Gundam UC Hunting Time

"Yes, I witnessed eight of them, but I don't know the exact number."

"Is that so? So this day has finally come. It's a pity the negotiations failed, otherwise this war—"

Dozru sighed. He knew very well that if the Federation Army, with its size and technology, could not be defeated in one fell swoop at the start of the war, this day would come sooner or later.

The thought that they had caused the deaths of billions of people, yet hadn't even intimidated the corrupt politicians on Earth, made him feel somewhat dejected.

"Yes, we, like Prince Dejin, are sincere in our desire for peace. It is the Federal Army that has overestimated its own strength."

Char's instigation and scheming came out so easily, reminding Dozle of yesterday's report—the Federation ground forces had also captured a state-of-the-art MS-06J—and his anger surged again.

"Let's not talk about that. Xia, you've fought them yourself, so tell me your thoughts."

"Yes, firstly, the machine itself shows strong traces of being a Zaku clone, and one of them is even clearly a modified Zaku..."

Xia Ya began his report with great enthusiasm.

"—As mentioned above, in terms of hardware, its performance is comparable to our Zaku, and many details are worth learning from. The pilot's skills and tactics are also commendable, especially the one I fought against, which was quite skilled. Considering that the Federation Army has not had the mobile suits for long, I think this is a very dangerous signal."

He deliberately raised the skill level of the Federation's mobile suits and pilots, and Dozle indeed looked distressed.

"Is that so... Just two weeks ago, they only had one MS. In just over a month, they've already achieved this level... Mass production shouldn't be too long. It seems we need to speed things up. I'll talk to the Führer, brother. You continue with the guerrilla mission and don't give the Federation forces any opportunity."

"Yes! Long live Zeon!"

Xia saluted, and after Dozru's face disappeared from the big screen, his second-in-command, Lieutenant Deren, couldn't help but wonder.

"Major, aren't you being a bit too serious?"

"Those Federation mobile suits are obviously assembled from parts of Zaku, and with such a small number, they don't pose much of a threat, right?"

Seeing that his subordinates were somewhat dismissive, Xia smiled and shook his head.

“That’s politics and interpersonal relationships, Lieutenant Deren.” He spoke in a preachy tone: “First of all, the Federation will have its own MS units sooner or later, that’s for sure. If I don’t put it more seriously, and other units suffer setbacks in the future because they underestimate the enemy, that will be our problem. Secondly, the big shots above have no idea how hard our front-line troops work, so appropriately reinforcing the enemy’s strength in the report will make things easier for us in terms of equipment and supplies.”

"I see!"

"As expected of a major!"

Upon hearing this, Deren and the others all showed expressions of admiration and respect. Xia waved his hand and floated towards the elevator. After the door closed, a mocking look appeared on the corner of his mouth under his mask.

"Hmph, the bigger the quagmire, the better, otherwise..."

On the other side—

"Next, next, good! That's it! Hurry up and get to the fixed position!"

The robotic arm gripped a newly made four-barreled Gatling gun and mounted it on the Zaku's shoulder. After the signal was given, the technicians below immediately got to work. A moment later, a former Zeonnik technician, dressed in a Federation Army uniform, pressed the Enter key and sent a signal to the cockpit.

"It's okay! Please try moving it."

Inside the Zaku cockpit, Lin Xingyuan switched buttons according to instructions and turned his head. The newly installed quad-barreled Gatling gun immediately changed direction with his movement and began to idle.

"Great, no problem!"

"OK, please try the weapon station on the right side of the activity area."

So Lin Xingyuan switched the button again, and this time the missile reflector hanging on his left shoulder started to move—inside was a newly made wire-guided air-to-air missile that could be used in the Minovsky particle interference environment. Although it had a range problem, it was still better than a simple rocket.

Then came the aiming test of the leg rocket bay and the test of the enhanced propulsion system. Based on Lin Xingyuan's needs and feedback, they worked for two whole days and the fully armed Zaku, which completely reproduced the modified design, was finally completed!

"How about it?"

Like an artist completing a masterpiece, Sergeant Mei stood confidently on the shoulders of the fully armed Zaku, radiating brilliance. Lin Xingyuan was momentarily unsure which side to look at first. Of course, in the end, the giant robot attracted his attention more. He carefully examined every detail of the fully armed Zaku, and finally couldn't help but applaud.

"This is exactly what I wanted!"

If Char comes again, he'll definitely give him a good juice this time! He was full of ambition and couldn't wait to go out and fight Char again.

Looking at the ferocious firepower of the machine, Baninger and the others couldn't help but admire it.

"Indeed, they look like they're not to be messed with."

"The paint job is too ordinary; it doesn't look like a hero at all."

"ACE has the right to customize its paint job, right?"

Someone suddenly brought up the matter, and everyone looked at Lin Xingyuan. Lin Xingyuan instinctively wanted to refuse—on the battlefield, being conspicuous is never a good thing, but the comments didn't think so.

Yes! Heads can be severed, but paintwork must never be ruined!

[Recommended three-color paint scheme for Gundam]

[Zaku painted in Gundam colors? Absolutely not!]

The Zaku is still best suited to the Zeon army's paint scheme.

But this is the Federation army.

A white monk's hairstyle also looks good.

[The White Devil has already been reserved, and the Zeon Space Force has the White Wolf, while the ground forces also have a White Reaper, whose reputation is particularly bad.]

[Let's go for a dark paint job then, a white demon versus a black death god]

Black Death +1

The barrage of comments started piling up, accompanied by a large number of donations, completely shutting down Lin Xing's original intention to refuse.

Well, being fully armed is already eye-catching enough, and the black paint is good for concealment in space, so it's actually a good choice.

"Then let's paint the machine body matte black to make it easier to conceal our movements."

