Chapter 206
"Is this thing really reliable?"
Kou Uraki stood in front of a massive machine, staring up at it in a daze.
"What are you talking about? Haven't you already piloted the Dendrobium?"
Eli looked at Kou Uraki with mild confusion.
"No, Captain. The Dendrobium is the GP03—it's a Gundam. But this thing…"
Kou Uraki pointed to the large mobile suit next to them.
"This thing doesn't even have an official model number!"
Thud!
Before Kou Uraki could finish his sentence, a soft mallet flew over and smacked him square on the forehead.
The kind of mallet used for delicate instruments didn't actually hurt, but it clearly conveyed the owner's indignation.
"Kou! If you don't want to pilot it, I'll hand it over to someone else—plenty of people are dying to get a chance!"
Standing atop the shoulder of the GM was Ishta, clenching her fist and shouting over with the presence of a no-nonsense team leader.
The rest of the maintenance crew, including Mora, all glared in outrage.
After all, this particular GM was the result of a recent collaborative effort between the entire Undertaker technical division and maintenance team.
And now Kou Uraki had the nerve to speak about it like that.
Kou shrank back, falling silent as he hid behind Eli.
Because the truth was, despite what he said, he was very eager to pilot this machine.
To be clear, the machine in question was cobbled together using Gundam-type parts and GM II components from Undertaker. Its performance wasn't exceptional.
Yes, the Federation was now fully switching over to GM IIs.
This unit had nothing especially remarkable—its main merit was a modest performance boost and integration of a panoramic cockpit system.
But judging by the opened head unit, there were three cameras installed inside.
Clearly, this machine had enhanced intelligence-gathering capabilities.
"How much longer until this unit is completed?"
Eli raised his head and asked Istha.
"Almost done—just finishing adjustments on the head."
"Good. This is the first unit independently developed by Undertaker. We must handle it with the utmost care."
Of course, the "first unit" here didn't refer to the GM.
It referred to the massive machine Kou Uraki had been staring at earlier.
URX-007 Delphinium
In that model number, "U" stood for Undertaker.
"They say it's a copy of the Dendrobium, but are we really sure it'll work? It looks a lot smaller."
The Dendrobium—excluding its mega particle cannon—measured 73 meters long. But this machine before them stood at just 40 meters, nearly half the size.
Kou Uraki floated into the air, hovering in front of the Delphinium as he voiced his concerns.
This machine had been designed by Istha and commissioned from Yashima Industries for parts manufacturing.
It was Kou Uraki's first time seeing it in person.
"That's because we're using the latest reactor and propulsion modules. And unlike the Dendrobium, we didn't need to integrate a ridiculous number of weapons."
This time, Istha wasn't angry at Kou Uraki. On the contrary, she patiently explained the machine to the man who was unquestionably the pilot.
His combat record piloting the Dendrobium alone was enough to earn him near-unlimited respect within the Federation forces.
By contrast, the pilot assigned by Titans to the Dendrobium had passed out under G-force while trying to mimic Kou's extreme maneuvers.
This alone demonstrated just how absurdly compatible Kou was with large mobile units.
"This machine represents the culmination of the modular design concept in MS engineering, which is why it's so lightweight. On top of that, with some maintenance, this unit can even convert into a massive piece of external armor."
Istha stood with her hands on her hips and chin slightly raised, brimming with pride.
The problem was that once they had the machine in hand, they realized no existing MS could serve as its operating core.
And so Istha led her team to handcraft an entirely new unit on-site.
"Alright, lower the faceplate!"
Once Istha confirmed everything was ready, she tapped the shoulders of those around her, signaling them to step back.
Hiss—
The raised faceplate slowly descended, prompting Eli to step back as well to take in the full form of the machine.
"...That's just straight-up a Re-GZ, isn't it?"
From the outside, the unit bore a striking resemblance—about 90%—to the Re-GZ, the mainstay mobile suit of AEUG during the Gryps Conflict.
After all, the Re-GZ had originally been developed from the GM II.
That said, there were still fundamental differences between this machine and the Re-GZ.
The Re-GZ used a fully transformable frame, while this machine—like the riot-control GM—only had partially articulated limbs.
But that didn't stop Eli from deciding to name the unit Re-GZ.
Once Yashima Heavy Industries succeeded in solving the full movable frame issue, this design could officially be incorporated into the Federation's development lineage, much like the EZ-8.
Watching the cheerful interaction between pilot and maintenance crew, Eli couldn't help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction.
"Colonel, we've just received a message from City Hall."
As Eli was observing the development of the Delphinium Project, someone approached him and whispered in his ear.
Eli gave a nod and left the research facility within the colony satellite.
The message from City Hall concerned those arrested during the recent protests—they had been transferred to City Hall for interrogation.
This served two purposes: first, to avoid suspicion and accusations of torture by Undertaker, and to send a message to the people of Side 1.
Second… who said Undertaker wasn't involved?
After all, Undertaker being allowed to station troops on this Side 1 colony meant that the Londenion colony government was pro-Federation at its core.
As Eli entered the precinct building, the outer perimeter was guarded by police, but inside were all Undertaker personnel.
"Would you believe it? These guys are all ex-Federation military—veterans from the One Year War."
Arcadia, holding a file, leaned over to Eli with a teasing tone.
"Ex-Federation veterans?"
"Well, they're all secretly Zeon remnants. Even used their status as ex-Federation soldiers to claim a bunch of benefits."
"…"
Eli stood in front of a one-way mirror, watching the detainee slump in the interrogation chair.
He looked neat and well-groomed.
Eli nodded in satisfaction.
Judging by his condition, the interrogators knew their limits and what not to touch.
Signaling to the Undertaker personnel conducting the interrogation that they could take the rest of the day off and have a drink, Eli turned his gaze back to the man before him.
Of course, these people had all adopted a new identity by now.
AEUG.