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

Chapter 220 Sharks in the British Sea

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Damn it, Tom's been killed!"

The pilots of the lunar city security forces clearly had no combat experience whatsoever, or rather, their only combat experience was driving gunboats to chase smugglers who were trying to escape on the moon. So, when Pizarro's automatic cannon took out his comrade...

The pilot of another pig-type gunboat let out a high-pitched cry for help, like a soprano, and tried to turn around and run away, but the Zeon gunners who had been watching him closely were not about to let him have his way.

"If I can't beat the Federal Army, I can still beat you?"

The close-in weapon system spewed out blinding flames, and streaks of fire pierced the darkness. After struggling for more than ten seconds, the fleeing Hog gunboat exploded into a ball of sparks. Then, a large number of fragments fell onto the lunar surface with black smoke and crackled, stirring up large clouds of lunar dust.

But taking down those two gunboats was just the beginning. With the roar of its engines, the Pizarro-class frigate charged headlong into the control zone where the mass launcher was located, and then...

"Go! Go! Go! For Zeon!"

Amid Lieutenant Colonel Eric's roar, the high-speed Pizarro quickly activated its lateral thrusters. Then, the ship suddenly slowed down with a nose-and-tail swing. At the same time, hatches opened on both sides of the Pizarro, and Zeon mobile suits fell from the hatches, appearing before the lunar security forces in the controlled area.

"That is?"

"Zeon mobile suits, sound the alarm! Deploy our mobile suits and immediately request reinforcements from the Federation Forces!"

The security forces commander watched as the Zeon mobile suits leaped from mid-air and began attacking in all directions, and then sat down painfully in his chair. After this attack, no matter the outcome, he knew he would not have a good ending. Although he wouldn't go to jail, his pension and other generous benefits would definitely be gone!

Despite the pain, the commander still mobilized his troops as much as possible in an attempt to stop the Zeon.

But there's no comparison between a fresh recruit who's never seen blood and a seasoned Zeon veteran. A squad of brand-new GMs, piloted by security forces pilots, burst out of the hangar and immediately stood on the open ground to exchange fire with the Zeon soldiers who jumped down.

"A sitting duck!"

Major Eric sneered dismissively, then turned his beam rifle and pulled the trigger.

One of the security forces' GM units was hit first; the Warrior's beam rifle pierced the GM's torso, killing the pilot. The GM then collapsed limply.

Then, with a flick of his gun, another GM followed in the footsteps of his comrades. Although the pilot knew he should use his shield to cover himself, he was not facing a Zeon mobile suit.

After Jim's shield was shattered by the Warrior, a Rick Dom carrying a beam rocket launcher blasted Jim into pieces.

The firefight had lasted less than a minute, and the ground security forces had already lost nearly half of their mechs, while their opponents were unharmed. Eric even boldly piloted the Warrior directly in front of the security forces.

"You bastard, don't underestimate me!"

As a GM saw the approaching Warrior, the pilot immediately roared and turned the 90mm machine gun muzzle. The Warrior suddenly accelerated, using its shield to protect its body. With a dash, it left the GM's gunfire behind. The GM pilot, having lost his target, nervously spun around wildly, trying to find it again. However, due to excessive force, he turned his head away. By the time he corrected himself a second time, the Warrior was already right in front of him.

"You can't even drive it properly, what are you talking about performance for!"

Jim's firing motion faltered for a moment, and then a beam of particles pierced through its body.

"Move quickly, seal off the passage, don't give them time to assemble their troops!"

Eric sheathed his beam saber, then raised his gun again, taking down yet another security force GM. Behind him, amidst rising moon dust, two Rick Dom continuously bombarded the security force's hangar passages with beam rocket launchers. Soon, several passages from which GMs were emerging were blasted to pieces by beam cannons.

Jim inside was either blocked by the rubble or buried under the debris. Now, on Major Eric's screen, there was only silence.

"These guys are too weak!"

Lieutenant Varis poked a headless GM with his MMP80 machine gun and then sighed.

"If only all the enemies we encounter were like this!"

