"I knew this would happen..."
Watching the two of them, Instructor Kelvin sighed and slapped his forehead. "You're free to do whatever you want. Suit yourselves."
He really couldn't keep these guys in line.
But they were all strong, anyway, so he might as well let them do as they pleased.
"Why do you insist on doing something so pointless every time, Instructor? You knew from the start that Yzak and the others wouldn't listen to you."
Dearka's voice drifted over.
"..."
Instructor Kelvin felt as if someone had poked him right in the heart.
He didn't actually want to do this, but he was an instructor. Even if he was only an assistant, he was still an instructor, after all.
Being unable to keep his students in line was a huge blow to any instructor.
"But don't worry. All you have to do is beat Athrun and the others the next time you have a private match. Keep it up! I believe in you!"
"......Dearka!"
Instructor Kelvin, who'd just been stabbed again, gritted his teeth as he spat out Dearka's name.
"Haha!"
After making fun of him, Dearka hung up before Kelvin could reply.
Seeing that, Instructor Kelvin nearly climbed into a Mobile Suit and went over to teach them the meaning of respecting their elders.
But that was only a passing thought, because... he couldn't beat them.
Instructor Kelvin was almost thirty this year, and his reflexes couldn't compare to those of Athrun and the others, who were only fifteen or sixteen.
As for combat experience, sometimes you just had to admit that some people were freaks of nature—especially the best and brightest among the Coordinators.
A few months of study were enough to give them a lead other Coordinators would spend their whole lives trying to catch up to.
"Um, Instructor Kelvin, what should we do next?"
While Instructor Kelvin was silently wallowing in self-pity and trying to console himself, Ino Kamal couldn't help coming over.
Athrun and the others were already training. Even if I got in through connections, I can't just stand here and watch.
Looking at the thirst for knowledge in Ino Kamal's eyes, and the eagerness with which he looked to Kelvin for guidance, Instructor Kelvin suddenly felt comforted.
Thank goodness, thank goodness there's still a young man here who wants me to teach him.
"Come on. I'll teach you how to pilot a Mobile Suit!"
Filled with deep respect for his role as an instructor, and hoping to regain his confidence, Instructor Kelvin led Ino Kamal toward Training Unit 31, which had been brought over temporarily.
In truth, Class One had only thirty units.
Or rather, only the top thirty students in the whole school got the special privilege of having their own Mobile Suit during training.
Students in the other classes had to share one Mobile Suit between three people.
But with Ino Kamal joining the class unexpectedly, that number had gone from thirty to thirty-one.
Of course, this didn't come without a price. Over the next month, Ino Kamal had to prove himself worthy of his rank.
The lift raised him up.
For the first time, Ino Kamal saw a real Mobile Suit cockpit.
"This is the power output meter, battery gauge, speedometer, altimeter, throttle, weapon selection dial, thrust gauge, power pedal..."
Instructor Kelvin explained everything in great detail.
It was almost entirely pointless for Ino, since he'd already memorized all of this while preparing to join the MS Training Class.
But Instructor Kelvin was being so earnest that Ino couldn't bring himself to interrupt. He could only keep listening to the instructor's explanations, in case there was something he didn't know.
Five minutes passed in a flash—
Ino nodded now and then.
Ten minutes passed—
Ino's lips began to twitch, because Instructor Kelvin had started talking about his glorious past.
Fifteen minutes passed—
"You know, I once sent a Mobile Armor from the Earth Alliance flying with a spinning back kick. So remember, even without weapons, our Mobile Suits can still—"
"Instructor!"
Ino finally couldn't take it anymore and cut him off. "Um, I haven't even started up the unit yet. Isn't it a little early to be talking about all that?"
"Huh? Oh, right. You've never piloted a Mobile Suit, so you don't know how difficult those moves are. Come on, I'll show you..."
"No, no, it's fine! I'll do it myself!"
Ino nearly slapped the instructor right out of the cockpit. Who was supposed to be learning here, him or me?
