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KSGU:Volume 4 Chapter 3

2013-04-04T06:33:43Z

75.85.182.130: Changed "... gave Mineva a concerned loo." to "... gave Mineva a concerned look."

==Chapter 3==

===Part 1===

The red and black magma-like glow was the proof that there was a chain reaction exploding inside the ‘cove’. The pulsating hot red light seeped out from the cracks, causing the boundaries 4 asteroids that crashed together at this point to appear vaguely. The scattering rubble and dust that flew with the wind was dyed a light red because of radiation, and “Palau” looked like it was burning thoroughly from afar.

Several mobile suit were basked under the same radiation light as they flew out from the bottom of the cracks. The monoeyed giants forced their way out from the gaps between the asteroids that crashed into each other in waves, and it would be appropriate to describe them as hellish devils. Nasri caught sight of an old “Geara Doga” from the pilot use periscope and squeezed the trigger of the low recoil cannons. The “Loto” with the 729 logo poked its head out from behind the rocks and fired the 120mm cannons on its shoulders.

A slight tremor passed through the machine, and the shells flew out from the two low recoil cannons. The bullet speed was as slow as a snail when compared to the sublight mega-particle shots, but it was not a problem in this distance of approximately two meters. The winged shells that was also designed to work under atmospheric conditions hit the “Geara Doga” in less than a second and blew up its body above the waist. The “Loto” let out its burner flares to move backwards before the enemy’s forcefully separated upper and lower bodies were devoured by the explosions. “FIRE THE LASER AT THE CRACK!” Nasri shouted without warning as he turned the periscope to the crack.

The laser support designator installed on the “Loto”s head fired an infrared laser. That invisible light was reflected on the crack, forming a reverse-cone shaped beam called a laser cone, and it was used to show the target coordinates to the “Complete Jegan” that flew in from above.

The “Complete Jegan” shot out the anti-ship missiles installed on its shoulder missile launchers, and lit its booster pods on the back above the cracks. Under this close distance and the laser guiding through the optical sensors, the Minovsky Particles could not block the eyes of the missiles. The large missile heads that could even be equipped with nuclear shells flew into the laser cover and hit the tip of the cone—the crack indicating the enemy’s escape hole.

White hot light expanded, and the dirt that was blown apart by the impact flowed deep into the cracks. The mobile suits that were trying to escape were caught in this torrent of debris, their limbs were crushed as they exploded, and the new impacts blew up the cracked surface. Mobile suits limbs and flames shot out together, forming a burnt furnace at the crack. The absolute zero space surrounded everything at this point, causing the melted and collapsed rock surface to freeze quickly.

With that, the slightly large crack was basically sealed off. ''We just have to shoot down all the enemy units that are coming out from the crack—'' Nasri glanced at the rocky surface that had frown steam and gas as he looked for the next enemy under the periscope. They managed to seal off the main forces in the ‘cove’, but they still could not relax. The path leading from the tunnel to the spacegates were not covered, and they had limited ammunitions.

''If we miss the timing to leave, we’ll be surrounded and unable to move.'' “Has the 920 sent a signal?” Nasri saw their allied “Loto” moving towards the highest point of “Palau” as he let out this umpteenth prompt. “Unable to confirm.” His vice commander answered with an anxious voice, and Nasri nearly cursed out.

It had been 12 minutes since the ECOAS 920 “Loto” fought its way through the 14th space gate. ''Hasn’t that guy reclaimed the target?'' He recalled his old friend showing an emotional face that was different from before, and suddenly felt his stomach hurting. ''That most stubborn blockhead in ECOAS kept insisting on saving that target civilian in this operation. He’s not a guy who’ll make a wrong decision based on personal feelings, but if we want to carry out the mission of retrieving the RX-0, he has to be colder than usual when making decisions on the spot. If the situation requires for it, I may need to fight my way into “Palau” and kick that guy’s butt…

“A large number of enemies appeared at the south side! Coming in fast.”

The vice commander let out a sudden voice, causing Nasri’s latter thoughts to vanish. It was too early to say that they were enemy reinforcements. He held his breath for just a moment as he saw the large swarm of enemy markers appearing on the sensor range. “FIRE A SIGNAL TO THE “NAHEL ARGAMA”!” He instinctively shouted.

“RETREAT BACK TO “COROLLA”. CONFIRM THE NUMBER OF ENEMIES FIRST—”

“They’re here!”

The pilot let out a whimper, and the main camera monitor was immediately filled with a white light. The tremor rocked the machine, and the buzzing of the siren filled the control seat. Nasri held onto the grip of the periscope and put his eyes on the eyepiece. The remaining particles of light spread in space, and multiple enemy unit markers overlapped each other. A mobile suit that was right in front appeared on the one-to-one scaled display.

The machine did not have a serial number, only the logo “Sinanju”, and instantly closed in its distance with them. Nasri aimed the low-recoil cannons at the enemy unit and stared at the CG corrected machine image. This machine gave out a red afterimage, flickering its thruster unit that was reminiscent of wings, as it flew over the “Palau” surface to them.

“The red mobile suit…!?”

Nasri let out this doubt from his mouth and squeezed the trigger. The moment the 120mm cannons were shot out, the red machine seemed to vanish from their sights at that instant. ''We can’t win. We’ve been had.'' This instinct pierced through Nasri’s body, but he did not even have time to think as he immediately moved the periscope to try and catch sight of the enemy. At that moment, the nightvision monitor suffered a blackout, and an impact several times that of before rocked the “Loto”.

The condition monitor showed the “Loto”s CG network, and the cannons on the shoulders were flickering red. The red person got below them and used a beam saber to slice off the low recoil cannons. The AMBAC program could not correct the loss of mass in time, and the “Loto” lost its balance as it crashed onto the rocky several. Short-circuited sparks came out from the pilot seat, and the air bags that were shot out from the console covered Nasri’s head.

“EVADE! BEFORE DAGUZA AND THE REST ESCAPES—”

''WE CAN’T LET OURSELVES TO BE FINISHED HERE!'' In the midst of this tremor where he could have bitten his tongue, Nasri’s voice was immediately swallowed by the heat spurting out wildly from the control seat.

The “Sinanju” swung its beam saber from the “Loto”s shoulder to the flank, vaporizing Nasri and the rest inside the control seat. in the face of the particle beam saber that melted the metal, the 8 ECOAS members kept in the infantry transport room at the back were also vaporizing by their lit normal suits and scattered into space like dust. The “Loto” that was sliced diagonally exploded, and the black corpses were vaporized cleanly without even a fingertip as the red machine was the only thing at the scene reflecting the light of the explosion.

===Part 2===

Angelo knew that the small machine that exploded was the transformable mobile suit the Special Forces used. It was the mobile suit of those guys who stealthily entered the civilian colony and carried out the act of terrorism under the name of counter-terrorism—the Manhunters. He did not feel anything else about this just desserts they suffered as he stared at the “Sinanju” that appeared amidst the explosion before stepping off the landscape of the “Palau” like he was touring around. Full Frontal’s mobile suit lit the light for the counterattack as the red machine flew off to find its next prey.

Wave after wave of “Geara Zulus” wielding beam rifles in their hands let out thruster trails as they followed the “Sinanju”. Angelo felt unhappy that the mobile suit other than those of the escort squads were interfering in Frontal’s battlefield, but it could not be helped as it was a organizational battle. He let his machine shoot out flares from its booster pod and stared at the ships waiting at the back.

The flagship “Rewloola” was at the center, and he could see the Salamis-class patrol ships and the disguised trading ships lined up, causing the ships that were putting out the flames to be covered in darkness. The number of ships that left the ‘cove’ and hid themselves amidst the sea of debris during these past 1,2 days amounted to about 80% of all their forces stationed at “Palau”—in terms of fighting strength, it was 95%. Most of the ships and mobile suits that were sealed inside the ‘cove’ were antiques that were past their usable life, and the soldiers were just a coalition of anti-government forces who had no other place to head to. Those people who came over with the idea of changing directions according to the times were just ‘old blood’ that should be changed. These things were tails that should be changed without pity if they wanted to break off their bond with “Palau” and let the Neo Zeon Army revive for real.

''That Federation army that didn’t know this and thought their attack succeeded will now see the real hell. Angelo broke ranks and looked over at the space that had become a battlefield from the southern tip of “Palau”. The rubble and Minovsky particles that were scattered everywhere meant that the motion sensors were practically useless, but they could still catch sight of the enemies within a range of 40km. The enemy units that broke into the “Palau”s anti-air range was a special specs Jegan, a transformable unit with serial number RGZ-95, and also—

“What? They only sent in such few numbers…?”

Angelo moved the unit to the “Corolla A” with the red hot surface. It was impossible to catch sight of the enemy ship’s powerful mega-particle cannon, but it was impossible for the number of units covering the ship to be more than the advanced squad. Even if they counted the Manhunter mobile suits that were hiding on “Palau”, that was still less than ten. He could not ignore the possibility that there were other units waiting to seize the moment, but there was no greater chance than this to send in a large number of forces to the enemy base. Angelo let the machine move through the 3 “Corollas”, inspected the battlefield that was a mess full of anti-air fire, and matched the speed of the “Sinanju” at the “Calyx”. On approaching, the “Sinanju” quickly raised its hand out and held Angelo unit’s hand like it was pulling someone.

“Captain, I can’t estimate the number of forces the enemy has. Even if we consider the strength attacking “Palau”, it’s still too little. There should be a main force hiding elsewhere…”

(They’re aiming for the “Unicorn”. It’s possible to attack with very little forces if they just want to create an opening to reclaim the target. It’s just as expected.)

[[Image:KSGU4 189.png|thumb]]

The voice that came back through the communicator caused the doubts within Angelo to disappear quickly. ''That’s right, the Federation doesn’t have the guts to launch a full-scale battle. This is not beneficial to them. It’s because they’re surrounded by so many things that they can’t move properly, which is why we’re going to fight the advanced squad using their own plan as expected.— '' Angelo reflected on these words as he spoke to affirm, “Then, has that guy found that Unicorn yet?” Frontal moved the monoeye of the “Sinanju” sharply,

(It begins. We just need to deal with them without wearing out our forces. At the right moment, retreat.)

The voice that felt like it could see through everything rang in Angelo’s ears, and the “Sinanju” broke contact before lighting the thruster unit. Angelo sent a laser signal to the escort squad searching for the enemies to order to retreat. He saw the escort squad’s units give a hand signal to show that they understood before turning around, opened the slot and stepped on the foot pedal. The wings on the back swayed about like a tail, and the purple “Geara Zulu” raised the beam launcher to the waist as it got ready to take on the enemy. It accelerated like a bullet.

''If that’s the case, there’s no need to waste time exerting our fighting strength. The Captain and I alone are able to crush these weaklings.'' Angelo dodged left and right and eyed the specially equipped Jegan as his first target. That heavily armed Jegan that was equipped with large missiles outside the missile launchers floated between the “Calyx” and “Corollas’ That was crashed into each other. ''It seems that this guy’s mission is to fire missiles into the gaps between the asteroids that are the escape holes and seal off the ‘cove’ completely.''

“Such a cowardly thing to do! You’re planning to deal with “Palau” by using a billiard-like trick…!”

Angelo did not want to use long-ranged weapons to get rid of the enemy. He let the machine jump on a rubble, closed in on the Jegan and drew out the beam hook before the opponent could dodge. He suppressed the head of the Jegan as it fired the beam launcher, and let the machine get behind the enemy. The enemy machine turned around with the AMBAC and shot the beam rifle, but the beam could only graze past Angelo’s unit head before dissipating in the air. Both sides faced each other, and the beam hook sliced neatly into the Jegan’s abdomen.

The part that was equipped with multiple armor was flipped out, and the pilot that was exposed to the high heat was melted together with the cockpit. Angelo then sliced the missile launchers and let his unit leave the scene before the huge fireball was triggered. The surrounding rubble exploded, and with the remnant of the enemy unit vaporizing behind him, Angelo turned to look for the next prey.

“This is to open a way to Neo Zeon’s revival. None of you can think of returning back alive…!”

===Part 3===

The light expanded through the bridge window, and there was an explosion different from that of a normal mobile suit’s explosion. Otto inadvertently got up from the Captain’s seat “What’s the matter…?” and muttered. (Juliet 5’s signal got cut off!) Mihiro’s voice rang in his ears.

(There’re many enemies appearing from behind. The advanced squad is being surrounded!)

The sensor operator called out, and Otto turned his frozen face to the main screen in front of him. A large amount of rubble was blown out from the asteroid’s collisions, and the motion sensors were basically useless; however, they could use the optical observations to detect the enemy movements. The advanced squad had just gotten close to “Palau”, and an unknown large number of mobile suits came moving over from somewhere. Looking at the numbers, it seemed that the number of ships on standby at the back were not just a few. One could tell from this that there were hidden main forces beside the fleet docked at the ‘cove’. The main force was in ambush, waiting for the moment because they predicted the attack from here.

''Those left inside the ‘cove’ are just bait. It’s a trap.'' Otto felt this understanding numb his limbs as he raised his volume, “Call the covering forces to back them up!”

“Deploy the anti-air fire. Use the dummy-rubble. Our ship will head straight in. Is there contact with ECOAS?”

(The line got cut. The laser signal too was cut after they got into “Palau”.)

Mihiro transferred the reply from Operator Bellard in the second communication room as she turned her pale face over at Otto. ''It’s too slow.'' The fake balloon were expanded, and countless fake rubble appeared, but Otto ignored them as he held onto his hands that were covered by the normal suit. ''The plan was that there would be contact once they retrieved Banagher Links or the “Unicorn”. Leaving aside the “Unicorn”, it’s weird that they haven’t met Banagher yet. Has he not reached the retrieval point?'' Otto checked that it had been 15 minutes since the battle started, and looked at the “Palau” that deployed its anti-air fire, only to frown because of the words he heard (We’ve been had!)

(The “Sleeves” predicted our action and set the trap first. They’re not an opponent we can beat by fighting head on. Captain, hurry up and give the order for our ship to retreat!)

Alberto supported his large body that was slumped into the commander’s seat and continued to say such self-explanatory words as he reached his neck out to Otto. ''It seems that he has forgotten that this ship is so reckless because on him. “Our allies are still in a battle. How can we retreat like this!” Otto growled back and looked away from Alberto, never wanting to meet his stare again.

“There’s a 30 minute time limit in this operation. ECOAS should be contacting us soon. Until then…”

''Can we hang on?'' Otto swallowed the words he was about to say back down his parched throat, and exerted force on the fingertips resting on the armrests. ''The engine power’s back to normal. There’s also the option to retrieve all surviving units and escape with maximum speed. If we miss the timing to leave, we might end up in a calamity where we’re annihilated—'' Otto stared at the beams that were flashing silently, and as he gritted his teeth, (There’s a new laser signal from “Palau”!) Mihiro’s urgent voice rang through the wireless communicator.

(Is it ECOAS!?) Liam shouted out as she turned to the communication console. (No, this signal is…) From behind, Otto stared at Mihiro, who was stumped for words as she worked on the communication console, and saw a look of surprise on her face as she turned around.

(It’s the “Gundam”!)

===Part 4===

The flames caused by the explosions at the back ripped apart the cracked surface as it burned wildly. Just before the shockwave could surround the body, and the scorching flames could cover the all-view monitor, the “Unicorn” flew out from the crack and flew into space.

With the burning hot rocky surface at its back, the machine lit its positional burner and dodged the rubble that was still. He had no optional equipment in his program—and randomly took portable weapon from the factory called the Beam Gatling Gun or something—and thus, the AMCAD could not work properly. Banagher tried to correct the program as he stared at the anti-air fire lighting the surroundings of “Palau”. The number of beams was less than what he expected. He could vaguely see the lights of battle through the rubble, but the mobile suits in the battle looked too be Neo Zeon units.

“Didn’t they bring in a large number of forces…?”

Banagher put on the helmet and pulled down the visor. The normal suit was left inside the cockpit, perhaps because it was investigated to see the synergy with the mobile suit, but it was really lucky of him. Banagher moved the machine behind the rocks and modified the display board. He opened the Identification of Friend or Foe (IFF) window, and could find two units that belonged to the Federation from amidst the rubble and dummies on the window. The two RGZ-95 was surrounded by Neo Zeon machines.

The disadvange the Federation had was obvious even to outsiders. Banagher recalled that there were no real decent ships docked inside the ‘cove’. ''Does this mean the Federation got ambushed?'' He just thought of this, and the siren indicating that a laser signal was received rang. The newly opened window showed the ship Banagher knew and its coordinates.

“The “Nahel Argama”s here too? What’s going on…!?”

He could not be mistaken with this signal that was tagged with the mothership. The battleship that was severely damaged and had Audrey and other non-combatants on it would be the one leading the charge in this assault—no, it might seem that this was the only ship sent over from the number of mobile suits that were deployed. Banagher did not feel that this was feasible as he intended to catch sight of the ship’s silhouette flying in from the top, but felt a bone-chilling pressure striking him from behind.

His hairs were on its ends as his body started moving on its own to move the machine away. At that moment, a mega-particle came flying down from above, and the countless rubble that came with the explosion rained on the “Unicorn”s back.

The machine left the surface and adjusted its position. Banagher caught sight of the machine that came flying over from amidst the scattered rubble. It was a mobile suit with the AMS-119 machine serial number, a unit of Neo Zeon registered with the name of “Geara Doga”. “Please stop! I have no intent of fighting!” Banagher continued to cry out as he subconsciously worked on the weapons and removed the safety of his portable rifle. The “Unicorn” wielded a long Magnum Gating Gun that replaced the personalized beam rifle that was depleted, and pointed that 4-barreled gun at the “Geara Doga”. The crosshair overlapped on the monoeyed unit that was rushing over, and the alarm indicating lock-on rang.

“LET ME GO! THE FEDERATION WON’T RETREAT IF THEY DON’T RETAKE THE “UNICORN”!”

But even as he shouted, it was impossible for him to tell the enemy pilot this. The glowing monoeye gave a killing intent, and Banagher moved the shield equipped on the left hand to the front. The shield that was automatically deployed from an I-field barrier, twisting the beams the “Geara Doga” shot out from. The scattered beam bullets hit the landscape at his feet, and the rubble that flew and those that mixed with the wind covered the “Unicorn”. Just as the all-view monitor was covered by dust, Banagher sensed the “Geara Doga” moving behind him and pointed the Gatling gun over there. The I-field would not have effect if it was not a beam attack from the front. If he were shot from the side, he would surely be massacred—

“DO YOU FEEL THAT IT’S ALRIGHT EVEN IF YOU TURN “PALAU” INTO A BATTLEFIELD!?”

Banagher yelled and exerted strength on the fingers on the trigger. The 4-barreled gun turned and blew apart the beam shots that were of a higher output than a machine gun. The “Geara Doga” had mega-particles rained on it before it could even adjust itself, and it became a real beehive as its thoroughly battered machine exploded. Banagher inadvertently saw flames shoot out from the arms that were ripped over, looking like it was trying to grab space as it opened its hands.

“Why did it end up like this…!?”

To Banagher, there was no difference between enemy or allies. He just wanted to get rid of the seeds of battle, but caused a new sacrificed. The uneasy feeling inside his stomach came out in a voice, and Banagher turned his eyes away from the remnant that was instantly vaporized. ''You’re already a part of it.'' Marida’s words echoed in Banagher’s mind, and the chilly feeling spread on his skin where his hairs stood.

===Part 5===

What occupied the sight on the entire view of “Palau” was not a scene of two armies fighting each other toe to toe. There were anti-air fire appearing and lots of explosions, but those were all rubble and dummy balloons, and it was practically impossible to detect mobile suits exploding. The enemy squadrons in ambush showed no signs of moving aside as only two enemy units were moving about enthusiastically, seemingly toying with the “ReZELs” that entered the perimeter. As for the 6 enemy machine silhouettes that were launched, it was unknown if they were launched to sneak the “Nahel Argama” caught on the sensor. The other covering units were sent to support the advanced squad, and the mothership was the only thing left at this point—

Amongst the assumptions he thought of before, this would be considered the worst. Riddhe punched the display board and groaned, “Damn it!”

“We fell right into the enemy’s trap…!”

They could not retreat even if they wanted to. Including the ECOAS unit, their side lost three units, and the situation was such that the “Nahel Argama’ could not even defend itself on its own. Their plan was to let their machines move forward and create a perimeter against the enemy, but if he move all the way there, he would lose the chance to leave the battlefront in the end, and this understanding caused Riddhe to hesitate on what he should do.

''In another sense, there’s no better chance to execute the plan than this, but if even the fighting strength of the “Delta Plus” was lost, what will happen to the “Nahel Argama”? A battle isn’t decided on a mobile suit such that it can overturn the situation, but if I escape, the chances of the ship’s survival will definitely decrease. As a pilot in charge of protecting a military resource, and as a human, this is something I definitely can’t allow—but on the other hand, there’s something I can do and I have to do right in front of me.''

Riddhe’s thoughts took a roundabout. The duty and responsibility a person present should have was just a sense of realism that had weight in this ideal, and he could only hold onto the control stick without aim. “Please go!” This voice came from behind right at the moment the enemy squadrons were scattered to two sides.

“Don’t worry about me. Just fulfill your duty.”

Mineva spoke. This voice seemed to see through everything, “Bu, but…!” and Riddhe was at a loss of words.

“If we try to push ourselves too much here, we won’t be able to reach our destination. It’ll be pointless for us to return back to the “Nahel Argama”.”

Mineva did not say anything else as she merely answered with an unwavering stare. This bitterness of trying to find an excuse rose up in Riddhe, and he had to look away.

“…The enemy’s Neo Zeon, you army! Are you really fine that I fight against them?”

“I won’t think that it’s fine, but that’s my problem. You have your duty and responsibility to fulfill.”

Riddhe felt that Mineva’s words were deliberately trying to tell him not to use her as an excuse as their eyes met. Mineva, who was clinging onto the assistance seat at the back, had already accepted this current situation in front of him. She left her life to him, seeming prepared to be blamed for all of eternity.

Riddhe did not want to disappoint her like this—no, he did not want to be mocked by her like this. Such a thought rose rapidly in him, shaking his body that was stuck at the spot. Mineva probably did not like a man who would think of what happened after and hesitate over the present. He did not have the will like Mineva, and had no belief that he could show decisiveness, but hoped that he did not give a wrong impression to her. That was her shtick, and Riddhe acknowledged in his mind that he may had been toyed by this woman of Zeon as he continued to stare at her eyes.

“You’ll probably regret for the rest of your life if you turn back now. Please follow your heart. If you make a decision from the bottom of your heart, I’ll accept it no matter the outcome.”

She finished, and her emerald eyes looked as sturdy as crystalline jade. He had no chances of winning her. Since the beginning, this girl barged into the Vist Foundation alone, and showed what she was made of when she became a hostage for the Federation. “I really have to hand it to you…” Riddhe mused as pulled down the helmet visor. ''I may have really fallen for an unbelievable woman.'' He again realized this.

“The anti-G resistance on the assistance seat isn’t complete. It’s not going to be as easy to deal with as a roller coaster ride.”

“Right.”

“Once our allies start retreating, I’ll immediately leave the frontlines. Sorry for making you accompany me till then..”

Mineva fastened her body on the assistance as stared at the space that became a battlefield. ''I really want to say that I’m being played by a woman. How can I bear such heavy things like duty and responsibility with logic alone?'' Riddhe managed to clear his doubts, and he felt relaxed in his heart as he turned his face to the front. ''Just got to fight it out.'' He muttered deep inside his heart and stepped on the pedal.

BOOM. The shockwave that was like an explosion came from the force of the thrusters at the back, pushing the machine forward. Riddhe read the attack pattern on the monitor as he turned the control stick forward, turning straight down as he transformed the “Delta Plus”. The humanoid turned aside and immediately broke its shape and formed a spacecraft-form waverider. The forward of the enemy forces were detected by the motion sensors before they could get used to the sudden dip in angle before it went from moving down to moving forward.

The enemies seemed to be a modified version of the “Geara Doga”, the newest model of main forces the “Sleeves” had. Riddhe could see two similar type machines moving on standby behind this lead machine that was headed to the “Nahel Argama”, exchanging shots with the “ReZEL” Romeo 010. He read the situation through the through the markers that were flying all over the place, and deduced that this “Delta Plus” alone would be enough as he first aimed at the two mobile suits behind. He let the machine turn around, dodge the beam shots that came flying over from the forward unit, and squeezed the trigger of the beam rifle located above the unit.

The waverider’s firing state was right in front of the unit unlike how it was with the rifle. The beam went by the forward unit and mere grazed the left top side of the machine, but it was enough to divert the enemy’s attention. He pretended to be providing covering fire for the allied machine as he caught both the attentions of the machine that turned abruptly and the forward unit.

The G-force that struck up the feet wore down on Mineva, causing her to groan in agony. Riddhe’s sights were covered by the cheeks that rose up, but caught sight of the monoeye of the forward unit in front of him. Riddhe’s machine continued to rush into the battlefield without slowing down, and he transformed into a mobile suit before collision. The beam sabers formed its blades, and the crosshairs gave the alarm indicating lock on before Riddhe pressed the attack trigger down completely.

The slash that came sliced the arms of the forward unit together with its weapons. The forward unit lost the parts under its arms as it was unable to maintain balance, and immediately went to the back. Riddhe exhaled a moment later after having gathered all his concentration for that moment, and yelled “NOW YOU HAVE A REASON TO RUN AWAY. GO BACK!” He then aimed at the next enemy. The two machines scattered and left the Romeo 010 that lost its arm, and riddhe saw another machine with a beam hook coming right at him.

''This attack looks like it was coming from the bottom, but it’s actually trying to get to the back.'' The enemy pilot’s thoughts entered Riddhe’s forehead, causing him to immediately stop in his tracks. The “Delta Plus” turned half a round and manipulated the beam saber in its left hand to intercept the enemy’s attack. The particles from the clashing blades let out sparks for just a moment, and the “Delta Plus” used the recoil to flip and deal a strike right at the enemy unit’s waist. The multiple layers of armor melted, and the beam saber sliced off the movable frame, creating a vibrating feeling inside the cockpit. However, there was a sharper killing intent that came stronger than this vibration, shaking Riddhe’s senses.

The remaining unit attacked one he stopped. Riddhe was prompted by this killing intent that was closing in, and did not even take time to aim as he raised his beam rifle to shoot. The mega particle beam that was released pierced through the “Sleeves” unit right from the front, and the expanding fireball lit the deep grey color of the “Delta Plus”. Riddhe shook off the debris that scattered and let the beam saber stop working before leaving the scene. The enemy unit that was sliced apart by the beam saber gave out sparks and was crushed by the impact as it slowly floated in space.

“Amazing…! Did I just take them all down?”

''Three units down once I sorties. Is it the “Delta Plus” abilities or the strong power of the Goddess of Luck that I’m able to showcase such fighting abilities.'' This joke-like development caused Riddhe to remain for a moment. “Another one from above!” Mineva’s voice rang, and Riddhe immediately dodged. A thick and large beam then came right down from above, and the scorching hot particles were sprayed on the “Delta Plus”.

There was a second, third shot that came flying over, and obviously, they did not from a beam rifle, as they were high energy output beams that was on a beam launcher’s level. Riddhe indicated that he wanted the Romeo 010 to move back, and squeezed the trigger to fight back while estimating the enemy’s location from the line of fire. The optical sensors caught sight of an enemy suit that was closing in, and the CG corrected image showed a purple machine on a wide window. This mobile suit had its data entered since the last battle with the “Sleeves”, and it was a special specs machine with booster pods on the back. “Lieutenant Angelo’s “Geara Zulu”…!” Mineva murmured as her expression changed.

“Someone you know?”

“He’s the leader of the escort squad, a very dangerous man. Be careful.”

The beams continued to rain down on Riddhe as it anticipated his dodging, seemingly backing up Mineva’s words. Riddhe did not even have the time to transform as it took him a lot of effort just to duck under the fire. The sublight blocking his way let out afterimages, closing in slowly on the “Delta Plus” as he remained restrained. The malice that was stickier than hostility descended on Riddhe, causing him to have goosebumps.

===Part 6===

It was an enemy that was looking for its next prey and felt like it was time to hold back. The machine itself could not be found in the database, and the unique appearance caused Angelo’s blood to boil.

“That Gundam-like machine…!”

Angelo let his machine move down behind the beams, and closed in on the relative distance to the enemy. The optical sensors caught sight of this enemy unit the moment they clashed, and it looked like a “Gundam” without horns. The machine was a dark grey color, but it was definitely a variation of a Gundam-type. ''The Federation wants to keep using that White Devil legend that has a tail and make us recall the past humiliation again and again!'' Angelo was motivated by his agitated nerves as he continued to squeeze the trigger of the beam rifle. The enemy unit intended to keep its distance, but was unable to remain steady, and the beams that were shot back left empty light axis in the middle of this pitch darkness.

“I won’t let you get away even if you want to transform and escape. If you’re a “Gundam”, fight like one—”

The 4-barreled grenade launcher equipped inside the shield was fired, blowing up the path the enemy unit was headed to. Angelo used the moment the enemy unit hesitated due to the fireballs and slowed down to pull the beam hook out and shoot its booster pods.

“Die after you fight once!”

The particle blade in the shape of a sickle went right at the enemy unit’s abdomen. ''It’ll hit.'' The numb face showed a smile, and at that moment, a flash appeared right in front of him, blocking his sights. The rain of bullets hailed down, and the machine got caught in the shockwave as it was blown behind.

“What the…!?”

Angelo immediately let the machine steady itself, and looked over at the all-view monitor that was spinning less and slowing down. He saw a white machine with a thruster flare closing in on him fast. The automatic camera took a photo shot, and the enlarged version of it appeared on the window. The CG corrected image of the lone horned mobile suit was instantly etched in Angelo’s sights. It was wielding the Beam Gatling Gun with both hands, seemingly waiting for a moment to fire a second time.

“…I see. So you want to make things tough for me like this?”

It was the boy who saw Frontal’s true appearance and forced him to do a shameful thing. The RX-0 marker overlapped with Banagher’s face, causing him to forget all other things.

“How bold you are…!”

The tail stabilizers on the back rose up like a tail, and the “Geara Zulu”s beam launcher was aimed right at the “Unicorn”.

===Part 7===

The animosity and malice that came from the purple mobile suit rocked Banagher’s heart like it had a physical hardness. The intention automatic system detected Banagher’s wavelengths, causing the “Unicorn” to ignore the manual controls as it went side by side. The mega-particle shots came flying over a tad late, and the beam that was dodged at the last moment was reflected on the white armor.

“That purple guy’s scary…!”

The delay time it took to show the killing intent before the shot was almost zero. If he made a mistake here, even the “Unicorn”s interface would not be able to negate the damage. Banagher did not have time to fight back with the Beam Gatling gun as he focused on the purple machine. The Federation unit that was fighting the purple mobile suit from before appeared right beside him.

“Is that a new Federation model?”

It was an unregistered machine, but it could be identified as a Federation mobile suit from the clean streamlined contours. The pilot had the beam rifle at a position where he could fire readily, but he hesitated as he let the machine float around. Banagher thought that the mobile suit was waiting for the “Unicorn” to take action. A pulse suddenly started to rise deep within Banagher’s heart, and as his consciousness was attracted by that thing for several milliseconds (Where are you looking at!?) the voice came from the wireless communicator, hitting his eardrums.

The purple machine that got to his feet struck up from below. The “Unicorn” reacted to the direct killing intent by half and round, and despite deploying the I-field barrier on the shield, Banagher’s consciousness was too slow, causing the machine to lose its relative reaction speed. A beam of light came radiating out from the purple mobile suit, and the shield that could not block from the front directly was blown aside. The base of the shield cracked due to the impact, and the purple mobile suit used the opportunity presented when the “Unicorn” lost its protection as it closed the distance completely.

A beam blade appeared in his spinning sights. There was no time to adjust. Banagher’s brainwaves made this snap decision as he let the “Unicorn” draw out its beam saber.

“Tch…!”

It was a click of a tongue, but also one that could motivate him. He exhaled, and the machine was manipulated into wielding the grip and swing right down at the enemy. The purple machine too swung over, but the particles that were gathered in the form of a hook missed as it cut the space. In contrast, Banagher could see the “Unicorn”s saber being absorbed into the purple machine.

The beam launcher was raised to the front in place of a shield, eating up the extremely hot beam blade. The purple machine immediately let go of the long and thick cannon in its hands that was sliced and melted into half, but the distance to dodge the triggered explosion was still too close. The purple machine pulled the cartridge belt-like connector away from the backpack, and the beam launcher was sliced in half and floated in space for just a moment. The internal generator exploded and formed a huge fireball, and the purple machine took the heat and shockwave as the boost pods' jets were blown aside weakly.

''Got him—'' But it was not a fatal blow. Banagher let the machine steady itself, and looked around for the purple machine that left the sensor range. He had already activated the transmitter the Federation spy gave him, but there was no definite proof that the other side could receive the signal in space combat. He had to hurry up and reach the “Nahel Argama”, but he would not be able to talk if he did not fight back the purple unit. Banagher had the feeling that the purple machine would insist on fighting him no matter what as long as he did not shake off that person. He recalled the killing intent that was formed, the presence that was overly sticky, and recalled the voice of the pilot that remained in his ears, only to hear an approaching alarm ring out of a sudden, shocking him.

The IFF response window opened, indicating the coordinates of a Federation unit. Banagher understood that it was the new Federation unit from before, and a familiar voice rang in his ears (Banagher! You’re Banagher Links, right!?), causing his mind to go blank.

“Audrey…?”

Banagher let out a hoarse voice as he looked behind at the new model that was closing in. The Gundam-like new model suit was gradually becoming clearer in front of his eyes, and he felt his chest fluttering even strong as he subconsciously let the “Unicorn” machine turn around. The new machine raised its left arm that had a large shield on it and grabbed the “Unicorn” on its left arm.

(Are you alright? Banagher? It’s me, Mineva…Audrey Burne.)

Banagher had no reason to mishear the voice that came through the speakers. “Audrey…is it you, Audrey?” He leaned forward from his linear seat and stared at the new mobile suit. (That’s great that you’re fine…!) this voice came from the mobile suit without horns, but had the face of a “Gundam”, making Banagher feel that he was talking to a giant.

“Why’re you at such a place…are you piloting it?”

(No. I’m the pilot here, Ensign Riddhe Marcenas. You remember the model plane you caught before?)

The man’s voice entered the channel. Bnagher recalled the plane model in his mind and the expression of the young officer pursuing it, but it could not help him understand this situation. The new model left Banagher alone as he was unable to understand the situaton and could only look back blankly; it faced the “Unicorn” and opened the cockpit cover.

The hatch deep within then opened, and the normal suit with its back facing the lights of the cockpit snuck out. It was impossible to tell the physique from the heavy-type normal suit, and it was impossible to see who it was as the face was covered by the helmet visor, but Banagher managed to feel it from the presence within. She actually showed herself on the battlefield in space. “That’s too reckless, Audrey!” Banagher chided as he expanded the window and moved the cursor over to the helmet of the normal suit.

He could see the bright energetic eyes sparkling under the visor. Those were the emerald eyes that indicated the start of everyone. Audrey’s eyes caused the nerves on his body to resonate and the passion to engulf his heart and body—

(There’s no time, Banagher, so listen up. After this, I’ll ride on this “Delta Plus” to Earth with Ensign Riddhe.)

Those eyes of hers were staring at Banagher firmly as she let out an adamant voice. ''Why must you do this?'' Banagher responded as he did not wait for his mind to clear, and Audrey’s voice continued, (This is what I decided after thinking).

(The Ensign’s father is a senator of the Senate Council, and a Central figure of the Space Migration Act. I intend to meet him and tell him everything about this. I want to settle this peacefully as a person who inherited the Zabi heritage—)

At that moment, an arm reached out to grab Audrey from behind and pulled her into the cockpit forceful. Banagher too pulled the control stick without waiting for the cockpit to close, and let the “Unicorn” move away from the new mobile suit called the “Delta Plus”. An object flew in at a high speed right at the last moment, passing between the two units. An explosion of light was than emitted less than a meter away.

''It’s that purple guy.'' Banagher turned his back on Riddhe, who seemed to detect the same thing, and the “Delta Plus” he was piloting. He caught sight of the enemy from the sensor and hailed suppressing fire on it. The purple unit skillfully dodged the continuous fire of the Beam Gatling, drew out a rocket from its shield and loaded it into the launcher. The launcher that was at the waist let out a small spark, and the rocket was fired out as it closed in on the “Unicorn”, triggering a flash of explosion that ignited from close range.

The “Delta Plus” fought back with the beam rifle amidst this unstable situation. The purple unit continued to glide in space, dodging the fire as it continued to load the rockets. The “Unicorn” adjusted itself and raised the Beam Gatling gun. (I know you’ll be confused because it’s too sudden.) Banagher heard Riddhe’s explanation through the communication channel.

