Gundam UC Hunting Time

[Is PL using them as drones?]

"01! You bastards—!"

Upon discovering that the lead plane had crashed, the pilot of the Zaku's wingman was furious and anxious. He shrugged off the entangled Io and rushed towards the special iron ball squad, ready to avenge them.

The first target was Unit 3, which was flanking from the side. When the Zaku fired its shells, it was involuntarily thrown into panic. But when the shells hit and were blocked by the shield on its left side, it immediately regained its confidence. Recalling Lin Xingyuan's teachings, it immediately controlled the shield to block in front of it, faced the enemy head-on, and unleashed its full firepower, taking over from Lin Xingyuan as the main tank. The other special-equipped iron balls immediately surrounded it, quickly taking their positions and firing at full power from four angles. In the blink of an eye, the wingman Zaku was also blown into a dazzling ball of flame.

"This is impossible..."

The Zaku pilot let out an incredulous, resentful cry before dying, while the pilots of the Special Iron Ball cheered excitedly. They were all volunteer pilots, most of whom had witnessed the Zaku's rampage firsthand and didn't have much expectation of becoming Iron Ball pilots. Yet, in their first combat sortie, they had actually destroyed two Zakus!

"Captain! We did it!"

"We took down the Zaku!"

"This thing actually works!"

"We can do it! We can do it!"

Their fighting spirit burned within them, while on the other side, the live chat erupted in an uproar.

【No! What the heck?】

【Quack! MS in danger!】

Indeed, the Iron Balls need both performance and quantity; five for one, the Federation would be laughing all the way to the bank.

[MS is crying in the bathroom. Could it be that future battles will be between MS and the Iron Ball?]

Even Io, who had watched from beginning to end, couldn't help but feel a pang of unease. He had been quite confident in taking down the wingman Zaku and bringing his kill count to three, but he hadn't expected these specially equipped iron balls to be so ferocious, surrounding and annihilating the target in the blink of an eye.

It was just like a wolf pack hunting.

"This is too much..."

Feeling that his position was somewhat dangerous, he couldn't help but move closer to Lin Xingyuan and whisper crickets.

"Captain, are you planning to overthrow MS?"

"Idiot, being taken down by this kind of tactic only makes you a third-rate driver."

Lin Xingyuan saw through his thoughts and couldn't help but laugh.

Hearing such a harsh evaluation, Io was stunned. He put himself in Zaku's shoes and realized he really didn't know how to deal with it, and his face immediately turned red.

"Uh... Captain, that's going too far!"

"Don't know how to deal with this tactic, right? I'll teach you."

Lin Xingyuan chuckled and asked, and Io immediately showed an expectant look.

"First, the battlefield environment is crucial. It's not always as favorable to the Iron Ball as it is this time. Most of the time, due to interference and other reasons, it's difficult to organize such a perfect formation, and there are always opportunities to exploit. Second, we must make full use of our mobility and avoid getting stuck."

"Stuck?"

"You can think of this tactic as a net rushing towards you. What should you do if you don't want to get caught in it?"

"Back off?"

Io thought for a moment and tentatively answered, while Lin Xingyuan pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Idiot, you're not as fast as an iron ball, you'll still get surrounded."

"How to do?"

"Think in reverse: you need to accelerate, break through it, and regain the initiative!"

"what?"

Io thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"That's right! If we can break through the net, we can attack the iron ball from behind! Although the iron ball is fast, its agility and turning ability are not as good as the MS. The opportunity is here!"

"And the most important thing is—don't just focus on one target. Be quick and sharp, and fire at every enemy aircraft that comes into view. Whether you hit it or not, as long as you fire, you have a chance. If the enemy aircraft tries to evade, the tactics will not be able to be effectively implemented."

"...Truly worthy of you."

Io used his imagination to simulate it in his mind and said with heartfelt admiration, but the pilots of the special iron ball were not satisfied.

"Don't do that, Instructor! What will we do if you reveal the restraint tactics?"

Hearing this pathetic statement, Lin Xingyuan was immediately annoyed: "Don't expect the enemy to be an idiot! They can't even think of a countermeasure!"

"...Then how should we counter this?"

