88. Intervention Proposal

In Japan and abroad, the visit of the Agirakana ambassador to the Embassy in Japan made headlines. Officially, the government claimed it was merely a courtesy call—but the swift action of the new administration was well received, and the average stock price, which had been rising steadily since the previous regime had abruptly abandoned power, climbed even higher.

The general election date, previously thought to be some time off, was announced eighteen days earlier than expected—just three days after the dissolution was announced, a rare move. The Liberal Democratic Party had been preparing for it far in advance; other parties, by contrast, were barely ready at all.

Three days had passed since the data related to the internal unrest had been handed over to Admiral Marco of the Alze Empire. The response from Admiral Marco had been delayed—just as I was beginning to wonder whether this had been a complete waste of time—

“Captain, a transmission has arrived from Admiral Marco.”

“Put it through.”

“It’s appearing on your monitor, Captain.”

Well then, was that the expected reaction—or a complete miss? If it’s a miss, well, that’s just how it goes. We’ll think of something else.

“Representative Yamada, we’ve conducted our own verification of the data you provided, and while there were minor discrepancies, the overall results align closely with your conclusions.

At this stage, some suggest that stronger control measures could temporarily suppress the unrest, but we’ve concluded that this would merely postpone the inevitable problem.”

As for the use of planetary destruction weaponry, there were some murmurs of concern, but after review by an independent third-party body, the conclusion was reached that, given the current state of the military, such a scenario is entirely plausible. Though it may be problematic for me—being a member of the military myself—to say so, the fact remains that the Imperial military, including myself, has been suffering repeated domestic setbacks, and there is now a deeply entrenched sense that defeat is no longer an option. Under these circumstances, the use of such weapons is not beyond consideration.

There are, of course, many points of interest regarding the methods by which Agirakana has gathered this internal data, but I have personally verified them under my own authority."

"And so, what course of action will the Alze Empire take?"

Considering that Representative Yamada has gone to the trouble of personally conveying this information to us, we’ve concluded that Agirakana might offer us a way to quell this civil unrest—perhaps in exchange for something else. What do you think?

“I’m afraid we’ve had to resort to a rather underhanded tactic. To be frank, you’re already aware of the Sol system—our projections indicate that, in the near future, it will be utterly destroyed by a colossal Zeno conglomerate. We’re currently searching for a destination to evacuate the population from the third planet.”

“I do apologize for cutting off your narrative, but you’re saying even Agirakana can’t handle Zeno?”

“Yes. We’ve projected a conglomerate of over two billion Zeno entities headed toward the Sol system. Even if we were to suffer direct casualties, we’ve concluded that the inner planets—including the third—would be beyond saving.”

“Two billion. I see.”

“Therefore, we’ve been surveying potential colonies—however, every planet we’ve identified lies at such extreme distances that, barring miraculous intervention, even long-term development is impossible, and civilizations would likely vanish entirely. Thus, we request that you provide access to one of the habitable planets within the Arzean civilization zone—specifically, a human-settled world in the Halmaine system, which the Arzean Empire has not yet colonized. In return, we propose mediation in the current civil conflict, advance warning of Zeno’s approach to Arzean territory, and priority defense of the provided planet and its surrounding star system against Zeno. What are your thoughts?”

“Even setting aside the loss of two medium-sized inhabited planets, I’d be inclined to accept—but given the territorial implications, I cannot commit without consultation. Please allow me a moment to deliberate.”

“Understood. We await your favorable reply.”

“Incidentally, what specific measures are you considering for mediating the civil unrest?”

“For the moment, we propose a complete blockade of the system using our fleet, seizing any vessels belonging to the insurgent faction. Following that, we will urge the insurgents to accept a ceasefire. If they refuse, we will deploy ground forces to the primary planets of the Halmaine system, including securing and occupying them. There is, of course, a risk of some social capital being lost—but we will take full responsibility for restoring it. Should the ceasefire be accepted, we will construct two orbital elevators on the system’s primary planets.”

“Orbital elevators, too. Understood. I shall consult the Council of State promptly and provide a response.”

There was some traction—but would it hold?

“Maria, what do you think?”

“Perhaps our request will be granted, but the other side may impose certain additional demands regarding Agirakana.”

“Specifically?”

“I imagine something along the lines of requesting defense against Zeno’s attacks—not just in the Halmaine vicinity, but also in the capital system, Hamilapilatra.”

“On that point, it falls within our available capacity, and since we’d already planned for it, there’s no issue.”

“As for the orbital elevator, I haven’t heard anything from the captain—but it’s a sound idea. Given Halmaine’s primary planet’s scale, an orbital elevator should have been standard construction. Apparently, due to longstanding disagreements with the central government, no space-related infrastructure was ever built. So Halmaine should be satisfied with the ceasefire, at least.”

“If Agirakana can build a orbital elevator with ease, I just blurted it out on a whim— but then, is an orbital elevator really something that can be built so easily?”

“Construction is entirely feasible. With a single construction vessel and one transport ship to deliver raw materials, the core structure of an orbital elevator can be completed in as little as two weeks per unit. As for power systems and drive mechanisms, if we tune them down to Alze’s technological level, maintenance and management could be handled entirely by Alze.

Alze already has its own operational expertise with orbital elevators, so as long as we leave the non-core platform sections and surrounding infrastructure open for expansion by the other party, that should be sufficient. Currently, there’s enough slack in the construction vessel deployment schedule to send two vessels simultaneously— no issue there.”

“Two weeks? That’s absurd.”

“True enough—orbital elevators are rather inconvenient to work with. Once energy becomes freely available and gravity navigation is standard, I expect they’ll be obsolete. If they’re appreciated for it, then that’s fine by me.”

“Mm. If things come together, we’ll be dispatching two fleets and two infantry battalions. Include the support vessels in the arrangements.”

“Understood.”

The next day, an uprising erupted on Mandulka, the primary planet of Halmaine—exactly as predicted.

Of course, the local security forces, taking into account directives from central command, had already heightened their alert status beyond previous levels—but the insurrectionists, having penetrated deeper into the security apparatus than before, had secured vast quantities of weapons early on, and were now conducting urban warfare with the retired Halmaine military veterans at the core, steadily gaining the upper hand. Within days, they had seized every security outpost.

The flames of rebellion spread to the other two inhabited planets in the system, where the insurrectionists were likewise advancing with momentum.

Back at central command, a full army contingent—already under preparedness orders in response to the Halmaine uprising—had boarded numerous landing craft as an immediate-response force, accompanied by escort vessels, and was proceeding sequentially through the hyperlane gate toward Halmaine.

The election schedule, of course, is entirely arbitrary.