(But I’ll bear the responsibility of protecting Mineva…Audrey. It’s not easy to do this, but we’ve already tried our best to think of a good way to settle this. Please understand.)

(You should return back to the “Nahel Argama”. As long as you return with the “Unicorn”, the Federation Army will retreat. First…)

The fireball of explosion exploded beside, and the noise that got heavier covered Audrey’s voice. The impact shook the cockpit, and the scattered bits hitting the armor let out clear metallic sounds. ''What in the world are they saying?'' Banagher felt puzzled as he did not understand what was going on, and even though he had the feeling that he was being betrayed, he continued to search for Audrey’s voice amongst the channel as he kept the “Delta Plus” ferrying her in his sights.

He was right beside her, but he could not touch her. They could only give fleeting looks to each other, and he had no way of asking what her true intentions were. ''Why didn’t I get out of the cockpit and meet her?'' This regret tightened his chest, torturing his body that was being manipulated by the G-force.

===Part 8===

The purple “Geara Zulu” lost the weight of the beam launcher, and it was a lot more mobile than before. It showed off its unique trait as a long-ranged support machine as the large boost pods on the back, and it continued to follow no matter how Banagher and co tried to shake it off. They shot through a dummy balloon that expanded to the size of a mobile suit, but this was unable to fool the eyes of the pilot. The “Geara Zulu” with the commander blade antenna continued to cut down the dummies in its way. The large anti-mobile suit rocket, the Strum Faust was fired out from the handheld launcher, causing the dummy balloons caught within the explosions to dissipate immediately.

Despite losing the stability of its posture during this challenge, the “Unicorn” continued to raise its Beam Gatling gun and fired, trying its best to restrain the enemy’s action. The way it fired the shots had the flair of a novice, but there was no sense of fear in his action. He however felt that the machine wanted to move forward to attract the enemy unit’s attention. Even though he was scared, he hung on. With their glances at the unit with the monoeye, Riddhe calmly fired the beam rifle in quick succession, covering Banagher’s back.

He realized that with Mineva on board, the “Delta Plus” could not fight as it wished. He should have told Mineva what was on his mind, but in this situation, it was impossible to grasp everything through limited words. She herself hoped to understand everything at least—this unknown emotion created an impulse, and Riddhe squeezed the trigger of the beam rifle until its maximum. The purple “Geara Zulu” dodged the fire and shot out a new Strum Faust.

The “Unicorn” and the “Delta Plus” were forced back by the impact of the explosion, and the interface opened automatically. (Audrey, just tell me something). Banagher’s voice rang within Riddhe’s ears.

(Is what you’re going to do what you have to do? Or is it something you wanted to to?)

The unexpectedly calm voice caused Mineva, who’s seated on the assistance seat, to shudder. After an instance of silence, she answered, “It’s something I want to do…I think.) Banagher’s reply then came in with the noise amidst the approaching sirens (I get it).

The “Geara Zulu” waved its beam saber to slice down the dummies and got behind the two machines from their feet. The “Unicorn” skillfully used the AMBAC’s functions to change its position as it contacted the “Delta Plus” behind with a formal tone. (Ensign Riddhe!)

(I feel you’re a man of your word. I’ll leave Audrey to you.)

[[Image:KSGU4 215.png|thumb]]

Riddhe had no time to answer. The “Unicorn” immediately broke contact with the “Delta Plus” and let out maximum output from the back boosters as it flew towards the enemy unit. The beam Gatling let out a sharp trail of beams, forcing back the purple “Geara Zulu”. Flashes of explosions occurred, and Riddhe stared at the sparks of the beam sabers clashing with each other. At that moment, they felt so distant from him; the battlefield in front of him and Audrey, who held her breath in anticipation. Numbing words were the only things echoing in his head.

The outdated words kept restraining his thoughts unconditionally. ''You’re just a kid. What big words are you spouting there? Why are you so open-minded? I never showed any sense of trustworthiness here—''

“Such moving words…I don’t have a chance of winning here.”

There was a sense of heat that he never felt before, rising within his chest and expanding within. Riddhe ignored Mineva, who frowned in doubt, and turned the “Delta Plus” away.

Riddhe continued on to transform the mobile suit into the wave rider, and at that moment, he only considered about how to leave the battlefield. “Ensign, Banagher’s still…!” Mineva protested, but Riddhe had no intention of caring about it.

No matter how sharp this girl was, this was the only thing she definitely would not understand. That was because Banagher set a curse on him in a way only a man could do. “I understand.” He mused and looked forward.

“This is a matter between men. Please don’t interrupt.”

To her, this might be the first time in her life she was told off with a commanding tone. Mineva closed her half-opened mouth and lowered her silent face. Riddhe could no longer move forward or retreat, and experienced that he bore the fate of the person named Banagher as he turned the unit to “Palau” that had dust surrounding it. The anti-air fire was obviously decreasing, and the bright lights of the battle on the back observation window shone intensely into his eyes as a result.

===Part 9===

The Federation unit that transformed into a fighter jets flared its thrusters on the back as it hurriedly moved away. Angelo wanted to pursue it immediately, but was blocked by the bullet screen that was in the shape of a fan, and shuddered before he felt angry.

The ideal bullet array was to use the unit as the axis and spray the beam bullets out, and the “Unicorn” understood how to use the Beam Gatling gun in less than a minute of fighting. It managed to maximize the effectiveness of the armament it was not equipped, and even bought time for the new Gundam-type to escape.

“Those two Gundam planned this beforehand…!”

Considering the time the two units interacted with each other, it would be impossible for him to be so adept at this so quickly. ''What kind of composure does this brat have? Angelo used up the last Strum Faust, threw the launcher at the “Unicorn” and let the “Geara Zulu” fly over at it. Right when the beam hook was about to materialize completely (Lieutenant Angelo, can you hear me?) A calm voice came from the wireless communicator.

(Retreat back to the “Rewloola”. Let Ensign Marida be the “Unicorn”s opponent.)

Frontal’s voice came from beneath the noise, and Angelo’s mind that was gushing full of blood calmed down. “But…!” He tried to argue back for a moment, “I should have told you the plan, have I not?) the voice interrupted Angelo’s attempt to argue back, and he stopped the vibration of the beam hook.

(The “Kshatriya” is heading there now. This is something only she can do.)

Angelo stepped on the foot pedal and raised the ball-shaped control stick to move above the “Unicorn” as it raised a screen of bullets, looking for the coordinates of his ally unit on the motion sensor.

It was the NZ-666 “Kshatriya”; while the other allied forces were retreating, this was the only mobile suit being indicated on the sensor, moving closer. There was a sense of presence that that was beyond electronic signals, engulfing the sensor screen. Angelo looked back at the “Unicorn” that looked bothered as he continued to retreat, and had the anger of a prey being snatched away reigniting within him as he looked forward and said, “Roger that.”

“…It’s a job for Cyber-Newtypes, huh?”

He accidentally blurted it out in his anger, annoying him. The Newtype Research labs were used to create artificial Cyber-Newtypes for military use. In the past, it was said to be used for research on ways to create Newtypes, but in fact, they were experimenting on lab subjects that would not offer any ill consequences—said to be mostly underaged war ophans—as they ignored the ethics of life.

Their research ranged from injecting drugs, forcing ideals on them, manipulating and rewriting memories to manipulating gene composition to improve their respiratory functions. The results of them manipulating the human mind and mental capacity were that they simply created a bunch of useless people who were addicted to drugs. They managed to obtain decent results in their research during the Neo Zeon war later on, but the emotionally unstable human-like weapons that were developed easily became double-edged swords. It had been a long time since the Federation and Neo Zeon ceased such research, and, looking at the significance of how official records did not leave any traces of this, it could be said that Cyber-Newtypes was a shameful history that was erased by Man after the war.

Most notable was Marida Cruz, who inherited the best gene samples that were ‘enhanced’ and specialized in high mobility combat. It was said that she was at a level where the other Cyber-Newtypes could never ever match. ''So we’ll let a monster handle a monster?'' Angelo glanced aside at the RX-0 that was becoming distant and mused to himself as he navigated the unit’s trajectory to the southern tip of the “Palau”.

Frontal’s “Sinanju” too was gradually returning back to the southern tip to gather with the fleet. ''Everything’s proceeding as planned—'' yes, this was a battlefield enacted out under Frontal’s plan. As for what kind of nature the monster that devoured the “Laplace Box” would show, their side just needed to watch it from the other side. Angelo managed to more or less appease his unhappiness as he looked at this abnormally shaped mobile suit that bore this responsibility. The “Kshatriya” was not limited by the massive bulk that was several times that of an ordinary mobile suit as it skillfully turned around and passed by the “Geara Zulu”s feet.

===Part 10===

Marida activated the binder that was just repaired, and let the machine turn around. The front left binder was the only one amongst the 4 binders flapping, and it managed to stop the “Kshatriya” from turning sideways any further.

The controls felt a little light, but it was not bad in any means. Marida had no need to deliberately activate the calibration system as she got used to the AMBAC functions. She then used the sub-arm hidden inside the binder, which was destroyed together with the binder in the last battle, and the base unit part had to be replaced. It quickly extended out, and the fingertips did a hook. CRAK CRAK. The sound entered the cockpit in the form of a tremor, and Marida knew that the unit was repaired.

''It’s really lucky that the Psycommu isn’t damaged.'' Marida again had this thought. At this moment, Neo Zeon did not have the technology to build the Psycommu frame, and the spare parts of the “Kshatriya” only consisted of ordinary mobile suits alone. The reactivity of the unit would be reduced by half once the Psycommu frame installed around the cockpit was damaged, and they could not repair it at will later on. This ‘spare part’ and this one and only unit were all built from lost technology—to what extent would she face off against this opponent that was built from a Psycoframe? Marida expanded the monitor window, directed the cursor to the CG corrected lone-horned body and cautiously closed in her distance with the “Unicorn”.

The “Unicorn” did not commit the foolish act of letting the enemy corner it from behind as it raised the Beam Gatling while retreating steadily, showing that it was observing her actions. ''The weapon in its hands is newly developed for this “Kshatriya” here, '' Marida gave a wry look as she looked right at the white machine that was intending to slip away from her sights. ''Did he randomly take this when he was intending to take the machine out of the factory? It’s really something that nonchalant-looking boy with keen foresight would do; to be able to use his sharp instincts to grab such a powerful weapon.''

(I don’t know how that brat got hold of the “Unicorn”, but there’s one thing I know now, and that is we can’t let that machine fall into the Federation’s hands.)

Zinnerman’s voice could be heard amongst the noise from the “Garencieres”, currently at a rear side of the fleet. Marida exhaled and removed her wry look.

(You can destroy any other part as long as the cockpit core in intact. Your top priority is to secure the unit. Don’t think about the pilot.

The soft voice proved that Zinnerman was concerned about the pilot, or perhaps he was considering the fact that they would have to fight him as their opponent. “Understood. I’ll secure the unit as priority.” Marida answered without any expression as she ceased all meaningless thoughts. If possible, she would capture the unit without any damage; if not, she had to rip out the cockpit’s core without even the pilot was crushed. Marida herself had no hesitation no matter who it was on board. There was no need for an ''Artificial Being'' to spend time thinking about it.

Even till now, Marida found it hard that Banagher Links, that boy with puppy-like earnest-looking eyes was the pilot of the “Unicorn”. At this point, there was no clear explanation as to what sort of thoughts he had, and what methods he used to reach the ‘cove’, but the fact remained that the “Unicorn” joined the battle. Marida looked through the machine’s specifications, and knew that she would be massacred if she did not go all out. She could only accept this situation, face it and try to deal with it. if she could do it well and end things properly, her failure at “Industrial 7” would be negated. She did not have any honor and pride worth protecting, but she had to erase the black mark on <span style="position:absolute; margin-top: -8px; font-size: 0.7em; margin-left: 15px;">Master</span> Zinnerman.

“There isn't any just war, is there…?”

Even though she tried to conceal these words within, such personal thoughts still leaked out. If only humanity could have Gods, there would be as many Gods as Man. Justice would not exist in this case, and righteousness might not be the only thing that could save humanity. No matter what the thing saving humanity was, the Cyber-Newtype, an artificially created being, no other means of beliefs to rely on, and there was no need for her to change—Marida shook aside the image of the boy’s face she saw in the chapel and looked forward with an antagonizing look. She accelerated the “Kshatriya” by boosting the thrusters to the maximum and started to close the relative distance with the “Unicorn”.

===Part 11===

The transported goods were filled inside the large bucket and sent onto the rail of the electromagnetic catapult. As the bucket reached the end point, the contents would be thrown into space. This would be a crude way of explaining things, but it was the working principle of a mass driver.

The transported goods that were thrown out would pass through space through inertia, and the mass catcher at the destination would receive it. The mass catcher was a round cone-shaped thing 100m long in diameter and 150m long, and it resembled a funnel safety net. The transported goods would be covered by a bag made of fiberglass, and it would be shed away when the goods flew into the mass catcher. With that, only the contents would be left within the funnel. Thus, it was possible to carry out zero costs space transportation other than the operating fees of the facility and the disposable bag. Obviously, this facility was not suitable for transporting humans or delicate machines, but it was fine to make the transport a little more rough if they were sending mineral resources. Thus, the Moon would have such a facility as a frontline base to build space colonies, and to mining colonies like “Luna Two”, a long rail required for a mass catcher would be imperative.

“Palau” was no exception in this case, and the mass driver was located on the front of the bow-shaped “Calyx”, with 10km’s length of rail protruding into space. The mineral rocks that were excavated would be sent onto the rail in order and fly to the mass catcher in Side 6 as part of the mining process. The “Delta Plus” shook off the pursuit from Angelo’s unit as it head towards “Palau”. At this point, what appeared in front of it was the triangular prism supporting the mass driver rail.

The rail was extended out from the mining tunnel, supported by numerous pillars that rose out from the rocky surface, and the endless high frame remained unmoved in the midst of the darkness. Riddhe cautiously let the “Delta Plus” float around with the units that were basically turned to dust and close the distance with the rail. The scattering winds picked up bits of fine particles, and looking over, it was not easy to distinguish between the floating rubble or the mobile suit rubble. The debris that were floating around the mass driver was abnormally more than usual amongst the rocks that were not launched successfully. The “Delta Plus” moved along the pillars that were 2km tall at maximum and reached the side of the rail, stopping its relative velocity in front of the access panel for maintenance use.

The left manipulator hand reached for the panel screen, and a sensor cable was shot out from the part that was basically the base of the thumb. The cable that shot out like a whip approached the panel screen, and the universal-use access panel opened its connectors automatically as the front tip of the sensor cable was connected. The computer immediately started reading the information and sent the data of the mass driver over to the cockpit of the “Delta Plus”. The launch acceleration, the transport bucket launch schedule and the current trajectory were revealed. “How is it?” Mineva asked, unable to catch up the values that were scrolling dwon in front of her. Riddhe ignored her and stared at the data for several seconds and answered, “Right, looks like it can work” and turned his brightened face at Mineva.

“It’s just as I guessed. The direct hit from the hyper mega-particle cannon redirected the course. We’ll be able to reach Earth like this.”

The original setting of the trajectory was directed to the Side 6 mass catcher, but at this point, it was redirected to Earth. The “Delta Plus”, which used up a lot of its thruster jets during the battle just now, could not reach Earth on its own, so this would be a great relief to it akin to recovering a lost train ticket. They just had to let the machine ride on the transport bucket and prepare for the countdown before they launched to Earth. If the access panel was not locked, they could probably let the control system from here.

Mineva could not help but feel relieved. She would have lost her chance to escape if she was brought back onto the “Nahel Argama” again. Riddhe opened the visor of his helmet and wiped away the sweat on his forehead as he showed a relieved expression, uttering out, “We might have gotten some of that guy’s luck too” jokingly. That guy—Banagher Links; Mineva deliberately restrained the pricking pain in her heart as she looked at the space on the other side of the rail that had become a battlefield.

The situation was reduced to an extent that only anti-air fire appeared from time to time, and there were basically no signs of beams or explosion lights. Amidst them, Mineva detected a glow that was sharper than the stars, and the killing intent were all gathered at a point in space. She reached her hand out at the all-view monitor to stare at that spot.

The killing intent continued to gather, racing amongst the starry sea as thin beams crossed each other. What Mineva saw was not a normal battle between mobile suits. There were flashes of funnels’ fire, and the one on the other side, dodging the attacks and firing back with beams was the “Unicorn”— ''a “Gundam” said to be built for fighting Newtypes.'' If not, it would be impossible for the unit to dodge the funnel attacks that were swarming from all directions.

As far as Mineva knew, there was only one person amongst the “Sleeves” who could control the funnels. The hand touching the monitor tensed up as Mineva continued to stare at the flashes of light despite wanting to look away. Marida was fighting against Banagher, and she sealed her heart while fighting, her killing intent reaching out to this place. If she could use that kind of power properly, she could have realized that Mineva was at this place.

“What is it?”

Riddhe said as he looked behind and gave a probing look at Mineva as he stopped the hand that was changing the mass driver settings. ''He’s really too concerned for others.'' Mineva felt annoyed “It’s fine…” as she looked away.

“Hurry on to the next step. We have nothing else to do.”

Mineva diverted her focus away from the killing intent that remained and looked in front. There was an endless darkness appearing in front of the long rail. Mineva did not look at any expression Riddhe might have on his face as he continued work, and focused on looking at the path deciding her destination. The the battle between the “Kshatriya” and the “Unicorn” showed no signs of ending, and the icy cold stare continued to sparkle in a corner of Mineva’s sights.

===Part 12===

ZAA. These sounds were let out as the small cannon pods surrounded the unit. They were like metal sand attracted by a magnet, sticking onto him no matter how he tried to shake them off, and would let out swarming attacks from all directs without stopping.

“These guys!”

Banagher continued to squeeze the trigger of the Beam Gatling without aiming and turned the “Unicorn” to the side. The automatic cannon pods that moved into the dead angles let out beams at the same time, and the fan-shaped bullet screen interfered with the mega-particle bullets, creating chains of sparks. As the flashlight-like lights continued to radiate, Banagher saw the source of the automatic cannon pods fly above his head. The 4 binders opened up like petals, and immediately got right below the linear seat.

“It’s that 4-winged, huh…”

It was the abnormally shaped mobile suit that brought about calamity to “Industrial 7”, and it was blocking the path in front of the “Unicorn” like it switched with the purple unit that retreated. ''I should be making contact with the “Nahel Argama” as soon as possible.'' Banagher anxiously squeezed the trigger, and the automatic cannon pod that got behind it attacked like it was mocking him. The “Unicorn”, which lost its shield and the protection of the I-field, felt a shock, and a killing intent that came right below pierced through Banagher.

The “Unicorn” Intention Automatic System responded, and it turned 90 degrees as it pointed the gun at the source of this killing intent. At that moment, an automatic cannon pod that got diagonally below gave another hit, bending the Beam Gatling gun that took a direct hit. Banagher immediately let go of the weapon, but he could not evade the threat of the explosion that expanded from zero distance. The anti-glare filter could not reduce the flash that lit the cockpit, and the machine took the shockwave as it rattled.

“You!”

That four-winged rushed into this flash, lit its monoeye and struck from below. This killing intent blew through the cockpit, and Banagher felt the wind pressure nearly peel his scalp off. The “Unicorn” automatically drew the beam saber that let out particles and hacked right at the saber of the 4-winged horizontally. The colliding sparks exploded, and the large frame of the 4-winged grazed above him. Suddenly, there was a sweet aroma mixed within the killing intent.

“What’s going on…?”

It was a sweet fragrance that surrounded his body, a complete mismatch for the skin-crawling killing intent. Of course, that was because a girl’s sweat smelled sweat—

“Miss Marida…is that you?”

These unexpected words came out from Banagher’s mouth, and he felt his throat tensing up. He did not know why, but he could conclude that this sweetness belonged to Marida. This was the scent he smelled from her in the detention room on the ship and the silent chapel. The four-winged looked like it was in no mood for negotiations, but there was that defenseless silhouette hidden within. The eyes that resembled the deep sea color of Earth, the eyes that looked like they contained a gentle light when she smiled, they were looking at him from deep within the thick armor—

“Miss Marida!? If it’s you, please listen to me! This is Banagher Links!”

The small automatic cannon pods were two meters long, and as they were too small, they could not be picked up on the motion sensor as they gathered a large amount of killing intent and closed in. Banagher detected an opening from amidst the multi-direction ball-shaped attack that was showing signs of disorder, let the machine swing the beam saber and stepped on the foot pedal.

The automatic cannon pods seemed to scatter in doubt. There was a sign that the 4-winged mobile suit in front was retreating. “I’m right…!” Banagher mused as he used this momentum to step on the pedal and let the “Unicorn” rush towards the 4-winged.

The normal suit sensed the G-force coming from below and hardened the jelly-like fluids within into a metal-like state. Banagher’s upper body was held in place tightly, but it could not prevent his blood from rising up, which caused the blood vessels above his neck to expand. He endured the pressure as his pores felt like they were spurting out blood, and shook off the pursuit of the automatic cannon pods as he got right at the four-winged clutches. As the “Unicorn”s left arm was about to touch the heel of the opponent, the four-winged quickly flipped, got behind and was about to swing down the beam saber in its hand.

There was no time to activate his beam saber. The “Unicorn” turned around, but it was too late as the beam saber was right in front of Banagher’s eyes, and a shock that nearly caused him to bite his tongue rocked the cockpit. ''Am I killed?'' Banagher could not even let his nerves close his eyes properly as he merely felt his lower body relax, and saw the monoeye appearing on the all-view monitor.

The opponent let the emotionless monoeye move under sharp Mohawk-like head like it was intending to observe Banagher’s action. The 4-winged pretended to swing down its beam saber as its 4-wings were just restraining the “Unicorn” body. It was unknown when the sub-arms were deployed as they reached out from below the binders, grabbing the “Unicorn”S limbs. “Marida—” Banagher realized that his unit was being sealed off completely as he was about to open his trembling mouth. At that instant, the 4-winged placed the grip of the beam saber it was wielding onto the flank of the “Unicorn”, and the heavy sound of metal crashing into each other rang within the cockpit.

(Surrender, Banagher Links, or I’ll burn the entire cockpit down.)

A monotonous voice rang, and the beam saber that was resting on the abdomen rattled the cockpit with loud noises. “Miss Marida…! Why’re you—” Banagher eked out his voice, (I should have said it before.) but felt a chill down his spine after hearing her respond with cold words.

(Once someone rides on a mobile suit and enters the battlefield, he can only be considered a fighting unit called a pilot. Whoever it is sitting inside, it has nothing to do with me.)

The cockpit let out an unsteady resonance as the beam saber’s grip remained in idling state. (Cut the main generator, and get out from the cockpit—) and Banagher ignored her words as he argued “Even so!”

“Even so, you’re still Miss Marida to me. I do apologize for running away on my own, but I can only do this. You don’t want “Palau” to turn into a battlefield, right? The Federation army will retreat once they can take back this “Unicorn”.”

(That’s just the enemy’s view.)

The 4-winged binders that resembled a beetle fluttered as the hidden sub-arms holding the machine shook it. “LISTEN TO ME!” Banagher yelled as he held on tightly to the linear seat that was rocking unsteadily.

“Audrey…your princess has returned back to the battlefield. She rode on a mobile suit to stop this battle—”

On saying this, Banagher’s back suddenly froze. '' You idiot, why did you say so many unnecessary things?'' He cursed himself in his heart, and Marida’s voice got sharper, (The Princess’ here?), and Banagher clicked his tongue inadvertently.

(I’ll take the Princess back as well. Where’s she?)

The 4-winged used its large body as a pivot as its hidden arms shook the “Unicorn” unit twice, thrice. Banagher felt the tremor that felt like his brain was being meshed up, and he tried to pull the control stick and stepped on the pedal to leave. The thrusters on the back let out flares, and the moveable frame let out a shrill rubbing sound. The “Unicorn”s raised its arms slowy, and in an instant, it pulled aside the hidden sub-arms that resembled an insect’s legs. However, the 4-winged quickly used its main hands to grab the “Unicorn”s head.

The 5-fingered manipulator hands that were held down tightly were held down tightly, and the head with the lone horn was tilted back. The all-view monitor let out noise, and the malfunction windows continued to appear. If this kept up, the machine would be snapped, “MISS MARIDA!” Banagher yelled out, but his voice was half-buried amongst the buzzing alarms.

“Please just think about how to end this battle! Tikva and the rest may get involved in it!”

(Then just surrender and tell me the Princess’ whereabouts so that our army will retreat too.)

''I can’t do this.'' Banagher immediately had this thought as he asked himself, ''Why?'' (Do you see?) He continued to listen to Marida’s words while at his wits ends.

(You keep saying that you just want the battle to end, but you’re thinking from the enemy’s viewpoint. That’s because you’re already a part of things here.)

“No! You’re the one wrong here! It’s because your thoughts are too straightforward that Audrey wouldn’t stay there. I feel I can’t hand over the “Box” or Audrey to people like you because…”

(I said that’s the reasoning of the enemy!)

The hands were pressing down on the 4-winged, and the overload sign showed up on the condition monitor. The frame continued to let out a rattling sound, and Banagher felt like Marida was seriously trying to destroy the “Unicorn” as anger stronger than fear exploded within him. ''You pretend not to see it even though you can see it. That’s a power you’re exerting stubbornly after sealing your heart. You of all people know that brute force alone won’t be able to solve anything here—!''

“YOU’RE REALLY UNREASONALE!”

Red phosphorus light glowed through the armor gaps, and the moveable frame the expanded aside nocked back the 4-winged hidden sub-arms. At the same time, the leg frames popped up and extended, and the movable armor slid aside, shaking aside the hook of the hidden sub-arms.

The lone horn split into two, and the face cover that rose up knocked aside the manipulator hands of the 4-winged. The thruster nozzles on the back let out a burst of flares, and the machine that shook off the restrains of the hidden sub-arms finished its transformation as it lit its pair of matching ‘eyes’.

(“Gundam”…!?)

Marida’s muttering faded far away, and arms came out of the headrest, fixing Banagher’s helmet in place. There was a slight shock from the arms and ankles, and Banagher realized that the anti G-force drug delivery system “DDS” was already activated as he let the “Unicorn” move above the head of the 4-winged.

The stinging fragrance spread in his nose, and the heat flow of the brain pulsating rushed throughout Banagher’s body. The black impulse rose within him, and the nervous system that was in sync with the machine had been dyed just like tar. ''Not good,'' Banagher thought, but his rational sense that was trying to think could not work as he already viewed the 4-winged in front of him as an enemy. ''It’s pointless to talk further against an enemy who just want to overpower through force. I’ll have to beat this person here to ensure that Audrey can return back safely, and that I can get back to the “Nahel Argama”. Don’t think I’m just a pushover here—

The flickering “NT-D” logo shone through the helmet visor, dyeing Banagher’s sights red. The vaguely drifting sweet aroma scattered, and Marida’s scent vanished from the cockpit.

===Part 13===

“NT-D activation confirmed. The target’s now fighting with the “Kshatriya”.”

This voice came from the operator seated at the communications console in a corner of the “Rewloola”s standard bridge. “Good.” Frontal answered, and his voice echoed down from the tall ceiling. His tall and lanky body that was draped in bright red was standing beside the captain’s seat.

“This Psyco Monitor isn’t perfectly effective. Focus on the signals from it, understood, captain?”

“Understood.” Captain Hill, who was seated on the captain’s seat, answered with a calm expression on his head. This would definitely be the only chance for him, the captain of the “Rewloola” to show off his skills as he could only remain at the back, watching the battlefield while his subordinates did not even have the chance to perform. “Warm up the main unit first. Our ship will head out from behind “Palau” based on the situation. Take care not to let down your guard against other units.” Angelo passed through the bridge door beside Captain Hill who raised his volume. He minded about how he walked in in the normal suit drenched in sweat as he stood beside the red figure looking up at the main screen.

The screen displaying the optical visuals showed the two mobile suits clashed in a deathmatch. The crude would let out beams of light from time to time, but it was impossible to see the silhouettes of the mobile suits. It was impossible to tell whether the “Kshatriya” or the “Unicorn” had the advantage, but the details of the battle did not matter here.

The necessary information would be transmitted from the Psyco Monitor installed on the “Unicorn”s Psycommu—a Psycommu receiver device. This tapping installation would activate the moment the NT-D was activated, and would send the details the unit gave in large amounts. As the waves that were sent were released from the Psycommu, there was no worry about the Minovsky particles interfering. The sending range was limited, but they should be able to gain complete unmistakable information. In fact, the sub-monitor of the communication monitor was already collecting information at a high rate, and started probing into the Laplace System that was activated together with the NT-D.

The coordinates that was suspected to indicate the location of the “Box” was shown before. Then, what would be the content be—Angelo swept his sweaty bangs that were hanging on his forehead and looked at the binary files that were being rolled in, but a certain roar “WHAT’S GOING ON!” caused him to raise his eyebrows. Zinnerman, who was dressed in a normal suit, was holding a helmet on one hand as he rushed into the bridge.

Zinnerman ignored Captain Hill, who was shocked as he looked back, and let his body float under zero gravity to the Captain’s seat. ''So he came?'' Angelo saw the rage within the black eyes, and was blocked by Zinnerman in front as he stood in front of Frontal. “Captain, did something happen to the “Garencieres”? Frontal gave an interested look at Zinnerman, who glared back at him and roared, “WHY DID YOU LEAVE MARIDA ALONE!?” The gruff and heavy voice echoed through the bridge, and everyone present stared at Zinnerman.

“I heard that you gave the order to the entire army to fall back. Why is Marida the only—”

(To activate the NT-D, we’ll have to let beings that are similar to Newtypes clash. This is a job only Ensign Marida can do.”

The overly simplified explanation curbed Zinnerman’s momentum as he frowned. “The “Unicorn Gundam” has a Psyco Monitor installed on it.” He said quietly as he looked back at the main screen.

“Once it’s activated, we can obtain new information from here. Since we can’t analyze the Laplace Program, it will be faster to let the Program unseal itself. For this aim, I guided that boy Banagher to the “Unicorn”. I’m really sorry to hide it from you too.”

They used the Federation spy, planned it such that Banagher would ride on the “Unicorn”, and prepared a program that would start reading once the NT-D. This assault might have granted Neo Zeon a new rebirth and helped sweep away the ‘Old Blood’ of unease within their camp, but they had to fool even insiders thoroughly in order to complete this program. From the investigations up till their point, they knew that the NT-D system could not be fooled by a mock battle. It would be impossible to activate the NT-D unless it was a real battlefield with lives on the line.

''Is everything on the battlefield an act Frontal planned—'' Zinnerman seemed to have this understanding as he turned pale. “But Marida..” and his vague voice showed no signs of ending. “I understand.” Frontal answered and lowered his head slightly.

“The Cyber-Newtypes are those with their nervous transmitting system upgraded through artificial means, and they can’t be considered pure Newtypes. But Captain, what exactly are pure Newtypes?”

Zinnerman swallowed his words and remained silent as he gave a doubtful look at the face wearing the mask. Frontal did not care about the other party as he turned his stare to the screen and said, “No one can answer it.”

“Are they people who have exceptional senses such that they can cause the Psycommu weapons to work? In terms of effect, Ensign Marida can be said to be a Newtype. Then, the NT-D will use this phenomenon as basis to determine the opponent as a Newtype and use it’s original power.”

The hard lights and shadows could be seen crossing each other on the zoomed footage caught, right in front of the stare under the mask. Both giants continued the dance of death as they tried to kill each other, not knowing if the perpetrator planned this. Beside him, Zinnerman stared at the screen too, and Frontal gave a mystical-like smile on his lips.

“That “Gundam” hasn’t showed its real form yet. We’ll have Ensign Marida draw out its real nature.”

===Part 14===

The funnel that was shot down became a fireball, and the shockwave scattered in all directions. Marida wanted to flip the machine at the last moment, but it could not dodge the “Unicorn Gundam” that came rushing in while cutting through the explosion of dust and gas that occurred.

The enemy unit fired its Vulcan guns, and two trails of fire grazed the “Kshatriya”. Marida continued to dodge as she checked the positions of the deployed funnels as she passed her intent over to these Psycommu installations to shoot from behind the “Gundam”. The nearby funnels immediately lit their burners to adjust and shot out beams from their tips. At this moment, the “Unicorn Gundam” did a roll, let out a flash from its burners, and disappeared from Marida’s sights like a scene in an action movie. The funnel beams crossed the vacuum, and the “Kshatriya”s thick green machine floated in the darkness.

“Stop dodging around…!”

Marida muttered, and she stepped on the pedal. The “Kshatriya” went full throttle as it followed the “Gundam”, and the G-force that came pressurizing from above caused her flesh to tremble about. The blood vessels contracted, and the blood that was pressed down by the centrifuge force remained where it was. The 12 organs inside the body supporting the heart pulsated to grant a steady blood supply to the head. The body of flesh that was designed for high mobility combat shuddered, and the nervous system was quickly processing the movements of the “Unicorn Gundam”. The enemy’s acceleration and sharp turns were not usual—but her eyes were gradually getting used to it. There was not much improvement in this direct movement that had the flair of an amateur compared to the fight she had at “Industrial 7”. Marida deduced that she could win if she attacked calmly.

Speaking of which, it was impossible for an ordinary person to last so long under such conditions. The enemy was not even a professional pilot here. If this amateur really blurted it out accidentally, it meant that he did not say this in an irresponsible manner. There was a need to hurry up and wear out the “Unicorn Gundam” and reclaim Mineva who seemed to be nearby. Zinnerman had always been protecting Mineva Zabi as he placed his dream of Neo Zeon’s revival on her. Even though he never said it before, he had always viewed reclaiming Mineva as his top priority. Marida herself did not have any interest in Neo Zeon’s revival, but her master’s wish would be her wish, and her master’s enemies would be her enemies. Marida had to do what she must do even if she had to sacrifice her life. To Marida, who gained life as an artificial being, there was no philosophy she exalted more than this.

Speaking of which, Zinnerman would probably tell her that this was not right. ''You’re not an artificially-created thing, you’re a person. Decide where you want to go. He would probably say such things, and because of this, I have to live on as an artificial being. I have to become a humanoid weapon that makes use of this body that had its genes manipulated for battle and protect Master. There’s no way I’ll be able to repay him, and I can’t repay the thing that save me, that thing Master called the ‘light’—''

“…This will be over!”

This thought process lasted for less than a second. Marida saw through the “Unicorn Gundam”s flight path and let her thoughts control the 16 funnels through a voice. The automatic cannon pods that received the commands of the thought waves moved as if they were dragged, and the “Kshatriya” fired mega-particle cannons from its torso and the binders. The sublight bullets that were refracted through the I-field flushed in from all directions like a tap with the stopper pulled out from the faucet at full stream, raining down on the “Unicorn Gundam” that was moving around at high speeds.

The burners located all over the body let out flares, and the “Gundam” machine did an emergency turn. The funnels that first got over in front of the “Gundam” tried to shoot out beams as it intended to force the machine into the other funnels range as they were aligned in a sphere. The “Gundam” sensed the perimeter that was formed with killing intent, and the next term would be the crucial moment. The thruster lights continued to flare, and Marida saw that the “Unicorn Gundam” was moving in the direction it predicted beforehand before sending the attack thoughts to the funnels that were on standby.

The pink beams crossed a certain point, hitting the thruster vane on the back of the shins. Just when the second hit looked like it was going to hit the machine that lost its balance, the right shoulder armor got crushed first, and the Psycoframe that was revealed after the shedding let out a bloody luminescent light. In less than a second, the funnels surrounded this machine that was spinning under such force and lost its control. Marida deliberately chose not to aim at the generator as she shot the burners and the thrusters to nullify it. She gathered the sight of all 16 funnels into her consciousness, and as she turned this expanded instinct into an attack, the machine of the “Unicorn Gundam” suddenly shot out a ‘presence’ that seemed to form a giant wind that had a physical effect, flowing right at the cockpit Marida was in.

It was impossible to imagine that this came from the pilot within there. The ‘air’ that was now filled with powerful antagonistic intent passed through the normal suit, ruffling Marida’s sweaty skin as it blew behind. The feeling of a rotten slug passed through her body and dug in—the sealed memories rose up Marida’s throat, and in an instant, she could not tell which direction was which any longer as she could only gather her attack thoughts to the funnels. However, the funnels remained unmoved as they surrounded the “Unicorn Gundam”, waiting silently with no signs of moving.

It felt like time stopped. The enemy unit, surrounded by the funnels that were floating weakly, continued to let out this overwhelming ‘air’ as it stared at Marida. '' You dare to hurt me—'' a thought, not from the pilot, but an arrogant and merciless thought pierced the membrane of Marida’s mind, and as the ‘existence’ that felt like it was pulsating nearby spread through the vacuum, the “Unicorn Gundam” raised its right hand slowly.

The 5 fingers that were opened let out an invisible wave, causing the funnels that were still remaining to let out their burner flares. They then moved according to the “Gundam”s fingers, and turned around with their cannons pointed at the main unit, the “Kshatriya”.

