Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 294 Sigh, men!

"Gundam! It's so cool!"

That night, the students' tents, which should have been filled with loud snoring by now, were unusually quiet. Even though they knew they had heavy learning tasks the next day, no one wanted to sleep. After the footsteps of the instructors checking the bunks faded away, the students' late-night talks began.

"I heard that those two new mechs still haven't had their pilots assigned!"

"Isn't this for the instructors?"

"No, no, no, I heard from my uncle who works in Anaheim that the brigadier general seems to be dissatisfied with the Gundams there! So, they won't be flying them!"

"Keep bragging. I think the brigadier general was quite happy during the day! And didn't you say last time that your uncle was at the Gabro headquarters?"

"That's another uncle!"

"Then why can't your uncle, Gabro, find a way to let you pilot a Gundam?"

"I'll have to let my third uncle at North American Command think of a way!"

"You can pull it down!"

However, obviously no one cares how many uncles this trainee has; everyone just wants to know who will be piloting that machine.

Hiroshi Uraki naturally aspires to become a Gundam pilot, since owning a Gundam mobile suit is the highest honor pursued by Federation Forces pilots.

"However, it's unlikely that the instructors will be able to operate them. As you've all seen, the combat skills center has several old Gundams. They usually take turns operating them and they still can't keep up with the demand. I guess Jabro will send someone over!"

"Can't you guys have some dreams? Maybe it'll be our turn soon!"

"With our skill level, do you think we're qualified to drive?"

"So what? What does being killed within five minutes of the start of the battle have to do with whether or not I can pilot a Gundam? Maybe if I pilot a Gundam, I can live a few more minutes!"

"You, why can't you even dream of something a little more extravagant? You're piloting a Gundam, and you've only been alive for a few minutes. Can't you even think about taking down the instructor yourself?"

The problem is, we don't have the capability!

"Maybe it will happen if you pilot a Gundam?"

While the group was chatting, a corner of the tent was suddenly lifted, and a dark figure darted in.

"Holy crap! What is that?"

Uraki Hiroshi was startled and immediately got up to reach for his gun, only to find that his sidearm had already been put into the armory. So he grabbed a small stool to prepare to take action, but then he heard a familiar voice coming from the dark figure.

"Hong, good news!"

"Gis? What are you doing here? If the instructor catches you, you'll have to do extra training tonight!"

The dark figure was none other than Geese, who was also wearing a brown blanket to disguise himself.

"It's nothing, I'll be right there. I just came to deliver a message to you. I was in the bathroom when I overheard that old geezer, Baning, talking to the other instructors about how the pilots for the new Gundam will be selected from the trainees with the highest scores!"

As soon as Giss finished speaking, all the other pilots in the tent sat up.

"real or fake?"

"You're really well-informed, Geese. You're even better at being an insider than some of those people!"

"I'm not sure either, but since that old guy Baninger said so, I think it's probably true!"

"Hiroshi Nauragi has a great chance!"

Trainees also have a points system for training. They start with 100 points, and points are deducted based on their daily performance. The points are settled every Monday, and those with high scores can choose extra meals or better dormitories as rewards.

Hiroshi Uraki is pretty much in the top tier. The average score of pilots in this tier is over 30. If the intelligence is true, then he is a strong contender!

Geese genuinely wanted his good friend to pilot a Gundam, which is why he risked infiltrating. However, he couldn't keep his mouth shut, and the entire cadet team learned of the news shortly after leaving Uraki Hiroshi's tent.

So when Baninge blew his whistle as usual the next morning, he found that as soon as the whistle sounded, the trainees dressed and rushed out of the tent.

"???"

The captain, who still had the whistle in his mouth, blew it out of breath, and the sharp whistle suddenly turned into a whistling sound.

"Didn't the sun rise in the west today?"

Although curious, the captain was satisfied, so he didn't take out the data panel to deduct points from the slowest guys.

