Gundam UC Hunting Time

(At this time, the Federation Army had not fought a war for a long time, so promotions could only be made by seniority. The officers' ranks were generally low. The Battle of Loum, which resulted in the deaths of many veteran officers, further highlighted this point.)

Tachibana Shinonome stared at the star map, resting her chin on her hand: "This is bad. Mse is very fast. By the time the support forces sent by Luna 2 arrive, the Columbus-class will be long gone."

"However, the testing mission here is also very important. It concerns the testing and research of MS, and we cannot take risks. Lieutenant, you should understand, right?"

The technical officer from the engineering department clearly didn't want to take any risks, and looked at Lin Xingyuan with pleading eyes.

Lin Xingyuan frowned in thought, then suddenly asked, "Is the enemy the Three-Tails Zaku?"

Captain: "That's what the message said."

"Are the guards from Jung's squad?"

Shen Weinai nodded: "Yes, it's their turn to be on duty this time."

"Then there's no problem, I'll go!"

Lin Xingyuan made a decision—not because he had a deep camaraderie with Rong Ge, but simply because he believed in the fighting power of the top ace.

Moreover, he was also itching to try it out—as the saying goes, "a sharp weapon in one's heart breeds murderous intent," and this was a rare opportunity that he couldn't resist.

As for fear—this is war, death can come at any time, there's nothing to be afraid of.

"Lieutenant! We only have one test unit! And even if this ship goes at full speed, it might not be able to catch up, and might instead crash into Musai!"

The engineering officers were getting anxious. As transport ships, the Columbus-class ships were not particularly fast, and their combat capabilities were negligible, as the Battle of Loum had already proven.

"That's why I said, I'll go."

Lin Xingyuan pointed to himself, his vision filled with a barrage of comments, all clamoring for battle.

"What!?"

"Impossible! Zaku doesn't have that kind of range!"

Tachibana Kanna thought Lin Xingyuan was daydreaming.

"No, using DRONE as a propulsion unit is fine. It's a large missile, and its range is its flight range."

Lin Xingyuan, like a ruthless broadcasting machine, delivered the solutions suggested in the live chat.

Tachibana Kamina was shocked: "Are you serious!?"

"Of course, let's just treat it as a test of deep combat effectiveness."

"But you've only just learned how to operate it! The Zeon forces are all veterans!"

"Not necessarily. The Zeon MS pilots probably don't have much experience in MS combat, and most of those sent to participate in this kind of operation are newly recruited rookies."

At least that's what the comments said, and Lin Xingyuan thought so too—at this stage, the Zeon forces' training focus was probably on anti-ship and anti-space fighters, and actual combat between mobile suits had not yet occurred!

"..."

Tachibana Kanna realized that she couldn't persuade Hayashi Seiyuan at all. Hayashi Seiyuan nodded to her and then turned to the technical officer in the engineering department.

"Can you do it?"

"We've never tried this before."

The technical officer stared wide-eyed, suspecting that Lin Xingyuan was a lunatic.

"Don't worry, theoretically it's just a change in the load, everything else is the same, no problem."

"alright, I got it."

Why are all the pilots so willful?

The technical officer shook his head and left.

Half an hour later, with the help of many technicians, Zani, fully armed and equipped with two DRONE modified thrusters, was pushed onto the runway. Lin Xingyuan and the technicians made a final confirmation and then closed the hatch.

[Your first battle is 1 vs 3! Brave young man, go and create a miracle!]

Ah, the battle is finally about to begin!

[Long-awaited!]

[Tap tap open, tap tap open, keep tap tap open!]

We want to see rivers of blood!

As the barrage of comments scrolled across his vision, Lin Xingyuan clicked his tongue. Seeing the traffic light turn green, he immediately stepped on the pedal.

"Lin Xingyuan, Zani, launch the attack!"

Chapter Fourteen Swordfish VS Zaku

Our gaze shifts to the battlefield of Loum—

"Wow! This little thing is even armed!"

"Did this thing blow up the Zaku I salvage team? That's so lame!"

"Don't kill them all, leave one alive, find the mothership and take them all out!"

The experienced squad leader imparted his expertise to his two rookie subordinates. Then, the three Zaku tanks toyed with their prey, first destroying the other armed spacecraft, and then leisurely following behind the last one, preparing to find the mothership and take it down together.

The remaining armed spacecraft stumbled and bumped its way back to the waiting Samiras-class vessel. However, before the Samiras-class could open its hatch for recovery, a new alarm sounded.

