Gundam, Gravity Elegy

"EXAM SYSTEM, Stand By."

The sound, along with the ferocious explosion, echoed in his mind, and Alma instinctively gripped the control stick tightly.

In fact, from the very beginning, she had no idea what was happening.

It seemed that she felt unable to move as soon as she heard that voice... no, it should be before that chaotic sound.

She didn't know how to describe the feeling. It was like those animal documentaries about Earth that her school required her to watch when she was in school. The stiffness and fear that those weak animals felt when facing top predators like lions and tigers.

She could only watch helplessly as explosions rose one after another.

Then came...

Run—that was the thought that really crossed her mind when the dark blue Ifrit finally turned around, and even her body's instincts were screaming for help.

But Marion is still inside that machine!

Reason finally overwhelmed her instincts, and Alma simply gazed at the deep blue machine:

“Marion…”

'boom'

The call resounded almost simultaneously with the explosion.

Get out of the way!

When Alma came to her senses, she only saw two grenades coming toward her.

But by the time Alma came to her senses, it was too late. Two low-output explosive bombs used in the simulation battle exploded on her body. Although they did cause damage, they only made her take two steps back.

But what's truly lethal is that thing.

'Om'

Enveloped in an electromagnetic field, the thermal saber, seemingly heated to its limit, was hurtling straight at him.

In response, Alma pulled out the thermal axe.

'kuang'

It was like a collision of metals; under the mutual repulsion of electromagnetic fields, the battle axe, under high temperature, was actually slashed open by the new military knife.

“Marien, can you hear me now? Marion…”

'Sizzle'

But before Alma could make any calls through the communication, she saw Ifrit silently draw her blazing sword.

As if combat instincts were already ingrained in her very being, Ifrit, who was fully aware of the weaknesses of the thermal saber, had no intention of holding out. Her other saber had already slashed down from a tricky angle.

“Marion…”

Unable to dodge at all, Alma could only maneuver her arms to turn and use the shield on her shoulder to block.

'Sizzle'

Although the shoulder shields, which were originally designed to block aircraft, tanks, and missiles, are nothing more than a thicker piece of paper when faced with a thermal saber.

However, even just a brief delay would be enough!

"Marion!!!"

'boom'

With its back fully extended, Zaku slammed headfirst into Ifrit's body.

"Wake up!!"

She wanted to say something, but found that Ifrit instantly adjusted her stance using the thrusters around her body, seemingly unaffected by the impact.

Oops……

When the thermal saber came into view, she tried to raise something to block it, but found that she didn't have time to adjust.

"The nozzle is changing direction... We're going to miss it!"

At that moment, two grenades struck, forcing the death-like azure mech to dodge.

However, when the missile landed on the long-abandoned building, it did not collapse it.

Ultimately, the live-fire weapons used in simulated combat pose no real threat; what truly poses a threat is…

"EXAM SYSTEM, Stand By."

Just as that almost identical voice echoed in her mind, Alma couldn't help but clutch her inexplicably throbbing head.

She even felt like she was hallucinating:

"There are two Marions on the field?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, Stirner?"

Then, the voices echoing in the communication tunnel instantly snapped the girl back to reality.

Controlling the Zaku, which had lost an arm, she adjusted the machine's posture and then noticed that the machine that was supposed to launch the attack had turned its back, as if it had focused all its attention on the Zaku with the red shoulder.

"Mr. Nimbas, why is this happening?"

"What else could it be? Of course, it's because that 'system' went berserk."

The main monitor of the Commander Zaku looks like a gradually dissolving eye, seemingly staining the entire inner frame red.

“Right now, I’m most hostile towards it… no, it should be said that Marion has made me her primary target, so you should take this opportunity to leave!”

That's what they said, but the moment the two machines clashed and fought each other, the red-shouldered Zaku was instantly at a disadvantage.

"Tsk, the machine's performance..."

As the most produced model at present, the F-type Zaku was already judged to be an obsolete machine after the start of the landing operation.

And now, that vulnerability is even more blatantly exposed.

