As Graham boarded the Delta Kai to begin his adjustments, Shinn led Lunamaria and Stellar into the Hangar.
"That's... Athrun's..."
At the very first glance of that red machine, its iconic silhouette caused Shinn's eyes to widen instinctively.
"Yes. Her name is the Infinite Justice Type II."
Roz walked over to the trio. "Since Luna once mentioned she wanted a machine from her own world, and after an integrated evaluation of her test results, I chose the Justice series for the modification."
"Justice..."
Staring at this "machine from home," Lunamaria pursed her lips. "Is it really alright for me to pilot it?"
The Justice, and the entire series it belonged to—whether from her personal experience or the records she'd searched in the Courtyard archives—was a legendary line.
Its symbolic meaning, its history of pilots, and especially Athrun's combat record while piloting it, gave Lunamaria a sudden sense of being out of her depth now that it was to be her personal unit.
"This is the optimal choice found by synthesizing your personal thoughts with your performance in simulated training and testing," Roz explained. "Besides, even if Athrun were here, if he knew that the Justice could become the power for you to continue fighting for those worlds, he would surely entrust it to you without hesitation."
"I believe your strength is worthy of it... or rather, its performance is what suits you best."
"Big Brother Roz is right."
At that moment, Shinn reached out and grasped Lunamaria's somewhat restless hand. "This machine is something you earned; it's your own power, Luna."
The warmth spreading from the center of their interlaced palms calmed Lunamaria's heart. She looked at this oddly-shaped Justice and nodded to Roz.
"...I understand. Please continue, Captain Roz."
"Well then, shall we start with the frame?"
Seeing that Lunamaria had recovered from her initial hesitation, Roz began his explanation.
"While the entire Justice uses our Psycho-Frame, because it is a machine focused on mid-to-close range combat, we have specifically reinforced the structural integrity of the frame."
"Additionally, besides our standard nuclear reactor and electrical thrusters, we've integrated a GN Drive and a small Minovsky Flight System. These are likely going to become our standard equipment from now on."
Roz shrugged as he spoke. "As for the NT-D system... you've seen me use it, and you should have asked Shinn about it.
In short, you are already walking the path of evolving into a Newtype; activating NT-D is only a matter of time. It's not an emergency like Graham's case, where we needed the n_i_t_r_o System as a 'forced growth' measure."
"Forced growth"—that was Roz's evaluation of the n_i_t_r_o System. Allowing an ordinary person to gain Newtype abilities in a short time, even eventually evolving into one, might sound like a beautiful result, but the operational process of n_i_t_r_o placed massive stress on the pilot's body. If Graham's world weren't facing an urgent situation, Roz would never have given it to him.
"You should notice the prominent head-mounted optoelectronic antenna on this Infinite Justice Type II. It has a built-in beam saber, so you can use it as a 'head blade' if necessary, or treat it like the Penelope's shoulder cannons to destroy targets."
As he spoke, Roz began to point out the various weapons on the Infinite Justice Type II. "In addition to the standard leg blades of the Justice series, I've specially installed heat daggers in the feet to enhance your lower-body melee capability. The shield also features a grappling hook to pull enemies in close."
"Next is the main event: the Infinite Justice's flight pack. All four wings have small machine cannons, and the wings can deploy beam cutting edges, allowing them to be thrown as boomerangs. There are also two rocket pods to supplement the machine's firepower."
Roz paused for a moment. "And the most important part of all: those two MEGA Particle Cannons deployed on the flight pack."
"Besides normal firing, these two Mega Particle Cannons can fire a Beam Magnum shot after a short energy charge."
"But be warned: after firing a Beam Magnum, due to material stress and heat dissipation issues, the barrels will melt. Unless the barrels are replaced, the cannons can only be switched to a scattering mode after discarding the barrels."
After listening to Roz's explanation, Lunamaria looked up, carefully scrutinizing the Infinite Justice Type II before her.
Although the Infinite Justice Type II possesses a wealth of melee armaments and appears to be a close-quarters specialized model, its long-range firepower is by no means lacking.
By swapping out the barrels, the Infinite Justice Type II can even temporarily serve as long-range fire support.
"Infinite Justice Type II..."
After a long silence, Lunamaria finally came to her senses. "I won't let this power go to waste, Captain Roz."
"I've always believed that you all can use the power I entrust to you for the right reasons."
In response to Lunamaria's gratitude, Roz nodded. "However, even though the new machine is complete, the OS settings were exported directly from your simulation pods. Moving forward, you'll need to constantly adjust them to find the range that suits you best."
A machine's OS settings are not static. As a pilot's mastery over the unit grows, the settings and parameters will change—much like adjusting control sensitivity in a video game—until the OS parameters sit within one's most comfortable range.
Just as Roz finished speaking, the sound of a cockpit opening echoed from the side.
"Lunamaria's machine adjustments will still take some time..."
Graham stepped out of the cockpit, his face alight with excitement. "But for now—Shinn! Come and have a mock battle with me!"
