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

Chapter 267 The Rising Frequency of Attacks

"Die, you bastard!"

Upon finally spotting the approaching enemy, Sabre No. 3 immediately pulled the trigger.

The roaring machine gun sprayed bright streams of fire, which then quickly cut through the darkness.

"Fool, let's fight up close. Who do you think you are, the Red Dragon?"

Seeing his men wasting ammunition, GM's lead pilot was also at a loss. This was because he lacked combat experience. After all, pilots with combat experience and kills were more valuable in the labor market. Sabre II and Sabre III were the kind of pilots who had completed training but the war ended before they even saw combat.

Although he participated in the Abaoa campaign, he didn't even get close to the edge of the battlefield. However, he still had the experience of a captain. He recognized the enemy's model and knew that the mobility of the Rick Domo was far superior to theirs. Firing at long range would just be a waste of bullets!
Sabre III only hurriedly began changing ammunition after being reminded. On the contrary, the Zeon pilot piloting the Rico Domo did not fire at all. At this distance, even with fire control assistance, the hit rate of machine gun fire was still very low. After all, the Ambac is too maneuverable in space, and only those Newtype pilots with superpowers dare to do so.

Therefore, the Zeon pilots were determined to move forward and not fire until they reached 300 meters. They charged forward at high speed, and with the adjustment of their attitude and thrusters, the Ricoh Domo seemed to be dancing ballet as it broke through the crossfire of the three GMs and then launched its attack.

"Damn it, you guys need to find a way to hold off the enemy!"

Seeing the approaching target, GM, the lead pilot, didn't hesitate to drop his machine gun, which was empty of ammunition, and charged forward wielding his flail. He intended to quickly eliminate one enemy and hold off another to relieve pressure on his teammates. However, the Rick Domo squad did not follow his plan at all. The Zeon pilots had already realized that Sabre III lacked experience, so the two Rick Domos took the lead in attacking the enemy.

"team leader!"

Sabre No. 3 panicked and started firing his rifle haphazardly. After running out of ammunition, he was quickly riddled with bullets from the MMP80, which emitted black smoke. Then, another Rick Domo rushed to Sabre No. 3's already damaged machine and used its thermal axe to smash the cockpit.

"Damn it!"

Captain Jim could only launch a fierce attack on his opponent, but the latter's fighting skills were about the same as his, and the two machines went back and forth without being able to defeat each other.

Meanwhile, the second GM had also perished, riddled with bullet holes and in a terrible state, with pieces of flesh and blood even floating out of the bullet holes in the cockpit.

"Damn it!"

Glancing at his dead teammates, Jim felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He then decisively disengaged from the battle, dropped his weapons and shield, and shouted into the public channel.

"I surrender!"

The pilot who defeated the Demon immediately burst into laughter. He did not kill the enemy, after all, a whole GM is also a supplement to the fleet's combat power. Although the remaining two GMs were in a terrible state, their wreckage was even to be recovered.

The Little Pearl also stopped its operation at this moment. The escort team had been slaughtered like cutting melons and vegetables. Their ship was also in dire straits and could hardly save itself. If they stubbornly continued to run away, the end result would be death!

The Blackbeard was satisfied with Pearl's cooperation and did not make things too difficult for the crew afterwards. At most, they took every penny from them and even took the crew's spare work clothes, since such high-quality work clothes would be suitable for the maintenance crew.

Fortunately, there were no female crew members on the Little Pony Pearl, otherwise they would have been taken away for forced linking. The Delaz fleet has a Pazok-class transport ship that is responsible for this kind of work and is called a military paradise by the Zeon soldiers.

In addition to their daily liaison duties, these women are also responsible for laundry and cooking. Now, they have an additional task: to select a group of healthy women to send to Axis. What's even more disturbing is that these women are all officially registered members of the Zeon military. However, considering that before the One Year War, Zeon could even forcibly recruit foreigners from its homeland into its army, it doesn't seem surprising that they would be given military status.

After the Space Marines landed on Pony Pearl, the Zeon soldiers immediately operated the transport ship's systems to dismantle the containers and shelves. Then, the Dom units became porters, hanging the containers on the shelves below the Blackbeard. After all, space doesn't have as many restrictions as Earth.

