UC will eventually reach the stars

"It's good that it ended smoothly." Ye Yun clinked glasses with Gao Yun, their attitude being friendly and close. Ye Yun didn't need to put on a long face or show a bad attitude to others. After all, in human society, if you want to get things done, you really can't escape interpersonal relationships. "By the way, congratulations, General Gao Yun. This time, you've made a great contribution. I heard that the Federation Headquarters has a very high opinion of you."

"Hahaha... I also want to thank Ye Yun for your help!" Gao Yun laughed heartily. He reached out and patted Ye Yun on the shoulder. "The results speak for themselves, and no one dares to say that Gao Da is no good." Especially since Ye Yun was the one who achieved these results, he was even more proud. Ye's Heavy Industry couldn't even mock him for faking it.

Ye Yun smiled, downed his drink in one gulp, and gestured to Gao Yun. Gao Yun was clearly under a lot of pressure lately, and at this small party where Operation V was officially declared a success, he naturally began to let loose.

How could the Federation Army Headquarters say that Operation V's performance is inadequate? Wouldn't that be a slap in the face to their own people? Besides, Ye Yun's previous achievements and the data he produced during training are all there for all to see. Just talking about performance, it's a killer of short swords, including the Short Sword 105.

Needless to say, its attack power and mobility are exceptional. In terms of defense alone, the main armor belt of the torso almost provides all-around protection for the Type 90 machine gun, making it virtually impervious to damage unless a few high-penetration special ammunition are used! Not to mention the Zaku's 120mm machine gun.

Of course, the price is also outrageous...

However, given the current joyful atmosphere, Ye Yun really didn't need to spoil things. Then, as if noticing something, Ye Yun politely gestured to Gao Yun, "Excuse me, I'll take my leave." Seeing Gao Yun nod in understanding, Ye Yun turned to leave.

"What's wrong?" Ye Yun walked to the side and approached Aina, who was wearing a federal army major's uniform, and asked. Aina had sent him a message asking him to come over, but Ye Yun didn't quite understand what had happened.

Aina raised her chin, gesturing for Ye Yun to look for himself. Ye Yun naturally followed Aina's gaze and roughly understood what she meant.

In the corner outside the door, Amuro was being...

Tim Ray reprimanded him.

Clearly, Ye Yun's action of taking Amuro to the test site to pilot the Dagger 105 yesterday greatly angered Tim Ray. Although Tim Ray had only a superficial understanding of politics and factions, he knew that as the chief technical expert of Operation V, he needed to maintain a relationship with Ye Yun. As a result, his son's relationship with Ye Yun was now ridiculously good, and he had been completely bought off by Ye Yun in just over a week.

Given Amuro's previous misdeeds, Tim Ray felt he needed to give Amuro a good scolding.

"Sigh... parents!" Ye Yun sighed and shook his head. Different positions lead to different perspectives, a lesson Ye Yun learned from his older sister. Don't let Ye Ning's current shrewdness and the nickname "Nine-Tailed Fox of the Ye Clan" fool you; she was actually forced into it. That's why his sister is so unrestrained in front of Kinias and him...

Especially in front of him, what can he do? He's her brother, after all. Before, he might have had to worry about whether he could handle it and pretend to be strong, but now, ha... his own sister, that bloodline suppression is no joke.

However, Ye Yun also knew that below this level, her older sister's indulgence towards her was truly boundless. She basically shouldered all the pressure from the Ye family, while Ye Yun acted on a whim. Guess where Ye Yun's funds came from?

So what if my sister is a little mean sometimes? What do you know when your own sister supports you! When Ye Ning dotes on Ye Yun behind his back, it's so exaggerated that even Aina has to be wary. It's just that Aina has been eating too much dog food from her brother and Ning-jie, plus Ye Yun also spoils her to no end, so she doesn't really think the wrong thing.

