Gundam UC Hunting Time

"Pre-production of the Gouf? MS-06G Zaku II High Mobility Land Battle Type? YMS-08B Dom Test Type? YMS-09D Tropical Dom Test Type? Aren't these all test aircraft? What are those people in the logistics department doing!?"

Looking at these machines that reeked of being experimental subjects, and then glancing at the delivery list, the pilots of the Magasiyan squadron who received the machines all started shouting.

Although the list states that the Goof is a prototype of a new type of mobile suit, the MS-06G Ground Combat High Mobility Type Zaku is a modified version based on the combat data of the MS-06J Ground Combat Type Zaku II, utilizing a large number of Goof technologies and components, essentially making it a new mobile suit; the YMS-08B Dom Test Type is a new prototype MS developed by Zmador based on the YMS-08A High Mobility Prototype, equipped with a cross-rail monocular, a heat sword, and a heat jet engine, possessing a certain hovering ability; and the YMS-09D Tropical Test Type Dom is a modified version of the YMS-09 Prototype Dom II, specifically designed for the tropical environment of Earth, all being next-generation mobile suits—but in any case, all mobile suits with a "Y" in their name are basically equated with "unreliable".

In normal combat missions, they would be overjoyed and feel honored to be able to pilot such a new type of machine for testing purposes, and they might even compete with each other for it. But in this life-or-death situation, they would prefer to use a familiar and reliable machine to avoid any unexpected risks.

"There's nothing we can do. The war is urgent, and we can't get the Zaku IIJs out!"

The logistics officer delivering the goods replied irritably, and the pilots of the Magasiia Squadron were about to argue when a loud and forceful criticism came from the Dom test vehicle that had just stepped out of its starting unit.

"What right does a team that loses all its mechs due to a basic mistake, and can't even protect its captain, have to be picky?"

The Great Demon's single eye, the Crosshair, turned around, its massive body exuding an oppressive aura. It looked down at the group with disdain, its sharp criticism leaving them speechless.

"Besides, this is already a special supplement given to you by Lord Karma. Otherwise, how could you possibly be worthy of such a machine with your strength?"

"I'm very sorry! May I ask who you are, sir?"

Ignoring the other party's harsh tone, Vincent quickly stepped forward, saluted the driver of the Great Demon, and inquired.

"Frederic Cranberry,"

When the pilot of the prototype Doom introduced himself, Vincent and the others were all taken aback.

"Colonel Frederick Cranberry?"

"That famous ace?"

"The captain of the Iron Scorpion Legion?"

"Why would he come here? Is he the new commander?"

Hearing their discussion, a voice of disdain came from among the demons.

"It's only temporary; my troops shouldn't be useless."

"..."

After being called cowards and trash for so long, even a clay figure would have some anger, let alone the Magasian Squadron, which, apart from this setback, had always been known for its ferocity and tenacity. For a moment, their eyes were filled with anger, and the Great Demon pilot, clearly noticing this, scoffed:

"What? You're not convinced? Then prove it to me."

……

……

"Colonel, when are we going to take action!?"

The team members gathered at the office door, and Vincent asked impatiently, "It's been three days since we received the machine. Just today, news came from the front lines that the Federation's new machine has reappeared on the front lines (actually, it's a test team led by Tachibana and Kajima)."

"It will be soon."

Sitting at his desk, Colonel Frederick Cranberry answered calmly, leisurely sipping his coffee.

"These are beans grown on Earth, and they taste completely different from the muddy flavor of military supplies."

Since arriving at the base, the colonel has stayed in his office, drinking coffee every day and rarely going out. He can only be seen occasionally when he goes to the training ground to mock them.

"Soon? When is that!?"

Vincent couldn't help but press for an answer, driven by a burning desire for revenge. He just wanted to rush to the front lines, find that test unit, and avenge himself. Beside him, Kiya clenched his fists, his Adam's apple bobbing, clearly unable to contain his anger. The others wore similar expressions, clearly determined not to leave until they received an answer.

