Chapter 31: Freedom Gundam
"Yesterday, the final commissioning of the Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam, which were developed completely by our army, was finally completed. Dr. Lingus of Anaheim came all the way to PLANT to bring good wishes to ZAFT and, accompanied by Captain Creuset, watched the two Gundams' practical rehearsal with great interest. The two sides had a cordial and friendly meeting, during which Dr. Lingus highly praised the technical level of our army and emphasized many times that science and technology is the first productive force. Captain Creuset said excitedly …"
"Doctor, do you think this is okay?" A PLANT propaganda bureau staff handed the script to Ade and looked at him respectfully, "If there is no problem, we will send it out like this tomorrow."
The problem was that the so-called visit hadn't even started now, and Ade was still standing outside the Eternal. The Eternal and the two nuclear energy Gundams are the top secrets of the ZAFT army, originally developed jointly by PLANT and Anaheim in secret. According to the contract, they will be publicized as PLANT's own development in the final announcement, and concealed the details related to nuclear power.
The staff of the Propaganda Bureau was obviously not qualified to know the details, and did not even have permission to come on board, so the manuscript, which obviously had a fabricated element, could only be published with Ade's consent.
"Very good, very professional." He nodded in satisfaction, this press release looked particularly cordial, "Just send it out as it is, I have no comment."
The promoter left happily. As if pinpointing the right time, a masked blond man led a line of people to step off the ship and walk towards him.
There was another NT on the ship who didn't come out. PLANT is really full of New Types, only a few days after arriving, he had seen three.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Lingus." The man disembarking interrupted Ade's thoughts. He dressed in a white uniform, which symbolized his captaincy, "I am Captain Rau Le Creuset of the Eternal, the dedicated support spaceship for Freedom and Justice, and I welcome you on behalf of all members of the Eternal."
"Hello, Captain Creuset, I've heard a lot about you and I'm honored to meet you today."
Soon after joining the army, Creuset joined the One Year War and became famous for his excellent piloting skills, and during one of the battles, he showed his excellent command skills when the commander of his unit was killed in battle. Although he was unable to turn around the defeat of PLANT by himself, his outstanding personal ability allowed him to be quickly promoted to the ZAFT White Uniform.
Ade went up and shook his hand, silently criticizing ZAFT's military discipline in his heart that their soldiers can wear masks! He once checked Char's historical record and found that he also wore a mask before.
The world does have a person named Zeon Zum Deikun, who is said to be the spiritual mentor of the PLANT, but unfortunately he died young and didn't leave much in history. Judging from the fact that Char wore a mask in the army, Ade investigated the death of the Zabi family and the location of Char at that time, and he had a very interesting guess.
"Doctor, do you care about this mask?" Creuset noticed Ade's line of sight and pointed to his own mask, "I have always been an admirer of the Red Comet, this is just a poor imitation as an admirer. If you really mind, I can take it off." (PS: Char, The Red Comet (赤い彗星 Akai suisei))
Ade can only graciously say that he doesn't mind it, you can continue to wear it.
In the company of Creuset, Ade visited the various areas of the Eternity, while looking at it and secretly comparing it with his own Blue-eyes White Dragon. The decoration and interior of Blue-eyes White Dragon are superior. although one is the newest battleship and the other is a second-hand spaceship modified by himself, but the difference between a battleship and a civil spaceship is still very big. C.C. is especially willing to spend money on this piece.
But the ship is equipped with some heavy artilleries in his view is not much use - you already have Justice and Freedom! There is no need for the ship to attack!
After arriving at the hangar, today's trip finally came to the main event. There were two brand new MSs parked in the hangar, and at the foot of the MSs, soldiers in red and green stood in neat formation.
The two Gundams, when Ade handed them over, were unpainted. All this post-production work was done last by ZAFT. For things like color selection, if the pilot has a request, they will generally try to meet it.
However, what stood before him was Justice painted green and Freedom painted red. Ade's eyelids jumped slightly and he was almost about to complain. He resisted the urge and tried to remain calm as he looked over at Creuset.
"Dr. Lingus, let me introduce you to these two MS pilots." Creuset gestured towards the queue, and two young men in red uniforms stepped up to the front of the queue and stood at attention after giving a military salute, "This is the dedicated pilot of Freedom Gundam - Athrun Zala, and the other is the dedicated pilot of Justice Gundam - Glemy Toto."
Ade nodded to the two who had stepped out of line, then looked at Athrun with a subtle look. They had met before on some awkward occasion, and Ade never thought it wouldn't be long before they met again. Athrun stared straight ahead without squinting, and Ade always felt that he was embarrassed to meet his own eyes.
Freedom Gundam is equipped with the D.R.A.G.O.N. system, so it has a relatively high requirement for the pilot. If the leader of the unit is a smart man, it basically shows that Athrun's driving level is a bit higher than the one next to him.
Considering that Kira had already become a general in Orb Union, but Athrun, as the son of the senator, was still here wearing red clothes and driving Gundam. How can the gap between people be so big?
Ade also looked at the pilot of Justice, Glemy Toto. This one is expressionless, but the sense of the spiritual field betrayed him: he is the NT Ade just sensed.
The Glemy he remembered was an ambitious man, but this one in front of him looked like he was only 15 or 16 years old, at most just graduated from military school. But this is the first time we meet today, right? Why is Glemy showing undisguised malice through the mental link? Ade was puzzled.
