Gundam: From Piece to Player

Song Ren couldn't help but admire the Marine Corps' resilience and intensified his attack.

The armored forces of the 101st Division changed their attack pattern again. Instead of attacking the retreating scattered troops, they advanced rapidly in a single column, heading straight for the open areas of the town below, and once again cutting into the junction of the second line of defense combat forces.

Although the Marines are still fighting, defeat seems to be only a matter of time.

As far as the battle situation is concerned, she has lost all hope of victory.

However, if they can storm the enemy command post and carry out a decapitation strike, they can still turn the tide.

With this in mind, Sima ordered his subordinates to fire several signal flares, signaling the assembled elite MS squadron to launch an attack.

They planned to defeat the 101st Division by using small, elite units to launch multi-stage decapitation strikes.

However, while advancing on the high ground, they encountered an ambush by an armored company, and one of their mobile suits was destroyed.

Sima could only think about how to deal with this force.

The elite MS squadron had locked onto them, and all she could do was defend.

Just as this combat company was almost wiped out, Sima, who was somewhat tired from pulling the trigger, felt a strange sense of crisis.

Immediately afterwards, Sima's face slammed into the airbag due to inertia, and she lost consciousness on the spot.

A green Zaku, which had been hidden nearby, suddenly rushed out, stepping on the flight pedals and launching the entire commander aircraft of the Xima into flight.

When did they set up this ambush?

Everyone is asking this.

Why wasn't it detected just now? Could it be that it's turned off?

bang bang

Upon realizing that the attackers were attempting to assassinate their leader, the MS squadron guarding Sima immediately concentrated their fire on them.

The green Zaku, like a dragonfly, skillfully fluttered up and down, changing speed to escape during lulls in the artillery fire, and not a single bullet managed to graz it.

Two minutes later, Sima regained consciousness and realized that only one of her squadron members, Lieutenant Desail, was left to protect her.

"What about people?"

"They've all gone after the attacker who ambushed you, Lord Sima."

Sima's pupils gradually constricted as she realized what had happened.

"Oh no, call them back right now, we're going to lose."

However, it was too late.

With the withdrawal of all marine support equipment, the weapon systems of all combat units on site were locked.

The exercise system determined it to be a loss.

While Sima was unconscious and the soldiers below were fighting their own battles.

Song Ren calmly cut through the leaderless second line of defense. With the third radar adjustment, the armored forces changed direction and continued to carry out the order to destroy the logistics convoy.

Meanwhile, the 101st Division dispatched its surviving MS squadron to the Marine squadron that was desperately pursuing the attackers.

Although the Marine Corps MS pilots were all elites of the training unit, they were severely depleted of ammunition and energy, and were judged as losing by the training system.

The MS squadron, which had been serving as a reserve force for the 101st Division, ambushed them.

Seven were destroyed in a single wave, and the remaining five were also defeated due to the overwhelming numerical disadvantage.

The 101st Division achieved another victory, maintaining its undefeated record in suppressing training within the colony.

"Colonel Sima, surely it wouldn't be a waste of your time?"

After the exercise concluded, the colony maintained its perfect record in exercises and training.

This is also a rule set by Kalmar.

This is not a duel arena, but a military exercise. The purpose of an exercise is to discover problems that have not yet been discovered.

“There’s nothing to say about being outmatched in skill; I completely lost the tactical confrontation.” Sima looked at Song Ren, “Has your unit used new equipment again?”

Sima had suspected the other party of cheating during the battle, but after calming down, she realized that the possibility was very small. The young master's character and conduct were absolutely magnanimous and upright... After eliminating all the impossibilities, it turned out that he had a new toy.

Using modified mobile suits and new equipment in exercises is not against the rules. Besides the fact that it is difficult to change the course of the battle with a single mobile suit, there is also the possibility of facing new equipment unknown to the Federation on the battlefield, being at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, or even being ambushed.

Pursuing absolutely fair drills is meaningless in military terms.

Song Ren simply smiled and did not answer Sima's question: "Colonel's response was excellent. Our side was caught in a tough battle several times. The key to victory or defeat was that you were too conspicuous on the battlefield as both the focus of the battle and the command tower, which is why our side was able to strike you down in one fell swoop."

That's true.

If that guy hadn't ambushed them, the Marine Division might still have been able to fight. In the heat of the battle, she actually underestimated the strength of the 101st Division. The final counterattack involved the entire 101st Division except for the MS units.

If Sima can withstand that wave, there might be hope for a comeback.

Is there really any hope?

Furthermore, the 101st Airborne Division lived up to its reputation as an elite unit. Even disregarding Sima's performance, the casualty ratio between the Marine Corps and the 101st Airborne Division reached 1:3, or even 1:4.

It is worth noting the driver who appeared earlier. His ability to conceal his presence was quite amazing, and he was able to escape in an instant, demonstrating his decisive action in order to preserve himself.

This also made Sima curious about when such a powerful ACE had emerged.

