Gundam: Changing the World Even with a Mass-Produced Unit

Chapter 21-22: A Gundam Descends from the Sky!

"The portside barrage is too thin!"

Above the South China Sea, aboard a warship floating on the water, a young officer seated in the captain's chair shouted at the crew members on the bridge.

Immediately after, he picked up the nearby wired phone and inquired about the state of the MS in the hangar.

"How's the maintenance coming along?"

"It'll take a bit longer!"

Hearing this response, the young officer in the captain's chair frowned deeply, narrowing his already small eyes into slits.

"Hurry it up!"

After putting down the phone, he turned his attention back to the unfolding situation.

While departing from that peculiar little island, their original mission to Central Asia was interrupted by a direct order from General Revil, redirecting them to Southeast Asia to assist in an investigation.

This alone gave the officer a headache. General Revil should have been well aware of the precarious condition of this ship.

More troublesome, however, was that they had been tailed by Zeon submarines as soon as they left port. Now, the Zeon forces had finally made their move, initiating combat.

"Boom!"

The violent tremor from a torpedo striking the warship forced the officer to bend down to stabilize himself. Looking out through the porthole, he saw a white, blue, and red mobile suit on the deck firing its beam rifle at the sea below. Ripples in the water indicated enemy activity circling the ship's perimeter.

"Damn navy bastards!" he angrily slammed the armrest of his chair.

Upon detecting the Zeon submarine, he had immediately initiated anti-submarine measures and requested support. Yet, the far eastern navy, afraid to leave port, merely sent out a token submarine patrol to feign assistance.

The officer could empathize with their lack of modern equipment—after all, their fleet hadn't received new hardware for years, and MS allocations were from the later production batches.

Even so, abandoning allies so recklessly filled him with rage.

"Report!"

At that moment, the CIC (Combat Information Center) officer called out.

"Speak quickly," the officer responded impatiently, urging the CIC to deliver the report.

"We've detected a friendly signal on the radar!"

"What did you say?"

Hearing this, the officer immediately stood up from his chair. Could there really be reinforcements arriving at such a critical time?

"Boom!"

Another explosion caused the officer to stumble. He managed to steady himself by grabbing the CIC officer's chair and demanded, "Show me!"

"Yes! According to the identification code… it's a Medea!"

The CIC officer promptly identified the friendly unit and looked up to the sky. The officer also raised his gaze in the same direction, hoping to catch sight of their ally.

Unfortunately, all he could see was the thick cloud cover. The Medea's signal drew closer and closer until it overlapped with the warship's signal and passed overhead.

"Just passing through…" the CIC officer murmured while gazing out the window.

She had hoped the Medea would join the battle, but she knew all too well that it was just a transport plane. Even if it entered the fray recklessly, its capabilities would be limited.

"No, it's not over yet!"

The officer's shout interrupted her dispirited thoughts. She looked up again and noticed four new signals on the radar, overlapping with their ship's position.

"They're deploying by airdrop? Bold move. Notify the Gundam to prepare for rendezvous!"

The officer quickly understood what the signals meant. Returning to his captain's chair, he issued an announcement to the entire ship.

"Inform the crew of this development—they need this good news."

The activity above the clouds had also been noticed by the Zeon forces.

"Relax; it's probably just some GMs or other junk. In the water, Zeon is invincible!"

After ending his communication with the mothership, the leader of the Zeon aquatic mobile suit team refocused on the battle.

According to intel from that arrogant red unit, the MS on the ship had limited beam rifle ammunition. As long as the Crab-type units utilized their mobility, they could exhaust the enemy's ammunition before counterattacking.

The team leader prepared to launch another torpedo barrage, targeting the ship's damaged portside—information gleaned from previous battle reports.

However, the warship was not submerged but floating above the water, making direct hits with torpedoes more challenging.

Adjusting his strategy, the team leader surfaced briefly to launch a volley of six torpedoes before diving again to avoid retaliation. To his surprise, no counterattack followed.

"Did we miss?" he thought with a smirk.

To confirm, he surfaced and submerged repeatedly, each time edging closer to the surface. Eventually, he concluded that there was no trap.

"Free to attack! Hahaha, the Federation's MS are nothing!"

The team leader descended to a safe depth, ignited his rocket thrusters, and surged upward, breaking through the surface and ascending rapidly.

Raising his right arm, he aimed it at the MS on the warship's deck, which was also pointing its beam rifle at him. The intense acceleration made his blood rush and distorted his perception of the world.

But when the opposing MS's beam rifle failed to fire, the team leader grinned triumphantly and squeezed his trigger.

"This is our victory!"

"Bang!"

A cannon blast interrupted his declaration. The airborne Crab-type MS was struck directly by a 180mm shell, disintegrating into scrap and crashing into the sea.

The MS on the deck turned to look at the sky as five parachutes unfolded above the warship. Beneath four of them hung ground-type Gundams—86th Squadron had arrived.

"Never thought I'd meet you so soon, Amuro," muttered Eli from within one of the Gundams, its smoking cannon still aimed at the battlefield.

And there, standing on the deck, was the Gundam.

(Translator's Note: Chapter 21 is an announcement)