The Zaku in the center had a large antenna sticking out of the center of its head, and each one had heavy rocket boosters attached to the legs. Something had been added to the chest region, though it was too small for me to really examine at that distance.
Notably, all the Zakus had non-standard paint jobs. They were all painted industrial gray and black rather than the standard green and black. It was clearly a placeholder paint job, but I liked it. The Zakus would be more concealed in urban environments, which was where Hotchkiss was killed.
Set on giant scaffolds, various weapons for the Zakus were displayed. A bazooka, an MG, a recoilless rifle, and a Heat Hawk were scattered around the hangar.
Lt. Wei guides us to an observation room filled with computers and other heavy pieces of equipment. Standing in the center of this observation room was a blond man dressed in the uniform of a commodore. The man was inputting commands into a computer, and several mechanical arms throughout the hangar followed the commands without delay.
"Commodore Sahalin, this is Oracle Squad," Lt. Wei said to the blond man.
After a moment, I recognized him. He was Ginias Sahalin, the antagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. In that anime, he was the leader of a Zeon R&D team creating a new super weapon that was destroyed in its first battle.
Sahalin had the bearing of a disaffected noble, but I knew that an acute madness bubbled underneath the surface. His uniform was fastidiously maintained, and he operated his computer with a surgeon's precision.
Without looking at me, Sahalin said, "I see. You're the ones that are to pilot my newest creations. The thrusters can output 30% more force, and I've taken the liberty of giving the pilot full control of each mobile suit's automatic controls and safety precautions. They'll be harder to control, but you'll be able to push them much harder than you would otherwise." He turned to me before saying, "I added one other thing due to a special request from Rear Admiral Schneider. There is now a 60mm Vulcan minigun built into the chest. It holds 1,200 rounds and it fires at 1,400 rounds per minute so you can only fire it for 51.4 seconds before it needs to be reloaded. Beyond that, everything's the same compared to a standard MS-06C Zaku II."
"How do we aim the Vulcan?" Ramos asked.
"The minigun has some mobility within the chest, but its proximity to the reactor limits this. You can manually aim at anything within a 30° cone," Commodore Sahalin said.
"Uh huh. What does a 30° cone look like?" Vultee asked, scratching his chin.
The slightest squint in Sahalin's expression informed me of his annoyance. He turned back to his computer and entered a few more commands. A 3D diagram where a thin cone projected out of a Zaku's chest appeared.
"None of us have time for a science lesson right now, but the minigun's firing cone looks something like that. You need to stand at a range of at least 33 meters to fit a target the size of a Zaku into the minigun's firing cone. I don't see the utility myself, but I was asked, so I delivered," Sahalin said.
If a mobile suit got any closer to me, I wouldn't have to aim. The thought of having a Vulcan Gun built into my mobile suit before the creation of the MS-06F put a smile on my face. If I ever ended up fighting in the Earth invasion, the Vulcan Gun would give me the anti-personnel capabilities that the Zaku's other weapons just didn't cover. It was only a matter of time before the Federation created personal weapons that could kill Zakus. A rocket launcher carried by someone on foot could kill me just as well as an enemy mobile suit.
"Thank you, Commodore Sahalin. We will use these weapons to bring glory to the Principality," I said, bowing my head slightly.
"You're welcome, LCDR Dogwood," Sahalin said with a calculated smile.
Wei led us out into the hangar, and we walked up several flights of metal stairs to reach the cockpits of our Zakus. It was much harder to get into a mobile suit when you had to do it under the effects of gravity.
Inside of my new MS-06C Zaku II Custom, I noticed that my HUD had become significantly more complicated. There were dropdown boxes, selectable tabs, and sliders everywhere I looked. For the first time, I recognized just how automated piloting a mobile suit really was. All I had to do was push forward on a lever, and my Zaku started walking. With this custom Zaku, I could turn that off completely and control the hydraulics of both legs manually.
That feature would have to stay on for now, but I could see that some combat utility could be taken from that function. I could try to kick my opponents if the opportunity presented itself.
Following instructions on our HUDs, we left Solomon Base through an airlock and circled around the asteroid until we reached the Gidoru in the dock. As always, it was much easier to board the Gidoru than it was to board the Nordhausen. Most of the time, our mobile suits were kept in launch bays that were always kept at vacuum pressure, so we didn't have to vent the atmosphere every time we boarded or disembarked.
As the mechanical arms clamped around my Zaku, I received a call. After I accepted the call, a young woman in a Zeon uniform appeared on a screen in my HUD.
"According to the scans, there are no problems with your Zaku. You're free to return to the observation deck at your leisure," the young woman said.
That was the line that my mechanic said every time I returned to the dock, but my mechanic was a different person.
"Excuse me, who are you?" I asked.
"Oh, yes. I forgot. I am Technical Ensign Aiko Yoshida. My team and I have been assigned to maintain your squad's mobile suits."
A new mechanic. That would be my third one in nine days. The image of Yoshida's corpse floating in space filled my mind for a moment before it disappeared. The thought that this young woman would be at the Battle of Loum in such an easy to destroy target put a pit in my stomach.
"Welcome to the team," I said with a smile.