The matching eyes reflected the glow on its Psycoframe as they turned red, flickering like they were making a mockery. ''The “Gundam”s the enemy—''this thought appeared in Marida’s mind, and at that moment, the “Unicorn Gundam” swung down its right hand, causing the funnels filled with antagonistic intent to attack Marida.

The beams then came firing out from the cannons, and multiple beams were aimed at the “Kshatriya”. Marida immediately dodged and tried to gather her thoughts on the funnels, only to be shocked that she could not plot out the funnels’ paths. Marida did not know where the funnels were. Due to the wave interference of the “Gundam”, the Psycommu lost its contact and control of the funnels’ locations.

“What’s going on, funnels? Can’t you recognize me!?”

The funnels that lost their sense of self were firing the mega-particle cannons, pecking at their mother bird “Kshatriya”. A graze caused an impact to rock Marida, and her face that was buried inside the safety airbag. She could only release the expanding the mega-particle cannons reluctantly. The sublight scattered shots came flying out of the chest, and the two funnels that took direct hits let out explosions of light. The “Kshatriya” turned its back on that light and sliced the funnel that was closing in. Marida let the machine rush out of the array and turned her sights at the source of this wave that was surrounding her.

“You bastard, what did you do!?”

The “Kshatriya” ignited its thrusters at full power and got behind the white unit. The “Unicorn Gundam” remained still at that spot in space, not moving at all. It raised its arms up and spread them out wide, and the attachments installed on the arms became beam saber grips. The two grips were located at the cuffs supported by the arms, and the front of the “Gundam”s arms showed sharp blades of light.

The arms that became beam sabers extended out from both left and right side, and the machine immediately moved, disappearing from Marida’s sights. Marida blinked in astonishment as she looked around through the all-view monitor, but the impact that came from right below immediately caused her to scream. The starry sea that filled her sights moved, and immediately, the sight of the sliced binder tip appeared right in front of her, gradually moving away from the body. The “Gundam” did not let go of this opening. While the “Kshatriya” stopped and turned around to fire the mega particle cannons, it slashed right that the enemy and dragged a trail of red phosphorus light over the enemy’s head.

The beams that came raining down from all directions caused the machine that had the sabers molded together with it to leap as if it were dancing. The mega-particle cannons beams were dodged easily, and the enemy got into a dead angle and shot an icy cold wave at Marida’s bag.

Marida shot out a dummy balloon, something she had never used before, and used it to hold off the enemy figure that was hacking at it like a wild wind. She knew she was being toyed with, and felt a chill from it. This movement was different from the “Gundam” before. It was reading Marida’s movements completely as it slowly but surely tortured the “Kshatriya”, and its thoughts were reaching Marida’s skin. It was a thought that had cold delight mixed in it, one belonging to the joy of a hunter—

“Who…are you?”

Banagher Links’ silhouette did not appear there. There was no sense of anger or madness, and the “Gundam” that transformed into a hunting machine sliced off the dummy while the funnels supporting it wore down the “Kshatriya” armor. Marida screamed as she saw the funnels gather together to form the shape of a giant hand. ''The “Gundam”s the enemy, the terrifying enemy that took away our light.'' The memories buried within her inherited genes exploded, and a certain person called Marida reverted back to its original state—

===Part 15===

That abnormal scene could be distinguished despite the blurry optical images. As everyone on the bridge held their breaths in anticipation, Angelo continued to stare at the main screen with horror.

“Is that…something that brat’s doing?”

Zinnerman continued to stare at the stiff lights and shadows that were dancing, muttering with a look of utter disbelief. Angelo had no disagreements about this. ''If this were that guy’s ability, I would have been shot down during the battle before.'' “That’s far from the truth.” Frontal said.

“Once it deems the enemy as a Newtype, the machine’s limitations would be removed, and everything from the movement controls to the weapons controls would be controlled by the system. The pilot here would not even be a system software here. It plays the part of receiving the thought waves and converts them into antagonistic intent.”

“Then, what the heck’s controlling that “Gundam”!?”

“Why, the NT-D. The Newtype-Destroyer System.”

Frontal said nonchalantly, and Angelo gulped the saliva in his mouth as he looked at the side of Frontal’s masked face. “Destroy…?” Zinnerman asked back, frowning.

“That lone-horned will detect the thought waves of the enemy, while the “Gundam” would be in charge of destroying it. What we see is an interface that uses the Psycoframe to carry out cadence that far exceeds human limits, and also, a hunting machine that’s equipped with the ability to control enemy Psycommu weapons. This Program was created to exterminate the last greatest fable Zeon left behind, Newtypes.”

“This is too ridiculous…it’s impossible for normal humans to pilot such a machine.”

“That’s right. The pilot has to be enhanced. This isn’t a machine a Newtype created by artificial means can pilot, but that a real enhanced being can do.”

The deliberate voice caused Zinnerman, who realized what was going on, to give a tense look on his face, “I see. So it’s a product of technology used to purge Newtypes. In that case…”

“It can bury the fable of Zeon completely.” Frontal followed up and continued, “They wanted to dissolve the Zeon Republic and the Newtype fable together with the 100 year anniversary, and use this to wipe off the nightmare called Zeon completely. As habit, they call this the UC plan.”

UC was an abbreviation of Unicorn, and also, it signified the Universal Century itself. The nightmare that caused the first 100 years to be stained in blood called Zeon shook the foundation of the Universal Century from its base, so they had to remove this nightmare before they welcomed the next hundred years. The theory of evolution human kind would have after entering space was just a fantasy, and the so-called Newtypes were just monsters with ridiculous amounts of fighting abilities. The sayings that Newtype perceptions were outstanding were just rhetorics, and they could overpower it through the power of science and technology. To prove this, a Gundam-type mobile suit would be most fitting. It was a symbolic existence of the Federation, and up till this point, the “Gundam” was a machine that could not be separated from the Newtype fable. Mobile suits with “Gundam” appearances were being mass-produced as part of the Federation army’s realignment, and the power of science alone would be enough to exterminate the monsters. There was no method that was more effective than this political propaganda if they wanted to erase the “Newtype” theory. They would imitate their forefathers who single-handedly built the Federation organization, and this would be the time to take great strides and push for massive changes, all in the name of making sure that Earth would be at peace at the Universal Century’s 100 year anniversary-

Neo Zeon, which was raised as a separatist, tried to maintain an economy that could not last without war on one hand; while on the other hand, such forces were allowed to continue existing because of this trail of thought. Angelo felt that this was not something a sane person would do, and looked horrified at he stared at the “Unicorn Gundam” on the other side. It was a monster born out of the fear of the Newtype theory and Zeon, the source of it. ''To think the Federation’s fear for us is so deep…''

“Cardeas Vist installed a mechanism on that monster and left the key to opening the “Laplace Box” to it. Even the activation conditions of the NT-D were modified, so if we want to finish out its true identity, we can only activate the NT-D and let it remove the seal gradually.”

“…In other words, you want Marida to be a sacrificial pawn here!?”

Zinnerman summoned back the killing intent that once faded and gave an ominous look in his eyes. “This is only something she can do.” Frontal emphasized as he stopped Angelo from trying to stand in front of him.

“The Ple series have their hatred and animosity to the “Gundam” ingrained within their consciousness. She’s the only pilot who can draw out the “Unicorn”s true nature and fight it.”

“But Marida’s—”

“Ple Twelve.”

The words interrupt sharply as Frontal stared right back at Zinnerman. “That’s her name. She’s an experimental model codenamed serial number 12 amongst the line of artificial Newtypes that were cloned and genetically modified.”

The mouth that was half-opened, wanting to argue back, closed again, and Zinnerman averted the other person’s stare as he clenched his fist. “Even so, I understand you’ll say that she’s a person.” Frontal said silently.

“But it’s dangerous to put exceeding emotions on her. If the Ple series lose their master, they would be unable to ensure their sense of self. Sometimes, this would create a sense of dependence on the master, especially someone like Ensign Marida who lived through several cruel years for a female—”

“Don’t say it.”

This was a sharp voice that sounded like a knife was placed right at the back of the neck. Angelo glanced back at Frontal’s expression as he stopped, swallowed his saliva, and glared at Zinnerman, “You dare to be insolent to a superior…!” Zinnerman did not say anything as he suddenly reached out to grab Angelo on the collar.

“It’s because it’s a superior officer that I’m saying such things. It’s not that easy if it’s you.”

Zinnerman reached his thick arm and pushed Angelo into space. Angelo managed to launch on his feet immediately, but he had no strength to argue with Zinnerman, who was giving an ominous look, and could only retreat back behind Frontal, who remained silent and unmoved. Zinnerman looked at them for quite a while, and turned his sights back to the screen where lights of battle were occurring. He suppressed the emotions that were about to explode out right at this point, and his expression that was more serious than usual caused the atmosphere in the bridge to become heavier.

===Part 16===

Everything and anything became bloody red through the reddish-black filter; whether it was the 4-winged that was attacked by the automatic cannon pods it released or the dummy balloons that would be crushed the moment the beam sabers touched it. This was not due to the alert image shown on the visor. Perhaps this would be the blood below Banagher’s eyes filling his sights, and he recalled someone telling him this, that the eyes were the weakest organs against the G-force. ''Who exactly said it to me—''

This thought was just a little pebble mixed in between amidst the surging impulses. ''Destroy the 4-winged and eliminate anything that’s giving off antagonistic intent.'' Banagher hurriedly moved the “Unicorn Gundam” as the intensity of the impacts kept shaking his organs. The slashes that crossed by sliced the knee armor of the 4-winged, and the machine that was spurting out conducting fluids spun about in an ugly manner. The left hand was already severed, and the binder with its armor ripped off could not function as per normal. However, this person did not intend to stop resisting. Whenever there was an opening, it would reach out the hidden sub-arms and swing the blade of its beam sabers at the “Unicorn Gundam”s chest.

''—The “Gundam”s the enemy!''

The monoeye of the 4-winged flashed as it accepted the consciousness of the person within. ''That’s too straightforward,'' Banagher argued in the corner of his mind. ''It’s because you guys are giving off antagonistic intent like this that everything became like this, not just what happened to “Industrial 7”, but also forcing me to ride on this thing and take part in this battle.''

''The “Laplace Box”, the Vist Foundation, Neo Zeon, everyone keeps promoting their beliefs and ideals; they wouldn’t even listen to anyone else. Nobody wants to listen to me, no one wants to be on my side. Dad’s dead, Audrey’s gone, why must I bear all these troubles? Why must I suffer such terrifying things alone!? All I want to do is to save Audrey. Why am I still at such a place even when I left Audrey in another guy’s hands—!?

The “Gundam”s folded arms expanded out sideways as it sliced off two hidden sub-arms the enemy reached out. The 4-winged staggered back slightly, and the automatic cannon pod array surged forward. They had lost all power in their batteries, but it did not matter to him. ''Go on, wreck the enemy!'' Banagher muttered silently in his mind, and the automatic cannons that were afflicted by this destructive impulse started to charge at the 4-winged.

The impacts of the sparks appeared, and the 4-winged that was desperately swinging its beam saber staggered as it tilted. The tattered binders were overlapped in front of the body, and the 4-winged that was reduced to a short and stout humanoid figure continued to be knocked back by the funnels. Banagher realized that his lips were curling up as he let the “Unicorn Gundam” rush right at the enemy. The machine spun like a top as it touched the 4-winged, and the 4-winged’s hand wielding the beam saber was knocked back into space.

The 4 beam cannons on the torso were also hacked apart, and the machine that lost its almost all its weapons bent backwards. Banagher looked at the enemy that could not use the AMBAC function and had its last sub-arm sliced by the cross-beam sabers. He used this impulse to aim the cursor at the cockpit of the 4-winged.

There was a source of antagonistic intent from within the cockpit cover, unnerving him. The nerves that were on the same length as the sensors captured the position, and the Psycoframe got right in front of the 4-winged as it reflected the pilot’s will. The “Unicorn Gundam” cleared off the conducting fluids and broken bits of armor around it, and just when it was about to stab the beam saber through the cockpit, there was an ‘air’ that came fluttering out of the machine, letting Banagher know it was a sweet aroma that was teasing his nose.

''This is a smell I recognize.'' The moment he thought about that, a soft flash appeared around Banagher’s forehead, and time stood still. Everything stood still, from the 4-winged that remained exposed defenseless, the beam saber that was about to stab through the cockpit, and even the particles that were forming a shot that was released. The light glow that radiated at his forehead reached forward. That light mixed into together with the a’ir’ released by the 4-winged, forming a ‘forcefield’ that surrounded the two mobile suits. This ‘forcefield’ removed the bloody color in Banagher’s sight and expanded out together with the soft light—

''—Light…!''

''Someone called out. A girl’s voice? Perhaps it’s my own voice. That might not be a voice if I look at things further.'' The 4-winged in front of him was basked in light, and the antagonistic intent clinging onto the skin faded away like fog as the existence within the enemy’s cockpit closed in on him. ''What’s going on? Who’s intending to enter my body?'' Banagher could only look around as his head was fastened on the headrest, and he saw the linear seat with light behind it.

''—You’re the light that came to free me. Have you came to receive me?

Marida Cruz was seated on the linear seat weakly, giving a weak smile right back at Banagher. to him, the profile of the girl reaching her hand out to him was like a girl of around 10 years old.

[[Image:KSGU4 251.png|thumb]]

''—Who, are you?''

Banagher too reached his hand out to the girl smiling back at him on the other side. The light dipped, and their thoughts were immersed into the bottom of the icy cold water as though the water surface was blown apart.

Light. A white light that was just born.

Banagher saw the white and transparent light that was shown on the surface. The feeling gradually rose from his body as it left the empty depth. The hand that reached out from the water surface immediately felt the cold air from the outside, and Marida felt an unknown hand pull her up. This was the first time she felt human warmth…

“Welcome to this world. Do you feel cold?”

The blond boy that reached his hand out smiled at her. The neat room that was surrounded by white light had several casket-like capsules laid out, and it seemed that she was obtained from one of them. Banagher looked at the face of the young man wearing a Neo Zeon uniform, and Marida felt a chill from this young man’s expression that was colder than the surrounding temperature.

“You’re the 12th sister. Your sisters are working outside. Come together with me to the outside world.”

The boy held her hand, and it felt warm. Marida got up from the capsule and as her bare foot that touched the outside air touched the floor, she instinctively understood that this man was her master. ''Is that how it is?'' Banagher had some doubts as he wondered how her consciousness entered his mind. There was a girl around 10 years old with blue eyes shown right in front of him—

Light. A savage and violent light that radiated through space.

That kind of light that appeared on the all-view monitor was a light of explosion. “Ple Three is killed!” Banagher and Marida were inside the cockpit as they heard the girl call out.

“Master’s dead too. He’s dead!”

“What should we do?”

“Calm down. There’re still enemies left on the battlefield. We have to purge the Federation. We have to eliminate all of master’s enemies, whether it’s the “Gundam” or Haman!”

The 4th sister called out, and the sisters regained some calmness. The black mobile suits became their limbs, and the binders that were extended out from their shoulders made them look like machines with wings. The sisters lined up and attacked the enemy, understanding what to do. ''We just needed to use the funnels to get rid of anything that gives any antagonistic intent. We’re not complete, but we can do it. We’re created to do it.''

''But what exactly is the enemy?'' Marida thought as she joined the line unconditionally. ''Is it something that’s hurting master? Is it something master deems to be a target? We were trained all this while to protect master, we take quite a few painful injections nowadays, our minds are stuffed with so much knowledge they can blow up, but I can endure it all for the sake of master. My sister with the same faces and abilities are also following master, like how they were pursuing that light when they were born. Service and dedication were the only values we were taught.''

''But that master who taught us this isn’t around. Do we still have to fight when master’s not around? Even though we’re all designed to be in the same form, all of us are different. The 6th sister would call herself ‘this me’, while I call myself ‘I’. We’re all multiplied from a single source, and we received similar training, but we’re different individuals. I heard from the doctor before that this is an individual difference. I heard of this term ‘soul’ before. Everyone’s different, and there will be as many different things as there are people. Are our souls the same? Are souls lonely? Even though we have so many people, I still feel very lonely…''

Nobody said anything about this, but there was this feeling. They could not hide the wavering of their minds caused by the loss of their master, this core of their lives. Their mobile suits movements were obviously slow, and they would be massacred if they gathered together. The 12th sister broke the rule for the first time as she was the only one to leave the line a little.

In an instant, a beam of light ripped through space, and the black mobile suits were devoured. The mobile suit was ripped apart by the mega particles that scattered and came in from all directions, and she was thrown out into space.

The all-view monitor was swtiched off, and the cockpit, which was covered in darkness, spun around. It was severed; Marida’s bond with the sisters and the machines were forcefully severed as everything else was returned to Heaven. She desperately reached out her hand, searching for greenery amidst the darkness. The weakly flickering alert image caused the hand that was grabbing emptiness to appear—

Light. Lewd, vulgar and contemptible neon lights.

There were several bars lined up along a street on this secluded area. The scene changed to a corner of a bustling street that had corroded vomit and stenches of pee. A middle-aged woman with her back facing the neon lights frowned as she said, “This kid stinks!”

“She’s just a kid. It’s impossible to sell her like this.”

“There are customers who like such things, right? She was seated in an escape pod when I picked her up. It seems that she went completely bonkers here. Her mind’s all blank, so she’ll listen to anything no matter what!”

The woman looked at the girl’s face. There was an irritating smell of perfume moving up the girl’s nose, and though she thought that this was basically the smell of a toilet air freshener, her body and mind would not react. The woman clicked her tongues as she hummed, nudged the girl by the head and pushed her into the shop. The girl’s swaying footsteps stepped right into the water puddles, and the neon lights reflected off the water surfaces shook as well.

Banagher and Marida were staring at the girl’s face there. That dirty face with a head full of unkempt long hair was facing them. The 12th position underaged girl remained defenseless as her body remained there, looking up at a certain spot in the sky…

“So then.”

The man received some money from the woman and hurriedly left. ''The man who pulled me out from the darkness of the cockpit, the man who should me my new master is leaving.'' Master; the girl pursued after the man as she gave a voice from her throat. “I’m your master from today on!” The woman grabbed the girl by the shoulder and exhaled a smelly fat smell.

Master. She would not be able to survive without her master, the one thing bonding her to this world. But as the girl was about to step into that world, her master would change every night. Her new mission was to accept any requests the master made and satisfy them. They would be rotten slugs licking all over her, and after everything ended, the girl would feel that she was garbage. The dirty water accumulated within her, and her sense of existence would gradually vanish. Finally, what was left was the bag of dirty water under the raw skin that accumulated.

''However, I had to listen to master. That’s because I’m alone. There’s no difference between getting into a mobile suit to fight and serving different masters every day as I can’t let my own will interfere. In the end, artificially created beings don’t need wills. I should have just followed orders to serve and dedicate like my sisters, and I wouldn’t be left behind as a result.''

The cheap bed let out a creaking sound, and the smelly stench blew all over her face. She endured the backlash from the lone intention she accidentally had, and at this moment, the hollow blue eyes were looking at the ceiling that was swaying up and down. The rotten smell felt like it was corroding her body, and it became her smell—

Light. Icy cold light that represented loss.

She could see the white ceiling. It was the ceiling of a treatment room that looked much poorer and dirtier than a Neo Zeon medical facility. The bald man in white clothes mused with a tired voice, “She’s still so young…”

The silver washbasin that was placed beside the bed vaguely reflected her face. The 12th sister body that became 15 years old was lying on the bed, and she blankly opened her numb and dazed yes. Her expression suddenly tensed up, and her hand that searched for the thing under the lower abdomen froze.

It was gone. It was stolen. Something that grew under the body, that certain thing that was becoming bigger bit by bit was taken away. The girl did not know what it was, but she understood that something very important was already…

The man who looked like a doctor walked out from the curtain, and she could see the treatment table that had apparatus to fix the legs down. The syringes, scissors and a hook shaped rod were left on the table without much thought. ''Did that thing pull it out?'' The moment she made that guess, she was prompted by fear as she nearly screamed, and her body nearly rolled off the bed and landed on the floor. She could not stop shuddering, and what rose up within her was a feeling a disgust. Someone secretly dug out something from her body, and the unforgettable pain spread through her body.

''What exactly, have I lost?'' The words were formed within her chest, but she was unable to convert them into words, and she was carried out of the treatment room by the doctor. “You didn’t hurt the product, did you?” the middle aged woman waiting in the standby room was smoking there “No, but…” the woman did not really look at the doctor who answered “Then, let’s go back.” as she merely turned behind. The 12th sister stopped in her tracks as she stared at the woman.

Her body felt weird ever since a while ago. She felt something around her stomach forming, and her periods stopped as well. ''What is it? I hope I can put it back if I can. That’s a part of me, and it’s definitely something important.'' The girl turned her voice that was not released into a stare, and the middle-aged woman momentarily changed expressions as she looked over, “Let’s go. What are you doing!” The woman commanded her as she pulled the girl, and the girl could only stutter over.

“THAT HEAVY STONE WAS TAKEN AWAY, RIGHT? SO COME HERE, YOU!!”

The woman screamed hoarsely as she tried to pull the girl’s body as she remained rooted to the floor. ''No, that’s not a huge stone.'' The voice in her chest never materialized itself in the end as she was pulled onto a dilapidated street. She was pulled onto an electric car that was parked beside the street, and the car moved towards the bustling street the shop was. The usual and mundane street scenes passed by outside the window, and the complex looks people had passed by. The bicycles were gathered together, the children were running around on the streets, a young mother was pushing a baby car, a baby was crying there…

These scenes passed by in a blur, wet manner, and icy cold water flowed down her cheeks. Tears. She never cried when she lost her master and her sisters. ''She didn’t bear a child willingly.'' Banagher continued to feel them flow down the blue hollows as he thought. ''However, whether I was willing or not, it was still a ‘light’.'' Marida’s thoughts answered. A ‘light’ was born within an artificial being’s body, and it was much more dazzling than any light she had seen till this point. It could have been a ‘light’ that could light this dull, dark and cold world.''

''That thought can be considered the selfishness of a mother.'' The two thoughts continued to merge with each other as they toyed with each other ''That may be true, but I still want to rely on this ‘light’. That’s because souls’ are lonely…'' and tears continued to roll down the girl’s cheeks as she touched the lower abdomen where there was no heat left. Her teary face was reflected off the car window, and the wet reflected image disintegrated—

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU! BARGING INTO OUR SHOP LIKE THAT!”

“SHUT UP! YOU OLD HAG! YOU’RE TREATING A BRAT AS A THING HERE! IF YOU DON’T MOVE ASIDE, I’LL WRECK THIS SHOP!”

Someone roared. The girl raised her lazy body and she sat up and looked at the metal door on the dirty wall. The high decibel sounds rattled through the door, and the shocked mice hurriedly scampered away.

The bottle that was used to store urine was toppled onto the floor, and the stains spread on the floor as a result. ''I’ll be beaten if I don’t hurry up and clean up.'' The girl thought, but she had no strength to get off the bed. ''How long has it been since that unlicensed doctor pulled that stone out of my stomach?'' That girl’s body was wrecked ever since then, and she could only remain in this underground room and lie around like a slob. ''As I expected, that was my other half.'' The 12th sister stared at her skinny hand that was like an old person, giving an unconcerned look as she heard the noise outside. This bag where the other half of the body was ripped off could not even contain the dirty water anymore. The body that inhaled the damp air of the underground room was just a pile of sodden residue.

GATAK. The sound that shook the room rang, and the metal door was opened. The light from the corridor shone into the room, and the girl could not help but use her hands to cover her face. It was a light that was overly bright to her eyes as she had never seen the sun for several days. A man was standing there with his back facing the light. The man was about to step into the room, but hesitated as he used his hand to cover his nose, and the urine bottle the mice toppled was lying there. The man looked at the girl and said “it’s her.”, while another hulking figure appeared there.

That person never showed any signs of disgust with regards to the puddles at his feet and the stench that filled the room as he gradually approached the girl. ''Is this man tonight’s master?'' The girl understood this, and her body moved on her own as she stood on the icy cold floor. As the sweaty and stained clothes slid off, the girl faced them while being completely naked. Perhaps those figures gasped because of the bruises all over her body? The girl was slightly relaxed as she knew that this master did not seem to have that kind of interest. Her current situation was such that she probably would not be able to finish those bondage or beaten missions…

“HOLD ON A MOMENT! THERE’S A SCARY BIG BROTHER WATCHING OVER THIS SHOP! GET AWAY FROM THAT GIRL RIGHT NOW!”

The woman screamed outside the room. The man silently picked up the towel beside the bed and draped over gently over the girl.

“I’m taking this girl away.” This voice echoed through the room, and the face that was covered in thick sturdy beard entered the girl’s gaze.

“This girl’s our military’s property. Thank you for taking care of her.”

The infuriated face that was of stark contrast to the deep, calm voice filled the man’s face. “WHAT’S WITH THE INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ARMY? ARE YOU THE DEFEATED SOLDIERS OF ZEON? I’LL CALL THE COPS THEN…” the woman said that, and the man’s voice interrupted, “Try it if you dare.” and the grip of the handgun in the man’s clutches was shaking in front of the girl.

“I’m very angry now. It doesn't matter whether it’s the police or the mafia here; I can kill a hundred of them in my state of mind right now. Don’t piss me off.”

The other man pulled the woman, who shut up and retreated back, onto the floor, and screams and growls gradually faded away. The girl did not mind the noises as she walked towards the bearded man in the room. The towel draped over her body slid off, and the skinny girl stepped on it. As the girl reached her hand out, intending to touch the face’s bearded face, the man seemed to force out the words “That’s enough” as he used his wide hands to grab the girl’s arms.

“You don’t have to do such things anymore. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”

The face with the light behind looked down, and the eyes of the man that were holding onto the girl’s arms tightly showed a slightly glowing thing. ''Why is this man apologizing? And why is he crying?'' The doubts that passed through the girl’s mind was merged together with the heat that resonance, and her matching blue hollows continued to stare at the man’s face. The girl had been hugged by many masters before, but no one held her arms so forcefully and yet so gently.

However, the girl could recognize this warmth. A long time ago, a hand reached out to her from the water surface. The warmth of the human hand she touched when she was pulled out from the capsule was about the same as this so as this hand. The girl focused all her consciousness on the thick and hard hand of the man. Warmth flowed out from there, and as she felt the cells within her shaking, the girl looked up at the man’s eyes. The slightly wet man’s eyes reflected her black and dirty face. ''Who are you?'' The girl tried to ask.

''I’m me.'' The her present in the eyes answered. ''You’re not the 12th sister, but a one and only existence granted the name of Marida Cruz. You have a real master, so you must live for master. Don’t live on because you’re created this way, but give your all to serve your master.''

''This warmth is the real ‘light’, the one and only ‘light’ that reached into this darkness. Don’t let go of this ‘light’. Go do what master hopes for you to do, fight master’s enemies until this body of yours get burned one day, and all your sins and guilt return to nothingness—'' Marida’s thoughts were calling out within Zinnerman’s eyes ''That’s just a curse on yourself!'' Banagher’s thoughts interrupted at this point. ''That’s just a curse you set on yourself. The Captain doesn’t want you to do that in the first place.''

''I know. You’re right. But I said it before, didn’t I? Righteousness might not be the only thing that can save humanity…'' Marida’s retorting thoughts merged into the light, surrounding the girl that was standing blankly in the underground room. The white light covered the entire room, and the girl o opened her arms wide let out tears, and Banagher saw the light transform into heat as it evaporated the tears.

Light. A purifying light that burned all sins and guilt—

This was a sensation that happened within a hundredth of a second.

The mega-particles cackled as they scattered, and the blade of the beam saber was pointed at the cockpit of the 4-winged. Banagher recognized Marida’s existence inside the cockpit, got back his physical senses and pushed the control stick down with full intention.

The “NT-D” sign continued to flicker as the machine braked suddenly, and the impacts echoed within the machine. Marida was not moving, and her deep blue eyes were looking at the sky, waiting for the light closing in on her to swallow her. She was waiting for the ‘light’ that could undo the curse she set on herself, one that would burn the grime inside her body. She was waiting for her battered heart and body to return to nothingness, just like the girl that was lying on the floor of the dim underground room.

''Since where is there this kind of redemption?'' Banagher yelled in his thoughts with all he hand as he tried to make the rioting machine stop. ''I understand you, whether dream-wise or illusion-wise. When our thoughts overlapped and resonance in that sensation, I saw your existence. Humans can understand each other—and that is the real ‘light’. What you want to redeem you is to reveal the possibility that’s dormant and release the inner god within you. However, you only looked at your past—''

The filling thoughts became a light and was released from the Psycoframe. However, despite slowing down, the “Unicorn Gundam” never slowed down in its moments. The pilot’s will clashed with the system, and the machine ended up in a state where it could not control itself as its inertia forced it to rush right at the 4-winged. There was just a few meters left before contact—''I definitely won’t allow you to get killed. You wild horse, listen to me!'' Banagher exerted all the strength in his body to put the control stick down to the maximum and shouted out with all his emotions,

“STOP IT!!!”

The blade of the beam saber beamed the 4-winged’s cockpit hatch, and the Gundarium metals were ripped out as well. At that moment, the beam saber suddenly vanished, and the scorching hot grip was left as it touched the 4-winged’s abdomen. The “Unicorn Gundam” followed its momentum as it slammed right into the 4-winged, and the two giants got tangled together as they stopped their movements, clinging onto each other as they floated along with the inertia of the impact in space.

The red phosphorus light quickly faded, and the dual-eye sensors changed back to its original green color. The face cover then slid off, the V-shaped multi-blade antenna became one, and the light disappeared from the “Unicorn” that lost its “Gundam” form. The helmet attachments were removed, and Banagher bent his body that was practically lying down, puking out the stomach juices that rose up in him.

He took off his helmet, and his back rose up and down as he panted heavily. He coughed a few times, wiped his face that was dirtied by sweat and vomit, and noticed a water droplet, different from sweat, lying beside his eyes. It was not water from his body, but from within his heart. The memories ingrained in the other person’s mind released a form of painful heat and created a resonance in his brain, forming a drop of tear on his eyeballs…

What kind of experience was that? Banagher rubbed his eyes and searched through his memories that were just about to start fading from his impressions as he stared at the 4-winged in front of him. The machine had all sorts of short-circuited sparks spurting out from all over, and as the monoeye was switched off, the face of the giant that was lowered showed no signs of the monstrous look it had when it destroyed “Industrial 7”. The battered, weary and unsupported mobile suit floated within Banagher’s sights, overlapping together with the thoroughly battered naked girl, and the deep blue eyes of the girl that swallowed all filth were giving off cold air, “Miss Marida…” Banagher could not help but call out. The voice should have been heard through the communication channel, but there was no reply.

The cockpit functions might have been destroyed after taking so much damage. The burnt, dented cockpit cover remained as it was. Banagher looked away from the machine that might have took lots of damage, and looked up the moment he vaguely heard some coughing sounds.

(…Only humans, have gods…)

The weak voice rang through the communication channel. Banagher held his breath as he listened to Marida’s voices.

(The ideals they want to describe, the power to approach their ideals…even artificial beings have them…)

Banagher recognized these words—he accidentally blurted these words his father said when he faced that chapel. At this moment, what he heard were the words that followed, these words only he should know, and he lost his voice.

Marida knew these words, and just like he understood her, she understood him. Marida was within him, and he was within Marida…

Suddenly, an intense emotion that could not be suppressed rose up Banagher’s throat, and he clenched his trembling fists. He understood that she was trembling inside him. The strong-willed spirit that harbored the deep abyss of loss, who would not say that she was hurting even though she was, who would not say that she was suffering even though she was, was trembling. ''What should I say to someone who’s hurt so deeply? I just feel more distant after entering her heart; how can I face this loneliness and sadness—''

“Ev…even if…you do this because of this, it’s still not right. Killing off your means to continue living…it’s just too sad…”

The useless words came out, and the helpless tears seeped out as they wet his eyes. Banagher could not say anything. An impulse he could not control rose up his body, and he became one of the many people who tortured her through violence; he had no right to criticize the world for being unreasonable. Marida suddenly smiled and said, (Righteousness might not be the only thing that can save humanity…)

(However…I feel that it’s good that you can say ‘even so’ like that…)

A feeling of respect came from deep within Marida’s thoroughly battered, crushed heart and soul. The voice she eked out crushed Banagher’s heart as he mused, “That’s enough, don’t talk anymore.” as he lowered his eyes that were rolling out hot passion in a flowing manner. ''You’re not an artificial being. You’re more human than any human.'' This intent reached the “Unicorn”s skeletal frame, and both hands moved on its own as it cuddled the 4-winged machine into its clutches.

The fires of the battle ended, and as both allies and foes vanished in this starry sea, the two mobile suits embracing each other floated around. The “Unicorn” cockpit finally received its allied unit’s laser signal, telling Banagher that there was a Federation machine approaching him.

The marker indicating the “Nahel Argama” gradually approached Banagher from behind, but despite the calls the Federation machine started making through the wireless communicator, the “Unicorn” and the 4-winged di not move. The two machines floated around, entrusting themselves to each other with “Palau”, covered with dust, lying in the background. The patrolling Federation unit seemed puzzled as it let out burner flares. The weak light surrounded the two still machines, but it could not prevent the scars from appearing in space.

===Part 17===

“We lost response from the “Kshatriya”. It’s taken by the enemy ship.”

“The signal from the Psyco Monitor is cut. There’s no change in the Laplace Program. The seal’s still in the same state.”

The operators’ voices rang, and Angelo looked around as if he just woke up from a dream before looking back at the main screen.

The white hull could be seen moving to the enemy ship on the zoomed-in visual that was full of noise. It seemed that the “Unicorn” and the “Kshatriya” were left on the rear deck, but the interference of the block noise made it hard to tell. ''How long did my consciousness fly off?'' Angelo shook his numb head, which was still somewhat numb, as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and lifted his head on hearing Frontal’s words, “Of course.”

“So if we don’t move to the targeted coordinates, the program won’t move onto the next step even if we activate the NT-D?”

Frontal continued to stare at the screen, and had no other thoughts. The moment the “Unicorn” touched the “Kshatriya”, time stood still, and a suffocating feeling that stuffed their chests surrounded the “Rewloola”s bridge. ''Did Frontal not experience that kind of inexplicable feeling?'' As he thought about that, Angelo saw Zinnerman leave the scene wordlessly, and grabbed his shoulder. “Where are you going to, Captain?” In response to these words, Zinnerman shot a vicious look at him.

“Prompt action, of course. I’m going to get Marida back.”

The shoulder Angelo was touching gave off an electric jolt filled with killing intent, and he inadvertently released his hand. Zinnerman used his glare to force aside the bridge crew out of his way as he stepped on the floor and let his massive body float to the do. “Wait! The pursuit order’s not…” Angelo did not have the courage to touch his shoulder as he tried to call the other party, “It’s alright.” But Frontal interrupted the words he was going to say.

“We’ll have the “Garencieres” take charge of tracking down the enemy ship’s whereabouts, but be careful.”

The voice that came from below the mask caused Angelo to understand that there was no intent to lead the fleet and pursue them. He looked over at Frontal with a probing expression, and Zinnerman, who turned his face full of restrained killing intent, “Yes.” muttered as he left the ship. At this point, the Garencieres had lost its main fighting strength, the “Kshatriya”, and had only 3 “Geara Zulus” left as part of its fighting force. Angelo looked at the old ship model that was connected to the side of the “Rewloola” through the monitor, and the captain, who might launch some special assault, could be moving through it. He asked, “Is it okay?” and Frontal used his hand to stroke his chin.

“There’s a need to send someone to send the signals from the Psyco Monitor. The “Garencieres” is suited for this job. The coordinates the Laplace Program indicated isn’t a place where we can send in a large fleet easily.”

Frontal looked up at the input coordinates blinking on the navigation screen, and curled his lips with a self-mocking flair. The coordinates suspected to be where the “Laplace Box” seemed to be an overly dangerous place if they wanted to carry out a military operation here. Perhaps Frontal, who believed that a disguised transport ship could do the job, predicted such a predicament? Even if the release of the “Unicorn” and the reading of its data was just as planned, the capture of the “Kshatriya” by the enemy would be unexpected here. Angeo saw that the masked face showed no expression on the side, and could only look back at the enemy ship that was gradually moving away and put his hand on his heart that had yet to calm down.

Despite the battle that was happening, Marida and Banagher had an intense exchange of senses, and Zinnerman did not hid his killing intent in his eyes as he glared at Angelo. ''Have I enjoyed such deep emotions with others that were so intense? No, what I should ask is, will I get this kind of relationship in the future?'' Angelo could not find the answer from this red silhouette which seemed to be living in another dimension, and he turned his fleeting stare outside the window, into the vacuum.

===Part 18===

“The pilot’s fine too, right? …I understand. We hope to follow along when we inspect the enemy unit. Please be careful with dealing with it; that’s all I have to tell the captain. Over and out.”

