Gundam, Gravity Elegy

"But this is wrong."

Gao Ren said in a low voice:

“Those who died—even though they were parents, children, wives or husbands, members of countless small families—are able to be placed directly on the scales.”

The throbbing pain in his brain still seemed to linger, causing him to instinctively cover his head.

"It is wrong to trample on their prayers and hopes, treat their wishes as a joke, and use their sacrifices as currency and bargaining chips, as if they are completely unable to understand their pain."

"but……"

"However, a qualified officer must learn to weigh the gains and losses, because reality doesn't give you time to think about right and wrong."

But before Shirley could say anything, the voice coming from the conference room door completely drowned out her relatively gentle tone.

The woman frowned; she seemed about to say something, but the man in the doorway had already walked in.

"I may have to retract my previous assessment. You do not yet possess the basic qualities of a military officer; you are lacking in too many aspects."

"...So, what is my punishment?"

Meeting that scarlet gaze, Gao Ren calmly raised his head.

But before he could ask anything else, he saw Cuvatro's lips curl into a smile:

“Punishment? There’s no such thing. We’re not even in the same league as the European Army. Even if our seniors wanted to make a fuss about this, the military police wouldn’t arrest you. So you might as well think about something else that’s more meaningful.”

“Meaningful…”

"For example, in our next task, we..."

At this point, Cuvatro simply tapped the electronic screen with his pointer.

But seeing no reaction, his brows furrowed involuntarily:

"No, diver?! You locked the system?"

"No, how could I do such a thing?"

The messenger's languid voice echoed over the radio, and Kuvatro scratched his head in frustration.

But soon, he found a button:

"Oh, I turned it off when I got off the plane, I forgot."

"..."

"Well, anyway, Xiao Gao, you need to understand one thing: our team is a bit special. We're not under the jurisdiction of the local military, and they can't command us. In other words..."

The deliberately drawn-out tone pressed down on Gao Ren's heart, and he instinctively clenched his fist:

"So you mean?"

"That means we can decide whatever ideas we have ourselves—so as the captain of the fourth squad, I hereby order that the mission objective be temporarily revised to support the decoy force of the 44th Mechanical Composite Battalion and assist them in fighting against the Zeon vanguard."

It was the early hours of the morning, but at that moment, the world seemed to brighten up.

As the electronic map was opened, a location appeared:

"Therefore, the Passenger Bird will officially set off for the quarry in Mariage."

Chapter Fourteen: Cold Blood

'buzz buzz'

The sound of the turbine engine starting up echoed in the center of the abandoned camp, and the boiling air waves reverberated in the center of the camp. When the Journey Bird took off, the soldiers of the 44th Battalion couldn't help but turn their heads.

"Wait, we haven't finished moving the supplies yet..."

At that moment, the young soldier reached out towards the bright yellow iron bird that had already taken flight, but before he could take two more steps, a cane struck him directly on the back.

"Ah—Lieutenant Yandel?"

"idiot."

But before the young man could see clearly, he saw the older man puffing out his beard and glaring:

"The supplies we need are on another transport plane."

"Oh oh..."

Guided by the cane, the soldier couldn't help but scratch his head, but soon the soreness in his back made him grimace.

"But Lieutenant, you hit me way too hard... Lieutenant Yandel?"

But just as he came to his senses and wanted to complain, he discovered that the other person had already left.

"How can someone who's already lost a leg run so fast?"

Of course, the old man, who was called a lieutenant, couldn't hear this level of internal grumbling.

Lieutenant Yandel, formerly a tank gunner in the 6th Armored Division, was forced out of combat after his cockpit was stepped on by a white Zaku during the Battle of the Middle Danube Plain.

Although he didn't die on the spot because of the thick armor, and the tank didn't completely lose its ability to move, the heavy crushing crush left one of his legs permanently stuck in the twisted gunner's compartment.

However, as a veteran who had served in the army for a long time, he could easily move on flat ground even with the help of crutches, and he arrived at the command post of the reorganized 44th Battalion with the help of two crutches.

Gently using his cane to lift the tent flap, he could just see the guy lying motionless on the ground.

"Looks like they got beaten pretty badly, Captain."

"You knew I was going to get beaten up?"

"Pretty much. When I saw a child getting off that transport plane, I knew you two would have a conflict. After all, young people are always hot-blooded."

Without any hesitation, old Yangdel sat down on a folding chair.

"Oh, and hot cocoa too."

Then, he picked up the untouched hot chocolate that was on the box and took a sip:

"They even added sugar, so it looks like it was meant for that child, right? But unfortunately, your 'disregard for human life' command style is just incompatible with theirs."

"...How are they now?"

"What else could it be? Didn't you hear that horribly loud turbine engine? They must have left... and the direction they're heading seems to be towards Mariage."

"Did they go to support Lieutenant Barbery?"

"Of course, after all, they're different from us old folks. That plane seems to have a better-looking aircraft than those Zeon guys' Zaku."

