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

Chapter 309: The Child is Too Young to Be Kept

"You heartless little bastard!"

Who are you talking about?!

"Who else!"

Completely disregarding his status as a high-ranking military and political official, Lanbalar lay comfortably on the sofa, eating fresh grapes and swinging his two hairy legs.

Beside him was Hamon, who occupied another sofa, his hair up and wearing a face mask, looking quite relaxed.

"Whether it's Caspar or Artesia, they're both heartless little bastards who ran away at the mere flick of that bastard's finger!"

"I don't think you're any less impressive. Didn't you also eagerly run off to find Markarius before?"

"That's not the same thing! I was doing that for the Self-Defense Forces' new equipment!"

As Lanbarar spoke, his resentment grew even stronger.

"That girl Artesia, she's completely biased towards outsiders. I was hoping to get a batch of Kramp-class cruisers purchased for the Self-Defense Forces, but she didn't even speak up for me!"

"That's all because of people like you who still dream of Zeon's independence!"

Hamon said without looking up.

"There's nothing we can do about it, my dear. Our generation grew up after independence, and now that Zeon has returned to the Federation, it's a thorn in our side!"

"So, that's why you previously refused to allow the Abawaku Command to establish a joint command structure?"

"Military integration, economic integration, and political integration—once these three are achieved, Zeon will be no different from any other side. Among them, military integration is the easiest to accomplish. Changing military equipment, command structures, and uniforms was already the biggest step I could take!"

"So, that's why Makarius has been rejecting you!"

"I know, and it's become an unavoidable topic between us! That kid has me completely under his thumb, but I'm not giving in, hehe!"

"However, Tsunami Heavy Industries is the same. It's clearly a Side 3 company, but it's producing mobile suits for the Federation. I went to see Kinias before, and guess what he said?"

"How to say?"

"He said to discuss the order with the head office, which is the damn Naval Strategic Research Institute!"

Hamon couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.

Because Makarius no longer just had a grasp on things, he had completely controlled Ramball.

Despite her laughter, Hamon later secretly called Sera to discuss the matter. However, after listening to what Sera said, she realized that things were not as Rambarar had described at all.

In fact, Makarius had fully considered the current needs of Side 3, so he agreed to Ramball's procurement request and recommended Tsunami Heavy Industries' latest technological product, the RMS-117 High Mobility Garibaldi. This airframe is a high mobility Garibaldi redesigned by Tsunami Heavy Industries, modeled after the riot control Zaku, and combined with existing technological capabilities. Compared with the old model Garibaldi currently used as a trainer aircraft for students at the Combat Technology Center, its performance in local warfare has been greatly enhanced.

This thing is very suitable for the current needs of the Side 3, because it focuses on local warfare, that is, the defense of key locations, and does not need to make any trade-offs in other aspects. After being equipped with Gundam Nim alloy and other new technologies, its performance is even comparable to the Riot Control High Zaku.

Although the requirements for drivers are relatively high, it is not a big deal for the current Zeon Self-Defense Forces. After all, their personnel training is also very intensive. Because of their small size and high level of expertise, the Zeon Self-Defense Forces have achieved many remarkable results in combat exercises with the Federal Army of Abawaku.

However, Ramball disliked that this thing was still an old model from the One Year War, and the biggest problem was its limitation in local warfare. In fact, what Ramball wanted most was Gundam, because Zeon had abundant funds, and he even hoped to form a Gundam squad.

As for which Gundam it is, he's not picky. MK2 is the best, but the latest Z Gundam is fine too, since Zeon has plenty of money now.

As a result, the business deal fell through. Ramball hoped that even if it was the Self-Defense Forces, Zeon should have a defense force that could be considered a regular army, even if it was small in size, or even if it was stationed with the Federation forces.

However, Makariusca's comparison is that, without Zeon considering achieving true military integration with the Federation, the technological equipment that the Zeon Self-Defense Forces can obtain will inevitably be quite limited.

As the leader of the Pei Zeng Combat Skills Center, he was qualified to guide the military construction philosophy of the Federal Army.

So, the matter naturally ended unhappily, but it wasn't because of right or wrong, but rather a matter of perspective, so Sera couldn't really intervene.

However, as a considerate daughter, she still tried her best to get Makarius to make concessions without compromising her position.

"He's an old man in his fifties or sixties, you should let him have his way!"

Hamon also tried to persuade Ramball, because Makarius had done everything he could for Zeon. So, after Ramball finally agreed to form a joint command and military personnel with the Federation, Tsunami Heavy Industries immediately pulled out a brand-new mobile suit design plan.

This is the RMS-141 Cyclone, the last ripple from the Pezen Base to the Zeon Republic. It is a general-purpose mobile suit with excellent balance and maneuverability, developed by the Naval Strategic Research Institute and Tsunami Heavy Industries by combining the Zeon technical data stored at the Pezen Base with the existing technological achievements of the Federation.

In its original history, this machine was also developed by the Pezen Tactical Base and had multiple armament modes. However, later, the Federation troops stationed at the Pezen Base rebelled, and the machine's data was eventually sealed, so its further development was abandoned.

However, now that the Peizeng Combat Technology Center is firmly under Macarius's control, there's no need to worry about the future of this machine.

This mobile suit perfectly met Ramball's requirements. While it didn't incorporate many innovative technologies, it could be described as a culmination of both Federation and Zeon's traditional technologies, achieving a good balance with high durability, reliability, productivity, and low cost. However, its armament wasn't as extensive as in the other timeline. Or rather, this was intentional on Macarius's part; he didn't have Tsunami Heavy Industries develop a beam weapon version, instead providing the Zeon Self-Defense Force with a live-fire version. Furthermore, the power unit's output was lower than the original, but these were all upgraded with redundancy. Zeon had the money; they could unlock it level by level!
When Ramball saw the overview of its combat skills, he realized that this was something Makarius had prepared beforehand. If he did not back down, the Zeon Self-Defense Forces would have no choice but to continue using the GM C.

