Chapter 47: Finally Piloting an MS

Atlantic Federation, California, San Antonio Joint Base.

On the second day of Li Boyong's recuperation in the hospital belonging to the base, he actually received a visit and condolences from the base defense commander and his party.

This made him a bit "flattered," after all, he was just a small Second Lieutenant, how could he attract the attention of these big figures.

After talking with the base commander and his party of subordinates, he knew what was going on.

It turned out that he, a small Second Lieutenant, was brought to this base, and it was actually part of political propaganda.

The last pilot of the Eighth Fleet, such an unreliable and unlucky identity could actually become something to be publicized, which made Li Boyong feel very absurd, and then the commander's subordinate began to explain to Li Boyong endlessly.

Although

Starting from the captain, from top to bottom, there were surprisingly few who truly belonged to the Eighth Fleet.

Murrue and Natarle were from the Fifth Special Task Division, while Mu was from the Seventh Mobile Fleet; the affiliations of the other members were also a mess, and the bridge was filled with student soldiers who nominally belonged to the Eighth Fleet but were actually from Orb.

This might be one of the reasons why the Archangel was always unloved and unwanted.

In short, after counting everyone, only Li Boyong was a legitimate Eighth Fleet pilot by establishment, and he was also the last surviving pilot of the Eighth Fleet.

Most importantly, this guy had fought all the way with the Archangel, and his combat record was quite impressive.

Along the way, he had piloted a Mobius and a Skygrasper, shooting down or damaging quite a few MS like Ginns, Zauorts, and DINNs, and even sinking a Petrie-class land battleship; based on his record, he could barely count as an ace.

It just so happened that the Alliance was starting to build its own MS forces, and Halbadon was a strong supporter of MS. As the last pilot under Halbadon, Li Boyong was 'luckily' chosen by the propaganda department to serve as a tragic political figure within the military.

Since it was military propaganda for the MS forces, Li Boyong naturally had to be transferred to an MS unit after his wounds healed. This San Antonio Base had an MS unit under formation, so the military headquarters took the opportunity to put Li Boyong into this Fifth MS Composite Brigade under formation, and incidentally promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant.

A promotion was a good thing, but Li Boyong's wounds had only been itching for a few days; before they were mostly healed, he was dragged out of the ward by the propaganda department to do publicity.

Li Boyong had no right to defy the military headquarters' political propaganda mission, or rather, since it was meant to be tragic propaganda, Li Boyong's miserable appearance was even better.

During his propaganda duties, he repeatedly requested to contact the Archangel that had entered Alaska, but was regrettably rejected every time on the grounds of communication control.

Li Boyong understood in his heart that the rumored ZAFT landing operation on Panama was imminent, and the Earth Alliance high command had long received news that the true target of the ZAFT forces was the Earth Alliance headquarters in Alaska. Therefore, they planned to use a ruse to withdraw the main forces from Alaska and buried a Cyclops System underground in Alaska, preparing to use this self-destruct device—which could turn a twenty-kilometer radius into a furnace—and a few sacrificial units to wipe out a large number of ZAFT troops.

And the unloved Archangel was also listed among the sacrificial units.

It was estimated that there would be a bunch of propaganda afterwards shifting the blame to the ZAFT forces, so the prior communication control became a necessary measure.

Regarding this, Li Boyong was also somewhat helpless; he had no means to contact the Archangel on his own and could only honestly cooperate with the propaganda department's mission.

After several days of propaganda missions, the base suddenly became busy, and then news spread that Alaska had been captured by ZAFT forces using weapons of mass destruction, followed by a series of propaganda reports, and the Archangel became a renegade ship.

Regarding this, Li Boyong sneered in his heart, feeling quite disgusted by the methods of the Earth Alliance high command.

Being treated with such methods, it was no wonder that Captain Murrue, after escaping the disaster, took the Archangel and left the Earth Alliance sequence directly.

She was also afraid that the Archangel's crew, having not died at the hands of ZAFT and not died in the base's self-destruction, would eventually be silenced by the military for knowing the truth about the Alaska incident.

But no matter how unhappy he felt, Li Boyong did not show it and still had to honestly cooperate with the propaganda mission.

After the propaganda mission was completed, his wounds were mostly healed, and he was officially transferred to the Fifth MS Composite Brigade, serving as the commander of the Third MS Combat Company.

Under his command, there was not only a combat unit consisting of four MS, but also a bunch of logistics personnel responsible for supplying the MS and a few armored vehicles for combat support.

Although he was burdened with an internal military political propaganda mission, the machine he received was no different from those of other cannon fodder; it was that miserable Strike Dagger.

Regarding this, Li Boyong had a bellyful of complaints.

You XX military headquarters, it's fine if you want to do some tragic propaganda, but could you not make the machine so tragic too...

The performance of something like a Strike Dagger is truly trash; it belongs to the category of genuine cannon fodder machines...

I worked hard fighting from space to the ground; even if I have no merit for the Federation, I have at least put in the effort, right?

I don't dare to hope for the machines of the Three Stooges, but if you won't give me a Raider, at least give me a Sword Calamity; even a Duel Dagger or Buster Dagger would do. If that's not possible, a 105 Dagger would also be fine.

In the end, you really only give me one Strike Dagger; are you just waiting for me to die in the line of duty so you can follow up with a wave of tragic propaganda?

On his first day in office, Li Boyong looked at the Strike Dagger parked in his camp, unable to cry or laugh. This ugly-as-hell single-antenna visor, this monotonous selection of weapons, the pathetic 57mm caliber of the beam rifle, the small frame that looked fragile just by looking at it...

If I absolutely have to pilot a grunt machine, I'd rather take a Zaku to the battlefield!

After finally recovering, Li Boyong gathered his subordinates, and upon seeing the three incredibly green faces of his three MS pilots, he almost fainted.

These are clearly just rookies who have only been out of military academy for a few days, and they have become his subordinate Second Lieutenant MS pilots. Looking at the situation, it won't be long before these three rookies can get a rank higher than his own, with the reason being a posthumous promotion for dying in the line of duty.

This is truly a future full of hardships, teary-eyed.

How tragic can it be...

I am really having such a hard time...

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, it could not change the fact that he had finally upgraded from cannon fodder to a cannon fodder captain.

A Strike Dagger it is, then...

At least it counts as an MS, which is better than that fragile Mobius that dies at a single touch.

That shield still looks quite thick; it should be able to take a couple more shots.

Li Boyong comforted himself in his heart while participating in daily MS training.

Baby is bitter in the heart, but baby doesn't say...

Only during his spare time from training, he couldn't help but stare blankly, thinking of that red-clad girl who should have gone to space by now.