Gundam, the Gundam journey of a certain glue guy and his mecha girl.

"I can't just take that to heart. Those three are the elite I handpicked from among the test pilots. If you underestimate them, you'll suffer the consequences."

Erica interrupted Kira and Raven's conversation. As the technical director of Dawn Corporation, she couldn't possibly be absent from the practical testing of the M1 alternative operating system.

Raven, upon hearing about the upcoming combat testing of the mecha, couldn't resist the allure of piloting the new machine and approached Erica, expressing his willingness to serve as the test pilot.

Erica had no reason to refuse Raven's request. Raven was a top-tier MS pilot who had fought his way from Heliopolis to Orb, possessing a wealth of combat experience. The quality of data he could collect while piloting the machine was far superior to that of ordinary pilots.

"That's right, that's right, we've done a lot of training to be able to handle the M1 Heretic!"

"I'm going to give you a real surprise!"

"Um, this is just a simulation battle, there's no need to take it so seriously, Mayura."

Raven ignored the noise from the trio on the call, leaned back in his chair, and took a deep breath.

Despite saying that, it was still a bit nerve-wracking for Raven, as it was his first time piloting a mobile suit on his own.

But this tension dissipated as the static from the communication channel filled the air.

This is the signal to begin the simulated battle. In order to simulate the complex electromagnetic environment on the battlefield as realistically as possible, all radio communication channels except for one dedicated channel directly connected to the control room are disabled.

However, this has no impact on Raven in single-player mode.

Under Raven's control, the M1 Heretic ran at high speed. Raven could clearly feel that, in terms of mobility and limb dexterity alone, the M1 Heretic performed even better than the short sword, which almost perfectly inherited the assault performance.

However, the trade-off is that the M1 variant performs significantly worse defensively than the Dagger, and even the Dagger L.

The foam armor is too lightweight, and its defensive performance is not as good as layered armor, let alone the traditional composite armor on the short sword L.

Moreover, seemingly because it inherited the design of the heretical prototype, the internal skeleton is exposed in some parts of the machine.

Raven couldn't quite understand why the Orb army, whose primary mission was defense, would choose to equip itself with a mobile suit that emphasized mobility but sacrificed defensive capabilities.

However, these problems were left for the bigwigs of Orb to worry about, while Raven was now completely immersed in the pure joy of piloting the new machine.

The simulation battleground is not a plain, but a field with several different terrain modules such as woodlands, urban areas, mountains, and beaches.

Raven hid his machine behind the mountain and peeked out to observe the opponent's position.

"I can't see it. Given the size of a mobile suit, it shouldn't be able to hide in the woods, and there's no cover on the beach. Did it hide the mobile suit behind a building, waiting for me to come to it?"

Raven understood his predicament: stepping out of the mountain would allow him to be targeted by long-range fire from his opponents hidden behind the ruins. If this were an infantry duel, the likely scenario would be both sides taking cover and engaging in a fierce battle until one side revealed a weakness and was defeated.

Raven, who was alone, was bound to be the one who fell before his opponent.

However, the combat logic of mobile suits is definitely not the same as that of infantry. Even mobile suits that emphasize defensive capabilities will not be static in combat, let alone the M1 Astray, which is a mobile suit with excellent mobility.

After scouting the terrain, Raven stepped on the pedal and actively controlled the machine to walk out of the mountain. The high-powered jetpack on the back of the M1 Astray immediately activated, and the machine rushed out of the cover like lightning.

Just as Raven had predicted, upon seeing Raven's machine emerge from cover, the trio's machines immediately peeked out from behind the buildings in the neighborhood, pointing their rifles, loaded with paintballs, at Raven's machine.

Chapter 59 Simulation Battle (Part 2)

Although the M1 Astray doesn't have the ability to change backpacks depending on the battle situation like the Strike Gundam, the designers equipped it with a simplified version of the empty backpack, giving the M1 Astray excellent mobility.

Meanwhile, Raven fully utilized the mobility of the M1 heretic.

His M1 Heretic became a streak of lightning across the ground, gliding at high speed not by the MS's legs, but by the lift generated by the thrusters in his backpack and calves.

"So this is what a heretic's body is like?"