"Captain Creuset, may I ask," Ade gestured to Glemy with his eyes, "this one looks like he's only fifteen or sixteen, is the age of recruitment for ZAFT already that low?"
"Doctor, Glemy is an excellent talent selected by Senator Aznable." Creuset talked well and behaved elegantly, just like a replica Char, "The amazing talent he showed in the New Type Institute was valued by Senator Aznable, and was personally selected by Senator Aznable as the pilot for the new Gundam, and his skills are second to none in the ZAFT army. Doctor, you were also this young when you became famous back then, right?"
"I see." Ade nodded in a pretentious manner.
Creuset began to meticulously introduce several other ship crew members to him again, and he expressed his appreciation while listening.
At this point, he already had a rough idea of the distribution of power in ZAFT's army. The Eternal, as the most powerful fighting unit of ZAFT nowadays, the distribution of the personnel on it is basically an abbreviated version of the ZAFT power distribution map, and all the powers will stuff as many people as possible into it. Captain Creuset is Zala's beloved, and the pilot of Freedom Gundam, Athrun is Zala's own son, which shows the great influence of Zala in the force. Since Char was able to stuff Glemy in as a righteous pilot, the so-called Zabi remnants in the force obviously still have quite a bit of residual power.
The most ironic thing is that the Eternal, as a tool of violence at the disposal of the PLANT Supreme Council, does not have a single man of Clyne. Clyne had hinted to Ade about his own powerlessness in military affairs, and he had thought it was just self-abasement. But now he was afraid that it might be true. At least on the Eternal, Clyne was just a mere figurehead.
As far as Ade knows, Clyne's strongest man in the force, Ramba Ral, known as the Great Blue Star, was killed in the One Year War. After which Ramba Ral's disciple Andrew Butterfield continued as Clyne's ally in the army. In contrast to the ship's staffing, this Butterfield's prestige in the army should still have a small gap from a famous general like Creuset.
After that, the day's itinerary was almost at an end.
This visit, on the one hand, is because the completion of the two Gundams needs to have a heavyweight on the news to show his face; on the other hand, he was invited to participate in the anniversary tribute of the Bloody Valentine War on the 14th. At that time, the Eternity will be the designated transport to escort the event participants to the site of Junius 7, as her first mission after leaving port.
Originally, this kind of event was not very auspicious, but Speaker Clyne personally invited Ade and assured him that the Eternal and one of the nuclear-powered Gundam would escort him all the way. Even if he didn't have confidence in ZAFT, he still had confidence in the Gundam he had made, and it would be a great loss of prestige to refuse such a public service activity. After a little hesitation, he simply agreed to go.
It is worth mentioning that during this trip, Uraki is driving V2AB - it's normal for the father of Gundam's bodyguard to drive a Gundam, right? As for the high maintenance costs of V2AB - they are naturally paid by ZAFT. In case there are really any terrorists, Freedom plus V2AB are enough to eliminate all dangers.
Of course, Lacus will attend the whole event as an ambassador of peace - but he didn't know it before he agreed to go - which Uraki can fully testify.
"Looking at these elite soldiers, I am confident about the travel on 14th." Ade showed a satisfied smile to Creuset, "Such a strong strength will be able to deter those ungrateful curmudgeons, I think."
"Please rest assured, Doctor, the Eternal will definitely complete her first mission successfully and will never fail to meet everyone's expectations." Creuset also laughed. The accompanying staff followed and everyone was immersed in a happy and peaceful atmosphere.
At the same time, the atmosphere on the other ship was somewhat solemn.
This is a restaurant compartment on the passenger ship to PLANT, in which six silent young boys and girls and a man who is talking are sitting.
"In twenty minutes, the passenger ship will do a power overhaul and I will take the opportunity to leave through the emergency exit and return to Alexandria." The six boys and girls in front of him let out an uneasy stir, and Scirocco skillfully used his mental powers to calm them down one by one. "Everyone check one last time. Have you brought enough medicine? Have you memorized the map? Is there anything unclear about the operation? After I get off the ship, all evidence will be destroyed immediately."
The six boys and girls dawdled for a few more minutes until everyone nodded.
"I stress one last time, from the time I get off the ship, absolutely no un-tourist-like behavior allowed. The two groups are absolutely not allowed to contact each other and make sure to take enough medicine before the operation. We will act on time at 14th, and all with the goal of bringing Justice and Freedom back to Alexandria as the highest priority."
The six people nodded obediently again. No, these do not count as people at all, they can only be considered as consumable supplies.
Those who can fully and rationally use the resources are truly excellent generals. This operation will definitely be successful, and then my prestige in the Federation army, no, in the entire Earth circle will certainly be as high as the sky. The troops have enough trashes like Hymem, how can I, Scirocco, an unparalleled hero, subordinate to such people?
But Hymem, this old dog, can get this level of confidential information, this is really out of his expectation. It seems that this old dog still has some secrets.
"Britannia's Schneizel said that I am a general, but I disagree, I think a warrior's life and death should be decided by himself." Scirocco coldly scanned over the boys and girls in front of him and lifted the cup on the table, "I wish you all a good journey in PLANT. Cheers!"
PS: so far, 3 5-star votes, 1 3-star vote, and 3 1-star votes on Novel Updates. Half of the votes are negative. I'm not sure if it's because people don't like this novel or people don't like my translation. If it's because of my translation, I'm going to look for an editor. If possible, please let me know your opinion, here or on NU.
