Gundam: From Piece to Player

True A, true ACE, this standard basically describes the ace pilots who can paint their mobile suits in all sorts of colors. They are all top-notch mobile suit pilots with powerful skills and unique piloting characteristics.

Representative characters: Black Twin Stars, Crimson Lightning, and White Wolf.

S-class. Due to a lack of data, it is not explicitly stated who in the Zeon army could reach this level. However, it is rumored that Garma Zabi believed that his friend Char Aznable—the Red Comet—could meet this standard.

The person Lady Kycilia can't forget...

When Harman was organizing her materials, she discovered a large folder named KSB containing six smaller folders labeled 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, each containing nearly 300 photos.

That's a bit of a tangent, even though she's currently an A-.

But once she comes of age, Harman believes she has the potential to be in the highest tier of the ratings.

In the nearby airspace, the Zeon forces' assessment of the approaching enemy was not wrong; it was indeed not the main fleet.

However, it was also a small team carrying out a secret mission, with two Swordfish escorting one of the mobile suits.

Unlike the Zaku's single eye, this humanoid machine has two eyes, multiple propulsion nozzles all over its body, and two large fuel tanks on its back provide a long range that meets the needs of long-distance test missions.

"Lieutenant, what are the performance specifications of the Gundam?"

"Unparalleled".

"That description sounds rather abstract. How does it compare to Zani?"

"It's like the difference between a bicycle and a motorcycle."

"...Lieutenant... Lieutenant."

My teammate's voice suddenly became hoarse and drawn out into noise, clearly not because of a cold or anything like that.

The Gundam pilot looked into his teammate's Swordfish fighter cockpit and saw the pilot inside make a hand gesture.

A communication cable was fired at it.

As contact occurred, the simulated tone became clear again.

"Lieutenant, the concentration of Minovsky particles in the vicinity is rising rapidly; there may be Zeon forces present."

"Okay, Sergeant Major, you go to the ruins over there and wait for orders."

"Yes."

In a normal battle, friendly forces would provide support, but the Gundam pilot wanted to test more combat data.

This Gundam is piloted by Shiro Amada.

He was surveying the airspace filled with ruins with his eyes. Gundam also cautiously raised his shield, switched the experimental 100mm machine gun in his hand to solid bullet mode, and slung a 380mm prototype rocket launcher across his waist.

Of course, the most powerful one is the experimental beam saber.

This RX-79 Gundam was created using defective parts from the prototype.

Compared to Dr. Tim Ray's near-complete projects, this machine omits the core fighter system, beam sniper rifle, and Luna titanium alloy armor—all of which are not yet ready for combat.

The original purpose of coming here was simply to test the Gundam's propulsion and power systems.

Even if there is fighting, the existing weapons are sufficient to handle it.

This machine's base performance alone is enough to crush the Zaku.

Shirou Amada once achieved the feat of destroying two Zaku with an iron ball in battle. Based on this achievement, he was selected to join the Federation MS Training Battalion formed inside Luna II.

You asked where the Federation's MS came from?

It is RRf-06 Zani – a modified version of the MS-05 Zaku that Luna II occasionally captured during battle, with its head replaced by a Steel Cannon Monitor being developed by the Federation, mainly for testing, data collection and other experiments.

Since the main armament was the 120mm low recoil cannon for the Iron Ball, and this cannon was not originally developed for humanoid mobile suits, and Zani at the time did not even have a normal "hand", the barrel was fixed with three mechanical fingers, and the shooting accuracy was even worse than that of the Iron Ball.

Although Zani was a terrible machine, it still trained the Federation's first batch of MS pilots during those difficult years.

Major Jung, the chief instructor of the MS Training Battalion, is an outstanding individual. With his keen insight and mastery of sniping timing, he has shot down 35 Zakus to date, making him the Federation's undisputed champion of sniping and earning him the nickname "Guardian of Luna II".

Although his reputation within the Space Force was poor—most of which were rumors deliberately spread by officers with ill intentions—in reality, he was a very responsible instructor.

In the darkness, a blue light flickered from the ruins of the colony ahead, the distinctive color of a nuclear engine.

Shirou recognized it from its shape; it was the tail flame of a Zeon Zaku.

The tail flame was 8 kilometers away, and it moved from the 10 o'clock position to the 1 o'clock position, with the flight path forming an arc.

A typical decoy tactic.

If the other side has noticed an enemy attack, they must have a wingman hiding in the shadows.

