Chapter 295: Pillar of Heaven 1
On Tolle's side, at Mina's request, he once again produced over a hundred compressed-space wristwatches for her.
As for why they were designed as wristwatches—well, that was just to keep her from getting jealous.
And to increase the output, Tolle had no choice but to downgrade, downgrade, and downgrade their functions again.
The storage capacity was reduced to only eight cubic meters—a cube two meters on each side.
Inside, each watch stored only one set of a downgraded version of the nano-armor.
The first tier of compressed-space wristbands was worn exclusively by his own women and trusted subordinates.
The second tier—the compressed-space wristwatches—was carried by Mina's trusted soldiers.
All wearers of these watches also underwent accelerated internal-energy transfer training, and most of them were women.
These people had originally been Mina's personal guards, so they had now indirectly become Tolle's subordinates as well.
Mina brought Tolle, Yulia, Nicol, and more than a dozen personal guards aboard the Sahaku family's Izumo-class starship—the black-and-yellow Izumo—and headed for Orb's space fortress, the "Pillar of Heaven."
(The first Izumo-class ship, Izumo, belongs to the Sahaku family. The second ship, Kusanagi, is the one that appears in the anime and belongs to the Athha family.)
The Astray Gold Frame Amatsu Mina, the Astray Blitz Gundam variant, and the Astray Lightning Gundam variant—these three completed Gundams were all loaded into the Izumo's hangar.
After they arrived at the (Ame-no-Mihashira) Pillar of Heaven—
Tolle discovered that Mina had mischievously created a D.S.S.D. Space Technology Development Division there as well.
Most of the scientists and key technical personnel originally meant to be stationed at Troy Space Station had been invited over by her.
Mina introduced Tolle to every member of the new D.S.S.D. team, and she even made a point of arranging a private meeting with Selene.
At twenty-five, Selene still appeared noticeably more youthful than the twenty-eight-year-old version of her in the anime.
Nervously, Selene said to Mina, "Hello, Commander Mina. I'm Selene McGriff. It's an honor to meet you here."
Tolle, for some reason, couldn't help quietly grumbling in his heart, *How honored, exactly?*
Mina shot Tolle a meaningful glance before telling Selene, "You don't need to be so stiff. Honestly, I rarely meet women close to my age here. I'm sure we'll become good friends outside of work."
Selene blushed shyly. "Really? I can really become friends with you?"
Mina smiled and held out her hand. "Yes. Truly. I'm not lying."
Selene happily stepped forward, shook Mina's hand, and said excitedly, "It's truly an honor to become your friend."
"No need to get so worked up. Let's sit and talk slowly." Mina pulled Selene over to sit, then pointed at Yulia and Tolle as she introduced them. "This is my adjutant, Yulia Lida.
And this is Tolle Koenig, the chief instructor of Orb's special forces. But his identity is classified for now, so you can call him Monty Hill for the time being."
Hearing that they were both high-ranking officers, Selene immediately stood up nervously and bowed. "Hello, both of you, sirs."
Tolle felt awkward seeing her act so formally and said, "Really, no need for that. We're all friends now—you don't have to be so tense."
"Alright, Monty… Hill. I didn't expect that only a short time after graduating, I'd get the chance to join D.S.S.D., a department dedicated to space exploration and research."
…
Once Selene got comfortable with everyone, she opened up like a fountain, talking at length about her dreams and ideals.
Mina, Yulia, and Tolle went along naturally, and the four of them became good friends in no time.
Growing more animated, Selene began talking about her lifelong dream. "I've dreamed since childhood of exploring the unknown universe beyond the solar system—seeing what's out there, whether there are aliens, things like that.
But with our previous technology, that was nearly impossible.
Even just reaching the edge of the solar system would take years using the fastest spacecraft."
Tolle nodded. "Exactly. And the real limiting factor is the pilot's physiology. It restricts the speed a craft can handle.
If the acceleration is too high—just a simple turn or braking maneuver could crush the pilot.
But with unmanned probes, the speed could be pushed a lot higher."
Selene shook her head. "Using unmanned probes takes all the fun out of it. It's like watching TV. If possible, I want to personally experience the process of exploring the universe.
That's why our D.S.S.D. division is working on developing spacecraft and mobile suits that reduce the physical load on pilots—so we can pilot them on real exploration missions."
"Little Selene, there's actually another solution—enhancing the pilot's physique and reflexes." Yulia spoke mysteriously, giving Tolle a deliberate glance before continuing. "Orb is secretly conducting research into physical enhancement for pilots. And it has no side effects."
Hearing this, Selene's eyes lit up. "Sister Yulia, is that true? If it is, then our research can advance even further!"
"Of course it's true—but you must keep it secret. This is top-secret information." After saying that mysteriously, Yulia turned intentionally toward Tolle. "Right, Chief Instructor Tolle?"
Tolle immediately understood Yulia's assist. He hadn't expected her to set things up so nicely to help pull Selene in.
"Yes. It's true. I'm the instructor in charge of the project.
And it's already being implemented on a large scale within Orb's covert units. Absolutely no serious side effects."
———
Izumo-class Starship — Izumo
B-class warship
Terrain Adaptation: Sea–Land–Air–Space A
Fixed Armaments: High-energy beam plasma cannons ×2; positron fortress-breaking cannons ×4; automatic anti-air multi-barrel Vulcan turrets ×16; ship-to-ship missile launchers; anti-air missile launch stations;
Special Equipment: Modular construction; layered armor; anti-beam lightning-resistant coating; plutonium-hydrogen hybrid high-energy warship reactor.