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

Chapter 307 Spotting clues

At the Federal Military Intelligence Agency's outpost on Kimmy Island, Colonel Basque walked into his office on time, as usual.

Although he worked overtime until 2 a.m. last night, he was still full of energy and even finished his cold black coffee before pouring a second cup.

Then, the colonel prepared to put his second cup of coffee in his mouth while looking at the latest documents, but he frowned as soon as he opened the first document report.

"Daninghan!"

"Sir?"

Basque pressed the call button on his right hand, summoning his adjutant into the office.

When was this report submitted?

"Let me see!"

Daninghan then opened the flexible screen beside him and quickly began searching.

"It's the combat report on Operation Werewolf submitted by the Shadow Force the night before last! Is there a problem?"

"Yes, I remember that the De Canon who was killed wasn't one of the remnants of this force, was he?"

"Yes, he was active on the moon before!"

"How did this guy suddenly end up in the asteroid belt? There's something fishy going on here!"

Basque put the documents down and then spoke.

"I'll go investigate!"

Daningham saluted and left. He trusted Basque's judgment, especially since this matter concerned the remnants. As everyone knew, after the defeat of the Delaz fleet, the remnants of the Earth Sphere forces were no longer a force to be reckoned with, and could even be described as scattered. These remnants dared not regroup, partly due to a lack of supplies and the inability to afford them, and partly because Basque had sent many Federation agents disguised as Zeon remnants to infiltrate the ranks. If anyone dared to send out a message about a regrouping, the intelligence agency's Shadow Force would arrive in riot control GMs and riot control Gowzakus to deliver a "warm welcome."

If they encounter a tough problem, the intelligence agency can also deploy the Trojan-class assault landing ships, which are painted blue and black like mobile suits, for close-range artillery fire.

Although the models are a bit older, the Trojan-class ships, which were decommissioned from the main fleet, can easily defeat the remnants of the enemy, just like beating their own children. After all, they don't have many usable warships left. Even if the Zeon military industry is very powerful, those Musai-class ships cannot be on combat duty for a year or even longer, and the remnants do not have the means to maintain them.

Therefore, even if the remnants of the party want to acquire ships now, they mostly adopt the method of converting second-hand civilian transport ships, since this is truly cost-effective.

This is also thanks to the booming federal economy. Increased investment in space has led to a thriving transportation industry. A thriving transportation industry means a thriving shipbuilding industry. As a result, a large number of second-hand transport ships are listed on transfer platforms. In addition, there are related industries that provide services for these second-hand ships. It can even be concluded that the better the federal government is, the more remnants there are.

Even so, not many remnants possess transport ships and mobile suits, and they often deliberately conceal this fact. Furthermore, due to the infiltration of intelligence agency agents, a crisis of trust has emerged within the remnants themselves.

After all these years, many familiar old comrades-in-arms have died or fled, and who knows who the few active ones are? Moreover, whether they are legitimate members of the Principality of Zeon's army is no longer up to the remnants to decide; it's up to the Federal Military Intelligence Bureau. The Principality of Zeon's office system and official seal are in their hands. They can create a file and stamp it, and a Zeon veteran who has served for ten years can be produced so easily.

Therefore, in such a terrible environment, the remnants of the party really wouldn't engage in any social activities. There wouldn't be any situation like Lieutenant Jerry crossing halfway around the world and going through countless checks just to bring a box of milk to congratulate Commander Tom on his birthday.

Now, an unrelated remnant has been killed in a place he had nothing to do with. If there are no problems, Colonel Basque will jump out of the spaceport on Kimmy Island!

Although Colonel Basque was out of step with the Federation forces due to his ruthless methods and eccentric personality, he possessed an almost supernatural sense for the remnants of the Zeon army, a skill he honed in the Zeon prison.

The Federal Military Intelligence Agency needs people like this. This place is even more brutal than the front lines, and it is impossible for ordinary people to make a name for themselves there, but Colonel Basque did.

