An advanced guide for experienced modelers, from building blocks to hand-building Gundams

"The Ross I know should be the one who always puts on a reassuring smile and keeps fighting no matter what difficulties he encounters." Christina looked straight at Ross.

Rhodes was silent for a moment, then reached out and grabbed Christina's hand, then suddenly exerted force and stood up from the ground.

"You're right..." Ross stood up and looked at the pure white machine in front of him. "I can't get discouraged here now. I have to keep moving forward."

"Otherwise...if I give up after such a setback, how can I change the world?" Ross looked up at the head-mounted monitor of the machine in front of him. "...How can I fulfill my promise to Ryan?"

"How can I, who's like that... be worthy of a Unicorn?"

----split line----

PS: Today’s update.

The Unicorn version of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, you didn’t expect that, did you?

Volume 93: Chapter Asuka: You have to pay more!

Plant homeland, ZAFT Military Academy.

Zhen, dressed in green, was flipping through a thick book of regulations in the dormitory.

"Zhen, today is a day off, don't you want to go shopping with us?" The other adjusters in the dormitory put on their regular clothes and looked at Zhen who was still in the uniform.

"No, I'm going to the library." After Zhen finished reading all the items he needed in the regulations, he closed the book.

At this time, my single-core brain started to work rapidly, calculating how much money I had and how to get the bonus above.

"Okay... don't be too tired, Zhen." The adjuster who lived in the same dormitory with Zhen naturally guessed Zhen's general situation after a brief contact with Zhen.

After saying goodbye to the group of adjusters, Zhen packed up and left the dormitory with three books.

Along the way, we kept seeing adjusters in green walking on the road in twos and threes, and various promotional posters were posted on the bulletin board nearby.

It seems like Zaftri has been promoting someone lately? "Moonlight Valkyrie" or something...

"Women... so troublesome." Shin sighed as he stood in front of the bulletin board, looking at the battle report squeezed into the corner by the posters. "When can I pilot a mobile suit?"

"Oh? I didn't expect that there is someone here who wants to be a driver?" A voice came from behind Zhen.

Shin turned around and saw a blond man in white clothes and a mask, and a middle-aged man in a councillor's uniform.

Although I didn't know who they were, I still saluted when I saw the masked man in white.

"No need to be so fussy," the man in the council uniform said, gazing at Shin with interest. "From what I understand... many young men in the Plant class, given the current state of warfare, are somewhat reluctant to pilot mobile suits. Why do you want to pilot one?"

"...Because of the bonus." Zhen said this without hesitation, leaving the other two people present stunned. "If I destroy enough Earth Army units, I can get a lot of bonuses, which is something I can't get in other positions."

Faced with the real answer, the two were stunned for a moment.

Being used to the emotional reasons given by those ZAFT youth, either passionate or filled with anger and hatred, the reasons given by Zhen seemed so fresh and unconventional.

Although Zhen can express his hatred for the Earth Army, he is also very clear about his goals: to make money, pay off debts, and save enough money for himself and his sister to have food and drink for the rest of their lives.

Although Rhodes only said it and never actually received the repayment from Zhen, Zhen still kept the amount of the debt in mind.

"For a living... or do you simply like money?" The man in parliamentary uniform thought for a while before speaking.

"I owe a lot of money, so I need to make some money." Zhen shrugged. "Excuse me, can I go now? I need to return these books."

At this time, the two men also noticed the books in Zhen's hand: a book of ZAFT regulations, as well as "Introduction to MS Driving" and "Elementary MS Driving".

"Dylandar, this young man is very interesting." At this time, the masked man spoke.

"Indeed, I never thought of that answer, Cruze." Durandal looked at the title of the book in Zhen's hand and narrowed his eyes. "What's your name? New Soldier."

"Shin Asuka." Shin said his name without any precautions.

"Shin Asuka... Very good. We need to conduct a test right now. Come with us," Durandal said after a moment's thought. "Since you wish to pilot a mobile suit, we must test your talent."

After several days of observation, he finally got this opportunity to bring Zhen into the plan, and Durandal was not going to miss it.

"Is there a bonus?" Zhen glanced at the time on the bulletin board and asked Durandal calmly, "I have a part-time job. If there's no bonus, I won't go."

"...Of course there will be a bonus." Durandal felt he needed to go back and think about his words to Shin. "If you can pass the test, you can become a test pilot and have the opportunity to go into battle."

"Zhen, the salary of a test pilot is much higher than that of an ordinary green pilot." Cruze understood Zhen's thoughts, so he went straight to the point and told Zhen about the salary and benefits of a test pilot.

If you pass the test, you will get a higher salary and bonus, and if you fail the test, you will just be late for your part-time job and earn less money. These are completely acceptable conditions.

Zhen pondered for a moment, then looked up at Durandal and Cruze.

"I'll do my best to become a test pilot."

……

On the other side, Rhodes, who had just returned to Industrial No. 7 from the shipyard, received a communication.

