UC will eventually reach the stars

"Sister Aina! Dinner is ready!" Michelle's voice called out from below, and this was the third time already. Clearly, Ye Yun and Aina had hidden very well this time, and Michelle hadn't caught them. It was like a little game between Ye Yun and Aina and the three little ones... no, it should be said that it was a little game between Michelle and Jonah.

Finding Aina might not be so easy for Rita, but finding Ye Yun would be very easy. There's no way around it, after all, Ye Yun is also a new human, especially since he awakened under Rita's influence.

Ye Yun and Aina exchanged a glance and secretly chuckled! It was especially fun to bully a precocious little guy like Michelle.

The three little ones arrived in the Steel Peli, which Ye Ning had modified. The Steel Peli's pilot had previously worked at a base in Southeast Asia and didn't even bother to ask why the three little ones had come along. Everyone knew how much the two heirs of Ye's Heavy Industry doted on these three kids.

Putting everything else aside, the three little guys each have their own independent... MS piloting simulator. This is a simple simulator that Ye Ning specially made according to the little guys' body size. Its biggest feature is that the simulator space is adjustable to accommodate the three little guys' rapidly growing bodies. It serves as entertainment for the little guys, and the entertainment objects are... those rookies in the Federation Army who have just begun their training!

Among the Federation's mobile suit pilots, the three little guys have already started referring to themselves as "graduation bosses"! This means that if you can at least beat them, you're pretty much ready to switch from simulator training to real-world Leo training. Of course, this refers to completing simulator training ahead of time; generally, you need to accumulate enough simulator training time first. If you can consistently win, it's not impossible.

So far, it seems that most Federation MS pilots have accumulated enough time (smile).

"Rita~ Where are Brother Ye Yun and Sister Aina hiding?! Seriously! They can't even eat properly!" Michelle complained loudly, hands on her hips.

Ye Yun and Aina leaned on Short Sword 105's shoulders, craning their necks to look down. The two of them were secretly amused, like older brothers and sisters watching their younger siblings make a fool of themselves.

"Sister Aina and Brother Ye Yun also need their own space." Qiao Na's voice wasn't loud, but the two who were chuckling could still hear it clearly.

"I'm not a third wheel!" the precocious Michelle said, disgruntled. "They never come out for dinner! We have to look for them every time. Don't they feel ashamed? Do they act like adults?"

"...Pfft." Ye Yun and Aina exchanged a glance and couldn't help but chuckle softly. Aina was laughing so hard she was shaking, and as if afraid that Michelle below would hear, she leaned on Ye Yun's back and continued to laugh.

Good grief, is this how you test your cadres...?

"Rita!" Michelle glared at Rita, who was taking small bites of food. With her hands on her hips, Michelle was furious. "We have to wait for my older brother and sister to eat. They haven't been found yet!"

"..." Rita pointed to the short sword 105, said nothing, and continued eating on her own. Ye Yun's brother's emotional fluctuations were really too cheerful, and, well, a bit... ugly adult! She really couldn't stand it anymore. "Brother and sister won't go far."

"Ah...ah!" Michelle looked in the direction Rita was pointing. Wasn't that Ye Yun's short sword 105? What was it doing here?

Then Michelle looked up...

Michelle and Ye Yun, both beaming with smiles, locked eyes!

"Brother Ye Yun!! Found you!" Michelle pointed at Ye Yun, her eyes filled with pride. "Dinner's ready!"

"Okay, I'll get down now." Although it's a game, rules are rules. Ye Yun didn't intend to set a bad example for the kids. Even though it wasn't explicitly stated, it was just a common practice, and it had to be followed. He couldn't leave the kids with the impression that rules could be broken at will.

"Alright, stop laughing." Ye Yun reached behind him and patted Aina's pert buttocks, then shook his back to signal them to get off. But for some reason, Aina kept laughing. Ye Yun didn't know what to do, so he could only turn to the side.

Aina didn't resist, and simply lay down to the side, gazing up at the starry sky, "How beautiful!"

"Hmm!" Ye Yun also lay back, the unchanging starry sky was indeed a captivating sight.

"You tell me... why do humans kill each other?" Perhaps because she was lying on the cold war machine, Aina said with great emotion.

"...Most wars are caused by desire—personal desires, collective desires—which ultimately become the trigger for violence. However, I'm fighting this war now so that we won't have to fight again." Ye Yun turned to look at Aina, who smiled and reached out her hand, interlocking her fingers with Ye Yun's. "Let's try our best to finish all this mess quickly, and then see if we can push humanity forward a couple of steps."