However, it was clear that neither Amuro nor Tim Ray had convinced the other. Their physical actions became more exaggerated, and Tim Ray appeared to be getting agitated, as if he was about to lose his temper.

“I warned this guy last time.” As Ye Yun spoke, he prepared to go up and stop Tim Ray.

Old Deng, do you know that in the history of Gundam, very few people who mock the protagonist have had a good ending? Oh, unless you're more popular than the protagonist.

However, Ye Yun was stopped by Aina, who shook her head at him. "If you go to help now, it will only worsen the rift between father and son. It's not a good idea. We're leaving soon. Tell Gao Yun to ask Dr. Tim Ray to consider his family a little more. But I don't think it will be very effective. If you really care about that boy, hasn't his mother already been taken to Sichuan by Sister Ye Ning? Have her ask Amuro to go to Sichuan. Sichuan is no safer than Side 7 right now."

Aina, being a woman, has a completely different perspective from Ye Yun. Clearly, women tend to be more meticulous in dealing with family issues and conflicts. While Ye Yun may feel he's done a good deed by going up there, what's the result? Will it help the relationship between Amuro and Dr. Tim Ray in the slightest?

No, it would only add fuel to the fire. Tim Ray might even feel that Ye Yun is an adversary who is pushing his son into danger. Ye Yun's help last time was already the limit. Doing more now would only deepen the rift between father and son.

"So we'll just watch?" Ye Yun looked at Aina with some doubt. Ye Yun really felt that it was a bit unreasonable not to stop it in this situation, but what Aina said made sense. After all, if Ye Yun intervened forcefully, even if things went well, he could only suppress the conflict at most, not make it disappear.

The fundamental contradiction now is that Dr. Tim Ray has devoted too little energy to his family. Amuro has grown up wildly without parental guidance. In fact, from Amuro's perspective, the way Ye Yun and the 13th Mobile Squad took care of this capable and quick-learning teenager as a young member of the team might have made him feel warmer than from his lonely family.

“If you don’t mind, then I’ll go.” Aina looked at Ye Yun and gave him a charming smile.

“Okay, I’ll back you up.” Ye Yun nodded. Aina had called him over, so she obviously already had her own ideas.

"Okay." After giving Ye Yun a light peck on the cheek, Aina walked over and reached out to stop Amuro, who was already excited and wanted to repay her.

“Sister Sakhalin.” Amuro turned around and saw Aina Sakhalin, and immediately fell silent. Tim Ray also took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, after all, he didn’t want to be laughed at by others.

“Your parents are still alive, which makes you so much luckier than me,” Aina tapped Amuro on the head. “So don’t talk to your parents in a mean way.”

"Okay." Amuro lowered his head and accepted the scolding without saying a word. Actually, he was just being stubborn, and it was part of the rebellious phase of adolescence. He didn't really want to fight with his father or anything. He was just instinctively resentful when his father scolded him.

"Ye Yun had him come into contact with the GAT-01B Short Sword Type B so that if Amuro were discovered to be familiar with MS technology in the future, there would be room for explanation," Aina said simply, but this sentence instantly made Tim Ray a little embarrassed. "After all, the accident was already a foregone conclusion, and Amuro doesn't have much of a sense of secrecy. If he slips up, there's always a way to cover it up, don't you think?"

Did Tim Ray have any room to object? So he could only listen to Aina continue, "So, this time it's just a communication breakdown. Perhaps Dr. Tim Ray, you could just ask Ye Yun directly and resolve it."

Aina casually brushed the matter aside, saying it was a coincidence, an accident, and that everyone's intentions were good, so no one was wrong.

This tactic is called "playing peacemaker."

"Amuro, go keep an eye on Ye Yun for me, so he doesn't overeat and drink again. I need to have a chat with your father." Seeing that Tim Ray seemed to have calmed down, Aina nudged Amuro, signaling him to go find Ye Yun.

"Alright!" Amuro had no desire to stay any longer. Who wanted to be lectured? He turned around and rushed toward Ye Yun, who was discussing something with Nores and the others by the buffet.