"What are you thinking? In front of the Federation Army's elite troops, we'd be lying on the ground. These guys have never been on the battlefield!"

"Sir, I heard you've fought against Gundams. They're very powerful?"

"Impressive. With just a casual shot, my mech lost its combat capability. If he hadn't had another mission, I wouldn't be alive today!"

Eric glanced at the lieutenant's Zaku FZ and then said.

"So you better pray you don't run into Gundam, Lieutenant, otherwise, none of us will survive!"

After quickly clearing out the security forces around the Mass Launcher, the Pizarro transport ship landed on the ground. Immediately afterwards, the Zeon soldiers on board, all dressed in combat gear, rushed out, ready to cooperate with the mobile suits to attack the Mass Launcher's control center.

The two sides then engaged in fierce close-quarters combat in the open passageway. Although the Zeon infantry were outnumbered, they were outmatched by the mobile suits under their cover. After suffering minor casualties, Eric's men stormed into the control center.

"Power on immediately, set coordinates, prepare for launch..."

At the same time that the lunar mass launcher was attacked, an uninvited group of guests arrived off the coast of the Federation Atlantic Fleet Command. With a loud bang, a Federation destroyer on patrol suddenly arched high in front of its allies, and then, with the huge wave that followed, the destroyer split in two and sank into the sea almost without any warning or distress signal.

"Enemy attack!"

On another ship that was on the same mission as the destroyer, the sonar operator saw a bright spot suddenly appear on the screen and immediately shouted a warning at the top of his lungs!

"How did those bastards get close? Hard left! Take off the anti-submarine helicopter! Mobile Suit Squadron, prepare to dive! Prepare for anti-submarine warfare!"

The Federation captain, adjusting his hat which was askew from the violent shaking, roared loudly on the bridge. The piercing battle alarm had already resounded throughout the ship, and a large number of naval officers and soldiers rushed to their posts.

The hangar doors on the stern of the destroyer roared open, and a series of emergency-started WaterGMs were being operated by pilots onto the deck. To their left, a helicopter that had been pulled out was also unfolding its rotors.

Without any hesitation, the pilot of the Water Jim piloted the machine into the air, and then the machine was surrounded by the cold seawater.

Although the rising foam carrying the Water GM obstructed the pilot's vision, the already activated detection equipment still clearly pointed out the enemy's location and number.

"Damn seafood!"

The Federation pilot pushed the handle, and the Water Jim dived into the sea while raising the harpoon gun in his hand.

Just as Jim's pilot was about to take aim at the target, a beam of particles shot out from the deeper darkness and pierced through its body.

Then, a Zeon High War Crab emerged from the depths of the ocean, and behind it, the outlines of more mobile suits gradually appeared.

The sea area where the patrol fleet was located was like boiling water, constantly bursting up waves, while the Federation destroyer was speeding across the sea in a zigzag formation, constantly firing anti-submarine depth charges and anti-submarine missiles into the water, and then, waves would burst up again.

The Federation's Water GM squad lost signal just minutes after launching. These hastily launched mobile suits were mercilessly destroyed in the icy sea by the well-rested Zeon Marines. The helicopters carrying anti-submarine sonar and missiles were also destroyed by the High-Strike Crab's particle cannons. Now, only this one destroyer remains on the sea, struggling to survive.

Despite using every means possible to intercept the underwater enemy, the destroyer was ultimately hit in the rear by another particle cannon shot.

With its engine destroyed, the warship's speed plummeted, and it was then hit by several large-caliber torpedoes that were pursuing it.

Ultimately, like its allies, the destroyer was first violently lifted from the sea by the explosion, and then its hull broke cleanly apart. Sailors who couldn't escape were hanging all over the deck. When a wave that rose again due to the explosion hit, the sailors hanging on the deck disappeared without a trace.

On the sea, which was covered in oil and broken debris, only a few orange lifeboats were drifting helplessly. The federal sailors on board were still trying their best to rescue those who had fallen into the water. But the next second, a huge head with a single, gleaming, scarlet eye pushed through the water and capsized a lifeboat, appearing on the surface of the sea.

