UC will eventually reach the stars

"Yes, I understand." Ye Yun nodded. As for the Zabi family's character... it's not very high, but Kycilia, who is in charge of secret operations, is sometimes hard for Ye Yun to understand. She is clearly a ruthless woman, especially skilled in dump truck Iaijutsu, but she occasionally shows some unexpected softness.

Sera returned to space and was determined to begin civilian relief efforts during the war, which surprised Ye Yun. However, this was something Ye Yun had wanted to do anyway. Now that he had joined the Federation Army, it was inconvenient for him to do this himself, so Sera's willingness to take over was very commendable. Therefore, Ye Yun handed over all the connections and resources he had accumulated over the years to Sera.

In this sense, Aina's criticism wasn't entirely undeserved.

"Okay!" Yuri patted Ye Yun hard. "Tell me something secretly so I can deal with Mark Bay."

"What, you want to dig up my secrets?" Ye Yun glanced at Yuri with a grin. This matter did require saving face, but it wasn't worth risking his life. After all, Project G was now, in effect, a core secret of the Federation Army.

"Yes, I understand." Yuri nodded. Ye Yun's backing was Ye's Heavy Industry... In Yuri's view, there was no way Ye's Heavy Industry wouldn't be in his hands. Even if Kinias and Ye Yun's sister really got married, Ye's would still be Ye's, and Sakhalin would still be Sakhalin. They could never become one family.

Therefore, in Yuri's view, Ye Yun's words can be translated as, "The item is with the Ye family; go and find it yourself if you're capable."

So when it came to Ye Yun, all that could be done was type a screen full of "???" What do you know? What did you interpret this childish sarcasm as?

However, Yuri felt that this information was enough to satisfy him. He wasn't a good person, but he didn't mind lending a hand when he saw someone doing good deeds. As for the reason given to the outside world...

The Maas family's little girl is very pretty!

Yes, Aina didn't wrong Yuri.

Watching the other person's departing figure, Ye Yun shook his head. He felt that the other person seemed to be a decent person, and should be okay as a friend. However, Ginyas had a somewhat serious and stubborn personality, so he could only try to appease him. His sister was a woman, so if he didn't appease her, he could... cough cough... Anyway, it's no wonder that Ginyas's evaluation of him was a bit strange.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ye Yun!" On the other side, an officer ran over quickly. Although Ye Yun was only a colonel-level officer, many big shots looked up to him.

There's no other way. Right now, the entire Federation Army is relying on Dawn Heavy Machinery Manufacturing and Ye's Heavy Industry to provide the Federation Army with equipment that can counter Zeon's new mobile suits. In particular, this young man in front of us has achieved good results in specific training. The Federation Army's first mixed mobile suit unit seems to be taking shape, and it is very likely that all Federation Army units will have to train according to its model in the future.

The theoretical number of "deaths" has now exceeded 10,000, hundreds of tanks have been "destroyed," and nearly three battalions of MS have been "lost." What the hell is this? It's just an exercise, why are they going to such lengths?

So it's easy to imagine how much attention was focused on Ye Yun, especially on his first day. After Gao Pu saw him, he called him over and asked him a few questions, naturally about short sword production and MS unit training. After getting satisfactory answers, Gao Pu patted him on the shoulder and told him to listen carefully at this meeting!

What does this mean?

Without a doubt: there is someone behind them, someone who can reach the highest levels of government!

Therefore, among the junior and middle-ranking officers here, Ye Yun, who theoretically had never participated in a day of systematic military academy training, was readily accepted into the group. After all, for them, this guy who was very likely to rise to the top in one step might become their "connection" in a certain sense.

"The Zeon security forces have started gathering; they may be preparing to evacuate," a Federation officer whispered in Ye Yun's ear.

Ye Yun is theoretically the commander of the First MS Test Battalion, which is classified as a field force. Therefore, Ye Yun has been assigned to the venue security.

