Save the Day Program, once again. (Gundam IBO/Satisfactory SI): Chapter 28

“-We are also expecting some kind of declaration from Arbrau about-There they are!”

At the reporter’s words, the camera panned towards the entrance of the conference room, where nearly every player, big and small, had gathered for the auction.

As the doors of the room opened, three figures walked in. The men at the front while the woman walked behind one of the men.

The cameramen kept the camera focused on the men as the reporter started talking again.

“As our viewers can see, Lord Rustal Ellion of the Ellion family, representing Gjallarhorn, has also arrived at this auction. Given the news we got before, he seems to be here for security, along with his fleet. However, it is a real surprise to see Mr. David Thornton of FICSIT Inc with him.”

“Quick! Let’s get a word from them-“

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“Lord Fareed, everything is ready.”

At those words, McGillis Fareed, the heir of the Fareed family, got up from the luxurious couch and turned the TV off.

“Hey! I was watching that!”

McGillis smiled at one of his only two friends.

“Come on, Gaelio. We have much more important things to do.”

The man with periwinkle hair and blue eyes stared with a fond exasperation at McGillis.

“More important than knowing what one of the most powerful men in Gjallarhorn is up to while meeting with one of the most powerful industrialists ever?”

“Yes.”

“….Fine. Let’s see what’s got you so hyped up.”

“…Where did you learn to speak like that?”

“Blame Almiria for this. She’s been hooked on those shows that FICSIT’s been putting out recently and pulled me for multiple late-night sessions for it.”

As his best friend spoke about his sister’s actions and her nagging, McGillis could not help but smile fondly as his cold and dead heart warmed a little bit.

In his life, McGillis only had three people whom he was willing to call family.

Gaelio Bauduin, the heir of the Bauduin family. Carta Issue, the heir of the Issue family, and Almiria Bauduin, the younger sister of Gaelio and his fiancée.

So it was no surprise that he would feel glad that one of his only friends was enjoying his life as much as possible, living a relatively mundane life with his sister.

And he would make sure that such days will continue for all of his friends even if it costed him his life.

Because if he could not do so and his friends were exposed to the harshness of life as he had been, then he truly would have no choice but to kill his heart for good, along with the only connections he had left.

It was a twisted way of thinking. A broken way of thought belonging to a broken man. But it was something that McGillis had come to terms a long time ago.

Soon, the two arrived at one of the testing facilities aboard their Skipjack-class ship, where various groups of scientists were working on a mobile suit and its armaments.

One of the scientists saw the approaching duo and walked towards them with a smile.

“Lord Fareed! It is a pleasure.”

“The pleasure is mine, Dr. Torenov. How are the tests going?”

The aging scientist grinned at those words before ushering them towards his station.

“Beyond our most optimistic projections. I never knew that the Zaku-frames could be so modular, as if they were designed to be upgraded with various different suits according to the requirements. If I were a betting man, I would say FICSIT had been working on introducing different toolkits for the frame later down the line.”

“I see. It would make sense. In that case, I assume our modifications won’t be a problem?”

“Of course not! We are nearly done already.”

The man motioned towards the Mobile Suit that looked nothing like the Zaku but still had its core frame within it.

“We have already replaced the fuel-based generator with one of our Ahab reactors. While doing this has removed one of its greatest advantages, which was its speed, by adding the extra weight of the Half-Metal shielding to prevent the Ahab particles from interfering with the electronics onboard, it has removed the problem of limited operational time. Besides, the weight and speed issue is relatively easy to solve since we have added more thrusters that we appropriated from other Zaku units.”

McGillis could see that much.

The Mobile Suit which looked like a standard Graze frame but was in fact a Zaku-Frame on the inside now had twice the amount of thrusters on its chassis, allowing it to keep its mobility while using the much heavier Ahab reactor compared to its fuel generator, and with the additional weight of Half-Metal shielding.

The scientist continued talking as he too stared at the machine with excitement.

“Aside from that, we have modified the Heat Hawk to work with the lower power output of the Ahab reactor, along with changing the OS to accommodate the modifications done to the machine. It can now use the standard Mobile Suit kits of Gjallarhorn forces.”

Then, the scientist turned towards the duo and grinned.

“I have also installed that into the machine as well.”