"Can I meet the pilot who ultimately defeated me?"

"Yes, Sergeant Haywin, come in."

The blonde girl in the Zeon uniform took a few steps forward and saluted Sima.

"Good morning, sir."

"Hello." Sima extended her hand, expressing her appreciation. "Shall we shake hands?"

"it is good."

Although the girl appeared innocent on the surface, Sima could sense from touching her hands that she possessed a roughness far beyond her years.

Sima was once a young lady of high birth, but that was a thing of the past. Her city, Hamar, had also resisted the Zabi family's exploitation of them.

The members of the colonial commune launched protests and petitions, but all they received in return was the iron fist of the Royal Guard.

She became the captain of the Marine Corps simply because her father was the head of the colonial commune, and he was executed for treason for siding with the rebellious members.

The remaining colony members were all incorporated into the expanded assault force, a total of 5,000 combat personnel, ostensibly to "atone for past mistakes," and the Marine Corps was equipped with a battalion of mobile suits.

Although the Marine Corps was given the organizational structure of an assault division-level fleet.

However, she also realized the ecological niche of the Marine Corps in the Zeon army. As valuable expendable pawns, they would probably be sent to the most brutal battlefields by the Zabi family to be consumed after the war began.

Sima felt a certain fondness for the child because of their shared experience of suffering.

"Want to join my unit? I'll make you a second lieutenant."

“Hey, Colonel Sima, this won’t do.” Song Ren immediately interrupted. “Sergeant Haiwen is a rare ACE in our 101st Division.”

Haiwen also shook his head, indicating that he refused.

“Just kidding,” Sima said. “If I take her away, Lord Karma will come after me.”

In late August, Zeon held a ceremony to recognize outstanding contributions to weapons technology and awarded medals to scientists. Misaki also received an award, and Kalma had originally come with her.

Unexpectedly, at the very end, outside of the agenda, Kirian called his name and asked him to come up and receive the award.

The nobles in the audience were quite surprised... because Commander-in-Chief Gihren had never shown any other connection between him and Kalmar, making the awarding of this prize even more puzzling.

When he went up to receive the medal, Kilian Zabi said to him, "Brother, with such a powerful weapon in hand, you must not let your guard down in keeping it a secret."

Kalmar knew perfectly well what Gihren was referring to.

Kirian was reminding him to watch out for Kycilia.

Kycilia's skills are almost entirely focused on internal strife; she will ruthlessly kill any subordinate she deems disloyal.

As luck would have it, the day after he was awarded the medal, Kalmar received an email from Kycilia saying that she and her brother hadn't seen each other in a long time and invited him to their base in Granada for a get-together.

Chapter 38 Debt

"General, we have arrived."

"Thank you."

Karma got up from the back seat of the black luxury car, checked her watch, and saw that it was already 10 p.m.

It was already night when they returned to Zum City from the award ceremony. Misaki had an important experiment to complete the next day, so Karma asked Haywin to escort her, while she herself returned to her high-rise apartment near the Green Park under the escort of guards.

Although he had a room in the Zabi family mansion, he rarely went back to live there because the decorations made him feel like he was living in the Middle Ages, with overly strict butlers and servants, artificially creating hierarchy and traditional concepts... He disliked that whole thing from the bottom of his heart.

“Sally, I’m home.”

"Senior, why don't you rest on the sofa for a bit?"

This place isn't far from the city center, and it's not particularly large either. It's where Sally and I lived together after graduating from military academy.

It's more like working from home than living together.

Fearing a repeat of Deakin's death (rumored to be from food poisoning), Karma no longer dares to eat the food at the banquet and only drinks freshly poured from sealed bottles.

This is one of the costs of being a big shot.

Karma heard the clattering of cutlery coming from the kitchen, so she put down her coat and went into the kitchen to help.

I then realized that Sally had already served dinner.

The two sat facing each other across the table. Dinner tonight consisted of dried krill, chlorella, and fruit pie.

Even with proper cooking techniques, it's hard to say it's delicious if the ingredients are limited.

This is what Kalmar requested. When we go to develop our business in the asteroid belt, we'll have to live on carbohydrates for a while, so it's important to get used to it and control our appetite as soon as possible.

After returning from SIDE6, Sally stopped letting him kiss her forehead, but she became much gentler with him... giving the impression of being very virtuous.

“Sally, shall we go to the marine colony in District 23 together during the holidays? You know, the place where they do submarine exercises.”

“You want me to wear a swimsuit?” Sally saw through his sinister intentions at a glance. “The fabric you gave me was too little.”

"I see Sally as my future wife, and I believe it's a wife's duty to wear a swimsuit for her husband."

“What kind of obligation is this?” Sally shook her head. “It’s absolutely unacceptable to wear it in public. If someone takes a picture of it, it could cause a media frenzy.”

Karma was well aware that the Principality of Zeon only recognized two genders, and that he could not completely abandon the benefits brought by his Zabi family identity in the near future.