A week into joining Anaheim, Maya has spent the majority of her time training in simulations and getting the hang of how Mobile Suits operate.
The girl ended up claiming the top 4 just below Suzaku. The first one was Kallen, followed by Jeanne, then Suzaku, and finally Maya.
Legion measured their reaction and response time when making the ratings.
As the pilots were training, Anaheim's space industry continued to expand, with two more refineries and assembly lines opening.
This allowed two of them to focus on habitat construction while one was working to roll out weapons, mobile suits and even… parts for space shipyards.
Before long, Marcus welcomed something that kept him grinning for hours upon hours.
And that is Gundams… first Gundams!
They are not classified as 3rd-generation machines, but rather the bridge that will bring generations closer together.
"...I did say that I will pilot Lancelot… why are you giving me a machine, Lelouch?" Suzaku, dressed in a black and purple Anaheim uniform, complained to his friend.
Lloyd, who was there, flinched when his machine was mentioned.
"Because Lloyd needs to rebuild Lancelot from scratch to meet Anaheim standards. He literally has no time, and pumping my technology to a Knightmare is like putting a plane engine on a Mini Cooper."
Suzaku imagined a small car with a plane jet engine on its roof…
He immediately grimaced from realisation.
"S-Shut up! It's not my fault, there-there are hundreds of things to do!" The nerdy developer of Lancelot pointed his finger at Lelouch and Suzaku.
While amusing, there were more people with them. Among them, Marcus' knights were there.
"Show some respect to my Prince!" Jeremiah trembled with anger for a second.
"It's fine, Jeremiah, Lloyd operates differently; he means no harm." Marcus calmed one of his knights.
"I assume that you will show something to us, my Prince?" Kewell asked as he realised that he was among a specific group of pilots.
"As Suzaku has mentioned, you five will be receiving special machines as I will be transferring you five to special forces." The prince's words caused all of them to gulp with a bit of excitement.
'Special machines? Like those KK-units?'
Jeremiah, Villieta and Kewell could barely control themselves.
"You five will have two missions. Primary mission will always be to test them to the very limit, and the other part will be to wreak havoc behind the enemy lines."
"So, something like behind frontlines kind of thing?" Maya asked, she recalled reading about this in the World War that happened nearly a hundred years ago, when Britannia used to drop paratroopers from planes.
"Indeed. That is why you five will be piloting the most advanced machines in the world."
As the prince said, he got them into a hangar that took them underground with a large lift.
Soon enough, the lift arrived, but it was completely dark.
"Now feast your eyes on proto generation three machines!"
One by one, five light projectors focused on the new machines; they all had distinctive V-shaped visors.
'Samurai?'
Maya and Suzaku immediately realised what those visors were.
"Meet G-Project Weapons, or Gundam for short. Constantly calling my top-class machines 'Knightmare Killers' is a bit too much, as we are moving away from Knightmares.
Satellite footage has shown that Britannians are gathering MORE resources than usual. Legion's predictions are that Britannia are designing its first Mobile Suits as we speak."
"...So these are your answer to other mobile suits?" Suzaku asked as he was moved, seeing that these machines reminded him of Samurai!
He is no longer bothered that he can't pilot Lancelot!
"Yes, you could say these are my Gloucesters to enemies Sutherlands."
"...Anti-Mobile Suit machines…" The guys realised what this meant.
"In a way. Each of these has a specific role to play in a battle." Marcus walked to the first mobile suit.
"While they have specific roles, they are all packed with prototype technologies.
For example, the most obvious one is the new second-generation armour, the Phase Shift Armour. The Nano-Metal, which is based on, has constant energy flow through it."
With a flick of the hologram tap, a flow of energy washed over the machine, and it changed the colour.
"This new type of armour even protects from Beam weaponry, not just physical protection."
"So you already expect Britannia to have beam weapons?" Suzaku asked. He was surprised that Marcus was already making preparations against that!
"Britannia got their hands on 3 of our Beam Weapons in California, it's only a matter of time until they make plasma-based weaponry." The Exiled Prince explained to him.
"Don't those weapons have different types of batteries? Energy Fillers don't have enough power to sustain such a weapon." Maya chipped in. The girl studied mechs. Her talent is in piloting, so she studied everything about machines she could pilot.
"Indeed. But we should not underestimate the biggest country in the world. With my brother at the helm, he won't fall behind for long." Marcus slowly nodded, but then reminded them of the Prime Minister.
"...Is that why our backdoors in Britannian systems ceased to work?" The black-haired girl asked with a small frown.
"Indeed. Schneizel ripped their network apart just to stop Legion. From what I've seen in satellite pictures, they are spending billions of pounds on rebuilding everything from scratch." Marcus frowned a bit when he said that.
Most likely, they will have a new system in place as well.
"Regardless, now let's get back to good stuff."
He returned to the machine before them.
"Apart from Phase-Shift Armour, this mech has a prototype source of energy—the Proto 3rd Generation Solar Fusion Reactor.
While it doesn't have a Gravity Resonator, the power output of the mobile is around 6 times that of the Divine Arms KK unit."
"....S-Six times!?"
"Indeed, a new type of energy access allows greater energy control. Not just output but control in general.
Instead of Sakuradite rods, we use hexagon-shaped energy absorbers. This is something Nina came up with." Marcus winked at the nerdy girl who was at the back.
The girl blushed when she was mentioned.
"This is why, because of better energy utilisation, the Ion Technology access is better as well.
That is why these machines perform better in flight. …However." Marcus got serious a bit.
"These mechs don't have more than necessary Ion Thrusters, because a thruster is an easily damageable part of the frame."
