Gundam: From Piece to Player

With an almost teasing tone, Karma took a sip of soda. The cold sparkling water helped him suppress his inner impulse and calm down a little.

Chapter 5 Two Hundred Thousand

Kalmar is often wary of those who get close to her.

After getting to know Sally, he actually used his father Dekin's connections to secretly check Sally's medical records and physical examination records to confirm their authenticity.

Killian did not merely use extreme nationalism as a tool; he largely endorsed the theories of social Darwinism and the theory of the superior race.

The possibility that Sally was a spy is almost zero, because she had little chance of gaining the trust of the Gihlen faction.

However, there is one thing that Kalmar did find.

Or perhaps it wasn't hidden at all.

While bullying exists within the Zeon army, it is more often a form of non-violent violence such as passive aggression and exclusion.

Making unwanted physical contact will result in imprisonment and punishment.

Only after interrogating the older students did they learn that Sally had actually provoked them before...

When confronted with Sally afterward, she readily apologized.

"I'm sorry, senior, I wanted to be friends with you, but your bodyguards are just too dedicated, so I had to resort to this."

Although Karma was a little angry because of the deception, upon reflection he hadn't lost anything.

Good-looking people are always more easily forgiven.

Summer vacation is almost over, and Kalma has finished her intensive one-on-one mechanical lessons in the evenings. There's still a week left before school starts.

Kalmar and Oliver began to put their experiment into practice.

Both men had credentials that allowed them to enter the training base and began 'purchasing' materials.

"Excuse me, do you still need this MS that was used for the crash test?"

"Oh, it's you, sir. This is no longer needed. Please take it."

"Excuse me, do you still need the monitor on this MS?"

"You can't take it, it's still useful... It's Lord Karma, you can take it and use it."

“Alright, if you need any more parts, just ask General Dozru. Just say I need them for experiments,” Karma casually promised.

At the Peizeng base, Kalmar conducted intensive begging and obtained the parts needed for the MS experiment.

The parts then arrived, and Oliver picked them up using the engineering robot he was driving.

Having spent some time at university, this was the first time Oliver had witnessed a free service where facial recognition replaced credit cards, which greatly shocked him.

"Show me the list. What other parts do we need?"

"Sir, wouldn't this be inappropriate?"

"How about you pay for the parts?"

Oliver obediently handed the list to Kalmar after hearing this.

For some parts that were simply unavailable, we had to borrow 3D prototypes from parts manufacturers to produce samples, which also depended on Kalmar's connections.

"Oliver, do you think the secondhand scrap dealer industry is actually very profitable?"

"That's for sure. Even large companies have dedicated recycling departments, and some military equipment that has been scattered overseas even needs to be specially cleaned to prevent technology leaks."

The mercenary organizations and corporations mentioned in the Gundam Gaiden series almost all started out based on this...

Although the cockpit itself is being modified, the mobile suits that serve as the output end are also necessary, in order to test whether the modified cockpit can better control the machine.

Kalmar's design concept is actually not complicated.

He plans to install two operating systems in the cockpit for combat modes.

It is divided into three-dimensional long-distance and two-dimensional (three-dimensional short-distance) modes.

In three-dimensional long-range (combat distance 200M-10KM) combat, there is nothing special. The MS is operated in the same way as a fighter jet, with the same grip on the joystick and the same acceleration, deceleration and throttle. The pilot should focus on the MS's position in space, the weapon system, and the MS's acceleration and deceleration.

Everything in this mode is designed to ensure that the monitor and weapon crosshair quickly point to the locked target.

At such long distances, one is often in a highly mobile state, so performing micro-management of the body is not very meaningful.

Kalmar wanted to leave the correction of the body's attitude entirely to AMBAC and the attitude control computer.

The theory behind this is that in high-speed mobile warfare between mobile suits, the key to victory lies in the relative position during movement, the selection of weapons, and seizing the right moment to fire.

Two-dimensional (three-dimensional close range) is to solve close-range combat and gravity combat within 200 meters.

Kalmar plans to suspend ball-shaped control levers on both sides of the driver's seat.

The left joystick mainly controls the machine's attitude and the small thrust of the nozzles in various postures during melee mode. The thrust button on the right control panel is for rapid acceleration and jumping while moving. The right side is for manual quick lock-on switching, changing weapon selection, and launching attacks.

Once the opponent is detected to be within 50 meters of him in close combat, he can instantly execute several pre-set fighting sequences using the combination buttons on the right joystick, along with an immediate "cancel" button, to change moves at any time and increase the difficulty for the enemy to respond.

He had observed the drivers' techniques during his previous training with the Bugu.

Take the chopping motion of MS pulling out the thermal axe, for example; it doesn't necessarily have to be fancy.

