Gundam: Changing the World Even with a Mass-Produced Unit

Chapter 57: Simulation Battle (2)

However, even without the system's enhancements, Eli himself was far from being a weakling.

Frankly speaking, within the entire Federation, there were only so many individuals who truly understood how to pilot an MS, and they could be counted on two hands.

Most operators still approached MS combat with the mindset of old weaponry.

Among this group, Eli's piloting skills and ace-level combat experience stood out the most.

When Eli briefly surveyed the terrain earlier, he had already identified his next cover location—an abandoned residential area.

Russ clearly realized that Eli intended to use the buildings to disrupt his judgment. As Eli's view was briefly blocked by a house, Russ fired three consecutive shots, attempting to force Eli away from entering the urban area.

To Russ's surprise, one of the shots actually hit!

A cloud of explosive smoke spread rapidly from that direction.

However, since Eli's line of sight was also blocked by the building, it meant Russ couldn't confirm Eli's exact location either.

Suddenly, an alert indicated that his machine was locked on!

Without hesitation, Russ maneuvered his MS to turn and retreat from the elevated position.

"Buzz!"

A beam grazed past Unit 4's head, melting off one corner of its V-shaped antenna.

Russ caught sight of Unit 5 emerging from the opposite direction of the explosion, firing at him.

But what caused the explosion?

"Using a shield to trick the lock-on…"

From the outside, Fort clearly understood what had happened.

The moment Unit 5 entered the shadow of the buildings, Eli had flung his shield forward, disconnecting it from his MS. This caused the enemy's lock-on system to mistakenly target the shield.

Simultaneously, Eli turned back, poking out of cover to launch a counterattack.

"So that's it. When faced with beam weapons, the shield is ineffective, so he simply abandoned it. As expected of Eli-san!"

Amuro, as if suddenly enlightened, cheered for Eli with enthusiasm.

Soon, the battle between the two resumed.

This time, Russ noticed that Unit 5 no longer had a shield, and he understood Eli's intent.

"As expected of an ace pilot!"

However, Russ didn't follow Eli's example and discard his shield. Instead, he continued to keep half his body concealed.

"Come to think of it, since this is a training simulation, I don't have to specifically target the cockpit, do I?"

While evading, Eli suddenly had this thought.

Previously, during ground combat, he had to avoid shooting the nuclear reactor, as its detonation would result in mutual destruction.

Eli resumed his counterattack, firing three shots while still in motion.

However, unlike Russ's triangular formation of shots, Eli's were spread in a fan shape.

This effectively blocked Russ's options to dodge left or right.

Russ was forced to either ascend or descend.

Ascending would make him an easy target, so Russ had no choice but to abandon his height advantage and descend to avoid the beam attacks.

Confirming that his charge would not be disrupted, Eli immediately stepped on the pedal and rushed straight toward the high ground.

During this charge, Eli's now-free left hand drew the beam saber's hilt, though he refrained from activating it for the time being.

"This is bad," Russ thought, realizing Eli's intent to neutralize his long-range advantage.

He also discarded his shield and gripped his beam saber hilt, though he lacked confidence.

Even as a Gundam pilot, Russ was not skilled in MS close combat.

While he braced himself, a target lock-on alert suddenly blared!

Russ instinctively pulled the trigger with all his strength.

The beam struck the shadowy figure.

"Boom!"

However, the explosion was far less intense than expected.

Could it be…?

Unit 5 suddenly emerged from the side, pushing off the ground with its right leg and redirecting its charge toward Russ.

The same tactic again!

Seeing the empty right hand of Unit 5, Russ immediately realized that the object he had just hit was merely a discarded beam rifle.

As Unit 5 loomed larger in his view, Eli activated the Vulcan cannon mounted on the head of his MS, aiming at Russ's left hand, which held the beam saber.

"This is it," Russ thought, closing his eyes in resignation.

The system alerted him to damage: the Vulcan had directly struck his beam saber, causing it to detonate.

When he opened his eyes again, a beam saber emitting pink particles was inches from his cockpit.

"YOU LOSE!"

The large words on the display made Russ keenly aware of his shortcomings.

After exiting the cockpit, Russ climbed down the ladder.

Eli also emerged from his cockpit, and the two exchanged smiles.

"Haha, as expected of a frontline elite—I can't compare."

"Haha, I'll accept your praise. Honestly, I only won because of my piloting experience. I had the advantage of testing a pre-production model."

Neither harbored resentment over the outcome.

"If only we could fight side by side. But I suppose there won't be another chance."

The White Base and the Pureblood Stallion, both known for their exceptional solo combat capabilities, were assigned as decoy units to mask the main fleet's movements.

While some might see this as abandonment, it was, in fact, a prestigious task, one that regular units weren't qualified for.

"It doesn't matter—we're all fighting against Zeon, aren't we?"

"Exactly!"

Russ, a seasoned veteran of the Battle of Loum, appreciated Eli's words.

The two appeared ready to head to a bar for celebratory drinks.

Amuro and Fort exchanged a glance before stepping forward to pull their respective "mentors" back.

"You both had your fight—now it's my turn! Let's go, Amuro!"

Amuro nodded vigorously, clearly intrigued by the idea of piloting a Gundam.

Having witnessed Eli's tactics, he was eager to try MS combat himself.

The two entered their cockpits.

And shortly after, they exited.

"White Devil…"

When Kirsten returned to the hangar with Blade, they saw Fort slumped in a defeated pose near his MS, mumbling something incomprehensible.

Kirsten, still pondering Blade's earlier suggestions regarding the Pegasus-class port-side defenses, frowned and moved to inquire.

Russ stopped her with a pat on the shoulder.

"Leave him be. The kid's had enough of a shock—let him recover."

Russ wore an expression of helplessness.

"He got hit in the cockpit within seconds of the match starting. He didn't even get a good look at the map."

Blade's heart sank at this, and he turned to see Amuro being scolded by Eli in a corner.

Amuro looked apologetically at the collapsed Fort.