Gundam, but from the Ground Alliance to the Human Alliance to the out-of-control servitor

"Do we need to prepare Marco Polo for action again?"

Cynthia turned sideways and looked at Lieutenant General Cunningham who was thinking; since the Battle of Hart, Cunningham, who had been the de facto fleet commander of the Federal Space Force for more than a month, had a different temperament than before. There have been many changes.

"No, the combat effectiveness of the new design has been verified. There is no point in letting a single capital ship continue to consume Zeon like this; call the captains, we must make another move."

"The meeting is expected to start at 02:30 this afternoon, is that okay, Lieutenant General Cunningham? But does this not violate Gabro's headquarters' order for us to just 'maintain our existence in the universe'?"

Cunningham didn't shy away from asking questions, whether it was Marco Polo or Cynthia, when they were with him, he even encouraged it.

"No problem—merely staying in the harbor doesn't count as maintaining a presence."

Cunningham crossed his fingers and placed them on the table; while answering Cynthia's question, he was also rearranging his thoughts.

"The validity of the so-called 'existence fleet' theory is based on the premise that we can hold back some Zeon warships that are equivalent to our current strength. How many warships can we use now?"

Cynthia immediately summarized the current status of each battleship and displayed it on the screen at a glance;

"Take battleships as an example. Ignoring Gabro's reinforcements for the time being, we can immediately use 19 ships. After all repair work is completed before May, this number will rise to 5 ships. In October, we will be under construction. After the warships are completed, the number will reach 35."

"Yes, then we must contain the Zeon Principality's equivalent fleet and deploy it to our surroundings for defense. To achieve this level, we cannot just huddle in the port."

Lieutenant General Cunningham shook his fist.

"But what if we really hit the entire main fleet of the Principality of Zeon, or Zeon attacked Luna 2 while we were dispatched?"

"Such risks exist, but I am not worried about the safety of Luna 2. With the minefields and fort facilities we have deployed, whether Zeon forcibly walks through the minefields or slowly clears them, we can think about it in a short time. It’s impractical to do it.”

Chapter 28: Two-pronged attack (1)

"It was discovered that the federal army's large fleet was dispatched. Repeat, the federal army's large fleet was dispatched! The number of battleships exceeds 50!"

The pilot of the reconnaissance Zaku (MS-06E) yelled impatiently as soon as he returned to the short-range communication range of his mothership.

"Is it true? Count the number of tail flames..."

On the bridge of the Musai-class cruiser, the captain sat in his seat, tilted his body and looked at the Zeon officers in front of him gathered around the photo sent back by the reconnaissance type Zaku.

"You can't be wrong, the number of battleships dispatched by the Federal Space Force this time is even greater than last time!"

The intelligence officer grinned and waved his fist in the air;

The Zeon officers and soldiers of the 'Primus' fleet had tasted the sweetness of the 2th fleet that had withdrawn to Luna 4 in embarrassment last time when the Federation was dispatched. They wished that the Federation's large fleet would move a few more times so that they could Also brush up your record——

On the contrary, if there was only the tail flame of a single warship in the reconnaissance photo, they would have to carefully consider not to encounter the legendary 'ghost ship'.

"Okay, go to the meeting point of KS313 and let the Zaku team gather friendly forces!"

The Zeon Army plans to repeat its old tricks. This good opportunity to bleed the Federation Space Force huddled in the Luna 2 Fortress cannot be missed.

"Captain, let's pilot the attack first to test the federal fleet."

"Yes, Zaku is not specially used to convey orders!"

The restless Zaku pilots became dissatisfied and clamored to attack, even if it was just to harass them. What if they could gain a victory?

At that time, they can also be as glorious as those famous ace pilots, like the 'Red Comet' that has been upgraded twice in a row, and get their own exclusive livery——

Exciting to think about.

'Look at the consequences of today's propaganda orientation. '

The Musai-class captain secretly cursed:

For example, Major Char, who was specially promoted to two levels after the Battle of Hart, is now also concerned about his unauthorized attack in advance and alerting the federal fleet. Although he achieved a lot of results, the friendly forces were exposed to the nuclear reaction of the federal army. To combat the spread of such rumors——

However, after the war, the General Administrative Office did not pursue this issue at all, but instead promoted his achievements one-sidedly.

"But... after all, it is still a large fleet of the Federation Space Force. We have to wait until we gather with friendly forces..."

"It doesn't matter. The federal army also dispatched a large fleet last time, but they were tricked by us?"

Zaku's pilot raised a finger to prop up his helmet, shook it to rotate it, put his other hand directly on his companion's shoulder, turned around and walked directly out of the bridge——

It seemed like he had fulfilled his obligation to inform the captain.