"Damn it, I really want to take them out with an anti-aircraft missile," Ye Yun said irritably. These past few days, the negotiations with the higher-ups were between big shots; the officers below weren't so friendly. Plus, this godforsaken place really didn't have any entertainment, so the hot-tempered young men had quite a bit of "exchange." However, since they all had to stand guard the next day, both sides tacitly avoided direct confrontation, though the infirmary was still quite busy.

“Who says otherwise…” The Federation officer took the cigarette Ye Yun offered. “The order has come down. You’re going back this afternoon. There’s a high-ranking official in Zeon who’s always watching you. Be careful.”

"This is Earth, it's not their place to act recklessly!" Ye Yun said confidently. "Of course, in a sense, I couldn't be happier!"

"Yes, those bastards, we'll kill them sooner or later!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: Squad Leaders of 08 and 09MS

"Watch out, you bastard!" A jeep was driving through a huge base when a mobile suit emerged from a nearby warehouse, nearly causing a close encounter between the jeep and the suit's foot. The jeep driver, narrowly escaping a fatal crash, angrily swung his fist.

"This is... a short sword?" Amada Shirou looked up at the blue and white robot that ignored them completely, carrying a shield with the number 04 printed on it and walking out. The same symbol was also on their shoulder armor. There were two other short swords behind them, following this one out. He was a little surprised and a little emotional.

“Yes! This batch of GAT-01 Short Swords, manufactured by Dawn Heavy Machinery, is probably an early production batch, but it should be no different from the official production model.” A stern-faced man standing next to him crossed his arms. He was Gao Long, who had just returned to Earth Sphere and been given a lieutenant's uniform.

"Oh! It looks quite different from the Zaku." Amada Shirou looked at the mobile suit in front of him, his eyes flickering. "We'll drive all the Zeon forces out, right?"

"Yes, definitely! We'll wipe them all out!" As people who had also experienced the SIDE2 incident, Gao Long and Amada Shirou now only felt hatred towards everything related to Zeon. Tens of millions of people had died in agony right in front of them; who could bear that?

The jeep quickly parked in a semi-buried basement. When we went inside, we saw unshaven, disheveled staff officers running in and out, and a series of angry roars came from the command room further inside.

"What?! Squad 4 was completely wiped out?! Damn it, was Squad 01 eliminated? No?! What were Squad 4 doing?! They were ambushed by the enemy's Type 61s, and all their legs were broken?! Bullshit, where were their accompanying infantry? They were wiped out by the enemy's mobile suits?! How could Squad 4 have stepped into such an obvious trap?! And they wanted to reinforce and steal the mobile suits?! Get out of here! All of you, retreat!" (The above is an automatically converted version.)

The moment the door opened, Gao Long and Amada Shilang heard a series of furious roars, filled with profanities and insults directed at the enemy's ancestors for generations. A major, whose collar was clearly ripped open, angrily threw away his communicator, but the next instant he was frantically setting up a makeshift defensive line, trying to prevent the enemy from pushing them out of the city; otherwise, fighting in the woodlands would be incredibly frustrating.

"Don't be surprised. These are the three command posts here. Except for the war zone observation command post, they are like this every day." Ye Yun leaned back in his chair, rubbed his temples, and then stood up to greet the people who had just come in. "Gao Long, welcome back. How does it feel to be captured by gravity again?"

"I almost thought I wouldn't make it back." Gao Long finally managed a smile on his cold face and hugged Ye Yun. This time, they had truly narrowly escaped death. If it weren't for the desperate interception of an entire Federation fleet, they would have had no chance of escaping the Zeon army's pursuit, let alone the silent navigation and drifting that followed. This involved shutting down all equipment, including the thrusters. If the Zeon army had discovered them, they wouldn't have had a chance even if they risked their lives.

