Chapter Text
The first thing I noticed, upon waking up in a different bed, in a different room, in a different… everything, was oddly enough, my new hair. It sounds like an odd thing to focus on, but hair is something constantly in contact with your head, and while someone is waking up, it’s brushing against your pillow, and sending feelings along the scalp. When ones hair is suddenly in a completely different setup, a different part, etc, then the brain kicks in and takes notice. Apparently that includes even a new brain.
The second thing was a green robot ball screaming at me. “Haro! Haro!” My distracted brain didn’t immediately make the connection, but it would not take long. As I got out of bed and looked into the nearby mirror, my brain fully kicked in, mostly due to a near existential dread. “Fuck. I’m Amuro Ray, of all people…”
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The first thing that became obvious, after actually snapping out of my shock of transmigrating into the longest-running of the Gundam series is to confirm that I wasn’t going to have to play the ‘amnesia’ card. Thankfully, after thinking, I did find I had the previous knowledge of Amuro 1.0, and that led to my second shock of the day. I considered myself a pretty big fan of the Gundam series, but didn’t realize how far the timeline changes went that led to humans living in space with giant robots.
In particular, in the UC timeline, while they still had the World Wars, there were major changes to both before and after. While nuclear weapons were created around the same time, 1945, the United Nations Conference was held before even that in the same year, and some prominent thinkers of this world had long been discussing methods inhabiting space for decades before that. I guess when people are working to lift humanity in a common goal, killing each other isn’t taken seriously, who knew?
There were dozens of cascading changes that led to the eventual situation we see in the anime, with an Earth Federation and the co-opted Zeon group preparing for total war just around the corner. It was interesting to realize that the first year of the UC was 2081 of the Gregorian calendar, making the year I was currently halfway into, 0079, about equal to the year 2159. Also, the population is heavily slanted towards spacenoids, the term used for those living in space full-time, with over 80% of the population living in the colonies by the year 0050.
Of course, not long after this, the Federation went full elitist and put into place the Alien Landholding Law. This made it illegal for Spacenoids to own land on Earth. This one – completely moronic – act could be said to have been the keystone that will lead to the wars to come. Also, the first prototpye mobile suit is only 10 years old, the Raiant R-8 prototype humanoid robot. The Zaku I was only 4 years old, and the Zaku II, only 1 year old.
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It is currently August 1st of 0079, and the start of the series was Mid-September. That gives me a month and change to do… what, exactly? While I’m now in Amuro’s body, I can’t guarantee I will be able to be in the right place to jump in either of the two Gundams here. There is no simulators to build some skills in piloting early, Mobile Suits are too new. I could learn some piloting skills from fighter pilot sims, to sand any edges of being a total novice, but how much difference would there be?
It’s as I’m panicking that my new lord and savior steps in to hand me a life line.
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[Celestial Forge Connection link… Established.]
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[Calculating… First time user detected, 3 free rolls granted. Rolling…]
[Data Khala (Starcraft Protoss) (100CP) rolled, and added to user’s being...]
[Hand of the Matrix (Generic Cyberpunk) (400CP) rolled, and added to user’s being...]
[Engineering Basics (Dead Space) (100CP) rolled, and added to user’s being...]
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And suddenly, I’m not panicking anymore. Having been an internet denizen, and a voracious reader, I had of course heard of the Celestial Forge. The greatest collection of crafting abilities in all of the Jumpchains, the sheer versatility this can grant is a near perfect match for a tech-focused world such as this... If I get the right perks. It should be noted that I have terrible luck with Gacha Games.
Examining the new knowledge that was unceremoniously shoved into my brain, I found that the powers granted were not a bad start, and gives me some options on how to proceed. First the Hand of the Matrix essentially makes me a master programmer, and even better, a supreme hacker. This will let me, hopefully crack into the Fed’s systems and find the location of both Gundams, and maybe even arrange for both to be in the same location on D-day. It may also let me update the OS of the Gundam streamline some of the systems and improve it’s performance.
That follows into the Engineering Basics, which will let me maintain the Gundam somewhat, and will help with aligning the programming with the movement functions. But, both really pale in comparison to the value in this verse of Data Khala. The ability for all of my computers to connect over cosmic ranges with zero lag, instant information sharing. And I, as the center, can link and communicate with those systems. That means, that if I can get into the OS of the Gundams, I can set the Gundams with a psuedo-mental control system. Driving one, and the second slaved to me as a drone.
Yeah, I think I can work with this - “Haro! You are going to be late! Haro!” ah, right, I’m a student. Off to school then…
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Realizing that you are now in a genius’ head is an odd feeling, especially when future maths and physics have advanced far beyond what a simple world’s college degree would give you. Luckily, I still had all of the info from Amuro 1.0, so I wasn’t lost. Instead, I was ahead by quite a bit. It’s no wonder Amuro wass one of the first Newtypes, if this is what his mind is capable of.
Instead of rehashing information I now already had, I began to plan for the incoming attack, and how I could get around the (possible) lack of plot armor I now had. First, I needed to get into both Gundam’s OS to both get a copy, and leave a backdoor. Luckily, I have the perfect infiltrator.
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Later that night, as I guided the Haro unit through the Federation bases vents, I further appreciated the advantage the combination of super programming with having the ability to remotely control anything I programmed in. Also, that I could get rid of the ball shouting Haro at max volume every 3 seconds. With my expanded engineering skills, I was able to make the Haro ball a sleek and stealthy infiltrator unit.
As it approached the hanger that Gundams were stored in, I had the Haro hold it place as suddenly the Celestial forge decided to pop in with it’s next gift.
