In the hangar of the Luna, the Maintenance Squad began their work at top speed. First order of business: cleaning...
"Russ! Go wash it yourself!"
"Come on! Big bro, it's not my fault. The Colonel did all this."
"I can't deal with the Colonel, but I can deal with you!"
"Big bro, I was wrong, I was really wrong. Please help me out."
The bullets from the marker guns were made of a special paint that was very difficult to wash off completely. This was to ensure that people would remember how they were taken down, a mark of shame they left for themselves.
Generally, the Maintenance Squad didn't mind this work, but... Russ Kessel's Unit 04 was covered from head to toe, not a single clean spot in sight. How long would it take to wash all that off?
"Go wash it yourself! We're already being nice by not putting you in a sack!"
"Er..." Cold sweat trickled down Russ Kessel's back. He stiffly turned his head to follow the direction the Maintenance Squad member was pointing, and sure enough...
A group of Maintenance Squad members were carrying several struggling sacks towards a dark corner.
No need to guess. Two of them were definitely Blog and Fred. As close-combat specialists, they loved using martial arts moves in battle, like flying kicks.
And this was the result.
It couldn't be helped. Although an MS was a humanoid weapon, it wasn't a real human. The leg joints had to bear the entire weight of the mobile suit in a gravity environment, making them the most susceptible to wear and tear. Whenever someone used an action like a kick, it would drastically accelerate this wear, increasing the Maintenance Squad's workload.
Even in the zero-gravity environment of space, using actions like kicks had the same effect, so...
Gulp "I'll wash it myself!"
"Hmph!"
Watching the Maintenance Squad member shove a bucket and mop into his arms, Russ Kessel silently shed tears of sorrow.
"Hiss~ That's really tragic." Watching Russ Kessel's dejected back, Jung and the others gloated without reservation. Although their mobile suits were also in a sorry state, covered in a mess of colors, none were as complete as Unit 04. The entire mobile suit looked like a painting, with no gaps left, completely covered. And... there was more than one layer.
"Who told him to take potshots? He almost took out the Colonel. How could he not get cleaned up for that?" Ford Romfellow teased.
"What about Chris? Chris almost took out the Colonel several times too."
"Nuh, over there." Kajima Yuu tilted his head, gesturing for everyone to look to the right.
"Uh..."
Christina Mackenzie's mobile suit wasn't much different from Russ Kessel's Unit 04. Or rather, anyone who had threatened Unit 01 with potshots from a distance was in a miserable state. Even after being "killed in action," their mobile suits were "desecrated" to vent frustration.
But there was a fundamental difference between Christina Mackenzie and Russ Kessel.
She was a woman.
And women, especially beautiful ones, were sought after in a unit with far more wolves than meat.
Christina Mackenzie was continuously thanking the maintenance personnel who were helping her clean off the special paint, and the very same uncle who had just rejected Russ Kessel was among them.
"...Sigh." At this moment, many of them felt it was a pity to be born a man.
"But Athrun, Gai, you guys were amazing." Giorgio Miguel punched Athrun and Gai Murakumo in the chest. Not counting the MS units from the 11th and 12th Fleets, which Yang Hui had ignored at the end, the Twelfth Independent Technical Division's record against Yang Hui alone in this exercise was 20 minutes. At the cost of everyone, they finally managed to take off Unit 01's left arm and right leg, damage its backpack, and destroy its marker gun and shield.
This result was enough for all of them to be proud. It was the first time they had managed to push Yang Hui to this extent in an obstacle-filled debris field, and only they could have done it.
A quarter of the credit for achieving such a great result belonged to Athrun and Gai Murakumo.
If Gai Murakumo hadn't locked onto Unit 01's position at the very beginning and employed the correct tactics to stall for time until reinforcements arrived, they wouldn't have known when they would even find a trace of Yang Hui.
Then there was Athrun. With all his squad members "killed in action," leaving him as a lone commander, he seized the one and only opportunity in the subsequent battle. When Unit 01's movement was locked down for two seconds under the pressure of multiple snipers, Athrun seized the chance to "sever" Unit 01's left arm and right leg, causing it to lose more than half of its combat capability.
"It was alright." Athrun and Gai Murakumo weren't complacent, because they knew this wasn't the full extent of Yang Hui's strength. For one, Yang Hui had maintained a playful attitude throughout. Although he got serious, it was just serious play. In a real life-or-death battle, setting aside combat skills, most people would find it hard to withstand Yang Hui's insane killing intent.
Then there was the mobile suit. The Astray Gundam was currently the most powerful mobile suit in this world, but it was still too poor, completely unable to keep up with Yang Hui's speed at his peak. Even Athrun and Gai Murakumo felt constrained, let alone Yang Hui.
If the Dawn Gundam were here... forget the Twelfth Independent Technical Division, he could single-handedly take on Luna II and the Federation's Space Fleet, then clean up Zeon's Solomon Fortress, A Baoa Qu Fortress, and Axis all at once.
