Gundam, Gravity Elegy

He lay sprawled on the still-heating control panel, his fingers barely registering anything as he gently pressed the buttons that seemed to still be functioning.

"Now, report on the situation."

"Control Department... Is there anyone still in Control Department?"

"Stop talking nonsense, Sleika. My head is too heavy right now, and I can't stand your yelling...cough cough."

Seemingly sensing something, the officer named Shreka's voice became calmer:

"Only the last 'Listening Cod' survived in our deepest third hangar, but there was no response from the first and second hangars, so they must have been... completely destroyed."

"So, you can still move?"

His groggy brain quickly processed the crucial information, and the major closed his eyes:

"However, it's good that at least some planes survived."

"Then you must set off immediately... no, you must set off immediately!"

"However, our third hangar does not have a direct ejection port; we need to control the lifting system..."

“But I’m still in control. I’ve served at this base for 20 years and know everything about it. A mere elevator… which number are you?”

"Gate number three, Major."

"Okay, I will manually issue the command to move you to ejection port number six. The explosion did not affect that area."

The moment the words left his mouth, the major felt a wave of dizziness, but his fingers kept moving across several large buttons:

"You get out of here and head towards the command post. Tell the General what's going on here..."

As he finished speaking, his voice seemed to fade away.

He pressed almost his entire body against the control panel, and then his hand, which was no longer clearly visible, gently rested on the last control lever.

"Gurgle... um."

"Major!"

"Let's go..."

In stark contrast to the trembling, weak voice, the major used almost every ounce of strength to pull down the lever.

'Clang clang clang'

Despite being damaged, the still-operating elevator moved the standby fighter jet upwards and then slowly transported it to Exit 6.

This is the outermost exit. Theoretically, those who depart from here are all 'newcomers'. Veterans often use this to make harmless jokes with the newcomers.

But now, the usually optimistic lieutenant had no time for jokes. He, who always considered himself a seasoned veteran and who didn't even always follow military regulations, felt lost and helpless for the first time.

"Major, are you still there?"

no respond.

In the gradually restored communication with the control department, he could see a figure that had fallen completely to the ground as the control lever was pulled down.

Beneath the military uniforms torn by the aftershocks of the high temperature, the area below the waist was practically charred.

How exactly did he manage to support his body?

No one knows the answer to this anymore, not only Shreka herself, but probably even the person involved who can no longer respond.

'Clang'

Ultimately, the Hound-class fighter jet was moved to its final destination.

The sunlight shone through, almost exactly the same as the destructive light from before.

It's like... a step towards death?

"Perhaps I will be back with you soon, Major."

"drop"

The green indicator lights flashed in the passageway, signaling passage, and the pilot's eyes sharpened.

'boom'

The cold metal gleamed with a metallic sheen, and a steel eagle roared as it soared into the sky:

"Screa Lowe, listen up, attack!"

Chapter 65: The European Dilemma

"In short, the 3rd Division moved south from the north and joined the 5th Division here, while the 8th Division advanced southeast according to the pre-arranged plan to join the 4th Division, which had already set out from Iberia, and continued to advance."

On the plain, tanks and self-propelled artillery were advancing rapidly, but there was something slightly different: in the very center there was a huge 'plate'.

Standing 85 meters tall, 215 meters long, and 134 meters wide, it is a true behemoth, and something of this size could not possibly be used as a war chariot.

When the Minovsky particle shattered the original integrated information and firepower beyond-visual-range strike strategy, the world returned to 'armor-and-ballistics confrontation'.

Therefore, the concept that was proposed during the wars of the old century and eventually gave birth to the product of 'tank armored vehicles' was finally realized—the land cruiser.

Its massive size, the rapid movement speed provided by its bottom-mounted nuclear thermal engines, and even the fact that its large size allows it to carry anti-jamming equipment enable the warship itself to become an information processing center on the front lines of the conventional battlefield.

This is the positioning of the Federation Army's new land-based weapon: the first ship of the Big Tray-class, the Pangpan.

And now, in this command post, Lieutenant General Bruce, Commander-in-Chief of the European Front, was indeed discussing strategic plans and the army's march with his staff:

"In this battle, the army is still not the main force, so what needs to be done is to push the front line forward as much as possible to open up relatively favorable battlefields for various air force bases."

At this point, the general simply narrowed his eyes:

"Noctis, this time you will be in charge of the protection of the left flank of our headquarters."

"Yes, we will certainly live up to your expectations!"

After receiving a response, the elderly general couldn't help but rub his temples.

At this moment, the entire bridge command center was completely silent.

In the end, there's nothing more to say.