The communication ended as they moved at a similar relative speed to the waverider, and the hands fastened themselves on the grip on top of the machine. After contacting the “Nahel Argama”, Daguza stared at “Palau”, which was moving further away from the “Loto”s driver seat. The enemy fleet never did anything, and there were no signs of enemy suits pursuing. “Palau”, which had cleared itself from its military functions, appeared on the back surveillance monitor through the thin layer of legoliths.

Amongst the ECOAS729 squad that went off first, the “Loto” managed to make contact with the mothership, and the “Unicorn” safely. Their initial objectives were reached, but to Daguza and the rest who were mentally prepared to die as they charged into “Palau”, it felt like they were let off easily in this situation. Banagher Links did not follow the spy’s instructions, but boarded the “Unicorn” itself and even took the 4-winged back to the ship as a bonus. ''What in the world happened for him to do such things?'' Despite being willing to accept all outcomes, it seemed that Conroy himself could not view this objectively. “Things really developed well.” There was an abnormal heaviness in his voice.

“That four-winged seemed like it was deliberately left there…let’s hope they don’t pull a joke on us like putting a bomb in it.”

“I don’t think that they need to deliberately come up with some tricks since they can sink a ship like the “Nahel Argama” easily, but Banagher might have been released deliberately.”

“That means those guys will still come after us, right? Those bastards.”

Conroy answered cautiously as he pointed the cursor of the rear surveillance monitor to the southernmost side. Including the dummy ships, there were more than 20 enemy ships that predicted the raid and moved out of the dock. If they wanted to, they could have destroyed the “Nahel Argama” whenever they wanted to. Considering how the enemy left them off, the assumption that Neo Zeon could not analyze the Laplace Program would be correct here. They probably intended to let the “Nahel Argama” and the “Unicorn” go before snatching the “Box” back at the crucial moment.

''So we’re still being toyed by the enemy, huh?'' Daguza clenched his left hand that did not have its cast removed yet as he sighed lightly, “However, I don’t think this mission was in vain” but Conroy’s words surprised him.

“Without the 729 fighting a way out for us, the “Unicorn” wouldn’t have the chance to escape.”

Despite knowing that the enemy planned for this, Conroy still concluded so with a stiff voice. Nasri’s “Loto” had broken communications with them, and they could not retrieve a signal piece of debris. “Of course.” Daguza answered with a similar stiff voice and closed his eyes for a while. From the communication channel, they heard news that three other allied units were missing. One of them was the “Delta Plus” that Ensign Riddhe Marcenas, who ‘returned back’, rode on.”

“…You have to come with us, Nasri.”

Daguza muttered and opened his eyes. He saw the hull of the “Nahel Argama” that lost its portside catapult, and there was a ghost-like ship floating on the monitor.

===Part 19===

Think. The shaking machine interrupted Mineva’s sleep, and she woke up.

The narrow cockpit was filled with the sound from the generator, and the walls of the all-view monitor were filled by the CG space. She could not feel any G-force striking her, and she could not see any debris or anything as such. ''Have we passed through the shoal space region?'' Mineva inspected her body that seemed to have passed out before, and opened the helmet visor, only to blink when she saw the drinking tube that was handed right in front of her.

“Is there any part of your body hurting now?”

Riddhe, who was sitting on the linear seat, gave Mineva a concerned look. The acceleration of the mass driver was overly powerful, and darkness surrounded Mineva’s eyes as she experienced the fear of nearly sinking into the seat. ''How long have I passed out?'' Mineva took the drinking tube and answered, “I’m fine” as she started drinking. The sensation of her gullet throbbing, a feature zero gravity had, reached her throat, and her blurred consciousness became awake as a result.

“The battle’s over. It seems the “Gundam” was taken in by the “Nahel Argama”, though I really could see it properly.”

Riddhe turned his eyes forward and started drinking from the tube. “We broke off laser communication here. Nobody’s pursuing us. They probably think we’re dead now.”

The self-mocking voice had a sense of burden, one which a soldier knew that he was doing something improper. Mineva did not feel that any spoken apology would have worked as she muttered softly, “…Is that so?” as she looked over at “Palau” which was becoming distant.

The silhouette of “Palau” became smaller than a pinkie’s fingertip as it was buried amongst the stars, and it was impossible to distinguish the shape clearly. ''What exactly did I betray, and what did I leave behind to come all the way here?'' Mineva could not arrange her thoughts in this situation as she harbored restlessness over her ignorance. She stared at the “Palau”, and the words “Don’t look back” caused her shoulders to jolt.

“We can only move forward, whether it’s you, or me…”

[[Image:KSGU4 273.png|thumb]]

Riddhe said, using a tone that seemed to be an attempt to convince himself as he exerted force on the control stick. Mineva did not say anything as she looked back forward.

There was an azure blue light, the size of a tennis ball, sparkling before the endlessly expanding space, floating in space in a middle manner. ''That place is the start of everything, a place we have to return to—'' Mineva mused in her chest unwittingly, and the “Delta Plus”, which transformed into a waverider form, continued to sprint through the eternal darkness. The Earth looked like it was ignoring the disputes that happened in space as it radiated a one and only light, waiting in front of the duo.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[KSGU:Volume_4_Chapter_2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Gundam Unicorn|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[KSGU:Volume_5_Illustrations|Volume 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

KSGU:Volume 4 Chapter 2

2013-03-30T17:25:33Z

75.85.182.130: changed "youw ant" to "you want"

==Chapter 2==

===Part 1===

The “Unicorn”s body that was fastened in the spare hangar was an industrial product whose elegance was said to be distilled, and could be described as an art piece. On one hand, it preserved the strokes and the flat surface of a mass product silhouette, while on the other hand, there armor itself was enhanced through a complicated procedure. The lone horn extending out from the forehead showed a remarkable presence of an art piece, and the mysterious appearance which matched the name was granted on the standing giant.

“This high mobility state…or the Gundam mode, I should call it? When that is activated, a system called the NT-D acts as the OS. As for the Laplace Program, you can imagine it to be activated with the NT-D, and it will reveal some encrypted data in phases.”

The 40-year-old technical officer said as he poked his head out of the abdomen. ''Why can’t those who’re so called proficient in technical data talk appropriately to each person’s status?'' Angelo felt unhappy inside as he reached for the raised platform and peered through the dim and opened cockpit hatch.

As the backup power was the only thing activated, the all-view monitor was not activated as it remained in the darkness that felt like it was about to converge everything. The display board on the linear seat let out a light indicating standby, flickering a logo that could be read as “La+”. Ever since it fell into Neo Zeon’s hands, the “Unicorn” kept refusing all external interference and remained silent, and this was the only sign it had been showing. La+—most likely, it was a light indicating the coordinates of the Laplace Box. Angelo felt a chill up his spine, and behind him, Full Frontal spoke, “In phases, you say?”

“In other words, the seal will be undone every time the NT-D is activated, and will show new information. This was activated twice from the pilot was registered. The first time was to let the system get into a standby phase, while the second showed these coordinates, and that’s all. Maybe it’ll show new information the next time it’s activated, and to be honest, I don’t know for sure. However, it’s more natural to assume that there’s still unrevealed information from the percentage of space the Laplace Program occupies the hard disk.”

“You can’t release all the information during this current phase?”

Frontal quipped. The tall masked figure standing on the raised platform stroked his chin, seemingly showing off alone in this unpleasant maintenance factory. The technical officer did not seem to have slept much after 2 days of nonstop work as he investigated the “Unicorn”, and answered, “We can try.” and weakly dropped his shoulders.

“It already took this much time for us to extract the information that was given. If we randomly try to interfere with it, we might end up causing all the data to be erased. I’ll try if you’re willing to do this, but I won’t recommend this. it’ll be advisable to let it reveal itself according to the process.”

“Can’t you remove the pilot’s biological register?”

''If we can do that, we can extract the information immediately, and there’ll be no need to control that boy called Banagher.'' The technical officer glanced aside at Angelo who interrupted with an anxious voice, and continued to tidy up the large number of cables floating around as he turned his back and answered, “There’ll be a risk too.”

“The pilot recognition system is linked to the Laplace Program. When a registered pilot activates the NT-D, the Laplace Program will be able to operate in the next phase. In this sense, we can say that this process is sort of a stepping stone. That’s because a special wave is needed to be detected before the NT-D can be activated.”

“So that’s why it’s called the Newtype-Drive system, is it?”

The technical officer gave a meaningfulness opinion, and Frontal gave a response that seemed to indicate that he understood something. ''So we can only rely on Banagher Links?'' Angelo only managed to understand this and lost all interest in this entire incident as he took a step back from the “Unicorn”s cockpit. The technical officer however continued “Yeah. But even so, its design is still rather amazing.” Angelo basically ignored half of his words as he looked over at the wide maintenance factory.

The maintenance factory was located amongst “Palau”, formed by 4 asteroids. The largest block was called “Calyx”. At this place, the “Unicorn” and more than 20 mobile suits could be seen lined up and undergoing repairs and checks. There was a large thick green mobile suit “Geara Zulu” standing 2 hangars away from this point. Beside it was a “Geara Doga” that was part of the Geara models, and the machine that had the sleeve emblem on it had its maintenance hatches opened. The long machine standing right in front of it was the “Gaza”-type that was the main fighting force of Neo Zeon in the past. It was a simple mass-production model that was 10 years old, developed from the remnants of the Old republic, but the machines with a transformable frame was not a poor choice in use, and even at this point, it could be used for scouting or investigations. The Sleeve design that was newly imprinted on it showed ingenuity in that they would not realize their weaknesses by using numbers. In this sense, this feeling described the machines fittingly, and it also brought about a sense of unity despite it being a unit of the “Sleeves”.

He looked up at the top, and saw the lights of the ships parked above the glass window at the ceiling. The silhouette that looked to be only the size of a thumb from this point was probably a patrolling “Musaka”-class ship. The military port of “Palau” was designated at the gap formed where the 4 asteroids were linked together, under the mortar-shaped depressions facing each other. The gaps were all covered by the asteroids facing outside, and it was impossible to see the military port from the outside. They could see the lights of the port from some angles, but it was hard to observe from the outside because of the asteroids linked together, giving a net function. Even though, it was not as concealed as a sturdy fortress. If the fissure at this point could be described as an anchorage, the light would be 5km away from this point on the “Calyx” in diameter, while the deepest part would be about 2km away. The fissure itself was protruding at the tip like an umbrella, and the beauty of the scene observed from below could only be described as majestic. If the connecting shafts could be described as stone pillars, this would be a stalactite cave in space.

Amidst, this large hole, there were 30+ ships docked, and the workboats and mobile suits looked like toys as they were floating through the dock. The randomly assembled remnant organization could be seen basically as a patrol squad, and though there were ships that could not be used as fighting strength, they could assemble enough personnel if they wanted to. ''If we can unravel this thing called the Laplace system or something and get hold of the “Box”, it’s not impossible for us to wipe out the enemies at one go. But even so'' Angelo gritted his teeth as he looked up at the head of the “Unicorn”. “I see, we might have to call it a drive, but its nature is a little intense.” Frontal’s tone caused him to hurriedly look forward.

“Yes. Leaving aside what the people who installed this Laplace Program were thinking, this thing itself is a hunting machine. It can be said that these two kinds of paradoxes were combined together. Captain, the ‘madness’ you said you felt from it might come from this.”

“I understand. Cardeas Vist sure left the Laplace Box to an unbelievable monster to tend to.”

Frontal’s lips under the mask curled as he heard the technical officer’s conclusion. ''I missed something important.'' Angelo did not even have the time to waver as Frontal called him “Lieutenant Angelo”, causing him to get into a still position.

“As what I commanded before, notifying the entire army and follow the instructions.”

“Yes!”

At this moment, Angelo instinctively stamped, and then reflected on what he heard. The given instructions were the response to the predicted attack. The Federation would come over to “Palau” to battle. He felt his blood boiling, but also realistically remembered that he had to bring over the freeze-dried rose. He stared at the back of the crimson red figure in front of him. Frontal put his hand on the cockpit hand and asked the technical officer, “So where’re the current coordinates pointing to?”

Angelo did not hear the reply of the technical officer who slipped into the cockpit. ''That might be the coordinate data of the “Box”, so there’s no need for me to hear it.'' Angelo intended to peek in through the cockpit, only to be taken aback by Frontal’s retreating figure, and could only make a way.

“…I really hope that’s a joke.”

Frontal faced the glow of the blinking “La+” and smiled as he said. At this, Angelo could only frown.

===Part 2===

At the same moment, April 12th, 00.25, the supply ship “Alaska” finished the resupply to the Nahel Argama and left the shoal space region as it returned back to the Moon.

The “Alaska” was a support ship under the Columbus class, 145m in length and 110m wide. Its shape could be described as completely rectangular, and though its length was not even two-thirds of the escort Clop-class ships, the ship space it occupied could take up two container block, and its capacity could be said to be sufficient enough to hold a mobile suit squadron. The ship finished its mission, and once passed through a peaceful time as it was commanded to head back under the jurisdiction of the normal Naval Bureau, but at this point, the situation it was involved in was definitely not peaceful.

There were other Clop-classes ships that were escorting it from the moon, and on the way back, the Irish-class sent over from Side 2 joined them. Two Jegan mobile suits were escorting it from the front and back on standby, flickering warning lights. It was expected that there would be escorts when supplying, but this formation was more cautious than even during a battle, and it was a special exception to see more defenses on the way back than it was going forth. The fleet command did not explain much about this, so the crew of the “Alaska” could only feel puzzled by it. However, there were some amongst the cadres who detected that something was up. The fleet command that stated that they found it troublesome to send reinforcements would not just send in escorts on the whim. The issue here was the ‘baggage’ they received from the “Nahel Argama”.

The list of the ‘baggage’ included a pilot who was ordered to return back from the ship and two civilians said to be detained from “Industrial 7”. There was also a prisoner said to be involved with the “Sleeves”, but this person was accompanied with people from the Central Intelligence Branch, and her name and details were not revealed to the “Alaska”s crew at all. Most likely, the issue was regarding ‘her’—''the prisoner in this incident was a girl'', this eyewitness report was spread throughout the ship through the crew. The excessive number of guards was definitely drafted in to escort ‘her’. This moving of the prisoner was the main mission of the “Alaska”, more important than the resupply to the “Nahel Argama”. This was the truth.

Speaking of which, even if they knew of about this, things would not change. If the Intelligence Branch was involved, it would be suicidal to pursue things. The crew would just treat the rumors as such, and it would be fine if they did not reveal their true thoughts until the end of the mission. Even the Captain, who was sitting on his seat at the center of the bridge as he watched the “Nahel Argama” drift far away, had this thought too. The white ship frame shown on the main monitor lost its entire portside catapult deck, and even the ventral fin at the tail was collapsed. It looked like they needed to be repaired in a factory, but the Senate Council ordered them to carry on their mission, and would not even allow them to send back the injured. This was a secret mission being carried out, but the only thing one could assume from this was that they wanted the entire crew to die together.

“I don’t know what kind of thing they got, but that ship sure drew the worst straw there…”

The Captain, who had a military career of 28 years, and was still working as an honest supply ship captain while most of his graduated peers from military cadet academy had all become outstanding, had no other feelings about it. This was not something he should be involved in. Anyone in an organization, whether it was the military, would often have danger around, and he had to face caves he could not avoid. ''I just have to hurry back to the Moon and drop the troublesome ‘baggage’. As the Captain thought about this, he turned his eyes to the screen, and the alarm rang, ripping through the stable air flowing within the “Alaska”.

“We got a fire alarm coming from the 4th deck! Investigating it immediately.”

“The incident happened in the second living quarters. The area is filled with smoke.”

The operator immediately shut off the alarm and reported. “What did you say?” The Captain felt his moaning face stiffening as he turned his body to the console on the side of the bridge. The multi-screen monitor that showed the situation inside the bridge was covered in white smoke. The damage control board indicated the location of the report—

“Isn’t that the block where the prisoners are held…?”

The second living quarters located inside the ship’s gravity block was indicated on the damage board of the “Alaska”s cross-sectional view, and that flickering light was definitely there without a doubt. The Captain yelled out before he even thought about the significance, “ACTIVATE THE EMERGENCY STEERING TEAM!”

“PUT OUT THE FIRE. EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM, GO ENSURE THE PRISONER’S SAFETY…!”

“A new fire’s reported! In the first container deck.”

A second red alarm followed the voice of the operator, flickering in a corner of container block. A fire was detected there after there was a fire detected at the prisoner block. The Captain was not suspecting whether it was a bogus report or a coincidence anymore as he remained stunned for a while. “What’s going on…?” He inadvertently mused, but no one answered as the words of the reports and the term emptiness overlapped each other as they went by his mind.

===Part 3===

The dome-shaped block that was rotating with the weak gravity generated within the walls required an airlock facility for artificial flow. Under zero gravity, where temperature difference did not exist, the air would not be able to flow easily, and this caused the danger of a vacuum belt in the ship.

The smoke that was created within the gravity block relied on this theory, and it flowed through the ship since the artificial airflow could not be stopped easily, causing the white mist to spread through the entire block. They could have sealed off the partition walls once they evacuated successfully, but the crew, who were all ordinary people, was not agile enough, and 1 minute was already wasted on teaching them the basics countermeasures. The only people who could pull out the Oxygen Breathing Apparatus after detecting this anomaly were most likely the Central Intelligence people who were in charge of watching the prisoner.

The 2 civilians that were also kept within the “Nahel Argama” were left to the crew of the “Alaska” for keeping. The 4 Intelligence Branch officers who were sent over to move the prisoner had already started moving. Two of them were standing in front of the prisoner detention room, while two others went to check on the situation. They did not feel that the enemy’s special agents would be able to sneak into the ship, but it was hard to imagine so many fire outbreaks happening at the same time being a coincidence. Two Intelligence Officers were dressed in suits and OBA masks as they kept their wary stares looking down the smoke-filled passages, pulling out their G-17 recoilless automatic pistols. All countermeasures were allowed, with the priority being that their prisoner was to be kept safe. Their guns were pointed at the floor, but their hands were holding onto the safeties of the G-17, and their expressions were already those of a soldier in battle.

At this moment, the smoke got thicker and thicker, making it harder to ensure their vision. If this was a fire that was deliberately started, the only reason they could think of would be misdirection. ''We can’t let the prisoner move around so easily, but it would be too late for us to evacuate.'' The two Intelligence personnel thought, and a person wearing an officer normal suit appeared on the other side of the smoke. He ignored the duo with their handguns raised as he yelled to them while running, “YOU GUYS, IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO WEAR OBAs!” and handed them three normal suits under his armpits.

“Hurry up and put those on. Those inside too.”

That person did not wait for their responses as he reached his hand to the detention door with an electric door. The Intelligence Officers quickly stopped him and said, “We’ll do this.” as they stared at this crew member who seemed to be from the emergency response. The emergency response crew member had the guns pointed at him, but he, who had his helmet pulled down, did not show signs of fear as he roared to the Intelligence Officers with killing intent, “HURRY UP THEN!”

“I’m in charge of fire prevention in this area! It’ll be on me if anyone dies here! Don’t just point that thing around here! Hurry!”

The Intelligence Officers exchanged glances and started putting their feet into their normal suits. One of them continued to remain on watch, while the other put on the helmet nimbly and pulled down the visor. After changing for less than 30 seconds, both of them entered a password only they knew and opened the electronic lock. One of them remained at the door to cover, while the other walked into the detention room.

At this moment, the emergency response member standing beside took action as he touched the Intelligence officer walking into the room by the neck. He pressed the emergency button on the seam of the helmet located at the back of the life support system, causing a status light to flicker. The Intelligence Officer noticed this anomaly and intended to activate the device again, only for the helmet to be filled with a transparent gas.

It was an anesthetic gas used to reduce oxygen consumption to the minimum when floating in space. Of course, this function would not be activated so easily, and it would require many countless procedures before it would be used normally. However, this normal suit that was tinkered with before would release the gas with the press of a button. The Intelligence Officer was knocked out in 2, 3 seconds, and the other person who noticed this anomaly walked into the room. The emergency crew member however responded before the gun was even pointed at him as he slammed the Intelligence Officer, and reached his hand towards the neck of the opponent who rolled onto the floor.

“You bastard…!” The Intelligence Officer groaned as his face relaxed and his body slumped. The emergency crew member pushed aside the sleeping Officer and tried to get up, staring right into the prisoner’s eyes as she stood in a corner of the detention room, dumbfounded. He poked his head outside to check that there was no one else around, and pulled aside his helmet visor.

“Ensign…Riddhe?”

The widened emerald eyes stared at the face deep within the visor. “Put this on.” Riddhe Marcenas simply briefed as he handed over the normal suit be brought along to her.

“We’re getting out of here. Pull down the visor and follow me.”

The prisoner—Mineva Lao Zabi did not say anything unnecessary. Her stared stopped on Riddhe, who was giving a serious look in his eyes, and received the Officer-use normal suit. She heartily took off her purple cape and brought the hefty normal suit onto the slender shoulders with the blouse on without taking too much time. Both of them rushed out of the detention room and passed through the passage with the canister giving off white smoke.

===Part 4===

They passed through the gravity block and went to the portside container block, also called the first container deck. It was unknown how many gas canisters Riddhe set up at which locations and it was a layer of thin mist once they passed through the air lock. It was unknown where the smoke came from in the wide space that was 100m long and not less than 30m wide and tall. The piled up containers, preparatory goods and the hanging crane arms from above were all covered with a thin veil. It seemed that new air was being switched in, but they probably could not turn off the air flow. The smoke continued to disperse in from the air ducts, and it looked like the damage was spreading.

“If we don’t know where the fire’s starting from, can’t we just turn off the air flow?”

“We should know where the reported area is from, right? What do you mean that you can’t detect the heat source!?”

Growls echoed all around as the agitated crew members were scurrying around. If the source was a gas canister, they would not be able to pick up the location through a heat signature sensor. Mineva looked down at the chaos from the catwalk railing, and nearly knocked into Riddhe, who suddenly stopped. Riddhe grabbed her hand and pulled her nearly floating body back. He leaned near the communication panel and picked up the microphone on the deck.

“All hands, prepare for vacuum. We’ll now draw away the air on the container deck. Those without normal suits are to evacuate. There’s 30 seconds till the hatch is open.”

The voice that rang throughout the ship’s speakers caused the scattering crew members to stop immediately. The next moment, the black wave of fear started to fill the container deck, and they started moving at a speed several times that of before.

Some leaned towards the lockers with the normal suits inside, some were heading towards the airlock leading to the bridge, leading people in. “Who’s the one making that broadcast? I never heard of such a thing!?” “Hurry up and confirm with the bridge!” The officers’ voices rang as they fought for the. However, these voices would not be able to calm them down. Mineva saw the figures in normal suits rushing around, and stepped on the floor of this passage on Riddhe’s prompting. She grabbed onto Riddhe by the shoulder as he was using the cable gun, and both of them glided past the passage of the container block. They were headed to a space launch on a launching pad. Over there, as the smoke floated around thinly, a green ball-shaped object suddenly appeared from the shadow of the ship, and it rolled its way into Mineva’s sights.

“Haro…?”

She unwittingly called out, and people dressed in normal suits appeared behind it as they waved over. One of them waved over at them, while the other carried Haro and watched their surroundings before hiding inside the launch. Mineva did see that face that was without a helmet on despite her wearing a normal suit. It was Micott Bartsch—''so in that case, the one waving over at us would be Takuya Irei, is it?'' Mineva did not have much time to think as the white frame of the space launch was right in front of them, and Mineva followed Riddhe as she reached for the ceiling.

Both of them used inertia to glide to the launch and grabbed onto the open hatch on the portside. Riddhe slipped into the launch first. “Hurry up” a familiar voice could be heard from behind. Mineva got into the space launch together with what looked Takuya in a normal suit.

This space shuttle had been used by the Federation before the One Year War, and there were 4 laser rocket engines installed on the frame that was less than 10m in length. It had a capacity of 10 people excluding the driver. At this point, Micott was sitting on the passenger seat, and she was looking tense and pale as she stared at the steering seat. She met Mineva in the eyes, and looked away awkwardly as she clinged onto Haro on her knees. Mineva felt a sharp pain at the bottom of her stomach as she passed by Micott and moved towards the steering seat in front. The console lights were already indicated, and Riddhe sat on the seat as he did the checks before take-off.

Mineva sat on the co-pilot seat and fastened herself down with the safety belt. She felt pressured by this atmosphere as she got all the way till here. ''Are we going to escape using this ship?'' This doubt that came way too late spread inside her, but she did not have time to speak up. Takuya closed the hatch, panted and grabbed onto the back of the pilot seat. “Is the airlock opened enough?” He asked as he stared at Riddhe’s face, who did not stop moving his hands as he continued the checks and answered.

“This kind of space launch can be used as an escape shuttle, so it’s possible for us to access the deck controls from here…those guys have finished evacuating, right?”

Riddhe’s voice caused Takuya to bring his helmet-covered head to the concave canopy window and checked the container deck filled with white smoke. The alarm showed no signs of stopping, but there were no signs of any crew members on the deck. “Looks like it’s over.” Takuya answered, and Riddhe answered, “Alright, let’s go.” and quickly operated on the console. The ‘Air’ flickered on the deck wall, and the warning lights on the floor started spinning for a few seconds. They could feel the continuous alarm sounds fading away rapidly.

The smoke outside the window immediately vanished, and the partition walls in front gradually opened. The large hatch of the pressure room split aside up and down, and the 4-sided space outside the hatch appeared right in front of them. It was the sound of the ship breaking away from the restraints and leaving, and it seemed that Riddhe and the rest were intending to escape from this ship. ''Where are they going?'' Mineva tried to think, but cringed due to the sudden impact.

A hammer-like sound rang twice, thrice as it rocked the ship, causing bright sparks to scatter all over the place, and the windows were jerking. ''Gunshots.'' Mineva realized this, and Micott screamed, “THEY’S SHOOTING AT US…!” “Don’t worry, hang on tight!” Riddhe growled. Mineva looked outside the window, and saw two people in normal suits pointing handguns at them as they approached the space launch. Flares popped out from their muzzles, causing sharp impacts to rocked the shuttle.

“We’ll cut the countdown. I’m going to make things rough here. Don’t bite your tongue!”

Riddhe spoke so loudly it was not drowned out by the bullets. Mineva looked back in front and held her breath. The space launch rockets ignited at practically the same time, and the G-force that struck from the front surrounded their bodies. The sight of the container deck instantly disappeared from behind, and the vacuum, where neither the Moon or the Earth could be seen, occupied the windows.

The monitor at the back showed the rectangular supply ship, moving further and further away. The pressure of the acceleration on their organs weakened within several seconds, and Micott’s heaving sound could be heard from behind. “Alright…!” Takuya shouted with a restrained voice, and Haro’s voice rang too “Haro”. Mineva too heaved a sigh of relief, but at this moment—

“It’s not over yet. There’re still mobile suits in the ship.”

Riddhe said with a tense voice that never relaxed, and as a result, Mineva continued to look at the monitor behind. The Federation mobile suits escorting the ships were there, and obviously, this space launch would not be able to beat them. If this heart of the fusion with four limbs floating in vacuum were a fusion core reactor as the heart, the old space launch would be caught be it immediately.

''How many seconds passed before the ship grasped the situation and was ordered to pursue us—how much distance can we gain during this time?'' Mineva and the other three stared at this 5 inch monitor. There was a small light spot the size of a small thumb appearing on the screen with a white trail.

The sensors showed two “RGM-89s” closing in quickly onto the space launcher. They started their pursuit, and they would be caught up in less than 10 seconds. ''Do you have a plan?'' Mineva intended to ask this as she glanced at the side of Riddhe’s face, who was looking intently as he focused on piloting. She suddenly felt the ship shaking, and frantically looked in front again.

A small rock flashed by the canopy window, turning the ship slightly with a small impact. The space debris flew in like bullets, faster than the motion sensors that showed many objects, and this showed that the space launch was moving into the shoal space region. The sizes ranged from pebbles to rocks larger than the launch. Though they were moving through the debris, they could not even slow down by one kilometer relatively. The debris field of past colonies continued to close in on them, moving through the body and floated back. They moved by a large rock, and 100m later, the minute debris that were scattered all over the place covered the ship like a sandstorm. Cracking sounds that bullied the armor caused the launch to tremor unstably.

“Wait, are we really alright?”

“I checked the path. If there’s no Minovsky particles scattered, the radar…”

Riddhe answered Micott’s shrieking voice and swallowed what he was about to say. He was wondering what was shining in front, only to find that a material the size of a human was rushing right at them. He immediately tilted the launch greatly, and the safety belt was pressed down on their shoulder muscles. Haro slid out of Micott’s hands and slammed into the wall, and Takuya cried out, “Is it really alright?” “We won’t be able to escape if we just do those cautious things…!” Riddhe answered as he continued to steer. He was already losing focus trying to stare at the settings panel. The sensors would capture the locations of the debris, and he had to use these to find the most suitable escape route. The monitor on the panel showed rectangular blocks entering, all repeating as they formed a 3-dimensional corridor.

The mobile suit pursuers were deliberately slowing down while being wary of the debris, but their speed was still very fast. Both mobile suits used the AMBAC function to dodge around, moving over at a speed the launch could not match. ''There’s still a little while until the computer calculates the course—'' Mineva saw that the navigation setting panel showed a bar that stated the progress, and looked back at the pursuers’ positions on the sensors, seeing that they were right in front of them. “Alright. It’s here!” Riddhe then yelled and clenched his sweaty fists.

“LET’S GO! GRIT YOUR TEETH!”

At that moment, the 4 laser rocket engines burst out flares, causing the launch to move forward at maximum speed. The hull let out a rattling sound, and everyone was forced down onto the seat. The path calculated by the computer was a complicated route of twists and turns through the debris, and Mineva and company were basically passengers sitting on a roller coaster as they did not know which side was up or down. As Takuya and Micott screamed out, the launch continued to repeat the complicated maneuvers that tested its limits and entered the shoal space region. The sea of debris floated by messily, and the beam a mobile suit fired raced into the flowing starry space, causing the debris that were hit directly to let out lights of explosions.

The scattered debris spurted out from a parallel level, and what sounded like a large number of pebbles being carried tortured their ears. “It’s just to scare us!” Mineva heard Riddhe’s shout as she looked at the large debris floating over from the front. That was the debris of a mirror that brought sunlight to a colony, and the cracked surface floated in the vacuum together. The launch in automatic mode continued to dodge the fragments floating around as it rushed right at the mirror.

“I’m going to do an emergency brake. There’ll be G-force coming from the back. Get ready.”

He stared at the countdown timer indicated on the navigation setting panel and shouted, 4, 3, 2…ignition . Riddhe’s fist slammed onto the console switch, causing the launch that was headed to the mirror to let out its front exhausts to the maximum. The G-force that struck at that moment rendered Mineva breathless.

Everything that was not held in place were flying to the front of the body, and the safety belts stretched out so much they felt like they were going to snap as they quashed into the body. Mineva spent so much effort preventing her eyeballs from popping out as she did not lift her head. After several seconds that felt like eternity, the launch that braked suddenly stopped its reverse jets—and moved in amongst the debris of the mirror. The ship was moving at a relative velocity completely identical to that of the surrounding debris as it slowly floated in space.

''Cough.'' It was unknown who coughed. The launch was dark inside most probably because the engine lights were shut off. Mineva slowly closed her eyes and stared at the sensor image that was the only thing giving off light. The pursuers’ markers looked like they were puzzled as they scattered aside. ''This launch rushed into the shoal space region at a reckless speed and slammed into debris…whether this sounds crazy or not, it’s true that they lost sight of us.'' After what seemed like an exceptionally long time, Riddhe said, “Let’s go.”. Mineva however looked up at the canopy, and could see a pale green machine dragging a trail of thruster jet as it floated through numerous materials.

At this point, no one had the strength to yell out; only sighs of relief could be heard from the gang in this dim launch. Haro, who was bouncing around, finally seemed relaxed as it flapped its ears and asked things like, (Are you alright, Audrey?) This alias that Mineva thought up at the last moment—but was designated onto her during the past few days made her unable to answer as she merely lowered her eyes. Riddhe glanced at her secretly, and spoke up while trying to end things off, “We’ll spend the time here.”

“Once those guys leave, we’ll take action again.”

Riddhe pushed Haro over to Micott, and removed his helmet while looking like he was avoiding Mineva’s stare. ''He’s really an overly empathetic person.'' Mineva thought as she asked, “What do you intend to do?”

“We’ll take immediately once we get back onto the Nahel Argama.” Riddhe exchanged looked with Mineva for a while, and continued, “We can still catch up to them at this distance, and once we make contact with them, it’ll be the start of the battle. At that time, the communication channel will be sealed off, so they can’t possible contact the “Alaska”. Logically put, it’s impossible for us to be brought back.”

“And then?”

Mineva did not think that things would improve just by them reaching back onto the Nahel Argama. ''Does this man knows what fate will befall on him for taking away a troublesome prisoner like me and stole a military resource to escape?'' She took off her helmet, gave a doubtful look, and was shocked by another voice “We can only do that.”.

It was Micott. She lowered her eyes, not daring to look at anyone, and her hands held Haro onto her knees tightly. The backup power was connected at this time, and a red light appeared inside the launch, revealing Micott’s bitter and depressed expression.

“We saw what we shouldn’t be seeing, whether it’s that Gundam or you, so there’s no reason for us to be allowed back home safely, right?”

“Besides, there were a lot of people who died or were deemed missing in that battle at “Industrial 7”. We might be counted amongst them at all.”

Takuya followed up. ''They’ll kill people to protect their secrets— '' Mineva gave a confirming look to Riddhe, who stuttered “Eh, I don’t think things will develop to such an extent so easily…” as he looked up to the canopy.

“But if that were the case, what should we do? Even if we get back onto the Nahel Argama…”

“I already thought of it.”

Riddhe was only able to go straight to the point at this moment as he clenched his hands on the control sticks.

“It’s a risky gamble, but it’s not like it won’t work. According to the report I got before I left the “Nahel Argama”, it seems that their battle will start before afternoon on the 12th. That’ll be the moment when “Palau” is closest to earth.”

Mineva did not understand what she just heard. “Battle? Did you just say “Palau”…Mineva asked back, and Riddhe gave her a look while saying, “I hope you can help me.”

“This isn’t simple. I don’t know whether it will be successful, but as long as I meet you, even my father will…”

Riddhe stopped here and looked outside the canopy again. “Father…your father?” Riddhe said with a forceful tone to block off Mineva’s musing, “It can’t be helped.”

“If this keeps up, everything will be swept under the table. I hope you can entrust your life to me in order to ensure your safety, and these two’s.”

The determined expression on Riddhe’s face as he left the detention room appeared as they landed on Mineva, causing her to look away immediately. No matter what Riddhe was thinking, his expression showed obvious consideration into this decision. She did not feel that she could simply agree to this easily, and as the void of silent time accumulated, Micott’s voice rang in her ears, “This is to save Banagher too.”

“I know this shouldn’t be something I should be saying. But sorry, I have no intention of apologizing to you. Your army was the one that decimated our colony.”

Micott spoke to Mineva, and suddenly looked down as she clasped her hands that were holding onto Haro. Mineva could only watch the face of this girl who looked more frail than anyone else in this launch silently.

“But I want to apologize to Banagher. If I don’t, I…”

The end of her words was vague due to her crying. Micott did not intend to speak up anymore as the silent time descended on the ship again. Riddhe seemed to realize that he was on a path of no return as he gave a determined look; Micott’s lowered angry face was trembling with wet eyes; and Takuya could only glance at Micott, wanting to reach his hand to her shoulder, but could not. Everyone’s feelings filled this launch, making the air inside hot and hard to breathe, and Mineva was forced to look for a place where she could lay her eyes on in the midst of this starry space with countless debris.

What expanded in front of her eyes was merely a frozen darkness, and she could not find anything to look at. However, the feelings of the people gathered here were running towards a certain place, intending to look for another place. ''Maybe I am look for some place I can run to, just like how I was guided by what warm hand. But to where?'' Mineva’s could not think properly as she closed her eyes and sighed out hot air. ''Even if we stay in the darkness, we can’t continue on to the next scenario. We have to start running—''

===Part 5===

“…This is originally an incomplete weapon. The reason why it wasn’t removed during the large Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) was simply because of budget issues. We did carry out formal regular activation tests, but we never actually fired for once.”

Despite looking tense in front of the Captain, the cannon operator said without hiding his stiff expression. Before Otto could speak up, the gunnery squad leader on standby at the back walked to the front and said,

“Leaving aside the issues regarding the design, I have absolute faith in the maintenance. If you don’t mind just one shot, I’ll show you how it can hit its target with 120% power.