“Okay!” Aina looked at Ye Yun’s eyes, which seemed to sparkle, and nodded with a smile.

"Dinner's ready!" Michelle's somewhat exasperated voice came from below again. "Rita's already finished eating!"

"I didn't finish!" Rita seemed to be losing her composure. After all, this made it sound as if Rita had devoured all of Ye Yun and Aina's food like a little pig. However, it was indeed a rare sight to see Rita break down like this.

"Here you are~" Aina smiled and waved to the crowd below, then was caught off guard by Michel's next words.

"Honestly, what are those two adults doing on the shoulder of the short sword! So dawdling!" Michelle went to eat after hearing Aina's reply, seemingly finding Aina's words very credible.

"Pfft..." Ye Yun, who was about to slide down the arm of the short sword, looked at Aina's bright red cheeks and laughed rather unkindly.

"It's all your fault!" Aina pinched Ye Yun hard, and seeing Ye Yun's grimacing face, she shook her head and slid down first.

"What an unexpected disaster..." Ye Yun shook his head and slid down his arm, then jumped from his palm onto the third-floor balcony.

"Huh? Ah!" When Ye Yun arrived on the first floor, he saw Aina smiling gently, but her fists were clenched and drilling into Michelle's head. Michelle, who was sitting in a chair eating, was screaming and struggling violently.

“Young Master Ye Yun!” Nores, who was sitting at the dining table and carrying Rita down, bowed to Ye Yun. “Just now, we received news that the shuttle that Ramba Lal and Hamon were traveling in crashed into the wreckage near SIDE5.”

"It seems the plan is going smoothly." Ye Yun nodded. Neither Ye Yun nor Ye Ning expected that the methods they had set up in Side 3 would completely deceive Zeon's intelligence department, so they ultimately chose a smooth "disappearance" method. In a sense, this also represents the complete demise of the Lal family in Side 3.

Of course, some of Lamba's subordinates and their families had already begun their journey to SIDE6.

"Yes, Ramba... was an excellent soldier, but unfortunately he couldn't become an excellent politician. The disappearance of the Lal family is at least a good thing for Ramba Lal." Nores sighed. After witnessing Ye Ning's skills and Ye Yun's shrewdness, Nores's evaluation of many families in the Principality of Zeon quickly began to decline.

"They chose this path themselves, so they can't blame anyone else." Ye Yun shook his head, not intending to comment too much. According to the information he knew, the Lar family was the so-called Deakin faction. Now that their leader had died suddenly, they really didn't have many good options.

“However, this way, Miss Sera will have someone she can trust to protect her.” Nores nodded. The last time Zeon suddenly attacked Sera, it shocked many people. After all, what Sera was doing could be said to be the greatest conscience of mankind. If Zeon still had to take action, it could only mean that Zeon had completely gone mad.

However, this was just a trap set for Ye Yun. Sera herself was not harmed at all, and they even had the leisure to slowly dig for supplies from SIDE4, which left Ye Yun somewhat speechless.

"Eat!" Michelle, who had been spared by Aina, brought Ye Yunduan a meal, then, acting like a little adult, said, "You have to finish it all!"

"Okay!" Ye Yun glanced at the plate. Although it was the main base of the African Army, there was no doubt that as an African country with a small population, the difficulty of supplying materials was extremely high. So the food here was very simple: a spoonful of mashed potatoes, a meat patty, two slices of whole wheat bread, an egg, some mung beans and corn, and a box of fruit and vegetable juice (which Aina brought).

“Ye Yun…” Rita suddenly spoke up at this moment.

"A tremendous malice is approaching..."

"!"

I think it looks better without eyeshadow...

Chapter 106: War Everywhere

"This is Ye Yun, 13th Mobile Unit, Tactical Command Center, Tactical Briefing." The moment Rita spoke, Ye Yun told Aina to take care of the three children, then immediately rushed into his Short Sword 105, adjusted the communication channel, and began calling out, "Is there any enemy force approaching?"

"This is the tactical command center. Colonel Ye Yun, how did you find out? Just now, three Federal Army transport, logistics, and even garrison locations were attacked!" The tactical command center staff quickly pulled up the footage. "Currently, no enemy forces have been detected approaching the base."

"Somalia, the Red Sea, Suez?" Ye Yun frowned. The target of the attack was highly suspicious. Was the enemy trying to cut off shipping between Asia and Europe? But wait, where would these ships come from? Even if there were, there wouldn't be many. "Major Admiral Merk?"