"Combat is like drinking coffee. To appreciate its flavors, you must patiently start by selecting the beans and hand-grinding and brewing them."

Colonel Frederick Cranberry took a deep breath of the aroma of his coffee and spoke to himself, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, as if keeping a rhythm or perhaps deep in thought.

"what?"

Vincent and the others were taken aback, and Kee said impatiently:

"There's no need for that. Just send us to the front lines, find them, and kill them, isn't that enough? If we hadn't been caught off guard by their sneak attack last time, how could we have lost?"

"You're all too impatient."

Colonel Frederick Cranberry glanced up at him and said dismissively, as if he were looking at a bunch of ignorant brats.

"If it were that simple, would Black Reaper have survived until now? Don't say things that would shame the martyrs; that only makes you look arrogant and ignorant. Do you think the Federation's test team is a bunch of lone wolves? They have the support of the entire Earth Federation behind them, and every sortie is meticulously calculated. That kind of armor, that kind of mobility, that kind of firepower—which of those can be easily dealt with?"

"..."

Ji was speechless, his cheeks flushed red, unable to find a reason to refute. Perhaps feeling that he shouldn't damage their morale too much, Frederick Cranberry turned on the wall-mounted monitor, which immediately displayed a propaganda video of the Federation Army, featuring the Black Reaper Squad—all equipped with the latest models. They landed, fought, searched for enemies, and attacked, displaying skillful tactics, agile maneuverability, and swift attacks, appearing imposing and intimidating.

"This is no easy opponent to defeat; we must plan carefully. Otherwise, how can we explain to Lord Karma if he escapes again?"

"but……"

"No buts! It seems Doug Schneider has been too lenient with you guys. Since when have soldiers been allowed to question their superiors?!"

Frederick Cranberry frowned unhappily. Although he knew that junior officers often treated their skilled subordinates with leniency, forgetting hierarchy was putting the cart before the horse.

Ultimately, he disliked the Magasija team altogether because they lacked team spirit and a sense of honor. This was evident in their training sessions, where everyone was solely focused on personal gain, exhibiting a guerrilla-style mentality that was unlikely to change in the short term.

But in the end, he was only a temporary commander, and all he wanted was for them to obey orders, he continued.

"Deciding on how to fight is my job. You just need to do your best to familiarize yourselves with the machines and not embarrass yourselves or hold us back on the battlefield. Now you can leave."

Colonel Frederick Cranberry waved for the others to leave, then picked up his coffee cup again, his gaze fixed on the map on the wall.

"Teamwork is not ideal, but we have many skilled fighters. To make good use of such troops... Hmm, attack where the enemy is forced to defend... We must find a battlefield where the Federation Army is willing to send them, a battlefield where they are indispensable, cut off their support, separate them, and then defeat them one by one..."

Author's message

……

……

After careful investigation, it turns out that there are only a few new types of aircraft that can be deployed at this stage.

Ask for support!

Chapter 124 A Glimpse of Light in the Downpour

The torrential rain continued to fall—

On the highway sandwiched between two highlands, the federal transport convoy attacked by the Zaku squad had been reduced to a twisted wreckage: overturned trucks crushed deformed containers, scattered cans and ammunition boxes were soaking in the water, and several frightened cattle with broken tendons and bones were mooing desperately in the bushes.

With a heavy thud, the four Zaku's feet slammed into the mud, the residual heat from their thrusters sending up white steam. One of the Zakus, equipped with a shoulder-mounted cannon, carelessly crushed a heavily wounded and immobile Federation soldier as it landed, watching the body twitch beneath its armor, and let out a piercing, wicked laugh over the communications channel.

"Zaz! Don't do such a stupid thing!" the Zaku captain with horns on his head shouted angrily. "Maintenance soldiers have nightmares when they clean armor!"

"Sorry, Captain, I didn't see where I was standing—who told these Federation rats to hide in the mud?"