When to cut? And where to cut? These are more important questions.

Similarly, the same applies to fighter jet aerobatic maneuvers... Being able to fly only means you have good skills, but doing this during wartime only shows that the pilot is crazy.

Ultimately, the key to victory lies in understanding the combat environment, maximizing one's own advantages, and then executing tactical maneuvers to achieve one's objectives.

The automation settings of the attitude computer are very important, as it is able to quickly understand the driver's intentions and make auxiliary decisions.

With Oliver as the lead and Kalmar as the assistant, the two quickly implemented the work from the theoretical stage, cutting and welding metal, as if they were building a mechanical sculpture.

A month later, after the last wire was connected and independent flight tests in space were conducted, Kalmar began preparations for combat tests.

Karma drove the new assisted cockpit of the machine to a nearby weapons testing site for a spin, and also let Oliver, who was sitting in the assisted seat, try it out. Oliver immediately praised it.

"Sir, your modifications are correct; the driving difficulty has been reduced significantly, making it much easier."

"That's good."

Karma thought to herself, "Gundam vs. Gundam is a good game."

"But are you sure you want to use Captain Ral as your hypothetical enemy? Although the new cockpit is a huge advantage, Captain Ral is an ace among aces."

“We need to gain prestige now,” Kalmar said. “Only a shocking result like defeating the best of the best… Ramba Lal, will be effective.”

In Kalmar's plan, the last day of summer vacation was precisely the day Dozru was to come over and assign tasks for the following year.

This is indeed the best platform for showcasing products.

To maintain momentum, Karma found Matthew from the Black Trio. The guy was leisurely drinking beer in the lounge. His years of neglecting his diet had given him a huge appetite despite being a driver.

"Lieutenant, I'm preparing to challenge Captain Ral again. Are you planning to open a betting pool?"

"No, no." Matthew pursed his lips, showing little interest. "You've already lost fourteen times. Only a fool would bet on you to win."

What if I bet on myself to win?

"Oh." Mashu's interest was piqued. "How many do you plan to buy?"

Karma held up two fingers.

"Two thousand dollars?" Matthew guessed.

Two hundred thousand.

Mashu stood up abruptly, the beer in the can spilling onto her pants due to the force of her grip.

"Really, sir? Two hundred thousand?"

"Sigh, I wonder if you'd be interested in being the bookmaker."

"Have!"

Karma thought to herself that money was indeed fascinating, capable of causing such a huge emotional shift in a person. Mashu paced quickly around the Pezen base after receiving Karma's bet.

After hearing that Kalmar had bet 200,000 on him to win.

People flocked to place bets.

Many people bet on Lal to win, but a small number of gamblers believe that Captain Lal may have made a deal with Kalma to fix the match and make money, so some people have also placed heavy bets on Kalma, and some even hedge their risks by betting on both sides.

The once peaceful Pei Zeng base was now in complete uproar.

Chapter 6 Defense and Counterattack

As news of the bet and duel spread throughout the base, people became restless. Even those who never gambled developed a strong interest in the outcome of the battle after learning the details.

Whether it's Ralph or Karma who wins the duel, it's a topic that will generate a lot of buzz.

Even Dozru Zabi, who had just disembarked from the spaceship, keenly sensed that something was amiss at the base.

Why are the soldiers so excited?

“General, it’s like this.” Colonel Tovanin, the base commander, was naturally aware of the situation. He briefly explained what had happened to Dozru and asked, “Should we call a halt to this?”

"Forget it." Dozru raised his hand to stop him. "Since things have developed to this point, forcibly suppressing the resentment will only make us suffer."

"Colonel, His Excellency Kalmar wishes to conduct television broadcasts from within the base during the battle."

Matsunaga Makoto suddenly spoke up, catching Tovanin off guard.

"I disagree. Is this turning the base into a casino?"

Matsunaga Makoto clearly didn't give Tovanin any face and continued speaking.

"Lord Kalmar said he wanted to test a new piece of equipment in battle to see if he, who had suffered thirteen consecutive defeats, could use it to defeat Captain Ral."

"New equipment?" Dozru asked.

"He said he had developed a new device that could be installed on a mobile suit and would greatly enhance the pilot's combat capabilities."

Dozru looked at the base commander and said, "Tovanin, what do you think? Since Karma has made such a boast, if he can't win, then we should court-martial him?"

“Military law is a bit too harsh… Your Excellency is, after all, a young man, and it’s normal for him to be hot-blooded.”

Tovanin glared at Matsunaga Makoto with hostility. He really didn't dare to use military law to punish the young master. Even if Karma Zabi was absurd, he was still representing the Zabi family. If he insisted on continuing, his career would come to an end.

Meanwhile, Mashu was soliciting bets all over the base, and she even managed to get bets on the person in question.