Furthermore, he received support from the Pei Zeng Combat Technology Center. The special forces under the intelligence agency not only received personnel training, but even the mobile suits they were equipped with were from the first batch of production. The Shadow Force was also assigned a MK2 Gundam, although the mobile suit had not yet been delivered and the pilot was still in training. But this was a Gundam, after all, a Gundam assigned to the intelligence force!
Colonel Basque's favorite were the riot control Gorzaku with their round heads, because these machines could inflict greater suffering on the remnants than the riot control GMs.

The fact that the Zaku, once considered a symbol of the Zeon forces, is now being used to slaughter its own people is a great irony. At least for now, the remnants can't really say how many lives the Zaku saved.

Before the Basques could even get to the bottom of their demand for a thorough investigation into the reason for the other party's appearance, some other secret information was once again passed into his hands through clandestine channels.

These messages circulate in the so-called underground world, which, to put it bluntly, are the information channels possessed by so-called rebels, remnants, pirates, smugglers, and arms dealers.

The content of the message was a series of recruitment notices. While such messages were not uncommon in the underworld, they were not frequent either. After all, there was also struggle between underground forces, and news of recruiting thugs to eliminate rivals was common. However, it was extremely rare to receive a message that recruited strong young men, gave priority to veterans, and offered extra pay for those with skills in piloting mobile suits, warships, logistics, and military equipment, with all payments settled in gold.

Moreover, and most importantly, this message was transmitted using the military code of the Principality of Zeon.

"Is someone getting restless again?"

Looking at the message in front of him, Colonel Basque couldn't help but sneer.

Although it's still unknown which reckless individuals are behind this trouble, the Basques know that these guys' lives are already on a countdown.

"Have our people find out the source of the information as soon as possible! Also, forward the report to headquarters!"

On the other side of the Earth's sphere, near the asteroid belt, two Salamis-class cruisers and one Pegasus-class assault ship had shut down their engines, leaving the warships to drift in the darkness of space.

Inside the Pegasus-class battleship, intelligence agency combat troops in combat suits were rapidly assembling amidst the piercing sound of battle alarms.

After the new Pegasus-class ships entered service with the Federation Forces at Anaheim, the older Pegasus-class ships were not phased out. Due to their unique design, these ships were immediately sent to the shipyard for modification. They were then equipped with newer particle cannons, laser close-in weapon systems, and more advanced electronic systems before being delivered to the Federation Forces' special operations forces.

To meet the demands of covert operations, these spaceships underwent special treatment. Their hulls were coated with a special paint to reduce their detectability, and they were fitted with a new low-visibility paint scheme. Now, with the lights off, no one would suspect that three spaceships were hidden among the dense rubble. Meanwhile, inside the Pegasus-class hangar, Shadow Force soldiers, donning their new rigid space exoskeletons, were conducting a final operational debriefing.

On the other side of those special forces soldiers, the cockpits of four Gauzaku were closing. With signal instructions, the Gauzaku, having taken its weapons from the side support, took a step and then stepped onto the ejection seat that had been reset.

"Does everyone understand their task?"

The commander, whose helmet visor featured a white skull, shouted into the comms.

"clear!"

"Everyone, board!"

Then, the special forces soldiers filed out and boarded the flight ramps that were waiting on their side.

Immediately afterwards, with the high-speed movement of the catapult, the flight platform equipped with the crew cabin was ejected from the runway at high speed, just like those Gao Zaku.

Upon seeing the universe dotted with starlight, the pilot of the flight platform immediately maneuvered the aircraft to climb. At this moment, the previously ejected Gauzaku had already formed a formation not far away. After two more flight platforms were launched, these Gauzaku covered the flight platform as it flew deeper into the asteroid belt.

This was yet another routine raid by the intelligence agency on remnants. Due to their relentless pursuit, the remnants had no choice but to relocate their strongholds deep into remote and desolate places, in what could be described as dark corners far removed from civilization. However, this did not guarantee their safety. As long as the intelligence agency obtained relevant information, no matter how deeply these remnants hid, the special forces would dig them out.