"Even so, isn't it enough?" Suzaku never understood the overly abundant trusters.
"Fidelity, Suzaku, on top of that, the magnetic field around these machines isn't there. But it's enough. You will be there fighting behind enemy lines, not to make it like a light show."
'Did he just confirm the fact that his KK machines are there to make a light show?'
Both Suzaku and Maya smirked, realising that the Prince acknowledged what his machines do.
"My Prince doesn't mean that without the field, the enemy machines have the ability to see these new models?" Jeremiah asked.
"Not really, Ion Thruster by its nature generates interference in unprotected technology. That includes cameras.
However, my Ion Technology is no longer purely Anaheim Technology anymore.
The thruster has fallen into the hands of the Britannians." Marcus frowned while saying that. The rest of them joined in that regard.
"But… Setantas don't have the same thrust power. Is it the same technology?" Kewell recalled all the times he saw Setantas easily get beaten by the Princess' Morrigan in a spar.
"They are nonetheless Ion Technology."
"Yes. But without a decent power source, they can't utilise that technology." Lloyd chipped in from the back as he looked at the machine before them.
"Yes. Anyway, thrusters aside, this machine before you all is AGF-01 Gundam Strike. The machine's special trait is its special backpack utilisation technology and its hands that allow utilisation of every single Anaheim weaponry."
"While it doesn't have any special weapons now, it has a selection of backpacks that it can use depending on the situation. Think of this machine as a jack of all trades."
"How will it be able to access its backpacks?"
"Airship or spaceship, depending on where it will be stationed," Marcus explained.
"Our new line of warships will join us soon, as we will start mounting our attacks on the Britannian homeland."
"!"
The pilot looks shocked for a second. Warships? As in regular ships or…
"They are built in orbit and will soon join us, soon."
'Of course, spaceships, I doubt Lelouch even acknowledges regular ships.' Suzaku deadpanned at that thought. He imagined his friend mocking regular ships.
"That is good to hear. One thing we lacked was a navy of some sort." Jeremiah and the other two purebloods nodded in agreement.
"Indeed." Marcus nodded as well before he looked at Maya.
"Strike is yours, Maya."
"...!?"
The black-haired girl gawked at the prince for a second.
But he ignored it as he moved to the next machine.
He didn't even give a chance to ask!
"Next is AGF-11 Duel Gundam. Mid-range to close-range mobile suit. Equipped with weapons for melee exchange.
It has experimental additional armour modules. In other words, you can suit it up further for more protection." The Inventor Prince explained to the gathered pilots.
"Apart from that, it has the next-generation Heavy Beam Rifle and beam sabers. On the shoulder, it could be equipped with an optional rail gun for range support if needed."
Marcus explained before he looked at Suzaku.
"This machine is yours, Suzaku."
"!"
The Exiled Prince continued to the next one.
"AGF-21 Gundam Aegis."
"This machine is equipped with a prototype observation module allowing enchanted combat data gathering capabilities.
Think of it like a commander machine that allows you to assess the situation in the middle of combat.
On top of that, it has two transformation forms: the cruising mode and the claw mode.
It's equipped with a chest particle cannon as well for a surprise shot." The Inventor explained as he showed them how the machine turned on. It was striking red.
"Jeremiah, you will pilot this."
"...You named it Aegis… the mythical shield… Jeremiah accepts this 'shield' with the greatest honour!"
The man immediately dropped to one knee.
"Relax, my knight. It's the lord's duty to provide the knight with a suitable weapon." Marcus motioned for him to calm down.
As they went to the next machine.
"AGF-31 Buster Gundam. The gunnery type of machine that is equipped with loads of weapons. Main armament is a custom Beam rifle that can merge with a Beam Shotgun. Depending on how you load the weapons, it can become a hyper-powered shotgun or long-range beam rifle.
It's a prototype modular weapon utilisation. Of course, those are not all of the weapons. This machine has custom weapon mounts on its body.
"For example, the current loadout has shoulder and leg missile pods."
"...Just how many weapons do you plan to add?" Suzaku grimaced. This frame is a walking missile!
"As many as necessary." Marcus chuckled before looking at Kewell.
"This is your machine, Kewell."
The brown-haired man scrambled to salute, looking ecstatic.
"It will be my honour, My Prince!"
The prince smiled before looking at the last machine.
"Come, we have one more, and it's yours, Villeta," Marcus said as he made them look at the last one.
"AGF-41 Blitz Gundam. The Recon and infiltration Gundam. Equipped with prototype camouflage technology that allows the machine to use its Phase-Armour to deploy a layer of particles that reflect sunlight and most of the visible spectrum.
On top of that, it has a prototype multipurpose shield that works like a holster for soundless needles and a beam rifle.
The rifle is special as it shoots in a crescent shape instead of a linear shape. Apart from that, it features a trident for underwater operations and a hook with a special nano-metal rope.
In other words, this machine is special for undercover missions if necessary."
"...Oh, like those movies with agents and stuff?" Maya commented with wonder in her eyes.
"Just like the movies." Marcus nodded back at her.
"Honestly, Blitz has the most prototype technologies of them all." The Prince concluded.
"You don't say!" Lloyd, all of a sudden, complained! "You made us work overtime!"
"...But Lloyd, you like working," Suzaku commented, confused.
"I know, right?" The Inventor nodded with crossed arms.
"It's like he can't work anymore."
"I can! But you made us do so many projects at once!"
"And, you said you like many projects," Marcus shrugged at him.
The nerd realised that he shouldn't boast that he can handle all the work thrown at him. Unlike Schneizel, who is not that tech savvy, Marcus, on the other hand, knows his technology and knows how to make Lloyd eat his words…