Having obtained his new machine, Graham was in a state of constant high. After tweaking a few OS parameters, he couldn't wait to test his skills against Shinn again and wash away the sting of his previous failures in simulation training.
-----------------------------------
Shinn did not refuse Graham's request. In fact, he never turned down a training invitation from a comrade seeking to grow stronger.
Being powerful himself was all well and good, but the feeling of being isolated in battle because his companions couldn't keep up was something he wanted to avoid.
While Roz contributed by crafting various MS units and equipment modules, Shinn's contribution was acting as the sparring partner for their simulations.
After all, very few people aside from Roz could endure that monstrous "AI Amuro" in the training programs.
Shinn skillfully opened the Destiny's simulation mode and established a link with the Delta Kai.
"Jumping into a fight the moment you get the machine..." Seeing Graham's hyper-excited state in the comms channel, Shinn had no intention of holding back, even though the man had only just recovered. "Are you sure you're already familiar with the armaments?"
"You learn everything about a machine's weapons by fighting a mock battle!" Graham rolled his wrists and gripped the control sticks tight.
"I'm the one with the new machine here. You're the one who shouldn't get beaten!"
In the panoramic cockpit, the Hangar visuals shifted into the void of space.
The Destiny stood a short distance away as the operating systems disconnected from the physical units and patched into the simulation program.
In an instant, the two machines moved. Both raised their beam rifles simultaneously, exchanging fire.
At almost the exact same moment, both units performed a short-range lateral thrust to the right, weaving through the incoming beams.
The Destiny extended its left arm, deploying the high-energy long-range beam cannon from its back. Shinn took aim at the Delta Kai and pulled the trigger.
A crimson-white burst erupted from the muzzle, surging toward the blue-and-white target.
Driven by pure instinct, Graham transitioned the Delta Kai into Wave Rider (WR) mode, banking sharply to evade the continuous beam.
"Now, activate the n_i_t_r_o System!"
Witnessing the power of the Destiny's beam cannon, Graham engaged the simulated n_i_t_r_o parameters. "Go! Fin Funnels!"
In reality, while Graham had "activated" the system in the sim, the actual hardware wasn't stressing his brain yet; the program was merely simulating the performance buffs based on the system's data.
Facing the incoming Fin Funnels, Shinn calmly let go of the beam cannon with the Destiny's left hand and drew the beam boomerangs from its shoulders, hurling them at the remote weapons.
The boomerangs deployed their white beam blades as they streaked toward one of the funnels. The funnel banked easily, dodging the spinning blade.
However, a split second later, the beam boomerang curved back. Under the computer's micro-adjustments, it struck a Fin Funnel with pinpoint accuracy, slicing it clean in half.
The remaining Fin Funnels adjusted their trajectory, spraying a curtain of beam buckshot at the Destiny. Faced with the dense rain of light, Shinn had no choice but to maneuver the Destiny into a defensive retreat.
"My chance!"
Seeing the Destiny pull back, Graham slammed his foot onto the thruster pedal. The Delta Kai in WR mode rocketed toward the Destiny at terrifying speed.
As he closed the gap, Graham seamlessly transformed the unit back into MS mode.
The heat daggers snapped out from the soles of the Delta Kai, their blades glowing with a searing orange radiance.
Carried by the machine's momentum, they lunged toward the Destiny following the trajectory of a fierce flying kick.
Unfortunately, it seemed both pilots had learned their kicks from the same master; it was difficult for "fellow disciples" to break the deadlock.
The proximity alarm shrieked in Shinn's ears. Without a moment's hesitation, he engaged the Voiture Lumiere propulsion wings and forced the Destiny into a high-speed roll.
Graham watched helplessly as his Delta Kai's kick connected only with an afterimage left behind by the Destiny. Before he could even initiate a turn, he was caught squarely in the crossfire of his own Fin Funnels' beam rain.
A split second later, the simulation abruptly terminated. The "DEFEATED" sign flashed mockingly across Graham's cockpit display.
Graham let out a long sigh, pulling up the combat summary. In the replay, the Destiny—trailing a blurred line of afterimages—had performed a backflip directly over the Delta Kai's head, perfectly swapping their positions.
Shinn hadn't even drawn a saber. During the flip, the Destiny's right palm had already finished charging.
Violent energy swirled in its hand as it slammed into the Delta Kai's back, detonating the unit and snapping it in two.
"...I didn't expect to lose again."
Faced with this result, Graham was slightly taken aback, but he accepted it gracefully.
It was just a simulation, after all. What use was there in being stubborn? It wouldn't improve his piloting skills or make him any stronger.
By summarizing the issues from this battle and training through more simulations, he knew he would one day be able to defeat Shinn.
"You won this time, Shinn."
With that thought, Graham reopened the comms channel that had been disconnected since the start of the mock battle. "But next time, I will be the victor."
"Yeah. I'll be looking forward to it," Shinn replied calmly.
...............