"So, this is also part of your plan?"

"That's it!"

Makarius made no attempt to hide it and openly chose to admit it.

"However, there's actually another reason why I'm giving you this!"

Marcarius handed the document to Ramball, who took it with a puzzled look, glanced at it briefly, and then frowned.

"I now suspect that you're keeping the Zabi remnants of Axis alive without attacking them, which is also a setup for us!"

"Then you're overthinking it. The Republic of Zeon isn't the problem. The problem with Axis is that it's too far away. The cost of an expedition wouldn't be small. So, the Federation doesn't intend to drag things out little by little. Instead, it wants to achieve everything in one fell swoop and solve the problems of Axis Zeon, the Jupiter Sphere, and Mars Zeon all at once!"

"Another year's war!"

"It might be even more costly. No matter how brutal the One Year War was, it was still fighting on our doorstep. But an expedition is different. Whether it's Axis or the Jupiter Sphere, the journey alone would take several months!"

"Then Martian Zeon is easy to solve?"

"That's about right. I'll have GP02 carry a nuclear bomb and fire it at Arcadia, that'll be enough!"

Marcarius said this mainly because Arcadia is on the surface of the earth, but the Jupiter Sphere is different. Like the various sides of the Federation, the Jupiter Sphere is composed of colony satellites, and it would take a lot of effort to conquer it.

But Arcadia was different. If the dome collapsed, everyone would die. This was the reason why the Zeon army was able to suppress Mars so easily. In addition, because of the great distance, the Federation forces did not station any military forces there. The most powerful armed force of the Martian city at that time was its space department. They had anti-meteorite missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. Therefore, Mars fell so easily.

Looking back now, we seem like a joke!

"This is not a joke, but rather an old-fashioned view, still looking at the present with the mindset of the past. Zeon and the remnants are actually things of yesterday. Now, our opponents have become the old forces within the entire human society. Although they are abstract, they are real and cannot be eliminated as easily and decisively as the remnants!"

As he spoke, Makarius picked up a handful of dried fruit from the table, put it in his mouth, and began to chew leisurely.

"I really am getting old!"

Ramball shook his head and then stood up.

"I won't be staying tonight; let Hamon stay a few more days!"

"If you need help, contact the garrison command! If you can't handle it, you can contact us too!"

"it is good!"

This time, Rambaar did not refuse, but nodded silently.

The intelligence that Macarius showed him was, of course, a new report on the activities of the remnants of the party. Although neither the Federation nor Zeon had specific information about them at the moment, the economic power they were currently displaying was enough to explain everything. In addition to frantically recruiting people, they were also trying to acquire mobile suits and other military equipment from middlemen.

Currently, the Military Intelligence Bureau is trying to investigate along this route as much as possible, but before that, Makarius felt it was necessary to prepare Ramball. He did not think that Zeon was now a monolithic entity. The Federation's purge of the remnants of the war had left room for maneuver in terms of scope and intensity. Those suspected of being forced to cooperate were given leniency and not completely wiped out, but that did not prevent these people from retaining two faces.

Upon returning to Gion, Rambaar immediately summoned the relevant officials of the Republic's Public Security Investigation Department.

The feedback he received sent a chill down his spine, as there were indeed related remnant information circulating in Zeon, but the Public Security Investigation Agency had not been able to trace the specific source. This information was mainly spread among specific groups through online platforms and communication channels.

In reality, it wasn't that Mark Bay's advance team did a particularly good job of keeping things secret; rather, it was because they were unfamiliar with the local situation and therefore dared not act rashly. Recruitment information was only transmitted through blank signal base stations.

As for the recruited personnel, they were handed over to the remnants of the party who were familiar with the local situation to be responsible for organizing and training them, and the location was even more remote.

In terms of personnel transportation, the local remnants also proved their effectiveness. Having survived to this day in such harsh living conditions, these remnants are quite skilled. They are adept at using camouflage and fake ships to evade the Federal Army's pursuit, and even set up decoys to confuse the enemy when necessary.

The vetting of internal personnel is extremely strict, to the point that internal purges have occurred, resulting in the extermination of non-Federal Army infiltrators.

However, it cannot be denied that this approach effectively increased their survival rate, and coupled with sufficient incentives, it prevented those intermediaries from easily leaking information related to them.

Colonel Basque did indeed massacre intelligence brokers, but the matter was subsequently reported to higher authorities. These brokers were connected to high-ranking federal lawmakers or conglomerates, preventing the intelligence agency from revealing its bloody and cruel side.

"We must strengthen surveillance!"

Ramball knew they didn't have any good ideas at the moment. After all, if the other party didn't show up, they couldn't follow the trail. But the good thing was that these guys hadn't infiltrated Zeon yet. So, as long as they controlled the entry and exit points and did a good job of screening people, they could still stop these guys as much as possible... right?
Even the police chiefs couldn't guarantee anything, but they did feel the pressure. After all, if the remnants of Zabi returned, others could surrender, but the Daken faction, who had ruthlessly purged Zabi's group, would certainly not escape.

"If necessary, send our people infiltrate. Don't worry about playing the long game; just destroy every stronghold we find. At the same time, keep a close watch on any destabilizing factors!"

Lanbarar was referring to certain individuals in the Zeon Republic's parliament. They had been loyal followers of the Zabi family in the past, but after the war, they were able to retain their former positions and continue to survive despite being subjected to brutal torture and other benefits by the Federation.

Therefore, it's possible that these guys might choose to collude with the remnants for personal gain, since they can't make as much money as before in the new republic!
(End of this chapter)