Gundam: From Piece to Player

“I’m here, Father,” Dozru replied with a smile.

"Come here, join Miss Serena."

"Yes, Father."

The two walked onto the stage, and under the witness of the priest, they prepared to carry out the most important ceremony of their marriage.

"That's great." Karma turned to Char. "Char, have you ever thought about marriage?"

Although Char is often ridiculed for being a lolicon, a serious analysis suggests that he likes young women who are maternal but not domineering.

Therefore, Lala is my dream girl.

Harman was too controlling.

Nana is a moderate choice.

Quess, on the other hand, was not even considered... a brat trying to find fatherly love in her lover; the two were never on the same wavelength from the start.

"...A comfortable life is too far removed from my reality. What about yours?"

"Let's focus on surviving the upcoming war first."

Karma didn't want to make any strange promises, so she picked up the bottle, poured a glass for Char, and then poured one for herself.

"Look at you, it's a rare banquet, don't look so sad, let's drink this up."

Chapter 49 The Wedding Banquet

Just as Karma and Char were planning to find a quiet spot in the banquet hall to spend the rest of their wedding banquet.

Someone came looking for us.

"Lord Karma, Captain Char, I'd like to propose a toast to you both."

The man who arrived was a young officer with a single ponytail, but he had a very masculine air about him. Karma had met him before and knew his background.

The trainee instructors, who belong to the Training Mobile Brigade, are their seniors from the previous year.

Anabel Cardo.

"Lieutenant Kado, I've heard Char mention you. He said you're not only one of the best MS pilots in our army, but also a highly regarded instructor among the trainees."

"I dare not accept such praise," Kado said with a smile. "I still have to thank Lord Dozle for his guidance, and besides, there is a true ace like Captain Char. I really dare not boast about my piloting skills."

"The Training Corps is about to be disbanded. Are you going to be assigned to the Space Attack Force's B Fleet?" Karma asked. "How about considering joining my unit?"

"I am grateful for your kindness, but I already have an agreement with General Dozru."

"Keeping promises is a good virtue, but sometimes you also have to learn to be flexible."

After hearing Karma's words, Kado paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean, Your Excellency?"

"As a mid-level officer, you must have your own perspective on the overall situation. You can't just be an executor. Superiors are also human, and humans make mistakes. When necessary, subordinates should offer advice."

"...Yes, I will think carefully about what you have to say. Excuse me."

Kado clearly didn't think much of what Karma said.

He continued to toast in the banquet hall with impeccable manners, without a trace of flattery, and showed no stage fright even when facing officers.

Meanwhile, Major General Diraz of the Royal Guard introduced Cardo to the other officers... just like his son.

That's true; nobody likes to listen to preaching.

The reason he was able to give that assessment of Kado was because Karma had a very strong impression of him.

As a model officer, Kado was morally spotless and highly capable... He would take any task assigned to him seriously, even without pay.

This includes seducing Nina, a female employee of AE Company, stealing a Federation Gundam from the Torrington base when there were no mobile suits available, breaking through the Federation's blockade to reach space, and wiping out two-thirds of the Federation's fleet by launching a nuclear missile during a naval review.

Regardless of good or evil, their execution is truly astonishing.

No superior dislikes this kind of subordinate.

But sometimes, if you're going in the wrong direction, the harder you try, the greater the harm.

The Delaz Fleet, while plotting revenge against the Federation in Side 5, ultimately completed Operation Stardust. They achieved "great righteousness" and "sacrificed themselves heroically," but completely left a mess for later generations, leading the Federation to give rise to organizations like the Titans.

Kado's abilities as a mid-level officer are certainly not in question.

But even if Karma tried harder to pull him, he wouldn't have the motivation.

He still didn't really like this man; a certain scene from the story he witnessed in his past life had disgusted him.

"Cardo didn't like these kinds of occasions, but he still endured it and did it anyway."

Karma turned to look at Char beside her, not lowering her voice, and in the noisy banquet, no one paid attention to what they were saying.

“If you need, I can also take you to toast with important people and get acquainted with them, just like General Diraz did.”

“A significant portion of these soldiers don’t care whether they are Daken or Zabi. As long as you don’t surrender to the federal government, they will have their niche. You need to make sure these people don’t side with your enemies.”

“I can’t do what he does.”

“Char…you’re going to be a leader in the future, so it’s better if you get used to this kind of thing sooner rather than later.”

“I don’t think there’s any need to develop this kind of relationship; the relationship itself is not solid.”

