On PLANT, at the ZAFT Military Academy.
Shinn, dressed in his green uniform, was in the dormitory flipping through a thick book of regulations.
"Shinn, today's a day off. Aren't you coming with us to hang out?" The other Coordinators in the dorm, wearing casual clothes, looked at Shinn, who was still in his uniform.
"No, I'm going to the library."
After finishing reading all the sections he needed from the regulations, Shinn closed the book.
At this moment, Shinn's single-core brain began to work rapidly, calculating how much money he had and how he could earn the bonuses listed above.
"Alright… don't overdo it, Shinn."
The other Coordinators in the dorm, after a brief encounter with Shinn, naturally inferred his situation.
After saying goodbye to them, Shinn tidied up, took three books, and left the dormitory.
Along the way, he kept seeing Coordinators in green walking in pairs or small groups, while various promotional posters were posted on nearby bulletin boards.
It seemed that ZAFT had been promoting someone recently… something about the "Moonlight Valkyrie"…
"Women… so troublesome."
Shinn stood in front of a bulletin board, looking at the battle reports squeezed into the corner by the posters, and sighed.
"When will I get to pilot an MS?"
"Oh? I didn't expect someone here to want to become a pilot."
A voice came from behind Shinn.
He turned and saw a blonde man in white clothing wearing a mask, and a middle-aged man in a politician's outfit.
Although he didn't know who they were, seeing the man in white, Shinn saluted.
"No need for formalities."
The man in the politician's outfit spoke, examining Shinn with interest. "As far as I know… many young people in PLANT are hesitant to pilot MS in the current war… why do you want to pilot one?"
"…Because of the bonuses."
Shinn answered without hesitation, leaving the other two stunned. "If I destroy enough Earth Alliance units, I can earn a lot of bonuses. This is a profit I can't get in other positions."
The two men were momentarily dumbfounded by Shinn's answer.
Used to young ZAFT soldiers giving passionate or hatred-filled reasons for fighting, Shinn's reason felt refreshingly straightforward.
Although Shinn could have said he hated the Earth Alliance, he knew his real goals: earn money, pay off debts, and save enough for a lifetime of comfort for himself and his sister.
Even though Roz had only said it verbally and never actually collected Shinn's repayments, Shinn still kept the owed amount in mind.
"Living expenses… or just love for money?"
The man in the politician outfit thought for a moment before speaking.
"I owe a lot of money, so I need to earn it."
Shinn shrugged. "May I go now? I need to return these books."
At this point, the two men noticed the books in Shinn's hands: a ZAFT regulations book, Introduction to MS Piloting, and Beginner MS Piloting.
"Durandal, this young man is interesting."
The masked man spoke.
"Indeed, I never expected this answer, Creuset."
Durandal narrowed his eyes at the titles in Shinn's hands.
"What's your name, recruit?"
"Shinn Asuka."
Shinn said his name without guard.
"Shinn Asuka… very well. We need to conduct a test now. Come with us."
Durandal thought for a moment and said, "Since you want to pilot an MS, we'll test your talent."
After observing him for several days, Durandal had found this opportunity to bring Shinn into the plan and wasn't going to miss it.
"Is there a bonus?"
Shinn glanced at the bulletin board's date and asked calmly, "I have other part-time work. If there's no bonus, I won't go."
"…Of course, there will be a bonus."
Durandal felt he would need to think about how to address Shinn properly.
"If you pass the test, you can become a test pilot and even have the chance to go to the battlefield."
"Shinn, test pilot pay is much higher than ordinary green uniforms."
Creuset realized Shinn's thoughts and got straight to the point, explaining the pay for a test pilot.
If he passed, he'd earn higher pay and bonuses; if not, it would just be a slight loss in his part-time income, which Shinn could accept.
Shinn thought for a moment, then looked up at Durandal and Creuset.
"I'll do my best to become a test pilot."
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Meanwhile, Roz Links, having just returned from the shipyard to Industrial Seven, received a communication.