Next, the Zeon soldiers transferred all the crew members of the Pearl Pony to a lifeboat and began the evacuation. Once everyone had left, the Blackbeard Ship fired a volley at the Pearl Pony, turning the ship into a pile of wreckage.

Finally, under the unwilling gaze of its crew, the Blackbeard disappeared into the darkness of space.

The explosion of the Pony Pearl also attracted the attention of the Side 6 security forces. Subsequently, a Salamis-class cruiser painted in the distinctive blue and black camouflage of Side 6 arrived at the scene with two squads of GMs and several gunboats.

The captain of the Pearl Pony trembled before the gun barrels of the Zeon, but he was exceptionally arrogant in front of the security forces of Side 6. He shouted and pounded his heels, demanding that the security forces take back his cargo, arrest the pirates, and hang them.

But the commander of the security forces completely ignored him. He just watched his men clean up the mess in front of him with a blank expression. Pursuit was out of the question. The Delaz fleet couldn't beat the Federation army, but it was easy for them to deal with local forces. As for the captain of Little Pony Pearl, let him talk to the insurance company!
"However, sir, I've made a discovery!"

The pilot who had chosen to surrender, Jim, suddenly raised his hand and addressed the garrison commander.

"Just say what you have to say, kid. This isn't the Federation army; there are no rules here!"

"Those Zeon mobile suits, Rico Dom, are quite different from the ones I've seen before!"

"?"

The commander raised an eyebrow, then summoned his subordinate and ordered him to find usable video footage. Next, he had someone bring out a data tablet to record the pilot's report. Although he was an officer in a local force, he still retained certain established mindsets; after all, they had spent two years at the Federal Military Academy eating with knives and forks!
Whether this situation is true or not, let's record it first and then let the big shots above have a headache!

"Those Great Demons have changed in appearance. They are more agile than the Great Demons I saw in the army before, and they also have newly installed fuel tanks on the back of their machines..."

"Thank you for your testimony, I will pass it on to my superiors!"

After the record was completed, the security forces finished their cleanup mission, and Salamis then towed the lifeboat back to side 6.

After entering the port, the commander handed over all his belongings to his superior as usual. Then, he planned to go home to his wife and children and enjoy a warm bed. However, he didn't expect that his belt had come loose and he was about to take off his pants and change into civilian clothes when a phone call came from a kilometer away into his command post.

"what do you mean?"

In the office of the head of the security department in side 6, the balding old man pointed at the documents in his hand with a pained expression and said to the commander.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem with this report?"

"This is a big problem. The Federal Military Intelligence Agency has already sent people over!"

The Minister of Security looked distressed. Generally speaking, such pirate attacks are not frequent and the losses are controllable, so they are dealt with locally. Unless it is a matter concerning the Federation, they will not get involved. However, the commander submitted a report on mobile suits and found clear video footage. Side 6 did not pay much attention to these things, but the Federal Military Intelligence Agency jumped up after getting the data.

Four upgraded Riku Domos may not seem like a big problem, but the issues hidden behind them are not insignificant. First, there's the source of the technology used by the Delaz Fleet to improve the Riku Domos, the production capacity of the improved Domos, and since there are already improved Domos, could there be other improved mobile suits? If you look into it closely, there are many problems involved!
If the Military Intelligence Agency wants to conduct a large-scale investigation, it will inevitably require the cooperation of Side 6. This is also a problem for the Side 6 government, which does not want to cause trouble and also dislikes troublesome matters!

"It's just a ship's worth of cargo. It's not like our insurance company can't pay out. Do you know how much we'd lose every day if the Federation sent a fleet over?"

"what about now?"

The commander knew he had unintentionally done something big. In all honesty, he had just followed the proper procedures. As for data sharing, shouldn't that be the responsibility of the Minister of Security? But he couldn't point that out. Did he still want to continue working?
"Of course, none of that matters. What matters is, do you know what this means?"

"A new war!"