"What a truly admirable and moving comrade-in-arms!"

Seeing the rescue boats of friendly forces still being salvaged, the first crab to surface raised its fighting claws without hesitation and slammed them down. After that, only oil slicks, wreckage, and bodies dragged on the surface by life jackets remained.

The Demon Crab sank back into the sea and disappeared.

Meanwhile, in the naval port, the Federal fleet, with its alarms sounded, was still starting up. Only a small number of light ships were fully armed and ready to set sail. Just then, a volley of missiles roared up from the sea and flew toward the naval port.

"Air interception!"

Various close-in weapon systems and missiles responded quickly, soaring into the sky. Amidst the flashes of missile explosions and the dense barrage of bullets from the close-in weapon systems, some missiles still managed to break through the interception and hit warships in the naval port as well as various facilities on the shore.

The entire base was instantly engulfed in flames, a truly chaotic sight!
As Kycilia regarded the Zeon underwater fleet as the trump card to cut off the Federation's maritime lifeline, it was one of the few remaining forces composed of elite veterans. Unlike their counterparts in space who had only just begun playing hide-and-seek with the Federation, they had been dealing with the Federation's mopping-up operations since the middle of the war. Therefore, the attack was executed extremely quickly. Almost at the same time as sinking the Federation's outer fleet, the Shark-class mobile suits that arrived near the British Isles launched a concentrated bombardment of the fleet's base. Then, the second batch of mobile suits, as reserves, took advantage of the situation to break through the defenses outside the fleet's naval port and rushed into the port to cause widespread destruction.

While the Federation base had more Aqua GM units, most of the mobile suits were stationed at home. The small number of guard units were no match for the Zeon forces. Explosive harpoons, anti-submarine torpedoes, particle cannons, and melee claws clashed back and forth in the sea, causing devastation.

A Federation Navy destroyer that had set sail attempted to use its anti-submarine firepower to block the advancing Zeon forces and protect the aircraft carrier further inward, but the next second, a Crab-type destroyer rushed under it and launched all of its 240mm missiles.

Although a Water GM pierced the Crab's head with its melee pickaxe after the Crab launched its missiles, and then blasted through the armor with its harpoon gun's explosive harpoons, the destroyer named Hood was still torn apart from the lower side by the salvo of missiles. The explosion even caused the hull to burst open from the inside out like an overbaked strawberry pie. Combined with the ship's own fuel and ammunition, the shrapnel from the explosion was blown everywhere, and even a gun barrel was blown ashore and stuck on the roof of the command building.

However, as the Federation forces reacted, the Zeon forces' advance also faced some pressure. Helicopters on the shore had already taken off and were flying toward the Mawsha-class destroyers that were still launching missiles. More Water GMs were also emerging from the hangar and falling into the sea like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

"Suppress them! Suppress them! High-level Crab units, you're in charge of attacking the hangar! Crush the Federation mobile suits!"

The commander of the Zeon Aquatic Force was giving orders at the top of his lungs over the radio.

Then, the aquatic units, having changed their tactics, quickly split up. The units with stronger close-combat capabilities went forward to fight the Federation forces' Aqua GMs that had entered the water, while the High Combat Crab units surfaced and began bombarding hangars and other facilities on the shore with particle cannons, attempting to disrupt the Federation's counterattack.

Under the barrage of particle cannon fire, the Federation forces on the shore suffered heavy losses, while the naval forces, having lost their support, were also in retreat, even being forced to retreat back to the shore.

Meanwhile, Zeon Fisheries continued to press forward, showing no sign of stopping until they had completely turned the Federation base upside down!
"Taste the pain of losing your home, you bastard!"

The pilot of a high-powered crab, while drinking cheap homemade brew, roared as he continued to attack the facilities on the shore with his particle cannon. Then, he noticed that there was a hangar with its door closed and had not been attacked to his right. He was about to turn his machine around and fire when, through the monitor, he suddenly saw a giant steel hand with distinct knuckles reach out from the crack in the hangar door. The giant hand then gripped the edge of the door tightly and deformed it.

"That is?"

(End of this chapter)