The well-refined looking muscular body remained still as his energetic voice rang through the power room. ''Stop yapping so much.'' The cannon operator stared at him with such an expression, not because he was unhappy about how he spoke up while ignoring this officer here, but probably that this gunnery squad leader should not say things he was not confident in. This man’s doubting attitude became a fault, and he had the tendency to focus on failures in his heart. “Yes, we’ll rely on precision in this battle here. I look forward to your performance.” Otto kept his words till this point and just pretended to merely listen to the gunnery squad leader’s reliable words. “Yes!”, the gunnery squad leader raised his hand to salute and turned right to his workplace.

The cannon operator observed his Captain’s expression, and then kicked the floor to return back to his work. The place he was headed to had a standby battery one would mistake for the ship’s main engine, and the gunnery team could be seen carrying out their inspections. The soldiers briskly attached the connecter cables of the backup power source that were so thick they needed to be wrapped around with both arms. In contrast, the cannon operator who was left aside was not that excited. He would occasionally give some instructions, but his volume was never as loud as that of the squad leader. The soldiers were obviously ignoring him as well, “This really can’t do.” First Officer Liam lamented as she observed this same scene.

“It’s good that he’s serious, but he lacks a sense of authority. Such words won’t be able to move officers.”

She stated coldly while her stare under those thick eyelids were looking at the cannon operator. ''I didn’t expect to have the same view as this troublesome woman I have no relation with.'' Otto grimaced secretly as he answered, “Well, it’s not unreasonable after all.”

“Probably no one thought that we would need to use this to blow some things up one day.”

The front end of the energy condenser, 10m in diameter and more than 20m in length, had a mega particle generator that was far larger than normal, a beam generator. The mega particles would accelerate through 8 phases, gather inside the ring, and rise through the cannon that was 18m in diameter and monstrously large. If one included the energy, it would be said that this ‘grand cannon’ that was 50m in length could not be held inside the ship as it was too big, and could only be kept right under the 1st catapult deck, sticking out from the Nahel Argama from the hull of the ship. This was of a different class from the 4 main cannons that were designed on the ship. There had been no weapon like this weapon the ship was ferrying, and it was a mega-particle cannon that exceeded common sense—

“In theory, a hyper mega-particle is a weapon that can match the power of a colony laser and can be aimed at a location…but I’ve never seen it being fired for real once, even though I did see footage of it.”

“I’m the same as you as well. I guess the only ones equipped with such monstrously large things are the last generation’s “Argama” and this ship, right? We saw it fail in the end during the Neo Zeon War after all.”

This hyper mega particle cannon that caused the Captain and First Officer to say this in unison was basically a beam weapon that was an enlarged version of an ordinary mega-particle cannon. It was expected that one shot would be enough to bury a large ship, and if they adjusted the firing angle, it was possible to wipe out an entire fleet. This was basically similar to the large-scale mass killing weapon hanging on a colony frame as a cannon, the colony laser hailed as the ultimate cannon weapon. The problem was that the cost effective was worse off, and one hit would use up all the power on the ship.

They had to transfer all the main power in the ship’s main generator to the backup, and in that case, they would not be able to use other mega-particle cannons, and even pilot it. Of course, it did not have a rapid-fire option as the cooldown and reload times were all too long. Thus, there was only one chance of using it in battle. It was useful during the First Neo Zeon war, at the battle of Axis, where they were using it to break through, but it would not be efficient when it was a ship on ship battle. In this phase, the war against Zeonism was in the purging stage, and a targeted attack assumption here was basically zero, so the Federation army naturally never had the reason or ability to mass produce limited resources, and could not transfer this over to the other ships. If the costs for the FRAM was not ideal, this hyper mega-particle cannon would definitely be scrapped and sent to a war museum. It would be more efficient for them to turn the empty space to contain mobile suits, which would increase their fighting strength. That would be the case.

But in this battle, this monster that was behind times would become the crux. It would become the lynchpin in this battle to reclaim the RX-0—or rather, to save the civilian. Otto recalled Daguza’s seemingly ridiculous idea as he stared at the enemy scape, and sighed out all the heavy air from deep within his stomach. Liam reacted fast as she turned her eyes to him, and spoke with a probing voice, “Are you feeling unsatisfied?”

“No, this might be a reckless strategy, but it does make sense. If we want the Nahel Argama to stake on “Palau” alone, there would be no better plan than this. I too hope to save Banagher Links, but if we focus on this too much…”

''What could have may never happen.'' Otto turned to look at Liam, who had this intent in her incomplete words.

“If we want to reclaim the “Unicorn” too, the risks of this operation will increase as such. I’m thinking whether I’m making our crew risk their lives because of some personal feelings, and I’m still wandering about this.”

“In this situation, the only one who can activate the RX-0 is Banagher Links. If we can’t save him together with the RX-0, we can’t consider ourselves as having reclaimed the “Laplace Box”.”

“Though that’s true…”

''That’s just trying to talk our way out of it. Basically, there’s no need for us to be at the Senate Council’s whim and risk our lives on this mission to retake the “Laplace Box”. We do have the option to just fight with the motions and escape with our tails behind our back.'' Otto continued to stare at the gunnery squad soldiers who were focused on their work, and lowered his stare to the floor. Liam did not say anything as she took out a photo from her officer uniform pocket and stealthily handed it over to Otto.

The photo that was covered with a layer of coated sheet had a 15,16 year old boy there. He looked rather handsome, and that naïve looking expression did look rather similar to Liam. Otto tensed up slightly and asked, “Your kid?” Like usual, Liam answered without smiling and said to him, “Yes. He’s going to be 17 this year.”

“My husband died in the battle of Solomon, and my mother’s taking care of him. It has been more than half a year since I last saw him…”

Liam continued, and looked at the photo, quipping, “He’s like my life.“ and kept it back into her pocket. It was hard to imagine hearing this line from this person who acted like a woodblock, and Otto could not help but widen his eyes at his First Officer.

“I don’t really understand politics, but I told my son that momma’s working in the army to carry out justice. I don’t think justice will be in this mysterious “Box”, but it’s another thing trying to save another person. I suppose my son will understand and forgive me even if I can’t return home because of this.”

Liam said this with a serious face and continued, “I suppose the other crew members are the same too, and kept her mouth shut.” That direct attitude of hers and the enigmatic look was something he did not like about his First Officer, but she looked rather affectionate at this point, causing Otto to say “Is that so.” And smile.

''People will sometimes end up in tough situations, and when they have nowhere else to rely on, they would rely on existences beside them that were like treasures.'' Otto thought that there was no need for them to give up their life so easily, and at that moment, a short alarm indicating an emergency meeting rang inside the power room.

(We’ve received an emergency contact from an allied space launch. Captain, First Officer, please head to the Bridge.)

The broadcast that indicated merely the bare minimum caused Liam to change expressions and mutter, “A launch?” It was unexpected to hear an ally contacting them so casualty in this space where there might be enemy ships patrolling. “At this time…!” it was unknown whether the groan came faster as Otto kicked the floor and floated to the power room door. He rushed through the communication shaft of the cannons department and left the hyper mega-particle cannon area at the hull. He returned back inside the ship, and the elevator leading to the bridge was right in front of him.

===Part 6===

The elevator door just opened, and Liam entered the bridge at a speed she would never lose to. Otto used his hand to stop Ensign Mihiro who was about to get up, and spoke, “Whose ship is that?”

“Yes. The identification code classified it as a launch from the “Alaska”, but…”

Mihiro put her hand on the headset, and turned her face that grasped this vague situation to the communication console. The monitor was full of noise, and it was impossible to see the person’s face. As Otto frowned, a familiar voice rang through the voice box, (Can you hear me, Ensign Mihiro?), causing the air sucked into his nostrils.

(We don’t have enough thruster fuel here. Please hurry up and allow us to land. Is Uncle Raccoon there!?)

Raccon. This word itself caused everyone on the bridge to look at Otto. Of course, no Captain would be able to remember the voices of more than 200 crew member, but Otto heard this voice before. He coughed to clear the abnormal air here, and said, “Who are you? Are you a crew member of ours?” ignoring Liam as he picked up the microphone on the console.

(To the launch approaching here, this is the Uncle Raccoon of the “Nahel Argama”. Specify the passengers’ ranks and names.)

After an awkward pause for about 2, 3 seconds, (Yes, I’m Ensign Riddhe Marcenas of the Nahel Argama mobile suit squad!) a voice came from the speakers. The face of the “prince” he faced several days ago clearly appeared in his mind, making him speechless. “Ensign Riddhe…?” Liam mused as both of them looked at each other, and Otto turned his unfocused stare to the communication monitor that was full of noise.

(I’m approaching the Nahel Argama with 2 civilians here. Please allow me to board.)

“What’s going on? What happened with the “Alaska”?”

(I didn’t receive any instructions from the “Alaska”, but came to the Nahel Argama on my own.)

The atmosphere inside the bridge suddenly tensed up. Otto quickly held onto the microphone and asked Mihiro, “Can we contact the “Alaska”?”. Mihiro answered, “We can’t. It’s impossible if we don’t leave the shoal space region.” and Otto stared at the launch’s current position on the navigation monitor.

If they believed the information the Senate Council sent over, there would be less than 20,000km direct distance to the area the enemy patrols would be at. Otto stared at the monitor that caught sight of the launch, and made the conclusion that it did so despite knowing the consequences, and spoke into the microphone, “Why did you come back?”

(I’m a pilot of the Nahel Argama. I came back because I want to live and die together with the ship.)

“You should understand that this is against military orders, right?”

(I realized it already. Regarding the two civilians, I considered that it might be dangerous to hand them over to the Senate Council like this, so I brought them along.)

“He said they will be in danger…” Mihiro muttered and stared at Otto. These civilian had already known about classified military secrets, and the Senate Council would not just let them head back home so freely. Otto himself did think of this possibility before, but could not answer for certain, causing him to look away awkwardly. Otto exchanged understanding looks to Liam, and in place of doubtful answer, he simply told her to “Allow them to land.” and handed the microphone over to Mihiro.

Otto deliberately avoided looking at Mihiro’s doubtful look as she took the microphone. “To the approaching launch, our ship will allow you to land. Please match our relative velocity and abide by the deck manager’s instructions to enter from the back.” Mihiro said this, and Otto had his back turned on her as he again looked up at the visual on the sensor screen. ''No matter whether the “Nahel Argama” survives or not, Ensign Riddhe’s military career will be at an end. He did such a reckless thing…well, I can say that, but no half-baked determination is going to allow him to use such a small launch to shake off the “Alaska”s detection, pass through the shoal space region full of debris and catch up with us. What prompted him to do this?'' Such a doubt started to appear in Otto’s mind.

''If they just wanted to ensure the safety of two civilians, it would be a weird thing to think of escaping to the “Nahel Argama” preparing for battle. From Riddhe’s words of wanting to live and die together with the ship, it’s clear that he knew how dangerous the battle that was about to start was. It was logical of him to contact them when communications were sealed off, and obviously, this was not something thought of at the spur of a moment—'' The indecisive thoughts started creeping up in him, and as the navigation operator asked, “Is this really alright?” Otto was at a loss of words. Liam stepped forward in place of Otto, and said,

“There’s still less than six hours before the battle. We can’t send them back now anyway. Tell the guards to carry out a thorough check on the launch.”

“Captain.” Liam added on for confirmation, and the navigation operator gave a believing look as he looked back at the console. ''Just ask the person himself.'' Otto nodded at Liam, who gave this expression, and looked at the watch.

''9.07am. It’s definitely less than 6 hours before the first phase of battle at 15.00. Should we view this as a lucky omen, or…''

===Part 7===

The activation switch was pressed, and the low buzzing of the power flow shook the exterior of the machine, and the aged motor sound roared as it spun. The conveyor belt soon started operating, and the gears of the crusher could be heard activated it rattled.

“Amazing!” It moved!” Tikva ignored the cheers of the children as he poured the rocks on the cart onto the conveyor belt. The large fist-sizes rocked would first get crushed by the crusher, and then get polished by grease before being washed by a jet stream of water. The minerals would be stuck on the grease, so they would not be washed away by the water, and the remaining rock scraps would be removed easily here. The chosen pieces of minerals would then be set aside and poured into a bag at the end point.

This machine was set up behind Gilboa’s house, in a workshed smaller than a garage, so it was definitely not a large machine. The minerals they could obtain were just a teeny-weeny portion, but to Tikva and the rest, this was an important machine supporting their family income. “How did you do it?” The second son asked with excitement. “The gears had oil stains all over it. I just cleaned them up.” Banagher answered as he covered the maintenance hatch of this sorting machine. He used the towel hanging on his neck to wipe away his sweat, and the 4-year-old daughter pointed at him and laughed, “Your face is all black!”

Banagher touched his face, and noticed at the towel was already stained thoroughly by grease. Gilboa’s wife seemed to chuckle unwittingly as she said, “You helped us a lot.” and handed a new towel over to him.

“It’s a lot easier now. I did ask my husband to repair this before, but he would always be busy doing something during the rare times he come back...Tikva, you have to learn from big brother Banagher here. You have to learn how to repair it on your own even if daddy’s not around.”

“Got it. I saw it and remembered.”

Tikva sat down on a barrel of machine oil and answered with a tantrum. There was no reason for a prisoner to teach him…or rather, it could be said the reason why Tikva threw a tantrum was because that at his age, he would resist those who treated him like a child. Banagher inadvertently gave a smile and switched off the power source for the time being. “I’m telling you, mama used this to sort the rocks that can and can’t be used!” Banagher patted the young daughter who got over to his side and explained, and looked up at the sky through the roof workshed. The light that shone in through the brown clouds was the artificial sun of “Palau” he got used to seeing after the second day.

During the day, most of the men would head out to the excavation field, while the women would focus on choosing the rocks, or make screws or all sorts of things. The proper quarry plant was located outside the “Palau”, and they did everything from refining to molding, so the families’ factory produce as a whole was just a small percentage. The rocks inside the rocks storage of the living quarters—all the rocks dug out when the living block round cylinder, the shield machine was working—would be moved out, and one of the work specifics was to sort out these rocks scraps, and in nature, they were just ‘family handicraft’ where they could only earn so little despite working so hard. The efficiency here was very low compared to the automated system of “Industrial 7”< and the machinery here was so old it was reminiscent of the Middle Ages. But the residents of “Palau” had viewed this form of living as a way of life, and spent many days doing so. The reality Banagher himself faced at this point was to kill time by repairing machines.

Marida and Gilboa went out, and the children had to head to school. He was left alone as a prisoner, and had nothing else but time to spend. Banagher went around Gilboa’s house randomly, found this faulty machine, and told himself to repair this on Gilboa’s wife request. He borrowed a set of tools that was said to be left behind since Gilboa’s grandfather’s generation, and wrestled against this installation that could be said to be an antique. It was better than being alone—and even though it was just this level of manual labor, but after hearing the sound of this sorting machine regain its life, and heard the cheers of the children coming back home, Banagher had to admit that he felt a sense of fulfillment he never had before.

No matter who that person was, it was not a bad feeling when someone got thanked by another person. Banagher could feel that he was actually helping someone by doing this, and to him, it was a source of hope that could help him continue to live. ''Don’t think of any unnecessary things when working. Just focus on the job at hand. What will happen to me after this, and what I’m doing—I don’t have to worry about this. It’s true that I’m running away from reality, but it’s true that I can relax my mind by moving my body and working out some sweat. I never worked seriously on the machines when I studied like an apprentice monk, studying for several hours—or maybe that’s because I’m being relied for something?'' Banagher recalled Marida’s face inside the cave church, and landed his sights on the grease-stained hand. “Where did you learn such things?” Tikva said, and he lifted up his head.

“From school. Anaheim Electronics Industrial College. That’s a place to learn how to take care of machines.”

“I know Anaheim. It’s a company that produces mobile suits, right? The “Geara Zulu” daddy pilots and the Captain’s “Sinanju” are made by Anaheim.”

Tikva said confidently as he let the toy glider fly. Banagher associated the term ‘Captain’ with the masked man, and asked back, “The “Sinanju”, as in that red mobile suit?”

“Yeah. But the rumors that Neo Zeon stole it were all lies. Anaheim did not want to show that it was helping Neo Zeon, and said that it was stolen.”

“…Oh.”

Banagher had no other way to answer. Tikva did not allow him to reflect on these words, and asked curiously, “Can I go to that school?”

“Of course…you want to?”

“Yes. Neo Zeon will be willing to use me if I’m familiar with machines, right?”

“But if you join the army too, no one can help your mother.”

“Stupid. It’s because I want to help mama that I want to join the army. She herself said that we can’t survive for long just by working in the quarries. Daddy said that he didn’t know when something will happen to him…”

TIkva bit his lips and threw the glider out like he was throwing stones. The anxiety and anger this stubborn child had was thrown out, and the glider could not ride on the wind as it landed right inside the yard. Banagher turned his back around, picked up that toy that resembled the “Homo Avis”, and said, “You’re amazing, Tikva.” as he realized his ignorance. He did not have the right to speak like an adult, but he had no other words to express this form of self-defeat within him.

“But I wonder if things can stop?”

“What can?”

“The war. Whether it’s your dad or Marida, I don’t think they like to fight, right? Both sides got battered, and everyone suffered, so I think it’s about time we should stop.”

“Are you telling us to surrender?” Tikva started to give a disgusted look as he said this. Banagher felt that he said unnecessary things, but continued, “I’m not talking about who wins or lose.”

“What I want to say is whether both sides can back off a little and talk.”

Banagher could not say anything more as he looked at the glider. They had a leader like Mineva who could think, and a soldier like Marida who could control herself. It seemed that such people alone would be able to end the war, but reality kept forcing children like Tikva to consider joining the war, continuing the situation. This could only be described as reality, and Banagher could do nothing but shamefully admit his ignorance. ''Are these the things Zinnerman wants me to ‘study’? To understand the current situation, and to realize that what I learnt in this current situation is just knowledge; this original ‘knowledge’ is to consider what’s after this and having the power to change the current trend, and this learning is a process to integrate thought elements.''

''The power to change the present, the possibilities''—the unfamiliar memories pulsated in his temples as he stared at Tikva’s face. Tikva gave a somewhat doubtful look back at him, and started shaking the legs reaching down the oil barrel, patting his retreating head as he said,“…I don’t really understand.”

“But without war, daddy and the rest will lose their jobs. More people will be without jobs. I’m wondering if that’s a bother.”

“Now that you say it…”

This time, he really had nothing to say. This was the difference between those involved and those not involved—no, Banagher just felt that his knowledge which had no considerations for others were crushed, and he looked away from Tikva. There wasa saying that knowledge alone would not have power, and this scenario in front of him was a prime example of this. However, his temples kept pulsating, and he in reality could only say child-like words to a child, even though he was merely someone who could not use any useful knowledge…

A sense of shame, and anger, rose up within him. He switched hands to pick up the glider and threw it at Tikva. The glider became a vent of frustration without an exit as it flew above Tikva’s head, over the short wall outside the house, and disappeared.

“You’re bad at it!” Tikva teased. “Sorry, I’ll get it back.” Banagher said and left the workplace. He heard the singing of the daughter as he passed by the outside of the short wall beside Gilboa’s house. The glider with a wing that was about to fall off landed in the midst of a path covered with dust. Banagher was about to pick it up, and detected a shadow moving up to him on the road, darkening his sights.

He looked up, and saw a man he never met before standing there. He had medium build and high, and was wearing dirty work clothes with a hunter’s hat. It was obvious that he was like the quarry workers that were often seen, but in the midst of his drunken red face, there was a sense of tension in his eyes. Banagher inadvertently backed away, and the man spoke, “You’re Banagher Links, right?”, causing him to nod.

“Wait at the 3rd dock of the 14th Space Gate at 6pm. Someone will be there to receive you.”

The deep yet fine voice grazed past his ears as it moved by Banagher, and something was stuffed in his hands. Before he recovered, the man had already turned around the corner of the alley, and he could only vaguely see the fluttering of his shirt. “Erm, excuse me…!” But even with that call, the man never responded, and Banagher looked at what was stuffed into his hand.

Two A4-sied monitor sheets were rolled up. One of them was a 3D visual of the “Palau”, indicating the full view of the location in a grid format. The other was the actual scene of the space gate, and one would think that it was a crude visual recorded secretly, and the red light that probably designated the location was blinking.

Banagher checked that there was no one else around, and stared at the monitor again. As his face approached the monitor, something dropped onto the floor. Banagher picked up that thing which looked like a ball-point pen, but it was a little heavier. Most likely, it was some small transmitter—this instinct caused Banagher’s hairs to stand up, and he could not help but kick the floor.

That man passed through the alley and was about to turn around. Banagher called out to him, “Please wait!” as he tried to catch up with all he had. He grabbed the man, who kept moving, by the shoulder and asked, “What do you mean that someone will come pick me up? Who are you?” The man shrugged his arm off and gave Banagher a sharp expression, saying, “Don’t make too much noise.”

“Follow these instructions if you don’t want to die. This place will become a battlefield immediately.”

Banagher gasped, and this man did not let go of this opportunity as he quickly turned around the corner. Banagher frantically followed him, but did not see the man on the road surrounded by old unit houses on both sides. The man disappeared like a puff of smoke, and the only one there was an old granny with her back arched.

“You say this place will become a battlefield...”

Banagher gripped onto the ball-point pen that felt very heavy, and looked around at the streets that looked rather blurry in the afternoon. The regular sound of the grinder could be heard like a machine gun at this point, and Banagher felt that his feet swaying. ''Is it the Federation? Is that man an undercover spy or something? Don’t joke around. This is just a pitstop the Neo Zeon Army often use, not some military facility. A spy like this around should know. Why exactly is the Federation here—''

As he thought about this, a jolt shot up his spine. It did not matter where the location was. The Federation had been aiming for the “Laplace Box”. They were preparing to take action, just like how it was in “Industrial 7”. They wanted to take back the crux of the Box…the “Unicorn”. They never cared about anything else, and the reason why they sent a spy over to contact him was to ‘take back’ the only pilot who could activate the “Unicorn”. The Federation was about to arrive. The vicious fangs of violence that gnawed “Industrial 7” to bits would strike “Pala”.

The glider slipped out of his hand and silently fell onto the floor. Banagher’s left hand, which was holding onto the monitor sheets, was frozen like stone, and his numb right hand picked up the glider as he started running.

First, he had to meet the man he just saw. He wanted to use that man to contact the Federation to tell them to stop the invasion of “Palau”. He knew that this definitely could not be done, but he could not stop his running as he ran mindlessly through the narrow alleys with the ‘hill’ of oxidized rocks as a reference. He ran down to the subway station through his own memory of the previous day. He passed by a cart full of dirt , and after an umpteenth turn, Banagher’s head nearly knocked into an oncoming person.

The person stepped aside before Banagher stopped. Banagher barely managed to stop himself from falling, and gasped as he faced the person around the corner.

“What is it? Why are you here?”

Marida was not really taken aback as she asked with a clear voice. “Well…” as Banagher was about to speak up, he met Zinnerman, who was behind Marida, right in the eyes, and immediately hid the monitor sheets behind him.

''If I explain everything here, they will tell everything to the entire army. The Federation army will be ambushed, and the man just now will be caught. Riddhe, Mihiro, Daguza, the Captain whose name I didn’t manage to remember, the operators, they’re not just fighting units called soldiers, but people with flesh and blood;'' the faces of the “Nahel Argama” crew members appeared in Banagher’s mind, causing him to shut up. ''Of course, they might not be the ones approaching. Since they have such damage, and Daguza and Audrey are on board, it’s reasonable to assume that another squad is attacking, but it’s not fine even if it’s like this—''

This thought appeared for a short moment, “Banagher?” as Marida frowned and asked, causing him to recover. He reached out the glider in his right hand and pushed it at Marida. “Erm, please return this to Tikva.” and backed away like he was about to trip.

“I’ll be back soon. So then.”

The siren indicating 3pm rang, “Banagher!” and with Marida’s cry behind him, he started sprinting wildly again. ''What should I do? What can I do?'' The melody of the siren seeped into his mind that was repeating his musing, and the thoughts that could not find any solutions became even more corroded. There were still 3 hours until the operation began. Banagher felt the transmitter in his hand become heavier as his feet never stopped moving, kicking up the dust on the way.

===Part 8===

“Have they made contact? …No, it’s alright. We can leave the mouse alone. That’s a disposable spy, so it’s impossible for him to get that much information.”

The 3pm siren rang. The downtown block would let out an interrupted siren, and the uppertown would have a clear bell chime indicating tea time. This bell was something the man called the superintendent imported from Europe on Earth. Angelo tried to force himself to listen to this annoying sound that entered his ears, and picked up the ivory carved receiver.

“More importantly, the “Unicorn”s transported as planned, right? …Right. Let it remain at an obvious place. That person will definitely find it.”

As expected, there was a doubtful voice from the phone. Angelo turned behind and saw Full Frontal bring the teacup to his lips, and could only exert pressure by saying, “This is the Captain’s orders. Don’t think of anything unnecessary.” And hung up. DING. The antique phone let out a clear crisp sound, mixing into the bell chime that stopped ringing.

“Are your things done, Lieutenant Angelo?”

A somewhat bothersome voice in contrast to the bell chime rang, and Angelo turned his face as he was about to click his tongue. The light rays from the artificial sun shone into the reception room, and the sight of Pepe Meganan’s lightly tan smiling was over there.

The large body that accumulated so much fat had a loose Roman styled robe draped all over him, and his perverted looking face was staring at Angelo. This was his ancestor’s birthplace—a clothing of the Southern tribes on Earth, but to Angelo, whether it was those dazzling gold large rings or the rings that were piled up on the caterpillar-like fingers, these were just some crude class goods. This was really befitting of the owner of this residence, draped in such luxurious clothing and ignoring temperaments. This was how the superintendent of “Palau” was like.

Such Zeonism believers were a laughing stock, but they could not show any signs of disgust to Pepe, who was a sponsor of the “Sleeves”. “Yes, sorry to be rude on the phone!” Angelo answered as courteously as possible and returned back behind Frontal. ''Are things progressing as planned?'' Angelo nodded at this suspicious-looking stare through the mask, and cleared his expression as he stared at Pepe. “He’s rather capable for a young man.” The superintendent of “Palau” said with lots of irony.

“With young people like him, I suppose there’s hope for Neo Zeon’s future, right? Captain Full Frontal?”

“We need supporters like you to establish this line, Superintendent Pepe. Or I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“No no. Someone like me is just an opportunistic person with this sudden chance. I’ll be really honored if I can contribute even a little to the revival of Neo Zeon. Besides, we can reclaim the land robbed from us for generations due to the Forced Migration, and end our ancestors’ regrets of living their last days inside the Asteroid Belt.

Pepe continued to chuckle as he gulped down grape wine that were from Burgundy. No matter whether his words were true or not, it was a fact that his ancestors lived their lives developing the Asteroid Belt. He lost his father at an early age due to space radiation, and was forced to spend times of tears with his mother and brothers. Soon after, he became a representative of a labor union that was formed, and while he worked hard to improve the work environment, he skillfully provoked riots and strikes, managing to establish himself amongst the financial world. During the war especially, Pepe had a tight relation with the Pergamino family who invested heavily in ship repairs, and there were rumors that more than half of the quarry resources used for repairs were resold by Pepe through illegal means. Side 6, which maintained a neutral standpoint at that time, had a large number of floating docks, and so, that meant that as the Pergamino Shipping Company treated both Federation and Zeon forces as its customers, Pepe manipulated the organizations within the Asteroid Belt.

After the war, Pergamino retreated, but Pepe continued to remain in touch with Side 6, and offered some power in regards to the political stability on Side 6. In this sense, Pepe was undoubtedly a bureaucrat supporting Neo Zeon’s army, and one could say that he was someone who established himself from the Forced Migration plan, but he was a very ardent supporter. At this point, the passion to improve the work environment in the Asteroid Belt was not like before, and his shameless attitude of sitting on this throne of authority, leeching his labor camp, would remind one of the theory the media talked about, about how ‘the political season was over’. After the One Year War and the two Neo Zeon wars, the celestial space thought of gaining independence gradually became a fading yearning, but there were industrial forces trying to brew this sort of thinking. The fighters who tried soft methods in the past pulled back from the battle, and ended up squeezing out from the grassroots, creating an Earth Celestial Sphere where no one cared about.

To Pepe, the assistance to the “Sleeves” was just a form a investment, and the military understood that he was one of the culprits making things complicated in military affairs. Angelo did not feel that Pepe was someone worthy of being heavily involved in the revival of Neo Zeon, and could not even let down his guard. Pepe said, “But as the person entrusting “Palau”s safety to you, I have a minimum request.” causing Angelo to raise his eyebrows slightly.

“I’ll be especially bothered if you don’t notify me of an incident like what happened to “Industrial 7”. Besides, I have to consider the pride of Side 6.”

“As I had just said, that was not expected. I’m really grateful for your utmost support, Superintendent Pepe, but we can’t notify you regarding all the military matters.”

“I understand. Just notify me about these random stuff like usual. I have no intent of nitpicking the military’s actions.”

Pepe gave a diplomatic tone in response to Frontal’s answer as expected. ''How much does this man understand regarding the “Laplace Box”?'' As Angelo thought about this, Pepe’s eyes narrowed slightly, and spoke in a direct and fatal voice.

“Speaking of which, I’m still wondering about Her Highness Mineva’s illness. Has she still not recovered?”

This was an irritating point about this man. Despite living in this life of extreme luxury, he never lost his instincts as an investor. “I’m sorry, but she’ll come and greet you when she has time. I think she’s showing fatigue from having to hide from people for a long time.” Angelo heard Frontal’s machine-like voice as he stared at Pepe. “Is that so? I do visit a family doctor often. Please notify me if the illness persists.” Pepe said while giving a certain look that Mineva herself was not around.

“The revival star of Zeon has to be around. You may have built up this current Neo Zeon army…the army organization “Sleeves” that caused terror in the Federation, but the center of this organization is directed by Her Highness Mineva.”

Pepe lit the cigar in his mouth and slowly stood up. “It’s because of the Zabi’s inheritance that what couldn’t be fulfilled can be fulfilled, and we managed to continue doing things that wouldn’t work till now. But if Her Highness Mineva keeps shying away from people, we may have to reconsider.”

Pepe said these threatening words as he glanced aside at Angelo, who unwittingly clenched his fist. Right in front of him, Frontal answered, “We’ll take note of that.” as he continued to put on a stone cold mask on his face. Pepe’s fat lips tilted slightly, and looked through the wall window, down at the courtyard of his residence.

“Even so, a symbol is still a symbol. What the soldiers are seeing is you, the Second Coming of the Red Comet. You’re the one standing on the frontlines, waving the flag, and the organization’s able to gain the strength of unity and implementing…no, I suppose this is just my business sense at work.”

“It’s the same in the army.”

“That’s right, isn’t it? That’s why this current Neo Zeon army is so strong. However, it’s not easy to see this from the outside. Zeon will never get a real revival if it can’t gain the support of everyone in the Earth Celestial Sphere. I’m a believer in the old Republic army, but the fact is that many foolish people would reject the Zabi name. in that sense, there might be limitations in having Her Highness Mineva as the center of this organization.”

“May I know what are you trying to imply, superintendent?”

“I said it before, didn’t I? I’m just an investor, a businessman. I just feel that if the one I’m investing in has a seed that can sprouting rapidly hidden within, I’ll try to let it bloom even if it’s not of my personal preference…Char Aznable.”

This voice sounded neither like a confession nor a call. Frontal ignored Angelo, who inadvertently looked back, and continued to look forward with an unmoved face.

“Alternatively, Casval Deikun. As the orphaned son of Zeon Deikun, I hope that it’s possible to remove the mask and show up in front of everyone again…I’m not the only one to hope for this.”

Pepe’s back faced the fountain in the yard as he exhaled smoke deeply. ''So he stated Mineva’s absence as a prelude to this conversation?'' Angelo understood this and waited for the response of the masked man called “The Second Coming of Char”, whether he would take off the mask and reclaim the throne of Zeon’s revival—after several seconds of silence, Frontal said, “Char Aznable is a man who lost.” and on hearing that, Pepe’s trembling face was reflected on the window.

“And he’s a dead man. The reason why I put on this mask is because I know that death made Char’s name a legend. Thus, I’m just playing a role. I have no interest in whether he’s alive or not.”

“Then, you don’t have any intent to remove that mask in the end, is that right?”

“I don’t feel there’s a need to do so.”

''In front of you, that is.'' Angelo seemed to hear a voice that added on to the meaning to these words. Pepe however curled his lips up without understanding and muttered, “What a pity.”

“Her Highness Mineva would not show up, and a Red Comet who’s just an illusion…looks like I invested in the wrong party, did I?”

“You really like to joke around, superintendent.”

Angelo finally could not hold in his emotions as he interrupted with a sharp voice. Pepe did not show any signs of wavering as he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Pardon my rudeness.”

“My nerves are a little sensitive due to a lack of night. Besides, it seems that it had been rather noisy at the ‘cove’ since last night.

The term ‘backstabbed’ would refer to this situation. This man acutely sniffed out the fleet’s movements as it prepared to defend against the Federation’s ambush. “I do understand…that you’ve been hiding the army’s tactics from me.” Pepe said, and it sounded like sarcasm to Angelo.

“But like I said before, I’m the superintendent of “Palau”, and I have a duty to protect the civilians. Of course, everyone here is mentally prepared for danger, but I do hope we can have definitive proof for this price. What I’m saying is that we can have proof that makes us think it’s worth getting involved.”

''Simply put, you’re Char, right?'' Pepe’s steady and warm stare was met with Frontal’s cool attitude. “We have no intent of getting you involved in this.” The voice that rang sounded as cold as an ice block, raising goosebumps on Angelo.

“We’ll leave this place.”

The tall and big figure clad in crimson red uniform got up as Frontal said this in a monotonous manner. Angelo knew that it was to be expected, but he did not expect it to be mentioned in such a situation as he withstood the wavering look within him. Pepe too looked like it was completely unexpected as he said with an agitated tone, “This…doesn’t sound like a joke you’ll make, Captain.”

“Is that so? This isn’t a joke. I’m here to visit you today to bid farewell to you too.”

Bits of cigar ash dropped from Pepe’s fingertips as his mouth was wide open. Frontal kept his silent smiling face and looked at the “Palau” sky that was behind the window Pepe was standing at.

“…Looks like it’s start.”

His face seemed to show that he caught sight of the enemy’s presence from the other end of the artificial sun, in the space behind the thick layer of rock. ''The Federation’s attack—is coming earlier than expected.'' Everything faded away quickly; the decorations that were as luxurious as possible, and Pepe, who was standing there blankly. The rising sense of battle rose within Angelo.

===Part 9===

Radar weapons had been viewed as useless ever since the discovery of Minovsky particles, but electronic warfare itself had not vanished. Due to the rampant nature of it, Minovsky particles had to be scattered during every single battle, so the particles that were scattered would rarely cause much damage to the electrical equipment. In other words, electronic weapons were effective equipment, and even at this point, military facilities relied on the warning system that relied on electronics. The Minovsky radar that could detect the range and density the particles were spread had been used for a long time, and basically, sentry watches were unchanged on the battlefield ever since the radar era.

“Palau” here was no exception. The Asteroid had multiple radar stations on the surface, and many RMS-119 “Zack” in the watch zones were acting as Early Warning and Control (EWAC). The siren stations, linked with the radar stations, were equipped with interception missiles, and the defense perimeter was overly strict for a civilian mining asteroid. However, the Federation army never viewed this as a problem during its regular checks. The radar stations were derived from the ones the Federation set up during the One Year War, and the missile were cleared under the name of shooting down the space debris. They could not find any reason to hide the mobile suits equipped with EWAC on the head, but they just needed to hide them in the ‘cove’ during the inspections.

April 12, 15.28. A “Zack” on patrol caught sight of a piece of debris that entered the space region they were guarding. That unit’s pilot quickly went to the scene, and reported to the radar station in charge of this area.

“Lorgnette 3 calling Big Eye. There’s an irregular in the Yap region. Should remain cautious. Sending my coordinates here.”

After the war, the “Eye-Zack” was built with the Federation’s RMS-106 “Hi-Zack” as a base, reinforced as an electronic weapon. It had the silhouette of the main fighting force of the Old Zeon Republic, the “Zaku”. It was possible to say that this line of silhouette was suitable for Neo Zeon’s se, but the dome line that was unified with the head was no less than 10m long, and the machine itself looked like someone wearing a really scary hat. The pilot clumsily drove the light grey machine around the debris in question. This block of rock seemed to have floated over from the colony debris, and the largest piece was about 15m. This small block would not cause much damage even if it crashed into “Palau”, but the army was on standby. The pilot let the “Eye-Zack” raise its machine gun and aimed at the surface of the debris. He set the firing mode to single fire, and his finger was placed on the firing trigger on the ball-shaped joystick, but an allied pilot’s voice came from the wireless communication. (Don’t do that. You’ll just waste your bullets.)

“But…!”

(Or you’ll end up writing a reflection again. Since you reported it, leave it to the alert side.)

