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

Chapter 177 Next Steps in Preparation
"My brother, Karma, whom you all love, has died a heroic death!"

"why?"

When Gihren said those words, Markarius, who was watching the live broadcast at the Federation base, and Char, who was drowning his sorrows in some unknown tavern in Zeon, said them almost in unison.

"Because he's a young master!"

However, Gihren, who was at the funeral, obviously couldn't hear their replies. He continued to speak, saying that even though he lost his brother, and everyone else lost their father, brothers, and sons, the war in Zeon must continue.

"Because our cause is just!"

It must be said that Gihren's talent for public speaking was outstanding. After a few words of encouragement, many of the hundreds of thousands of Zeon civilians at the funeral looked pale and many widows still had white flowers in their breasts. But when Gihren shouted "Long live Zeon!", these civilians also shouted along with fervent expressions.

"See? This is the kind of guy we'll be facing! Think about Baikonur. Once we get to space, guess how many fanatical guys like those child soldiers we'll be dealing with!"

Although the television program had changed from Kalma's funeral to the dance show that everyone was watching before, at this moment, no one sitting in the base's entertainment room had any interest in admiring the beautiful girl group's long, white legs.

After all, it's rare to see someone like Gihren who, even after being cremated, still has a stubborn mouth.

Therefore, these Federation pilots were all thinking about how to properly respond to Gihren's outrageous remarks once they reached Zeon's homeland and met him.

But for Deakin, at this moment, he really wanted to strangle Kilian to death. What did he take this funeral for?

Unfortunately, the prince doesn't even have the courage to stand up and slap his unfilial son. He's not even as brave as Dozle, who at least got a good slap from Gihren just because he refuted Gihren's claim of a great victory for Zeon.

But it turns out that Commander-in-Chief Killian still dislikes honest kids, especially after he had just made a name for himself and someone came along to spoil the mood.

Gihren raised his slightly numb hand but didn't strike again. After all, he still needed the other person to defend Solomon for him. So, he simply changed his tone and looked up at the gorilla in front of him.

"You just need to guard your Solomon Fortress. It's none of your business to interfere in matters on the mainland!"

As he spoke, Gihren turned to look at Kycilia, who had remained silent and even deliberately concealed her presence. This girl was his biggest worry!

Political struggle is an unavoidable part of the Zeon power center's operations, even at this moment, or rather, it is precisely because the external environment is unfavorable that internal struggles must be addressed so vehemently.

After all, now that Karma, the most promising one, is dead, and Dozle has little to offer due to the annihilation of most of his troops, Gihren's next move to eliminate Kycilia will be a great success!

However, Kycilia seemed to know that her position was not good, so she kept a low profile and tried not to give Gihren any reason to use her weakness. In fact, if it weren't for Karma's funeral, she was prepared to stay in the city of Grenada on the moon forever!
Now, after Karma's funeral, she couldn't wait to head to the port, accompanied by Dozru.

"Sigh, it's this late already!"

Dozle sighed helplessly once again as he watched Kycilia hurry away.

"They, who are only interested in playing politics, will surely bring about the downfall of Zeon!"

But Dozle's words were just talk; he had no way to deal with the situation. The only thing he could do was to stay in Solomon and try his best to increase his combat strength. Thinking of the machine he had placed so much hope in, Dozle couldn't help but feel hopeful again.

"If it can really change the course of the war..."

As for Gihren, who remained in the mainland, he remained leisurely upon returning to the Generalissimo's residence. He even spent some time with his secretary. After the secretary left to tidy himself up, the smile on Gihren's face vanished completely.

Then, he pressed the communication button next to him.

Then, a covert communication was established.

"It's me. We can prepare to execute the plan!"

There was no reply to the communication, but Gihren knew that the other party had heard him. He had been planning this for a long time and had invested a lot of resources in it. He didn't even know how many spies he had planted. And all of this was not even for the Federation, but for his dear sister and the parasites still hiding in Zeon!

