Fistam Democratic Republic's Meeting

In a vast conference hall, before a giant projected video, footage of Proto Gundam Unit 4 and Unit 5 engaged in combat was being played.

Within the assembly hall were individuals dressed in military uniforms and suits; they were all high-ranking government officials and senior military officers of the nation.

The nation hosting the meeting was one of the strong powers among the space colonies, the Fistam Democratic Republic.

The important figures present were all frowning, their expressions grave as they watched the battle in the video.

Proto Gundam Unit 5 was sweeping across enemy MS with a Gatling gun, destroying over a dozen MS in an instant.

Many people covered their mouths, too stunned by the powerful combat capability to speak.

When Proto Gundam Unit 4 swept across with its Mega Particle Cannon, many in the hall exclaimed in surprise. As the Mega Particle Cannon swept, battleships appeared to be torn apart like paper.

The video ended, and the lights in the assembly hall came up.

Many people in the hall were still too shocked to recover. Where did these MS come from? How could they possess such immense power?

One of the congressmen present asked the head of the military intelligence department, "Minister, please tell me, which country's MS are these? Are they from the three major powers on Earth?"

The Minister of Intelligence was Lieutenant General Adili, a slightly overweight, middle-aged Caucasian man with blond hair.

"No, these MS belong to a private mercenary group from Mika昴 Nation, a small, peripheral country among the colonies."

Everyone in the hall displayed an expression that clearly said, "You must be joking."

Adili continued, "At first, I, along with everyone present, didn't believe it either. I also thought it was an MS developed by a major power. However, after our nation's intelligence team analyzed and verified the authenticity of the video, they confirmed that the MS in the video are real, and the combat is real. Initially, our intelligence team suspected that a major power was testing the performance of their developed MS by deploying them to a peripheral country. After a long period of investigation, it was determined that these two MS are actually the private property of that private mercenary group."

The Minister of Defense asked, "Lieutenant General, when did the combat depicted in this video take place?"

"Esteemed Minister of Defense, the date of this combat video was three months ago."

"Lieutenant General, why did your intelligence department take so long to present this matter!" a congressman loudly questioned.

"Respected Congressman, it's not that our military intelligence department took so long to present this matter. It's because we had to verify the authenticity of the video. Moreover, who could have imagined that such powerful MS would appear in the private armed forces of a peripheral country?"

Just as the congressman who had questioned loudly was about to retort to Lieutenant General Adili's explanation, the Minister of Defense raised his hand to interrupt.

"Lieutenant General, have you investigated the origin of this private armed force?"

"Esteemed Minister of Defense, based on the information we currently have, this private armed force is called the Skywing Mercenary Group, and their armaments come from a similarly named arms manufacturing company. We currently have information that the Skywing Mercenary Group and the Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company have the same owner."

"Where is that owner from, and what is his name?"

"I apologize, Esteemed Minister of Defense, but currently, we can only confirm that the owner's name is Long Fei, and he is from the Hanxia Nation. As for his age and appearance, we are currently unable to ascertain that."

"Hanxia Nation, surname Long..." the President, seated at the head of the table, mused, stroking his chin.

Everyone in the assembly hall looked at the President.

President Amdandi, who had a receding hairline and a bald spot on his head, addressed everyone, "There aren't many people with the surname Long in the Hanxia Nation, but there is a prominent family with the surname Long. If I recall correctly, this large Long family is a major business dynasty. Don't they have an enterprise called the Long Family Arms Manufacturing Enterprise?"

Everyone looked at Lieutenant General Adili.

"Mr. President, initially I also considered that possibility and investigated in that direction. However, the intelligence we currently possess has no connection to the Long family. If the Long Family Arms Manufacturing Enterprise truly possessed such advanced MS, why wouldn't they deploy them to defeat their competitors?"

"Lieutenant General, you have a point. Does your intelligence department have any other information?"

Lieutenant General Adili then requested the assembly hall lights to be dimmed.

After the assembly hall lights were dimmed, Lieutenant General Adili activated the projected video again. A photograph of the Proto Gundam appeared in the video.

Everyone, the Mobile Suits in this photograph are earlier models of the two Mobile Suits we saw earlier. These Mobile Suits have a designation called Gundam, or you can call them Gundams. We also have new intelligence indicating that they are developing even newer models of Gundam.

"Lieutenant General, excuse me for interrupting." The President asked, "Why aren't they mass-producing them, and instead developing new models?"

"Mr. President, this is precisely what I was about to explain." Adili changed the video.

The screen in the video showed the Proto Gundam being hit by live ammunition. After being hit, the video paused, and the impacted area was magnified.

"Everyone, please look closely. Has the armor in the area that was hit undergone any changes?"

Upon seeing clearly, everyone in the hall took a sharp breath.

"As you can see, the part of the Gundam that was hit was struck by 135mm live ammunition, yet the armor sustained no damage whatsoever, not even a dent."

The President asked again, "Lieutenant General, doesn't this have anything to do with the issue of mass production?"

"No, Mr. President, it is related. Our intelligence department's analysis suggests two possibilities. The first possibility is that they will finalize the design after using the combat data from the newly developed models and then mass-produce the actual Gundam models. The second possibility is that they will not mass-produce them. Firstly, the armor of the Gundam is difficult to manufacture. Secondly, the internal hardware within the armor is also not easy to produce. The purpose of developing more powerful models is simply to assign them to skilled pilots, such as ace MS pilots, to pilot the Gundam."

"Lieutenant General, in your opinion, which possibility is more likely?"

"Mr. President, my estimation is that the second possibility is more likely."

The congressman who had questioned loudly earlier again loudly questioned, "Please explain, Lieutenant General, why do you believe the second possibility is more likely? If it's the first possibility, wouldn't that plunge the nation into unimaginable crisis?"

"Respected Congressman, the reason I believe the second possibility is more likely is primarily from our military's perspective. Generally speaking, the maintenance and replacement of damaged parts for ordinary mass-produced MS are not very costly. However, if they are assigned to elite pilots piloting higher-performance MS or special MS for ace pilots, the maintenance costs are vastly different from those of ordinary mass-produced MS. Furthermore, there's an important point: they consume more resources and manpower. So, if everyone considers for a moment, if the MS called Gundam are so outstanding and powerful, wouldn't the financial resources required for their maintenance be even greater?"

Many people in the hall accepted Lieutenant General Adili's explanation. As Lieutenant General Adili had stated, the more powerful any MS, aircraft, or battleship became, the greater the cost.

Even if the MS called Gundam could be mass-produced, the question was, which country would dare to mass-produce them?

The answer was none.

Because the manufacturing and maintenance costs would be enough to bankrupt a nation's economy.

"Lieutenant General Adili, your intelligence department is to continue monitoring the Skywing Mercenary Group," President Amdandi ordered.

"Yes, Mr. President."