Gundam: A Gundam Enthusiast's Journey with a Mecha Girl

Realizing his mistake, Yzak could only fire all the remaining ammunition from the railgun to vent his frustration.

"Yzak also failed?"

Aslan noticed the figure falling into the sea during the duel, and his anxiety grew. He circled around to the stern of the Archangel again and pointed his beam rifle at the engine that was clearly not in good condition.

However, the beam he fired was once again intercepted by the Strike's shield as it flew out. Although the empty backpack did not allow the Strike to fly freely in the air, the high-thrust thrusters and auxiliary wings allowed it to stay airborne for a short time.

Nicol wanted to help Aslan, but the trouble Mu was causing with the Sky King far exceeded his expectations.

A thick, red and white beam of light streaked across the airspace between Thunder and Aegis, forcing him to focus most of his attention on the troublesome fighter jet.

However, Athrun could no longer afford to waste any more time. As time ticked by, the airspace where the two sides were fighting was getting closer and closer to Orb's territorial waters. The Aegis had already detected the Orb fleet that was approaching from afar, and in the cockpit, the Orb fleet's announcement to both sides of the battle was also heard.

"Your forces are approaching the territorial waters of the United Chiefdom of Orb. Please change course immediately. Our nation does not allow any armed vessels, aircraft, or mobile suits to enter our territory without prior consultation. Change course immediately!"

Aegis launched another surprise attack. Kira once again launched the Strike Force from the Archangel, attempting to force Aegis back with fire. However, this time Aegis seemed to be prepared to perish together with the Archangel, charging straight at it.

"Stop, Athrun!"

Kira's pupils contracted sharply. He could no longer hold back. The emerald green beam was no longer aimed at the head or limbs, but at Aegis's torso.

However, this was the moment Aslan had been waiting for.

The Aegis quickly abandoned Geu, allowing the Strike beam to pierce through it. Then, it transformed in mid-air, propelling itself with full force by its thrusters, and circled to the other side of the Archangel's stern before the machine was captured by gravity.

"Fall, long legs!"

The sirens' full-power firing directly damaged the main engine on this side. The flames from the thrusters gradually died down, black eyes appeared at the stern of the Archangel, and the ship gradually decreased in height, falling towards the sea.

"Starboard engine severely damaged! Overall ship thrust reduced by 52%, unable to maintain current altitude!"

"Sergeant Neumann, initiate emergency landing procedures!"

"But Captain, if this continues, we'll crash into Orb's territorial waters!"

"Ignore Orb, continue with the forced landing."

"but……"

"I said, continue with the forced landing!"

Maru, who was well-prepared, was not flustered at all. At her urging, the massive Archangel plunged into Orb's territorial waters.

As the Archangel descended into the water, the Orb fleet began its bombardment. Shells exploded beside the Archangel's hull, and the Archangel's silhouette was completely engulfed by towering columns of water and smoke.

Aslan was unable to ascertain the fate of the Archangel, but with the Archangel entering Orb's territorial waters, the battle had to be stopped.

"All aircraft retreat. Reclaim Storm and Duel."

He could only give such instructions in a slightly tired voice.

Chapter 57 Am I human?

Guided by the Orb fleet, the battered Archangel entered a secret dock on Orb's Onogoro Island.

This place is extremely secluded. The towering rock walls on both sides of the harbor completely conceal the dock from any angle, whether viewed from the sea or the air.

According to the agreement reached between Halbarton and Uzumi, Dawn Society will maintain the Archangel and the mobile suits aboard it, while Raven will cooperate with Dawn Society on a new phase of mobile suit development.

At this moment, in a factory area of ​​the Dawn Company located on Onogoro Island, Erica Simmons looked at the design plan in her hand, her fingers constantly swiping across the tablet.

"Modular design, detachable and combinable mechanism, miniaturized quantum communication device, distributed battery, miniaturization of high-output beam weapon... Should I say that you truly deserve the title?"

Erica, who served as the technical director of Dawn Society, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement after reading the design proposal.