This time, McGillis’s eyes widened in surprise.

“That quickly? I thought it would take more time?”

“It would have, but Gjallarhorn has a comprehensive library of the technology stored within its archives. With your credentials, it was child’s play to access that technology and implement it.”

“…I see. When is the test scheduled?”

“We can go right now if you want.”

“Let’s do it.”

McGillis did not hesitate as he said those words, making the scientist extremely happy as he guided the two men through the facility.

While they walked, Gaelio could not help but speak out about his doubts about this project.

“McGillis, I get that you want to protect Gjallarhorn's interests and wish to one-up FICSIT. But I don’t understand what you intend to do by removing the only advantages of the Zaku-frames like this and turning them into generic Mobile Suits.”

“Don’t worry. You will see soon enough.”

Soon, the two men arrived in another hangar’s observation room from which they could see that a Mobile Suit weapon was being held aloft in the arms of another Mobile Suit identical to the test unit held on the other side.

Unlike with the test suit, this one had all of its armor parts removed, showing the modified Zaku-Frame beneath the Graze armor disguise.

As soon as they arrived, Dr. Torenov walked to the microphone that would let him communicate with his colleagues.

“Attention. We have been given the go ahead for Live Fire test. I repeat, we are ready for Live Fire test.”

As soon as his words were heard, the men within the hangar scrambled to get out of the room and head to their designated stations while another crew began rolling in standard Zaku-Frame armor into the hangar.

Within minutes, everything was ready, letting the men watch silently as Dr. Torenov commenced the test.

“All clear. Preparations complete for primary systems test.”

“Begin diagnostics. I want a go, no-go on all systems.”

“Ahab reactor within estimated threshold. Go on my front.”

“Backup Batteries operational. Go.”

“Frame Integrity sensors are online. Go.”

“Coolant systems show no errors. Go.”

“Magnetic Lenses are online. Go.”

“Optic-based targeting systems are online. Go.”

“All systems Go confirmed. Beginning first firing test for Mobile Suit grade Beam Cannon.”

As soon as Gaelio heard the word ‘Beam Cannon’, a chill shot down his spine as he stared at his friend with horror.

Before the heir of the Bauduin family could speak out, the massive weapon fired under the remotely controlled Mobile Suit, firing a beam of energy that impacted the Zaku-Frame armor arranged in front of it.

The armor resisted the effects of the beam for barely a couple of seconds before the energy weapon blew through the armor and was stopped by the Nanolaminate armor of the hanger.

“Test successful. I repeat, test successful. Return to your stations.”

With those words, Dr. Torenov walked back to the two men.

“Well? What do you think?”

“You outdid yourself, Dr. Torenov. How quickly can we have a prototype be tested in the field?”

“Within a month or two at most.”

“Good-“

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? DON’T YOU KNOW BEAM WEAPONS ARE OUTLAWED BY GJALLARHORN? AND HOW DID IT BREAK THROUGH THE NANOLAMINATE ARMOR OF LIKE THAT?”

The two men were interrupted from speaking when Gaelio couldn’t hold on anymore.

Before Gaelio could continue ranting, McGillis placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down, Gaelio-“

“Calm down!? How can I-“

Dr. Torenov watched with silence as McGillis Fareed simply guided his friend out of the room while the heir of the Bauduin family continued ranting.

While the reasoning of his superiors was something that the scientist could not care less about. He did agree with McGillis Fareed on one thing.

It is better to be prepared for the best while hoping for the best than to be caught off guard and be unable to defend.

It was the reason why they had revived this forbidden technology from before the Calamity War, hoping to get back the edge against FICSIT Inc and their Zaku-Frames, believing that their hybrid Nanolaminate armor which was made with an unknown alloy would not be able to deflect Beam weapons as standard Nanolaminate armor could since they did not work with Ahab reactors.

And given the success shown in this demonstration, their assumptions were right.

However, despite this reasoning, Dr. Torenov still felt a little trepidation.

For he felt like they were opening a Pandora’s box, one that cannot be closed again once opened, and if they made a wrong move, they would not be the only ones to pay the price.

With those thoughts, the old man returned to his work, preparing to further test the weapon that would give them the edge against the Zaku-Frames, which, while having inferior Nanolaminate armor, were nearly invincible against most kinds of kinetic attacks.