Once the time is right, he can eliminate both of these forces at once, thus truly integrating all of Zeon's resources. If he can defeat the Federation, then he will be the sole ruler of the Earth Sphere!
Thinking of this, Commander-in-Chief Kilian couldn't help but smile broadly, as if that day had already arrived.

On Earth, after a two-week rest, the Red Dragon battle group resumed its original combat training. However, this time, instead of continuing their ground combat training on simulators, they switched to space combat training.

There may still be remnants of Zeon forces on Earth, but they no longer pose any threat; the massive Federation Army forces can easily crush them.

Therefore, the Red Dragon Battle Group was transferred directly from the Army to the Space Force in order to continue the next phase of the Zeon homeland attack.

Therefore, the battlefield for mobile suits shifted from Earth to space.

Although many veterans from the Red Dragon Squadron had extensive experience in space combat, and some even followed Markarius from space back to Earth and then back to space, most of the pilots who were added to the squadron later did not possess this ability.

Therefore, training them to fight in space is absolutely necessary! Because ground warfare and space warfare are completely different things. The change from two-dimensional to three-dimensional means that mobile suits can no longer just focus on one level as before. Now, the area above and below can become battlefields where the enemy appears.

When pilots are operating the aircraft, they can not only move left, right, forward, and backward, but also maneuver in a 360-degree spherical space, provided they are skilled enough in controlling the attitude nozzles.

Mastering these skills is no easy feat, but fortunately, the pilots have had ample training time, coupled with special care from their commanders.

Marcarius knew very well that the way to get these people to master the technology was through real combat training. So, he updated his combat data and had the pilots practice against his simulation data in addition to their daily training.

Then, the pilots of the Red Dragon battle group went through an extremely painful period, because fighting against Macarius's data was not so much torturous, but rather extremely despairing.

On Earth, Markarius was constrained by environmental factors when launching long-range attacks against enemies, but in space, without gravity, wind speed, and other miscellaneous factors, his attacks beyond visual range became extremely lethal.

Federation pilots had to find ways to close the distance between themselves and the enemy's increasingly accurate long-range sniping before they could retaliate. They typically only had less than five shots to get close enough for the enemy to fire. By the sixth shot, Markarius would mercilessly pierce the pilot's mech. At the start of the test, most pilots couldn't close the distance to the enemy's detection range within the first five shots, and were helplessly turned into dazzling fireworks. The only one who could manage this was Amuro, who even managed to exchange firefights with the simulated data in space, offering a small consolation to the Federation pilots whose confidence had been severely shaken.

Makarius is also undergoing space training, though he prefers to call it rehabilitation, since he hasn't fought in space for a while and is rusty!

In order to cope with space battles, the Federation's ground combat equipment naturally needed to be replaced. Although the large number of GMs in the Red Dragon Battle Group were invincible on land, they might not be so in space. Therefore, most of the pilots' mobile suits were replaced with GM Commander (Space Type), also known as RGM-79GS.

This machine is a space combat machine specifically designed for elite pilots. It has strong thrust and maneuverability, but this also makes the machine complex and difficult to maintain. In addition, the learning computer is completely different from the old GM, making it very difficult to master.

However, the machine's performance is outstanding, and it can unleash formidable combat power in the hands of an excellent pilot. Moreover, the Federation's research and development department has equipped it with the brand-new BOWA BG-M-79F-3A beam gun.

This beam gun features a brand-new particle clusterer and particle accelerator, representing a significant improvement in power and range compared to previous beam spray guns. It can be said that the Federation Army has high hopes for this elite unit.

However, not all Federation troops can enjoy such high-level treatment. Ordinary troops only have the general-purpose GM-C available. This is unavoidable, as even the wealthy Federation army cannot afford the cost of good equipment!
As for Makarius, his G3 Gundam didn't need any adjustments, since it was designed for space combat. It was just a matter of replacing some parts that had been in use for too long.

The weapons haven't changed much either. The new beam gun is still not as good as his twin beam rifle, so he hasn't changed them. He only has one thing on his mind right now!