“What a restless little fellow.” Aina found Amuro’s behavior somewhat amusing. “I’m younger and can understand Amuro’s thoughts, and I also bear a heavier responsibility and can understand your thoughts, Dr. Tim Ray. I’ll act as the mediator. You don’t mind, do you?”

"...He should be a bit better than Ye Yun. That day I thought he would fight me like your brother did. I could still take a few hits from your brother, but Ye Yun is really done for." Tim Ray seemed to have relaxed as well, and took the initiative to bring up what happened in Chabro.

"I apologize on behalf of my brother; he's not usually like this." Aina was momentarily embarrassed.

“It’s alright. After this fight, I think your brother is someone I can be friends with. He’s straightforward and doesn’t have many hidden agendas, unlike his fiancée.” Tim Ray waved his hand. “I understand about Amuro’s matter. Please thank Ye Yun for me, and thank you for giving me some face. But Amuro…”

“We don’t intend to involve him in our affairs, but your wife is currently in Sichuan, as I think you already know. If you’d like, Amro can transfer to a school in Sichuan, where it’s safer.”

“No…no…if only it had been sooner.” Tim Ray scratched his head. “Thank you for everything you’ve done, but could you please keep your distance from Amuro? After all, you’ve had your share of troubles.”

“No problem. You can call this number if you need anything.” Aina handed over Ye Ning’s business card, a very ostentatious gold-embossed card.

"Ye Ning? I thought it was Ye Yun or your brother."

“My brother doesn’t care about any of that, unless you’re going to argue with him about the technique, in which case you’d better work out.”

"..."

Chapter 160 is all on my mind

"Colonel Ye Yun! Welcome aboard!" Captain White, an old acquaintance, stood in the hangar and saluted Ye Yun as he landed from the mobile suit!

"Thank you very much!" Ye Yun returned the greeting, then a natural smile appeared on his face. "I'm back!"

"Hahaha... Yes, welcome back!" Captain White laughed as well. He was still commanding the Trafalgar-class battleship, a very rare vessel in the Federation Forces, which was also one of the few battleships in the Federation Forces capable of conducting both artillery and mobile suit battles simultaneously. "I even kicked all the rascals off the ship to make room for you guys."

Captain White unloaded a squad of short swords from his ship. This squad will serve as the defense force for the White Base and is currently temporarily assigned to SIDE7.

Captain White has also changed; this time, he is no longer just the commander of a Trafalgar-class aviation battleship.

Accompanying the fleet were four Salamis-class ships. To be more precise, there were two Salamis-class light cruisers and two Salamis-class modified light battleships (modified using kits provided by Yeh's Heavy Industries), forming a 2+2 configuration. Colonel White is now also the commander of a strike squadron.

However, in terms of status, Colonel White is still lower than Ye Yun, since Ye Yun is now the commander of the mobile force under the Federal Army Headquarters, and has a lot of authority in various aspects.

After shaking hands, the two gave each other a brief hug. Among the people present, apart from Norres, they were all old acquaintances, such as the members of Jung's team and Io Fleming who later hugged Ye Yun with smiles.

"You bastard, you actually made it to level 105 in short swords?" Ye Yun patted Io Fleming on the shoulder.

"I'm an ace with six kills," Io said proudly.

"It's like you're saying no one is any different." Lyra rolled her eyes. As one of the first batch of space-trained MS pilots of the Federation Forces, she has basically been fighting against the Zeon forces around Luna II and in low Earth orbit. She is the unluckiest but also the luckiest in some ways. She has already changed four Daggers! She has gone from the first batch of mobile suits with enhanced mobility to the fifth batch of modified Chabro produced by Luna II.

It's said that because of his high kill count, he originally had a chance to upgrade to the Short Sword 105, but due to the excessive damage to his mobile suit, his qualification for the upgrade was ultimately revoked! And even he himself didn't seem to have any objections to this reason...