The training and lessons that followed for the entire day also exceeded the expectations of the captain and instructors, as the trainees did their best in all the tasks. Although some people still lost points for mistakes, the total points were only a fraction of what they had lost before, and the trainees in the first group did not lose a single point.

"Something's not right, this is really not right!"

Baninger shook his head repeatedly while eating.

"That's normal, they probably already know!"

Marcarius, sitting on the other side, wasn't surprised. No matter where they were, the cadets were very good at gathering intelligence. Back in military school, he would wait for the intelligence officers in his unit to gather information during exam weeks!

"Should we let them observe tomorrow's test?"

"I can't help but ask," Xia Ya asked casually from the side.

"Okay, that's a good idea. We can announce the selection results at the same time!"

In the end, Makarius did not pre-select the personnel, as that would be unfair to others. If Uraki Hiroshi had the ability, he could pass the selection. If he could not pass, then he would be destined to be separated from Gundam and could only go to command riot control GM!
"Also, Brigadier General, shouldn't it be my turn for tomorrow's live-fire exercise?"

Amuro tapped his plate and asked rather rudely.

Do you still want to drive tomorrow?

Macarius ignored Amuro and instead asked Nagase Hotaru, who was the test pilot for GP01 on its first day.

"Let Amuro drive it, I'll drive the GP02 tomorrow?"

"no problem!"

"what about me?"

Char immediately felt heartbroken again. So all the good things have been taken by you guys? On the first day, these two, one GP01 and the other GP02, treated us like we were invisible!
"You'll be behind Sera and Lala in line!"

"I... the problem is, Sera isn't here either!" "It's okay, I'll have them come tomorrow!"

Marcarius waved his hand impatiently. GP02 was supposed to be for Char, so why is this guy so impatient?
Seeing Char's red face, Amuro and the others suppressed their laughter. After all, Makarius's double standards only applied to Char; he treated Char's subordinates very well.

"Just kidding, Captain, come tomorrow!"

"It's okay, you can try it first. Ladies first, I can wait!"

"You drive it, I need to operate the flight armor tomorrow!"

"Oh, right, someone needs to come for mid-section laser guidance!"

Char suddenly realized that this person even had the title of the Federation Army's number one queen. Although the number of thirty-odd destroyed mobile suits was not enough among them, during the One Year War, in addition to going to the battlefield, she was also responsible for helping Macarius handle military affairs.

And then there are Markarius's old subordinates, even that driver is an ace. Thinking of this, Xia couldn't help but glance at his own men. These guys were only concerned with eating and didn't even speak up for him. Sigh... (Commander-in-Chief sighs)

As expected, Geese brought the latest news that evening. When it was confirmed that the pilots for GP01 would be selected from the trainees, the unlucky insider was severely punished by his roommates with a belt.

But Giss brought more than just this good news.

"I also heard that the engineering team from Anaheim will be coming tomorrow, and the person in charge is the super beautiful woman we saw the other day!"

"asshole!"

"You should put this kind of message first!"

"Sorry sorry!"

Geese scratched his head. He didn't feel anything for the blonde beauty, but he was somewhat attracted to the super strong female maintenance worker standing next to her. So now he had another reason to hope that Uraki Hiroshi would pilot the Gundam!
"Beautiful women? They're none of my business!"

Uraki Hiroshi didn't care about beautiful women; all he wanted was to pilot a Gundam. So, he didn't want to talk to the loud and boisterous Geese at all. Instead, he turned around and prepared to go to sleep, since everyone was going to be the first to get up the next morning!

But when the next day arrived and they were led to the firing range in formation, Uraki Hiroshi's gaze still involuntarily drifted toward the other side.

At first glance, at second glance, hmm, Gundam is standing there, it's okay if I look at it a few more times!
Not only Hiroshi Uraki, but most of the trainees' eyes were constantly shifting between Nina and Gundam, so much so that when Amuro stepped into the shooting range with the jade curtain open and used his superb shooting skills to blow up seven high-speed moving targets in the air in one go, the applause was even a few seconds late.

