UC will eventually reach the stars

"..." Kado stared silently at the wreckage before him. Perhaps at that moment, he himself didn't know what he was thinking. Finally, when several Zaku 2Fs were about to go up to search and determine the fate of this "traitor" unit according to orders, he spoke up, "Fall back!"

Before leaving, he didn't know why, but he looked back at the Zaku 2S with an almost supernatural urge. The Zaku 2S's single eye flashed, as if it were scanning. A short while later, it turned around, ignited its thrusters, and went to rejoin its teammates.

Just out of the Zaku's scanning equipment, in the distance, there was a transport ship that had discovered the battle and was hiding in the wreckage of the colony. It had its engines shut down and was slowly drifting along. It was decorated with a red cross and appeared to be a lifeboat.

——————————————————————12 hours later——————————————————

"Whoosh..." A dizzying sensation washed over her, and the blurred vision brought no clarity, only a sense of bewilderment. Someone nearby seemed to notice her, then a bright light shone into her pupils, clearing her blurred vision and allowing the surrounding sounds to return.

"Zeon pilots, can you hear me?" a gentle voice asked.

"I heard it..." came a bewildered, helpless voice.

"Very good, we just recovered you and some of your comrades from the battlefield wreckage," the gentle voice continued.

"My... comrade-in-arms?" Her chaotic thoughts were like an old computer slowly booting up. The woman lying on the bed suddenly groaned, then covered her head, her face full of pain.

Flames, explosions, shockwaves, despair, blood on helmets, and... a crowd of fallen people!

"Calm down! Calm down! You've been rescued! You're safe now! Zeon pilot, calm down."

“Zeon… I’m not Zeon! These bastards…” She tried to sit up in a disheveled state, but after struggling a few times, she could only collapse onto the bed in despair. Her expression was unreadable. Finally, Sima Karahau managed to utter these words: she was no longer a Zeon member. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked up at the person in front of her. Blonde hair and blue eyes—a beautiful young woman. “You just said, my comrade!!”

"Yes, we searched that area and found over twenty people alive, more than a dozen of whom are out of danger." She opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask something more, but ultimately held back. She remembered Ye Yun's last piece of advice to her before she went to space: "Don't ask too many questions when you're saving people."

"Thank you. I haven't asked your name yet." Sima paused for a moment before asking, her eyes filled with sorrow. The entire Musai, including those on board and the MS team, numbered several hundred. Now, only about 20 people remained alive...

“Sera Mas, and you?” Sera nodded and gave her name. Seeing how much pain the person in front of her was in, she finally gave up the idea of ​​asking why the Zeon forces were fighting each other.

“Sima, Sima Karahau,” Sima said softly, taking a deep breath.

"It's you!?" Sera was taken aback, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Hmm?" Sima looked at Sera with a puzzled expression.

"Zeon just announced that the gas attack on Side 2 was caused by a group of troops acting alone, and they have been executed." Sera looked at Sima with a hint of sympathy in her eyes. There was no way around it; some things, once you've seen enough, you understand.

"Hmph..." Sima snorted coldly, her voice turning icy. "You think so too?"

“This is just propaganda to make the dead take the blame; they think you’re all dead,” Sera said softly. “Lower-ranking officers can’t get their hands on enough poison gas to kill an entire colony.”

"..." Sima slumped down, yes, how could they possibly do that? "Thank you."

"So... what do you want to do next? Like... reveal the truth?"

"Um!?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: Extremely High Rating

"Which unit are you from?!" A colonel-level officer looked at the young parents who were quickly signing some documents under Sally's guidance, his expression twisted. It was obvious that they had arrived too late, and someone had already beaten them to it.

Not far outside town, when they were stopped by the police and asked to show their identification and explain their purpose, the lieutenant colonel already shrewdly guessed that someone was involved in the matter, and that the other party was undoubtedly a behemoth. This behemoth, like himself, had its eyes on the three children before them, who seemed to possess precognitive abilities!