When Roz arrived at the conference room, Murrue Ramius, Cagalli Yula Athha, and Lacus Clyne were already seated, talking with Halberton on the video.
"Hasn't been a few days, old man. I thought you'd been cleaned out."
Roz adjusted his mindset slightly and addressed Halberton on the video.
"I paid a high price to put on this act."
Halberton narrowed his eyes. "If it weren't for the mess you caused at the lunar base back then, I wouldn't have stayed silent for so long."
In fact, the Earth Alliance's investigation of the lunar base and its colonies was still ongoing, and the name "Amuro Ray" had vanished like a ghost.
Halberton, taking advantage of no longer being a suspect, quickly contacted Roz.
"In short, that faction called Foundation is not simple. A large portion of the lunar base already supports their actions."
Halberton spoke as he sent Roz a file.
"The Requiem project is still under construction at the original site. Without a doubt, Requiem is fully under Foundation's control."
"Still in the same place?"
Roz squinted as he looked at the information. "I remember I should have destroyed the site."
"They reinforced the upper abandoned parts and are continuing excavation below. The power of Buster's cannons can't penetrate the debris above to destroy the lower core."
Recalling the Narrative Gundam's previous assault and the current situation, Halberton sighed.
"In any case, we'll handle things here. Let's move to the next topic."
"The Earth Alliance's latest Garuda-class super transporters have been built, two units. They're transporting new-model Dagger-type MS, the second batch of enhanced humans, and a large amount of wetware to the Kaohsiung mass driver."
Halberton shook his head. "Most importantly, a Blue Cosmos researcher on wetware is aboard, claiming to have preliminary results in digitizing wetware…"
Bang…
The sudden, loud noise stunned everyone present.
Roz had slammed his fist on the conference table, his face dark.
After his encounter with the consciousness data, Roz was filled with both regret at his own lack of strength and a raging fury toward Blue Cosmos.
Now, Blue Cosmos wanted to produce even more "consciousness data." Undoubtedly, they were dancing on Roz's minefield.
"Time, place."
"…The details are in the file."
Halberton, clearly noticing Roz's anger, paused before speaking.
"If you intend to act… speed is essential."
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At a certain base of the Atlantic Federation, Natarle Badgiruel, having just finished training a batch of Archangel-class crew, rubbed her forehead.
At this moment, a group of soldiers habitually removed a batch of wetware wrapped in metal casing and replaced it with a new batch.
Recalling the contents of these "metal cans," Badgiruel felt a wave of discomfort. But under the current circumstances, she couldn't say so openly, and could only reduce the frequency with which the trainees used these "metal cans."
"Good work, Major Badgiruel. This batch of crew has also completed training."
Just as Badgiruel looked at the scene before her with some numbness, a voice sounded.
A military officer appeared before her, holding a folder.
"It seems you don't quite like the feeling of these smart components."
The officer scrutinized Badgiruel's reaction, narrowing his eyes. "May I ask why?"
To be honest, compared to other officers who were already proficient in using wetware, fundamentalists like Badgiruel naturally drew the attention of headquarters.
"…Probably because I feel these things aren't very reliable. Who knows when they might malfunction."
After a brief silence, Badgiruel gave her reply. "I'm still more accustomed to commanding human crew."
"I see… It's similar to the viewpoint of General Halberton of the Eighth Fleet."
The officer nodded, as if confirming something. "Truly an excellent officer coming from the Eighth Fleet."
Faced with the officer's praise, Badgiruel narrowed her eyes.
"If there's something you need to say, just say it. Don't beat around the bush."
"A batch of new-model Dagger units, along with some 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 Badgiruel. "In short, headquarters orders you to board the latest Garuda-class transport three days from now and head to the Kaohsiung mass driver. You will be responsible for organizing the new fleet at the lunar base."
Badgiruel was somewhat puzzled as to why headquarters was reassigning her, but out of her duty as a soldier, she accepted the assignment.
......................