"Alright! Your commendations have been prepared." Ye Yun said solemnly, "Second Lieutenant Amada and Lieutenant Takayuki! The intelligence you brought back from SIDE2 was of great value, and we thank you for revealing the truth to the public! You will be promoted one rank and officially join the First MS Technical Experiment Battalion, now serving as squad leaders of Squads 08 and 09."

When Ye Yun announced the situation, the entire temporary command room fell silent instantly. Everyone was looking at the two people in front of them. However, everyone quickly recognized Amada Shirou. After all, he was someone who had appeared in a major event like Reibir's speech not long ago. So after Ye Yun finished announcing the end, they applauded him in a very respectful manner.

"Yes! Thank you very much!" The two returned Ye Yun's greeting, but Gao Long gave Ye Yun a questioning look. Ye Yun replied with an expression that said he would explain later, and Gao Long resumed his cold and stern expression.

"Major Ivan, I've taken some men to their squad first. Do you... need 'reinforcements'?" In this training base, "reinforcements" is not a friendly term; it basically means admitting defeat and sending the next battalion and another group of pilots to join the battle in mobile suits.

"No need! The other side only has one MS left! Just like me! The battle isn't over yet!" Ivan's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. He had three just now! Squad 04 was at full strength with four MS, but they had been "crippled," and now only one could continue fighting. Don't ask why; it was due to long-range artillery fire.

This current combat mode, which involves infantry reconnaissance followed by the launch of two crimson signal flares to directly cover the artillery area, has become a desperate tactic for infantry to fight against mobile suits.

Of course, more often than not, after breaking the MS's leg, a signal flare is fired, and then the artillery gives the infantry at most one minute to run away (actually, to find a place where they might not be killed to hide), and then they bombard the area with all their firepower.

So even though Ivan's battle calculations show that his battalion has used up all its anti-tank missiles, the infantry is running low on ammunition, and over 2% of its infantry has been lost, he still refuses to leave the battlefield! After all, everyone knows that every infantry battalion on this battlefield is practically fighting like mad! Their training today will be their capital for killing the enemy tomorrow, for killing those war criminals who committed crimes against humanity! General Reibir said that Zeon killed at least 30 billion people?! How could they possibly do that!

And now these criminals want to come to Earth and continue killing! Fine! Come on! Let's see if we'll just trample you to death and that's it!

"Let's go!" Ye Yun led two newly promoted MS squad leaders away from the temporary command post, which returned to its busy state with a constant stream of orders to be issued.

"The startup keys for your respective landlines." Ye Yun took out two USB flash drive-shaped keys from his briefcase. "Keep them safe. Losing them could lead to charges of espionage."

"Yes!" Amada Shirou and Gao Long solemnly accepted their respective keys. The silver-gray USB flash drives were etched with the shape of a short sword, with the words GAT01 on them. On the other side was a series of serial numbers, representing the production time, batch, and specific number of this machine.

The vehicle drove directly into the huge hangar and stopped between two rows of mobile suits. Looking at the mobile suits up close, the sense of oppression was even stronger. However, compared to the Zaku, which was somewhat heavy and resembled an ancient warrior, the short sword in front of them seemed a bit thin. But its sharp and angular lines made the short sword look more like an excellent soldier.

"Sir..." A row of MS pilots holding helmets stopped and saluted Ye Yun when they saw their superior arrive.

"Hmm! How is it going?" Ye Yun asked simply.

"It's alright!" A second lieutenant said with a bitter smile. "There are just too many new recruits, and we can't even teach them all the basics." It's not that they can't be taught, it's that they can't be taught all of them.

There's no other way, because this place is practically the entire Earth Federation Forces' MS training base now. And since Ye's Heavy Industry is right next door, spare parts are plentiful, and training aircraft can be messed around with as much as they want. If something breaks and can't be easily repaired, they can just be sent to Ye's Heavy Industry for a complete replacement! So the Federation Forces have been selecting outstanding pilots and tank drivers from all over the world and sending them here for training. The number has grown from the initial 120 to more than 400 now, and it's said that another plane of people will arrive tomorrow, which could add up to a hundred more.