It is true that Ye Yun's mobile force, as a subordinate unit of the Federal Army Headquarters, has special authority, but in a certain sense, it also limits Ye Yun's opportunity to directly intervene in the command system of the assigned area. If the original command system of the other party does not agree, then Ye Yun cannot directly command and can only act on his own.

This is a matter of command authority and the order of power transfer...

To put it simply, at the very least, Ye Yun would only have the right to offer "suggestions" to the African Army until all the colonel-level officers present were dead. This is a huge difference from the fact that Ye Yun was directly the boss of the Dhaka base, where he would have the authority to make decisions in that area.

"Major General Merk is on his way back from Chabro. He should already know about the attack. The general will probably contact you, Colonel Ye Yun, later for details." The staff officer in the command center said very sincerely. Ye Yun's 13th Mobile Unit is currently the most powerful offensive unit in the African Army. Major General Merk had already given instructions to everyone before he left, so naturally everyone had a very good attitude towards Ye Yun.

"General Merck isn't here? Who's in command now?" Ye Yun was taken aback. In the midst of this intense conflict, what could possibly make General Merck abandon the base and rush to Chabro for a meeting? And... the Zeon forces really know how to time their moves perfectly! Merck had just gone to the Federation headquarters, and the attack had already begun?

"It should be Lieutenant Colonel Harrington on duty, but we can't get in touch with him..." There seemed to be a lot of noise coming from the command center.

"Tsk..." Ye Yun understood immediately. The Africa Army Command was located in the rear, and the Zeon army was supposedly incapable of launching an attack there, so these guys had become complacent. As for where they were, it was just a few places. But the enemy had even launched a fierce attack on their base, which was probably located in Somalia, so the security of the Africa Army Command was naturally not that high.

"Try contacting them again. If you still can't reach them, move on to the next one in order." Ye Yun took a deep breath and said irritably, "The duty commander is out of contact? Ha, that's so Federal Army!"

"..." At this moment, a communication suddenly came through. The staff officer listened very seriously for a moment, and then quickly saluted Ye Yun. "Colonel Ye, no need. Major General Merck has appointed you to temporarily take over the command authority of the African Army. You have the authority to direct the African Army's operations."

"..." Ye Yun was a little stunned. Although they were all from the same faction, General Merck's actions were somewhat irregular. However, this was no longer the time to dwell on that. Ye Yun controlled his Short Sword 105 and made a big leap, landing at the entrance of the semi-underground command center. He knelt down on one knee, opened the hatch, and shouted into the communication device, "Open the door!"

Ye Yun and his team were stationed in the hangar area next to the runway. There was no other way; MS maintenance required large equipment, and it was simply not feasible to operate near the command post.

Chaos erupted outside the command center. The soldiers were clearly taken aback by their commander's sudden and unexpected arrival. A large group of military police looked up at the massive steel giant with shocked expressions.

For a brief moment, it seemed that a few idiots shouted something stupid like "Enemy MS attack!" and were immediately beaten up by the people next to them who recognized them as Dagger 105s! The reason is simple: Dagger 105s are currently rare in the entire Federation Forces system. If there are no surprises, Dagger will remain the absolute main force of the Federation Forces. Dagger 105s, or Dagger B models, will only be a very small number of MSs assigned to elite units.

In the African Army, only the 13th Mobile Regiment is equipped with the Dagger 105.

"Colonel Ye Yun!" Seeing Ye Yun rush in, all the duty officers in the command room stood up from their positions and saluted Ye Yun. For some reason, at this moment, they felt as if they had found their backbone.

"The situation!" Ye Yun returned the greeting simply and asked directly. There was no other way; I hadn't received full military etiquette training, I was just a self-taught individual. "First, inform all units of the situation and alert everyone, especially the supply center." Ye Yun said quickly. After all, with insufficient intelligence, the only thing Ye Yun could think of right now was retaliation for Ye Yun and his team's previous attack on the Zeon logistics hub.

Somalia responded that it was only attacked by long-range firepower, and the search revealed that it appeared to be a disposable rocket launcher.

"The remaining fleet at the Red Sea base was attacked by an unidentified force, suspected to be a small submarine underwater, and the fleet suffered heavy damage."

"The Suez Air Base is connecting to the camera..."

"Goodness, they're getting the hang of it. What about the air force? Have they deployed support according to the plan?" Ye Yun asked the air force first. There was no other way; in a short time, only the air force could provide immediate support. By the time the army arrived, the attacked base would be completely destroyed.

"The air force has already taken off," the staff officers replied very quickly.