'clang'

'clang'

Two ghostly figures darted through the ruins without stopping. After several clashes, the outdated thermal axe was not only completely unable to compete with the thermal saber, but its own body was also constantly being pushed back by the impact.

Moreover, the burning, agitated heat coursing through the body was relentlessly assaulting the brain.

"This is EXAM... Don't think I'll lose to you like this, Marion!!"

Overload warnings echoed in the Zaku's cockpit. Nimbas pushed to the limit, hurled a thermal axe to force the opponent to dodge, and then charged forward directly, bracing against Ifrit's blade.

'Swish'

'boom'

With a deafening explosion, Zaku's arm was instantly ripped apart, but the heat axe aimed straight for his head.

"Insufficient combat experience!!!"

it hurts--

However, the sudden sound in his mind stunned him.

“Marion?”

The time was very short, less than a second for a warrior like Nimbas Shutasen, but the opponent had already fully recovered!

'Om'

The two swords clashed down, seemingly about to cleave its cockpit in two, striking with a near-suicidal intent.

"Mr. Nimbas!!"

But then, the heat axe spun and cleaved down.

"Alma? This approach won't work...?"

'boom'

That level of attack should have been dodged, but at that moment, Ifrit displayed an unimaginable slowness.

As if he hadn't noticed at all, the axe smashed right into his head.

'Bang'

The next moment, amidst a series of crackling explosions and flashes of light, Ifrit, seemingly having reached her limit, finally lost the brilliance of the viewfinder.

Particles overflowing from the fusion furnace emanated from all parts of the machine, and under the visible crimson mist, the machine, whose head circuitry had been severely damaged, finally collapsed.

"Is this alright..."

Seeing Ifrit collapse, Alma breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Nimbus, how is Marion now...?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, she suddenly saw Nazagu turn around.

"Nimbas... Major?"

Like a bleeding, single eye, the red light had completely covered the frame of the viewfinder.

It charged forward, and the unavoidable impact almost made Alma feel like her bones were being crushed.

They will be killed, they will definitely be killed!

But at that moment, a loud explosion came directly from inside the enemy's machine.

"Stain stain stain"

'boom'

Then, the red mist began to drift.

"Major!"

…………

July 12, UC.0079

The EXAM project, a Newtype development program under the Flanagan Organization, suffered a serious berserk incident. The test team responsible for providing combat data was almost completely wiped out. Major Nimbus Schutzsen, the team leader, was seriously injured during the berserk incident, and the valuable Newtype test pilot, Marion Velche, fell into a coma.

Author's message

…………

According to the comics, Nimbas was already a major during the Battle of Loum.

The red shoulder is Nimbas's personal color scheme, so the image is for reference only.

Chapter 8: The Target Location (Second Update)

'boom'

Just as the two Zaku collided, the overload explosion also echoed from the other machine.

'bang bang bang'

Just like ifrit's final appearance after her head was blown off, almost visible, materialized smoke spread from all parts of her body, just like blood turning into steam.

And then, it came to an abrupt end.

The video ended the moment the Zaku riots ceased, displaying the final date—June 12th.

"So, as the most outstanding pilots in the Federation Forces today, what are your thoughts on this video?"

Brigadier General Gao Yun then asked a question.

At this moment, only a suffocating silence echoed in the already sparsely populated conference room of the Camelot.

After a long silence, it was Sherry who spoke first:

"Under normal circumstances, it's impossible to maintain both high-speed movement and shooting accuracy simultaneously. Currently, no fire control system... no, it should be said that no mobile suit designed for a high-concentration particle environment can achieve that..."

"Moreover, some of the reactions and extreme movements clearly exceeded the limits that a normal person should be able to perform."

Kuvatro also spoke up:

"Unless Zeon develops a technology that can completely eliminate G-force load, that maneuver is enough to knock any pilot unconscious, and that red mist at the end, that stuff..."

"It is a particle-based Zeon's basic drive technology, which uses fluid pulses. This technology directly transfers energy from the fusion furnace to the converter, which then guides the energy to the rotary cylinder in the form of pulsed pressure through the power tube. In order to prevent damage to the internal parts of the machine, the energy release of the fusion furnace is generally limited."