"Your security clearance level is insufficient." Gao Long coldly glanced at the other person's epaulets and said this indifferently.

This casual remark, coupled with Gao Long's indifferent expression, instantly seemed to have stepped on the other party's tail, enraging him! "You're just a junior officer, what right do you have to question me!" The lieutenant colonel glared angrily at Gao Long. "I'll only say this once: get out of my way. You have no right to interfere with my mission."

"Oh? Is that so?" Gao Long tilted his head, looked at the other person, and sneered twice. "So you're interfering with my mission?"

"Ha! Believe it or not, I can just shoot you dead, you unidentified Zeon spy!" The colonel scoffed and immediately started using the tactic that internet trolls love to use: labeling.

Of course, unlike internet trolls, who can only shout "Come on, keyboard!" and then even if they swing their keyboards and sparks fly, they can't actually cause any harm to the other party. But this lieutenant colonel in front of us, when using the label of "Zeon spy," can really kill!

As the lieutenant colonel spoke, the stern-faced federal soldiers behind him drew their guns, some even cocking them, making threatening gestures.

"Tch..." Sally chuckled disdainfully from inside the room. Putting aside the secrecy level of being the first MS unit of the Federation Army, there was also the faction that Ye Yun actually belonged to... Heh, when Ye Yun was giving her instructions today, she overheard Ye Yun's sister saying to Ye Yun, "Gao Pu has quite a few requirements, but he is indeed a leader with some ideas. At least you chose a good faction."

General Gao Pu's faction! Tsk tsk!

How many of them can rival us?

Huh?! Shoot me! I just want to hear which is more exciting, the sound of a gunshot or a 100mm cannon!

"Hey, hey, hey... Don't pretend I don't exist!" A high-powered searchlight shone directly on the ground like a flashlight, causing a group of armed Federal soldiers to panic. After their eyes adjusted to the bright light, they were filled with deep despair.

“M…Mobile Suit?!” A group of soldiers stared in horror at the 100mm assault gun pointing at them. Their expressions were filled with fear. There was no doubt that if the pilot of this mobile suit simply pulled the trigger, they would all be doomed. This was a 100mm cannon! The weapons they had were nothing, not even 10mm, let alone 100mm! Not to mention their damned anti-armor capabilities.

"You're from the MS Experimental Unit!" The colonel-level officer looked up at the short sword that had somehow appeared and was now hiding there. His expression changed rapidly, and he stared intently at Gao Long, as if he wanted to shoot two beams of light from his eyes to kill Gao Long.

"Your security clearance level is insufficient; you have no right to inquire." Gao Long waved his hand, as if shooing away flies. "Get lost until we label you Zeon spies." As it turns out, when it comes to slapping someone in the face, people often love to use the "cool" attitude they displayed when threatening you before; it can really shut someone up.

"Very well!" The lieutenant colonel turned and left angrily, jumping into the vehicle he had come in. Before leaving, he glanced at the GAT-01 short sword standing to the side, his eyes narrowing. He knew without a doubt that the moment this mobile suit appeared in front of him, he had lost, and lost miserably. He might even be noticed by his superiors because of this encounter with the Federation's highest-level classified unit.

In the past, he would have considered being noticed by the top leadership an extremely advantageous thing, and if he could even curry favor with them, that would have been something to be overjoyed with. But now it's different! He's run headlong into a project that the higher-ups are truly focused on! His little tricks from before might very well be discovered by those above, and then…

Oh, see you in a military court!

But he hasn't been arrested yet, he still has a chance! Yes! He still has a chance!

Whether he was hypnotizing himself or convincing himself, Gao Long saw the officer angrily return to the car and slam the door shut with a deafening roar.

"Captain, Lieutenant Colonel Ye's orders have all been completed." Sally waved her handbag at Gao Long. The three families had finally chosen to trust Ye's Heavy Industry, a company they had regular contact with and which had a decent reputation. "Speaking of which, we should thank this idiot."