Even in Orb, which has a large number of Coordinator researchers, those who can reach Raven's level are extremely rare.

The performance of the G Project series mobile suits that Raven completed not long ago was already superior to all the mobile suits currently in service with the ZAFT military. If the design proposal that Raven submitted to her could be completed without any compromise, its performance would be enough to completely surpass the G Project series mobile suits.

As expected of a machine named Superior, its performance truly deserves the title of "superior".

"So, Director Erica, with the capabilities of Dawn Corporation, it shouldn't be too difficult to complete the construction of the S Gundam, right?"

"S Gundam?"

"It's Superior. I personally prefer to call it S Gundam because it's easier to pronounce."

Raven shrugged.

Erica was slightly taken aback, then a smile appeared on her lips. She remembered that back in Heliopolis, Raven also liked to call those G Project mobile suits "something Gundam".

"Of course, there's no problem with these specifications. You're certainly aware of our Dawn Society's capabilities. However, since you've named this child Superior, should we consider equipping it with some experimental equipment? After reviewing your proposal, I also want to make this child as perfect as possible."

"Experimental equipment?"

Raven raised an eyebrow, somewhat bewildered by Erica's words.

"You mean..."

"To be honest, Dawn Society recently realized the idea that Mr. Raven had previously proposed."

Erica swiped her finger across the tablet, and a new document popped up.

"The Psycommu device, it's really been built?"

"It's just a very basic biosensor. As for more advanced technologies like psycho-weapons and psycho-frames, we have absolutely no idea what to do."

"No, no, no, even if it's just a biosensor, this is already incredibly impressive."

There was no politeness in his words. Raven knew very well that when he first proposed the idea of ​​the Psycommu device, he was just trying it out.

After all, the Psycommu device was a completely new technological system for this world, and unexpectedly, Dawn Corporation actually made a name for itself with it.

This was a pleasant surprise for Raven. The biosensors could greatly enhance the body's reaction speed and amplify his NT abilities.

Even without enabling Raven to unleash his power like the NTs of the UC universe, simply allowing Raven to perceive the battlefield situation more clearly is already a significant improvement.

Although Raven has not yet seen in person the nuclear-powered mobile suits that ZAFT is secretly developing, he is confident that his creation will be no less impressive than theirs.

Speaking of nuclear power, Raven did leave room for modification in the design of the S Gundam.

However, since Raven had little knowledge of nuclear physics and was unable to develop an anti-neutron jammer, the idea of ​​equipping it with nuclear power had to be put on hold for the time being, and he would have to wait until the conditions were right to consider it again.

However, nuclear power will not cause the S Gundam to suffer from the same range problems that the Strike Gundam once faced.

In his design, Raven installed a set of batteries on each of the S Gundam's shoulders and legs. With the help of battery expansion pack technology, the S Gundam's combat time would be several times that of the Strike Gundam.

Raven's thoughts gradually unfolded in his mind, as if he could see the S Gundam soaring in the sky.

But a sudden, unexpected ringtone abruptly pulled him back to reality.

"Mr. Raven, Miss El's body maintenance and artificial skin implantation procedures have all been completed. Are you available to inspect them now?"

Raven stood up so quickly that Erica didn't even have time to react. He took three steps at a time and quickly walked out of the laboratory, leaving Erica behind.

-----------------

The corridor was long, but Raven traversed it in just a few minutes. As he got closer to El's room, Raven felt his heart pounding faster and faster.

The door to the room opened, and what appeared before Raven was the back view of a girl with long silver hair.

Hearing the door open, the girl slowly turned around.

"El?"

Raven held his breath and said nervously.

The girl before him was so different from the image he remembered that it took Raven several seconds to reconnect the name El with the scene before him.

The mask was removed, replaced by a face as exquisite as a doll's, with fair skin, lips with a soft pink sheen, and an elegant curve to the bridge of her nose. But what attracted Raven's attention most were her ruby-red eyes.

Can one's image change so drastically simply by removing the mask and revealing a layer of skin?