Couldn't he read the room?
"All right, then. Just be careful. Call me if you have any problems. There's an emergency stop button here. If anything happens, just press it."
Instructor Kelvin sounded reluctant to stop.
"Okay, I will."
Ino nodded, then shut the cockpit hatch, leaving Instructor Kelvin outside.
He thought he understood why Yzak and the others couldn't stand the instructor.
It wasn't that he was a bad person. He just talked a little too much.
"......"
Seeing that, Instructor Kelvin opened his mouth, then closed it again. He still had plenty more to say.
But never mind. He'd have plenty of chances later.
After all, there were only a few monsters like Athrun in all of ZAFT.
Ino Kamal was already a monster who ranked first in the command department. He probably wasn't especially talented at piloting Mobile Suits.
This time, he was determined to establish an instructor's authority and status—quietly resolving himself to this, Instructor Kelvin left the lift platform.
Inside the cockpit.
After hearing Instructor Kelvin's instructions,
Ino took a deep breath and pressed the Mobile Suit's start button, his heart pounding with excitement.
The dim cockpit lit up, and the dark instrument panel began to come alive.
The mono-eye on the Mobile Suit's head flashed. Images from outside, captured by the head sensors, appeared on the cockpit screens.
The human eye typically had a field of view of 124 degrees. The maximum horizontal field of view for one eye was 156 degrees, and for both eyes it was 188 degrees. The limits of the field of view were about 150 degrees vertically and 230 degrees horizontally.
The screen before him was designed around the human field of view. It gave him a sense of being right there, and the view from above seemed to sweep over his brain.
"Phew..."
Looking down at Instructor Kelvin, who seemed tiny below, Ino tried to calm his racing heart. He slowly pressed his right foot against the power pedal.
Vrrr—
As power continued to flow, the unit's engine roared. Its steel right leg lifted forward, then came down.
Thud!
The tremor of steel striking the earth traveled up from below. This was the first step Ino had taken while piloting a Mobile Suit.
The feedback from the tremor he had created himself made a strange light flicker through Ino's eyes. A peculiar feeling welled up inside him.
At that moment, he felt as if the unit had come alive, as though the steel had become an extension of his body.
Under Instructor Kelvin's watchful gaze, the Mobile Suit piloted by Ino turned its head and looked at its slowly rising right hand.
Clench, open, clench, open—
After testing it a few times, Ino tore his gaze away from his repeatedly clenching and unclenching right hand and looked toward the ground ahead of the hangar. Athrun and Yzak's units were engaged in close combat there.
Watching them move beneath the sunlight, Ino began pressing his left foot against the pedal and piloted the Mobile Suit forward.
Thud!
The Mobile Suit's left leg stepped forward and landed, and its right foot followed—
Slowly, amid the exhilarating rumble of its footsteps, Unit 31, piloted by Ino, walked out of the Mobile Suit hangar and stood beneath the brilliant sunlight.
"His balance is remarkably steady. He's got potential."
Instructor Kelvin couldn't help feeling surprised as he looked at the feedback on the screen.
The balance feedback data from the Mobile Suit Ino was piloting was excellent, almost on par with an ordinary person's sense of balance.
That meant Ino had passed the first hurdle of Mobile Suit piloting.
Although training Mobile Suits came with a balance system, it didn't actually do much.
In space combat, Mobile Suits flew around, and twisting and turning were all part of the job. In that kind of situation, talking about gravity balance was...
Instructor Kelvin's thoughts were unknown to Ino.
He was immersed in the complicated emotions brought on by piloting a Mobile Suit for the first time.
If not for the former owner of this body's damnable identity and the war that was about to break out, being a Mobile Suit pilot would be an incredibly exciting job.
Thud, thud, thud—
The repeated tremors echoed across the ground.
Two Mobile Suits were engaged in close combat over there. According to the radar readings and data, they were Athrun's Unit 1 and Yzak's Unit 3.
Units 2 and 4 stood off to either side.
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