“Greev.” Gao Long said a name, which made Sally pause for a moment before she realized that her captain was just not talkative. Sometimes you really had to guess what he was thinking. But this kind of straight-laced man was not bad. In addition, Captain Gao Long and Nores had similar MS piloting skills, which made her feel safer. It was just a pity that the captain had a wife!

"This guy's name is Grave. Should we tell Lieutenant Colonel Ye when we get back?" Sally walked out the door, watching the convoy slink away, a smile playing on her lips. This felt pretty good.

“We already know. Notify Midia to land. You guys pack quickly, we’ll board and depart! Tommy, keep watch, they might not give up.” Gao Long narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that they wouldn’t let it go so easily. “Hmm?” Gao Long suddenly felt someone tugging at his pants. He looked down and saw it was Rita.

“We will arrive safely.” Rita had somehow appeared beside Gao Long.

"...Thank you for your kind words." Gao Long looked at the little girl, his eyes softening slightly, but his expression was still quite frightening.

————————————————————————————————————————————

"So much has happened in these past few hours." Ye Yun leaned back in his chair. After sending Gao Long and the others to pick up the people, a whole bunch of things suddenly happened, and Ye Yun hardly had a chance to rest. He suddenly had a feeling of, "Good heavens, didn't I transmigrate into a young master? How did I become a beast of burden again??"

“Yes…” Aina reached out her small hand and carefully massaged Ye Yun’s temples. The events that had happened that day were so numerous that Ye Yun was having trouble keeping up.

Although it was indeed a decent victory for the base, the various losses, especially the emergency repairs of the mobile suits, kept the engineers from Ye's Heavy Industry, Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company, and the Earth Federation Forces extremely busy.

In particular, Yeh's Heavy Industry and Shuguang Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company wanted to tow some of the heavily damaged MS back to their factories for damage analysis, so that they could make targeted modifications in the future.

However, the Earth Federation Forces flatly rejected the idea. "Do you know how desperately we need mobile suits? You actually want to tow them back? Dream on! We'll repair them right here! If you want to investigate, do it here. Try taking one away and see what happens!"

Ye's Heavy Industry and Shuguang Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company's reasons are also very clear: What kind of weird equipment do you have here that can perform such analysis?! Shut up and let us tow it back, analyze it, fix it, and send it back to you.

However, the Federation forces firmly disagreed, and the two sides had a fruitful and frank exchange, fully exchanging their opinions...

Ye Yun was initially able to say a few words in this lawsuit, trying to get both sides to back down. However, he soon lost even the right to intervene, as the newly established Asian Theater Command took the initiative to get involved. The lawsuit escalated, and Gao Pu even called Ye Yun to learn about the situation. After that, Gao Pu told Ye Yun to leave it alone and gave him the order that the most important thing now was to restore the combat power of the MS forces as quickly as possible and ensure that a battalion-level MS force could be deployed at any time.

This passage undoubtedly reveals two pieces of information: the Federation Forces were very satisfied with the combat capabilities demonstrated by the GAT01 Short Sword in this battle. Even before the pilot had completed all training, it was able to successfully repel the Zeon mobile suit forces and severely damage them. The Federation Forces essentially attributed most of the victory to the Short Sword's performance.

As for the fact that they outnumber Zeon, is that a big deal for the Federation?

Another point is that the training of MS mixed forces has been quite successful. The cooperation between MS units, armored units, infantry units, and support units has begun to show a high level of cooperation. The functionality of the infantry in combat has attracted the attention of other units.

After all, many of the tactics demonstrated in this battle can be replicated!

Especially when they were attacked, the MS units were severely damaged due to their overreaching. However, almost immediately, the armored and infantry units in the rear launched an offensive that successfully prevented the Zeon forces from further expanding their gains. After the MS units caught their breath, they also tried their best to hold back the Zeon MS units to create opportunities for other units to inflict damage. This scene showed the cooperation between the various sides, which amazed these senior commanders.