One of the pilots of the specially equipped iron ball asked, "She's the female pilot who arrived from SIDE2 on the cargo ship. Because of her outstanding skills, she was among the first to get the chance to fly." Incidentally—she always seemed to admire Lin Xingyuan greatly, as if she could sleep with him anytime he wanted. However, Lin Xingyuan always felt this woman was strange, quite scheming, and wasn't interested in her. Plus, he was still in a daze, so he kept his distance.

"Simple. If you're bad at it, practice more. Also, pay attention to your formation and don't charge in too aggressively. War isn't a hero's game. Don't forget we also have mobile suits."

Lin Xingyuan's answer completely surprised the pilots of the special-equipped Iron Ball, because he knew very well that in the UC era, MS technology had made leaps and bounds, and later MS had incredibly strong fire control and firepower. Using the Iron Ball for all-round attack tactics would be very dangerous, so it was better to keep these pilots in a clear head.

To truly execute an all-out attack tactic, one would need dragoons or floating cannons. On a whim, he decided to give Io some challenges.

"Io, let me test you."

"what?"

"If the iron ball were shrunk tenfold, it would be faster and more maneuverable. How would you play it?"

"Hiss... No way!?"

Just imagining that scene made Io gasp.

"There's no way there could be something that terrifying!"

"I asked how to fight it, not what the possibility of it exists."

"Uh... use overwhelming firepower to strike?"

Io racked his brains, and just as he was about to give his answer, Lin Xingyuan had a sudden flash of inspiration and felt an inexplicable and intense sense of crisis. Almost instinctively, he manipulated the machine to leap upwards, while simultaneously warning everyone.

"Danger! Get out of the way!"

The next instant, accompanied by a piercing alarm, a super-bright beam of light pierced through the dark space and engulfed a specially equipped iron ball that was a beat too slow!

Author's message

……

……

Ask for support!

I've been busy lately, but I'll update more chapters when I'm less busy!

Chapter Sixty-Four Bigelow Assault

Before the panic and chaos ensued, Lin Xingyuan had already placed his shield in front of the machine and immediately looked in the direction from which the beam of light was coming.

However, the beam of light came from the direction of the sun, and the intense light made it impossible for the iron ball's observation system to discern the enemy's situation for a moment.

"What!?"

"beam!?"

"What is that!?"

The chaos in the communication channel had just begun. The trainees, completely bewildered, were terrified and panicked, and the live chat was filled with question marks.

The next second, a black dot appeared in Lin Xingyuan's field of vision. Accompanied by a strong killing intent, Lin Xingyuan's mind jolted, and he roared angrily, drowning out all other noises.

"Everyone, disperse!"

As soon as the words were spoken, eight smaller black dots emerged from the rapidly expanding black dot, hurtling towards them at an even faster speed. In the blink of an eye, they revealed their true form: large missiles! As they approached, they exploded and scattered, releasing countless smaller warheads! Approaching! Explosion!

boom--

Sound cannot travel in a vacuum, but because his vision was completely obscured by the smoke and flames of the explosion, Lin Xingyuan's brain automatically filled in the gaps. He continued to rise, moving away from the blast radius, preparing to attack once the enemy appeared.

"Instructor—"

A mournful cry came through the earpiece; it seemed another trainee had been killed. The chaos intensified due to the explosion. Just as Lin Xingyuan was on edge, a colossal creature burst out of the smoke and flames of the explosion. It had a pointed head, a triangular body, and a huge single eye that surveyed the battlefield. It opened its two giant claws, as if choosing its prey!

Bigelow!?

Lin Xingyuan recognized the monster at a glance and was greatly surprised—wasn't this thing only deployed in the final stages of the war? How come it's here now!?

The chaotic barrage of comments quickly provided an answer.

[Bigro was originally a competitor to Zaku! After being rejected, it was chosen by Kycilia, allowing its development to continue. According to the timeline, production began in April!]

Wasn't it supposed to be developed in California?

That's because a large number of project technicians were transferred to Earth, and the actual manufacturing was carried out simultaneously on both sides. This should be a preliminary technology test machine manufactured by Granada after receiving the data. Its weapons are only missiles and mega particle cannons, and its operating time is also short. If it were a later model, it would also have Gatling guns, making it even more difficult to deal with.