The Zakuganon's driver responded nonchalantly, his single pink eye surveying the surroundings with an inhuman ferocity.

The three surviving federal logistics soldiers crawled out from under the vehicle, their combat uniforms soaked in blood and turned dark brown. They had wanted to surrender, but Zaz's brutality had shattered their hopes. With no way to escape, they could only put up a desperate resistance with their self-defense weapons.

"Bang bang bang-"

The bullet struck the Zaku captain's aircraft, leaving several pale bullet marks on its armor made of high-tensile steel. Without a second thought, the Zaku captain, who had just been berating his men for their brutality, raised his machine gun and casually fired a high-explosive round, instantly obliterating the bodies of three support soldiers in the blast. The Zaku cannon pilot whistled, while his two teammates remained indifferent to the atrocity, focused solely on inspecting their spoils.

"Wow, there's even beef! The Federation troops are eating too well!"

"We'll bake them ourselves later."

"Forget about food, let's check if we have any ammunition and fuel. The armored vehicle unit and infantry unit are still waiting."

The captain urged them on, and a Zaku, machine gun raised, strode toward the rear compartment. Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared on the communication channel—its one-eyed head exploded instantly, the orange-red flames expanding in the rain.

"What!?"

"Enemy attack!?"

"Where!?"

"Towards the mountaintop!"

In an instant, the Zaku squad's communication channels were in chaos. The experienced captain was the first to determine the direction of the incoming shells and suddenly looked up at the mountaintop.

On the other side, behind the mountaintop, in the Ground GM, kneeling on one knee, Doris, having accurately hit an enemy aircraft with a single shot, raised her eyebrows triumphantly and reported while reloading:

"One shot hits!"

"You hit it too high, go back and practice more!"

With a casual remark, Lin Xingyuan manipulated the black ground combat Gundam, holding a rocket launcher, and calmly aimed at the three Zaku units that were frantically making tactical maneuvers, launching the rocket.

The next instant, the rocket, trailing a plume of smoke, hurtled toward its target. As if guided by eyes, it struck the upper half of the Zaku Cannon with its first shot. With a violent explosion, the upper half of the Zaku Cannon was completely obliterated, while its lower body fell backward like a wooden stake.

"Zaz! Zaz! Damn it!!"

"They're here too!"

"Don't panic, the enemy doesn't outnumber us!"

Captain Zaku berated his panicked subordinates, maneuvering to evade while simultaneously turning his cannon to return fire with a rocket launcher. Just as he fired the first shot, a barrage of shells swept down from above—looking up, a angular, boxy machine pierced the rain, firing as it landed close to them, casually drawing its beam saber.

The beam saber's intense heat evaporated the raindrops, forming strange plumes of steam in the air, resembling the legendary Sword of the Wind, King Arthur's sword. The nearest Zaku immediately raised its machine gun to fire, but only managed to hit the steam drifting behind it.

"Is it a new type of aircraft from the Federation Forces!?"

"So fast! Get out of the way—!"

Captain Zaku's pupils contracted, and he shouted a warning while turning the cannon around. However, the next second, his subordinate Zaku was swept across the waist by a beam saber that passed by. He was split and fell while retreating, and was eventually destroyed in the explosion, without even a chance to escape.

"asshole--"

In the blink of an eye, the squad had lost two units. The Zaku captain was furious. He fired the rocket launcher with one hand and drew his Zaku battle axe with the other, preparing to fight back. But the approaching alarm sounded again, pointing behind him. He turned in shock to see the first Zaku to be wounded sliced ​​in two by a halberd-like beam weapon. Immediately afterward, a new type of unit with a boomerang-shaped antenna on its head lunged forward. At the same time, another Federation unit that had successfully dodged the rocket was closing in. Caught between them, he lost his composure, and then, almost simultaneously, the halberd and beam saber pierced through his body.