Just like these remnants, their leader died in the last special forces operation. In order to find out the purpose of their appearance there, the intelligence agency traced their movements all the way back to the area where they were. After monitoring the area for several days, they discovered the remnants' transport ship entering the asteroid belt. Under the surveillance of the reconnaissance officer Gao Zaku, the special forces then found the remnants' secret base.

Then, a surprise attack was launched.

Under the escort of Gao Zagu, the two flying platforms fully loaded with the commando team approached the remnant's secret base very smoothly. It was an unremarkable little asteroid. The remnants had dug out living space inside it and then installed a simple space dock on the outside.

To be fair, the Federation special forces admired their tenacity in establishing themselves in the asteroid belt, but since they were the enemy, their admiration could not prevent them from their demise.

"Shut down the engine!"

Upon approaching the asteroid, both the flight platform and the Gowzaku ceased operations. This was because the reconnaissance Gowzaku had previously discovered a surveillance system installed around the remnant base, and a direct assault by the mobile suits would inevitably alert the enemy.

Therefore, the attack was carried out by special forces first!

After the engine was shut down, the flight pedals opened the hatch of the troop compartment. Then, the special forces soldiers, who had flight backpacks installed on their exoskeletons, activated the flight system and began to advance along the blind spots of the remnant base's security system.

Before long, they arrived at the outer wall of the base.

"These guys are just like cockroaches, their vitality is really tenacious!"

"That's alright, I brought strong insecticide. I'll kill them as soon as I see them!"

Upon approaching the outer wall, the special forces soldiers immediately searched for the airlock exit at the dock. After finding the exit, one soldier removed his laser cutting device and began to break down the hatch. They didn't have time to pick the lock; using a laser to break down the door was much more efficient and effective!

Soon, the airlock door was dismantled, and then the Shadow Special Forces soldiers filed in and headed into the base along the airlock passage.

Meanwhile, the remnants in the base were completely unaware of what was happening outside. Many of them idly stayed in the barracks playing cards and drinking, since their leader had not yet returned from his trip, and there were few people working at the docks. Some even had lustful men and women making out in a corner.

Then, the federal special forces stormed in, their silenced P900 submachine guns emitting muffled "poof poof poof" sounds as they delivered deadly bullets into the bodies of the unsuspecting remnant soldiers. The unfortunate couple were riddled with bullets, their bodies riddled with holes.

"control!"

The special forces' assault was swift and decisive. None of the remaining soldiers on the dock were able to escape. There were still more than ten meters between the alarm and the body of the closest guy. At that distance, the time it would take for the other party to run over was enough for bullets to take him out three more times!

"Hold the gate and signal the motorcycle squad!"

The commander then led his men to the control room and opened the dock gates.

The next second, the air in the entire dock was sucked into space, along with the corpses of the remaining party members and their flowing blood.

Then, upon receiving the signal, the Gaozaku accelerated at full speed, charging like a wild bull. By the time they triggered the base's alarm, the heavy steel warrior had already smashed through the cold corpses floating at the hatchway, as well as the blood that had frozen into dazzling crystals, and landed solidly on the cold floor.

"You guys get out of the way, we'll clear the path!"

As the dock hatch closed again, the second gate in front of the Gozaku was forcibly pried open. Behind the gate were the remnant soldiers who had not yet entered combat mode and several mobile suits that were so badly patched that they could not even open the hatches and required crowbars.

"Federal Intelligence Agency, lay down your weapons!"

Before the fighting began, the special forces commander followed procedure and attempted to persuade the enemy to surrender, but the next second, the roar of gunfire drowned out everything.

"Open fire! Leave no one alive! Annihilate them!"

At the commander's command, Gao Zagu raised his assault rifle and pulled the trigger at the mobile suits and the remaining pilots who were trying to board them.

(End of this chapter)