The commander and the Minister of Security are not fools. The current situation of the Delaz fleet is clearly beyond the control of the Federation, which is bound to cause a chain reaction!
Although war may not seem to pose much of a threat to neutral forces like Side 6, the problem is that Side 6 has no military industrial enterprises, and the Federation does not have the habit of ordering goods from the local area. In other words, they cannot benefit from the war, and even their important civilian trade will be disrupted!
"Why can't these guys just shut up!"

The commander sighed. They also benefited from trade; the vehicle and vessel taxes alone provided a substantial bonus for the security forces every year. So, while other soldiers might yearn for war, they were the ones who longed for peace.

What terrified the Side 6 Security Forces was that four days after the attack, another trade ship from the Side 3 Republic of Zeon was attacked. This time it was even worse; everyone on board was subjected to inhuman torture before being executed. Several female crew members died without even clothes on. Perhaps to demonstrate their intention to punish traitors, the transport ship was not completely destroyed. Instead, mobile suits sabotaged its power and bridge, leaving it adrift on its course.

When the security forces entered the cabin, they were so shocked that they almost vomited. A dozen crew members were chained together, taken to the wall, and executed by firing squad. Their bodies and blood then mingled in the cabin. Because the bodies were tied together, the chains rattled from time to time due to the impact, which was extremely horrifying.

On the walls of the cabin, which were covered in bloodstains and bullet holes, the word "traitor" was written in large blood.

From the footage of the Zeon transport ship, the security forces found more images of the improved Riku Domo, and judging from the personal markings on the mobile suits, the improved Riku Domo units that attacked in the two incidents were not from the same group of people.

With the second attack, there was a third, and a fourth. Within a month, from the moon to Side 6 and Side 5, which was still under reconstruction, the Delaz fleet was like it had taken a lot of chewing gum and couldn't stop. It carried out more than ten pirate attacks. Although the actual losses and casualties caused by each attack were not very serious for the colonies, such a high frequency was still very abnormal.

The area most severely affected by pirate attacks was Side 6, which even disrupted normal commercial trade. This undoubtedly hit a nerve with the people of Side 6. In the past, when you attacked me and demanded protection money, I accepted it and paid it. As long as you didn't interfere with me, I would try my best to meet your demands. But now, Side 6 has lost a major asset, and the colony is becoming crippled. This is intolerable! Seeing the suddenly sparse trade routes, the Side 6 security forces immediately received orders.

The local chambers of commerce and the Moon Chamber of Commerce jointly invested 6 million to help the security forces regain their strength and reconnect with this powerful force!

Under the planning of a group of elites who were skilled at eating with knives and forks, the Side 6 Fleet created a meticulous trap to annihilate the Delaz pirates. Subsequently, an entire squadron of mobile suits and half of the fleet's strength were secretly transferred out of the port to carry out the plan.

However, this ambush failed to achieve its intended goal. After realizing the intentions of the Side 6 security forces, the ambushed pirates quickly began to break out. Although the security forces tried their best to pursue and intercept them, most of the pirate mobile suits and the mothership eventually escaped the scene.

After losing eight mobile suits and damaging two Salamis, the Security Forces only managed to destroy three improved Rico Dom. As for the Zeon mothership, the Salamis's attacks didn't even touch it. The worst off was the Magellan-class battleship that the Security Fleet had brought in. This battleship couldn't even participate in the battle because its own forces were too close to the Zeon forces, and the crew, whose gunnery skills were poor, didn't dare to fire. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the enemy escaped.

The loss of Side 6 did indeed make the federal government take the existence of the Delaz Fleet seriously. Although most high-ranking officials did not think that the other side could threaten the security of important federal facilities and controlled areas, it did not seem to be very respectable for the federal government to make the other side jump around like this.

In particular, Prime Minister Darcia of Side 3 seized the opportunity to launch a fierce interrogation of the Federal Parliament. He brought photos of the fallen Zeon crew members to the meeting and shouted at the Speaker, "Is this the security promise the Federation has given us?"

"This bald-headed donkey is undignified, so let's help him be dignified!"

After being mocked, some of the federal lawmakers stood up and addressed their colleagues.

(End of this chapter)