Gundam, Gravity Elegy

“My name is now Cuvatro Bagina, and also, sign this.”

"What is this... a joint operations plan?!"

Then, when he glanced over, Leonard's face, which had finally calmed down, twisted again:

"what do you mean?"

“It doesn’t really mean anything. The thing you’re ‘guarding’ can’t keep a secret anymore, and there’s definitely a problem with the Anatolia base, so we have to find a plausible way to explain it.”

Seeing Leonard's expression, as if he were about to grind his teeth to dust, Cuvatro simply yawned:

“My general idea is this: you sign this, and I’ll write a report later to prove that you are incompetent and unable to handle the rampage of that ‘EXAM GM,’ so it must be handled by us, the Lions.”

"Nonsense! I was the one who stopped the machine from going berserk!"

Hearing that seemingly indifferent attitude, Leonard felt as if his mind had been utterly insulted.

"If it weren't for Gao Ren breaking the 'rules,' things wouldn't have escalated to this point, and now you're trying to pin all the blame on me?!"

"But unfortunately, that's no longer important."

"Damn it, Edward, you should know whose orders I'm on!"

"That's not important either."

"We're in this together!"

"I told you, it's not important—"

'Click'

With a familiar, old-fashioned sound, a well-maintained revolver, almost an antique, was pressed directly against his chin.

The cold muzzle of the gun stopped the Black Dog Captain from further explanation. In the dim light, Leonard could only see the red light flashing behind the black sunglasses.

“I don’t have time to argue with you about this. You either sign this, or I’ll shoot you right here and say that Black Dog’s entire combat team was wiped out, and that Lions 'discovered' this berserk machine and reported it…”

This guy is definitely not joking.

"So, you've become that guy's babysitter now?"

Gazing at the revolver cylinder so close to his face, watching it being gently manipulated, Leonard couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Don't forget, it was because of this that the facility was shut down. Neither you nor I have lost any 'expectation' to go any further."

So, are you going to sign or not?

"...You stubborn fool, what kind of spell has that kid cast on you in just these past few months?!"

Seeing Leonard's gritted teeth, Kuvatro simply yawned, but his gaze involuntarily drifted outside.

A certain light shimmered through the gaps in the tent.

"It seems like it's already getting light—"

"what?"

"...Is that so? You can't fully understand."

Of course, even Cuvatro himself couldn't understand it.

Whether it's his current actions or his intentions, and if we had to find a reason...

"I can only say that I suddenly realized that I seem to still remember my childhood ideals and hobbies."

Once upon a time, on the Texas satellite of Side 5, existed the ideal that belonged to that boy.

"I just want to know whether this world deserves kindness, and whether nobility can bear the malice of this era."

"So what nonsense are you talking about..."

Of course, Leonard wouldn't know that.

Now, this person, who is trapped in his own thoughts and completely driven by his own desires and emotions, may only care about one thing.

"Oh, by the way, we took your GM too."

"???"

"We are currently lacking the necessary equipment, but we will find a way to dispose of it when we write the report."

Finally, Leonard's already fragile sense of reason was shattered.

"Damn beast, you even want to take my machine?!"

Chapter 101: The Counterattack of the Main Force in Africa

"The model number RGM-79F is a modified version made in Europe based on the standard GM production blueprints, combined with the war situation and local terrain."

Inside the hangar of the Passenger Bird, a GM belonging to the Black Dogs team stood quietly.

As the maintenance crew worked on modifying its damaged armor, Gao Ren heard Ms. Lutz's voice echoing in his ears.

"F stands for Fortify, which means special modification and reinforcement. It specifically strengthens the frontal armor. At the same time, because it incorporates rocket engine technology from Zeon, it has a total of six nozzles on the back. In terms of propulsion performance, it may be stronger than the prototype Gundam with an independent back engine."

"That sounds alright..."

"But this advantage is essentially based on its armor—the F-type GM uses ordinary titanium alloy composite armor, which is much lighter than the Luna titanium alloy, but its defense is weaker. But that's not the biggest problem. The important thing is that as a land-based model, its biggest weakness is its relatively poor armament design."

At this point, Ms. Lutz showed the tablet in her hand, the screen displaying the completely fixed upper body structure:

"In order to improve productivity, the early GM series mobile suits now being manufactured have almost completely eliminated the 'equipment backpack' linked to logistics. This F model takes this a step further and adopts a completely different propulsion system. There is no way to modify the design to carry fixed equipment such as missile pods or back cannons. In addition, its arm components have been simplified to the maximum extent, so there is no interface for weapon systems and it can only carry shields."

Are the interfaces for hand-held weapons universal?

"That's no problem."

To this crucial question, the woman gave a reassuring answer:

"The weapon interface parameters of Federation units are consistent and completely interchangeable."

"Then there are basically no problems. It's just a matter of using it as a regular machine."

"So, there's only one task left."

After obtaining the client's approval, Lutz quietly pulled up the revised plan:

"We will complete the repair of the external armor of the mobile suit as quickly as possible, correct the source of the enemy-foe identification signal, and then—modify the head of the mobile suit to the 'Gundam style'."

"...Gundam?"

"That's right, but the head structure of the GM series is quite different from that of the Gundam. The communication module is even an additional peripheral, so at most it's just a matter of making some changes to the appearance... That's enough for the enemy."

Of course, not everyone can see every detail of the machine called GUNDAM during battle.

For the Zeonians, and even for the Federation soldiers, there was only one thing that mattered most—they wanted to see the symbol that represented the culmination of the plan.

V - Victory!

So……

"Reporting, Lieutenant: The Passenger Bird has completely left the particle-affected area—it is not being pursued by the Zeon Air Force!"

"Very good, then let's go full speed ahead."

'Boom'

On the distant horizon, a ray of light emerges from the sky.

Facing the dazzling sun, the dark migratory birds let out a roaring cry.

It's as if it's making some kind of plea:

"Please hold on a little longer."

At least, as the main force...

"You should have targeted defense measures, right?"

…………

"Damn it, our eastern flank has lost contact!"

"Temporary supply depot number three has fallen!"

"We can't get in touch with the rear troops!"

Inside the bridge of the Fez, a heavy fork-class ship and the main force on the African front, one bad news after another echoed.

The overwhelming, disruptive noise conveyed that fundamental demand:

"Colonel, please send reinforcements! We...we have no way to deal with these enemies!"

At the same time, reconnaissance aircraft were also transmitting images—beneath the scorching sands, cyclops, almost fused with the raging sands, were howling in, accompanied by hot winds.

Their rocket launchers and machine guns operated continuously, using the most primitive methods to deliver the most effective blows to the slow-moving tanks and self-propelled artillery.

Immediately afterwards, artillery units such as Majera tanks and Zaku tanks advanced frantically, desperately tearing apart the defensive line.

"They were attacked from three directions at the same time, and the number of troops involved seemed to be quite large."

All of this was reflected in the eyes of the central commander, Djamitov Hyman, and officially became a piece of the strategic puzzle:

"It appears that the Zeon forces in the Middle East have been deployed in full force."

"But Your Excellency, their tactical performance is not quite right."

In the silence, the Basque couldn't help but speak:

"Logically speaking, Zeon's strategic manpower is simply insufficient to support their dispersed attacks..."

"However, these cunning aliens are not fools either."

Since he made this choice, he must have had his reasons!

…………

"A feint—of course, can turn into a main attack at any time."

Inside the bridge, Marlett simply stared at the strategic map in front of him, which was constantly updated with the transmission of information:

"According to intelligence reports, the African federal army is still using a large number of outdated weapons. In the high-concentration particle environment, various tanks are no different from turtles. Even the Arab Zeon forces can easily bleed them dry with a little effort."

"However, the Federation's air force should not be underestimated. If the battle drags on, they can call in strike support."

"That's how it should normally be, but unfortunately, these guys have stretched the battle lines too thin."

Meeting Captain Andrei's stern face, Malet responded:

"Under the influence of Minovsky particles, even if their air force is strong, they will be stretched thin in terms of response."

The way his lips curled up was like that of a wild beast—a ruthless hunter chasing prey dozens of times its own size:

“Our Zeon mobile suits are the best at guerrilla warfare, and at the same time, our mobility is faster than anyone else’s, so all we need to do now is wait.”

Waiting for the right opportunity...

“If these federal troops pretend to be conservative, then ground forces can gradually erode their fresh troops. If the federal commander is not stupid, he will definitely see this.”

Therefore, he was bound to take action!

'Didi Didi'

"Major, there's news from the reconnaissance plane—"

Just then, the communications officer on the bridge spoke up.

Then, a large number of aircraft figures appeared on the big screen.

Under the protection of these 'aviation fish,' a fleet of Federal transport planes, whose aesthetic appeal rivals that of Zeon, is advancing.

"The Midia formation—according to the reconnaissance aircraft's report, this unit took off from the main battle group about 10 minutes ago, and after rendezvousing with the air formation, it headed south!"

Within the Federation Army, these state-of-the-art transport aircraft, capable of taking off and landing at any time, are used not only for transporting supplies but also, most importantly, for providing airborne support!

"Could it be a mobile suit or a tank inside?"

"That kind of thing is not important. What is important is that their air force and mobile units have already begun operations."

Meeting Lilia's questioning gaze, Malet simply patted her on the shoulder:

"Contact Frio now and tell him to find a chance to retreat, then we..."

'Zzzzzzz'

However, when the words were spoken, what echoed was a noisy cacophony.