"What's wrong now!?"

The captain hurriedly asked a question, a strong sense of unease welling up inside him.

"The sensors seem to have detected some kind of reaction," the duty operator quickly relayed the signal, and then the screen showed a picture of three Zaku leaping out of the wreckage and speeding towards them.

The deputy commander shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Zaku!?"

"That idiot!" The captain's face changed, and he cursed impatiently, "Didn't you say you'd shaken him off?"

"Intensify recovery operations! All personnel, take your positions and prepare for air combat!"

The vice-commander shouted anxiously, but was stopped by the captain.

"It's too late! Since they're following us, I think the mothership is nearby too. With the Muse and three Zaku, we have no chance of winning. Retreat now!! Where are the Swordfish? Call them over for cover! Also, notify the Columbus-class ships in the rear!"

Despite the brutality, the captain's judgment was correct—the sunken Federation warships around him were the best proof of this. Under these circumstances, there was no time to recover the space capsule!

Suppressing the guilt of abandoning his comrades, the helmsman quickly turned the rudder, the main engine of the Samiras-class suddenly brightened, and blue flames spewed from the side nozzles, accelerating while changing direction.

The spacecraft operator, who hadn't even boarded the ship yet, turned pale with horror and frantically called for help, but it was too late. He desperately accelerated toward the mothership, but was immediately hit by a shell fired by the Zaku. The hastily installed armor was useless and exploded into pieces on the spot.

"Haha, a Samiras-class! What luck! It's mine now!"

"Dream on! Whoever gets it first keeps it!"

"Don't be careless, attack the thrusters first, don't let it escape!"

At this time, the Zeon forces had just won the Battle of Loum and were in high spirits. In particular, the pilots of the mobile suits who had made a name for themselves in the battle were regarded as heroes who had decided the outcome of the war and were admired by the new recruits who all dreamed of sinking Federation warships and standing on equal footing with their predecessors.

Over here, the three Zaku tanks that shot down the space capsule rushed towards the Samiras-class destroyers that were speeding away; over there—

"Idiot! Why didn't you notice?!"

Upon hearing that the Samiras-class had been discovered and attacked by the Zaku, Jung and the others responsible for providing cover and surveillance were taken aback. Some couldn't help but curse angrily, but Jung quickly made a calm assessment.

"Number Three and Number Four, you go back to support the Samiras-class."

"Captain, what about you guys?"

"Let's attack Mse!"

The strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" was the most successful method Jung could think of.

"Roger that!"

The Swordfish scattered across the battlefield immediately sprang into action, heading in different directions towards their respective targets. Soon after, Jung and his wingman spotted the accelerating Musai and launched a surprise attack, catching the enemy completely off guard.

Smoke and fire erupted from the surface of the ship, and the hull shook violently. However, by the time it deployed its anti-aircraft fire net, two Swordfish had already swept past.

After glancing back at the attack results, Jung turned the plane around again—because they were to operate in the wreckage area, they did not carry heavy anti-ship missiles when they launched the attack for maneuverability reasons, and it would be difficult to cause serious damage to Musai with ordinary missiles alone.

Fortunately, their objective was not to sink it.

Meanwhile, the returning Swordfish approached the area where the Samiras-class was located. The Samiras-class retreated rapidly, deploying its fire nets as it went, thick smoke billowing from its stern, looking extremely disheveled.

The three Zaku cruisers were not carrying nuclear rocket warheads, but even conventional 280mm rockets could inflict fatal damage on the light cruiser. At the critical moment, two Swordfish cruisers attacked and launched missiles. The three Zaku cruisers, focused on sinking Samiras, were completely unaware. As a result, one Zaku was hit immediately, and its dorsal propulsion components were severely damaged. The other two cruisers also had to take evasive action.

"Damn swordfish!"

"Kill them!"

Seeing that the Samiras-class had taken the opportunity to create distance and fire in their direction, the Zaku pilots were all furious and launched attacks on the Swordfish that had ruined their plans.

In the wrecked space, the Swordfish were unable to utilize their speed advantage. After two head-on clashes, one Swordfish was hit by a Zaku machine gun and exploded, killing its pilot instantly. However, before the Zaku pilots could continue their attack, the mothership suddenly sent a distress signal!

"The mothership is entangled!? Is this a distraction?!"

"Damn federal dogs! So cunning!"