He finally made his decision, looking at Sergeant Mei standing on the shoulder of the aircraft. Sergeant Mei tossed the PAD in her hand and gave him a thumbs-up, indicating that there was no problem.

The preparation team immediately sprang into action, covering the surface, mixing paint, and applying the coating, preparing for the birth of the infamous Black Death. Meanwhile, Luna 2 headquarters received orders from Gablo to send the defecting Zeon opposition members to Earth.

In March of UC 0079, just as the Zeon Earth Attack Force was advancing triumphantly and conquering new territories, a Musai-class vessel operated by the Federation Forces quietly departed port and headed toward Earth orbit.

Author's message

……

……

The hardest thing to write is just going through the motions.

Chapter Thirty: Operation Duck Hunting?

Zeon forces, orbital patrol ship—

"Msai? Which unit?"

Upon hearing the report from the observation post, Captain Mse looked puzzled and turned to ask the young officer in standard pilot's uniform beside him.

"Captain Leiden, do you know which unit is going to pass through here?"

"Just call me Johnny, Captain."

The young officer leaned closer and examined the image of Mse on the large screen carefully, but found no obvious identifying marks.

"Never heard of it. Could it be a ship from the Space Attack Force? Is Earth its destination?"

"Earth? Is it for resupply?"

"Use Muse? That's an exaggeration!"

Unable to obtain any results from the analysis, the captain turned to the communications station.

"Sergeant, contact them and ask who they are?"

The communications officer hurriedly complied, and a moment later, the other side responded. It was indeed a ship belonging to the Space Attack Force. The mission was classified and could not be disclosed, and they requested that this side keep it confidential.

"...I just feel like something's not right."

After hearing the reply, Johnny Leiden frowned, lightly touched the ground with his foot, and floated towards the elevator.

"Captain?"

The captain looked at Johnny Leiden with a puzzled expression.

"Federal Army patrols and supply ships have been operating along this route, so it's hard to understand why the Space Attack Force's ships would specifically pass through here."

"so?"

"I'll take some men out to check. If there really is a problem... we can't just let it go like this."

"Huh? I am one of us..."

They belonged to the Attack Mobile Force, a unit under Kycilia Zabi, and already had a strained relationship with Dozru Zabi's Space Attack Force. The current situation seemed to suggest that a high-ranking figure was secretly colluding with the Federation Forces, and he was unwilling to risk getting involved.

"If we've made a mistake, let's just consider it as protecting them; they should be thanking us."

Johnny Leiden winked slyly and closed the elevator door.

Thinking about it, that made sense, so the captain gave the order.

"Preparation team, our Crimson Lightning is about to launch! Get moving!"

After the outbreak of the One Year War, Johnny Leiden, as a sergeant, piloted the early production model MS-06C Zaku II in the One Week War. Then, in the Battle of Loum on January 15th, he single-handedly sank three Magellan-class battleships with his 280mm rocket launcher, thus rising to the ranks of ace pilots. He was promoted to captain and squadron leader, and because of his personal preference, he painted his mobile suit red, earning him the nickname "Crimson Lightning." His carrier ship was a source of great pride for everyone on board.

So after receiving the order, the maintenance team completed the sortie at the fastest speed. Soon, four Zaku took off from Musai and flew towards Musai ahead.

On the other side—

"...We're about to reach Earth's orbit. After we meet up with the patrol team there, you can all board the Little Musai and descend to Earth."

Lieutenant Commander Stark, who was temporarily serving as captain of the Musai and belonged to the Luna 2 intelligence department, spoke in a calm tone. This calmness pleased the former Zeon Foreign Minister, who was now an exile. He had been stationed on Earth for a long time and was well aware of the Federation's strength. He was also terrified by the atrocities committed by Girenzabi and the Zeon army. Now that he had successfully escaped and was able to return to Earth, he was naturally excited.

"Thank you so much for taking care of me all this time."

"No, it's our fault for not taking better care of you. If the flight route had been safe, we should have arranged for you to take the shuttle."

"No, I fully understand your arrangements. Under these circumstances, little Msai is safer."

They were exchanging pleasantries when suddenly, someone at the CIC booth made an urgent report.

"Ship silhouette detected behind, it's Musai! 300 meters away!"

"What!?"

Everyone was shocked, and the bustling bridge fell silent. Captain Stark glanced at the big screen, and his expression changed abruptly.

"Damn it! Why did it take so long to notice when we were so close!?"

"Sorry, the detection system of the Musai is not quite the same as that of the Samiras-class!"

CIC's report sounded like a lament.

What bad luck! We actually ran into a Zeon ship. Although it was part of the plan, tension was still unavoidable.

"Communication from Msey in the rear!"

The former Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was pale and sweating profusely. Seeing him trembling and looking as if he might flee at any moment, Captain Stark steadied himself and loudly gave the order.

"Don't panic! This was expected. Follow the contingency plan!"

"Yes!"

The communications officer hurriedly did as instructed. After a few minutes, seeing that Mse had not fired any beams of light from behind, the former Vice Foreign Minister finally felt somewhat relieved.

however--

"Musei in the rear has released MS! Three, no, four!"

"We've been...discovered!?"

Amidst gasps of astonishment from the observation deck, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs slid off his chair, utterly disoriented. Captain Stark glanced at him, then looked at his first mate and whispered the order.

"Take the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs to Little Musai, along with others."

After the adjutant helped the former deputy foreign minister, who was as soft as mud, away from the bridge, he held his breath and gave a loud command.

"All ships are on Level 1 combat readiness. Our mobile suits are to be deployed immediately! Also, send a message to the patrol team's Samiras-class ships to expedite their rendezvous."

"What the hell!?"

"Emergency deployment?"