Crossing Orb: Newtype Commander

April, CE63, Orb.

Spring arrived as promised, and the cherry blossoms in the courtyard of Athha's mansion were in full bloom, their petals falling in the wind and carpeting the path. In this season of fluttering cherry blossoms, Char celebrated his eighteenth birthday—which, according to Orb law, meant he had officially come of age.

On the same day, Uzmi signed an appointment letter: Char Langlad Askha was appointed as the Chief Advisor of Defense of Ob, directly under the Office of the Chief of Staff, responsible for coordinating defense science and technology research and development and military modernization reform.

This appointment caused quite a stir in Ob's political circles. An eighteen-year-old Chief Advisor of Defense—the youngest high-ranking official in Ob's history. Some questioned whether it was a "hereditary privilege," some speculated that Uzmi was paving the way for his adopted son, while others remained silent, waiting for the young man to speak for himself.

The appointment ceremony was held in the conference hall of the Ministry of Defense building. It was a small event, but the attendees were all key figures from both the military and political circles of Orb. Uzumi personally handed the letter of appointment to Char, and the image of the father and son shaking hands under the flashing lights made the front page of major newspapers in Orb the following day.

Cagalli sat in the first row of the audience. The seven-year-old girl was dressed in formal attire, trying her best to look like an adult, but her eyes kept following her brother. She was old enough to understand that "her brother was doing something very important," although she didn't quite grasp what "Chief Advisor for National Defense" meant.

"Brother is so amazing!" After the ceremony, Cagalli threw herself at Char. "From now on, brother, are you going to protect Orb?"

"It's not 'later'," Xia said, picking up his sister and smiling. "It's starting now."

1.2 First National Defense Conference

On the third day after taking office, Char chaired his first defense conference.

The meeting room was located on the second basement level of the Ministry of Defense building. It was a windowless, enclosed space with the walls covered with strategic maps and defense deployment diagrams of Orb. Attendees included high-ranking officials of the Defense Forces, the technical head of Dawn, and representatives of the five major families.

Mina Sahak, as the head of the Sahak family, attended the event and sat to Char's right.

"Gentlemen," Char said, standing before the strategic map, his voice calm but powerful, "my first task as Chief Defense Advisor is to reassess Orb's defense posture."

He pressed a button on the remote control, and three red arrows appeared on the map, each pointing in a different direction from Orb.

"To the east, the Atlantic Federation. To the north, the East Asian Republic. To the west, the United States of South America. Orb is surrounded by three major powers. We have the smallest territory, the smallest population, and the most limited resources. Under traditional military logic, we have no chance of winning."

Some people in the audience were whispering among themselves.

"However," Xia Ya changed the subject, "traditional military logic is outdated. Future wars will not be about who has more people, more territory, or more resources, but about who controls the core technologies. Whoever controls energy, materials, and information will control the future."

He pressed a button on the remote control, and the red arrow on the map disappeared, replaced by three words: energy, materials, and information.

"These are Orb's strategic goals for the next decade. In the energy sector, we aim to achieve self-sufficiency; in the materials sector, we aim to master the next generation of core technologies; and in the information sector, we aim to establish an independent network and data processing system. Once these three goals are achieved, Orb will no longer be a 'small country surrounded by enemies,' but a 'power that no one dares to underestimate.'"

The meeting room fell silent.

The high command of the National Defense Forces exchanged glances; some nodded, some frowned, but no one openly objected. They knew that while the young man's words were bold, they were not without merit.

"That sounds nice," a deep voice came from the corner, "but achieving these goals takes time, money, and people. What do we have?"

The speaker was Kazuma Makabe, a 63-year-old veteran of the Orb Defense Forces. Although he had retired, his influence within the military remained immense. His presence at this meeting itself indicated his reservations about Char's appointment.

"Time, that's what we lack most right now," Xia replied calmly. "Money will be generated continuously once the rail elevator is built. People, the Dawn Society is training them."

"Time?" Makabe sneered. "Who doesn't know the most important thing: will they give us the time?"

Char looked directly into Makabe's eyes: "Therefore, within the current timeframe, we need to use our existing power to protect Orb. This is not an ideal, but a plan. I will use my technology, my knowledge, and all my abilities to realize this plan."

Makabe stared at him for a long time, but ultimately did not continue to refute him.

After the National Defense Conference, Char immediately threw himself into the work of the Dawn Society.

For the past four years, he has served as a "Special Technical Advisor" at the Dawn Society, where he has built a strong relationship of trust with the core team. Now, with the official title of "Chief Defense Advisor," he can more directly drive technological research and development.

Erika Simmons was his most trusted partner. Years of collaboration had forged a tacit understanding between them. Char would propose the theoretical framework, and Erika would be responsible for the experimental verification; Char would point out the direction, and Erika would organize the team to tackle the challenges.

"From now on, Dawn Society's research and development work will be divided into two tracks," Char said at an internal meeting, "the overt track and the covert track."

The open-ended projects include the construction of the "Heavenly Pillar" orbital elevator, which began in CE58, the improvement of the solar power generation system, and the development of new energy storage technologies. These projects are open to the world and subject to international supervision, serving as evidence of Orb's "peaceful development of space."

Dark Orbit is a secret project that includes the development of new mobile suits, the military applications of Minovsky particles, and the concept of a future space fleet. These projects are strictly classified, and only Char's core team knows the full details.

"The overt track is our face, the covert track is our backbone," Xia said. "Without the overt track, we will lose the trust of the international community; without the covert track, we will have no power to protect ourselves."

Erica nodded. "I understand. The team is ready."

Xia looked around at Kato, Sato Rin, Christina, Ron, and Li Yuehua—the people who had fought alongside him for four years.

"Thank you," he said. "Without you, I couldn't do anything."