Unlike before when they could quickly grasp the battlefield situation, they have now completely regressed to the thinking of the old-century war era. All they can do is plan the general direction, and everything else must rely on the abilities of the commanders of each army.

"So it seems that even though you are suffering repeated defeats, you are still able to quickly organize an effective counterattack."

While the staff and officers of the European Army remained silent, only a general-ranking staff officer from the Gabro headquarters took a sip of his tea:

"That's really good, Bruce."

Upon hearing this, the old man frowned.

At this moment, even the veins on his temples seemed to bulge out:

"No need for that sarcastic talk, Erlan. I have already prepared enough contingency plans to deal with this war."

"Of course, I also look forward to your results."

Faced with what could be described as overwhelming dissatisfaction, he merely smiled, but the upturned corners of his mouth made General Bruce's heart clench.

A sense of unease welled up inside me, but I couldn't quite place it.

"You'd better not try anything funny about this, I'm warning you, Erlan, the situation doesn't allow for that now..."

"Drip drip drip"

Just then, a short sound came from inside the bridge:

"General, this is an urgent report from the 6th Air Force Base."

At that moment, the old general's inner unease reached its limit.

Bruce frowned as he watched Erlan's leisurely demeanor.

Although there were indeed some speculations and hesitations, but...

"read."

"The 13th Air Force Base has been subjected to a large-scale bombing. The enemy is suspected of possessing large beam weapons, therefore..."

"Therefore what?"

"The 13th underground air base was completely destroyed. The above intelligence comes from Lieutenant Sleika Law of the 43rd Aviation Brigade."

'patta'

Unbeknownst to him, the pen in the general's hand had fallen to the ground.

It was as if the meticulously carved and decorated pen body had broken into two pieces at this moment, leaving only the exposed ink sac spilling bright red ink outwards.

It's like overflowing blood.

"It's really a shame, Bruce."

“Erlan…”

…………

"The muzzle has cooled down and the Minovsky particles are being reloaded. Another round of firing is expected in 15 minutes."

"No, one shot is enough. Let's move on to the next location."

Amidst the almost incinerating flames, the suspended Luna Tank slowly returned to the hangar beneath its nose using the added exhaust nozzles.

"Recording shooting data."

On the communications screen, the tank pilot, drenched in sweat, saluted:

"Shooting mission successfully completed."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Looking at the test pilot's joyful face, Major General Kellern returned the salute in kind.

Then, he picked up the chilled beer that had been prepared beforehand and took a sip:

"Honestly, this weapon looks really effective now. If we expand the research scope to include this penetrating power, you could probably shoot down Gabro with a single shot, right?"

"If you are not in a hurry to get somewhere, but instead choose to wait in place for 10 minutes, you will achieve better results."

Facing his friend, who was never exactly serious, Kinias merely picked up the glass of red wine on the table with a reserved air:

"Including this one, the two Federal Army bases we attacked were not completely cleared at all."

"However, if we need to stay at every base, it will be too slow for the overall battle. What we need to do is suppress the enemy's manpower as much as possible in a short period of time and gain an advantage on the main battlefield."

To be honest, Kinias didn't really understand this.

He devoted almost all his energy to this research, which was closely related to the revival of his family, to the point that he couldn't answer any other questions.

In the end, perhaps all that can be said is this:

"...Anyway, that's the problem you need to consider."

Without even bringing the wine glass to his lips, the current head of the Sakhalin family, Kinias Sakhalin, simply rose from the added chair.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

"No, it's just that the data from the two live-fire exercises so far has given very good feedback, and I want to hand these over to the technical department as soon as possible."

"The technology department?"

"The 603rd Technical Experiment Unit is the backbone of the Principality's technical force. I believe that through them, our Sakhalin family's technology will surely receive a fair evaluation!"

While that's true, is it really that simple?

"But Lord Sakhalin, if I may be so bold, the 603rd Unit is essentially nothing more than..."

On the other side, the secretary, who had been silent all along, seemed to want to say something, but was quickly stopped by Yuri.

"Alright, no need to say anything more. Get the shuttle ready for him. Since 603's 'distinguished guest' has been waiting, we can't keep them waiting too long... Anyway, I look forward to your good news."

"Of course, if there are any new results, I will deliver them to you for use."

Kinias Sakhalin's figure disappeared at the end of the bridge passage.

At this moment, only darkness remained at the end of that line of sight.

"Lord Yuri, why don't you tell him the truth?"

After a long while, Cynthia couldn't help but ask:

"Unit 603 itself was nothing more than..."

"Just a pile of unwanted garbage? Is that what you want me to tell him?"