Yes, there are more people than MS.

"The piloting time of Industrial Rio?" Gao Long interjected. As Ye Yun's subordinate, his knowledge of short swords far surpassed that of Amada Shirou, so he immediately began to ask.

"20 hours," the lieutenant said, scratching his head with a hint of helplessness.

"20?" Ye Yun frowned. "Didn't the last batch have 50 hours?" He was already dissatisfied with the 50 hours, so why has it been reduced again? They dare to put the training machine operation on the real machine after only 20 hours?! What do they think these precious MS are?

"Right now, we'll basically finish reading the operation manual, then go to the simulator, then the simulation chamber after 10 hours, and then directly to the Industrial Rio after 20 hours in the simulation chamber... But although there are enough Industrial Rios,... the big boss above obviously can't wait." The lieutenant shrugged helplessly.

"..." Ye Yun took off his hat and scratched his head. "Alright, Gao Long, you'll be more in charge of training these two squads." The driver of Squad 09 was telling the truth. Squads 08 and 09, judging from their numbers, were among the earlier squads, but in reality, these two squads had already been split up twice. The veterans had been separated to become squad leaders in other squads, and the original squad leader had been promoted to company commander. Yes, that's how he was promoted on the front lines.

Therefore, the 08 and 09 squads in front of us are theoretically 75% new recruits, since only two veterans were left. Gao Long and Amada Shiro are also nominally "new recruits," but they have higher ranks because of their merits this time.

"Okay!" Gao Long had no objections. He had just exchanged messages with Ye Yun on his phone to find out that Ye Yun hoped he could lead the team to at least the rank of squad leader, so that he would have some confidence. Gao Long had no objections. After all, Ye Yun had saved his family's lives, and Gao Long felt very comfortable working for Ye Yun, so he was very loyal to Ye Yun.

"Uh..." The group immediately looked at Gao Long. If it were Nores here, they wouldn't dare utter a sound, but this newcomer, Gao Long, who does he think he is? It seems like he hasn't even started training for a single day...

"Oh, looks like your prestige isn't that great. Nores's at the base, want to try and build some influence?" Ye Yun chuckled wickedly.

"You decide."

Chapter Twenty-Three: Are We Driving the Same MS?

"What's going on! Why are so many people watching! They've even prepared live streaming equipment!" The newcomers, unaware of what was happening, pushed their way forward, seemingly wanting to see what was happening.

"Major Norres and a newly arrived lieutenant are going to have a fight!" the first person to arrive answered the question.

"Fight a battle? A mobile suit battle? Against Instructor Norris?! Who's thinking of doing this?! Squad 09? Where did this unlucky idiot come from? Don't they know Instructor Norris can take on an entire battalion by himself?" (The Federation Army's official organization consists of 4 mobile suits per squad, 4 squads per company, 3 companies per battalion, and a full battalion consists of 48 mobile suits and support units.) Those who came later couldn't understand it at all; who was so eager to die?

"I think you're just too idle! That time it was just a squadron fighting against Instructor Nores." Someone from that squadron was clearly correcting him in a fit of exasperation.

"That's still terrifying..." Clearly unaware of the truth, the newcomer to the ghost story, while not as horrible as it seemed, was still subjected to a ghost story for nothing and could only mutter under his breath.

In the MS training field, a large number of people quickly gathered on the protected side, craning their necks to look into the field through the gaps in the defensive equipment.

A short sword painted in a bluish-gray color stood upright. This was the personal vehicle of Nores, the commander of the Federation MS training base and recognized as the strongest MS pilot in the Federation Army. This short sword was also meticulously adjusted and modified by Kinias himself according to Nores's driving habits, resulting in stronger output, faster reaction speed, and longer combat endurance.

Opposite it was a standard short sword with the number 09 painted on its shoulder, clearly driven by Gao Long.