Moreover, it seems that the entire set of tactics at the Beichuan base is about to form a complete tactical command system. It is not just a simple combination of MS and mechanized troops, but a truly meaningful combined arms force with MS in some sense. No one is the main character, and everyone is the main character.

As a result, the Earth Federation Forces became even more eager to acquire Ye Yun's mobile suit forces. With the pressure mounting, Gao Pu had to take the situation seriously. At the very least, before the Federation Forces headquarters could begin producing mobile suits, they needed to transfer troops from Ye's Heavy Industries. Everything was very tense, which led to this phone call.

"And Zeon didn't forget to cause more trouble..." Ye Yun took a deep breath, his head starting to throb. These bastards, instead of running away from the no-man's-land, actually managed to set up camp on the Tibetan Plateau despite altitude sickness? Huh? None of you aliens suffer from altitude sickness?!

After confirming that the other side had received the orbital airdropped supplies, Ye Yun was somewhat distraught.

"Ye Yun, Sera's communication." Aina noticed Ye Yun's personal computer flash, as if some information had come in. She glanced at it, pursed her lips, but still spoke up to remind him.

"Sera? Is there a problem with her rescue?"

Chapter Thirty-Four: Perhaps We'll Have to Move Places

Although it was the early hours of the morning, the facility, now named the Federal Army North Sichuan Training Base, was still brightly lit, with sixteen mobile suits standing on the edge of the huge tarmac, slowly boarding.

“Thank you so much for quickly assembling the number of MS assigned to me.” A major general extended his hand to Ye Yun. “Trinson Merck, Lieutenant Colonel Ye Yun, your joining the Earth Federation Forces has brought great joy to the Earth Federation Forces.”

"Major General Merck, you're too kind. I've been busy catching up on my studies these past few days. Apart from having a slightly better understanding of MS, I have almost no foundation. I can only say that the base has a group of excellent tactical staff officers." Ye Yun said very politely, shaking hands with the general.

Perhaps due to the long period of peace, the Federation Army generally has high-ranking technical officers, but the ranks of the military commanders... well, that's a different story...

Someone like Tiam, the commander of an entire Federation main fleet, and suspected to be the next commander of the Federation Space Force after Reibir, should at least be a strong contender, yet he's only a lieutenant general...

"You fought a very well this time. Do you have any good suggestions for me?" Major General Merck nodded at Ye Yun, taking the initiative to show his goodwill. After all, he was in the same faction as Ye Yun, and in Merck's view, it was a good thing for both of them to have a good relationship.

In other words, Merck felt that the little guy in front of him was worth investing in. After all, Ye's Heavy Industry was currently the most important private enterprise in the Earth Federation Army. Countless strange conglomerates were eyeing Ye's Heavy Industry, which had suddenly become so successful.

That's right, it's an explosion!

The sudden influx of orders from the Federal Army even overwhelmed all the preparations made by Ye Ning, the head of Ye's Heavy Industry, who had already prepared to take a small gamble.

According to Kinias's dissatisfied complaints, the Earth Federation Forces wished that Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing would deliver 1000 GAT01 short swords to the Earth Federation Forces by tomorrow. The hundreds of mobile suits they had received were not enough for the Earth Federation Forces. They asked every day if they could increase the production line, and preferably not one line at a time, but ten lines at a time!

Keep in mind, this is only the delivery volume for less than the first month! Even for Zeon, which has been in continuous production, this is probably the total number that needs to be included for all models currently in production! Of course, after the outbreak of war, Zeon will also increase its military industrial production capacity, and Zeonic's production capacity may already be more than this number.

"My advice is to get those lazybones familiar with the terrain as soon as possible. Although mobile suits are said to be more adaptable to terrain than tanks, they are actually a very delicate piece of equipment." Ye Yun shrugged. "The best battle I fought here was not far from the exercise area. These guys often go there for picnics, so they're not very familiar with the terrain." Ye Yun handed Major General Merck a cigarette. "So those bastards drove the Zeon forces into a muddy riverbed, and the Zeon mobile suits were caught off guard and crashed everywhere! I've captured two relatively intact Zakus."

