Chapter 217: Records of This Event Also Exist in a Certain Eastern Power
"All systems on the NT-X are functioning normally. Please rest assured!"
Inside the dock operated by Yashima Heavy Industries, located in the city of Granada on the far side of the Moon, a maintenance technician spoke as Amuro approached.
"Understood. Thank you."
Amuro saluted the technician in acknowledgment, then turned his gaze to the machine before him.
The NT-X still ranked among the top-tier mobile suits in this era.
However, its base was ultimately the NT-1 from the One Year War era. Especially now that it had been forcefully integrated with the Psycommu system, its frame fatigue had to be regularly inspected.
"By the way, this is the new modification plan from Christina. She's proposing to build a pair of arms with movable frames to assess their actual combat performance."
"I see... It's still a test unit, after all."
Amuro looked up, meeting the gaze of the machine's twin camera sensors.
"This will be the first time we apply movable frame technology in live combat. If there are any issues, please report them immediately."
The technician adjusted the brim of his cap as he spoke to Amuro.
"This is a real gamble... What if something goes wrong on the battlefield?"
"Well, we're so far behind Anaheim's development pace that we have no choice."
The technician turned his head, glancing toward the far end of the hangar.
There, two classic red-and-white GM-Q types of the Federation were being dismantled.
"That's why we're forced to rely on such aggressive testing methods. But if it's you, Captain Amuro, I'm confident everything will be fine."
"Spare me... That kind of faith just adds pressure."
Amuro knew his piloting skills were solid enough that even if something went wrong in battle, he'd still be able to survive.
Of course, he believed he could do more than just survive—so long as even one arm remained functional, he had the confidence to crush any Zeon remnants in Earth's sphere.
This confidence stemmed from the A Baoa Qu battle, where he'd annihilated Zeon's ace unit with a heavily damaged NT-1.
"Still, even with this approach, catching up to Anaheim's progress sounds like a pipe dream."
"Are you sure it's okay to say that?"
"I'm just being honest. We still don't understand how the torso section of a fully movable frame is arranged."
The technician sounded genuinely troubled.
"It's a real headache."
Amuro sighed with him.
As a former tech geek himself, Amuro understood just how tricky these kinds of challenges could be.
If they were lucky, even breaking through within a year would be considered a success.
"If only we had a mobile suit with a fully movable frame to study..."
The technician sighed wistfully.
"I heard that back in the old days, some countries figured out submarine structures from toy models. Maybe we should go buy a model from Anaheim?"
Amuro had gotten to the point where he could joke like this with others now.
"Come on, thanks to you guys, Anaheim can't even make realistic models anymore. Even if they could, they wouldn't be stupid enough to leak classified designs."
The two shared a laugh. It was just a fantasy born from too many sleepless nights tightening bolts.
"Alright, there's still time before the arm replacement project begins. But the hull replacement for the White Base is almost finished. We should be able to swap out the arms during the next scheduled maintenance."
After taking the unit on a test flight outside the dock, Amuro returned to his room with a yawn.
Last night had been a rare moment of free time, and he'd ended up building Gunpla until nearly 2 or 3 a.m.
He glanced at the half-assembled RX-78-2 MS model on his desk, feeling a faint throb in his head.
Completing the build and displaying it on his desk would definitely bring a sense of fulfillment, but the building process itself was a bittersweet form of joy.
Amuro sat at his desk, intent on finishing the model in the final hours before departure.
He reached out and picked up the half-finished model, weighing it in his hand.
Because it used a shell structure, the Gundam currently only had an upper torso.
Suddenly, Amuro raised an eyebrow as he weighed the model.
The weight felt... off.
Out of the corner of his eye, something in the model display case began to draw his attention.
That old story he'd shared with the technician resurfaced in his mind.
"No way..."
He murmured in disbelief, but still found himself stepping toward the object.
It was the Gunpla of the NT-X, gifted to him by Kamille—someone who had left a deep impression on him back on Green Noah.
Amuro picked it up and compared it to the RX-78-2 in his other hand.
The weight... was nearly the same.
And the RX-78-2 wasn't even fully assembled yet.
He brought the NT-X Gunpla to his desk and sat down slowly.
He hesitated for a moment—it was a gift from Kamille, after all. Was it really okay to take it apart?
But the thought was quickly brushed aside.
"Sorry, Kamille."
He closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in apology before beginning the disassembly, starting with the arm.
However, the arm wouldn't come off.
If it had been the RX-78-2, this amount of force would've risked damaging the joints.
Unable to fully remove the arm, Amuro settled for posing it in a raised-arm position and started dismantling the left arm's parts.
Just that one move made his whole body shiver.
An overwhelming sense of wonder rose in his heart.
"Kamille... you've given me a tremendous gift."
Driven by that feeling, Amuro proceeded to fully disassemble the Gunpla.
Or more accurately—he removed the outer armor.
He now sat slack-jawed in his chair, staring at the NT-X placed on the cutting mat.
Strictly speaking, what lay before him was the Gunpla's internal frame.
That's right—the frame.
"It's real..."
Amuro muttered, thoughts swirling through his mind.
It was already the next day, but he had only spent about an hour and a half actually taking apart the model.
The rest of the time had gone into scanning the frame into his computer.
Using all the mechanical knowledge he had acquired so far, Amuro had verified the frame's authenticity.
The conclusion was—
"This really is a functional movable frame..."
Though compromises had been made to adapt it into a Gunpla, the frame's layout was undeniably mature. It had clearly overcome material limitations and only needed scaling up to be put to use.
"This is Bright. The White Base is preparing to depart. All personnel, ready up..."
Amuro stood up, snapping out of his stupor like waking from a dream.
"Hold it—get me Lieutenant Hayato immediately!"
He shouted into the comm.