Char took a sip of red wine, but still showed no intention of taking any action.

Only I can tolerate your temper.

Relationships don't fall from the sky; they're built up gradually. Just like after he transmigrated, he built his own foundation... Although his identity and memories from before the transmigration helped him a lot, he believes he gradually established connections and bonds with these partners.

Karma glanced at Dozru, who was crying tears of emotion on the podium. Dozru had once been a confidant of the Gihren faction.

However, Dozle is too principled as a soldier, and sometimes he doesn't genuinely carry out Gihren's orders.

So who is the current leader of the Gihren faction?

Karma glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

Chapman, Daganin, and Landrov were all key figures in the Space Attack Force, serving as Chief of the General Staff, Commander of Fleet B, and Commander of the National Guard, respectively.

Below them are Deraz, Colonel Asakura, and Kang Kong, all loyal squadron commanders of Kilian.

Only the Kilian faction could be assigned to such an important position as fleet commander.

These people may not be particularly capable, but their loyalty is paramount.

Therefore, the reason why Karma said that Char had no room for development on the Space Force side was that the generals at the top had already formed a strong interest group.

If Char were to become a colonel with little real power, how would he manage the country when the One Year War ended and he didn't even have a team?

So what are his potential base of supporters?

Although there were also Daken supporters in the army, such as Lamba Ralph and Henry, they actually supported the founding father, Daken.

Char's political leanings are clearly different from his father's. Choosing to support him would be better to have a banner to fight against the Zabi family.

Lamba is clearly a man who longs for a peaceful life, and those above him are all old guys who can't help and might even be a hindrance.

Who are the people Char can win over from Kycilia's side?

New Human Forces.

In the future, he did indeed become the captain of the Newtype forces, along with Sharia and the others, but there was a problem.

His new human abilities are rather weak, which isn't a big problem in the short term, but it will be difficult to manage later on.

To put it simply, in a football team, the strongest player isn't necessarily the captain, but the least skilled player definitely shouldn't be the captain.

Char's Newtype abilities will certainly not be convincing in the long run. Char's MS operating skills can be shown off during wartime, but they cannot be demonstrated in peacetime.

Charia's Newtype abilities are so strong that she can read minds indiscriminately between Newtypes and Oldtypes. If she wants to, she can read what Char is thinking... It's fortunate that Charia didn't intend to harm Char, otherwise this one-way transparency would mean that Charia could easily scheme against him.

However, Karma came up with a solution: to have Lala, the most powerful person of this era, become the leader of the Newtypes, while Char would indirectly manage them.

If we get to Earth, let's find Char's mother first, and then let Lala talk to him. A mother's words are definitely more effective than a friend's advice.

Thinking of this, Karma couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Kalma, what are you laughing at?"

"nothing."

Char, who lacks a sense of responsibility, may only be able to grow further after having someone to protect and a family.

"It's nothing, Char. The war is almost over. Once you're promoted to colonel, why don't you just transfer to my command? I'll teach you how to command troops."

After some thought, Karma still made the suggestion.

"why?"

"...Do you plan to become a driver in the future?"

"Let's talk about that later."

Char, of course, understood what Karma meant, but did not give a direct answer.

That's true; to put it bluntly, the two are just allies.

He cannot be Char's friend, coach, and potential enemy at the same time.

Chapter 50 Operational Space

At the end of October, the Federation Space Force moved its headquarters from Luna II to Side 5 Loum to establish a wartime command center, and four main fleets also concealed their whereabouts and arrived at the front line.

Even without understanding the Federation's specific deployment, the intention to lay out the defenses along a line from L4 to L1 (the gravitational dead zone between the Moon and Earth) to L2 is obvious even to laymen.

Compared to the original history, the British campaign lost its element of surprise because Kalmar had revealed his tactics in advance.

Now that the Federation has adjusted its strategy, Zeon cannot remain indifferent.

Dozru Zabi redesigned Operation Great Britain 2.0.

The biggest change is the shift in operational objectives.

The original plan was to force the federal government to surrender by crashing Jabro during Operation Great Britain, but the plan has now been adjusted to use the crash of the colony to ambush the federal fleet that intercepts the colony satellite, with crashing Jabro currently only a secondary objective.

The Zeon forces should make the most of the Minovsky particle dispersion as a "first strike" to severely damage or even annihilate the Federation's main force.

"Although the Federation is aware of our intentions, as long as we continuously destroy the Federation's main force in the fleet battle and seize control of the universe, we can easily eliminate the Federation's remaining strongholds in space."