"Being too humble is just another form of pride, Athrun," Jung said, patting Athrun's shoulder teasingly before giving him a push. "Go comfort your squad members. They must be feeling very down."
"Mm." Athrun nodded seriously.
After Athrun left, the others sighed. "Sigh, the Colonel was really harsh this time. Isn't he afraid of giving the rookies a psychological complex?"
Jung and the others knew exactly why Yang Hui had chosen to target the 9th Squad, led by Athrun, at the beginning. It was because they were the soft persimmons, the easiest to crush.
It wasn't just the 9th Squad; the 10th Squad was the same. They were all rookies with no real combat experience. Compared to the other squads, they were the easiest to score kills on. This was also a common tactic in one-versus-many scenarios: better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten, reducing the enemy's numbers as quickly as possible.
At the same time, Yang Hui was also telling these rookies that they were still greenhorns. They couldn't afford to slack off and had to catch up to the veterans' pace as soon as possible, or this would be their fate.
"It's definitely a blow. I hope they can get over it."
"Yeah, if they can't even overcome this setback, they might as well go to the logistics department. Otherwise... going onto the battlefield would just be suicide."
"By the way, where's the Colonel?"
"Went to find his wife, of course."
"Er... alright then."
...
Meanwhile, the MS pilots from the 11th and 12th Fleets returned to their ships with long faces. Their performance had been utterly terrible, a complete disgrace.
Being defeated was normal; they had been defeated in all sorts of ways by the Twelfth Independent Technical Division during the recent adaptation training. But... this was the first time they had been ignored.
The initial chaos had cost the two MS units 80% of their combat strength, and the remaining 20% made no move. They were all dumbfounded by the battle before them.
Yang Hui's monstrous performance was beyond mention, incomprehensible to ordinary people. But the performance of the Twelfth Independent Technical Division had far exceeded their expectations, making them realize that their opponents had been going easy on them in their previous matches.
This also made them understand the vast gulf that existed between them and their opponents, and the true weight behind the word "legendary."
"What do you think?" On the bridge, Brest asked Paul Cassias.
"...I can't evaluate it." Paul Cassias shook his head. In terms of ability, he was only considered above average. In terms of rank, he was just a Lieutenant Colonel. But there was one thing Paul Cassias could be proud of: his understanding of Zeon's aces. As a survivor of the Battle of Loum, he had begun collecting and analyzing data on Zeon's aces right after the battle ended.
He could proudly say that no one in the entire Federal Army understood Zeon's aces better than he did.
Therefore, he could make the most accurate assessments of aces.
But Yang Hui... he couldn't do it. Yang Hui's performance was beyond his comprehension.
"Even you can't evaluate it?"
"Yes. The eight captains of the Twelfth Independent Technical Division are all comparable to Zeon's top aces. 'One-Shot Killer' Breniss Augus, 'Blue Giant Star' Ramba Ral, 'Crimson Lightning' Johnny Ridden, 'Gray Griffin' Eric Mansfield, 'Red Comet' Char Aznable... they wouldn't lose to any of them. Even the regular members have the strength of an ordinary ace. Kycilia Zabi's [Magatsiya]Squadron can't compare to them."
"Weren't two of the squads rookies?" Brest asked.
"Yes, the rookies were 'killed' too quickly to see much, but those two rookie captains are no worse than the veteran captains, perhaps even a cut above. And those rookies... they're far better than our men."
"Sigh."
It was an obvious assessment, leaving them speechless and only able to sigh. But they didn't blame their subordinates. The gap was simply too large. The other side was practically all aces, while their men were just a group of new recruits who had just finished training and had never even participated in real combat.
"Stop sighing. This time, let's just properly follow Colonel Yang Hui's orders."
"I know that, of course. I just feel like I can't keep up with the times."
"Haha, admitting you're old, are you, Brest? The future belongs to the young."
"...I'm only 40 this year."
"Isn't that old?"
"Compared to you, I'm very young."
"...Ending communication."
"Hahaha..." After a laugh, Brest quieted down and began to think about how to improve his subordinates' combat capabilities. The war was about to start soon, and every life saved was a victory.
...
Another five days passed. Training was still ongoing, but Yang Hui no longer participated. One blow could motivate them, but a second would either make them withdrawn or apathetic, which would be meaningless.
However, they didn't have time to continue training anyway. A message from Tianem had arrived.
"Colonel, a message from General Tiam."
"Mm." He took it and saw that Tianem was informing him that the Zion Fleet had entered the alert range. They could now move out. "Relay orders to the 11th and 12th Fleets. Proceed to Luna II according to the predetermined plan."
"Understood."
"The Luna will detach from the fleet. Course correction, coordinates D82. We're going to circle around to the rear of the Zion Fleet."
"Understood!"
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