Thank you for reminding me!

Lin Xingyuan cursed inwardly, but of course he couldn't wait for the comments to finish before making his move. He immediately opened fire on the charging Bigro technology demonstrator, but all the shells fired by the special iron ball were thrown behind it—the opponent displayed astonishing speed and spatial maneuverability, practically a perfect example of a powerful brick flying, and its two giant claws could even perform AMBAC maneuvers, faster than the Zaku's turning speed, charging directly towards the most threatening Io machine!

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Io hastily maneuvered and opened fire on Bigelow, who was suddenly approaching, but the shells he fired were either ineffective or deflected by the enemy's armor, making the hairs on his body stand on end in fright.

The two machines then engaged in a fierce cat-and-mouse game in space, and Lin Xingyuan took the opportunity to reorganize the other three surviving iron balls.

"Don't be afraid! Move! Keep your distance! Follow me and shoot! Don't worry about hitting, just fire! Be careful to protect yourself!"

He issued a series of instructions, then used his shield and robotic arm to perform an AMBAC maneuver, turning towards the enemy aircraft again. At that moment, Io's screams came through the communication channel.

"Captain! How do we fight this thing!?"

Before the words were even finished, the machine bypassed a piece of drifting wreckage and rushed out. Then, a thick beam of light slashed diagonally from behind, vaporizing the wreckage that was blocking its way.

Lin Xingyuan immediately unleashed full firepower, pouring firepower towards the location where the beam was fired. The recoil propelled the mech dozens of meters backward in an instant. The other specially equipped iron balls followed his lead, firing fiercely in response to his fire line instructions. Under such dense firepower, the Bigro was hit head-on and exploded, but it was almost unharmed. With an emergency maneuver, it avoided the remaining firepower.

"Get moving! Get moving!"

Lin Xingyuan shouted into the microphone, and the machine quickly moved. Io, like a child seeing its father, habitually moved closer to him.

"Don't come any closer!" Lin Xingyuan shouted angrily, "Idiot! Go and fight it in close combat!"

"Close combat?! You must be kidding me! Do you want me dead?!"

The thought that Bigro's claws were a size larger than his own machine made Io furious.

"Idiot! This is the tactic with the highest success rate!"

Lin Xingyuan cursed loudly. Dealing with MA was a "secret manual" for clearing the level. If he hadn't been controlling an iron ball, he would have rushed up long ago!

In the distance, Bigelow turned its nose and launched another round of large missiles. Io scrambled through the gap between the two rockets, and Lin Xingyuan also rolled and reversed his thrust at the last second, dodging the attack. Bigelow, having missed its target, didn't stop and rammed into Io's Zani, extending its claws to grab him.

Bigro's firing angle is very small; he can only attack forward!

Its Mega Particle Cannon has a cooldown period! Be aware of the cooldown time!

The barrage of attacks was strategizing. Lin Xingyuan's specially equipped iron ball drifted laterally, turning and simultaneously shifting its cannon muzzle to avoid Bigro's frontal beam. Then, it unleashed a fierce barrage at Bigro's tail nozzle as it flew past. Unfortunately, the twin-mounted 57mm cannons had too slow a rate of fire, always lagging behind, and his Gatling gun lacked sufficient power, so the hits had little effect.

Ah, so the iron ball really isn't good enough?

If only we had a beam rifle, we could just fire it anywhere.

[If all else fails, just wait. This thing is still a verification machine! The event should only last ten minutes! Stick with it, and it'll crash on its own!]

It's simple...

In the nick of time, the thrusters under Io's feet suddenly blasted out, propelling it backward against Zani and performing a backflip over Biglo's head. It then opened fire on Biglo's thrusters. Biglo wobbled a few times, dodging the shells, quickly creating distance, and turned back!

"Coward! You should have used maximum thrust and pressed right against him!"

Seeing Io waste its fighter jet, Lin Xingyuan angrily cursed.

Io exclaimed in despair, "Then it's your turn!"

"You think I can't do it!?"

Bigelow's pointed nose suddenly opened to the left and right, revealing the muzzle of the Mega Particle Cannon inside. Lin Xingyuan immediately gave a warning.

"Watch out! Artillery fire is coming!"