As long as there are results and actual achievements are made, then disobeying orders can be completely forgiven, and may not even be considered a mistake at all - this is the current propaganda orientation of the Zeon Army.

"That warship can't stick up for bombardment support."

The captain of the Musai class said helplessly that he couldn't control the mobile suit troops he was carrying now, so he could only let them move freely. Anyway, he just had to keep his ship far away.

The three Zaku maintained the anti-ship configuration of two rocket launchers and one machine gun, and accelerated away from the Musai-class cruiser.

……

"Admiral arrives on the bridge."

A familiar voice rang in his ears, and Vice Admiral Cunningham returned to the CIC of his ship Marco Polo.

"Well, what's the matter?"

Cunningham sat back in his seat. Although the command chair in the CIC was not as comfortable as the leather sofa in his office, it was still the position he was most accustomed to.

Marco Polo, the flagship of the Federation Space Force, is a thin, tall green-haired girl in human form. At first glance, she does not have a body shape that gives people a sense of strength or security;

But for Lieutenant General Cunningham, who fought with Marco Polo in the Battle of Hart and was hunted by thousands of Zeon mobile suits, this was why he dared to take the initiative in an unfavorable situation like the Federation Space Force. The confidence lies.

Marco Polo turned slightly sideways:

"At the fleet azimuth angle of 102 degrees, the zenith angle of 43 degrees, and a distance of 23 degrees, a small group of Zeon MSs are suspected to be following."

On the large screen in front of the CIC, an area of ​​the real-time panoramic video around the fleet was immediately partially enlarged and fixed on one side of the screen.

Lieutenant General Cunningham did not take a closer look. There were some things that the human eye might not be able to distinguish, such as the reflective cosmic debris in the mist of rice particles, the blurred starlight, and the tail flames of the mobile suits——

For Marco Polo, who could always monitor the changes in the relative positions of these unknown objects and the fleet, it was not difficult to distinguish them.

"But I don't think I heard the air raid siren?"

"An incoming enemy force of this size has not yet reached the threshold that triggers the fleet-wide air defense alert..."

With a confident chuckle on Marco Polo's face, he highlighted several peripheral federal warships in the fleet situation chart;

"I have warned the cruisers on air defense alert missions in the corresponding direction. We will decide whether to upgrade or downgrade the fleet alert status based on the development of the situation."

"Well, let me see... no,"

Lieutenant General Cunningham touched his chin, showed a malicious smile, and lightly clicked a few times on the small keyboard on the armrest of his seat with his right hand:

"With this opportunity, why not let our 'Poison-Quenching Dagger' squadron attack?"

"Lieutenant Admiral Cunningham, their training level... With all due respect, if you insist on this, I will now inform all ships to pay attention to updating the identification signals."

"On the earth's seas, those who have not been tested by strong winds and waves are not qualified sailors; they have been groping on their own, and they have not been able to figure out any decent tactics."

Marco Polo tilted his head, his gaze seemed to extend outward through the hull of the ship;

Behind the center of the Federation Space Force's fleet, an Antietam-class auxiliary aircraft carrier that was upgraded from a Columbus-class transport ship and was fast enough to keep up with regular battleships received the signal and opened its hatch.

One after another, the Zeon Army's iconic aircraft, the Zaku, ejected from the core of the Federation fleet.

Marco Polo did not forget to repeatedly comfort and capture the crew of the federal warship that Zaku Squadron was about to pass by:

"It's confirmed to be a friendly aircraft, don't worry... Yes, repeat, it's a friendly aircraft, please don't fire. This is the Zaku aircraft captured by our army, please don't be afraid..."

For the officers and soldiers of the Federation Space Force who have survived from the outbreak of the war to the present, any figure on the monitor that looks similar to a humanoid with one eye can immediately touch their highly sensitive nerves.

"Captain Sinaps, I sense that the safety of your ship's anti-aircraft guns has been turned on. Please turn off the safety and fire control lock immediately. Friendly mobile suits are about to pass by the starboard side of your ship..."

Under the guidance of Marco Polo, 12 Zaku II mobile suits that were captured and repaired by the Federation and modified internally by the Federation, but whose appearance had been restored to the Principality of Zeon Army's paint scheme, broke out of the Space Force's fleet.

"Isn't this quite decent? Marco Polo."

With great interest, Vice Admiral Cunningham asked Marco Polo to focus on the squadron of 'Poisoned Daggers' passing between the fleets;

As they maneuvered, Marco Polo continuously called up the monitor images on the federal warships closest to the 'Poisoned Dagger' squadron, so that their images would always remain as clear as possible.

"If you simply mean marching in a neat formation, you can't see the driving skills of the people at this level."