After all, he had blown up four mobile suits and emerged unscathed, making him undoubtedly the first person in the Federation Forces to do so.

"..." Io spread his hands at Ye Yun, giving Ye Yun a look that said he couldn't afford to offend him.

"Damn it!" Ye Yun rolled his eyes and gestured to Captain White, indicating that he was going to take his men away. White nodded, since it was still a safe zone, and Ye Yun and the others hadn't seen each other for a long time. It wouldn't be a bad thing for them to get together. "We have 6 hours left to finish moving. Let's go to the restaurant. It's on me."

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a proper meal.” Io took a deep breath, sneezed, and then pulled out a tissue to wipe his nose. “Sorry, sorry, it just won’t get better. But… I’ll let it go if they transfer me here, but they…” Io looked at Jung’s squad beside him.

This is currently the strongest squad in the Earth Federation Space Force; only Jung is still piloting the fully equipped short sword that Ye Yun replaced.

"We'll talk later." Ye Yun interrupted Io's question. When Io saw Jung and Ye Yun, he realized something and guessed that it was probably not just a simple mission to escort Ye Yun back to Earth. However, since Ye Yun said they would talk later, Io knew that this matter could not be discussed publicly. He just smiled and got into the vehicle provided by the base with Ye Yun and the others to have dinner at the high-end restaurant in SIDE7.

"Captain! Aren't our defensive forces insufficient?" The first mate walked over and whispered to Captain White.

“Squadron 666 stayed behind as a defensive force, which is enough to hold out until they return.” Captain White gestured to the first mate to look to the other side. Although they were sitting casually resting, everyone in Squadron 666 was staying in the port, with their mobile suits behind them.

"They are indeed well-trained," the first mate remarked with admiration.

"Ye Yun is a commander who has long been engaged in frontline combat missions. The battles he fights are no simpler than those in space," Captain White said with emotion. "Get a good night's sleep tonight, because I probably won't have much time to sleep well after this."

"Huh?" The first mate looked bewildered, clearly unaware of their upcoming task.

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

"So... the Federation's new MS model is nearing completion?! And its performance is even more powerful than the Dagger 105, it can use mega particle weapons, right?" Kycilia asked on the communication. Char and his team had returned to the safe zone by boat before reporting the situation to the rear via the emergency line.

However, unexpectedly, due to the explosive nature of the intelligence, Xia was directly pulled into a high-level meeting. Seeing the general's star flashing on the communication screen, Xia was not intimidated. His eyes flickered under the mask, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

"From yesterday until 08:00 this morning, no tests have been conducted." With this concise answer, Xia Ya offered no further judgment, leaving the others to figure it out themselves.

"Where is Ye Yun...? Has he left?" Dozru asked in a deep voice.

"No, but a fleet entered the shipyard of the colony where the target Trojan horse is located today. If there are no surprises, they are here to pick him up." Xia answered truthfully. After Sera finished his work, she gave him two cans of mashed potatoes and sent him away. She couldn't possibly expect Xia to help Ye Yun.

Besides, with Ye Yun being such an obvious target, even if Xia Ya wanted to cover it up, other places would still send Ye Yun's information to him. After all, the federal government and the federal army are like a sieve, with too many interest groups involved. And now, Ye's Heavy Industry is a thorn in the side of many people, and too many people hope that Zeon will kill Ye Yun.

They desperately didn't want to see Ye Yun rise to prominence within the Federation Army, as that would be a disaster for them! And according to Xia's observations over this period, they weren't without contact with the Zabi family. Therefore, Ye Yun's whereabouts couldn't be kept secret at all.

"Excellent! He actually dared to threaten Karma! I think we should take advantage of him being in space and kill him right now!" Dozru slammed his fist on the table in front of him, smashing a large hole in it. "Let him understand the consequences of threatening the Zabi family! Since he's not hiding on Earth now, this is the perfect opportunity! Kill him! Let the entire Federation Army understand that their struggles are futile!"