When Ross arrived at the conference room, Mariu, Cagalli, and Lacus were all sitting in the conference room, talking with Halberton in the video.

"I haven't seen you for several days, old man. I thought you were liquidated." Rhodes adjusted his mentality a little and said to Halberton in the video.

"I paid a huge price to put on this show." Halberton narrowed his eyes. "If you hadn't caused such a big fuss at the moon base, I wouldn't have remained silent for so long."

In fact, the Earth Army's search for the lunar base and its colonies is still going on, but the name "Amuro Ray" has disappeared like a ghost.

Halbottom took advantage of the fact that he was no longer a suspect and quickly contacted Rhodes.

"In short, that Findersen faction is no small matter. A significant portion of the Blue Cosmos community at the lunar base already supports his actions," Halbottom said, handing Ross a document. "The 'Requiem' project is still under construction at the original site. Without a doubt, Requiem is a project that Findersen has full control over."

"Still in the same place?" Ross narrowed his eyes the moment he saw the information. "I remember that the component at that address should have been destroyed by me."

"They've reinforced the abandoned components on the upper level and are continuing to excavate the lower levels. Storm's bombardment tubes aren't powerful enough to penetrate the wreckage above and then destroy the core below." Halberton couldn't help but sigh, recalling the Gundam raid and the current situation. "Anyway, we'll handle this. Let's move on to the next topic."

"The Earth Army has already built two of its latest Garuda-class transport aircraft, transporting new Gladius mobile suits, a second batch of enhanced humans, and a large amount of wetware to the mass accelerator in Kaohsiung." Halberton shook his head. "Most importantly, a Blue Cosmos wetware researcher is also aboard, claiming to have achieved initial results in their research into wetware 'digitalization'..."

"Bang..." The sudden loud noise stunned everyone present.

Rhodes suddenly slammed the table in the conference room, his face gloomy.

After the experience and conversation with the consciousness data, Ross regretted that he was not strong enough, and at the same time he felt a fierce anger towards Blue Cosmos.

Now, Blue Cosmos wants to create more "consciousness data" and there is no doubt that they are dancing on the minefield of Lodz.

"time and location."

"...The details are in the documents." Halberton, clearly sensing Ross's anger, paused for a moment before speaking. "If you want to do anything... you have to do it quickly."

……

In a base of the Atlantic Federation, Baki Lulu, who had just finished training a group of Archangel-level crew members, couldn't help rubbing her forehead.

At this time, a group of soldiers had already habitually unloaded a batch of wet parts wrapped in iron sheets and replaced them with a new batch of wet parts.

Thinking back to the contents of these "tin cans", Baki Lulu felt uncomfortable, but in the current environment, she couldn't say it directly, so she could only reduce the number of times the students used these "tin cans".

"Thank you for your hard work, Major Bakirulu. The training of this group of crew members has been completed." Just as Bakirulu was looking at the scene in front of him and seemed a little numb, a voice rang out.

An officer appeared in front of Baki Lulu with a folder in his hand.

"It seems like you don't like the feeling of these smart components." The officer, who was now examining Baki Lulu's reaction, narrowed his eyes. "May I ask why?"

To be honest, compared to other officers who are already proficient in using wetware, "fundamentalists" like Baki Lulu are naturally the focus of headquarters.

"...Maybe they think these things are unreliable. You never know when they might break down." After a moment of silence, Bakilulu replied, "I'm more accustomed to commanding real crew members."

"I see... It's a similar view to General Halbertson of the Eighth Fleet." The officer nodded, as if confirming something. "As expected of an outstanding officer from the Eighth Fleet."

Facing the officer's praise, Baki Lulu narrowed her eyes.

"If you have something to say, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush."

"A batch of new daggers and some new experimental projects need to be transported to the lunar base. Headquarters also intends to continue forming a new fleet..." The officer handed a document to Baki Lulu. "In short, headquarters orders you to board the latest Garuda-class transport aircraft and head to the Kaohsiung Mass Accelerator in three days. You will then be responsible for forming the new fleet at the lunar base."

Baki Lulu was a little confused as to why the headquarters wanted to transfer him, but out of his military duty, he accepted the appointment.

----split line----

PS: Today’s update was a bit chaotic because my brain was hurting, which caused me to get stuck while writing this chapter. The second update will be postponed to tomorrow.

I felt much better after taking painkillers, but I still couldn't walk well and couldn't hold on any longer.

Volume 94: Chapter : Gundam...Gundam!!

The maintenance team was busy in the hangar of the Archangel, and from time to time they would look at the hangar, a pure white machine with a sharp single horn.

Compared to the Strike, Freedom, and other machines, this machine seems too plain; but compared to the Narrative Gundam, it appears robust and complete. If the Narrative Gundam feels like a "work-in-progress," this machine feels like a "finished product."

However, this machine has lost various modified versions of the Jegan high-mobility backpack, which makes the maintenance team a little uncomfortable.