"Hmm! Making good use of the terrain is a very good idea. Which squadron?" Major General Merck nodded, looking at Ye Yun with a playful gaze. He clearly had the idea of ​​poaching Ye Yun, since his war zone was adjacent to the European battlefield and was likely to be attacked further by the Zeon army. Therefore, Ye Yun's suggestion was very realistic.

"I'll put the list on the next batch," Ye Yun said with a smile. After all, he had withheld nearly a whole battalion's worth of MS equipment, and after using it, he had damaged almost a company (even if it was damaged), yet the other party hadn't complained at all. They just asked Ye Yun to gather enough for two companies to send to Africa, and to ship the rest as soon as possible after repairs. They were giving him a lot of face!

Naturally, in return, Ye Yun would definitely pack up the three best squads besides the 08 squad (whose captain is Amada Shirou, a survivor from SIDE2), which has special political significance and can be commanded but not assigned by him, the 09 squad led by Gao Long, which has become somewhat like his personal guard, and the 01 squad led by Norres, which is currently like an instructor, and prepare to send them to the African front.

"The Earth Federation, overall, has a very strong advantage in scale, but this advantage is difficult to utilize when facing a powerful surprise attack from mobile suits. It's like a huge, rusty tank; it takes time to get it moving." Major General Merck nodded in agreement with Ye Yun's insight. He was also well aware of the priorities. Given the training level of the mobile suit units in this base at the time, sending the supplies allocated to his own mobile suit units here might really become the Earth Federation's last-ditch effort.

According to the Earth Federation Forces headquarters, if the training base only has one battalion-sized mobile suit and cannot maintain a sufficient numerical advantage, it is very likely to be destroyed by a surprise attack by a Zeon mobile suit battalion.

After all, there is a big difference between charging with one 100mm machine gun and charging with three.

"So... our most important task is to overcome Zeon's most insane first phase?" Ye Yun understood; the big shot in front of him was giving him some pointers.

“Yes, the Federation is imperfect, there are many shortcomings and flaws, we all know that… but we didn’t reduce the number of people from 110 billion to half.” Major General Merck shrugged. “You are different from us, Ye Yun. Perhaps you can make a little difference to the Federation.” Saying these inexplicable words, Major General Merck patted Ye Yun on the shoulder. “If I need support, remember to lend a hand.”

"Thank you, I'll definitely come!" Although Ye Yun didn't understand why this major general suddenly thought so highly of him, he felt obligated to accept the respect shown to him, especially since the general was a pillar of the war zone and had made a special trip to visit him before taking office. "By the way, Ye's Heavy Industries is willing to provide some supplies and MS consumables. If possible, we'd like to establish a repair station there to collect battlefield data for future improvements. Of course, they can also carry out some battlefield modifications." Ye Yun smiled and presented the conditions prepared by his sister.

"Oh?" General Merck's eyes immediately brightened. He had great faith in the engineers at Ye's Heavy Industry! After all, he had arrived yesterday and immediately witnessed the verbal battle between engineers from Ye's Heavy Industry and Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing Company and mechanics from the Earth Federation Army. In the end, the Federation Army headquarters received a video call, reviewed the evidence submitted by both sides, and made a judgment before the matter was dropped.

The disagreement between the two sides was actually quite simple. The Federation's mechanics were obsessed with restoring the mobile suits' operational capability as quickly as possible because those damned Zeon were on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and everyone at the training base felt that they would soon launch another attack, sweep up the enemy lines, and completely wipe out those Zeon bastards. So the mechanics used many crude methods, almost forcibly restoring the mobile suits' combat readiness.

This tactic naturally drove the engineers from Ye's Heavy Industry and Shuguang Heavy Machinery Manufacturing, who rushed to the scene, crazy!