The “Geara Zulu” pilot who was the same patrol squad did not have any other opinions. The money used to fire a shot would be enough to pay for one month’s worth of food for a person on Palau. This was the catchphrase of their squad leader, and the subordinates were forced not to use simulated projectiles in training. Even so, he had to bear full responsibility if something happened, so there was nothing less worthwhile than working in the army. The pilot of the “Eye-Zack” left the scene as he left the mission of observing the debris to the statio. There was less than a hundred million chance that the debris might hit the asteroid surface. In that case, they would have to use the intercepting missiles or let the mobile suits defending the facilities shoot to change the trajectory.

However, this block of debris was not on course to crash into “Palau”. The debris was moving on the same course, looking like it was moving rather slowly to “Palau”. The debris was taken off alert after it looked like it would float over the top of the main area, the “Calyx” and into another direction, and the radar station got back to normal. The debris then slowed down, and there was no reason for them to know why there was a heat source awakening within it.

There was a mass driver firing rail poking out from the top of the triangle-shaped “Calyx”, the nose tip of the “Palau” that looked like a beast’s skullcap. The array of rocks slipping through the perimeter net could be seen floating around. The debris slipped through the rocks and ignited a fake balloon that mimicked the color of the rocks. Two “Lotos” appeared from it, and as the balloon disappeared, the machines scattered and quickly mixed in amongst the rocks.

A “Loto” equipped with long cannons on both shoulders stuck itself onto the surface of the “Palau”, and another one with 4 Gatling cannons adjusted its position and created another fake balloon from the multi-purpose silo on its arms. That balloon immediately expanded and formed the exact same shape as the one that surrounded the two machines, and moved off towards the tip of “Palau” with unchanging speeds. The two “Lotos” covered for each other and snuck down onto the rock layer of the “Palau”. They then released several men in normal suits from the infantry transport room behind.

The ECOAS members carried the portable verniers they called the landmovers on their backs and gradually floated in the air. It was hard to distinguish their deep brown normal suits with the rocks as they carried the landmovers equipped with fire extinguishers on their back, not letting out any dust-like presence at all as they glided onto “Palau”s surface. These men passed through the bottom of the alert side’s invigilation window and head towards the connecting shafts linking the “Calyx” and the three “Corollas”. No medium showed this group of men moving beside some dust from the rock layers swaying around, and they climbed onto the bottom of the shafts in less than 30 minutes.

They got past the bottom of the “Gaza D” that acted as a cannon, and split up to many different shafts. The AMX-006 “Gaza D” was a transformable mobile suit that used the mega-particle cannon as part of its body. When transforming, the arms would be folded behind, and the legs that were like a wild bird would support the cannon. 16 ECOAS 729 members started their operation with the “Gaza D” practically transformed into a cannon. Their tasked job was to climb the shafts and plant sticky high-explosive bombs there.

The shafts linking the large asteroids were 30m long in diameter, and the external thickness that surrounded this linear car path was about 1m thick. The largest shaft was about 3km, and if one counted the support pillars outside the quarry factories, there were 10 batches of shafts leading up and down. It was seemingly too tough to blow up these constructs completely, but if they set up a suitable amount of explosives at the crux and set off a chain reaction with maximum damage, all the materials would be blown away by their own weights. Such places included weak areas like shaft connectors, water pipes for cooling and a power generator installation near the exterior. The members climbed up the long and wide exterior of the shafts and got to work setting up the explosives.

The explosives that were used were the plastic explosives SHMX-type that could be used even in near absolute zero temperature, and they could adjust the formation accordingly in order to get the expected outcome of destruction. If they wanted to cut off a point, they would set up a thin rhombus-shaped diamond charge. If they wanted to blow it up, they would use a plate charge that had piercing ability. These methods were all part of the intricate mathematics required in explosiveness and construction engineering, and all the ECOAS members were well trained in them. This group of men was inside the Asteroids that were floating around, carrying out the simple yet dangerous mission only they could do with the hollow of the ‘cove’ the Neo Zeon army was docked at right below their eyes.

Commander Nasri Razal was hiding inside one of the two “Lotos” behind the rocks, the one with long-ranged cannons on both shoulders, and felt that this was a really long moment. The end of the operation was to be 2 hours later, and they could not check on the progress as long as communications were sealed. They had to continue on in this still time until all the members finished their work and came back safely.

“Don’t make a mistake here. Daguza’s watching after all…”

He brought his eyes to the periscope at the driver seat and stared at the green nightvision image. He could see the round cylinders of the debris in the quarry block, but could not see the shafts. He turned the periscope around and turned towards the space where debris was floating at. At that moment, an enemy patrol unit pointed the gun at him, and his heart froze. Since he lost the disguise balloon, there was no hoping for a second time lucky.

''I can’t make a mistake here. I have to let my subordinates return.'' Nasri’s sweaty hands held onto the grip of the periscope as he focused on the surroundings. A mobile suit form “Gaza D” seemed to swap around duties as it silently glided over to “Loto”.

===Part 10===

(Everyone, this is the Captain speaking. We’ve confirmed that the advanced ECOAS squad has reached the destination. The operation will now move to the second phase. Mobile suit squad, get ready to launch. I look forward to everyone’s contributions.)

Captain Otto’s voice rang through the mobile suit, and this heroic mood from him was completely different from the usual Uncle Raccoon he was like. The supporting Manhunters seemed to have landed safely on “Palau”. Riddhe put on the helmet of his normal suit and drew the wire gun from his ankles. He aimed for the innermost mobile suit hangar on the starboard and squeezed the trigger.

There was a slim machine silhouette as he was dragged by the wire gun that was rolling back. That was the MSN-001A1 “Delta Plus”. It was a test transformable mobile suit left behind in Anaheim’s warehouse, one that had no definite production standard, and this was the mobile suit Riddhe was newly assigned to. He originally wanted to pilot the “ReZEL” he was already used to, but he had to rely on this mobile suit this one. It was a test mobile suit from out of nowhere, and though there was a chance that the right to pilot it can be transferred to him if he said that he wanted to pilot it, it was lucky that it was handed over to him. Riddhe looked up at the deep grey mobile suit on the hangar, looked around at how the mechanics were looking, took a deep breath, and floated there.

The half-wrecked “ReZEL” unit 008 was moved to the factory block, and Mechanical Officer Gibney and the mechanics of unit 008 were taking care of this “Delta Plus”. “We can’t use any of the “ReZEL”s spare parts. Pull out all the spare equipment from the storage!” Riddhe heard Gibney’s growl as he turned to look at the narrow catwalk behind the hangar. As expected, the mechanics were handing out manuals and looking, not in the mood to be distracted elsewhere. ''They’re able to get to work now, right…''

(Romeo 009 and Juliet 5, launch with the second wave of ECOAS members. Once you get to the standby area, wait for the 3rd phase of the operation to begin. Romeos 008, 010 and 011, launch out as well. Cover the ship directly to prevent unexpected situations.)

Mihiro’s tense voice echoed through the deck. At that moment, the whistling of the hydraulic drive and the metallic parts rumbling could be heard as Riddhe looked at the helicopter leading to the catapult deck. The ECOAS’ transformable mobile suit got up from the flat armored car in its tank form, and was lifted up by an ugly machine. The tank that was at least two sizes smaller than the “ReZEL” crawled over there like a baby learning how to walk, and the machine that left the hangar was the “Jegan” codenamed Juliet 5. This special specs mobile suit had 3 rapid-fire missile launchers on both shoulders, and had a booster unit on the back as an optional unit. It was a heavily armed version dubbed the “Complete Jegan”. The waist and legs were also equipped with additional armor onto its already bulky body. On the other end, the reports of crew leaving the ship caused the wireless communicator to get even noisier, and the linear activation shooting out from the catapult belts shook the air in the hangar slightly. The “ReZEL” Romeo 009, acting as the first to launch, transformed into a waver rider as it left the ship—and it was probably acting as the tank mover that was leaving the ship too.

Juliet 5 and Romeo 009 launched out first as they escorted ECOAS, while the “Delta Plus” and two “ReZELs” were to act as direct cover for the “Nahel Argama”. These were the operation priorities Riddhe and the mobile suits were assigned to in this raid on “Palau” called “Operation Billiard”. It seemed like a strategy formed by quick wits in order to make up for their lack of fighting strength, but if they could move on successfully, they would be able to shut off the counterattack by Neo Zeon. For Riddhe’s ‘side’, this plan had to succeed no matter what. He watched the “Complete Jegan” get moved up the lift, and looked back at the catwalk, seeing a petite figure in normal suit there.

Despite the fact that her helmet visor was pulled down, Riddhe knew that it was ‘her’ from how she did not look like she fitted in. He felt relieved that she managed to make it to this place safely as he randomly raised his hand, making a hand signal to the petite person in normal suit, seemingly remaining still there. He climbed up the hangar platform, and was about to check on what the mechanics were doing, “So you came, the guy who went and returned back.” only to hear a gruff voice shot at him.

Gibney held onto the large spanner in his hand like he was holding onto a metal rod, baring his teeth as he grinned and looked at the ceiling. ''Did he find out?'' He suppressed his racing heart as he looked at the platform, only to find that there was no sight of ‘her’, and could only stare at the upper body of the “Delta Plus” standing there silently. Gibney stared at Riddhe who looked like he did not know what was going on, “Look at the shoulders, the shoulders.” and said with a hoarse voice.

The “R008” was spray-painted on the shoulder armor behind the wrists and the booster unit. “They said you’re going to ride on it. This is the codename of glory for the only one from the “Nahel Argama” who wasn’t shot down.” Gibney said as he gave an earnest smile not seen before, waiting for Riddhe’s response. Riddhe did not really have feelings about the machine’s serial number, but he courteously smiled and answered, “Well, to put it, I’m really grateful.” Gibney chuckled heartily and put his arm around Riddhe’s shoulders.

“We did what we can help you with, but the control system is so sensitive is scary. The thruster push isn’t something the “ReZEL” can match. You’ll get hurt if you think it’s just like normal. Be careful.”

“In other words, it’s a ferocious horse?” Riddhe answered as he looked at the catwalk, “That’s how it is.” Gibney ignored this reply as he patted Riddhe on the back. Riddhe stared at the petite figure in the normal suit floating over from the handrail, and none of the mechanics around him noticed—

“Sorry to let you go out there with a machine you’re unfamiliar with.”

“I returned back after a detour out anyway. It’s a miracle that I can launch.”

“You sure can talk, don’t you, brat.” Gibney rubbed the bottom of his nose and turned his extremely grateful expression away from Riddhe. “You barely managed to escape, and yet came back again. You really become an independent man.”

''I want to live and die together with this ship…'' the mechanical officer’s voice sounded like he thoroughly believed Riddhe’s voice. It could not be helped that Riddhe felt hurt by it, but at this point, he could not cancel the plan like this. He moved away from the gentle Gibney and said, “Then, mechanical officer, can I just remain like this before I launch?” before looking over at him.

“Eh?”

“Because I want to have time with my beloved machine.”

He took out the biplane model from the bag on his belt, and Gibney snorted as he showed a wry expression on his face. “At such a moment again? You really like that thing, don’t you?” He tapped Riddhe’s helmet and shouted to his subordinates, “OI!”

“HIS HIGHNESS THE ENSIGN IS GOING INTO ZEN MODE BEFORE LAUNCH. GET ON STANDBY, EVERYONE!”

The demonic NCO yelled out, and the mechanics left the machine. Riddhe used the moment Gibney turned around to give ‘her’ a signal. The petite figure in the normal suit stepped on the head of the Gundam-type mobile suit “Delta Plus” that was without horns, and quickly slid into the cockpit. Riddhe checked that no one else was on board and intended to follow in. But…

“WAIT A SEC!”

Gibney’s roar echoed through the deck, and Riddhe was unable to move his body as his hand was on the cockpit hatch. He looked around in a terrified manner, and met the mechanical officer in the eye as it was unknown when he was looking over.

“Let’s pray for Ensign Riddhe to be successful in battle. Everyone salute!”

On Gibney’s command, the mechanics floating in zero gravity quickly raised their hands to salute. Riddhe saw the passion the mechanics had in their stares from all angles, and he gave a proper salute back to them before sneaking into the cockpit with a heartaching feeling. He finally stared at Gibney’s slightly bloodshot eyes and closed the hatch.

The back of the hatch that was closed became a screen, completing the all-view monitor that had already been activated. Riddhe could not relax even if he wanted to, and wiped off the sweat on his forehead first before calling behind, “No need to worry now. You can take off the helmet.” The person hiding behind the linear seat poked her head out and opened the helmet visor. Mineva Lao Zabi’s white tender face entered Riddhe’s eyes, and he found himself starting to tremble at this point.

It had been more than 6 hours since they finally managed to get back onto the “Nahel Argama”. Riddhe managed to convince the Captain who was guilty for making him write unnecessary letters, and as he was going through the usual procedures in getting back to the mobile suit squad, Mineva was hiding at the bottom of the launch, waiting for the time to go out. Both of them managed to last through the guards’ inspections, but they never had a chance to meet each other after there. In the end, she ended up floating around the ship alone. they already planned a detailed schedule, and he did hand her a path to move along in the ship, but it was nearly a miracle that she managed to reach this place without anyone’s detection. Normally, even if her legs did not weaken, she might had gotten lost on the way, move down a suspicious path, and could have been questioned.

Speaking of which, there was no reason for the two of them to meet at this place not for this level of guts she had. The emerald eyes looked rather calm by the side as Riddhe removed a monitor panel beside the seat and pulled out an assistance seat for training. Mineva took off her helmet and said silently, “Is this alright?”

Gibney and the rest were moving over to their standby areas right in front of their eyes. Riddhe carried the pain that had not subsided in him and shrugged.

“It’s a lie if I say that it’s not a huge problem, but I have no choice. I can’t create a chance for you to leave if I don’t do this.”

“What about Mr Takuya and Miss Micott?”

“Don’t worry. Mihiro will take care of them. The basic plan in this battle is a hit and run, so the chances of the ship being caught in battle aren’t high.”

Riddhe patted the assistance seat as he finished the setup, and added, “Though we need something to be successful.” Mineva sat on it with a complicated expression and gave a probing look over, “You’ll only attack military facilities, right?”

“Logically that should be the case. It seems that there’s a spy from the Intelligence Branch inside “Palau”, so the operation is made knowing where the objects are and the factory schedules. We won’t do anything that will cause the residence block to get damaged.”

After saying that, Riddhe remembered who he was talking to. “You’re concerned after all, aren’t you?” Mineva answered the curious Riddhe with an unhappy face, “The Superintendent of “Palau” is a man is someone who only cares for benefits to himself at all costs.”

“But the residents have no relations to him. I can’t tolerate it if this operation will hurt the residents of “Palau”. Even if I have to rob this mobile suit, I want to go back to tell them.”

Mineva’s eyes looked like she would really this. Riddhe looked away from the pressuring eyes on him and deliberately consciously let out a relaxed voice as he sat on the linear seat, “Don’t show such a scary expression.”

“I’m risking my life here as well. I might even end up facing the firing squad if I mess up here, you know?”

Mineva hid her speechless expression as she remained silent. That expression was like a youth who did not know how to suppress his emotions. He recalled that she was able to say astounding things in the face of adults, and was yet able to show her inner self so directly it was surprising. Riddhe understood that this was an inexplicable girl he was facing, felt a mysterious sensation rising in his chest, and clicked his tongue inside his heart. He looked away from the side of Mineva’s face, and deliberately spoke with a self-defeat tone, “Well, we made it all the way here, so it’s pointless to even worry now. Just help us pray that this good luck will continue.”

“Good luck?”

“Including how we managed to make it all the way here, our luck here also includes the coincidence of how the operation would begin when that place is closest to Earth and this “Delta Plus”. This guy here can break through the atmosphere without any optional parts. I won’t be able to think of such a reckless plan if this machine wasn’t moved here. I don’t know whether the luck is yours or mine, but anyway, we’re very lucky here.”

''I’m half-saying this to myself.'' Riddhe shut his mouth after saying this. Even though they could keep up this momentum and make it all the way to their destination successfully, there was no solid proof that things would develop just as they hoped for. Riddhe too felt repulsed by the fact that he had to rely on the ‘family’ he had hiding from at this point, but there was no other way. They could only proceed on by believing in their own luck. ''Even if I’ll be slandered as a traitor, I have to fulfill my duty and responsibility as someone present—'' Riddhe wiped away the sweat that flowed out again and grabbed onto the control stick like he was ready for anything. He checked the energy gain value that was higher than that of the “ReZEL”s, and saw that the attachments were removed. “I understand.” Mineva’s voice rang suddenly.

“I’ll believe. Believe in my luck and your courage.”

She was seated on the assistance seat slightly behind, on the right side of the linear seat, her emerald eyes smiling back at him. As his heart skipped a beat (Romeo 008, please head to the catapult deck.) Mihiro’s voice rang. Riddhe answered “Roger that.” and looked forward. He slowly stepped on the pedal and said briefly, “We’re going. Put on the helmet.” Mineva did not look concerned by how Riddhe was looking away from her unnaturally as she wordlessly put on the helmet.

Riddhe raised the right mechanical arm lightly to bid farewell to Gibney and the rest, and put the personalized shield fastened beside the hangar on the machine’s left hand. He drew the personal beam rifle from the wall’s equipment, and let the machine with its weight increased at that moment move off, leaving the “Nahel Argama”s mobile suit deck he probably would not be returning to. He let the lift carry him onto the catapult deck, and the first catapult that formed the bow of the ship appeared right in front of him. As the shutter opened, the guiding lights on the other end light up the catapult headed into space. At this point, they looked like pyres for those who would never return.

“Once we see that the third phase is successful, I’ll leave the frontlines. As long as the operation is successful, we won’t have to fight against the enemy units. Maybe our units will pursue us, but with this guy’s acceleration, it’s easy to shake them off. Then, we’ll head straight for our destination.”

''I’m getting ready to do something stupid.'' Riddhe suppressed the timidity that was rising up in his mind as he said. “Yes.” Mineva responded.

“Even if it’s the closest point to Earth, it’ll take at least two days to reach Earth. Water and food’s prepared, but you better get ready.”

“I don’t mind. Go ahead.”

Mineva curled herself in this narrow assistance seat for instructions, and showed a look that she was already prepared. Riddhe glanced behind at those widened emerald eyes, thought that she was really beautiful again, and shook his head to look forward at the space in front of him.

''We can’t relax here. She’s an important person of Neo Zeon, our enemy. She’s also the crux to this incident, the existence that can stop this chaos. That’s why I decide to save her—to expose the truth of how the Federation intended to bury everything under the table and avenge the souls of those dead men. People might say this is an immature sense of justice, but I’m in a situation where I can do all these. I have something I have to do—didn’t Squad Leader Norm say this? This is the responsibility I’m tasked with for being the sole survivor. This is a duty I have to fulfill as someone present. It has nothing to do with any personal feelings I have for her…''

(Romeo 008, catapult equipped. Get ready to launch.)

Mihiro’s broadcast voice rang in Riddhe’s ears, pulling his wavering consciousness. He was about to reply “understood”, only to notice that the wireless communicator was switched to another channel.

(Good luck, Ensign Riddhe. I haven’t forgotten the promise to watch a movie.)

Even though it was through the visor, Mihiro’s eyes on the communication window were giving off a slight heat. Riddhe immediately remembered the positioning of the camera and realized that Mineva was not on her monitor. He felt a bitter sense of betrayal in his mouth as he said vaguely, “Understood.” And stared at the round eyes that were like a small animal.

“…It’ll definitely happen one day.”

Eh? Mineva frowned, but RIddhe did not look at it any further. He held onto the control stick and raised his voice to remove all regret,

“Riddhe Marcenas, Romeo 008. “Delta Plus”. Launching!”

The countdown timer showed zero, and the linear propelled catapult was shot out as the G-force rose out of a sudden, striking his body. The portside catapult that was severely damaged passed by his eyes at that moment, and as the machine was about to reach the end of the runway, the “Delta Plus” shot out flares from its thruster jets and leaped off the catapult. The thick grey machine floated towards the void.

“I’m going to test the transformation. Hang on.”

The capabilities would decide whether the plan would succeed. Riddhe executed the transformation without waiting for Mineva’s reply. The torso popped up, covering the head, the legs that were foldable extended out left and right, and the binders on the back bended by 90 degrees, forming the machine’s wings. The shield that was below the machine became the bow of this streamlined version.

This thing was basically not much different from the “ReZEL” Waverider. However, this machine that managed to complete its transformation within several milliseconds had a volume reminiscent of a fighter jet in the atmosphere, and the visual sharpness was not something the “ReZEL” could match. The main wings on both left and right side were just like a winged machine, and even the side flaps used for flight control had designs on them. Riddhe checked the locations of the two “ReZELs” that left the machine first as he stepped on the pedal lighting. The unexpected amount of G-force struck his body, and the body of the “Nahel Argama” faded away at that moment. A chill struck his body, and his organs felt like they dropped below his navel.

“Amazing…!”

[[Image:KSGU4 158.png|thumb]]

''The thrusters still have power. Can I really pilot this overly picky machine?'' at that moment, Riddhe felt anxious. (008, you’re moving too far in front. Don’t break the defensive formation.) he heard an allied pilot growl, and hurriedly transformed the machine back into the mobile suit form. He cut off the sending signals of the communicator as he looked behind and asked “Are you alright?” The assistance seat had none of the G-force resistance the linear seat had. Mineva was slumped heavily into the assistance seat as she said,

“It’s alright. Don’t mind me.”

Her abdomen looked like it was rising and dropping in a painful manner, Mineva said that with her eyes widened. That fearless voice caused Riddhe to feel the pressure in his chest rising, and he wordlessly looked forward.

There were still no signs of the “Palau” amidst the vacuum as the debris floated around wildly. ''We should be around the security zone. Are the mobile suits that launched first are okay? Have the ECOAS group hiding in “Palau” finished their job as planned? If any factor gets messed up, our plan will also be doomed.'' Riddhe shook away the countless factors of failures in his mind as he stared at the digital clock that was set in Greenwich Time. 17.44. The climax of this 3rd phase of “Operation Billiard” is about to begin, and the time left is—

===Part 11===

10 minutes later, at 17.54, the last member passed through the hatch, and the door of the “Loto” infantry transport room was closed up.

“Team Omega’s retreat is complete. None of the fireworks were changed.”

The vice commander seated at the front reported. It was 40 seconds earlier than predicted, but there was no time to be relieved over everyone’s safe return as Nasri ordered, “Right, send a signal to the “Nahel Argama”.”

“Once it’s sent, we’ll leave the current location. We’ll then rendezvous with the mobile suit squad on the “Nahel Argama” and cover 920’s entry.”

The pilot at the control seat pulled the joystick down in cadence with the repeated voice. The “Loto” hidden under the shadow of the rocks stood up, and the legs with the caterpillar belts crushed stepped onto the rocky surface. Nasri checked that their allied machine has left, and turned the periscope over to the space where the “Palau” was. He could only see the transport ships coming and going, and could not see any thruster flares that indicated an enemy ship. Space was silent, but they sent out a wireless signal, so it was best to think that it was a matter a time before the enemy discovered them. The time at this point was 17.55, and there were 5 minutes before the main event of “Operation Billiard” began. The long 5 minutes that were hard to endure would match the 2 hours before as it bgan.

“It’s not often that we can see such a show in this Celestial Sphere. Don’t you dare miss, “Nahel Argama”.”

Nasri looked at the shafts linking the Asteroids to each other as he mused in his dry mouth. Several Gaza machines left the surface, causing Nasri to wonder if they were moving because they detected an abnormal electric wave.

===Part 12===

“ECOAS 729 called in. The Object Ball has been placed.”

One could tell from Ensign Mihiro’s tense voice that she did not have time to feel relieved over the end of the second phase. Object ball—their positions were set. There was no backing out from this competition. They had to quickly release the cue and let the cue ball hit the gathered targets. “Alright!” Otto let out a voice that echoed through the bridge, and used this momentum to pause his thoughts. He picked up the ship’s phone from the Captain’s seat armrest and pressed on the button to broadcast to the entire ship.

“This is the Captain notifying all hands. We’ll begin the 3rd phase of the operation. At this moment, our ship will rush into enemy space and attack their base with the hyper mega-particle cannon.”

First Officer Liam, who was seated at the console in front together with the cannon operator and the navigation officer, gave a tense glance at Otto. The sensor operator was sitting at the left console, and Ensign Mihiro was on the right. The second communication room was left to Operator Bellard for him to contact ECOAS and pass the information. The often-empty commander’s seat beside the Captain’s seat was occupied by Alberto, and this observer’s unreliable face was all pale, but nobody in the ship had time and will to send him to the safe living quarters for safety. Otto ignored Alberto, who swallowed his saliva hard, and said,

“As everyone knows, we need all the power on the ship to fill the hyper mega-particle cannon. Our ship will now head towards the enemy watchzone at the fastest speed possible, but we’ll have to rely on inertia once we start loading. We won’t be able to turn and adjust ourselves, and the main and side cannons can’t be used. We can only use the ship’s navigation speed to break through the enemy’s perimeter.”

In other words, once they rushed out, they would not be able to stop. They had to barge into the firing zone with such restrained conditions and fire the hyper mega-particle cannon at the target. They had to break through the enemy’s ranks until the ship’s power was regained. Otto heard the sighs of the crew members that amounted to more than a hundred for himself and emphasized, “This is a dangerous gamble.”

“However, the success of this operation will depend on this hit. I hope every crew member can rise up to the challenge.”

He put down the ship’s phone and stared at everyone’s faces on the bridge. It was impossible to see the crew’s expressions as they were covered by the normal suits’ helmets, but Otto felt the weight of the life in each individual body more than ever. He took in the last mouth of breath he could take and finally gave the order, “All hands, check the airlocks.” and closed the visor of his helmet.

“All hands, accelerate defensed. Proceed at high speeds.”

Soon after the command was repeated countless times, the trembling of the machines was amplified, and the ship itself shook with a rattling voice. 10 thruster nozzles let out flares at the same time, and the 400m long giant ship let out an impact from the inside. The “Nahel Argama” was starting to accelerate. Otto held onto the armrests tightly as he stared at the navigation screen in front of him.

The stars that were on the bridge windows did not move. Nothing could prove that the ship was accelerating other than the speedometer, but the G-force striking from the front increased its pressure regularly, causing the sweat under Otto’s armpits to flow towards the back. They started from the ‘safe driving’ of 1km per minute, and gradually accelerated such that it went down to 50 seconds, 40, 30. Once it reached the 30 second mark, the G force on the bodies exceeded 3G, and the skin on the faces were rattling.

The body that had the weight of the normal suit added on felt like a lead block, and he could not lean on the backrest. His arms felt heavy, like they were being pulled down by something, and if he relaxed, it seemed like the force would strike through the armrests fully. Otto continued to stare at the navigation screen as he heard the groans from the opened wireless communicator inside the ship. Soon, they would reach their fastest speed—3km per second as the ship accelerated by the minute.

The ship let out a rattling sound, and the continuous acceleration monitor let out a warning light. The minute space dust hitting it would let out a sandstorm-like sound inside the ship. The G-force on the body exceeded 6G. The “Nahel Argama”, escorted by three machines bore the G-force that was equivalent to that of leaving the atmosphere, and it passed through the shoal space region like a rocket. (We’re about to reach the enemy watchzone.) (Minovsky particles, scattered to battle situation density). Otto heard Liam and the rest let out reports that sounded like groans through the wireless communicator, saw that the value on the acceleration monitor was already what they planned, and shouted with all his strength, “HYPER MEGA-PARTICLE CANNON, READY TO FIRE!”

The vibrations of the engine faded away quickly, and the G-force that were pressing down on the body was weakening. (Coordinates stabilized, designated as the target instructed by the ship) (Engines stopped, proceeding by inertia. Focusing all power to the hyper mega-particle cannon!) (All hands, switch to the backup power). The voices rang and disappeared through the wireless communicator, and the lights in the bridge were switched to the red light of the backup power. This time, an impact from the back struck everyone. As the acceleration ended, the G-force on the bodies became zero, and the bodies that were released from intense pressure bent forward.

The thrusters stopped, and the ship that lost the propelled power flew in space by inertia. The real danger began at this point. The sounds of the ship’s rattling was fading gradually, but the sounds of minute debris was still pinging on the ship’s external armor. The air sac of the normal suits crumpled, and the Otto felt an itchy feeling in his lower body during to blood circulation flowing into his numb parts. He held his breath and stared at the sensor visual.

The navigation path was designed by comparing the latest space maps, but it was possible for the debris flying over to obstruct their way. The effective range of their sensors was reduced to a range of about 20km radius at this point as they had scattered Minovsky Particles. All signs of debris in the way would collide directly into the “Nahel Argama” within milliseconds…

Suddenly, a black shadow grazed past their sights, causing the sweat on Otto’s back to freeze. A small white light flickering outside the window as an allied machine diagonally in front of them—Ensign Riddhe’s “Delta Plus” was telling everyone that it was carrying out adjustments. The irregular debris floating in from the space outside seemed to graze past something not too far away from the ship as it flew behind. (Hii…) Mihiro let out a weak shriek a second later as the debris floated away from the sensor’s range.

(This is too reckless…)

Alberto moaned with his hands covering his head. ''Who do you think was the cause behind this?'' Otto suppressed the urge to let out this voice from his throat and his body felt the engine rumble again. (The anti-air Gatling guns can still work, shoot down the irregular rocks!) The sound of the hyper mega-particle cannon gathering power overpowered Liam’s growl as it got louder and louder. The large monster sucked up all the power the “Nahel Argama” generated and rumbled. The 50m long large cannon poking out from the hull of the ship spread the melody of the power generated and gathered through the ship.

17.59. The time schedule was going at a difference of 5 seconds. At this point, they could only leave their luck to Heaven. Otto saw the spot of light on “Palau” on the screen and exerted strength in his hands resting on the armrests. They would shoot the fireworks ECOAS 729 set up at the Pyramid Spot on the rhombus at 18.00. There were 3 seconds left, 2, 1…

===Part 13===

0. Universal Century 0096, April 12th, 18.00 sharp.

Not a lot of vehicles were moving through the connecting shafts of “Palau” at this time. The factories had three work shifts through 24 hours, and the job shift for night duty ended 2 hours ago. The people working in the morning shift had returned home, and the people working during the night shift were still in dreamland. Thus, not many linear cars were in operation. As for what would be moving along this long and wide tube-like tunnel, that would be the linear cars without anyone in them, ferrying the mined rocks or trucks sending food and daily necessities. Including them, there were still less than 20 vehicles moving on a shaft.

Suddenly, an intense tremor spread inside the tunnel. The booming noise blew up the highway that was 3km long. The ferrying trucks present hurriedly stepped on the brakes and brought the vehicles to the road shoulders. There was no gravity within the connecting shafts, but the tires’ magnetism on the ground made the vehicles feel no different from a gravity block. ''Did a meteor strike?'' The truck driver floated out from the driver seat and intended to land on the ground with his magnetic soles. However, he floated in the air like this, and heard a second explosion.

''The magnetism isn’t working. Is it a power outage?'' He did not even have the time to think as the lights in the tunnel went out and changed to a red light. At the same time, there was a flash expanding right in front of him, and a storm blew through the wide tube. The truck driver was blown away by the wind, and was soon knocked 50m away. His back slammed into the partition shutter that was activated, was knocked unconscious because of this impact, and remained asleep for the next three hours without knowing anything until the firemen arrived at the scene to wake him up once everything ended.

The ‘fireworks’ ECOAS planted were exploded. They timed this moment where traffic flow was at its minimum and blew up the areas near the connecting shafts with SHMX, creating the expected destructive outcome on the connecting shafts. The supersonic explosion winds were compressed into a shockwave, and a fatal fissure was caused by the explosion spread while the generators on the other side of the shafts showed deep cracks. The energy from the explosions multiplied without any wastage, causing the cracks outside the shafts to form breaks. The cracks letting out gas and flames instantly expanded. They expanded to form a round around the 30m diameter shafts, and all 10 of them ended up being severed like they were sliced at the waste.

The unmanned linear car carrying the mined rocks made an emergency stop, and emergency partition walls were lowered before and after the breaks. Fires spurted out from the broken areas, and numerous lights lit the joints of the 4 asteroids. However, it was just a poke of a needle at the stomach of “Palau”. The trajectory of the large asteroids would not change as long as nuclear weapons were not used. Of course, there was no major obstruction to the main part “Calyx”, and even the 3 “Corollas” were not affected. The “Palau” continued to remain floating in the shoal space region just like how it was before the explosion, but all connecting shafts were severed, and the 4 asteroids could be said to be separated from each other—this was the first time in the history of “Palau” that the 4 asteroids were separated from each other, and only managed to maintain the usual “Palau” shape. However, there was no time to check on what happened here as a second incident struck “Palau”.

Two unknown machines entered the watchzone at the same time as the explosion. More accurately, there were 3 machines. A “ReZEL” transformed into its Waverider form, an ECOAS 920 “Loto” riding on the back, and there seemed to be a third heat source sighted on the radar—but there was electronic interference after that, which made further observations impossible. The “Nahel Argama” followed the advance squad and entered the watchzone, scattering Minovsky Particles that caused this interference.

Multiple unknown machines started moving towards “Palau” at the moment there were explosions in many areas. This was undoubtedly an attack, and 4 “Geara Zulus” were launched hurriedly from the military port ‘cove’. They had an “Eye Zack” checking where the enemy was attacking, the mobile suits located at the alert sites left the surface, and the many “Gaza Ds” set a perimeter around the ‘cove’. The defense squad that detected an abnormal electric pulse from “Palau” believed that the enemy had already snuck into their camp. The alert sites lights were moving around, and a “Gaza D” pilot searching “Palau”s surface caught sight of a deep brown machine hiding in a crater.

It had a rock-like color scheme on it, but it could not evade detection under close range. The “Gaza D” pilot detected the “Loto”s heat source and pursued the attack as it transformed. The hook-like hands turned around from the stand it was like, and the body in the shape of a cannon grew a pair of hands. Despite having an arthopod-like silhouette that was dubbed ‘an alien transport’, the mobility “Gaza D” in mobile suit form was not something the “Loto” could match. The “Loto” fired its Gatling cannons on the shoulders wildly, using the weak verniers to move back, and the “Gaza D” pilot charged right over at its enemy.

At that moment, another shot came from another direction, hitting the “Gaza D” directly. The “Gaza D” had no chance of drawing the beam saber from its shoulder binders as it was sliced in half at the waist, and the weak machine frame blew up under the expanding fireball. The other “Loto” fired a 120mm low recoil cannon from behind the rock—and Squad Leader Nasri Razal “Loto” rushed out from the rock after checking that the enemy was shot down, and let its humanoid body with thick Gatling cannons on its shoulders hide in the next hiding spot.

The landscape of “Palau” was saved into their database, and they would not make the simple mistake of letting themselves get caught by the enemy so easily even if it were enemy territory. ECOAS specialty was concealment. Nasri checked that the allied unit acting as bait started to move, and proceeded on to find the next prey. They wanted to use this method to shoot down as many enemies as they could in this manner and support Daguza and his ECOAS 920 squad members in their assault. In order to break into “Palau” and go through lots of effort to save the capture civilian, they had to create a commotion as obvious as possible and gather the enemy’s sights on them. There were only a few seconds until the main event of “Operation Billiards”—the firing of the hyper mega-particle cannon. Nasri saw the large number of enemies rushing out from the ‘cove’ through the periscope, and gave a numb-looking smile on his lips.

There would be an assault after the destruction, and a ring of exploding light indicating that their allied machine was shot down came after. “Palau” descended into sudden chaos, but it would be later that the people in the large round tubes between “Calyx”—the inner walls of the shield machine knew about this. The explosion of the connecting shafts merely sounded like thunder to them from afar, and they could not experience the tremors for themselves. The resident blocks on both sides were about to have the usual sunset, and the only thing ringing dully was the sirens mixed with the winds, indicating an abnormal situation.

In the center Uppertown, Pepe was in his official residence near the governor’s estate, and got on the leather chair the moment he heard the siren. Full Frontal asked to break off ties with him on his side, and to him, who was about to go mad, who was able to negotiate with people in the related worlds, that siren sounded like it was the declaration of destruction. On the other side, in the Downtown area, Tikva kicked over the dining chair and ran out of the house while ignoring his mother’s attempt to stop him.

His father, Marida and the Captain returned to the ship because it was said that there was an emergency order. Banagher too disappeared after he went out. ''There’s no reason for him to escape—'' the Captain said so, and Tikva did not feel that the immature prisoner had such courage, but the sound of the siren sounded abnormally heavy, causing his chest to flutter. Quite a few people felt the same too, and they looked up at the artificial sun that disappeared, praying to God that their relatives in the Neo Zeon Army could remain safe.

Banagher did not have this luxury. He walked out from the subway at the military facility ‘cove’, moved through the zero gravity path, and ended up feeling the tremors of the explosion closer than Tikva and the rest.