“Last time we did that, we lost a whole battalion.” Kirian looked at Dozru with icy eyes. “Dozru, do you have any good suggestions? Otherwise, don’t waste my time.”

“What Char just photographed is one of the few remaining air battleships of the Federation Forces, the Trafalgar-class. The two next to it are Salamis-class modified ships. The size of their forces can be calculated.” Kycilia narrowed her eyes, a cold glint flashing in them. Last time, a whole squadron was lost, all of which were her subordinates! “12+8, Ye Yun’s direct command squadron plus two squadrons of mobile suits that came to escort him. Although the force is smaller than last time, they are all elite.”

"..." Xia remained silent. He understood Kycilia's anger to some extent. After all, the loss of such a large squadron of MS forced Kycilia to be more restrained in many things afterward, and the losses were not insignificant.

"So my plan is to deploy elite troops to first destroy the Federation's experimental base at Side 7! And expose the Federation's atrocities of wantonly building secret laboratories within the colony! Then, if they turn back! Hmph! I'm prepared to deploy a powerful strike force to sink their warships in one fell swoop! Once the short swords are deprived of supplies, they'll be at the mercy of their enemies! What do you say!?"

"What if they don't turn back?" Kirian looked at Dozru and asked a very simple question. After all, war is not something to be taken for granted. You can't have the stupid idea that "I think the other side will do XXX", otherwise being utterly crushed is almost a certain outcome.

“Then they’ll run into my massive army! They’ll have no choice!” Dozru said confidently.

"A smokescreen?" Kycilia saw through it immediately. "Do you think Ye Yun would fall for such a stupid trick?"

"If he comes, I'll meet him in person," Dozru said confidently. "While I can't field my full force, it will still be a force he can't match!"

“Don’t do anything stupid. Judging from this man’s profile, he really wants to kill all of us.” Kycilia looked at Dozru. “We can’t let Ye Yun’s position in the Federation Army continue to rise, or we’ll all be in trouble.”

Unaware that Xia's eyes flickered beneath his mask, Xia's opinion of Ye Yun improved slightly, just a tiny bit, out of his obsession with killing the Zabi family.

“But we can’t let Ye Yun threaten Garma. North America is Zeon’s most secure rear on Earth!” Dozru looked at Gihren. “Brother! Are we really going to miss such a good opportunity?”

“…Alright, I’ll send a force to help you drive away Ye Yun’s troops.” Kirian thought for a moment; the temptation to kill Ye Yun was indeed great, after all, Ye Yun was now a symbol of the Federation Army. “Don’t disappoint me! Dozru!”

"I will also send a force to support you. I hope you haven't made a mistake." Kycilia pondered for a moment. If she could kill Ye Yun, it seemed like it wouldn't be a loss.

"Hmph! You'll find that your mistake is your own fault!" Dozru said confidently.

"..."

Chapter 161 Private Communication

“So…” Io stared at Ye Yun with an excited look, “Next, we’re going to cause a huge disturbance, targeting the Zeon army? We can attack them at will, even if we just kick SIDE3?”

"To be honest, I really want to give it a try." Ye Yun spread his hands, expressing his helplessness. "It's just a pity that there don't seem to be many opportunities right now! Otherwise, even if we just destroyed a few transport ships at the entrance of SIDE3, it would be enough to drive Zeon crazy."

"Besides, it's difficult to penetrate the Zeon army's defenses. We're not just planning to rush in and carry out a suicide attack." Aina pinched Ye Yun. If it were that easy, the Federation army would have done it already. Why would it be your turn to say such crazy things?

"Hehe..." Seeing Ye Yun's discomfiture, Io Fleming laughed rather unkindly.

"So... it's a pity we missed the chance to go down in history!" Jung seemed quite interested in such a crazy idea, but reason told him that this was not a battle that could be fought normally, unless they could get the support of the entire Earth Federation Space Force and mobilize the Zeon army's defensive forces.