After all, in the vacuum of the universe, there is no interference from the atmosphere. What determines the direction of the body is just the direction of the thruster nozzle.

"Well... let's take a look."

……

"Lieutenant, something seems to have rushed out from between the federal fleets!"

The leading team leader moved his fingers on the joystick and narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Is it the Swordfish fighter jet of the Federation Army? It seems that they have a better memory this time..."

"Wait, no, it seems like MS... is our Zaku!"

As the distance between the machines on both sides narrowed, a clearer image of the enemy aircraft appeared in front of the Zeon team - there was no doubt that it was the mobile suit machine, Zaku, that could even represent the imagination of the Zeon nation, and it was enough. There are twelve machines.

"No, it's impossible!"

On the display screen, the leading machine among the twelve oncoming Zakus even seemed to wave in a friendly manner, leaving Zeon's three Zaku pilots at a loss for a moment and unable to respond immediately. respond.

"No, even if it's Zaku, it's from the Federation's fleet! Prepare to fight..."

Zeon's Zaku had lost the initiative and was instantly submerged in the rain of fire from the 'Poison-Quenching Dagger' squadron advancing in formation on the opposite side.

"not good!"

Only Captain Zeon Zaku, who had the fastest reaction, managed to make a few evasive moves and deflected the tongues of flames, but the traces of his machine had already been firmly locked in Captain Jung's sight.

"boom!"

The anti-ship sniper rifle in Zaku's hand controlled by Captain Jung opened fire. A stream of light passed through the void and landed on the waist of Zaku who was moving in the cross fire net.

Then, the Zaku machine gun that followed also whipped the corpse up mercilessly, until the Zaku machine gun turned into fireworks in the space.

"Alas!"

There was a cheer on the federal battleship, even though it had the advantage of first kill and four-on-one;

However, Zaku's ability to destroy the three-machine Zeon army without any loss was extremely exciting news for the Federation Space Force officers and soldiers who had been living under the threat of Zaku's scarlet one-eye since the war began.

For the federal pilots sitting on the Zaku body at this time, this is also unbelievable:

"This...is this the end?"

"We defeated Zaku!"

The pilots looked at the lifeless Zaku wreckage floating in front of them and rubbed their eyes;

If you are flying a Swordfish fighter, you don't know how much effort you have to put into finding the angle of entry, praying that the launched missile can lock on Zaku, or using two 30mm aerial cannons to engage in a near-death dog fight with Zaku——

Now you just need to shake the joystick to make the body's arm move, and then pull the trigger.

Even Lieutenant Jung couldn't help but lose his mind, stroking the display screen in front of the cockpit, as if to confirm that the image above was not false;

A heartfelt sense of fulfillment filled his body.

'This is the mobile suit...'

"Congratulations to everyone of the 'Poison-Quenching Dagger' squadron for their first victory. Please be careful to upload the combat video and operation records of the aircraft after returning home. Later..."

"Marco Polo, can you deduce the location of the Zeon mobile suits' mothership based on their incoming direction?"

On the fleet flagship Marco Polo, Vice Admiral Cunningham asked unexpectedly.

"It's not impossible to do the trajectories from when they entered within the observation range, but if they had ever changed their orbit outside our observation range, it would be completely meaningless."

Marco Polo immediately guessed what Lieutenant General Cunningham was thinking;

"Besides, according to the configuration of this incoming team, the Zaku rocket launcher ammunition we seized before only had nuclear warhead models, and we did not carry it in this attack."

"What does it have to do with it? Just look at the Zeon three-machine Zaku who dare to attack our fleet. It doesn't seem like they would change their trajectory carefully to avoid exposing the mothership's whereabouts."

Lieutenant General Cunningham paused and glanced at the returning 'Poison Dagger' squadron on the monitor:

"Besides, we haven't captured Zeon's mobile suit mothership before. For the Musai class, a Zaku machine gun is enough. Just let them pretend to be with empty rocket launchers so they can get close."

"If the plan succeeds, it will indeed greatly slow down the response and assembly time of the Zeon blockade fleet, Vice Admiral Cunningham."

Marco Polo didn’t think that the brief battle between MS and MS just now could explain the problem:

Except for the squadron leader, Captain Jung himself, who hit both shots, the other machines took advantage of Zeon's Zaku's failure to react for a moment;

And even in this case, their hit rate is - no matter what, it would be a bit outrageous to figure out how to use mobile suits to fight from scratch in more than a month, unless they are the kind who can be the protagonist of an animation. Male middle school student.

[Currently, only Captain Jung’s operational records are more valuable and have positive significance in building the MS operational model. 】

"Then we might as well give it a try."