First Time Piloting an MS

At Athrun's words, the others set aside their thoughts and all looked toward the source of the voice. Even Diakka, who had been grinning and joking around the whole time, could not help but focus.

They all wanted to see what was so outstanding about someone a White uniform thought highly of.

Before long, under everyone's watchful eyes, Noel crossed the field and followed the MS Training Instructor onto the lift platform.

As the platform rose, the two arrived before the cockpit located in the mech's chest.

Open the hatch~

Sit in the cockpit~

"Do you know the specific operating procedures?" The instructor responsible for teaching MS Piloting asked Noel, who had just settled into the seat, from outside the cockpit.

"I know... a little." Noel looked at the buttons and various components surrounding his seat and began to feel a little nervous.

"Do you know how to start an MS?" the instructor continued.

This batch of students had only just enrolled, so Noel's answer did not surprise him. Or rather, this was the normal answer.

After all, if a student from the Mecha Maintenance Class could hop into an MS and start running around right away, that would be downright absurd.

"I do." Noel hurriedly nodded. He could at least find the switches and such.

"Do you know how to move its legs?"

"I know... a little."

"What about arm movements?"

"I know... a little."

"Can you understand this stabilizer?"

"I can!"

"Then that's enough."

"Okay... Huh!? That's enough?"

Noel was about to nod on reflex, but the instructor's unreliable words startled him. That was far too perfunctory!

"What else?" the instructor asked in return.

Most students in the Mecha Maintenance Class were logistics personnel and did not need to personally take the field to kill enemies.

The main purpose of letting them pilot an MS this time was not truly to make the mech class students understand how to use a mech. It was merely to let them learn about an MS's normal operating condition and experience it firsthand.

Did they really think every Coordinator could sit in an MS and take on a hundred enemies alone?

Noel was completely dumbfounded after hearing that. No wonder the best result among the dozen-odd Mecha Maintenance Class students who had used this mech was merely taking a few steps around the field before returning.

So the old man had played a part in that too!

"Try it yourself first. I'll head down now. If anything goes wrong or you lose control midway, there's an emergency brake here that can force the MS to stop. But don't leave your designated practice area, and try to stay away from the crowd and other MS units," the instructor said as he stepped onto a nearby lift.

It was no wonder he had specifically warned Noel. This was an MS, after all. Even a training model weighed nearly seventy tons.

If it accidentally fell over...

Crashing into another MS would be one thing, but if it fell toward the students watching below...

"No, you..."

Just as Noel was about to speak, he saw the instructor descend on the lift.

"Th-this is just being left to me?"

Noel stared at the buttons and instruments around his seat, completely stunned.

He really only knew a little. He was a transfer student who had only arrived a few days ago. Although he had spent those days reading MS operation manuals, he had only read them.

Today was his first time touching an actual MS.

[Beep~ Scanning student ID!]

[ID scan complete~ Noel Cassia, assigned class~ Mecha Maintenance Class.]

[Setting student access permissions...]

[Setting propulsion output, setting mech component access permissions, setting mech...]

[Training-level partial access permissions unlocked! Real-time student physical monitoring system activated...]

[Student may use the MS unit's basic functions!]

Hum~

As the mechanical electronic prompts ended, the cockpit slowly closed.

In the darkness, Noel took a deep breath and reached out to press the start button. He was already sitting in it, so he had to at least start the unit and experience it.

Soon, along with the roar of the engine, points of light lit up around Noel's seat, and the previously pitch-black dashboard came to life.

Ding~

As two flashes of light passed through the MS's head, the outside image was projected into the mech through the front sensors. From here, Noel could clearly see everything ahead without any sense of confinement.

The human visual field was generally 124 degrees. A single eye's horizontal field of view could reach a maximum of 156 degrees, while both eyes together could reach a maximum of 188 degrees.

The limit of human vision was roughly 150 degrees vertically and 230 degrees horizontally. If the entire range within that field of view was filled by a screen, it would create an immersive feeling.

The screen before him had been designed based on the human eye.

"Whew~"

Looking at the tiny humans below, Noel drew a cold breath and tried to calm the fluttering in his chest.

He slowly pressed down with his legs on the pedals resembling brake pedals.

"Hum~"

Boom~

With a rumble, the unit raised its right leg and slowly set it down.

As the unit vibrated, Noel felt as if it had come alive. A strange feeling welled up in his heart.

At the same time.

Cruze, who had been standing at the edge of the crowd, led two attendants through the crowd and arrived where the MS instructors had gathered.

The two instructors monitoring the students' physical condition systems noticed Cruze's arrival and hurriedly stood to salute him.

"If you don't mind, could you do me a favor?" Cruze said, taking out something resembling a USB drive from his pocket and handing it over.

"This is?" The instructor responsible for monitoring the students could not help but look startled.

"For certain reasons, I need to collect some student data. I hope you can cooperate," Cruze explained with a smile.

"Yes!" The instructor glanced at the medal on Cruze's chest, took the item, and inserted it into the device.

The Nebula Medal was the finest pass.

As Cruze looked at the various physical data being fed back on the monitor, he could not help slipping a hand into his pocket and feeling around. "Noel Cassia, let me see what you can do now."

Under the other students' watchful eyes, Athrun and the others also came over to Cruze's side.

Boom~

Boom~

Up ahead, Noel piloted the training MS through various movements.

Unexpectedly, even though this was Noel's first time piloting an MS, and even though he was only a Pseudo-Coordinator, he could still make the MS move normally.

Although the MS's movements were somewhat stiff, they were already very good compared to the other students.

"This..."

Diakka, standing nearby, watched the MS waddling around like a toddler in the distance and could not help frowning slightly. His gaze shifted back and forth between Cruze and the MS, his expression filled with confusion.

Yzak and the others were the same.

Of course, Noel being able to make an MS move normally on his first attempt, without seeming excessively unfamiliar with its controls, was indeed a very good result for a Mecha Maintenance Class student.

But that was only for the Mecha Maintenance Class. Compared with first-year students in the MS Training Class, this result could only be described as... ordinary. Extremely ordinary.

Any new student capable of entering the MS Training Class could do the same.

Not to mention geniuses like Athrun and the others. They were not even on the same level.

Cruze showed no reaction to Athrun and the others' confusion. He merely watched the MS and the student physical monitoring system with focused attention.

Soon, three minutes later~

Looking at the data on the physical monitoring system, Cruze silently nodded to the attendant beside him.

The attendant in the Green uniform understood and nodded toward Cruze before quietly leaving.

Naturally, no one noticed any of this. At that moment, all their attention was focused on the MS and Cruze's group.

"Whew~ Hah!"

Inside the MS, Noel knew nothing about what was happening outside. Or rather, even if he knew, he had no attention to spare for it.

By then, he was already drenched in sweat.

Piloting a mech was even harder than he had imagined, especially with his body not yet fully recovered. After only a few minutes, he felt as though he had run a marathon. Sweat poured down his face, and his cheeks were flushed.

Beep beep~!

"What are you doing!"

"Entering another MS training area is prohibited during MS training! Training MS number C-147E36, return immediately!"

After thinking it over, I decided to give the protagonist a bit of a boost. Otherwise, he really would not be able to do much.

But it is only a limited improvement, not the kind where he instantly crushes heaven, earth, and the air.