Gundam: From Piece to Player

Jupiter is so large that it's not surprising they didn't meet, but it's also possible that Sharia didn't notice her spying.

In the original timeline, the Jupiter Fleet's self-defense armament should have occurred between 0080 and 0084. And as the Federation dispatched an expeditionary force to the asteroid belt, the Federation might have also ordered the Jupiter Fleet to obstruct their operations.

You said Zeon signed a peace treaty with the Federation?

Information from here takes hours to travel back to Earth, and even if an attack on a gas transport ship occurs, it can be disguised as an accident.

To put it bluntly, this place is now a lawless zone. Conversely, even if Karma were to capture the entire expeditionary force, she could still disguise it as a spaceship accident.

—All of the above are just imagination, so it is absolutely necessary to carry out an armed mining operation, and it would be even better if some friction occurred... Only with friction can there be contact.

It is virtually impossible for humans to deplete Jupiter's helium-3 reserves. The only possible impact is the potential decrease in helium-3 energy prices due to a large-scale influx of helium-3 into the market.

This is definitely a loss for the Federation Jupiter Fleet.

If they dared to take a direct approach, it would actually save them trouble; Kalmar would order the capture of the Jupiter-class behemoths, which are 2000 meters long.

That was another feast for Karma, who loved to fight back in self-defense.

(Jupiter class)

Their current military strength is no match for Karma, but that's actually a very low probability event.

If the other party is willing to contact me, then there is still room for discussion.

But the other side just kept observing and remained silent, which was bad for Karma, because it meant he had to stay on guard all the time...

Considering that there may be a period of full-scale confrontation after the arrival of the expeditionary force, it would be best to try to reach an internal agreement during this window of opportunity... The expeditionary force and the fleet are two groups with completely different internal demands.

A win-win situation is also possible.

He handed over all the administrative work of Juno Town to Haiwen as his agent.

Karma set off with Sharia, escorted by two faster Zanzibar-class and one Rafi-class (captured Federation warships) to the 25 gas collection ships.

Juno will send a team to Jupiter to conduct the first mining of helium-3.

Actively negotiate with the Jupiter Consortium regarding mining rights, prices, and the amount entering the market.

They did so before the Federation expeditionary force reached the asteroid belt.

Chapter 180 Jupiter Ascending

On December 25, 0080, almost a year after the end of the One Year War, Deep Space Industries arrived at Jupiter.

After reaching the atmosphere above Jupiter, the spacecraft began launching the "collection spacecraft," which is approximately spherical in diameter.

This is a small spacecraft that collects helium-3. It carries a huge gasbag and achieves levitation and ascent through an internal nuclear furnace. Since Jupiter's atmosphere is mainly hydrogen, the only way to obtain buoyancy is to evacuate the interior into a vacuum.

The incredibly high pressure on Jupiter's surface necessitates an extremely robust yet lightweight framework to withstand atmospheric pressure.

This breakthrough in materials science after the advent of the Universal Century made the collection of helium-3 from Jupiter possible.

Kalma also upgraded its structure using Luna titanium alloy No. 104... This conversion from military to civilian use is...

Before this, humans extracted helium-3 from underground lunar soil... This was the cornerstone of the prosperity of lunar cities.

.

"Your Excellency, I never expected to return to this terrible place."

"You're not so scared now, are you? You're a new human now, be more confident," Karma teased.

Chariah piloted the Brau Bro and Kalma piloted the ZUDA. The two aircraft flew at high speed above Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid being captured by Jupiter's gravity.

If you were pulled into the storm below by gravity... you'd be completely obliterated.

“Your Excellency, the awakening makes it even more terrifying,” Sharia remarked. “Especially when trying to sense the direction of Jupiter and feel the terrifying storms on it, one can have the illusion that one’s mental energy is being torn apart.”

What storm child? No wonder the NTs produced on Jupiter are all so crazy.

Karma couldn't help but let her imagination run wild. If she stayed like this for a year, maybe she could awaken superpowers or something.

"So, where exactly is the Jupiter Flotilla's base?"

"Did you fail to acquire the relevant intelligence, sir?"

Charlia actually turned the question around and asked herself the same question.

Karma wouldn't make that kind of mistake.

"We've already bought them... but their bases seem to be mobile."

It's possible that the Jupiter Flotilla was the earliest starship civilization of this era.

"Let's recover the first batch of helium-3 gas, and then release it a second time tomorrow. We'll go to Jupiter's moons to rest for a bit before we move on to the most dangerous part."

"Yes."

Two hours later, the small helium-3 spacecraft that had been launched earlier was fully loaded and floated into the air. The collection ship was about to do the most dangerous thing... pull the spacecraft, which was fully loaded with gas, up from Jupiter's atmosphere using ropes.

If the aircraft is torn off by a storm due to a mishandling, that's a minor issue. The worst-case scenario is a collision during contact, where debris damages the hull and triggers a chain reaction.

Not only did they face the terrifying forces of nature, but this was also the fleet's most vulnerable moment... Under Kalma's command, the two escorting squadrons of mobile suits released their safety pins and warily peered towards Jupiter's rings...