"So, where is the electromagnetic gun I need?"

"We need a little more time..."

After not seeing him for several days, Dr. Timree's hairline has receded a bit, and he looks a little chubby. His face and hair are oily, clearly indicating that he has been working overtime lately and hasn't had much time to rest.

Looking at the other person's expression, Makarius felt a little soft-hearted. After all, it was a bit too much for a workaholic to be driven to the point of being tired of working overtime.

But he had to urge them on, as the Zeon military was updating its equipment very quickly. Although the Dom on the ground hadn't shown any outstanding performance, the Dom Rico, designed specifically for space warfare, had already begun to show its prowess on the battlefield.

Jung's Luna II has already clashed with Zeon forces equipped with the Rico Dom on several occasions, with both sides suffering losses. Now that the Rico Dom has appeared, how far away can the MS14 Warrior be? And with all those various monsters and monsters' mobile armors being rushed into production, the existence of an electromagnetic cannon becomes quite necessary.

"However, Lord Kinias is an exceptionally talented designer; his arrival has saved us a great deal of trouble!"

Although Timre looked troubled when the project was mentioned, he immediately became animated when talking about his new colleague. After all, in some ways, he and Kinnias were both research fanatics, and their research projects didn't conflict. On the contrary, their different directions complemented each other. In addition, Kinnias's identity wouldn't affect Timre's status in the Federation. Timre absolutely adored Kinnias. Such a research partner was truly rare!
The two are now working together to prepare a completely new set of fully armored accessories for Makarius and Amuro's Gundam, also known as the FA Mod.

Its purpose is to be used for attacking fortresses!
"In that case, could you make another really awesome cannon?"

"cannon?"

Looking at the excited Makarius, Timre suddenly felt a cramp in his calf.

"It's the kind that's huge, you can carry it on your mobile suit and attach it to your shoulder!"

"A Guncannon beam shoulder cannon?"

"No, bigger than that, preferably with an independent power unit, the kind that can fire without needing the machine itself to provide power!"

Makarius didn't dare to mention large-caliber funnels. The Federation's investment in research and development in this area was still far behind Zeon's. Rather than raising targets now, it would be better to wait until they encountered them later and take them directly from Zeon!
Anyway, he has already gotten a lot of good stuff from Zeon, whether it's the flight pedal or the Mify sample. Once the Federation military gets their hands on these things, they can easily modify and continue using them. Even if they can't use them anymore, they can be sent to research institutions to be disassembled into parts.

After Makarius made his request, Timre immediately stared at him as if he were an idiot, making Makarius feel a little uncomfortable.

"Well, how about we change it? Actually, I don't really need a cannon that much! How about we change it to a shield, add a rotating mechanism, so that with a press of a button, it can spin out a beam of light to cut through the enemy's mech?"

"I have a beam shoulder cannon with a steel cannon, do you want it?"

"Forget it, just replace it with a missile bay!"

Timree understood the soldiers' need for firepower, but the problem was that cannons couldn't be added at will; the designers had to rack their brains to find solutions everywhere.

Just like now, Makarius always manages to come up with something big for them, but everyone's gotten used to it. Anyway, most of the projects are just talk, what's commonly known as empty talk, like mobile suits that can transform into glowing mobile suits, or mobile suits that grow huge beam wings.

In any case, Makarius didn't neglect important matters; in fact, he even helped Timree cut many unnecessary projects.

"By the way, how's the development of the new Gundam going?"

"Everything went smoothly. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be able to see it in September!"

"You didn't choose Siberia or Side 6 as your testing location, did you?"

"No, Side 7 clearly has the capability, so why send Side 6 there? Leaving it there is just asking for Zeon to launch a sneak attack."

Timree was puzzled.

"That's alright then, it's just that some people might not make it through Christmas!"

Marcarius pursed his lips, as if he had heard the child crying.

"But September is good too, it's just in time for our space mission!"

"We timed it perfectly!"

"Doctor, it's so good for the Federation that you're still here!"

(End of this chapter)