“Although we have absolutely no chance of taking over Side 3,” Ye Yun tapped the table, “Zeon has more than just Side 3 in its hands. We can’t say for sure yet. We need to do some preliminary probing first. I feel that things have been a bit too calm lately.”

“SIDE7 is considered a safe zone, right?” Lyra said, holding a drink. Yes, Ye Yun had brought everyone out for a big meal, but everyone consciously refrained from drinking alcohol. After all, compared to the complex ground battlefield, the space environment is truly unique. You don’t know when or where the fighting will start, so you have to maintain a certain level of vigilance.

"Not really. There have been some strange long-distance communication signals these past few days, but we don't know who they are from." Ye Yun shrugged. "With transportation lines in space basically cut off now, these kinds of long-distance communication signals are extremely rare."

Because the war is currently underway, both the Earth Federation and Zeon are conducting strict inspections of merchant ships in space. If anything seems amiss, seizing the ship is the least of their worries. In fact, since both sides have deployed disguised attack ships and requisitioned a large number of civilian cargo ships for transport, it is not uncommon for merchant ships to be mistakenly attacked.

Although this has indeed driven up shipping costs, in reality, when faced with the choice between money and life, most people would choose life over money if they lacked a sense of honor and mission.

For merchant ship owners, keeping their ships at anchor or in space only incurs the loss of a berth fee. However, venturing out increases the risk of being sunk by the Federation or Zeon forces, resulting in the complete loss of their capital. Consequently, the number of merchant ships navigating space has dwindled in a vicious cycle, or they have simply been sold to the military.

Current shipping costs are so high that even Sierra is starting to take an interest in shipping, so the number of merchant ships is unimaginable. And yet, in the vicinity of Side 7, a space colony that, while seemingly relatively safe due to the presence of Luna 2, suddenly...

“In other words…” Everyone’s eyes turned serious. This news really did have a dangerous connotation. Finally, it was Io, who was most familiar with Ye Yun, who spoke up, “The Zeon army may already know about Operation V?!”

"Based on past experience, they'll know what they want to know." Ye Yun shrugged. "You agree, right, Lieutenant General Ireland?"

"Then...should we still leave?" Jung frowned. He hadn't expected this situation, after all, the leak of the Federation's top-level military secrets was a matter of life and death.

"I don't know. After all, it was just long-distance communication, and we didn't intercept the content, so it can't be considered any actual evidence!" Ye Yun said helplessly. "What we can do now is to attract the attention of the Zeon forces as much as possible in the following operations, not only to support the ground operations, but also to divert the Zeon forces' attention away from Operation V."

“If that’s all there is to it, then things are simple.” Yazan, standing behind Jung, stuffed a rare steak into his mouth and chewed it fiercely. “We can launch a fierce attack on the Zeon army, or even pick a few large targets to attack.”

“That’s true, but we need to coordinate further with the Space Force. After all, we only have an enhanced squadron-sized MS force. If we want to achieve this, it might not be enough.” Because he often took on the role of tactical commander for MS units, Jung simply pointed out their biggest problem at the moment.

"No need, let's go. We've eaten enough. Is there anything else you want to order to go? Then I'll show you the good stuff we've got this time." Ye Yun felt that since they were going to fight together next, it would be better to show everyone what their trump cards were. He gestured for his men to follow him.

"So, it's a new MS?" Io looked up at the huge MS. After all, he was still somewhat shocked. The last time he felt this impact was when he stood at the feet of the short sword and looked up at the huge MS.

“RX78 Gundam Unit 1.” Ye Yun looked around. “All the short swords are compatible, and the entire armor is forged from Luna Titanium.”

"The entire armor is made of Luna Titanium?! This... this cost is not considered at all?" Io looked incredulous. Since they were both pilots of the short sword, they were very familiar with the design concept of the short sword and naturally understood the importance of price and cost for equipment.