"A machine... a mobile suit?"

"That's right, I even saw a tank."

"so."

The silence was filled with the sweltering heat that the major still couldn't get used to.

Just like that night sky that has never been clear before, not to mention the moon, you can't even see the stars now.

Just like this war that has broken out, the road ahead is completely unclear:

"Lieutenant Yandel."

"Ok?"

"How long do you think that child's passion and integrity will last?"

"If it's for his own good, I'd like him to give up that impulse right now."

Inside the tent, under the light of the oil lamp, the chocolate in the iron cup remained unfathomably deep.

"On the battlefield, those hot-blooded youths die faster than anyone else."

'Click'

In the deathly silence, the ticking of the pocket watch, also placed on the table, was exceptionally clear, like the relentless footsteps of death.

Michael couldn't help but close his eyes, his thoughts replaying the voice that haunted him like a nightmare:

"Captain, I'm going to die, aren't I?"

…………

5: 00 AM

"Let's take a look at the current situation."

As the Migrant Bird sailed across the endless, gloomy sky, the exact location on the map was precisely marked in the conference room:

"The Mariage quarry is about 250 kilometers away from our previous base in Salz. However, compared to the regular Median transport aircraft, our 'Traveler Bird' has had its cargo hold expanded for easier logistical preparation and carrying capacity. Now, even when fully loaded, its speed has been reduced to Mach 0.7. Given that it may not be able to land and will need to slow down and drop cargo en route, it will take us about half an hour to actually get there."

The pointer gently tapped the electronic screen, quickly tracing an arc.

Then a photo appeared and was pasted next to the map:

"The commander of the troops stationed here is Lieutenant Ben Barbley, an instructor of MS special skills soldiers, who leads a special operations squad... to put it simply, they are the kind of special forces soldiers who carry individual combat cannons to face Zeon's MS in battlefields where tanks are ineffective."

At this point, Kuvatro grinned, and even though sunglasses covered most of his face, the prominent scars and the wide grin still conveyed a palpable sense of mockery.

"But no matter how nicely it's described, it's nothing more than having infantrymen use their own flesh and blood, carrying wire-guided missiles, to launch a death charge against Zeon's mobile suits."

"The 44th Battalion has no tanks..."

"That's right. According to Major Michael, the 6th Armored Division, including tanks and light armored vehicles, has been completely transferred. Even if he wanted to equip his troops with some mobile firepower, he would be powerless to do so."

"That guy..."

"Ultimately, if there were other options, who would actually want to physically confront those 'Cyclops'?"

Looking at Gao Ren's unpredictable expression, Kuvatro couldn't help but yawn.

With a gentle tap of the pointer on the screen, the touchscreen device quickly displayed a series of basic information:

"6x6 off-road transport trucks, wire-guided anti-MS missiles and anti-tank mines—until resupply, this is the only thing left for the 44th Battalion that can pose a threat to MS."

"Is this also the configuration for Lieutenant Barbery, who was responsible for covering the rear?"

“That’s right, almost everything is there. If we hadn’t delivered the supplies in time, the 44th Battalion’s engineering team wouldn’t have been able to lay the minefield.”

"So why are resources so scarce..."

Before he could finish speaking, the screen in front of him suddenly began to zoom in and out.

“You may not have noticed before, but the Mariag quarry is located in the northwest of Salz. To the north there is a plain, which is flat and almost indefensible, while the Salz base itself is located in the southeast, where the terrain is mainly mountainous.”

At this point, Cuvatro sketched out the map:

“Normally, if a conflict were to occur at the Mariagge quarry, it would be perceived as a time-buying, defensive operation, and the terrain would easily lead one to think of the plains to the northwest that would be the source of the conflict.”

When the exact location was finally revealed to Gao Ren, his previously tangled thoughts were finally cleared up:

"So, it's a case of cutting off the tail to survive?"

"Yes, the reason for this arrangement is to maximize the chances of survival for the most people with the least sacrifice."

"..."

"But there's no need to be so serious."

Seeing Gao Ren's gloomy face, Kuvatro suddenly burst out laughing:

"Don't forget, the so-called MS special troops are actually infantry, and their style is to fire once and then move to another location. Anyway, Zeon's main force will definitely move north, so the only ones that can be loitering in this area are probably a small number of Zeon patrol units."

is that so?

But before he could think, the voice of the communications controller, codenamed "The Diver," came over the loudspeaker:

"An abnormal concentration of Minovsky particles was detected below, suggesting entry into a combat zone."

"Has the fighting already started in Mariach?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Ren immediately looked up and saw the captain slowly nod:

"Then, Lieutenant Page will pilot the Guncannon and Lieutenant Gao Ren will pilot the Gundam, providing support by airdrop."

"Yes!"

Finally... it's here.

Chapter Fifteen: Special Forces

July 27, UC.0079

5: 30 AM