Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 72 What are the Zeon people doing?
"Why are these Zeon people like turtles, hiding in their shells and not coming out?"

"Yeah, I was still waiting for them to counterattack, but it's been three days and these guys don't even dare to go out!"

At the federal military base in the capital of Leah, several federal pilots who had just finished their combat readiness duties were yawning and chatting as they hurried to the dormitory. Because someone had destroyed their own machine, they were forced to stay on duty outside for three more hours and were already extremely sleepy.

"I don't know when we can launch an attack. I really don't want to be on duty anymore!"

"Yeah, but I think they'll be attacking soon!"

"Why, do you have any inside information?"

"Have you seen Clyney?"

"It's useless. Yeah, that guy has been in the hangar these days!"

"His body has been repaired!"

"No wonder!"

The federal pilot suddenly realized, and then spoke in a very envious tone.

"But I also want to drive his prototype Gundam!"

"If you drive that thing, you'll have to take on the most dangerous missions. With your skills, forget it!"

"You're just saying your driving skills are great!"

While a few people were chatting, the protagonist they were talking about happened to walk out of his dormitory and passed by them.

"Krini, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to add a pattern to the shield!"

Holding a scroll of hand-painted paintings, Macharius was like a primary school student who had got a new toy and couldn't wait to show it to a few people.

"This thing, seems to be, a dragon?"

A pilot with gray hair took great pains to identify the strange yellow creature on the paper, which looked silly and cute, but also a little bit mean.

Finally, he confirmed that this thing was a dragon!

"Lieutenant Wolfe, you have a keen eye. You can even see that!"

"Uh, it's okay, but isn't this pattern a bit childish?"

The lieutenant looked at the figure that was facing forward with its butt sticking out, then turned its big round head and made a face, and asked tentatively.

"Gives me the feeling of wanting to slap him!"

"This is the effect we want!"

Macharius nodded in satisfaction.

"The Zeons will also involuntarily fire at this thing, especially in a highly tense situation!"

"Does this really work?"

"I don't know, that's why I want to try!"

Macharius rolled up the pattern and turned to leave.

"If it works, let's try it. By the way, Krini, what's the name of this thing?"

"I call it the Milk Dragon!"

The rules of the Federal Army were not so rigid. It was not difficult to add a pattern to a weapon without damaging the equipment or destroying the standard paint job. So, within half an hour, a cute little dragon appeared on the shield, just above the crescent-star cross.

At first, the maintenance team thought that Macharius was going to change his paint job and felt it was a pity, after all, his original red dragon was very handsome. However, after Macharius explained, they realized that this thing was painted on the shield to mock the Zeon people.

"So, the prototype Gundam has been completely refurbished?"

"Yes, but next time you should try not to use your kicks. We haven't had many spare parts delivered yet. If it breaks down next time, you'll have to wait for Side7 to deliver it!"

The head of the maintenance squad, Captain Seitaro Sakaki from East Asia, gave earnest advice.

"I checked your lead cannons earlier, and both Vulcan cannons are fully loaded!"

"This is not a sudden idea!"

No matter how thick-skinned Macharius was, he felt embarrassed when he saw Captain Sakaki Seitaro's heavy eye shadow.

Then he promised that he would not kick again next time!

After drawing the milk dragon pattern, Macharius prepared to return to the dormitory to continue his unfinished initial battle report. This was the experience he summarized based on actual combat feedback. Not only was Dr. Timley waiting, but even Luna II was waiting.

He has already finished writing about the mobile suits and is preparing to add some content about the mobile suits' auxiliary equipment, such as the mobile suits' auxiliary aircraft that have not yet been released, commonly known as the so-called flight pedals.

Because at this time, the combat endurance of the mobile suit in space depends entirely on its own stored propellant. Once it is exhausted, no matter how powerful the mobile suit is, it will become an immobile target.

If it is equipped with an auxiliary flight system, it can save propellant in the early stages of combat, and even use auxiliary equipment to gain a better tactical advantage. In an emergency, this flight pedal loaded with energy and ammunition can also be used as a disposable missile.

At this time, neither Zeon nor the Federation has yet developed such equipment, so it is very important to seize the initiative!
While Macharius was writing furiously, someone knocked on his door again.

"Boss, Colonel Carter is calling a meeting with the entire regiment! We probably need to take action!"

Youdin shouted excitedly outside the door.

"It's about time to take action!" Macharius put on his military cap, stuffed the draft document into the safe, and then followed Yudin to the headquarters building.

"Everyone, the jet lag should be almost over by now! Now that you've rested, it's time to get to work!"

In the huge combat conference room of the headquarters, federal pilots, armored drivers, and even fighter pilots all gathered in front of a huge holographic projection map, while Colonel Carter and two regimental staff officers stood under the map, looking at the dozens of satellites of side6. These satellites were neatly stacked in space, and from a distance, they looked like a three-dimensional rectangular block!
"Currently, our army actually controls only three colony satellites! But the good news is that we don't need to clear out the remaining colony satellites one by one, because the rebels haven't been able to control all of them either. Their manpower is really limited. Even with the help of the Zeon people, they can only actually control these few satellites!"

Then, the holographic map was pulled and enlarged, and those unimportant satellites were deleted, leaving only a few satellites located at the two ends of the rectangle remaining on the map.

The left side is the territory of the colonial government, and the right side is the territory of the Rank independence organization.

