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

Chapter 348 I confess and I repent

Just as Makabe was about to order the entire fleet to lay down its weapons, another Warrior flew out from the direction of Gevadan's catapult.

"That guy, does he think he can get away?"

Mark Bey glanced at it, confirmed that the machine was being piloted by Delaz, and then paid no further attention.

"Sir, it seems Lord Delaz isn't planning to run away. He... he's gone to fight the Gundam?"

The adjutant's words made Mark Bay's eyes widen instantly, to the point that for a moment he suddenly thought that Delaz was also some kind of hidden ace pilot, and now that the situation was critical, he was finally going to reveal his true abilities.

He hurriedly went to the porthole and saw Delaz, holding a beam rifle, charging towards Macarius's stamen Gundam.

The warrior fired his beam rifle repeatedly, looking quite menacing, but after glancing at it, Mark Bay immediately turned away from the porthole.

Because Delaz's marksmanship was truly terrible, the stamen was standing right outside the bridge, and as a result, he missed several shots. Instead, the warship was affected, and a stray bullet pierced through a compartment on one side of the bridge, which was usually used as a temporary resting place for the captain. Fortunately, there was no one there at the moment.

Then, realizing he didn't know how to use the beam gun at all, the warrior, enraged, drew his uniquely shaped beam naginata and charged towards the stamen.

However, before Diraz could swing his sword down, Macarius controlled the stamen to move to the left, and then kicked out, slamming the warrior hard against the hull of the warship.

Then, a large foot stomped down, crushing the warrior's head into a metal disc.

Immediately afterwards, the stamen pulled out a beam saber and swiftly hacked the warrior into pieces.

Mark Bey was too ashamed to watch. He thought Delaz would rise to the occasion, but it turned out he was just a show-off. Seeing that Makarius had already raised his machine gun and swung it toward him, Mark Bey was startled and quickly issued his orders to the Zeon warships that could still receive his signals.

"Given the irreversible state of the current battle, although our soldiers have fought with all their might, the battle has lost all meaning..."

Although it was said in a hesitant manner, the core message was just that: if you can't win, the entire army should lay down their weapons and surrender obediently!

Of course, perhaps because Makarius was standing right next to him, Markbe didn't have the nerve to add anything like he had done his best and that the blame shouldn't be placed on him.

By now, the Makbay fleet had essentially lost its will to fight. The Makarius Strike Group had been dominating them almost the entire time, and the Zeon forces had suffered a complete defeat in both fleet battles and mobile suit battles.

The battle lasted less than nine hours, and the Zeon forces lost 76 percent of their mobile suit units. The ratio of pilots killed to mobile suits lost was almost one to one. More than 80 percent of their warships were sunk. Of course, a large portion of these were transport ships, but even after excluding the transport ships, the number of remaining warships was still extremely alarming. The number of Zeon warships that were still relatively intact was less than one digit.

While the Federation forces also suffered losses, including damage to more than ten warships and dozens of mobile suits, irreversible casualties were far fewer than the number of equipment losses. In one instance, a Lakaram was hit by three cannon shots and its hull was damaged, but the number of personnel lost was only six with minor injuries.

After Markelle issued the ceasefire and surrender order, most of the Zeon troops chose to obey. Only a small number of die-hards continued to resist. For these people, Makarius's order was to be resolute and thorough, to wipe out the enemy without leaving a single one alive.

Thus, with the cold indifference of their allies, these die-hard Zeon remnants were subjected to extremely violent suppression. When some of them regretted their actions and pleaded in communications, saying things like that reconciliation was possible, the Federation forces completely ignored them.

"You must be joking!"

"Who understands what you are saying?"

The federal commander replied while ordering his men to increase firepower until they were completely obliterated.

Afterwards, all the relatively intact Zeon ships were finally able to send out rescue ships to collect the survivors from the sunken ships. They had been floating in the wreckage in space for several hours, and many of them were in extremely bad condition. The Zeon soldiers on the surviving ships were not much better off, with countless casualties at various battle stations. Moreover, due to the effects of the beam weapons, those hit were completely obliterated.

