Postwar Report

"What happened to you two? Both of your Mobile Suits have problems with their legs. This is ridiculous. Shiro Amada's machine is easy enough to fix; we just need to replace a few standard parts. Eli, how did you manage this? The shock absorbers in your entire left leg are damaged!"

The day after they returned to base, Eli and Shiro Amada stood together and faced the maintenance crew's fury.

Usually, the members of the maintenance crew were kind-faced, conscientious, and diligent. Now, they each had a tool in hand and glared at the two of them under the foreman's lead.

On a humanoid weapon like a Mobile Suit, the hardest parts to repair were the legs.

The two of them had made a hard landing from high altitude, and there was no doubt they'd caused the maintenance crew a major headache.

"Sorry for the trouble!"

Eli didn't try to defend himself. Instead, he immediately grabbed Shiro Amada by the hem of his uniform. As they bowed together, he offered up a whole carton of cigarettes with both hands.

They were good stuff he'd bought from Captain Nika, and with supplies running short, they were practically hard currency.

As for why supplies had suddenly become scarce—

It was naturally because, with the front lines stable, the Federation Forces' top brass were already planning to push the war into its next phase.

In other words, the Federation Forces' counteroffensive was fast approaching.

Since they wanted to launch their first counterattack in Europe, they'd naturally reduced supply shipments to places like Southeast Asia, where the fighting was relatively stable.

Seeing Eli's expression, the maintenance crew's anger eased somewhat.

In the end, they were only frustrated by the extra workload. Their anger toward Eli and Shiro Amada was more like the usual banter between the maintenance crew and the pilots.

When you saw each other day in and day out, how could you seriously expect someone to be cautious in battle over something like this, and prefer that their machine survive instead of them?

"At least you know what you're doing... You lot, pass the cigarettes around, then give this thing a proper repair!"

The maintenance foreman took the cigarettes and gave Eli a hard thump as he passed by.

Then the other members of the maintenance crew came up behind him, one by one, and gave Eli a knock on the shoulder.

The truth was, as support personnel, they admired and depended on Eli.

Or rather, they felt that way about everyone who fought on the front lines.

The maintenance crew immediately gathered around a Gundam Ground Type from the 06th Team. They planned to remove its leg and attach it to Eli's Gundam Ground Type.

That would get Eli's machine back into fighting shape as quickly as possible.

The leg they removed could then be repaired at a more leisurely pace.

"I thought they were going to chew us out."

Seeing how serious Eli had looked just now, Shiro Amada had even prepared himself to get beaten up.

He hadn't expected the maintenance crew, who'd looked just as serious, to respond so warmly.

"Second Lieutenant Shiro Amada, getting along with the maintenance crew is basic common sense for a Mobile Suit pilot."

Eli wore a rueful expression, and Shiro Amada couldn't help looking a little shaken.

"Oh no. Then what about me..."

"It's fine. Karen already took care of it for you."

Before Shiro Amada could ask Eli for help, Eli nodded in the direction of his machine.

There, Karen was getting along famously with the maintenance crew. With the air of a big sister, she was leading them as they worked on Shiro Amada's machine.

Noticing the two of them looking over, Karen flashed them a V sign, then turned back to work.

"Corporal Joshua!"

Shiro Amada put on an exaggeratedly moved expression, completely unlike how he and Karen had been at odds when he first arrived.

The fighting they'd been through lately had done a lot to mend the rift between them.

"All right, let's go."

Eli grabbed Shiro Amada by the collar from behind and stopped him from heading toward Karen.

"Go where?"

Shiro Amada stumbled as Eli pulled him, then turned to ask.

"You really didn't listen to a thing yesterday, did you... We're going to the Southeast Asia theater headquarters. The brass want to question us."

Eli released Shiro Amada's collar so he could regain his balance.

"The brass? Is it Colonel Ethan?"

Colonel Ethan was the commander of the Far East Front Independent Mechanized Regiment, the unit they served in and their direct superior.

"No."

"Oh, good."

"It's General Revil."

Looking at Shiro Amada, who'd just breathed a sigh of relief, Eli mercilessly dropped a name that could scare the life out of anyone.

Shiro Amada's hand, which had been reaching to rub the back of his head in relief, froze.

"What?!"

"...In summary, I believe the Apsalus developed by Zeon has the potential to change the course of the war."

After a lengthy explanation, Eli concluded his report with his own assessment.

He discreetly looked up at the large screens in front of him, focusing on the one in the middle.

It showed the image of a white-bearded old man.

That was none other than the renowned General Revil.

Unfortunately, Eli realized that the system he carried couldn't identify people through a screen.

"You say this Apsalus could change the course of the war. What evidence do you have?"

At that moment, a man on one of the screens to the side spoke up.

That was General Gopp, known as the Mole of Jaburo.

It should have been a disparaging nickname, but Eli knew that without General Gopp constantly managing the overall war effort from Jaburo, stabilizing the rear during General Revil's captivity, and insisting on continuing Operation V, the Federation wouldn't have had the means to launch a counteroffensive.

He might not have any dazzling victories as a commander, but he was undoubtedly one of the Federation's pillars.

"Yes! Please listen to this audio recording."

Eli played the recording of Aina threatening them with self-destruction.

"I believe the Apsalus can bear the weight of two Gundam Ground Types and still force itself into the air while damaged. That means it has plenty of spare capacity and power. Given its size, it could probably carry a Mega Particle Cannon."

Eli did his best to make the situation sound dire.

Of course, he wasn't exaggerating. The Apsalus had been designed from the start to launch a surprise attack on Jaburo.

His main goal was to get the higher-ups to pay more attention to the matter.

In the original story, even after the 08th Team discovered the Apsalus, the higher-ups showed little interest. The 08th Team was left to investigate it alone, and it wasn't until the Apsalus II demonstrated that it could destroy Jaburo that they finally took it seriously.

Eli wanted to bring that attention forward, which was why his earlier report had explained the threat the Apsalus posed to Jaburo.

Only...

Had this report really caused such a stir in Jaburo? Even Major General John Kowen, who was in charge of Operation V, had joined the meeting.

It seemed Jaburo wanted to use Major General Kowen to verify whether Eli's claims were true.