The "Heavenly Pillar" project has a publicly disclosed design parameter: the space station section with its orbital elevator will serve as a space science laboratory and a transit station for commercial satellites.

However, after Char took over the old design from CE58 and modified it, there was another part that had never been revealed.

In the core area of ​​the space station, the location marked "equipment bay" on the design drawings is actually a hidden space production base. This base is equipped with microgravity manufacturing equipment secretly developed by the Dawn Corporation, which can produce precision components that cannot be manufactured on Earth—including core components of the Minovsky particle reactor, high-strength structural parts made of E-carbon fiber, and key parts for future new mobile suits.

"This area," Char said, pointing to the "equipment bay" area on the design drawings, "will be the heart of Orb's future defense industry. On the ground, our factories can be monitored by satellites at any time. But in space, no one can easily spy on what we're doing."

Erica carefully examined the design plans: "This base requires a large power supply. The space station with the orbital elevator mainly relies on solar energy, but solar energy is unreliable—"

"So we need to install a Minovsky particle reactor on the space station," Char said, "a miniaturized one, large enough to power the entire base."

"How will the reactor itself be transported up there? Rocket launches have limited payloads."

"Use the climber of an orbital elevator," Char said. "That's the strategic value of an orbital elevator—it can not only transport cargo, but also anything we want to send into space, without being limited by rocket payload."

Erica took a deep breath: "You've thought this through from the beginning, haven't you? The orbital elevator is not only the infrastructure for space development, but also a strategic pillar for Orb's defense industry."

Char nodded: "On the surface it's 'Heavenly Pillar,' but in reality it's 'Heavenly Workshop.' These are two sides of the same project, and neither can be dispensed with."

In the autumn of CE63, the secret team shifted its focus to a completely new field—mobile suits.

In the SEED world, mobile suits are nothing new. ZAFT's "Gold" series and Earth Alliance's "Dagger" series from the original story have already proven their worth on the battlefield. While the future Orb M1 Heretic has unique technological features, its overall performance cannot compete with the main mobile suits of the two major powers.

What Char wanted to do was not to design and improve the M1 Heretic, but to design a completely new mobile suit from scratch—powered by the Minovsky nuclear reactor, armored with new composite materials, and using beam weapons as its primary means of attack.

The prototype of this mobile suit comes from the Zaku and GM of the Universal Century.

The Zaku was the earliest practical mobile suit in the Universal Century, characterized by its simple structure, high reliability, and ease of mass production. The GM, on the other hand, was the mainstay of the Earth Federation Forces, boasting balanced performance, convenient maintenance, and strong adaptability. Both mobile suits were suitable for Orb at present, given its limited resources. Char's design blueprints combined the advantages of these two models and incorporated technological features from the SEED world, forming a completely new design concept.

"The codename for the new MS is 'Sword,'" Char said at the team meeting. "It's not a single model, but a series. It includes different models such as general-purpose, close-combat, artillery, and command types."

He showed a design sketch.

The sketch of the mecha bears some resemblance to the GM from the Universal Century, but with smoother lines and more compact armor. The core of the mecha is marked "Minovsky Nuclear Furnace," and it features a thruster unit on its back, a beam rifle in its hand, and various equipment modules that can be mounted on its shoulders.

"These are the design goals for the prototype: a total height of 18 meters, a main body weight of 40 tons, and a total weight of 60 tons. It is powered by the Minovsky nuclear reactor, providing a long endurance. The main weapon is a beam rifle, and the secondary weapons are a beam saber and a head-mounted vulcan cannon. The armor uses E-carbon fiber composite armor, which has a good defensive effect against live-fire weapons."

Kato's eyes lit up as he looked at the design drawings: "This design... is so complete. It doesn't feel like a concept plan; it feels like a mature design that has undergone countless iterations."

Char offered no explanation. He couldn't say that these designs came from millennia of accumulation in another universe.

"How long does it take to build the prototype?" he asked.

"If all the parts arrive on time," Erica estimated, "it will take at least two years."

"Two years." Xia nodded. "By CE65, I want to see the first prototype roll off the assembly line."

Disguise of Assistive Robots

The development of a new MS carries a huge risk—if discovered by the Earth Alliance or PLANT, they will certainly assume that Orb is secretly expanding its military, potentially triggering a preemptive strike.

Char needs a disguise.

The solution comes from the "Ama no Miyazaki" project. The construction of the orbital elevator requires a large amount of space-based equipment—for moving materials, assembling structures, and maintaining facilities in a microgravity environment. These tasks necessitate a machine capable of maneuvering flexibly in space.

"We need a 'space operation robot'," Char Aznable said at a public meeting of the Dawn Corporation. "It can play a role in the construction and maintenance of orbital elevators. This robot should have a humanoid structure to facilitate operation in human-designed space environments; it should have a certain degree of autonomy to perform pre-set tasks; and it should have a modular design to facilitate equipment replacement for different tasks."

This proposal has received widespread public support. The space-based operational robot is a perfectly reasonable accessory to the orbital elevator and has no military implications.

However, in the shadows, the design parameters of these "space operation robots" are almost identical to those of the new mobile suits. They use the same skeletal structure, the same power system, and the same control system. The only difference is that the publicly revealed version is unarmed and has thinner armor, while the version hidden in the shadows can instantly transform into a true mobile suit simply by replacing the weapon modules and adding thicker armor.

"It's a perfect disguise," Ron said. "Even if it's photographed by satellite, people will just think we're building engineering robots."

"Moreover," Christina added, "we can conduct ground tests openly and honestly. As long as we don't install weapons, no one can find fault with it."

Char nodded: "That's the plan. On the surface, we're the 'Space Operations Robot Development Project.' Secretly, we're the 'Sword-type MS Development Project.' Same team, same production line, same timeline—different deliverables."