Now, even the corridors of those Zeon ships are filled with wounded. In fact, if the Gevadan-class hadn't been beaten so badly, its hangar could have served as a good containment facility. But alas, the ship is now like a cucumber that has been nibbled on by a child, with pieces missing here and there.

Marcarius would never allow Federation ships to carry Zeon wounded soldiers. In fact, if it weren't for the difficulty in writing the reports, he wouldn't even provide the necessary medical assistance. In the end, out of consideration for Char, he dispatched Marines and medical teams to board the Zeon ships. To ensure the safety of these personnel, Marcarius bluntly told Mark Bay that if any of his men even scraped a toe, he would strip all the Zeon prisoners of their spacesuits and throw them out.

And the first one was him!
Markelle looked utterly aggrieved, as if he were about to bang his head against a wall. However, he still relayed the order. As it turned out, Markelles's threat was very effective. The Zeon officers trusted the Red Dragon's credibility. If he said he wouldn't harm prisoners, he definitely wouldn't. But if he said he would kill your whole family, not even a dog would be spared.

Therefore, they fully cooperated with the federal medical team, after all, the team was also saving lives, and these were the lives of their own people.

During the cleanup of the battlefield, the esteemed Commander Macbeth and Delaz, who had been knocked unconscious, later injected with sedatives, and put on a straitjacket, were brought aboard the Enterprise.

When Markbe was escorted into the interrogation room by fully armed marines, he was met with Makarius's iron fist.

The old man was sent flying, his body curling up like a shrimp.

"Wait a minute, Brigadier General, the Federation Army treats prisoners of war well!"

Seeing that Marcarius was about to punch him a second time, Markbe clung tightly to the leg of the gendarme beside him and began to wail.

"I personally signed the Antarctic Treaty, you can't afford to make a mistake!"

"So now you know about the Antarctic Treaty?"

After watching his opponent wipe his tears and snot all over the military policeman's leg, Makarius withdrew his fist and then kicked his opponent away like a ball.

"Sir, that's enough. If you want to use more methods, the brothers can do it for you. There's no need to get your hands dirty. Otherwise, the headquarters' inspection bureau might have something to say!"

The military police commander standing nearby was afraid that Macarius would be beaten to death by Markbe, so he immediately whispered a reminder that if Macarius wanted to vent his anger, they still had some ways to deal with him. Of course, the military police commander said this because he was also sent by the headquarters military police department, and the head of the military police was also an old subordinate of Kinklini.

"Lift him up!"

Marcarius let out a sigh of relief, and the gendarme beside him, quick to notice, brought him a glass of iced drink. After downing it in one gulp, Marcarius took a letter out of his pocket.

"I've heard you're also a top student from the Federal Military Academy. So, could you write a reply for me?"

"Easy to say, easy to say!"

Seeing Makarius retract his fist, Markbe breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the punch really hurt; it almost broke his old bones.

After receiving the letter, he was dumbfounded and realized why Makarius had beaten him up.

"This, this, this!"

"What, you can't write?"

Mark Bay's old face immediately turned into a bitter gourd. How was he supposed to write, "Sorry, I'm the one who killed your father. I apologize to you"? How the hell could he write that?
"Then what use do I have for you?"

Seeing Makarius about to draw his fist again, Markbe immediately raised his right hand. "Wait, Commodore, I have important intelligence to report. There's also the Zeon fleet; with the cooperation of their inside agents in Anaheim, they're preparing to seize a colony satellite to use as a mass bomb to attack Earth!"

"You mean the fleet of Simakarahou?"

Upon hearing this, Markarius looked up and glanced at him, and Markbe immediately nodded.

"Weren't those sent out by you too?"

