Simulated Combat

After recognizing who it was, Xiao Ran smiled faintly. He had spent several consecutive days using the virtual training simulator in the hangar, so he had long expected that someone would eventually discover he could pilot an MS. Besides, he had never intended to hide it. He remained perfectly open about it, without the slightest abnormality on his face.

The maintenance crew had never paid much attention to the fact that he monopolized the virtual training simulator every day. The simulator was placed in a corner, and unless someone came close, they could not see whether anyone was inside. Though they knew Xiao Ran sometimes used it, they had no idea whether he was studying MS Piloting or doing something else. Perhaps someone had guessed that he could pilot an MS, but they only assumed he was a beginner. No one had the time to concern themselves with him, much less report it to anyone.

Looking at Mu in his white military uniform, Xiao Ran stood with a smile. "Captain Mu, you said it yourself—I'm a teacher. As an instructor at an industrial university, I can pilot industrial MS. Naturally, operating combat MS wouldn't be much of a problem either."

"Is that so?" Mu smiled noncommittally. She walked over and sat where Xiao Ran had been standing, then began rapidly tapping away at the training simulator's keyboard. A string of data soon appeared before her eyes. Once she finished reading it, a trace of shock appeared in them.

What shocked Mu was not that Xiao Ran could pilot an MS. Someone capable of piloting industrial MS would have no great difficulty using the simulator's simplified learning mode for combat training. Of course, even among Naturals, there were not many who could pilot industrial MS.

From the perspective of someone who had participated in many battles, Xiao Ran's skill could not be called exceptional. At most, he was slightly above the level of an ordinary ZAFT soldier in the virtual simulator. One-on-one, he would not have much trouble, but in one-on-two situations—or the many-on-many conditions of a real battlefield—his Piloting Skill would only be enough to protect himself. If he had bad luck, failure would still be more likely.

What truly shocked Mu was the mode Xiao Ran had chosen and the unit he had operated. She had not expected Xiao Ran to select actual combat training mode rather than the simplified learning mode she had assumed he was using. That meant every movement of the MS had to be personally operated by Xiao Ran before it would be recognized as a valid action and displayed in the virtual training simulator. Being able to operate it like that in the simulator also meant he could perform the same operations in actual combat.

The second point was the unit Xiao Ran had chosen. The Earth Alliance and ZAFT had been at war for a long time, so capturing several Ginns was perfectly normal. As such, the virtual training simulator also contained standard Ginn data and settings.

However, the Ginn's settings in the virtual training simulator were entirely configured for Coordinators, without any alterations whatsoever. Unless someone modified it to use another OS, that was how it remained. Yet Xiao Ran had chosen a standard-configured Ginn. Even Mu could not guarantee that she could make such a Ginn move naturally in the virtual simulator. Moreover, Xiao Ran had even been able to pilot the data for the Strike Gundam with the OS modified by Kira. That was why Mu seemed so shocked after seeing it.

Mu turned her head, tilting it as she looked at Xiao Ran in surprise. "Are you a Coordinator?"

"I think you know my records better than I do, don't you?" Xiao Ran asked back with a hint of a smile. After agreeing to become the Archangel's sergeant in charge of fire control and Staff Officer under Mwu, his identity information had naturally become available to the people aboard the Archangel. Mu was one of them, so she naturally knew Xiao Ran was a Natural.

Mu narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then why can you use an OS that only Coordinators can use?"

"Hm?" Xiao Ran paused slightly at Mu's words, then asked in confusion, "Isn't the OS in the training simulator meant for Naturals?"

"You didn't know?" Mu stared at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me you didn't feel anything?"

Xiao Ran shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I really didn't know that."

Mu looked Xiao Ran up and down, suspicion flashing through her eyes from time to time. Xiao Ran's personal records were spotless. He had lived in Orb since childhood, then gone to Heliopolis to become an assistant instructor at an industrial university. For years, he had lived on Colony Satellites, with nothing at all suspicious about him.

Mu had also secretly asked Kira and Sai about Xiao Ran and learned some things about him. Although Xiao Ran himself did not even know those so-called details, they had ruled out the possibility that he was a ZAFT spy. Yet an ordinary person like this could operate an OS that only Newtypes could use. Naturally, Mu found that strange and confusing.

Mu shook her head and said to Xiao Ran with great interest, "Interested in competing with me once?"

"Of course." Though Xiao Ran had noticed the suspicion flickering in Mu's eyes, he trusted that the identity arranged by the system was flawless. He nodded eagerly.

The commotion between Xiao Ran and Mu also drew the attention of the others in the hangar. When they heard the two intended to conduct a virtual match using the training simulators, people had already crowded around the machines before the match even began. Kira and the others also hurried over after receiving the news.

When they saw Xiao Ran and Mu sitting face-to-face before two virtual training simulators, Kira and the others showed surprised expressions as well.

Miriallia asked in confusion, "What is Teacher doing? Can Teacher pilot an MS too?"

Sai thought for a moment. "Teacher should be able to pilot industrial MS, but I don't know about combat ones. Kira, Teacher has spent a lot of time with you lately. Didn't he mention it?"

"No. He only told me that I should study MS Piloting properly." Kira shook his head and focused his attention on the battle that had already begun.

"Look, it's starting! The unit Teacher chose is actually the Strike Gundam!" Tolle could not help letting out a quiet cry of surprise when he saw Xiao Ran's selection.

Sai raised a finger to his lips and said softly, "Quiet."

Xiao Ran, seated inside the virtual training simulator, also saw Kira and the others. After choosing his unit and battlefield, he even found time to smile and nod at them. Then he focused all his attention on the match.

Perhaps because he was somewhat nervous, Xiao Ran felt as though he had truly entered the Strike Gundam's cockpit. All the sounds around him seemed to fade away along with that sensation.

Piloting the Strike Gundam equipped with the Sky Striker Pack, Xiao Ran launched out from the catapult. Through the display before him, he saw a flash of light in the distance shoot out from another Archangel at a speed faster than his own, rapidly flying toward him.

A glance at the radar before him showed that it had clearly marked the rapidly moving point of light and displayed the model of the opposing unit.

"Moebius Zero. An MA really is a bit faster than an MS." Xiao Ran raised an eyebrow. No wonder Mu could fight several ZAFT Gundams while piloting the Moebius Zero. Of course, Mu's Piloting Skill was also a key reason.

Beep! Beep!

The urgent warning alarm snapped Xiao Ran back to his senses. Having gone through multiple simulated battles, he naturally knew it was a lock-on warning. Reflexively, he piloted the Strike Gundam to raise its shield before it and executed a standard spinning charge while advancing at high speed.

The moment Xiao Ran completed the maneuver, he saw a flash of light ahead. Then the chair beneath him shook slightly, and even the Strike Gundam's forward speed slowed a little.

As expected, fighting a real person is much harder than fighting a computer. This thought flashed through Xiao Ran's mind, followed by an excited smile. If I can spar like this regularly, my proficiency will rise incredibly fast.