This is roughly equivalent to the reaction of a motorist when he sees that damn big head welding a pair of twin (single-soldier model x2) hot melt guns onto a Leman Rustamk.

You heretics!!! You all deserve to die!

In particular, some of the forced modifications have actually affected the lifespan of the MS itself. To describe this behavior, it's like knocking down a load-bearing wall, but not completely knocking it down...

Finally, the Federation Forces headquarters acknowledged that the mechanic's actions were well-intentioned, but that the maintenance manual should indeed be followed. Furthermore, the Zeon forces had retreated to a mining city far from the training base, and in the short term, this base would not have any pursuit capability.

Even if the Federation forces wanted to launch a decisive battle to eliminate them, given that it was a high-altitude march, the best option might be to change direction. In other words, they would still fight, but not from this base.

"By the way, barring any unforeseen circumstances," General Merck flicked his hat one last time before boarding, "Colonel Ye Yun, I hope you won't have any problems adjusting to the Southeast Asian climate."

"Uh..." Ye Yun was stunned. His rank was lieutenant colonel, but he felt his hearing was fine, and Major General Merck wouldn't lie to him. So, the implication seemed to be... he was about to be promoted!? From commander of a training unit to commander of a regional defense force?! "Thank you very much!"

"Hahaha... I didn't use much strength, it's mainly because you fought so brilliantly! You delivered a victory when the entire Federation Army desperately needed one. Your contribution isn't just about repelling the Zeon attack." Major General Merck patted Ye Yun on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work!"

After speaking, Major General Merck took the documents handed over by Doris, who was carrying the papers. He glanced at them and, seeing that they were documents confirming the handover of short swords between the two squadrons, simply signed them. He then boarded the transport plane. The takeoff of the Media brought a gust of wind, causing the clothes of the people standing on the side to flutter.

"Congratulations on your promotion!" Rachel had a standard smile on her face. To be honest, even she, who had applied for Ye's Heavy Industry right after graduating from university and was then assigned by Ye Ning to be Ye Yun's secretary, had never imagined that Ye Yun would have the ability to command an army, and she certainly hadn't expected that Ye Yun would be promoted so quickly.

"..." Ye Yun saluted the transport plane, then took a deep breath. "Perhaps we should prepare to leave this base. Ready to be mosquito food?"

"Huh?" The women around Ye Yun looked shocked. Out of respect and politeness, they had been standing a distance away from Ye Yun and General Merck and had not heard their detailed conversation. So they were somewhat surprised to hear what Ye Yun was saying. Ye Yun was definitely one of the fastest-rising officers in the Federation Army.

"What General Merck just said was very good this time, so the higher-ups might change my position. Then I need to prepare to resolve the problems I haven't been able to solve before," Ye Yun explained to the group, his expression very calm.

"Well, so... the Earth Federation Forces don't plan to launch an attack from this base."

"Yes, from the south, it's easier to get there and it's closer."

Chapter Thirty-Five: Starry Sky at Your Fingertips

"Are these... the little guests you've been waiting for?" Looking up at Midia as she slowly descended, Aina stood on the ground with her arms crossed. The strong wind blew her military uniform, forcing Aina to take off her military cap and hold it in her hand.

"Yes, a village not far from the landing site of the space colony satellite. Since none of the three of them were harmed, they can be considered the chosen ones." Ye Yun smiled. "Moreover, you have seen the intelligence that Gao Long sent back. Someone else, like us, is watching them."

“You used MS to scare them…” Aina shook her head with a smile. Ye Yun’s actions were a bit excessive, but the other party was obviously guilty, so there was no internal report. The matter passed by without any ripples, leaving Doris and Rachel, who were prepared for a war of words, feeling like they had punched thin air.

As the rear hatch of the Midia slowly opened, Ye Yun and Aina walked over. Ye Yun shook hands with Rita's father, who was walking ahead, and said, "You must be tired from your journey. Take a short rest at the base and have something to eat. A car will take you directly to Ye's Heavy Industry later."