"Is this your new machine?" Standing on the plank road, carefully examining the machine before her, Mari exclaimed, "It's so beautiful..."

"Hmm, Unicron, Unicorn, that's her name." Ross was doing a final check of the machine's data. "Although it's not fully functional, its current performance is sufficient."

"But is there really no problem with propulsion? Your machine doesn't seem to have a high-mobility backpack. For the next battle..." Glancing at the original backpack behind the unicorn, Mariu was a little worried about the upcoming battle.

"No problem. The thrusters and reactor are both of new specifications and can fully support the aircraft's long-term flight under the Earth's gravity." Rhodes said confidently after taking a look at the operation of the reactor.

The original Unicorn, even with a backpack that requires propellant, can fly in the Earth's environment, but the propellant consumption will be relatively high. Now that the Unicorn has been replaced with the same reactor and electric propulsion system as the Archangel, flying in the Earth's environment is naturally no problem.

"Anyway... what's the plan?" Rhodes finished the system check and left the cockpit.

"According to General Halberdon's intelligence... we will land on Earth when the target begins transport, and after landing, we will begin the assault." Mariu saw Ross emerge and began briefly, "At that time, you will need to release the remote-controlled mechas into the Garuda-class and ensure that the data is completely destroyed."

"Finally, we have to destroy that transport plane..." Ross looked at a dark gray storage box on the floor of the hangar. "We absolutely cannot give him any chance of survival."

In the dark gray storage box, there are hexagonal machines, waiting to be started.

These remote-controlled mechas were temporarily designed by Ross, and the Unicorn served as a signal relay station, allowing people on the Archangel to operate these remote-controlled mechas. Ross could also control the remote-controlled mechas himself on the Unicorn.

However, considering the intelligence about the size and contents of the "Garuda-class" transport aircraft... it is estimated that there will be MS to intercept it, and then the control should be handed over to Daha Luo.

"...Anyway, we still have some time to rest for now." Malu reached out and took Ross's hand. "We still have to go investigate the situation in the Findersen Kingdom... There's still a lot of work to do."

"In this damn day and age, there's always going to be a shortage of work like this." Rhodes sighed and looked at the monitor on the Unicorn's head.

Without anyone else noticing, the previously off eye monitors lit up.

Although the unicorn didn't move, Ross could feel its eyes staring at him.

……

It really feels unreal at this moment.

His only knowledge of MS driving was from reading a few tutorials on how to operate MS. He stumbled and took two stiff steps in the training-type Jinn, and was then accepted as a test pilot by a senator named Durandal as an exception.

Facing the envious looks of my roommates in the original dormitory, I really came to this single dormitory with my luggage.

Although I don’t know why I was assigned to such a dormitory, I might as well make the best of it. Making money is the bottom line.

Thinking of this, Zhen sat on the chair and looked at the tablet given to him by Durandal.

There is no confidential information in it. It is basically just an introduction to the ZAFT and Earth Army's machines. After all, it is my next job.

When he saw a document that showed a head-mounted monitor that was somewhat similar to the one he remembered, but also different, he subconsciously widened his eyes.

"GUNDAM..." He opened the entry's explanation and subconsciously read it out. "It refers to the design ideas of some of the Earth Army's 'G series' mobile suits. In order to make a distinguishing name, GUNDAM..."

He looked carefully at the G-series machines captured by ZAFT, as well as the "pulse" that Durandal said he was going to test.

"Unknown machine..." Zhen turned to the next page, but his hand movements stopped.

Compared with the neat full-body photos in the previous materials, the photo in front is a little blurry, and the aircraft is always in flight state, which is obviously enlarged from the video.

But the red and white machine that was deeply engraved in Zhen's memory reminded him of the day when his life changed dramatically.

Impact, pain, flames, giants...unforgettable memories flooded from his mind.

"Phoenix...GUNDAM..." Shin couldn't help but clench his fists as he looked at the name marked by ZAFT on the information, the psychic skeleton glowing red in the photo, and the question marks in the series of information below.

When I clicked on the video displayed on this page, I saw the battle video of "The Great Retreat of Orb" being played.

Compared with the mass accelerator area, the front line was even more tragic. Seeing Orb's M1 Heretic being knocked down and destroyed by the Earth Army's daggers and the new model G series, the anger hidden by the economic pressure began to gradually emerge.

As he wished, he saw the Narrative Gundam charging across the battlefield, and finally, as if receiving some order, it arrived at the mass accelerator at an extremely fast speed and killed the Disaster in an instant.

"Huh..." Zhen calmed himself down a little, and at this time, the video started to play the next part automatically.

That was the last moment of the "Orb Great Retreat". Three MSs guarded the mass accelerator and resisted the attack of the Earth Army.

Shinya saw the freedom and justice marked as "stolen" and how they fought, but his attention was now entirely on the narration of the Gundam.

Whether he was suppressed by the number of daggers or chopped away by the Black Knight, Zhen subconsciously clenched his palms, as if he was driving the Narrative Gundam.