"Damn it, why can't I hit it!"

"I knew a driver with real-world experience couldn't be taken down so easily."

Paintballs kept whizzing past Raven's machine, while Raven calmly controlled the output of each nozzle on the machine in the cockpit, making the M1 Heretic perform continuous, irregular maneuvers.

“El…”

Raven instinctively called out to El, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he remembered that El wasn't with him this time.

"I've really spoiled her."

He muttered something under his breath, then, while maintaining his mobility, distracted himself by pulling the trigger of the paint gun.

The hasty firing while moving at high speed could not accurately hit the opponent hiding behind cover, but when they saw the building where they were hiding constantly exploding with Raven's paint bombs, the three of them almost simultaneously retreated back into cover.

[The first to react.]

"No! Now is not the time to hide. We must keep firing and keep him pinned down in open areas!"

However, by the time her machine popped back out, Raven's machine was no longer there. Taking advantage of the few seconds that the three retreated back into cover, Raven successfully entered the neighborhood.

"As expected, I'm still a newbie; I haven't adapted to combat between mobile suits yet."

During the maneuver just now, Raven had already memorized the general location of the enemy based on the direction the trio fired.

In order to ensure that their respective shooting ranges were not interfered with, the opponents did not choose to huddle together, which gave Raven the opportunity to pick them off one by one.

Raven waited a moment for the backpack to cool down before he began his operation.

The M1 heretic started running through the streets, and the sound it made was immediately noticed by the other side.

"Mayura, he's heading your way! Hold on, we're coming!"

[She quickly issued the order, and just as she was turning her aircraft, she saw Raven suddenly jump into the air, firing his paint gun in her direction.]

[The aircraft immediately stopped, quickly raised its left arm shield to protect the fuselage, and took half a step back to hide the aircraft behind the building again.]

Mayura, who was closest to Raven, naturally noticed Raven leaping high into the air. But just as she raised her paint gun to aim and fire, Raven's mech fell from the sky and disappeared into the standing building.

Where did he go?

Such a question flashed through her mind, and Mayura, realizing that Raven was approaching her, quickly sheathed her spear and switched to her sword.

The next moment, Raven's machine, which was moving at high speed through the narrow building complex using its thrusters, appeared in front of her and hurled its shield at her.

Mayura quickly maneuvered her machine to clear the shield blocking her view, but this left her machine wide open. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Raven struck Mayura's machine in the trunk with his paint gun.

"Mayura machine, shoot down!"

The channel connected to the control room announced the result, but just as Raven shot down Mayura, the Standard and Julie mechs also flanked Raven's mech from behind.

Without turning around, Raven immediately swung out the beam saber he had just drawn. Although the beam saber's power was reduced and it couldn't cut through the MS's armor, it still startled the two of them, making them forget to fire.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Raven stepped on the pedal, and with the thrust of the booster, he cut sideways into the building next to him, disappearing from the line of fire of both Raven and Julie.

"This can't go on."

Sensing something was wrong, Jun and Julie simultaneously placed their shields in front of their aircraft, back to back, protecting each other's weak sides, and retreated towards the edge of the city.

This was a textbook-perfect defensive formation, but it couldn't stop Raven's attack.

Raven activated the thrusters, and the M1 Astray sped through the narrow alley between the two buildings, its silhouette appearing and disappearing in the gaps between the buildings. Firepower rained down on the two men's formation from all directions, shattering their defensive formation.

The overly tight defensive formation now hindered each other's movements. Raven seized the opportunity, pulled the trigger, and a paint bullet hit Julie, who was showing her side.

Zhun immediately wanted to turn around and fight back, but Julie's machine became her obstacle.

She decisively used her shield to push the immobilized Julie machine aside, threw down the paint gun, drew the beam saber from her back, and launched a full-speed charge towards Raven's machine.

The opponent has lost their shield, so melee is in my favor!

Thinking this, Jun swung her beam saber down with her shield up, but Raven nimbly sidestepped, narrowly dodging her attack. However, Jun noticed that Raven's thrusters were overheating and she wouldn't be able to perform such incredible maneuvers for a short time. All she needed to do was swing her beam saber horizontally to win.

