued by the elite Federation team, pinned to the ground.
Eli still wanted to understand what differences the Tears of the Sky had from his memories.
"Surrender. The entire area is under Federation control."
Eli spoke to the opposing mobile suit, offering a final chance.
"You wouldn't understand… Zeon's glory, Zeon's righteousness… You refuse to acknowledge Lord Dozle's declaration, hiding the truth from the space colonies, pretending the fight is over!"
"It's already over."
"No! It's not over!"
The Night Battle-Type Efreet raised its katana, putting Eli on high alert.
But in the next moment, his caution turned to shock—he instinctively took two steps back in disbelief.
The Efreet had turned its blade toward its own cockpit.
"The Federation… You don't understand the rage of the space colonists…"
This guy—he was trying to destroy his own nuclear reactor to take out the last remaining large radar!
"Don't!"
Just as the Efreet was about to act, a female voice rang through the communication channel.
And incredibly, the Efreet actually stopped.
Eli didn't even need to look—he knew exactly who had called out.
"Shirley…"
Yorg, who had been pinning down a Zaku, stared blankly at his teammate.
Shirley was being held at saber-point—Arcadia's beam saber hilt was pressed against her cockpit.
"Stop fighting, Eric…"
Ignoring the weapon aimed at her, Shirley continued pleading over the channel.
"The battle is over. The Federation is rebuilding the colonies. Everything is getting better. Stop this… The Tears of the Sky is meaningless now…"
Shirley—once an undercover operative—had genuinely changed her stance.
She wanted these Zeon remnants, who refused to accept the war was lost, to abandon their futile Tears of the Sky plan.
"Tatiana…"
That was Shirley's real name.
"You may be right, but it's not enough… Zeon's wishes… are still far from fulfilled. The Tears of the Sky is not meaningless—we can reignite the fire in the hearts of the space colonists, make them fight for their true rights again!"
So that's it. The Tears of the Sky had undergone a major shift. It was no longer just a plan to threaten Earth's military bases with a mass driver, like in the original scenario!
Eric knew something—something that made him this resolute.
"Don't kill him!"
Eli shouted as a pink beam sliced through the Efreet, severing both of its arms. The katana fell powerlessly to the ground.
"Sniping sure comes in handy,"
Io, piloting a GM Sniper II, finally lived up to his machine's name.
Using a beam sniper rifle from Yashima's MS division, he sustained the beam long enough to completely disable the Efreet's counterattack capability.
At the same time, to prevent Eric from following the example of other Zeon remnants by shooting himself, Eli acted immediately—his MS's left fist clenched tightly, pouring the entire machine's power into it. With the added momentum from his thrusters, he delivered a full-force punch straight into the Efreet's chest!
Seeing the now-motionless Efreet, Eli finally let out a sigh of relief.
The rest would be handled by Federation interrogation.
But then—
A piercing alarm blared through the cockpit, and Eli's heart sank.
He had been too quick to relax.
Enemy reinforcements? Or…
"It's above us—A meteorite!"
Shirley shouted, alerting everyone to the unfolding disaster.
Eli looked up.
A massive meteorite was falling toward them.
So that was it—the radar was intact, but the mass driver on the Moon had been successfully captured.
A cold chill ran down Eli's spine.
For the first time, he felt the situation spiraling out of control.
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