Event: Routine Briefing

The same morning, the same meeting, the same idleness.

Watching the staff officers argue fiercely about something—yet seemingly about nothing—the Commander gradually felt a sense of helplessness.

"Given our current progress, we are fully prepared to handle any large-scale invasion by the SCOURGE. However, many projects are still under research, so we should maintain silence to ensure we have enough time to prepare for battle, rather than rushing headlong like in M-War II."

"But the war has already begun. Past lessons have proven that if we let our allies endure excessive pressure for too long, they may not hold out long enough for us, leading to a total collapse. Therefore, we still need to assist our allies."

"Are you kidding me? Back then, we already had the capability to counterattack. It wasn’t that we didn’t help—the war was interrupted, not lost. And why should we care about the Royalists? Wouldn’t it be better if they were crushed? Let’s be clear: they are enemies of the revolution. We are merely in a ceasefire."

Three different arguments echoed in the meeting room, but the Commander only sighed. Long-term strategic planning was truly mind-numbing, and besides...

MDA? Why worry about them? If they were so easily defeated, we would have taken them down back then. You can’t possibly believe that pile of scrap metal could take out the MDA, can you?

"Alright, comrades, let me say a few words. Given the current situation, we don’t need to worry about others. Instead of focusing on them, let’s focus on our own affairs. Have faith in them. The MDA’s air force may not have shown much during M-War II, but the SCOURGE doesn’t have air defense capabilities as formidable as ours."

The room fell into silence once again. It seemed everything was just as it had always been. Then ring, ring, ring, ring, ring!

?
The red landline? Ringing?

The Commander slammed his hand down on the receiver and swiftly brought it to his ear.

The voice on the other end didn’t say much—just a few simple words, but each one struck like a hammer against his eardrum.

What do you mean the MDA’s airbase has been captured??!

Event Effect: Unlocks the event "Emergency Resolution."

Event: Emergency Resolution

Something's happened. Happy now?

After piecing together the sequence of events, everyone fell into thought, staring at the display screen.

"So, the MDA was lured by the SCOURGE's new fighter jets in a feint attack during bad weather, and after being heavily struck, they found another airbase had been taken over by the enemy in the meantime…"

How familiar.

Didn't these Royalists pull a similar sneak attack on us before?

"Talk about a boomerang," one staff officer remarked, and this time, no one rebutted him.

"Alright, comrades. Here's the situation as we understand it so far—the MDA suffered certain losses from the attack, but their core capabilities remain intact. This means they still retain significant combat strength. The situation isn't catastrophic, but they need time to regroup. One critical issue is—the SCOURGE has made a landing. Current intel only confirms the SCOURGE has an extreme rapid-force deployment capability, so we're uncertain what this implies, but it doesn't look good. If they use this as a springboard for further attacks, it won't be a problem for us, but it means continuous pressure for the MDA. As for the PEA-G… if they really have turned traitor, shoot them down. They're not as cheap as the SCOURGE, whose units supposedly cost less than the missiles used to destroy them."

The Commander adjusted his glasses. "Now, I'd like to gather your thoughts. Write them down."

A short while later, after the Commander collected all the suggestions, they could roughly be categorized into a few approaches.

One faction advocated dispatching the ETSF for direct support.
Another favored adopting an active defense strategy.
A third believed they should seize the opportunity presented by the ongoing conflict to further develop their own capabilities.

The Commander fell into deep thought. Although there were three proposals, the first two involved joint operations with the MDA, which would require consulting their opinion. So, in essence, there were only two real choices here—whether or not to contact the MDA.

After a long period of consideration, he made his decision.

Dialing. Connecting to MDA.

Event Effect: Triggers dialogue with the MDA.