"Gao Long, welcome back." Norres wasn't angry at all in the communication, unlike what the soldiers outside had imagined. Instead, he greeted Gao Long with a big smile. "I've heard about it. Your actions were very brave."

"Nores, stop talking. I'm not that great, and I almost died in Side 2." Despite saying that, Gao Long had already started operating the short sword. He took out an assault rifle from his waist, checked the ammunition type (it was Easter Egg), and then neatly loaded it.

"Luck is also part of strength." Unlike the others who thought Gao Long was doomed, Norres didn't react to Gao Long's action of taking out his gun.

To these MS Federation rookies, Instructor Norres had far too many tricks up his sleeve in an open, unconcealed environment of at most 300 meters. With just a simple sway, the current MS aiming system couldn't keep up at all! So, drawing a gun and fighting Instructor Norres at such close range was practically suicide.

Of course, they wouldn't know that GAT-00 Rio had two main testers, one of whom was Nores, and the other was Gao Long in front of them.

"Ah..." Gao Long slammed on the pedals, his hands moving in a series of rapid motions. A group of MS pilots on the sidelines stared blankly at the short sword with "09" painted on its shoulder. Could it be played like this?!

They watched as the short sword in front of them used its rear thrusters to propel itself at low power, maneuvering sideways in a sliding motion on the ground while firing fiercely at Nores's position.

Despite his seemingly contorted posture, the shield effectively blocked most of Norris's surprise attack, making the entire movement fluid and incredibly smooth.

"A short sword can be used like this?!" The novices were astonished, after all, most of the time they used their short swords to walk around and shoot.

As for Ye Yun... well, I've seen it all before. This is just the basic stuff that the two big shots do, don't be surprised.

"The performance of the short sword is beyond our expectations!" The generals were delighted, after all, in the previous exercises, all they had seen were their own stiff puppets walking on the ground.

Then they watched as Norres leaped and spun, dodging all the incoming barrage of bullets. Even the few that managed to slip through were caught steadily by the shield in his short sword. Norres didn't just charge; he ignited the thrusters, slid forward, and while his shield caught all the enemy shells, he swung his sword at the enemy's shin.

"Tsk..." Gao Long didn't hesitate to throw away his assault rifle, shut down the thrusters, and plunged his sword into the ground. His mech swerved sideways to dodge Nores's attack, which was intended to cripple his mobility and balance while piloting the short sword. But that wasn't all; he slammed his shield against Nores's. Even if he couldn't inflict significant damage, creating an impact was crucial to preventing Nores from unleashing a second strike. Gao Long understood this perfectly well.

"Well done! But that's not all!" At this moment, Norres had already ignited the thrusters. The modified short sword's back thrusters spewed out powerful flames, forcefully lifting the short sword he was piloting to its feet. At the same time, the short sword he was piloting raised its foot and stomped down. This stomp would undoubtedly cripple one of the short swords piloted by Gao Long.

By this point in the battle, the surrounding area was completely silent...

WTF? !

What is this doing?

Are the gods fighting?

What are you guys doing?!

Is this what we can see?

No... is this really something that the short swords we're piloting can do?!

what?

It feels like my brain is about to grow out of my head!

In short, after the two short swords flew up and down on the battlefield, Nores's long sword finally came to rest behind Gao Long. If it were during the battle, the thrusting long sword would undoubtedly have pierced through Gao Long's cockpit.

"I lost!" Gao Long calmly sheathed his short sword, and Norres behind him did the same. Clearly, this battle, which refreshed the Federation Army's perception of MS between the high command and the lower ranks, ended after about 5 minutes of intense close combat.

"Thank you. Report a 100mm rapid-fire cannon damaged." A logistics officer next to Ye Yun silently took out a piece of paper, filled it out, and handed it to Ye Yun.

