Chapter 125: The Development of Yashima
Io was born in the Moore Colony of SIDE 4, the son of the colony's mayor.
However, the Moore Colony was now nothing more than a drifting ruin in space.
Because of this, Io had always been extreme in his pursuit of Zeon remnants. If it weren't for Eli's constant insistence on capturing prisoners whenever possible, this guy would have resorted to indiscriminate firepower the moment he saw a Zeon remnant.
"Come on, Captain, that's enough. Even if we capture them alive, what good does it do? The damn council just keeps dragging things out. Dozle, that gorilla, is still alive and kicking even now."
Sitting in the cockpit of his Sniper-Type GM II, Io looked down at the Zeon remnants and African Liberation Front members attempting to approach in a jeep, trying to launch a rocket attack.
Or rather, what was left of them.
The machine gun integrated into the Sniper-Type GM II's knee—specifically designed for anti-infantry operations—had already taken care of them.
At this point, the Sniper-Type GM II Io piloted barely resembled a sniper unit, except for the visor on its head.
The entire body had been reinforced with additional armor and ballistic weaponry, and its primary armament was an electromagnetic cannon—an upgraded version of the one used by the Ground Combat GM. On its back, it carried a missile launcher.
Sniping? This 360-caliber electromagnetic cannon worked just fine as a "sniper" rifle.
It was worth noting that this electromagnetic cannon and the railgun that had shone brilliantly in Eli's hands were two completely different concepts. The former emphasized kinetic penetration, while the latter focused on electromagnetic disruption of enemy armor internals.
"…Sigh, yeah, this whole thing is frustrating. Let's wrap it up and head back."
Eli patted the leg of his Electronic Warfare GM Kai and watched as Laine maneuvered his phased-array sensor to lock onto another target—the direction of the White Chaser.
Then Eli turned around, stepping aside to make space for Arcadia, who used his Assault GM to grab the captured Red Wolf.
As mentioned before, Eli made every effort to ensure that Zeon remnants faced justice rather than being simply executed.
Killing these people could even be seen as a reward for some of them.
Just last month, during a raid on a Zeon remnant base, a Zaku Tank—reduced to using a bulldozer blade as a weapon—had stubbornly resisted until the very end, shouting some unintelligible nonsense about righteousness.
But when representatives from the Zeon Republic informed the pilot that his family had already been thrown into space due to the Zeon Principality's exploitation, he broke down completely. He was then publicly tried and sentenced to death, with the execution scheduled for the end of this month.
This Red Wolf, one of the few Zeon aces with a Gundam kill record, would undoubtedly be fast-tracked for trial by both the military and the council.
If things moved quickly, she might even make it onto this month's execution list.
As the phased-array sensor locked onto its target, the White Chaser slowly drifted closer. Below, the savanna stretched out, dotted with herds of animals running in every direction.
"Major Eli, Lieutenant Paolo wants you to report to the bridge as soon as possible."
As Eli stepped out of his heavily modified Assault GM—enhanced with increased thruster output for hover mobility—he heard Istha relay the message.
"Thanks. Also, could you check the parts Yashima sent over? I didn't even get a chance to test them in combat today—Arcadia took down the enemy all by himself."
Thanks to the efforts of Eli and General Revil, and with the support of Zeon Republic Speaker Ramba Ral and Head of State Artesia Deikun, the Yashima Conglomerate had successfully acquired the majority of Zeonic's assets. In return, Yashima provided supplies and maintenance services for Side 3's colony satellites.
As a result, Yashima's MS development division had firmly established itself, with Joseph—who had previously signed an agreement with Eli—becoming its chief executive. Eli also secured a 10% stake in the company.
What? Wasn't it supposed to be 40% at first?
Well, what did you expect? General Revil vouched for Eli to ensure Yashima honored the deal. Did Eli really have the nerve to pocket all the shares for himself?
Instead, Eli immediately announced that he would donate 30% of the shares to the Federation military. In response, Revil established a special unit to manage these assets, distributing them among the Federation's land, sea, air, and space forces as a military-exclusive fund.
This fund bypassed the council and remained under the Federation military's independent control.
As a result, the Federation's Reconstruction Program, originally planned for 0081, was reluctantly approved by the council just last month.
That said, Anaheim Electronics followed history's course and acquired Zimmad, presenting its own bid for the Federation's Reconstruction Program.
It was undeniable that Anaheim had contributed to the Federation during the One Year War—many GMs had been produced using Anaheim's facilities.
As the company with the most expertise on GMs, Anaheim's proposal was to use the GM Kai as a temporary mainline unit.
Meanwhile, Yashima, still digesting Zeonic's expertise and lacking experience in MS manufacturing, opted to sit out this MS development bid and focus on its core strength—space warship design and construction.
At the same time, it was preparing for the next MS bidding cycle.
Because of this, Eli's unit—which had close ties to Yashima—often received various MS components to help Yashima's development team collect combat data.
For example, Laine's unit featured an active phased-array sensor system, one of Yashima's next-generation flagship products—a detachable intelligence-gathering module.
This system also aligned closely with Jaburo's "Module Plan," leading the Federation to entrust Yashima with its implementation. As a result, even Istha had become involved with Yashima.
"Yo~ Istha, wanna check if my unit has any issues?"
As Eli finished assigning Istha to inspect the machines, Arcadia jogged over with a grin.
Both he and Eli piloted Assault GMs, but Eli's machine had enhanced thruster output for hover mobility experiments, while Arcadia's had reinforced main thrusters for improved straight-line acceleration.
By the way, Arcadia and Istha had known each other for a long time—long enough that their relationship had gone beyond simple acquaintance.
Eli didn't care to elaborate on their situation. Instead, he turned and walked toward the bridge.
There, Paolo was overseeing the bridge crew as they maneuvered the White Chaser toward Dakar, the Federation's capital.
In Dakar, Brigadier General Jamitov, the Federation's regional commander for Africa, was awaiting their arrival.