DUN. A deep noise echoed through the path devoid of anyone else, and the siren could be heard after that. This path that was recorded on the monitor sheet map was a service route that was used by the guards at the excavation fields. It was connected to all the tunnels like a net, and ordinary people would be prohibited from entering this ‘cove’. Banagher compared the area code on the wall with the monitor sheet to see where he was, and had a premonition that caused him to panic in the midst of the aftershock. It was 6pm, the time the ‘receivers’ would arrive—

“It started…”

It was the Federation’s attack. There was no other guesses as Banagher hastened his speed up the liftgrip. He did not head towards the 14th spacegate he was told to head to, but went to the ‘cove’ Neo Zeon fleet base. The attack started, and his plan might be something unnecessary, but he could only continue on. Whether he could succeed or not, there was no other way to bring the residents of “Palau” away from the battlefield. He looked forward while hearing the sirens annoy his nerves like they were prompting him. This was just a premonition that things were beginning, and the hands holding onto the liftgrip were sweating.

===Part 14===

Numerous light spots appeared on the asteroid joints, and the flashes merely remained for a moment. The gas left over from the explosions floated to the shadows of the asteroids and could not be observed. The main screen show that “Palau” looked just like usual.

(We’ve sighted an explosion of light at “Palau”s connecting shafts!)

(Hyper mega-particle cannon, loading rate is 120%. Preparations to fire are complete.)

The cannon operator’s voice quickly passed through the wireless communicator right after the sensor operator. Otto got up from the Captain seat and stared at the “Palau” that was optically corrected. There were three fat rock blocks “Carollas” gathered around the bow shaped “Calyx”—and since ECOAS had already cut off all the connecting shafts, those were 4 blocks of rocks sticking to each other through inertia. In that case, the object balls were lined up, and they just needed to use the cue to fire the cue ball and knock down all the target baclls lined up in a rhombus.

''We must hit the vital spot in one hit.'' Otto told himself silently in his heart as he seemingly gathered his courage. But at this moment…

(High heat sources approach! Two of them. Mobile suits.)

The sensor operator’s voice caused Otto’s order to remain stuck at his throat. ''Why at this moment?'' He looked at the sensor monitor and stared at the indicated unknown targets. 4 mobile suits were launched from “Palau” and two of them passed through their mobile suit advanced squad and moved close to this point. The “Nahel Argama” itself was moving at a high speed, so both sides were closing in on each other at an alarming rate. The target was right in front of them, and this battleship could not dodge or fire as it approached undefended.

It was a thought that happened in less than a second. (Let the cover intercept…) Otto interrupted Liam’s words that were about to come out “LEAVE THEM ALONE!” and yelled.

“GET OUR ALLIES OUT OF THE WAY! HYPER MEGA-PARTICLE CANNON, BEGIN THE ATTACK!”

''To heck with them.'' Otto ignored Alberto, who was looking over at him in surprise, and slumped himself tightly onto the Captain’s seat. The voices repeating the command rang, and as all their allied mechas were out of the range, (Ready…FIRE!) the cannon operator’s voice rang inside his helmet.

At that moment, the 400m long ship trembled, rocking the bridge. The flash dashed past the window as it went off to the other end, and even the anti-glare filter could not reduce the intensity of this powerful light that covered Otto’s sights.

===Part 15===

At its critical stage, the large mega-particle cannon was released from the I-field perimeter; it carried out 8 levels of acceleration and gathering inside the ring, and the particles were fired outs. This scorching beam of light took all the power the “Nahel Argama” had and cut through space, first devouring the two “Geara Zulus” that were closing in on its path.

It was relatively moderate in terms of electrical output, but the mega-particle beam still showed a tendency to expand according to its range and fade off. That was why the “Nahel Argama” rushed into firing range and shot the hyper mega-particle cannon at what could be said to be extremely close range, and the two “Geara Zulus” were right in there, letting the beams rush over in the middle of this distance that was less than 20km away. The enemy units were swallowed by the beam that was as large as them, and one of the “Geara Zulu” that suffered fatality was melted like wax candles in a furnace, while the other mobile suit was 1km away from the beam, but was unable to avoid the shockwave and the scattered particles. That “Geara Zulu”s armor were all ripped off at the same moment the former mobile suit was destroyed, and the shockwave that reached it ripped the frame apart.

As the beam raced out, the other two mobile suits pursuing the “ReZEL” and the “Complete Jegan” suffered similar fates. They took the destructive power of the scattered particles that were as destructive as a normal mega-particle beam from the back, and their devastated machines were blown aside from the shockwave, igniting the core reactor furnaces. The hot fusion energy maintained by the I-field spread out in an explosive manner, the humanoid machines with sleeves decorations on them were broken down into limbs, and the giant beam continued to expand. The beam had these lights decorating the path like flowers, and they were just sparkler firestarters that were meant to be blown up before the beam arrived. The sublight arrow was shot out from the “Nahel Argama” at supersonic speed, causing the tip at the top to hit the “Palau”, scorching the surface of “Carolla A”. This massive energy was enough to rock a small asteroid and cause it to accelerate—the connecting shafts were blown, and the “Corolla A” that was linked to the other asteroids started to leave its fixed orbit as it moved.

And just like how the asteroid was moved over to this point from the Asteroid Belt, the direct hit from the hyper mega-particle cannon brought about a thrust that could match a nuclear pulse engine, causing an asteroid in a corner of “Palau” to be pushed out. This asteroid slammed into “Corolla B”, dragged a mining factory down as it touched the “Calyx” surface. The impact from “A” caused “B” to move and slam into “C”, and after that, it seemed like “B” moved together with “A” to slam into “Calyx”. The “Calyx” bore the brunt of the 3 asteroids mass and motions as it got knocked off course greatly, causing the tip of the bowhead to tilt mightily.

The broken connecting shafts started to bend at the base, and the collisions caused winds to dance on the surface and into space. The result of the hyper mega-particle cannon cue ball hitting the balls caused the 4 asteroids object balls to crash into each other in a chain reaction, causing the a Celestial-scale billiard performance in the shoal space region. From the outside, the 4 tightly packed asteroids might have moved just by a bit, and the “Palau” that was covered in flying dust did not change its shape. However, this was really an earthshaking thing to the people inside. This was definitely a large earthquake that could have caused the skies to crash down. The earthquake caused the two residential blocks in “Calyx” to tumble violently, and there were cracks on the ‘hill’. The dust accumulated within the inner walls flew up, all the houses’ windows were shattered, and the residents were rolling and tumbling around for several meters. Tikva was no exception as he tumbled on the road due to the rumbling, grabbed onto the outer wall that was shaking slightly, and looked up at the sky. The earthquake boomed through the surroundings echoing through the cylinder of this residence block. ''Did the shield machine digging into the ‘hill’ work on its own?'' Tikva thought blankly as he stared at this bladed digging tool that was abandoned before he was born and was about to be buried under the oxidized rocks. He vaguely heard the sounds his siblings shrieking and his mother calling his name.

The chandelier came crashing down in the governor’s house, and Pepe hid under the table to avoid danger. The “Palau” residential block was built to take advantage of the hardy ability to withstand the shield machine’s activation, and it was no wonder this governor’s estate that was thoroughly decorated took the greatest damage. Chaos too descended on the excavation field under zero gravity, as there were materials left in the air and baskets hitting the artificial, and pipelines were snapped together with the fissured ground. There was not just one crack on the underground tunnels, and the pale-faced workers were hurriedly trying to escape, but this was not all that could describe the devastated ‘cove’.

Due to the direct hit on the sun, the melted magma-like surface could not fade off easily. The “Corolla A” let out gas as it moved towards the “Calyx”, causing the gap between the asteroids to be show, and the Neo Zeon fleet stationed there lost their exit. The entire military port was sealed inside the ‘cove’ as a result.

The connecting shafts were severed, and several seconds later, another rock blocked the exit, causing the mobile suit squadrons that were mobilized in this emergency to suffer from having to remain there. Several “Geara Zulus” managed to sneak out of the gap before the exit was sealed, but the “Gaza Cs” that followed were crushed by this tectonic plate, letting out explosions of light in the openings. The military port facilities were not exempt from damage either. The rock bits that scattered due to the impact crushed the oil tankers and the dredge ships, and rain of fire and rubble descended on the factories at the base of the craters. The many factories were crushed and devoured by fire, lighting up the large hole that was gradually becoming sealed from time to time. The moored ships started releasing their restrains one by one, casting aside their supplies that were half loaded as they tried to leave the dock, but still could not get back the rock shutter that accelerated over.

A captain of a Salamis-class patrol ship saw the rock plate closing in from the bridge’s window. The crate that was 5km in diameter and 2km caused the military port at the bottom of the crater to burn and fall, and the term ‘landslide’ alone would not be able to explain it thoroughly. It looked like the sky collapsed on them, and the Salamis-class was devoured by debris inside the cave. We won’t make it—it was too late for the Captain to make this decision as the stalactites supporting the roof bit into the ship, and the crater closing in from the bottom raised the ship. In the face of this rock that was the size of an asteroid, the patrol ship did not even have the tolerance of a fly as the keel supporting the hull were snapped, the crushed bridge tumbled onto the deck, and the heat and flash from the core reactor that ignited rose up. Flames rose out from the tightly knitted rock surfaces, creating a border between the two asteroids that had basically become one.

The deep red color could be seen from above the “Delta Plus” despite it being separated from the cloud of dust. The “Corolla A” took a direct high from the hyper mega-particle cannon, and the surface hot surfaces showed lights of ships and mobile suits appearing twice, thrice, lighting the rubble flying all over the place periodically.

“Did it succeed?”

““Palau”s burning…!”

Riddhe and Mineva saw the red burning surfaces from the cockpit afar, and they could not say anything else. The “Nahel Argama” that was headed to the same place was using up all its inertia as it went right at “Palau”, they could only rely on the mobile suit squadron acting as direct cover until the functions were restored and they leave the place. Riddhe’s eyes scanned for enemies and found them coming out for the ‘cove’. ''I can’t let the battle drag on further. I have to hurry up and hit the enemies that are coming out hard and fast and leave the battlefield as fast as possible—''

For a different reason, Daguza too was feeling anxious. He, who was gradually moving closer to “Palau” earlier than the “Nahel Argama”, caught sight of multiple enemies from the periscope, and ordered the pilot to remove direct contact with the “ReZEL” that acted as its transport. He deduced that the “ReZEL” would not be able to fight freely with the “Loto” on the back.

The “Loto” kept the foldable arms on its back and left the “ReZEL”. The “ReZEL” was like a large shark to the “Loto” as it transformed from Waverider form to mobile suit form, releasing the thruster flares. Multiple Gaza-type mobile suits rushed out from “Palau”, and they should be patrol ships outside the ‘cove’ when the collision happened. Daguza could see from the side that their allied “Complete Jegan” fired a beam rifle to hold off the enemy from closing in, and stared at the “Palau” surface that was located behind the flying rubble.

The connection shafts were severed, and the “Corolla A” took a direct hit from the hyper mega particle cannon. The billiard effect caused “B” and “C” to be knocked aside, creating this impression of “Operation Billiard” to seal the enemy fleet inside the ‘cove’. However, this was just a massive mobilization to cause a misdirection. The success of this mission would hang on whether they could break into Palau and snatch the RX-0 and its pilot. ECOAS 729 moved ahead to shoot down enemy units for them, but there were quite a lot of patrol units. There were mobile suits gradually rising out from the gap of the ‘cove’ that could not be sealed off completely. Despite wrecking their base, it was impossible for every ship to be moored. They had to finish the retrieval of the “Unicorn” and Banagher Links before the enemy ships leave the port, detect this and surround the area.

The pink beams suddenly flashed hitting the flying debris and creating an explosion of light. The enemies were firing intercepting shots at them. The “Loto” had no chance of winning with merely anti-air turrets even if they fired here. The pilot quickly dodged and intended to check on the enemy’s location, “Ignore it!” only to be growled at by Daguza.

“Leave it to the covering machine. Where’s the target signal coming from?”

(We can’t detect it. Vice Commander Conroy, who was seated at the front, replied through the wireless communicator. ''The transmitter Banagher Links’s holding onto can send signals within 20km even with Minovsky particles around. If we can’t detect him, does that mean he hasn’t arrived at the retrieval point inside “Palau”? Or is there some deviation…'' Daguza could only suppress his worst imaginations as he held onto the grip of the periscope again.

''The fact that he was not imprisoned was confirmed by the spy’s report. If he stayed at the space gate retrieval point, he should be able to avoid getting involved in this damage. What is he doing—'' sweat of uneasiness continued to seep out of Daguza, and he looked at the landscape of “Palau” that occupied his sights. The “Loto” skillfully managed to avoid the rubble flying over, and quickly closed down its distance with “Palau”.

===Part 16===

Banagher stared at the ball-point pen drenched in sweat and held it tightly. He had to press the signal switch at the appointed moment. He remembered the words recorded on the monitor sheet and checked his watch. It was 6.07pm, past the designated time.

''Since the attack, I can’t achieve anything even if I struggle wildly. Shall I activate this transmitter?'' Banagher pondered for a while, and again decided not to. It’s easy to pcik me up, but the Federation’s goal is to retrieve the “Laplace Box”. Even if I obey the instructions, the operation won’t end like this. They’ll probably search through “Palau” until they find this mobile suit that is basically the key to opening the “Box”—and will eliminate all obstacles, whether soldiers or civilians.''

''That’s why you and I can’t stay here. We have to hurry up and leave “Palau”.'' Banagher looked at a corner of the factory amidst the numerous materials thrown into the air. As the sirens and growls from the mechanics echoed, ‘it’ stood silently as its body remained in the hangar.

He did not know what caused this earth-reversing-like impact. Banagher heard from the soldiers on the way here that it seemed like the asteroids that were linked together crashed into each other. However, he had no time or need to find out the truth. He was lucky to sneak into the military port facility in the midst of the chaos. The target was removed from the ship and placed in this factory block where he could see it after entering. There was no truth more important than this at this moment. Even the transmitter’s issue could be solved once he head outside and activate it.

''There’s no other way.'' Banagher told himself this and gave up on thinking. He hid himself amongst the containers, looked around, and waited for the moment to rush out. Smoke was starting to float in, and the soldiers were busy putting out fires and tending to the injured as they went around the factory as they did not notice him. None of them looked over at the white machine that was standing deep within, and it looked like there was a deliberate unnatural void surrounding ‘it’. ''There’s less than 50m left, I can get up there without a wire gun. It feels uneasy not to have the normal suit, but there should be a spare inside the cockpit—''Banagher had this thought as he secretly made his decision to get up there first before doing anything else.

[[Image:KSGU4 181.png|thumb]]

He took a deep breath, kicked the floor and left his hiding place amongst the containers. Banagher stepped on the floating metal frames like he was stepping on stones while crossing water, and floated up diagonally within the large factory. The “Unicorn Gundam” with its lone horn pointed up did not affirm nor deny its master’s reckless action, and the eyes hidden under the visor were just looking afar.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[KSGU:Volume_4_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Gundam Unicorn|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[KSGU:Volume_4_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2013-01-14T06:47:53Z

75.85.182.130: Changed 'He’s an export' to 'He’s an expert'

==Chapter 3==

===Part 1===

(The bow will be directed in a new direction. Opening the hatches for the 1st to 4th catapult. Mobile suit squadron, get into launching position.)

The voice of Operator Bellard could be heard as the catapult hatches opened. Riddhe moved the “ReZEL” unit 008 forward, let the machine step on the catapult, and could not help but let out a call of amazement as he looked at the scene outside.

“This is…!?”

The 3rd catapult deck was extend out into the vacuum—if the Nahel Argama’s shape could be described as a wooden horse, the right foreleg would be the exposed catapult. A large amount of debris was surrounding them in the midst of the current, as blocks of all sizes floated towards the stern of the ship. Occasionally, debris the size of a mobile suit would graze past the catapult. It felt like swimming in the midst of remains. However, the Nahel Argama itself was moving forward, and the reason why this misassumption would be thought of was because they were leaving the collapsed colony remains, and the scattered rubble flow looked like they were moving from the back to the front.

''If we moved in the same direction as the debris, the relative velocity on both sides will be negated, and the surface area of the ship being hit could be reduced to the smallest possible area. This would be a welcomed arrangement for the mobile suit that would be shot out from the bow, but can we leave the ship safely? If we slam into a debris that comes from behind when we fly out, we’ll be squashed immediately…no, before I even worry about that, let’s think; how am I going to catch sight of the enemy in this messy space?'' Riddhe swallowed his saliva as he looked around the debris that kept floating around. (We chose a very bad time to launch), the voice from the wireless communicator caused him to close his mouth. It was Lieutenant Commader Homare of Romeo 004.

“It’s rare that you can remain on standby inside the ship. Is this really alright, young lord?”

“I’m not convinced about letting you guys handle this, Lieutenant Commander.”

He answered this dig with a dig back. It was something small, but this small action alone gave him a peace of mind. (Oh, you sure dare to answer back). Riddhe heard the Lieutenant Commander as he felt that he could finally be alone. (That’s all for chit-chat). Squad leader Norm’s voice interrupted.

(All units are to form elements after leaving the ship. Juliet 2 with Romeo 004. Romeo 008, follow me.)

The element, as its name would imply, was about using the smallest number of members when forming teams, active teams of 2s. Norm was the attack unit, and Riddhe was the defense unit. Thus, Riddhe’s unit had a long-distance support beam launcher equipped. Everyone was launched out, but it was unexpected that they would only have 2 elements. “Understood.” Riddhe suppressed the timidity that crept up in him as he answered.

(There are 4 enemy units closing in. We have similar numbers, so calm down before going.)

Squad Leader Norm seemed to read his thoughts, and behind him (Path clear. Please launch). Operator Bellard’s voice rang. Riddhe stared at the torrent of debris that showed no signs of stopping, and grumbled “What path clear…?”. (I can hear you, Romeo 008!) The Operator’s voice could be heard, causing Riddhe to cringe. “Got it!” Riddhe grumbled in his heart after answering, thinking that it would be great if Mihiro was the operator.

''Looks like she’s still not released from her task to take care of the civilians. Speaking of which, I asked her out to see a movie. What was the type of movie she said she doesn’t really like?'' Riddhe thought in an absent-minded manner. He intended to think of that mini-tank’s round eyes in his mind, but suddenly ended up thinking about another pair of eyes, and was shocked by it.

Those emerald-colored eyes that looked like they were about to suck him in; those eyes that did not look like they could relax and look at him, the side of that awe-inspiring face overpowered the rest as it appeared in Riddhe’s mind, causing him to be shaken by the lack of understanding of his mindset. ''Why, why am I thinking of her face when I may end up dying—''

“What the heck am I doing? Is it love at first sight?”

He unwittingly said it out. ''Are you serious?'' Riddhe asked himself. (…Don’t say it.) Operator Bellard’s seemingly disgusted musing could be heard, “Ah, no, I don’t intend that…” Riddhe was frantically trying to explain, but was shut up by a booming voice (Norm Basilicock, Romeo 001, launching!)

One could see Squad Leader Norm’s “ReZEL” unit 1 glide up from the 1st open-air catapult deck that formed the bow of the “Nahel Argama”. The “Jegan” unit 2 then shot out from the 4th catapult at the bottom of the ship. Riddhe grabbed onto the control stick. ''Let me survive this before thinking about the rest later. I won’t die, and I definitely can’t die. I must come back and meet Audrey. If I’m really in love, I’ll naturally find out where I should go.''

The countdown timer display reached zero. ''That’s right, I’ll definitely survive.'' Riddhe muttered in his own heart as he got ready to launch. At this moment, he suddenly remembered. ''Is that letter to my father sent out yet?''

===Part 2===

(Riddhe Marcenas. Romeo 008, launching!)

The vague voice through the wireless speaker rang. “Ah, it’s Ensign reading.” Banagher heard Takuya say this as he stared at the monitor panel on the wall showing the blue mobile suit with a transformable booster unit on the back glide on the catapult and fly into vacuum.

“Someone you know?”

“It’s the Ensign who had the model plane. I never saw him again after this.”

The biplane model that was fastened on the table with tape could be seen in the direction Takuya was pointing. That was something Takuya did after managing to hold onto the model tightly in the middle of the tremors, and prevent the same thing from happening. “Oh, that one…” Banagher answered he turned his eyes back to the monitor panel that as 10 inches. ''That’s the young pilot who was chasing the model on the mobile suit deck. He sure feels like he will doubt easily.'' As he thought, Riddhe’s machine could be seen flying off, leaving behind the blueish-white thruster jets on the monitor.

That machine dodged the debris surrounding the ship like flowing water, and gradually disappeared from the screen. His movements compared to the previous ones were not lackluster…or rather, it felt like that course he chose was the one that would use less effort. Banagher brought his face closer to the visual presented by the camera that was fastened on the catapult. “You guys can watch this later!” Mihiro growled, causing Banagher to cringe.

“Hurry here and put on the normal suits.”

Mihiro carried in 4 normal suits from the locker room and said to them with a sharp voice. She herself was covered in the white military normal suit, and was giving a look of a soldier who would not have time to pretend to be calm in a real battle. “Alright.” Banagher answered Mihiro as he looked back at Audrey and Micott.

Both of them had been in 2 corners of the wide room ever since they returned back to the recreational room, and they never intended to look at each other as they silently put on the normal suits even in this situation. The way they deliberately changed into the normal suits while turning their backs on each other gave an ominous vibe. While it was okay on Audrey’s side, it would not be weird for Micott to explode anytime soon—

“Try and hold yourself down and don’t leave this place. I’m going outside to check on the situation.”

Mihiro probably was not in the mood to notice the atmosphere as she hurriedly left the room while being tripped by the trays on the floor. Banagher looked at the normal suits that were left on the table, stared at the backs of the girls who were hesitantly changing, and was really not motivated to go to them as he decided to stay in front of the monitor panel. “Oh, this launched from the 2nd catapult.” Takuya switched the channel of the monitor as he mused with fast breathing. Banagher and he watched the back of the transformable mobile suit that got ready to launch.

It was not a misjudgment this time. The ship was attacked by the enemy, and the monitor was showing a real battle. ''It’s the enemy Neo Zeon. Will that four-winged mobile suit come back again? “Leave this place with me'''' Banagher recalled that cold tone as he glanced at Audrey. Her expression was stiff, but there was no sign of anxiety or fear on her face as she inspected the normal suit. It was like the time when they were facing each other in the dim storage room, the stare that refused from thousands of miles away was looking at something other than this place. Those emerald eyes were showing passive thoughts of taking it one thing at a time, her emotions suppressed by a sense of duty. ''The ones attacking may be her allies—''

The reports announcing that they were leaving the ship were buzzing. “Please, you guys…” Banagher was prompted by Takuya’s earnest voice as he stared at the transformable mobile suit. The giant figure on the catapult deck looked to be smaller, and just when it was about to reach the end of the catapult deck, a pink beam appeared like static, sweeping through the image in a diagonal direction. At that moment, a white light was emitted from the mobile suit that was about to leave the ship, and the monitor suddenly turned black.

The room lost its light at the same time, and the noise of an explosion that rocked the air within the ship surrounded him. The floor was bumped by several meters, and Banagher was knocked into the ceiling for some reason. Amidst the darkness, the cracking sound of something being crushed echoed through the ship; the noises of breaking glass and compressed metal could be heard. Screams and moans echoed through the room. Banagher reached out his outstretched arm, and kept hitting the walls and the floor without grabbing anyone. At this moment, Banagher’s nerves were all numb with pain as he moved his arm, trying to grab something. Suddenly, the emergency red alert flashing in the room dyed the dark room red.

The monitor image was regained, and the visual from the same angle as before was shown on a corner. The image of the catapult deck, stretched into space, was captured by the camera—but the runway that should appear there disappeared. What appeared there was a dark void with debris that were moving in the opposite direction, shining. The pink beam that flashed again left some burns, and the darkness devoid of stars had two, three lights of explosions.

''We got sniped…?'' Banagher stared at this pink beam that was obviously from a mega-particle cannon, took what he deduced and tried to let his aching body stand up. He looked around the room that was surrounded in red light, and checked the locations of the other 3 that were collapsed in the different corners of the room. Audrey was holding onto the holding, kneeling; Takuya had his head stuffed into the flower bed, and Micott, who had her lower body inside the normal suit. Banagher saw that the trio seemed to have escaped fatal injuries, and he was about to move to Audrey who was unable to stand up as a chilling premonition came down his spine without warning.

Something floated past the screen behind him. The red vestige was etched in Banagher’s eyes. That was not the vestige of a beam, but something that was with physical mass. This certain thing had enough killing intent to cause goosebumps was closing in on this ship. That thing was giving off a heavy presence, arriving here with killing intent that went through several layers of armor.

Banagher tried to look for the red vestige on the monitor. The meteor-like shadow did not appear again as a new explosion appeared, creating a dazzling white light in the vacuum.

===Part 3===

Even though the light filter took effect, the flashes that immediately appeared still dyed the window white, robbing the bridge members’ sighs. Otto collided into the normal suit locker at the back, barely managed to climb onto the captain’s seat rest, and shouted with all his strength, “WHAT’S THE SITUATION!?”

“it seems that a “ReZEL” that was launched got sniped. The left catapult deck took severe damage.

Operator Bellard growled back as he gave a brief damage report from the damage control room. The peripheral view of the ship was shown on the monitor panel above his head, and the damaged parts were blinking red. The portside catapult deck of the Nahel Argama was blown to bits as it was caught in the explosion of the sniped ReZEL. It lost the left foreleg of a sphinx. Otto saw that his ship looked like it was half blown off, and felt that what he saw was a moment of darkness. He put on the helmet of his normal suit tightly, and raised his volume, saying, “EVERYONE, CHECK FOR DAMAGES!”

“WHAT’S THE ANTI-AIR DEFENSE DOING! WE GOT AN ENEMY ON US!”

The 2,600 close-ranged defense artillery, and the main cannon that had a further range than the enemy unit had not been fired. “But adjustments aren’t…!”Otto angrily told off the cannon operator, who answered with a bone-chilling reply. They were trying to estimate where the enemy unit was, even though at this moment, trying to hold off the enemy with bullets without actually worrying about hitting was common sense in actual battle.

“NOW’S NOT THE TIME TO BE AIMING! KEEP FIRING!”

Otto let out a roar through the wireless network to all the units in the ship. He may have ended up embarrassing the cannon operator, but that was all. Anyone would lose functionality after being trained in precision and competing for it. Otto reflected on the time when he viewed ship efficiency as the most important thing and felt regret over it. at this moment, countless inception fire let out flashes outside the window.

The 60mm machine cannon that was meant to counter mobile suits let out a trail of fire of light bullets. Also, there were 2 main cannons equipped on the ship, one about and one below—the 2 twin-barrel mega-particle beam cannons let out sublight beam bullets. The secondary cannons hidden within the two domes on the flanks shot out beams, and the Nahel Argama shot out a screen of fire all over the place, but this was already a slow reaction. The debris that got hit exploded, and as countless bits of light were flickering around the ship, new direct hits rocked the inside of the ship. Otto got back to the captain’s seat, and several seconds later, he was bumped up and knocked into Daguza, who entered the bridge. As Daguza used his injured left arm with the cast on to grab the big man, Otto roared back in a voice loud enough to match the impact noises, “THERE’S ONLY ONE UNIT! KEEP FIRING!”

There was only one enemy that entered the ship’s range as the other 3 units were outside the attack range, intending to watch the battle from the sidelines. ''What enemies?'' Otto lifted his head to look at the monitor image, seeing this before returning back to the captain seat and fastened himself with the attachment at the back. ''Our machines that are fighting it can’t even match its movements. '' The remnant exploded after the direct hit from the beam, spewing hot debris, and the enemy unit got over to other heat sources to easily get through the fire. Such excellent reflexes—no, this was not a skill a human could pull off. It was like the mobile suit knows all the blind spots of the ship without any data help, dealing damage to the Nahel Argama which lost its foreleg.

“Who in the world is that guy…” As he unwittingly mused, the umpteenth tremor rocked the ship again. The body of the ship was rocked by several meters, and the G-force hit the body that was on the Captain’s body. (The rear main cannon took severe damage). Before the voice of the report rang, Daguza muttered, “The enemy doesn’t intend to shoot the engine room.” Otto opened his closed eyes. Daguza grabbed onto the captain seat’s armrest, his helmet reflecting the explosions of light outside.

“That guy wants to neutralize us before taking the Box.”

Daguza did not look away from the window. ''The enemy’s trying to wear down our ship’s fighting strength to make us surrender while avoiding damage on the engine room that may sink the ship. That’s the kind o enemy we’re facing.'' Otto felt his face turn pale, and argued back, “Idiot, how can such a stupid thing happen! We’re talking about a single mobile suit trying to do this…!” He then caught sight of Alberto, who rushed into the bridge, from the corner of his eye. “Mr Alberto, this place is dangerous!” He ignored Liam’s warning that was earlier than Otto’s, and pulled the chair of the sensor. He handed a record card to the sensor operator and turned to Otto, saying, “Use the data inside to check.” Otto was overwhelmed by Alberto’s massive killing intent…or rather, thoroughly fearful face as he gave an expression allowing them to do so. The sensor operator then took the record card he received and put it into the console’s slot. Soon, the data that was read was shown on the sensor visual, and it started matching with the unidentified machine they were fighting.

In less than two seconds, a match was indicated, and the photo of the unidentified mobile suit was displayed through CG hologram. The 3-dimensional picture and the data was shown. Otto silently watched the sensor image. It was a mobile suit that had the smart body line of a Federation unit and also the curves of a Zeon-type mobile suit. It had a one-eyed head, a thruster unit on the back that looked like wings, and the machine was a dazzling red—

“So it’s the “Sinanju”. The enemy’s the “Red Comet” here…”

Alberto backed away from the console and muttered with a trembling voice. Otto felt the wavering air of uneasiness inside the bridge, and parroted back, “The Red Comet…?”

“It was two year ago. Our company developed a prototype mobile suit that was robbed by those guys during transport.” Alberto’s eyes could not remain focused as they moved, and he continued, “The Federation units that were sent to track it down came back in defeat, and the one viewed as the mastermind behind it was Full Frontal, that person called the second coming of the Red Comet—Char Aznable.”

Liam seemed to be enlightened as she lifted her heavy-looking eyelids and looked over. “I heard of it before. That red mobile suit single-handedly took down two Clop ships, called the pioneer of the “Sleeves.”

“That one called “The Lingering Soul of Char” who created a commotion that time, huh? But…”

''Impossible.'' No, Otto himself wished that this situation did not happen. The red mobile suit was like a hallucination amidst the flickering explosions of light in space, and Otto clamped his glove that was drenched in sweat. The fallen king of the old Zeon Empire, Char Aznable, took the reins during the second Neo Zeon War as the heir of Zeon Deikun. He was the man at the center of the conflict called “Char’s Counterattack”. ''Even if it were a joke, that Red Comet who vanished without a trace during that final battle could not have survived till now. ''Some idiot must have been using Char’s name after seeing that he might not have been shot down.''

''But if that’s the case, what’s with the overwhelming prowess of this enemy in front of us—'' “The color is different, but this machine is one of the two that were stolen.” Alberto’s next words caused Otto to swallow his stone-like heavy saliva.

“The RX-0 is designed from this thing’s data! This isn’t a mobile suit that can be taken down with some half-baked mobile suits! Hurry up and run away!”

Alberto’s pale face was dyed with the explosion of light outside the window at the next moment. The blunt and heavy impact pierced through the bridge, and the bodies that were held down by the chair attachments could only shake. Otto grabbed onto Alberto’s normal suit just when Alberto was floating around, dragged him to the Captain’s seat with all he got, and yelled, “SEND THE RELEVANT DATA TO ALL UNITS!” The echo and the voices of damage reports rang, and the alarm indicating that the enemy was closing in sounded even more rushed.

“THE ENEMY’S NOT SOME DEAD PERSON OR ANY DAMNED THING! IT’S JUST A MACHINE THAT COMES FROM SOMEWHERE! WE’LL DEFINITELY HIT IT IF WE CALM DOWN AND AIM! TELL THE MOBILE SUIT SQUAD THIS!”

''Even If we want to run away, we’ll just be hit from the back in this situation.'' Otto fought back the feelings in his heart that were overwhelmed by the term “The Second Coming of Char”, and stared at the beams that were all over the place outside. Daguza seemed to have some thought as he passed by Otto, while the explosions showed him leaving the bridge silently.

===Part 4===

The combat data was immediately sent out, and the mobile suit squad received this data through the radar. The unknown CG image model was corrected by the data, allowing the pilots to grasp the shape of the enemy mobile suit. However, the situation did not improve in this situation.

Even after knowing the shape, it was meaningless if they could not catch sight of the enemy. The “Sinanju” continued to fly behind the messy debris, not leaving any opening for the Nahel Argama pilots to fight it head on. The red mobile suit grazed past the dead angle—it was too late when everyone realized this, and broke through the defense lines, and shot a new beam at the ship.

The Nahel Argama took a direct hit, giving off a white-hot fireball. The pure white ship that lost its left catapult was tilted largely to the side. The anti-air fire continued on, ripping through the torrent of debris to bits. The red mobile suit, which was not even equipped with a shield, moved in in arcs amidst the numerous explosive lights. The arm that had the logo of Zeon on the sleeve, the legs that looked like some crustacean shell, the two propeller tanks on the back all help guide the Active Mass Balance Auto-Control rotor, allowing the red giant to move amidst the vacuum on its own.

No matter how different the frame or the power generator was, mobile suits of the same size should not have a difference in output. The “Sinanju” continued to toy with ship with hit and run tactics, while the Nahel Argama pilots did not break formation as it insisted on basic tactics and continuous suppression of the enemy. The Lieutenant Commander’s Romeo 004 got shot down with the catapult jet, and the remaining forces that were left were 2 “ReZELs” and one “Jegan”. These three machines all started to search out the enemy, attack and support, tracking the red machine that was appearing and disappearing in the midst of the torrent of debris. The movement courses of the enemy suit would naturally be limited with the involvement of the Nahel Argama’s fire. The pilots believed that they had a chance since there was no attacks from any Psycommu weapons.

The one in charge of tracking down the enemy was the Juliet 2 “Jegan”, while the attacker Romeo 001 started to double team it. The defender, Romeo 008, was equipped with a beam rifle as it remained in a position where it could see the three machines. The 3 machines continued to dodge the debris that was moving in from irregular directions as they waited at the opening where the enemy would appear. The enemy’s mobile suit had outstanding AMBAC capabilities, but there had to be a limit. They had went through multiple moments when the enemy would dodge attacks that would have normally hit. The Nahel Argama pilots had been waiting for this moment, for several minutes after the Nahel Argama took a direct hit. The “Sinanju” was slowed down a little, perhaps because the debris floated in its path. The pursuing “Jegan” used this chance to rain fire, and the “ReZEL” 011 got right in front of the “Sinanju” before shooting a mega-particle from the beam rifle. The ”Sinanju” was restrained by the front as it stopped. Riddhe, who was piloting the “ReZEL” 008, squeezed the trigger.

“Got you!”

The power generator hidden inside the beam rifle roared and shot out a large beam. The mega-particle beam that could match a battleship main cannon blew aside the debris in a straight line, vaporizing through space dust as it rushed at the enemy. However, the “Sinanju” managed to dodge that attack at the critical moment. It was fighting the other two machines, but it could still dodge a sublight beam that came from somewhere else.

The burning debris was scattered all over the lace, having taken the direct hit. The “Sinanju” kicked at one of them and flew through the perimeter at an abnormal speed. The “Sinanju” rained fire on Riddhe’s suppressing fire, and then hid its own heat source amongst the hot debris.

The beam rifle lacked a consecutive fire function. It would need ten seconds to recharge for the next shot. Riddhe’s “ReZEL” had to back away, and the “Sinanju” snuck below the “Jegan” that was closing in on it. The “Jegan” could not use the heat sensor and rely on the visuals, but the enemy was right below it—the only blind spot of the 360 degrees all view monitor, right below the linear seat.

“Is this guy a Newtype too!?”

''This is an enemy more ferocious than the psycommu equipped 4-winged, and without openings. '' The voice of the “Jegan” pilot was drowned out by Squad Leader Norm’s voice “Right below!”. The “Jegan” pilot wanted to step on the pedal, but the beam rifle in the “Sinanju”s hand let out a flash, and the pilot’s consciousness faded.

The beams came out from the rifle barrel, obliterating the “Jegan” from the bottom in rapid-fire mode beams. One hit the leg, another crushed the hand, and the “Jegan” limbs that were hit seemed to dance in space like a spoilt puppet. The head was crushed by the internal pressure, and the core reactor was ignited. The armor let out hot air, and the shockwave ripped through the metal skeleton inside as the now deformed machine was swallowed in an extremely hot ball of light.