Amuro was completely unaware of the problem. He thought the trainees were a beat slower because of his shooting skills. Little did he know that as he strode across the scene in his mecha, Nina's skirt fluttered slightly due to the vibration and airflow, which made the trainees even more excited.

"These guys!"

Nina also noticed the group of students winking at her, which made her even angrier, but there was one guy in the crowd who looked rather dull and honest. She even noticed that he blushed when she looked at him!

Of course, while everyone was admiring the beautiful women, the performance demonstration of the Gundam was also not to be missed. When the GP01 was sent off for maintenance after testing, Captain Cuvatoro took to the field in his GP02.

"Yes, I like it!"

Upon seeing the six perfectly symmetrical launch tubes mounted on the back of the aircraft, the pilots who had just been admiring the beautiful women instantly changed their attitude.

"That's it, firepower, it has to be fucking firepower!"

"Indeed, my squadron should equip each platoon with one of these machines!"

"No, no, no, one isn't enough. Our brigade did a test before, where we concentrated a whole squadron of GM Cannons for long-range fire support. That was really awesome! We should equip each squadron with a separate squadron of these machines!"

"I agree. Don't forget our previous combat exercises with the instructors. Only by concentrating our superior firepower can we possibly inflict damage on them!"

"But a pilot like a brigadier general could easily intercept our attack with his head gun!"

"That's because it's not saturated enough. The live ammunition for the first shot is limited. If we concentrate our firepower more densely, even if we can't take him down, we can at least drive him away. As long as we can disrupt the enemy, that's our victory!"

"So, relying solely on MLRS firepower seems a bit excessive?"

"We can use a combination of laser-guided heavy anti-armor warheads and cluster munitions!"

Nina hadn't expected that these people would suddenly change their attitude and start discussing mobile suits. Especially those who had been so dull and dazed before, now they were like gorillas in a zoo, pointing at the sour berries while gesturing wildly and talking non-stop like a machine gun!

The guys surrounding him were doing the same thing, gesturing wildly; anyone who didn't know better would think they were arguing.

After the live-fire exercise ended, even though I was just standing to the side, these guys swarmed to the two mobile suits, pushing and shoving each other just to get a peek at the cockpit.

At that moment, she saw the dull-looking black-haired boy being pushed to her side.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

It was only then that Hiroshi Uraki realized that they seemed to have overlooked the second main purpose of their visit today.

"It's okay, are you also a trainee participating in the training camp?"

"Yes, we are all trainees!"

As he spoke, Hiroshi Uraki pulled up the open left lapel of his military uniform to show the other person his Mobile Suit insignia.

"This machine is amazing! Did you design it?"

Although no one had taught him how to strike up a conversation with a girl at this moment, Hiroshi Uraki still had a flash of inspiration. Since she was a technician, why not talk about mobile suits?

"No, it's our whole team. I haven't reached that level yet!"

"That's already great. I actually thought about designing a mobile suit or something at first, but unfortunately, I don't have the talent, so I can only be a mobile suit pilot!"

"So why did you become a mobile suit pilot?"

"Why? Probably because I was saved by a ZMIG!"

"During the One Year War, I was studying in North America when we were attacked by the Zeon army. I thought I was going to die in the attack, but I never expected... That was the first time I saw GM up close. On that day, it saved an unimaginable number of lives!"

"That's why I wanted to become a mobile suit pilot! I want to save more lives!"

"Saving lives?"

Nina was also touched by the other person's words, which triggered her past memories. While she was in a daze, her comrade next to her started calling for Uraki Hiroshi, so he saluted Nina.

"Thank you for designing the mecha, it looks fantastic! I'll take my leave now!"

Then, Hiroshi Uraki turned around and rushed into the crowd.

"This guy is really quite inexplicable!"

Nina, realizing what was happening, shook her head as she watched Uraki Hiroshi being jostled around in the crowd. But in that instant, her mood improved considerably; after all, that guy's goofy appearance was rather cute!
(End of this chapter)