Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 10: All Clowns
"We're here now?"

"arrive!"

“It feels like that!”

The driver, who was still unsatisfied, looked out the window and saw a space army ground crew member wearing a hard space suit busy doing something outside. When he saw an army cadet in the window, he smiled brightly and waved to the driver.

"The people from the Space Army are quite friendly!"

"Yeah, after all, we are the army guys!"

Since entering the UC era, the status of the Earth Federation's military has undergone earth-shaking changes. The navy, which was regarded as the country's most important weapon in the past, has directly changed from the big brother to a small fry, and the new favorite space army has leaped up and surpassed the three armed forces to become the trendsetters of the new era. Although it was only a derivative of the three armed forces at the beginning of its establishment, after the 60s, the space army, that is, EFSF, namely Earth Federation Space Forces, ushered in a period of expansion. Various types of space battleships were launched from the assembly line like dumplings. So far, the Earth Federation has more than battleships, nearly cruisers, in addition to countless small ships and auxiliary ships, and its scope of operation has even reached the Jupiter area. It can be said to be the pillar of the Earth Federation.

The space army elder brothers of the orbital defense base were quite happy about the arrival of the little brother from the army. After all, this place belonged to the category of people who were ignored in normal times but were desperately needed in wartime. Their presence was even less felt than that of the navy in normal times, but when encountering an emergency, they had to defend the orbit and could not take a step back. In order to welcome the little brother from the army, the commander of the orbital base, a slightly thin middle-aged colonel, specially arranged a dinner.

"Our supplies are average, so don't be disgusted, everyone. Eat and drink your fill, and get enough energy to beat up those Zeon bastards!"

The colonel was so ashamed when he said that. The confused army cadets thought that the treatment of the space army was just average. But after everyone walked into the huge double-decker cafeteria, they found out that they were the clowns!
"Twenty dishes, seven staple foods, six fruits, eight drinks, and even four flavors of ice cream. You can even add your own biscuit crumbs and jam. Self-service for everyone. Is this what you call military control in the universe?"

"Compared to the main fleet, it's really average. There's a French buffet over there, and during the fleet's weekly dinner, a military band plays in the restaurant, and the cafeteria operates 24 hours a day."

Macharius nudged the somewhat bewildered Andre with his elbow and said.

"So, Andre, cheer up, hold your head high, don't lose face, and show them that we armored soldiers are not country bumpkins!"

"You're even less convincing this way!"

When Andre turned around, he found that this guy had taken out two ice creams covered with cookie crumbs, dried bananas, jelly candies, and a thick layer of strawberry jam and was eating them with relish.

"The chef over there gave it to me! I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I had no choice but to accept it!"

Macharius ate with great relish, taking a bite on the left and a bite on the right.

Andre looked in the direction Macharius pointed, and saw a muscular man about 1.8 meters tall. He was wearing a tight chef's uniform and a crooked chef's hat, preparing ice cream for several female soldiers in space army uniforms. When he saw Andre looking at him, the man showed his white teeth and held up the dessert he had made in his direction, obviously inviting him to taste it.

Andre waved his hands quickly. He liked smoking and drinking, and he had a very low tolerance for desserts.

Then, he discovered that the beverage area in the restaurant actually had barrels of whiskey and low-alcohol beer, but there were people watching over them and they had to show their ID to get the prescribed amount of alcohol.

"This damn space army! We can drink alcohol even when we're not on duty!" "Not only that, we can drink as much as we want on our days off!

The space army sergeant who was serving food nearby took his own glass of light whiskey with a smile, placed it on his tray full of food, and continued.

"So, do you regret joining the Army? It's not too late to join our Space Army now!"

"No, thank you. There's nothing wrong with being in the army. We can still use you to drive our boats and even eat your food. For us, this is enough!"

The Space Army Sergeant could only turn around and leave in frustration, but before leaving he politely introduced their cafeteria's specialty, a kind of fried shrimp that was fried first and then boiled, but still maintained a crispy texture. But then he regretted it!

Because these soldiers had no martial ethics, they went up and used a shovel to scoop up all the fried shrimps that had just come out of the oven, leaving only a few. As a result, the space army soldiers waiting in line behind them had nothing to eat, and they had no choice but to ask the chef to restock the food as soon as possible.

Macharius and his companions returned to their dining table as if they had won a battle. Looking at the piles of food in their hands, the officers of the Armored Academy who were eating at the table didn't know what to say.

"Our food isn't that bad!"

Then they saw the director of armored forces further back. He was carrying a double portion of meat, with a terrifying light in his eyes, like a wild wolf that had been hungry for a long time in the Siberian snowfields.

"Tsk tsk, you guys, what bad habits do you have?"

The director looked at the plates of the academy officers, which contained meat, vegetables, and staple foods. They were very nutritionally balanced. Even their old mothers could not find any fault with them. However, the director sighed and said angrily.

"When you go out to eat at a friendly unit, don't eat any staple food. You can still feel full by eating meat. Quickly quit this bad habit! Can our friendly brothers still lack you a bite of meat?"

Afterwards, under his leadership, the students and officers who had their meals extended began to eat like crazy as if to avenge their grievances. The space army soldiers who were watching their rapid eating could not help but stop in their tracks, and some were whispering, "What? Did the Armored Forces Academy come here to eat at the rich man's expense?"
But the chef in the cafeteria was quite happy. Every bite the other party ate was an affirmation of himself, so he fried the shrimps even more vigorously.

Only in a corner where no one could see, the quartermaster was holding the invoice in his hand and complaining to the base commander.

"You suddenly organized this dinner, but the food budget has exceeded the limit. There is also the additional purchase of supplementary food. How do you want me to make up for this financial shortfall?"

"I was just pretending, but who knew these guys were so honest and would eat as soon as they said they would?"

The commander immediately complained bitterly, saying that if he had known this earlier, he would not have pretended.

"Forget it, let's all go through a hard time next month!"

(End of this chapter)