"monster……"

With a cry of resentment, Captain Zaku vanished into the blades of light. Having lost its pilot, the Zaku collapsed to its knees, burying its face in its hands, and fell silent.

"Why are you fighting so hard? You're even stealing my spoils!"

On the hillside, Doris, who had only managed to get half a kill, complained unhappily. She stood up, holding her cannon, and followed Lin Xingyuan's black Land Rover down the hillside. Mira, driving a hovercraft, also emerged from her hiding place with Anita, who was in charge of reconnaissance.

"Don't be angry, Sergeant Brant. Look, I haven't even gotten a single kill."

Anita laughed over the communication channel. Lin Xingyuan immediately affirmed her work.

"No, Sergeant, you contributed to all their achievements—when radar was unavailable, your listening skills were the most reliable eyes, and you were a great help."

"Just doing my job, hahaha~"

Inside the hovercraft, Anita's cheeks flushed and her eyebrows danced with delight, which only made Doris more unhappy.

However, it must be said that the recent training has been extremely valuable, and all three have shown amazing growth.

In the blink of an eye, the black Land High and Land GM approached the battlefield, joining up with Lilith Aiden and Sherry Page's two aircraft. The rain stopped just then, and when Lin Xingyuan disembarked, he saw Sherry and Lilith, who had disembarked earlier to treat the wounded, vomiting violently; Doris glanced over, her face also turning pale, and she quickly covered her mouth.

Lin Xingyuan followed their gaze, his pupils flickered, but he showed no signs of vomiting. Seeing that all three were in bad shape, he went forward alone, searching for survivors and collecting identification tags from the victims. When he returned, he saw Anita beside the hovercraft vomiting as well, and Mira's expression was equally grim, using the smell of cigarettes to suppress the stench of blood in the air.

"Captain, you seem quite used to this kind of scene?"

Seeing Lin Xingyuan's nonchalant attitude, Mira asked with some concern.

"More or less." Lin Xingyuan nodded.

Since transmigrating to this world, he has seen countless corpses of all kinds. After the Battle of Loum, he saw countless wounded soldiers on Luna 2 who died from delayed treatment and the harsh environment: some were blown apart by the ship's depressurization, some died from nuclear radiation, some were frozen solid by the low temperatures of space and crumbled at the slightest touch, some were maimed by wreckage, and some were burned beyond recognition by the high temperatures... Later, he was sent to salvage the Zaku wreckage. In the ruins of the colony satellite on Side 5, he saw even more gruesome corpses, including a large number of civilians: the elderly, women, children... Their bodies floated in space like garbage, their numbers impossible to count...

Therefore, his SAN value had long since been reset to zero and restarted. After repeated trials, he is now as tough as steel, and this scene cannot move him at all.

"..."

A simple "almost" stunned the five women who had just calmed down. They couldn't imagine what Lin Xingyuan had been through, and could only watch in disbelief as he boarded the black Ground Combat Gundam again, maneuvering it to dig a deep pit in front of the kneeling Captain-Type Zaku. He carefully lifted out the remains of the victims one by one and buried them deep inside—this was supposed to be the work of the mortuary team, and according to procedure, the ashes of the victims should be returned to their hometowns. But now that war had swept the globe, there were simply too many dead, and being buried was already a blessing. After recovering, Lilith and Doris joined in the burial. Their movements were somewhat stiff, but their eyes became resolute.

After the burial was completed, Lin Xingyuan manipulated Lu Gao to draw his beam saber, cut off the shield of a Zaku, and processed it into a cross several meters tall, which he placed next to the grave as a tombstone. Mira and Anita found some white wildflowers nearby and placed them in front of the grave; then, Anita, a believer, knelt on one knee and prayed softly for the victims.

The rain began to fall again. Gazing at the still-steaming cross, Lin Xingyuan's eyes held no sorrow, only an almost numb calm. He was ready to rush to the next battlefield as soon as Anita stood up, to continue bleeding the Zeon army dry.