"No choice! We have to go back and provide reinforcements!"

The Zaku drivers were furious and cursed, but they could only cover their damaged comrades as they retreated to provide reinforcements.

The Samiras-class ships narrowly escaped the encirclement, but on the other side, Jung and his teammates ran out of ammunition and had to return to base. The battle was temporarily put on hold, but everyone knew that Musei and Zaku had only suffered a temporary setback and would soon regroup and catch up.

Sure enough, more than an hour later, Musei reappeared in Samiras's field of vision—the two sides were originally evenly matched, but the Samiras-class had suffered damage to its thrusters during the attack, resulting in a severe decrease in speed!

Ahead, the Columbus-class aircraft carrier could be seen in the distance. If this continued, not only would they be unable to escape, but even the Columbus-class would be caught in the crossfire—it was filled with salvaged supplies, which, once transported back to Luna 2, could be transformed into a force to strike Zeon.

"I'm sorry... everyone, I may have to make a decision that I will regret."

After much deliberation, the captain of the Samiras-class ship spoke in a heavy tone.

No one spoke on the bridge; as survivors of the great war, they all knew what was about to happen.

"Muse-class launches Zaku! Three in total!"

The communications sergeant's loud report broke the heavy atmosphere.

"It was repaired so quickly. The performance of the mobile suits is truly terrifying. Without such equipment, the Federation could not have won."

"Hate me if you must..." the captain sighed, then shouted, "Warship turn around! Engines full speed ahead! All ships, prepare for anti-ship and anti-MS combat! Those Zeon bastards, don't even think about taking our lives so easily!"

The battle ensued, and the beams of light and the flashes of explosions reached the Columbus-class ships ahead.

"Captain! Why aren't we allowed to go to provide support!?"

Pilots such as Jung sent messages questioning and requesting to go into battle, but were resolutely refused by the captain of the Columbus-class ships.

"This ship is rapidly disengaging from the battlefield. Given the Swordfish's range, once it launches an attack, there's no way to recover it!"

The old captain of the Columbus-class ship stared intently at the Samiras-class ship engulfed in flames, his heart aching but his gaze unwavering. He stopped Jung and the others from speaking, and said in a complex tone.

"The Space Force has too few elite pilots right now... We can't let you lose them here, which is why they haven't called for support... The war won't end today, and you'll have many more battles to fight in the future. Don't waste their sacrifices."

"..."

Jung and the others remained silent, only able to stare fixedly at the departing Samiras-class, suppressing their anger deep within.

Chapter Fifteen: The Raging Zani

"Tsk!"

The Swordfish darted past at high speed. Jung glanced back at the anti-ship missiles he had dropped, seeing them shot down by Musai's anti-aircraft fire, and cursed in frustration. At that moment, the Zaku, responsible for defending Musai, pursued him from behind, its machine guns leaving flashing trails of fire in the vacuum. Jung maneuvered his machine erratically to dodge, quickly creating distance, circling around, and charging towards Musai again.

The situation is very bad.

The Samiras-class bought them some time with their sacrifice, but the Musei eventually caught up. They had three Zaku, while the Musei only had three Swordfish. The combat power of the Columbus-class was no match for that of the Musei!

To avoid being besieged by both Musei and Zaku, Jung had to resort to a very risky tactic—taking the initiative to attack Musei and slow its advance. But the enemy was no fool; they immediately responded, leaving the experienced Zaku captain to protect Musei and sending two rookies to attack the weaker Columbus.

Forced to attack the Musei alone, Jung sent two others to protect the mothership. However, the balance of power was already unbalanced. Facing the attack of two Zaku, if the escorting Swordfish made even the slightest mistake, the Columbus-class would be doomed. Moreover, the Zaku captain he was facing was an experienced fighter, and with the Musei providing cover, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Damn!

We can't win if we fight, and we can't run away. If we continue to fight, sooner or later... Are we destined to die here today?

Lost in despair, the Swordfish charged toward the Musai once more. Suddenly, the Musai's guns pointed forward and opened fire. Jung turned his head and realized that the two ships had closed to shelling range!

We cannot allow the mothership to be shot down!

Jung was startled and set his sights on the Musai cannon, accelerating towards it to prepare for an attack. However, while he was focused, Zaku seized the opportunity, moving sideways and firing his cannon at the Swordfish. With no other choice, Jung had to abandon his aim and roll repeatedly to dodge!

Damn!