However, the next moment, her body tilted backward uncontrollably, and her entire torso leaned backward due to inertia, preventing her from unleashing that horizontal slash.

Immediately afterwards, Raven's beam saber swept across her cockpit.

"Huh? What's going on?"

[He was completely unaware of what had happened.]

"Idiot, didn't you notice that the machine's calf joint was kicked?"

Mayura's voice gave her a hint.

"I didn't know you could fight like this? Seriously, the difference in experience is so huge, I can't possibly win!"

"Sigh, I knew it would be like this."

The simulation battle ended amidst the trio's bickering.

-----------------

"How did it go? Did you collect any qualified data?"

"Yes, thanks to you, teacher, we can add a lot of new motion modules to the M1's alternative OS."

A gentle breeze swept across the experimental base on Yugoro Island. In the sunset, Raven, having finished his work, took Kira for a stroll around the base.

"Speaking of which, Kira, did you see your parents yesterday?"

Raven turned his gaze away from the sunset and changed the subject.

"Yes, I saw them. Although they didn't really want me to stay on the Archangel, they ultimately respected my decision."

Recalling yesterday's scene, a smile appeared on Kira's face.

Although the crew of the Archangel could not freely enter and leave Unogiraku Island for security reasons, Uzmi made a special arrangement for the families of several young people to meet with their children.

"Oh, right, teacher, I also saw Sai and Frey yesterday."

"Frei's here too? She didn't go back to the Atlantic Federation?"

Raven raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Well, it seems that Frey's father felt that neutral Orb was safer, so he entrusted Frey to Sai's care and planned to bring her back home after the war ended."

Kira spoke these words with a very calm expression, showing no signs that he had previously harbored a crush on Frey.

As Kira was speaking, the mechanical bird perched on his shoulder suddenly let out a short cry, flapped its wings, and flew straight over Kira's head toward the edge of the base.

"Toli, where are you going?"

Kira was taken aback for a moment, then quickly started walking and chased after Torrey in the direction he had flown.

Raven stood there, watching Kira's retreating figure running in the sunset, a strong sense of déjà vu flashing before his eyes.

"Could it be..."

Remembering a famous scene, Raven started walking and chased after him.

At the edge of the base, two boys were quietly gazing at each other through the barbed wire fence.

The blue-haired boy carefully held the mechanical bird and handed it over through the gaps in the wire mesh.

"Is this yours?"

"Ah."

Kira looked into the other person's eyes through the barbed wire.

"It was given to me by a very, very important friend."

Chapter 60 Raven's Report

A full month has passed since the Archangel arrived at the secret port of Orbunoro Island.

The S-Gundam Project, the M1's unorthodox OS, the Archangel's maintenance and repair...

As all the work comes to a close, the day for the Archangel to depart is drawing near.

However, Raven still needs to complete one last task before leaving Orb.

In his private cabin on the Archangel, Raven pressed the connection button for the encrypted communication.

The terminal screen lit up, and after a period of static, Halbarton's face appeared.

He looked much better than the last time I saw him; his military uniform was crisp, his shoulders were straight, and the dark circles under his eyes had faded.

Raven's gaze swept over Halbarton's collar, noticing that the insignia there had changed from brigadier general to major general.

"Long time no see, Your Excellency. I can tell you've been in a good mood lately."

On the other side of the screen, Halbarton smiled, leaning back in his office chair, his tone relaxed—a tone he only showed when talking to his own people.

"Of course, Dr. Lei, thanks to the short sword L you designed, I've won quite a few battles recently. I was able to get the rank of Major General, all thanks to you."

Raven then learned that the short sword L had been mass-produced and put into actual combat.

It had only been two months since he personally handed the design to Halbarton during their rendezvous in low Earth orbit. The Dagger L had already begun small-scale production and was gradually being deployed to various fleets of the United Space Force stationed on the Moon.

Raven was starting to admire Halbarton's efficiency. If the Allied forces had been as efficient as Halbarton at the beginning of the war, they wouldn't be suffering such a crushing defeat now.

"However, although the Short Sword L was officially adopted by the Space Force with my full support, the headquarters in Alaska preferred another mass production plan."

Halbarton said this with a furrowed brow, his face ashen as if he had swallowed a fly.