The halo was only a few kilometers thick and consisted of a large amount of dust and black gravel. These gravel particles ranged in size from 1/1000 of a millimeter to tens of meters and were non-reflective.

That place is the best spot if we're going to ambush them.

"Sir, look! What's that? It's at 6 o'clock, 120 degrees."

Sharia’s radio communication went off, and then he saw the silhouettes of four mobile suits appear on the side of Jupiter’s rings.

Wait, MS?

How come there's an MS here?

A fleet?

"Charlie, cover me."

"clear."

Karma's ZUDA's X-shaped thrusters lit up with blue flames as it accelerated toward the four shadowy machines, with Brau Bro following closely behind.

The three mobile suits did not flee when they saw ZUDA approaching, but instead went to meet him head-on.

Karma finally saw through its true nature; it was a one-eyed machine, but calling it a "Zaku" might be a bit impolite.

It looks a bit like the GP04 unit, Wildebeest. Although it has a few tubes on its body, they seem more like decorations.

(GP04 - Wildebeest)

Its raised turtle-shell shape symbolizes its ability to carry ample fuel, while its multiple nozzles demonstrate its powerful maneuverability.

Its identity as a "local unit" has been revealed, but there are no markings on its body... The dark purple paint makes it extremely difficult to see in the dark, showing that the owner of the unit has gone to great lengths to conceal it.

ZUDA's beam tomahawk collided with the beam saber on the enemy commander's unit, resulting in a draw.

But Sharia's cover came quickly.

The opposing machine did not engage in a direct confrontation. Facing the attacks of the Newtypes, it calmly dodged between the funnels... Clearly, it could also see the location of the funnels—a genuine Newtype.

"Your army belongs to which? I have no intention of being your enemy."

Karma's public statement was also intended to distract the opponent with chat, because she felt that she might not be able to win if she didn't speak up—ZUDA was still a step above the opponent's mobile suit.

We can only continue to use off-the-books tactics, such as chat-based strategies.

"Galmar Zabi, of the Jupiter Fleet, the executioner of the Earth Sphere, is coming here to cause death again. The Jupiter Sphere is not a place for Zeon; this is Federation territory."

The man's voice was somewhat hoarse but full of energy, suggesting he was in his prime. He claimed to be from the Jupiter Fleet, but judging from his age, he was unlikely to be Sirocco himself.

As for the other party claiming to belong to the Federation, look at your own one-eyed machine, do you even have the nerve to say that?

If the other party started stealing Zeon's MS technology in October 0079, then one year and two months have passed.

The Jupiter Fleet has a history of visiting the Earth Sphere, so it's not impossible that they captured and remanufactured mobile suits during battle... They certainly wouldn't lack funds or energy... Plus, with their excellent MIRV technology, it's not impossible that they could create a mobile suit with performance comparable to the ZUDA.

"Sir, I think we have a misunderstanding."

As Karma spoke, she switched her weapon to a beam rifle. This rifle used split E-CAP technology. Although each shot was only 0.4 times the original, it could fire 5 shots in a burst. A rifle has to be semi-automatic to be called a rifle.

Once the trigger is pulled, the even finer, denser beam will possess both the firing rate of a Vulcan cannon and the range of a beam weapon, making it extremely difficult to dodge.

Instead of engaging the clearly stronger commander aircraft, Karma left it to Sharia to hold it off for the time being.

Instead, he went to fight another grunt mobile suit... For him, capturing an enemy mobile suit was the only meaningful thing... At the same time, he also wanted to capture a prisoner so that he could quickly understand the enemy's mobile suits and force composition.

The dense rain of beams quickly damaged one of them.

Charia also cooperated effectively in successfully containing the enemy commander's aircraft.

Several mega particle beams were deployed along the path of the mass-produced machines, causing severe damage to the enemy machines in a short period of time.

Taking advantage of the opponent's inattention, ZUDA pounced from behind and used his immense strength to pin the opponent down, attempting to capture and disarm him.

At that very moment, the commander aircraft once again emerged from Brau Bro's floating beam.

He drew his beam saber and stabbed it towards ZUDA and the grunts.

Karma was thinking of using the enemy's comrades as shields.

But they found that the other party not only did not slow down, but seemed to have accelerated, drawing a beam saber and making a thrusting motion.

Even if it means stabbing your own partner through the neck, you still have to achieve the effect of killing Karma.

This madman...

Karma gave up on capturing it and used ZUDA to kick the badly damaged MS away.

Instead of thanking him for his mercy, the other side turned around and accelerated towards ZUDA, launching a kamikaze attack.

Since she was determined to die, Karma didn't hold back on her actions.

When ZUDA wanted to use the beam axe to give the opponent a death without regret.

"Sir, please be careful."

A beam of light shone down, and Sharia, who was supposed to be providing support, couldn't resist taking advantage of the situation and destroyed the heavily damaged enemy mobile suit first.

Wander around, I know you're something else, Uncle Green.