"Yes, I'm right here, Raven."

A gentle smile graced the girl's face as she slowly walked towards Raven. She was still wearing the Gothic Lolita dress that Elsa had given her, but this time, she was no longer the doll that Elsa had meticulously dressed up in front of the mirror, but rather someone who resembled a human girl...

No, I cannot be human. I am Al, an all-purpose artificial intelligence belonging exclusively to Raven.

"How is the body? Are there any abnormalities? What about the connection between the artificial skin and the implant?"

Raven's voice was as gentle as ever.

"Everything is normal, there are no problems at all. Also, thank you, Raven, for always being so tolerant of my willfulness."

"What's there to thank me for? I'm a man of my word. Besides, I want to see you turn into a human with my own eyes."

"people?"

El's voice paused for a moment; her usually unwavering mind paused for an unusual instant.

"In your eyes, Raven, am I already a person?"

"I'm surprised," El said.

"of course."

Raven answered without the slightest hesitation.

“You have your own emotions, your own opinions, and your own hobbies. From the moment you were born, you were not just a simple tool, but an electronic life form with complete self-awareness. And now you have a body with a human appearance, so why can’t you be called human?”

El didn't reply, but just looked at Raven quietly, his mind suddenly filled with a warm feeling.

Am I... a human?

She turned around and looked at the full-length mirror beside her.

A beautiful young girl appeared in the mirror. She had long, silver hair like moonlight, wore a gorgeous black dress, and had skin that was so smooth it seemed like it could be broken with a touch. But her ruby-like eyes held a hint of confusion.

That's just like a real person.

El commented on the girl in the mirror.

Author's message

Sorry, this chapter was rewritten several times, hence the late update.

Chapter 58 Simulation Battle (Part 1)

Orb, Onogoro Island, a simulated combat test site.

Since the Archangel docked at the secret port of Onogoro Island, Raven's schedule has been completely filled with work, as the S Gundam development project, which he is working on in cooperation with Dawn Corporation, has taken up most of his energy.

Therefore, Raven, who chose to focus his energy on the S Gundam project, handed over the task of updating the OS for the M1 Heretic to Kira, and Raven himself would only help out when problems arose.

Kira's talent was worthy of his status as a Super Coordinator. After Raven gave him a few pointers, he successfully completed the project in a short time.

Today marks the first practical test of the OS written by Kira.

"Teacher, are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

Kira watched from the control room as Raven piloted the M1 Heretic into the simulated battle area via a screen.

"Is there a problem? I think your OS is quite well written. It runs very smoothly on the M1 Heretic, and the handling of the machine is also great. It's much better than what my colleagues in the G Project team wrote back then."

"Uh, that's not what I meant."

Kira glanced hesitantly at Al, who stood silently beside him. Unlike Kira, Al's ruby-red eyes gazed calmly at the simulated battlefield outside, completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere in the control room.

“You used to pilot the mobile suit with Miss El, but this time you're all alone, so…”

Raven didn't bring El with him this time, and he also had to face the attack of three other mobile suits of the same model at the same time. Although Kira had great faith in Raven's abilities, he was still a little apprehensive.

Although this was just a simulation battle and there wouldn't be any major problems if he lost, Kira still didn't want to see Raven, who had guided him all the way, lose.

"Don't worry. Although I did perform most of the complex maneuvers of the short sword when the Natural Human OS was not yet completed, in recent battles, my role has been limited to support."

"Eh? Is that so?"

Kira was somewhat surprised by Al's explanation. He had always thought that the short sword's sharp performance on the battlefield was mainly due to Al's assistance in piloting it.

"I didn't realize it before, Kira, are you underestimating me?"

Raven's voice carried a hint of mockery.

"No, I didn't..."

Kira's face flushed instantly, his voice rose sharply, and he hurriedly explained.

"Just kidding, don't take it to heart."

Raven's soft laughter came from the other end of the communication.

"But today is the day to show my true strength. They're just three rookies. Watch me take them down in no time."