The light of explosion that expanded lit up the surrounding debris, causing the “Sinanju” red frame to float in mid-air. It easily dodged pasted Norm’s shots and again vanished amongst the torrent of debris. Norm could not help but have goosebumps as his impression of other unique mobile suits he saw on the battlefield before was mixed in. The “Zeong” and the “Sazabi”, the machines that were piloted by the legendary Red Comet—

“Is that the real Char…!?”

He felt tense after feeling that similar pressure. The Nahel Argama let out flares of being hit behind the two “ReZELs” that were trying to regroup.

===Part 5===

The light of explosions that happened more than 60km away looked like light-colored illumination. The cold flashes that were sharper than the stars appeared for a short moment, causing the debris floating around the shoal space region to appear for the time being. The thin thread-like lights passed by, and the bright pink light that cut through the blueish-white ring of light was shot through, followed by an expanding orange fireball that signaled an enemy mobile suit’s explosion.

“I said it before, didn’t I? There’s no need for us to get involved.”

''It’s impossible to see such a beautiful scene anywhere else.'' Angelo Sauper said as he saw the image of this light feast from the all view monitor. Ensign Sergi, who was approximately a kilometer away, twitched the “Geara Zulu” slightly as he watched the battle with the rest of the escort squad, answering somewhat hesitantly, (Yes…)

(But is this really okay? There’s not just one enemy there. We should be giving covering fire, shouldn’t we…?)

“That’ll just be a nuisance. We just need to stay here and clean up any enemies the Captain missed.”

''Even so, there’re only two enemy suits left. There’s no room for the escort squad to intervene here.'' Angelo raised the long-distance beam launcher that was equipped on the right manipulator, and rested the 20m long weapon on the machine’s shoulder. Angelo got rid of the instantaneous fire mode, intending to watch the battle from afar, and wryly added, “But the Captain sure is evil for not leaving such small work to us.”

“I never squeezed the trigger once ever since I followed the Captain into the battlefield.”

(Not even once…?)

Sergi’s mobile suit on the enlarged image of the window moved its monoeye to look at Angelo, seemingly looking for an expression or so. Angelo looked at Lieutenant Cuarón in the opposite direction and saw that he was intending to just watch as he put the cannon on his shoulder. Angelo answered ‘yeah’ as he put his hand on the helmet.

“I feel that this is an honor of us, the Escort Squad.”

Angelo took off the helmet and lifted the bangs on his forehand. Angelo himself thought that this was too much, but he did not care about it any further. At this distance, the beam that would be fired here would either be a ship cannon or a high-energy launcher cannon. It would be instant death if any of them were hit. Sergi’s machine showed a puzzled attitude as it turned its monoeye back to the front to stare at the battlefield again. Angelo looked over from the corner of his eye and continued in his heart: ''You’ll understand later.''

''There won’t be any wild enemy shots flying over. The enemy’s head over heels trying to set a firing range. Anyone who’s trying to snipe us from that will be taken down by the Captain if there are any signs of it. Someone might think that there’s no need for an escort squad, but that’s not true. There are many things we can do to help the Captain, like protecting the battlefield the Captain is on, or watching out for any reinforcements. It’s this feeling of trusting and being trusted that allows us to be able to deal with any enemy more than anything else. The Captain himself acknowledged that we’re the fighting strength supporting him on the battlefield.

''Leaving our lives to each other and gaining unsurpassed happiness and absent-mindedness is more precious than anything else'' Angelo imagined seeing the “Sinanju” in the midst of the crossfire of beams. ''The enemy mobile suits will be immediately dealt with, the ship cannon will be taken down. The enemy ship will have nowhere to go, and they have to hand over the Laplace Box soon. No matter what it is, it’ll definitely big enough for the ship to hold. Once we reclaim it, we’ll just put it back on the “Rewloola” at the back.''

''I can still enjoy this numbing and enjoyable feeling before then. Everything about the battlefield the Red Comet rides on—Full Frontal, is pretty.'' There is a large ball of explosion shown there, and Angelo muttered: ''I’ll enjoy this even if I die.''

===Part 6===

The umpteenth impact rocked the ship, and Banagher grabbed onto the foot of the table that was creaking. The falling rocks-like noises rang, and the sounds of floating bodies crashing the floor could be heard as the red lights shining inside the room flashed brightly.

(Third Ventral Fin on the right took heavy damage!)

(Emergency response team, hurry up with the airtight assignment on C block!)

(It’s the 4th VLS! A missile fell in from the suspension and we got a staff crushed down there…! OI! KIKUMASA, KIKUMASA!!)

What could only be heard from the open speakers in the ship were cries and roars. “Is this ship…going to be alright…” Takuya muttered, and Banagher did not rely as he looked around the recreational room that was covered with a thin amount of dust. All the things that were not held down were scattered all over the place, and the monitor panel on the wall was showing cracks. He spent all his concentration on guarding himself against the tremors. He and everyone else had not put on their normal suit. Micott was grabbing onto the sofa, not moving at all, and on the opposite side, Banagher saw that Audrey was intending to carry the spacesuit. He intended to move there when the tremors stopped. It was unknown when the airtight wall would be broken through if this kept up. They had to make sure they had their air.

Banagher gathered up 2 normal suits that were scattered tucked them under his armpits. His eyes met Audrey as she was doing the same thing, and he felt a very suffocating feeling. The shocks that happened next forcefully made them look away from each other. It seemed that the fixators were spoilt as the flower pots were tumbled, the dirt and the lids that was pried open by the shock landed on the floor, and the bits of dirt were scattered on the floor. Banagher’s vision was blocked by the dirt that went flying with the impact again, and shouted, “HURRY UP AND PUT THE NORMAL SUITS UP!”

Micott lifted her head from the sofa, and Takuya snuck out from the back of the table. Banagher saw that Audrey was going over to Micott, and intended to move over to Takuya as he heard the sound of the door being opened behind.

He looked back, and saw two men walking into the room silently. Both men wear wearing deep beige spacesuits that were sticking onto themselves, while their right legs had gun holsters. Banagher was shocked that the two men were wearing different clothing from the ship’s crew for a short moment, only to realize that the face under the helmet was a familiar one as he shut his mouth that was about to open after being suppressed by that sharp stare.

Daguza’s eyes did not show any signs of cordial he had with others for a moment before. The knife-like stare in the eyes stopped Banagher’s movements, just like the first time they met in this room. During this time, the other hulking man grabbed Audrey’s upper man.

That person intended to bring Audrey right in front of Daguza as he pulled her with enough force that did not allow for any arguments back. “What are you…!” Audrey groaned as she wanted to shake off the hand, but her face could not be seen as her left arm was held down by Daguza’s left arm. Banagher was shocked for several seconds and hurriedly tried to get in front of Daguza, only to be immediately stopped by the hulking man in front of him.

Banagher could see the side of Audrey’s face behind the hulking man’s back that she was listening to Daguza whispering. He saw her shocked expression, and all signs of resistance on her immediately vanished as she looked at Daguza with a silent expression. Daguza looked back at Audrey’s angry or remorseful look, while Banagher did not know what was going on as he could only watching their faces. Daguza ignored him as he had his arm around Audrey before stepping out. Audrey moved the arm that touched her away and went towards the door on her own.

“Excuse me…” Micott spoke up with a barely audible voice. Daguza stopped to glance at her, and then looked away to continue walking. Banagher saw Micott lowly her pale face, and turned his eyes back at Daguza, who was passing through the door with Audrey and shouted, “Wait!”

“Why are you doing this? Where are you intending to bring Audrey to?”

Daguza merely glanced behind, not even saying anything. He nudged Audrey on the back lightly just when she was about to stop, and both of them continued to move forward. Banagher’s head immediately felt hot as he stamped on the floor.

“Wait…!” Banagher angrily reached his arm out to grab Daguza’s waist, and for a short moment, thought that his fingers reached the normal suit. Daguza nimbly reached his right arm out to push Banagher’s forehead, and the force that pushed him back practically sent him sprawling.

“Do not leave this place until you’re order to. Got it?’

The hulking man said. Banagher saw his somewhat guilty looking expression as he looked back and used his hand to feel the hand to feel the head that took heavy damage. The closed door had already blocked any sight of Daguza and the rest. Banagher, Takuya and Micott were the only three left inside the room. The tremors that rocked again caused the silent uneasiness to be broken up.

''What the heck was that?'' Banagher could not comprehend immediately and only intended to chase after them, only to feel a chill when he heard the words “It’s about that girl.” Micott’s hands that were holding onto Haro tensed up as she stared at the floor with a depressed look.

“It wouldn’t be like this if that girl wasn’t around…”

Haro fell off from her hands as her knees collapsed weakly onto the floor. Banagher could only feel the anxiety and regret choking him as he saw Micott collapse like that. “You said it out…?” Banagher squeezed out these words as he grabbed Micott, who lowered her head dejectedly, with both hands.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!? WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM!?”

“I TOLD THEM THE TRUTH! I TOLD THEM THERE WASN’T SUCH A GIRL IN INDUSTRIAL 7. I TOLD THEM THAT SHE MIGHT BE WORKING WITH THE TERRORISTS…!”

Micott yelled as she lifted her head. Banagher felt even more hurt by her teary eyes that made her look like she was going to collapse, rather than the words themselves. He let go of the hands that were grabbing Micott’s shoulders. ''I have no right to tell her off. Everything was all because of me.'' He tried to accept this unacceptable truth and vented all his uncontainable rage into his clenched fists. Banagher subconsciously head for the door.

Takuya picked up Haro which dropped on the floor and gave him a wavering stare. ''This is a path of no return.'' Banagher remembered these words that appeared in his mind and passed through the automatic door. “Don’t go!” A voice that was like a cry came, and at this moment, a soft feeling surrounded Banagher’s waist.

“You can’t go…stay here.”

Banagher could not look down at Micott’s expression as she wrapped her arms around his waist with her face on his face. He was shocked by this unexpected heaviness, could not move his legs and held his breath as he touched Micott’s hands. He avoided the normal biological reaction to this warmth and softness, felt this sense of guilt he had never felt before, and gently opened the hands that gave him warmth.

“…I’m sorry.”

Banagher had nothing else to say as he stepped on the floor while the tremors rocked his footsteps. He ran past the arc shaped corridor and left the recreational room without looking back. “WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING!?” such a cry of anguish could be heard, seemingly piercing through Banagher’s heart from the back.

===Part 7===

The charge countdown showed 0, and the signal indicating that the charge was done rang inside the cockpit as Riddhe cocked the trigger of the beam launcher to the bottom.

“Go!”

The mega-particles were released as they went through the accelerated convergent ring. The pink beam ripped through the vacuum as they broke past the debris and flew towards the target. However, Riddhe did not have time to check whether it hit the target as he use the thruster jets to help him escape before the recoil from the firing stopped.

On the battlefield, stillness meant death. Shooting out this beam would be the same as telling the enemy one’s own location. Besides, the enemy was the “Red Comet” who decimated the defenses of the Nahel Argama alone. Even if it were the real Char, the fact was that it was an abnormal enemy they were dealing with after a few minutes of skirmish. Riddhe read the radar signal from Norm’s unit, and let his unit move around in a messy accelerated trajectory as it flew through the sea of debris. At this moment, the beam came from a completely unexpected direction, and the flash and the intense hit struck the cockpit of the “ReZEL” 008.

The noticeable G force slammed the body, and the attachment gear at the back let out a creaking sound. Riddhe thought that his eyeballs were popping out as he unknowingly put his hand on the helmet. He caught sight of a spark flying from afar as he spun. The fatal G-force faded off by the time he realized that it was his suit’s right leg that was blown off by a beam, and he barely managed to let the one-legged mobile suit steady itself.

The functionality of the AMBAC was decreased by 26%. Riddhe glanced aside to look at this status that was explained mercilessly and stepped on the pedal. That red mobile suit was basically fighting multiple enemies by looking at the situation. He would not carry out unnecessary actions, and he was basically treating the debris and the enemy units as a hostage. He did not personally make the kill, but stopped attacking so that he would not focus on just one enemy. Riddhe would definitely be eliminated if he let his unit with lowered mobility stay at its position.

''Newtype, experienced pilot, no, these aren’t it. He’s an expert.'' This simple term appeared in Riddhe’s mind as he felt the strength supporting him weakening. That mobile suit shook off Norm’s pursuit as it closed in on the Nahel Argama again. The ship was wrecked by countless hit and run attacks, and the screen of bullets it let out was less than two-thirds the usual. ''How are we going to stop that guy with just two units—?''

“If this keeps up, everyone will…”

Riddhe unwittingly said as he gritted his teeth. He worked his mind that seemed to be covered in cowardice as he held onto the control stick again, only to hear a voice from the wireless radio (Do you hear me, the attacking enemy unit there?)

(Cease your attacks immediately. Our ship has captured the prisoner Minerva Zabi. I repeat, our ship has captured the sole heir of the Zabi family, Minerva Lao Zabi.)

The broadcast was made through the open channel frequency—but it was not the voice of the Operator or the Captain. “Who’s that…?” Riddhe mused inadvertently as he looked through the monitor at the Nahel Argama. The pure white ship that was firing on the monitor on the far end where the debris continued to swim through, and it was as big as a little finger. (The image will be shown on Channel 582. I hope you can confirm it.) The voice from the wireless radio overlapped with the image. Riddhe, who was looking for the enemy, let his eyes stare at the monitor as he set the wireless frequency to 582. The communication window then showed the face he was familiar with.

Riddhe’s heart raced as the hand holding onto the control stick trembled. Prisoner, Zabi Family, Minerva. These terms brought an onrushing surge of hues in his mind as they exploded. The face of the girl entering his eyes started to shake violently. His lips were sealed tightly as he stared at the emerald eyes who were not wavering. That face yesterday gave him the courage to deal with the situation fearlessly when it entered his stare—

(If you do not cease your attacks, we will not guarantee the safety of Minerva Zabi. We have already prepared terms of negotiations, and we hope for your reply.)

The voice continued through the wireless radio. Minerva Lao Zabi, the sole daughter of the Zabi family who led the Republic of Zeon under Zeon’s name. She took the throne during the First Neo Zeon War at a tender age of 7, but disappeared after the war. There were rampant rumors of her death, but the government continued to search for this princess of the fallen empire secretly. ''The rumors also said that she was the star leading the Zeon remnants, the “Sleeves”…it’s this girl?''

Riddhe could not understand. ''Her name’s Audrey, I definitely may have fallen for her on first sight.'' Riddhe stared at the girl on the window, repeated the name Minerva Zabi that had nothing to do with him, and held his breath because of the image that was captured from the far end. The fire that blazed suddenly stopped as the Nahel Argama’s rain of fire stopped.

Riddhe did not know the whereabouts of the red enemy suit, but there were no signs of new beams or thruster jets. It was obvious that this message reached the enemy unit and stopped the attack. (This is Romeo 001. Will the bridge please explain the situation?) Riddhe left side Norm’s suppressed call as he stared at Audrey Burne’s eyes. She showed no signs of fear nor doubt as her emerald eyes continued to look forward, still giving off the awe-inspiring look through the window.

“Minerva Zabi…she’s, the princess of Zeon?”

The girl on the image remained silent, and the bridge made no response to Norm’s unit. Riddhe floated around this battlefield where time had stopped, not knowing what to think

===Part 8===

(I’ve checked the footage.)

The clear and cool voice echoed through the ship, causing everyone in the bridge to jerk. Otto saw Operator Bradley turn around to nod, used his eyes to tell him to maintain this line, and heard the voice of the pilot he was hearing for the first time.

(I am Captain Full Frontal of Neo Zeon. Let me hear your request.)

The communication channel was not too bad as Minovsky Particles were not scattered. It naturally felt like the voice that had been heard many times through news or military footage—the voice of Char Aznable, and Otto held onto the handle of the Captain’s seat as he muttered, “So even the voice is the same…?” as he turned his eyes around to see the bridge that was only left with emptiness and cold chatter, raning from Liam, who showed heavy anxiety in her eyes as she got up from the First Officer seat at the console, to the steering crew member and the weapons operator. Alberto held onto the empty command seat right beside the Captain’s seat, his fat face shuddering as he widened his eyes in shock as he stared at the communication panel. Operator Bellard was sitting there, and the girl wearing the purple shawl was standing silently between Commander Daguza, who was wearing a deep beige norm normal and his assistant Officer, Lieutenant Commander Conroy—her body half-blocked by them.

The girl had been mistaken for an ordinary civilian ever since she was taken in from Industrial 7 due to lack of chances to meet directly. She closed her lips, her clear green eyes were focused on a single point, and the expression could be seen through the server monitor. She did not even show any signs of anger on her shoulders, let alone fear in this environment that felt like it was going to be an electric jolt whenever she touched. She was definitely not a citizen that could be randomly seen, Otto admitted. She had a certain special thing about it. Perhaps it was the thick sense of self-pride, or some unique trait that she was born with or raised to have. If she were the descendent of the family that ruled Zeon, this would explain why people would recognize this…

But why, why was she on this ship? Daguza, who barged into the bridge in the midst of the chaotic battle, just took control of the communications panel like a robber and did not even make a single explanation. The enemy had already responded to their calls, and they could not call in the guards to whisk Daguza out. Otto stared at the back of the girl in a nightmare-like state. “We hope that you will cease your attacks and retreat immediately.” Daguza spoke into the mic as everyone stared at him in a terrified manner. Conroy put his hand on the handgun holster in the meantime to scare off Liam, who was trying to get up

“We can guarantee Minerva Zabi’s safety like this.”

(You’re not handing her over to us?)

“You can assume that there is still room for negotiations. However, we will like to add an extra condition, and that is that this ship has to be moved to what can be deemed a safe place.”

(I see. So she’s not a prisoner, but a hostage?)

The red mobile suit’s pilot—Full Frontal spoke with a sneer, causing Daguza, who was holding onto the microphone, to show signs of tension on the side of his face. Otto saw the stare from aside, and seemed to recover as he looked back at Liam. He put his helmet with hers while not making a noise. “Are you checking on where the electric signal is coming from?” Otto whispered. Liam looked up at the sensor screen and answered,

“We detected the location, but with so many debris…”

“It’s impossible to snipe, right…?”

''The plan was to use the communication panel to grab attention and strike when the enemy stops, but it seems like Daguza’s plan was read by the enemy earlier.'' Otto stared at the main screen that showed the countless debris hiding the enemy’s mobile suit, and then felt a chill when he heard Frontal’s voice (There are too many uncertain factors if we want to consider this a negotiation.)

(There is no evidence to prove that the image is showing Her Highness Minerva herself.)

“If you are suspicious, how about you come onto our ship to see for yourself?”

(That is a way. But in that case, I will like to ask your ship to move along with us until our side feels that it is a safe place.)

Frontal said with a calm voice. ''He doesn’t play along with the opponent’s rules and makes up words that will ensure that things go his way when there’s an opening. What a smart man.'' Otto thought. ''Leaving aside whether he’s the real Char, this man knows very well how this game called negotiations is done.'' Daguza seemed to have the same feeling as he showed some signs of anxiousness on the side of his face as he answered, “You’re really cautious for a man called the Second Coming of the Red Comet!”

(Our side is deemed by yours as a terrorist organization. We’ll naturally be timid if we aren’t accepted as an army, or when the international laws aren’t suited for us.)

“We’ll respect human rights.”

(Nobody will bother hearing that from the Special Forces who were deployed to a civilian colony. Besides, you are talking while holding a hostage.)

They were caught in his flow. Frontal did not let Daguza go with his speechlessness as he continued with a steady voice, (Then, our side will raise a request).

(Our side hopes that you will hand over the item you confiscated from the “Magallanica”, and all the relevant data regarding the Laplace Box.)

Alberto, who was clinging onto the Commander’s seat, bent himself forward. As everyone held their breaths, Daguza asked, “The price?”

(The journey back will be safe. I wonder if you will believe it?)

“I can’t say that I don’t believe you, but I can’t do so. Our side doesn’t have the thing called the Laplace Box.”

(Your ship should have already reclaimed a Gundam-type mobile suit.)

“That is a Federation property. It has nothing to do with the “Box”.”

(Our side will determine this. If you can’t accept this request, your ship will be sunk.)

The voice that seemed to express something that was not a threat, but a fact, struck as a gust that froze the air in the bridge. Daguza ignored everyone’s pale faces as he said, “Are you going to ignore the prisoner’s life?”

(I said that I can’t verify that it is Her Highness Minerva herself. I don’t have to reply to any negotiations with uncertain terms.)

Frontal answered calmly. He raised his jaw silently, seemingly ignoring the girl who closed her eyes while seemingly indulging in emotions as he coolly answered through the wireless radio, (I’ll give you 3 minutes to consider.)

(Once this time is up, and if I don’t get a beneficial reply, our side will sink your ship. I hope you can make a wise decision.)

The electronic broadcast was interrupted before Daguza could answer. Daguza spaced out as he held onto the microphone, while the girl lowered her speechless face. At that short moment, nobody intended to speak up as the bitter silent time descended upon the ship.

They had to break up this silence in order to accept this situation and try to neutralize it…but how were supposed to accept this situation? The enemy called the Second Coming of Char, the girl called Minerva; there were too many factors with unknown reliabilities. The only thing certain as of this point was that their current fighting strength would not be able to match the enemy. Even if they wanted to stall the negotiations, they had no idea of the true identity of the Laplace Box either.

Otto also did think of simply granting the enemy their request, to hand over the mobile suit they had no idea of. But he could not let himself agree with this. He was a Federation soldier, a captain who did not want any of his subordinates to die more than anyone…''however, would this wishful thinking show the incompetence of a commander? Who has the right to force 300 passengers to die with you just to hide a secret with an unknown truth—'' Otto stared at Daguza’s back as he forgot to wipe the sweat off his face. “This is a bluff.” The ECOAS commander grabbed onto the microphone so tightly he was seemingly going to break it as he looked at Otto before glancing aside.

“There’s no reason why they would not come to save the guiding star for the Zeon remnants.”

“Not really.”

Daguza swallowed the words he was going to say next, probably because of the girl Minerva’s unexpected words. The still air spread around like a ripple as everyone in the bridge looked over at her.

“Full Frontal is the man who they say may be Char, the orphaned son of Zeon Deikun. There’s no reason for him to risk his life for the Zabi family, the enemy of his parents.”

The girl, who may be Minerva, ignored the stares of the group around her as she did not show any signs of wavering on her fact. Daguza showed that he was overwhelmed by this presence for a short moment of time as he answered, “These words show that you’re Minerva Zabi herself!” and threw aside the microphone to draw a M-92F automatic handgun from his holster. He pointed the gun at the girl’s temple in front of Operator Bellard, who swallowed his saliva.

[[Image:KSGU3 177.jpg|thumb]]

“If that were the case, this will be more obvious. It’s impossible for Frontal not to save you if he wants the Zabi faction amongst the Sleeves to be obedient.”

“If that’s what you believe, continue with your useless negotiations. However, the ruler of Zeon isn’t as naïve as you think, you know?”

She did not seem concerned with the gun that was pointed at her as her eyes full of will were staring at Daguza. It was a tone that could not be expected, and that stare of hers would make people obey unconditionally; these factors proved her background more than anyone. Otto swallowed his saliva as he stared at this girl that was definitely Minerva Zabi.

“The winner and loser has been decided. Logically, it’s a soldier’s duty to minimize our allies’ damages before this. If it were a Zeon soldier, he will consider whether to get rid of anything related to the Laplace Box in the meantime.”

Daguza’s eyes twitched slightly as the hand holding the gun was shuddering slightly. As everyone continued to stare at this unmoved Minerva, Alberto seemed to realize something as he said “That…that’s right.” And floated over from the commander seat to the duo.

“She’s right. Let’s destroy the Unicorn’s electronic spare parts and hand it over to them. We just need to surrender.”

Daguza and Minerva did not move their sights that were staring at each other as Alberto got between them and said,

“That’s a key, not the Box itself. If we destroy it, the Box’s safety will—”

Daguza clicked his tongue as he looked over at the communications panel. Conroy took action at that moment as he shut Alberto’s mouth from behind. Minerva narrowed her eyes too as she stared at the microphone Daguza was holding and the communication panel. They deliberately chose not to cut the line to let the enemy know that they were serious, and in this case, they leaked out information they did not expect.

Conroy put the gun on Alberto’s head as he continued to struggle while not knowing what was going on. He saw that no one in the bridge was raising their handguns, and as Liam wanted to take action, his gun was instinctively pointed at her. ''Not good—'' Conroy showed this expression as he showed no signs of backing down. The crew of the ship showed changes in their expressions. Otto growled for everyone to calm down, only for Minerva to suddenly laugh and sigh.

“This really feels like what the Federation itself will do, but what will you do? Commander Daguza Mackle?”

Minerva gave a wry stare at Daguza and continued,

“If you have the courage, destroy the Box and kill me. Everyone here will die, but it will be a blow to Neo Zeon once they lose the Box and me.”

Daguza’s forehead was sweating, and Minerva’s lips gave a taunting smile.

“Or are you going to let everything get snatched away by not doing anything? You only have a minute left to hesitate.”

Daguza took a deep breath through his nose and pointed his gun at Minerva’s forehead. The expression on the side of Minerva’s face had disappeared as she clenched her fist. ''Stop it, don’t do anything. this is her plan.'' Otto got ready to get up, but was shocked by another voice, “You’re talking like that again. That won’t do!”

The opened bridge door showed a boy with a bandage on his head. “Why aren’t you wearing a normal suit…!” The boy wearing the work jumper got past Liam who said this as she blocked his way and moved to Minerva. He was one of the civilians kept on board—no, the boy who piloted that Gundam. He got to Minerva while getting in the way Daguza in the way Otto thought of.

“Audrey, you’re just forcing others and yourself down the path of despair like this. just leave this place.”

It was an expression that showed no sight of anything else. The side of Minerva’s face that showed no sight of cracking sparkled “Banagher…” as she muttered.

“You shouldn’t be involved in these things. Stay with us.”

Banagher grabbed Minerva’s hand and intended to leave the scene. Minerva managed to steady her body that was about to be dragged away as she used all her strength to shake off the boy’s hand.

“Audrey…!”

“I am Minerva Zabi, not Audrey.”

“What are you saying? You’re Audrey. Whether you’re lying or not, you’re Audrey Burne to me.”

To her, this may be the first time she got rebutted like this. Minerva gasped as she lowered her head slightly. Daguza told off the boy who intended to grab her hand again, “Stop it!”

“This isn’t a time where kids’ logic can work. Leave this place.”

“You’re saying that I’m a kid…then, what’s Audrey?”

“She’s an important person of Neo Zeon, different from you.”

“No way! If I’m a kid, so is Audrey. Is using children as hostages what adults should be doing!?”

The voice that was released from his entire body shut Daguza up as if it was blowing apart the still air. Otto felt that his slow-witted head got hit in the back of the head as he stared at the boy called Banagher. He was shocked by this kid who was younger than him as he stared at the side of his face before looking away. At that moment, the voice from the wireless radio rang, “Time’s up.”

(Let me hear your ship’s response.)

Everyone stared at the captain, and then at Daguza. Daguza remained silent as he did not move the automatic handgun in his hand. ''It’s already…not, we never had a choice to begin with.'' Otto and Liam nodded at each other, sent messages to every department to continue battle, and again looked at the side of Banagher’s face.

''We don’t actually have much hope out of this, but amongst these adults who can’t move, he’s the only one who saw the exit.'' This feeling did appear in Otto’s heart.

===Part 9===

The microphone in the air swayed with the gust blowing from the air conditioner. Daguza had no intent of taking it in his hands. His left hand was held in a cast, and his right hand was holding onto the handgun as he just stood around without doing anything. Something like a handgun here would not be of any use.

Audrey too lowered her head as she remained silent. Banagher looked around this bridge that was not too big, waiting for someone to say something. None of them did, and none of them met Banagher in the eye as they were all focused somewhere else, looking at each other. The only one who met him in the eye was the man sitting on the captain’s seat, but he would not answer Banagher’s stare. Neither Daguza, Alberto, nor any of the passengers—

''Why aren’t you doing anything? Why are you still remaining silent? What’s with this burdensome silence waiting for someone else to speak up?'' As Banagher thought about this, he looked back at Audrey, and the voice from the wireless communicator declared, (I understand.)

(Our side will sink your ship.)

Only these words were said as the line was cut off. After a beat, the man who looked like the captain growled to the entire ship “IT’S COMING!”

“Anti-air artillery! Mobil suit squadron, intercept on your own.”

The hulking female officer grabbed onto the console and started giving instructions to each department. The remaining crew all got to their stations as the bridge got buzzing. Once the unique cogs started to spin, they will unite to cause the large structure to work— however, they would not start or stop on their own. Banagher had his hand on the back of the operator’s seat, taken aback by the buzzing that was completely different from before, and let his listless stare reach the window in front of him. ''Soldiering is a job too.'' Banagher had such a thought in his mind again as he asked himself, ''What should I do?''

Soldiers had different duties like those workers in a factory, and even the captain was one of these cogs. This ship, the Nahel Argama, was a gear of a large organization called the army. If that were the case, what would be the thing moving the cogs? The Generals? The Prime Minister of the Federation government? Or Anaheim Electronics? No, Alberto would be fulfilling the role of a cog, and he gave the vibe that he had no right to make decisions. Even the important person to Neo Zeon, Audrey, could not say what she wanted to say because of her own predicament, so it may be that all the higher-ups were the same. If everyone was an individual cog that feared the Laplace Box, who would be the person who wanted to protect it even if it meant using a hostage? Would that mean that this thing called an organization itself had a will that demanded humans to obey?

The beams continued to fly outside the window, and the explosions of debris lit the bridge. ''This is too stupid.'' Banagher silently stared at Daguza as the captain and everyone were growling and giving commands all over the place, and yelled, “CAN’T YOU JUST GIVE THE BOX AWAY!?”

Audrey lifted her head. If Neo Zeon got hold of the Laplace Box, there would be another great war—that may be the case. But so what? Nobody knew its true identity, and there was no certain proof that Audrey’s worry would become reality. “If you want everyone to die over something you don’t even know what it is—” Banagher emphasized, “Then, can you bear responsibility?” Daguza felt stiff as he opened his mouth, and could not say what he wanted to say.

“If in the end, the power hidden in the Box is something like that, and if it ends up killing more people, how are you going to apologize to the dead and their relatives? How do you intend to compensate them?”

A jolt happened below their feet as Banagher’s soles floated away from the floor. The beams continued to fly outside the window, and the expanding lights of explosions lit half of Daguza’s face. He looked away from the silent Banagher and said to the subordinate beside him “Keep calling the enemy” and wielded his handgun. The subordinate who had the size of a wrestler looked like he recovered and nodded as he grabbed the microphone floating in the air.

“Cease your attacks, or Minerva Zabi will be executed. This isn’t a threat.”

The sound of the impact overwhelmed the stiff voice as sirens and damage reports roared all over the place. The subordinate continued to call the enemy, and Daguza, who had his gun pointed at Aurey, had no expectations of what this would do. The captain and everyone else who were focused on the battle in front of them continued to attacking while ignoring their own hostage, just fulfilling the roles that were decided for them. They all responded with the tasks they were given, the fixed roles, options—other options would appear if they had only changed their perspective a little, but none of them were willing to move there. The weight of the term called responsibility had sealed off their eyes and mouth just like how it was at this point.

''This is why the adults can’t express their true thoughts,'' Banagher suddenly thought. ''The more they obey their duties, the more they will succumb to their responsibilities, and they will gradually lose sight of everything around it. And once they find a situation where nothing can work, they will push the responsibility onto someone else and remain silent. They shunned the responsibilities by making it rather vague, saying that they had no rights or authority, only caring about what’s in front of them and saving themselves. If the world is destroyed before of this, the adults will definitely say that they don’t have the power and rights to save the world.''

''If I want to save her, I must have the realization to bear the weight of the world—is this how it is? So these hurdles that obedient people without malice build up are the weight of the world?'' Banagher was not hoping for anyone to do anything at this point as he stared at his palm.

The palm that had not fully felt the meaning and pain of work was covered with a mere thin layer of skin. Banagher did not feel this hand could bear the weight of the world, but it could touch Audrey, it could touch her stubborn delicate body and give warmth to her. If this was something Banagher had to do, he would be willing—

“…We just need to hang on through this situation, right?”

Banagher muttered and lifted his head.

“If we take down that red mobile suit, there won’t be any need to take Audrey as a hostage, right? I’ll do it!”

Banagher glanced aside at the stunned Daguza and turned away. He felt Audrey’s stare from behnd him, but if he stopped, he would be unable to move due to fear. Banagher dashed out of the bridge without looking back.

The heat on his body was gathered at his temples. Banagher was driven by a pulsating heat as he undid the bandage on his head and took the elevator down. He put his hand on the inside of the cubicle and pressed the button that led to the mobile suit deck. ''What do I intend to do? The moment Banagher closed his eyes and asked himself this, the door that was nearly shut seemed to clamp something.

Alberto, who was in the normal suit, appeared on the other side of the elevator door that was opened. He put his hand on the door, let his stout body slip in, and chuckled at the frowning Banagher.

“Hold on a moment. I remember you’re called Banagher, right kid?”

The face with the helmet on closed in as the door shut. Banagher clenched his sweaty fists.

===Part 10===

The Nahel Argama fired in all directions, raining an endless torrent of large flashing sparks. The debris that touched the explosive lights let out a chain of explosions, leaving a feast of light in the shoal space region.

The red mobile suit—the Sinanju got between this feast as it continued its attacks on the white ship. The orange fireballs flared as the Nahel Argama’s fire weakened slightly. Riddhe saw that the red enemy suit appeared whenever there was reflected light from the explosions. It would disappear instantly after appearing, and the thruster jets left a trail of light in space.

“You! If you weren’t…!”

Riddhe let his own mobile suit that lost a leg transform into the Wave Rider mode and stepped on the pedal. The G-force from the acceleration struck his body, and the tiny debris that struck the mobile suit let out unpleasant noises. It would be over if Riddhe slammed into a larger debris, but he did not care as he continued to fire the beam rifle hidden inside the shield. “BACK OFF!” Riddhe yelled.

“IF YOU WEREN’T HERE, WE WOULDN’T HAVE TO CARRY OUT SUCH A DISGUSTING BATTLE. SOMETHING LIKE THIS, SOMETHING…!”

The “Sinanju” flew from one piece of debris to another, seemingly mocking the trail of fire that rained on it as it dodged. ''Using Minerva Zabi—the girl who was simply Audrey to him is basically what a bad guy will do! Who cares about whether she’s the last heir of the Zabi family? What about us who confronts terrorists with hostages?''

“SO WHAT ABOUT THE BOX! BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID THING, EVERYONE…!”

The suit transformed back into the mobile suit form and fired the 60mm Vulcan cannons on its head. Riddhe aimed for the red mobile suit that was flying side to side amongst the debris, and let the “ReZEL” fly further forward. ''Damn it, I got all too excited.'' His excited brain thought as he raised the beam rifle that had only enough power to last for a few more seconds. At the moment the countdown reached zero, the “Sinanju” spined around to dodge, turned back, and raised its beam rifle to shoot at Riddhe.

''There’s no time to dodge. I got too close. I’ll get massacred.'' Riddhe clicked his tongue as he saw a passing beam graze by the “Sinanju” horizontally, messing its flight path.

Riddhe immediately took action to retreat as he let his mobile suit leap aside. Then, Norm’s unit closed in with the beam as it charged towards the “Sinanju”, and Riddhe felt that his heating body cooled down a little.

(Calm down, Ensign Riddhe! Stay in order!)

Norm’s voice echoed through the wireless speaker as he drew the beam saber and attacked the “Sinanju”. The “Sinanju” too drew its beam saber as both sides had an intense clash of blades, giving off sparks in the vacuum.

(It’s about time for me, but you’re different. You better live even if you have to bite on stone. You still have something you have to do…)

The high-heat particles let out 2, 3 flashes of light, showing both units clashing with each other. There was no room to intervene, and his beam rifle was still charging. (Don’t mind me, just shoot!) Flustered, Riddhe heard Norm growl.

(If you don’t want your comrades’ sacrifices to be in vain, you have to…)

The sudden static covered up the words that followed. A ball of explosion appeared in front, and the “Sinanju”, which stood in the light like it was bathed in blood, appeared on the monitor. (Squad leader Norm…!) Riddhe called out as his mind went blank, and for the time being, he could not move his body. The broken arm from Norm’s unit was sent flying over, grazing Riddhe’s unit, and the wide-opened hand robbed Riddhe of the deepest part of his soul. The monoeye of the “Sinanju” flickered rudely, seemingly pitying the enemy suit that was injured.

“You bastard…!”

Riddhe squeezed out the remaining ounce of strength he had to force back the pressuring feeling from the red death good. ''I’m a pilot. If I have something I have to do right now, it’ll be to sink this enemy mobile suit in front of me.'' Riddhe ignored the words Norm left in his heart as he put his fingers on the trigger of the beam rifle. The siren indicating that the charge ended seemed to ring coincidentally.

The “Sinanju”, with its flickering eye, rushed through the black clouds that showed the remains of Norm’s suit, and got under the machine. