Gundam, Gravity Elegy

At this point, he took a sip of the cold water in his hand.

Ms. Lutz gave me a bottle of water.

"Oh, then give me some to drink."

This wasn't a request for consent. In fact, by the time Gao Ren came to his senses, the woman had already leaned down and put her small lips to the straw he had just drunk from.

“This is my water.”

"Mmmmm~"

It's unclear whether this counts as a response or not, but she kept biting on the straw.

"Phew, that feels good."

She drank the small water bottle clean in one gulp and then let out a long sigh of relief.

"In the end, it's this awful weather that's so troublesome. If I remember correctly, it should be no more than 20 degrees Celsius at this time of year, but it's unbearably hot now."

As she said this, she subconsciously unzipped her driver's suit:

"Ah Ren, look, my clothes are starting to steam."

"...Are you serious?"

Although this might not have been confirmed before, Gao Ren curled his lip when he saw Shirley's mischievous grin.

"You think it's funny to tease me?"

"It's not exactly flirting, after all, a boy your age should be quite interested in this kind of thing, right?"

After fastening her driver's suit back on, the woman smiled slightly.

"The battlefield can accumulate a lot of pressure, and if it's not released in time, it can lead to mental illness."

"So your act of releasing me is considered flirting with me?"

"Hmm~ How should I put it? If you have any other ideas, you can certainly bring them up."

"Ahem—let's get serious."

Faced with that utterly unserious teasing tone, Gao Ren, unable to cope, finally coughed:

"Don't forget that we previously detected the distribution of many Minovsky particles."

Gradually, his expression also became serious:

"I'm afraid the battle is not over yet."

While this is indeed the correct way of thinking.

but……

"The radar did not detect any further reactions and the concentration of Minovsky particles was slowly decreasing."

July 27, UC.0079

6: 20 AM

About 40 minutes after the airborne operation ended, they finally gathered in the conference room of the Passenger Bird:

"In other words, excluding the possibility of enemies with anti-radar equipment, then the Zaku we destroyed were the only attackers."

"So, this test mission can be considered a complete success?"

Before the communicator's voice had even finished, Gao Ren heard his captain's rather unsteady shouting.

Although it might be a bit impolite to say it like that, he could always recall the monkeys on Mount Emei that his mother had taken him to see when he was a child:

"So, can this really be considered a complete success?"

"Why can't it count? Don't forget that you completely overwhelmed Zeon's Zaku, achieving a perfect victory in a 1 vs 5 situation. Your combat data is enough to make the big shots above realize the importance of MS, and the mass production plan will be approved soon."

"...But the support itself should be considered a failure."

Seeing Kuvatro's beaming face, Gao Ren couldn't help but rub his temples.

To be honest, he just felt a little dazed right now.

A few hours earlier, he was furious at the actions of those 'commanders', feeling that the guy named Michael was no different from some of the higher-ups.

So……

"We're here to rescue people."

That was their original intention.

He abandoned his defensive duties at the Salz base to come here and support this 'bait team' that had already been abandoned in the open, but now, looking back at the battle scene in Mariaj, he really couldn't say a word.

He didn't even dare to look at the off-road vehicles smashed by the Zaku machine guns. Even though the logistics personnel were still cleaning up the scene, he really couldn't bear to look at them.

"...No one actually survived."

Looking back, apart from one squad that appeared to have escaped, the remaining four were all wiped out, leaving only one survivor.

"But you've done your best."

Try your best...

Shirley's gentle voice echoed in his ears, but for some reason, it made Gao Ren feel a sharp pain in his heart.

In fact, even if he started all over again, he found that he couldn't do better, even if he went back to nitpick.

"After all, nobody knows why five Zaku suddenly appeared here... especially not the infamous White Ogre."

Chapter Twenty-One: What? They also have land-based warships?

Zagu.

With a green body and a scarlet single eye, wielding various weapons, it moves nimbly and fiercely on the battlefield.

To put it bluntly, that 18-meter-tall green behemoth was an unimaginable nightmare for the Federation forces still fighting on the front lines.

"But in the end, Zeon is still a satellite nation with scarce resources."

Kuvatro remarked.

"With the front lines advancing and expanding at this moment, it's really hard to imagine that there would be five Zakus wandering in the rear."

"Moreover, one of them was painted white, and at the same time, the shoulder shields of the Zaku here all seem to have lizard icons painted on them."

"Isn't that what I said? The White Ogre—he's currently a star figure in Zeon's First Land Division. You should be very familiar with this kind of tactic, Son of Sydney."