If Shirou Amada were to open fire now, his position would be exposed.

The enemy might have another Zaku, or even a third one, which could potentially launch an attack against him.

Even with the iron ball, he could defeat the Zaku.

With this high-performance Gundam, Shirou was confident that he could overpower his opponent with his speed.

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated.

He set a flashbang to delayed detonation and threw it at the Zeon Zaku that was conducting a decoy operation.

With a slight burst of power, the Gundam slowly advanced toward another large ruin.

Dozens of seconds later, the flashbang detonated in deep space, igniting a small star nearby.

This is Shirou's invitation to fight.

Tell the enemy his location... If you have the guts, come closer.

If the other side accepts, they will take the initiative to approach, and then the two sides will engage in battle. However, if the other side does not take the initiative to approach, but continues to maintain the search and high-pressure posture, the two sides will remain in a stalemate. The stalemate time varies, with the longest reaching 24 hours.

7 km, 5 km, 3 km, 2 km.

The other party has entered the Gundam's detection range.

As his opponent entered striking range, Shirou took a deep breath.

Gundam flew out of the ruins, its left hand holding up a shield that trembled violently.

The 120mm rounds from the Zaku machine gun struck the shield, causing a series of explosions.

The enemy was very shrewd; they detected his location almost instantly, clearly having anticipated it.

But... he's not one to be trifled with either!

Just as the enemy's magazine was about to run out, Gundam raised his shield with his left hand and fired rapidly with the machine gun in his right hand, aiming at the direction of the approaching enemy.

The other party, unwilling to get hurt, chose to retreat.

The instant when offense and defense switch.

Shirou floored the accelerator, and the Gundam's backup propulsion backpack spewed out flames as it accelerated wildly. Shirou anticipated the enemy's movement and fired at full power, the ammunition numbers on the mechanical gauges rapidly decreasing.

The two sides closed the distance rapidly.

Wait until the magazine's readings reach zero.

Shirou discarded his rifle, drew his experimental beam saber, and slashed at the Zaku in front of him.

Step by step, in Shirou's mind, the enemy had already been killed by him like an infantryman with his back exposed being cut down from behind by a cavalryman.

"what?"

In the instant they passed each other, Shirou saw up close that Zaku's shoulder armor and feet had many bullet holes.

The most crucial strike was dodged by the opponent with a strange backward leaning maneuver.

The moment the ultimate move misses, the back of the machine is exposed to the opponent.

The roles of offense and defense have shifted again.

Shirou sensed the impending death.

It looked like that Zaku threw something at him.

Without a second thought, Shirou immediately activated the separation device between his backpack and the machine.

The next moment, the backpack full of fuel was detonated by the enemy... blocking a fatal blow for him. His Gundam didn't have Luna Titanium alloy.

Taking advantage of the aftershocks of the explosion, Shirou ducked towards another pile of rubble nearby.

As the debris from the explosion gradually dissipated, the other party had vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

The enemy is lying in wait.

Shirou dared not act rashly.

He chose to hide behind some rubble and wait, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat with his beam saber at any moment.

Twenty minutes later, the tail flame was seen to light up again.

However, it did not rush towards Shirou again, but instead moved further away, with another blue tail flame lighting up at the same time.

Shirou was now certain that the enemy's two-unit squad had already left...

Amada Shiro felt his heart pounding wildly, a joy born from escaping death.

He pulled up the recordings from all the monitors on the machine, trying to see what the other person had thrown at him in the instant they passed each other...

After a dozen seconds, he finally got the clearest frame.

Three stick grenades were temporarily strung together using some kind of connecting mechanism.

The timing and accuracy of the throw were perfect, even while under high-speed overload.

"Lieutenant, are you alright?"

"It's alright, but I'm afraid I'll be killed by the maintenance crew when I get back."

"The driving skills of Zeon's pilots are indeed not to be underestimated," Shirou said, still shaken.

"It's good that you're still alive. I saw the battle just now. The enemy's skills were quite formidable. Besides, didn't you collect the combat data? That's the most valuable thing."

Shirou thought to himself, even a random Zeon MS pilot without any paint jobs has such terrifying piloting skills.

General Narebil's assessment in his speech regarding the decline in the quality of Zeon MS pilots may be incorrect.

The counterattack launched in space in the future may not be as smooth as headquarters imagines.

Perhaps only by fully utilizing the numerical superiority of the Federation forces can victory be possible.