"What? Odyssey Operation against Zeon in three days?" When Xiao Ran heard the news from Cardias, he seemed somewhat bewildered. Perhaps Xiao Ran did know about many Gundam worlds—the plots, characters, and hidden elements of giant robot anime—but that did not mean he knew every last detail. There would always be things he could not remember.
"That's right." Cardias nodded with a smile. "This is the best opportunity for you to join the Earth Federation. This battle is codenamed Odyssey Operation. Its main objective is to reclaim important mineral resource sites in Central Asia and Western Europe, overturning the balance on the European front in one stroke. The Federation has requested that the M1 Astray be deployed in this battle to test its combat capabilities in actual combat."
"Reclaiming resource sites?" Xiao Ran narrowed his eyes, recalling something from distant memories. "So it was that war. The battle where the Black Tri-Stars appeared and fell, where the Federation deployed GMs for the first time and fought Zeon for three days and three nights."
"They want us to deploy the M1 Astray? Heh. Testing it is one reason, but I'm sure some people just couldn't stand hearing us boast about how impressive the M1 Astray was." Xiao Ran gave a disdainful smile. "In that case, agree to it. We'll send MS units to participate, but we can't join the fight for nothing."
"Tell Maxi and the others: either hire us as mercenaries, or establish a special operations force through special recruitment. We retain Command Authority, but they cover every expense. I don't think that will be a problem if all seven of them pull together."
Cardias poured himself a glass of wine. Only after taking an unhurried sip did he slowly say, "That was my thinking as well. Use this chance