Faced with the captain's malicious and wicked smile, Gao Ren could only shrug.

He knew all too well the tactic of creating hype; back when he had barely regained a little of his ability to speak, a large number of federal reporters crowded outside his hospital room.

He even had a dedicated military officer to teach him how to deal with the media, and his every word and action was strictly controlled, with corresponding articles and templates provided.

However, for the vast Earth Federation, the means that public opinion can play is limited, but Zeon is different.

"Zeon itself had a shortage of manpower, and in order to encourage young people to join the army, it created all sorts of 'war heroes' who were allowed to customize their own mobile suits and have special paint schemes..."

At this point, Captain Cuvatro grinned.

Compared to before, his smile was noticeably more exaggerated, and Gao Ren could even see the scars on his face wriggling:

"For example, the famous Red Comet is a case in point."

"……who?"

Don't you watch the news?

"No, you can't actually receive Zeon's channels inside the Gabriel."

That one sentence immediately deflated the captain's enthusiasm, who had been about to say something:

"That makes sense. Anyway, the so-called ACE is just a bunch of stuff. The important thing is that our Mr. White Ogre has a complete MS squadron under his command."

"MS squadron?"

"That's right, their official number is 441st Squadron. They are also known as Sand Lizards because of their lizard paint scheme. They are the elite land force formed by the 1st Ground Division of Zeon. They have made numerous achievements since their first landing operation. It is said that they were the first to enter Odessa and successfully plant the Zeon flag there."

Kuvatro gently poked the electronic screen behind him with his pointer:

"Diver, send over the data."

"Yes, yes, yes—"

As that helpless voice echoed, various news clips quickly appeared on the screen:

"In short, because of their outstanding military achievements, they naturally became the propaganda targets of the Zeon Earth Attack Force, and were genuine stars—Kodaka, do you know what this means?"

"Resources, I suppose."

Gao Ren couldn't help but sigh:

"I think it's better if you don't keep us in suspense in a place like this, Captain."

"It's boring..."

Faced with Gao Ren's complaints, Mr. Kuvatro curled his lip.

After adjusting his sunglasses, he yawned.

"To put it more completely, as the 'stars' of Zeon's First Ground Division, they will inevitably receive more resources than other teams. According to our intelligence department's multiple comparisons, this 'star team' now consists of a total of 9 mobile suits, and it cannot be ruled out that there are spare units."

"There are still four left?"

"Yes, besides those we've taken down so far, we still need to face at least a full squad, and more importantly, this squad has its own land-based warships."

"They even have land-based warships?"

"Yes, that's right, it's them..."

At that moment, Captain Cuvatro wanted to say something, but suddenly realized that the tone he heard seemed a little off.

At that moment, a subtle look of bewilderment appeared in his red eyes behind his sunglasses:

"No, it's your attitude..."

Seeing Gao Ren's relaxed expression, which seemed to have let out a sigh of relief, Kuvatro's lips involuntarily stiffened.

"I might have to remind you of something. We may have to face four Zaku next, and the only mobile suits we can use are the Guncannon, which is in good working order, and a Guntank that requires two people to operate."

As for the Gundam, all we can say is that the maintenance crew is doing their best to preserve the leg structure.

"In this situation, apart from firepower and armor, we have absolutely no advantage against their land-based warships and Zaku."

"But didn't we capture their Zaku?"

Meeting Kuvatro's questioning gaze, Gao Ren couldn't help but stand up:

"If you don't mind, Captain, I have a plan here. The only problem is whether we have enough 'people,' so if possible..."

"dong dong dong"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

It wasn't loud, but its low, muffled tone silenced all other noise.

Gao Ren felt something stuck in his throat. After a moment of change in expression, he sat back down in his seat.

"Please come in."

As the commander and captain, Captain Cuvatro spoke calmly.

However, the door remained closed for a long time before that hoarse sound finally came through:

"Excuse me, how do I open this door?"

When the question was raised, everyone in the meeting room exchanged glances:

"The meeting room door uses ID card authentication and iris scanning... Never mind, diver, open the door."

"it is good."

"Drip drip"

The moment the communicator's voice faded completely, the locked mechanical door opened.

Then, someone who looked dirty walked into everyone's view.

"I'm very sorry, but the facilities here seem to be even more complicated than the tanks."

Although they are both federal officers, there is a fundamental difference between them just by standing there.

Compared to the clean Fourth Squad, he was covered in dust, his body was stained with blood, and his uniform could only be described as tattered.