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[Celestial Forge Connection link… Established.]
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[Calculating…100CP stored, attempting roll…]
[Scientist Supreme (The Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes) (100CP) rolled, and added to the user’s being…]
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I blinked as suddenly, my mind was was expanded further, with a large range of knowledge dug just that bit deeper than the average person. Having a download of almost every science added to my brain gave me that much more of a foundation, but was not immediately useful. Also, my IQ was bumped up just a bit further. Always nice to have.
I focused back in on my Haro and started back in with the infiltration. As it reached the grate to the hanger, I looked in and could not see any people, and the lights were off. Good. A hatch at the front opened and a snake line with a multi-tool same out, and slipped out of the gaps. Thankfully, the grate used normal screws (seriously, whoever created Torx screws in both timelines is pure evil) and I was able to open the grate and, using the snake, slowly lower it to the ground. As it rolled in, I was able to see the Gundams, in all their glory. For the original Gundam, RX-78-1, it was my first time actually seeing the unit, as it was originally destroyed or lost in the attack on Side 7. they looked mostly identical, with some key differences. Unlike the RX-78-2 Gundam, its ankle armor is equipped with multiple slit-like attitude control verniers, its knee armor is shorter, and the shape of its wrists are different. The Prototype Gundam's backpack was similar to that of the RX-78-2, but without the cowl.
I sent Haro in to the open cockpit (OPSEC, guys, really, it’s not like you are in a war or anything) and, no surprise, found the Panel had this universe’s equivalent of the USB, called the SDC, or Standard Data Connector. As Haro hooked in, I began my hack. And found, to my disappointment, no real security beyond the fact it was not networked. I went ahead and made a copy, and inserted my backdoor, with enough hidden changes in the background to setup a foundation to qualify it for the Data Khala perk.
Shocked at how smooth this was going, and hoping Lord Murphy didn’t lash out, I moved Haro over to the RX-78-2’s cockpit, and made the same changes. Seeing everything go so well, I went ahead and moved over to the nearest terminal. Here, I finally found some data security. Luckily, it was nothing special, and I was able to crack in and download the latest data on Operation V, the Guntank, Guncannon, some of the first drafts of what would become a Gundam unit I was unfamiliar with, RX-78NT-1 Gundam "Alex". Interestingly enough, it was connected to the Vinson Plan, which had the goal of rebuilding their space fleet, so I downloaded those plans as well, which included the Pegasus-Class Carrier, White Base. I of course, added some back doors to include myself as a user, and therefore add the Federation systems into the Data Khala.
As I was planning to get the Haro unit out of the danger zone, I saw something that had me do a double take. A THIRD Gundam unit. Did I forget something? I had no clue there was a third unit! I of course had the Haro roll over and jump in to make the same changes need to get me access to the systems, and got the Haro unit out of dodge, only barely remembering to re-attach the grate on the way out.
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The next day, as I sat in school, I was going through the data I had and upgrading the ICN learning computer way beyond where it was before. I was also putting plans together to create a VR headset and simulator for the Gundam, Guncannon, and Guntank. I was then distracted by – “AMURO!” - a yell right in my ear. I look over, and there was Fraw Bow, My new best friend/caretaker/maybe crush? “Hey Fraw, what’s up?”
“Class has been over for 10 minutes! Get your head out the clouds, and come get lunch.” “oh, yeah, thanks.”
As we walked to lunch, I thought of what I knew of her future. She ends up marrying Hayato, and then is widowed in a later conflict by a colony drop. She also ends up adopting a bunch of the orphans from the attack on Side 7. She is really a caring person, but also a bit of a worry wort. My plan this time, of course is not to let the colony and most of it’s citizens die, so none of them may even end up on White base. How that will work when I plan to be the Gundam Pilot, I'm not sure. I'm also not sure I can really relate to them anymore. I've not only had 30+ years of memories added to my new life's 16 years, but my mind has been
As I sat with Frau, Hayato, and the others at lunch, I wondered how I could defend the colony without blowing a hole in the side and killing everyone like Amuro did in Canon. And the answer came back to, build a simulator. Git gud, as they say. As if responding to my incoming crafting, the Forge kicked on and spit out -
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[Celestial Forge Connection link… Established.]
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[Calculating…100CP stored, attempting roll…]
[Well Researched (Lords of the Night - Liches) (100CP) rolled, adding to users being…]
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And now, I have 10 doctorates worth of UC knowledge, and a perfect memory. Not only that, but I can cross-reference my knowledge quickly, contextualize any new knowledge quickly, and will be able to avoid having to re-invent something already made. This gives me a rock solid foundation, so I can actually make advancements, at least theoretically, not just keep it maintained work on software, but full iterative improvements. Combined with my wider base of knowledge, and the previous IQ bump, I was now certainly in the genius territory. It was a heady feeling, realizing I was already making progress, but I tempered myself by reminding myself of the stakes.
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Later, as I was at home, I was cannibalizing some parts I had laying around from Amuro 1.0’s previous projects, and improving a normal VR setup to allow for Mobile Suit piloting simulation. I had just finished putting it together, and was ready to start testing, when the door cracked open, and Tem Ray, my new Dad popped his head in.
“Amuro, Mrs. Bow has dinner ready, come eat- what’s that?” Of course, the one day I'm doing something I don't want to be caught out on, is the one where my absentee father shows up. Well, I have a decision now. I can show him what I built, and maybe get an invitation directly into the Project. But how would I explain how I found out? I could also keep this secret. But that places all of the onus on myself to handle the incoming attack, and also risks a lot. The risks are great either way…
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