"Have the Air Force guys send some anti-submarine planes to the Red Sea to search for anything, whether it's a small submarine or something else. I think it could be a very interesting discovery." Ye Yun curled his lips. Whether it's ZAFT or Zeon, their marine resources are quite famous, well, the kind of famous that can crush the Federation/United forces.

"Yes, I will send your order immediately." The staff officer had no doubt about Ye Yun's order and immediately issued it. In this state of war, every instruction had to be given as quickly as possible.

"Get all MS pilots up and board their aircraft to prepare for a possible Zeon attack. Then, have each base deploy a number of Type 61 aircraft to ambush in locations they deem suitable near the base, but not too far away!" Ye Yun thought for a moment and added two more orders. If the Zeon forces were really after the Earth Federation's logistical supplies, the Federation might really laugh themselves to death. The Zeon forces don't have the Earth Federation's ability to carry out large-scale airlifts with the Media fleet.

Although the Earth Federation Forces in North America have reported that the Zeon forces seem to have deployed a very large transport aircraft that can directly drop Zeon mobile suit units to the front lines, they have not reported that the enemy has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. Therefore, it can be said that even if Zeon launches an air raid, deploying such troops is a one-way ticket, and they are unable to withdraw.

Even the Federation isn't extravagant enough to deploy MS units as one-off forces, so how could the Zeon army, with its abysmal resource conditions, possibly be willing to use them like that?

"So... it's Suez?" Ye Yun squinted, seemingly understanding, but not entirely. As a vital transportation route, the military value of occupying Suez was self-evident. It was the route to and from the Mediterranean, and the land route to Central Asia. The Zeon army had attacked Suez several times before, but General Merk's troops had blocked them.

"Zion hasn't shown any signs of mobilizing a large-scale force either. Where did they get the confidence to capture Suez?!" Ye Yun muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

"The connection is established!" the staff officer said quickly. Because the Suez base is a large base in a key location, the Federation Army's facilities are very complete, and they can even directly view the live footage.

"Huh...?! A heat sword?" A one-eyed mobile suit that was clearly Zeon-style was wielding a shield and a heat sword, fighting against a short sword. The short sword's barrage was blocked by the shield raised by the tiger.

"Record immediately. This is a new mobile suit from the Zeon army." Ye Yun glanced at the basic features. There were no shoulder shields on the shoulders, and the shield style was completely different from that of the short sword. It was a specially designed independent design, and the size of the short sword shield was much larger.

"Yes!" The staff officers were taken aback for a moment, but immediately realized that the person in front of them was the owner of Dawn and Ye's Heavy Industry, and was among the top three people with the most say in the Federation Army's MS. So they immediately started recording the footage according to Ye Yun's instructions. They didn't know that Ye Yun was also having some doubts.

"Hiss, wasn't this thing only released in the second part? I don't remember there being a counterpart in the first part... Oh right, the Zaku was also released in the second part, so that matches up. It's after the Zaku, so it should be an extended model???" Ye Yun, arms crossed and watching the battle scene with a serious expression, began to think quickly about something he wouldn't tell outsiders. If we look at it in comparison, it should be a close-range specialized version of the Zaku... What was that one in SEED again?

A flying wing? That's impossible. Kinias spent ages trying to come up with a basic powered glider.

Wrist-mounted machine gun... Oh, I see it! But it doesn't look like it can break the shield, no need to panic.

Electric whip... It can't really be that fantastical... Damn, is this for real?! All three short swords were taken down? That's pretty impressive, looks like the pilot is an ace.

"Let the Suez base launch a counterattack and see if we can capture this new aircraft!"

"Yes!"

Chapter 107 The other party slipped away on their own.

"Commander Ye Yun, the enemy MS has retreated!" Just as the Federation's Type 61 tanks were preparing to besiege this dark blue MS of Zeon, the enemy unexpectedly retreated.

"Is the Zeon army conducting harassment operations...?" The Federation officer in the command room seemed a little annoyed. He and his men had just thrown a heavy punch at the other side, and the other side had actually slapped him back. Although the impact was certainly not as painful as the Federation army's punch, the humiliation and political implications were very high.

"What about the other bases?" Ye Yun asked softly, his brows furrowed. Based on Ye Yun's senses, the opponent's mobility, or rather, the agility of the machine, was excellent. The speed of their movements was far greater than that of the Zaku II, so in terms of combat maneuvers, they had already surpassed the level of a typical short sword. If you take into account the pilot's performance...

One can only say that the few Daggers that were destroyed in battle did not die in vain...