"..." Ye Yun curled his lip at this spoilsport, took the document, signed it, and said, "Submit it according to procedure. Disconnect the live streaming equipment. The engineering team should retrieve the two MS. I need a detailed consumables testing record." Ye Yun's command made everyone present quickly disperse. After all, the shocking close-quarters combat with MS was over, but a whole bunch of tasks awaited them. They should hurry up and get to work.

"Thank you!" When Ye Yun entered, he saw Gao Long thanking Norres. Clearly, Gao Long understood Ye Yun's intentions, and Norres tacitly fulfilled them. After all, Norres didn't care much about such empty praise.

"You're too kind." Nores patted Gao Long on the shoulder. He was quite satisfied with Ye Yun's confidant. He was skilled and loyal. Now he was completely relying on Ye Yun. Even if he wanted to betray him, he wouldn't have the chance. Relatively speaking, the woman named Doris next to Ye Yun was a bit more troublesome.

As for why Norres would care, well!

Ye Yun not only saved Miss Aina, but the two of them also came of age together, so everything seemed to have fallen into place naturally. This couple was much more peaceful than their older brother and sister's couple. Nores saw it very clearly: the Ye family and the Sakhalin family, in a sense, might very well become two sides of the same coin in the future.

"Gao Long, this trip has already been tough enough! It's good that you're back!" Ye Yun patted Gao Long on the shoulder. The members of the Ninth Squad, who were originally planning to come over and say something, immediately fell silent and just stood there watching. What could they do? Their superiors and training instructors were there; why would they go up to them?

“Things probably won’t get much better than before. Come on, let’s go inside and sit down. I’d like to hear your legendary stories. You’re here too, Amada-sama. There are some things I’d like to hear from you.” Ye Yun sighed. “You know, the day the colony satellite crashed, I and the first trainers from this base were sitting in the trenches, looking up at that thing falling down.”

Ye Yun's voice was cold as he pushed open the door to the small office in the hangar. This scene was probably the most painful memory in the hearts of all people on Earth in this era.

"So on the way back, Amada and I swore an oath that in this war, either we would die halfway through, or we would fight until the Gizabi family was wiped out." Gao Long's expression was stern, and Amada nodded in agreement.

"Putting that aside for now, the living conditions in the base are quite basic, and the training intensity is extremely high. If nothing unexpected happens, the Earth Federation Forces headquarters will start transferring our people to the war zone for acclimatization training." Ye Yun took two bottles of chilled energy drinks from the refrigerator in the corner and tossed them to Nores and Gao Long, while stuffing a bottle of beer into Amada Shirou's hand.

"Where to? It seems we're too late." Amada Shirou seemed somewhat regretful.

“Africa and North America.” Ye Yun shrugged. “The people above are still arguing. North America has suffered greater losses, and they urgently need advanced technology and weapons to rebuild their troops. As for Africa, according to the analysis, the possibility of it being attacked by a strong force is very low. The base there is to support the possible battles that may break out in Europe.”

“As long as there is a relatively strong Federation army in Africa, even if Zeon occupies Europe, they will not dare to launch attacks in other directions at will.” Ye Yun shrugged. “Moreover, theoretically, they can support each other across the sea from the Federation army headquarters.”

What Ye Yun didn't say was that after Project G was officially approved by the Federation Army's high command, at least the blueprints for the short sword had been sent to the Federation Army headquarters in Chabro. As for whether the Federation Army would start arranging construction, Ye Yun could only say that he couldn't control it. However, according to Kinias's estimate, even if they wanted to fully roll out mass production, it would probably take at least a month of preparation, since the amount of materials and equipment needed was not small.

"What can we do now?" Amada Shirou clenched his fist with some reluctance.

"Train, eat, sleep, hone your skills to the best, get yourself into peak condition, and then wait for the Zeon army to march into their doomed graves!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Facing It Head-on

As expected, for various reasons, the Zeon forces impatiently launched an operation to strike Earth's airborne troops on February 2th. However, this time they didn't give it any strange names, but simply called it "Operation First Drop" and "Operation Second Drop".