"That's why I reported it. Besides, we also have people within the Federation—no, no, we have Zeon remnants, the head of the Anaheim von Brown branch…"

Mark Bay rattled off a long list of names, all of them important figures from Anaheim and the Lunar Merchant Guild. In the past, they were good friends who had dined with Mark Bay at the same table. But now, friends are just for selling, and Mark Bay didn't hesitate to rattle them off completely.

"Moreover, the representative sent by Anaheim, Sindeman, is with me. You can interrogate him at any time!"

"I can even testify in court if necessary!"

Mark Bay didn't want to die. He wanted to make a deal. He was willing to go to a federal military prison. After all, someone like him would only be locked up in those elite prisons, not sent to do hard labor. Trading freedom for a life free from worry and a life of comfort was too good to pass up!

Makarius hadn't expected Markbe to be so cooperative. He hadn't originally intended to kill the guy, after all, he knew a lot more.

"Put him in solitary confinement, and assign your most elite men to guard him. Do not allow a single word to leak out!"

Makarius turned to look at the military police commander.

"understand!"

After leaving the interrogation room, Markarius immediately went to the captain's cabin at the rear of the bridge.

"Connect me to the second secure hotline, to the Federal Army Headquarters!"

Soon, an image of Kinnclini appeared before Makarius.

"I understand. You did a good job keeping the news under wraps. We'll come up with a plan first. As for the Sima Fleet, you handle that as well. This matter can escalate a bit, but don't let it get out of control, understand?"

"Politics again?"

"Yes, at this level, simply being a pure soldier is no longer enough. Kid, you need to learn this well!"

"I understand. Then I think we can take this opportunity to push out a new proposal!"

"What new plan are you trying to come up with this time?"

"Just a rabbit's dream!"

Marcarius snapped his fingers. And sure enough, this power is really useful!
"We'll talk about that when you get back. Let's get moving, Brigadier General!"

"Aya Aya Captain!"

Marcarius raised his hand in salute, and then the screen went dark.

After leaving the captain's cabin, Markarius saw Brad eating hamburgers with the officers and soldiers on the bridge. This was their first meal since the start of the battle. Judging from Brad's eating habits, the past nine hours had clearly been exhausting!
"Want one? Beef! The support team from the Enterprise is really good at cooking! They'd be more than qualified for a five-star restaurant!"

"You don't need to tell me that. Bring one on. The head chef used to cook in the headquarters restaurant. I went to great lengths to get him on the ship!"

Brad casually tossed Makarius a pre-packaged beef burger, made by the mess hall and still warm. Makarius didn't stand on ceremony, roughly tearing open the simple wrapping paper and taking big bites.

"Captain, is it alright if we eat and rest for thirty minutes before setting off?"

"No, but where are we going?"

"On the moon, a group of remnants are still active. They are preparing to hijack a colony and repeat the Battle of Britain!"

"Then, we can set off now!"

After hearing this, Brad immediately stuffed the rest of the hamburger into his mouth, took out a napkin to wipe the sauce residue off his mouth, and then said.

"At least let the brothers rest for a while, you're all tired!"

"It's alright, I'll go and urge the logistics fleet to speed up the resupply operations!"

"It's alright, over there, I'm enough! Just replenish the fleet's basic propellant!"

“You must be tired, sir. Go and rest for a while. I, Amuro, or Captain Cuvatoro can handle the finishing touches!”

"It's alright, but don't underestimate us new humans!"

"I've never heard of New Humans having superhuman physical strength!"

"You'll find out when Milai evolves!"

Brad understood Makarius's lewd joke and then gave Makarius the middle finger.

However, as Makarius turned to leave, he didn't forget to toss the other man a can of coffee.

When Markarius turned his head, he saw Nagase Hotaru, who also looked a little tired.

"You've worked hard, go to my room and get some sleep!"

"Aren't we leaving again soon?"

"That's none of your business anymore. Leave the rest to me!"

Marcarius gently pinched the other's cheek, then got into the elevator next to him. There was still some time before departure, so he could chat with the prisoners a little longer.

(End of this chapter)