"The other six attacked bases and supply points retreated after the Type 61's cluster counterattack, which the enemy mistook for reinforcements. We destroyed two of their Zaku and apparently damaged two more. The supply depots suffered significant losses, and it may take us a week to replenish our supplies." The staff officers exchanged glances. Ye Yun's tactic of withdrawing and then re-entering had successfully fooled the enemy. If the two Zakus attacking one supply point had held out just a little longer, the Federation forces might have collapsed, and the losses would have been far more severe than just material losses.

"What about the air force's pursuit?" Ye Yun's eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't surprised that the Zeon army could run away, but for the army to outrun the air force?! That was impossible! If this were still a world governed by physics, such a ghost story would never happen.

"Target lost... The scouts have located the enemy's trail, which appears to have ended up disappearing at the beach." The staff officer reported quickly, clearly also somewhat puzzled. "Could this be a deliberate misdirection by the enemy?"

“If I remember correctly, many of the reconnaissance soldiers at the Suez Canal base were transferred from Dhaka. They can find the Zaku's location in the dense jungle, so don't doubt their tracking skills.” Ye Yun shook his head. “Speaking of the sea, what about the Red Sea base?”

"Found it! They destroyed a mobile suit... underwater!" Another staff officer quickly placed a flat plate on the ground, on which were some wreckage that had already been salvaged. It must be said that the local navy's response was quite swift. "It doesn't seem to be the same as the structural components of a regular Zaku, but they are somewhat similar."

"...Very good, two new Zeon toys have been discovered at once. Report them. Under the guise of the Close Combat Enhanced Zaku and the Underwater Zaku, have you completed the damage analysis of the ships attacked by the fleet stationed at the Red Sea base? What weapons did the enemy use? Melee combat? Or torpedoes?"

"Rocket-propelled torpedoes, or rather missiles, have damaged the Red Sea base's fleet, resulting in the loss of one destroyer and damage to the others, which require repairs. However, right now..."

“Most shipyards are now defunct, with nowhere to repair them. The closest shipyards, unaffected by the colony crash and capable of repairing large warships, are in Zeon-controlled territory, even as far as Odessa—a perfect irony.” Ye Yun tapped the table, his eyes sharp. “Let’s discuss with the European Military District and find a way to organize an air raid on the ports in Zeon-controlled territory. This matter…”

Ye Yun snorted. Although he was not familiar with UC, almost all of ZAFT's naval fleet in SEED were underwater fleets, and the ones on the surface were all captured from the Federation. If the story were to be rewritten, the Zeon forces would most likely also have a large number of underwater fleets. But where did they gather their underwater fleets in such a short time?

Ye Yun wasn't in the navy, so he didn't know what the California base meant to the federal navy.

"You mean, the Zeon forces are starting to deploy underwater units? From mobile suits to underwater carriers?!" the staff officer said incredulously. "Although the Zaku has a history of underwater operations, but... but..."

“But what’s below the sea surface is completely different from river water. We should cut these salvaged parts in half and send them to Chabro and Ye’s Heavy Industry respectively, and have them analyze them quickly. The war may be getting more and more complicated.” Ye Yun crossed his arms and pondered.

The Federal Air Force is excellent, as can be seen from the MS pilots transferred from them. Generally speaking, pilots learn to drive MS faster than tank drivers, and the average ability of Air Force pilots is also higher than that of tank drivers.

There's no way around it... Pilots are highly qualified personnel, and they're already at the very top of the pyramid of human ability, something tank crewmen simply can't compare to.

The Zeon forces don't yet know about the Signal's melee-enhanced version. Hmm, what's its name in SEED-DESTINY... Tiger? Or Fire Tiger? Oh well, whatever kind of tiger it is doesn't matter. The Federation's higher-ups will probably figure it out themselves soon.

In short, this mobile suit probably didn't come from the water. If it did, then the Air Force would have reported to itself that it had sunk a Zeon surface ship! After all, a transport ship capable of carrying mobile suits couldn't be a small boat and wouldn't be able to escape the Air Force's search.

Since it wasn't on the water, and considering the previous speculation about ZAFT's counterpart, the Zeon forces must have directly taken the mobile suit away using something like an underwater mothership, which was indeed beyond the capabilities of the Federation fighters that were pursuing it.

"Report this video as soon as possible. If I were the commander of the Zeon army, there's only one reason why they would launch such a big operation, but achieve little in actual combat, and so easily abandon the attack to minimize losses." Ye Yun narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Most likely... it's for political propaganda."