"We've confirmed that the rebels' headquarters is on the last satellite, number nine! Furthermore, satellites seventeen and twenty-three each have a squadron of Zeon mobile suits stationed there. These also serve as the rebels' logistics center and training base. Currently, approximately ten thousand rebel soldiers are receiving Zeon-related military training! As for satellites thirteen, thirty-six, and thirty-seven, which are further out, the situation on these satellites is unclear, but it's confirmed that there are no Zeon troops present. However, they have been the rebels' main activity areas in the past, so we must be careful!"

"So, our initial attack targets are these three outer satellites!"

Colonel Carter knew that Macharius was the only one in his mobile suit battalion who could fight, so he would not rush to find the Zeon mobile suits for a decisive battle, as that would not allow him to take advantage of his own firepower.

After all, the 130th Armored Training Regiment is a combined unit. In addition to mobile suits, it also has tanks, fighter jets and infantry units. When necessary, even the two Salamis ships responsible for fleet escort missions can be put into battle.

Unless the Zeon Volunteer Army can pull over their Musai or Chibe-class, they will not be a match for the Federation Army.

After Colonel Carter determined the initial objectives of the counterattack, his staff began to deploy combat missions for each unit.

1530 pm
"Macarius Scrinyi, Prototype Gundam, attack!"

Carrying his brand new Milk Dragon Shield, Macharius piloted his machine and jumped out of the Columbus-class cargo hold again.

"It's so uncomfortable without a matching mothership!"

Macharius looked at the decreasing propellant reserves on the screen in front of him and suddenly felt heartbroken. If he had a dedicated mothership, he could directly take the catapult and launch his body to combat speed instead of accelerating slowly bit by bit. Fortunately, the airspace in front of him was calm, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked while accelerating.

Through the display in the center of the cabin, Macharius quickly saw his target, the colonial satellite numbered 13. At this moment, it was lying quietly in the embrace of the universe, and as programmed, it was slowly rotating at a speed visible to the naked eye, providing standard gravity for the residents inside the satellite.

"This is Red Dragon. Everything is fine here. Prepare to carry out the next mission!"

After circling the satellite and confirming that the surrounding space was truly safe, Macharius immediately reported on the communication channel.

"Roger that, Red Dragon, please keep communicating!"

"understand!"

After ending the communication, Macharius stepped on the pedal directly, adjusted the output of the jet engine behind him to the maximum, and then rushed straight to the seemingly calm spaceport at one end of the satellite.

"No warning, no enemies here?"

Before entering the spaceport, Macharius tried to explore it with his new human sensing ability, but this time, no lightning flashed through his mind.

"I've actually started to rely on this ability. I've been so lazy! But if I don't use it, I can't become a new human. So, Lala, please guide me!"

Because the transmitter on the communication channel was turned off, Macharius was now all alone. In order to dispel the chill brought by the deep and dark universe surrounding him, he simply talked to himself in the cabin, imitating Char's tone.

But the effect was obviously not very good. It did not have the kind of feeling that Char had that was enough to serve as a teaching that would be remembered for a lifetime. Fortunately, the distance was not far. After entering the channel of the spaceport, he stopped and devoted himself to external vigilance.

Once inside the channel, Macharius saw some workers wearing hard space suits who were repairing the damage on the inner wall of the channel. It was obvious that there had been a fierce battle here before.

After seeing Macharius's body approaching, these workers were not afraid, but greeted him enthusiastically.

"Great, the federal army is here!"

"What are you doing?"

Macharius didn't let his guard down in the face of these enthusiastic fellows. His shield always protected the all-important cockpit, and even when he approached to inquire about information, he did so only after checking the workers on the monitors.

"As you can see, we're repairing the spaceport. Damn those Zeons! They flew over here to have a good fight, leaving us with a mess to clean up!"

"Are there any Zeon here?"

"The Zeons? Gone, even those who wanted to declare independence. They took away all the drivable spaceships and shuttles. Those damn bastards even took away the satellite's food reserves when they left!"

The worker who spoke to Macharius was furious.

"Did they take away the food?"

"Yes, not only that, shopping malls, convenience stores, clothing, electrical appliances, and even children's toys were all taken away. Those Zeon people are like starving beggars, they want everything!"

"So, when did they start shipping goods?"

"It was very early. They started moving the goods since they arrived here, and the last ship left yesterday!"

Macharius was also a little surprised when he heard the complaints of these fellow villagers. Is this still the Zeon he knew? Why is it like the Japanese invaders invading the village?
Although he was puzzled, he still sent a signal to the rear after confirming the safety of the port. Then, a group of Swordfish fighters escorted the Manzhu gunboat loaded with infantry to quickly land at the port and firmly controlled the spaceport.

In this way, even if they successfully regained control of the satellite, they would be unable to do anything about the supplies that were transported away from the colony satellite!

After receiving the report from Macharius, Colonel Carter was also puzzled. He felt that something was wrong, so he did not bother to let the troops rest and went straight to the other two outer satellites. As a result, the situation was still the same. Whether it was the Zeon people or the Rank Independent Organization, they not only left without a trace, but also emptied the supplies in the warehouse.

"So, the Zeons are no longer fighting, but are becoming porters?"

Somehow, Macharius suddenly remembered an old joke about how, after World War II, Japan buried the looted coal mines under Tokyo Bay and injected oil into the ground on its homeland so that it could continue to be used in the future.

He now suspected that the Zeon people also intended to do so, otherwise he would not be able to explain their behavior.

Moreover, Zeon has done this before, and there is even a guy who is proud of it, and that is Kycilia's trusted subordinate, the famous Markbay.

"So, the toilet paper looted from this colony is enough for Zeon to consume for ten years?"

(End of this chapter)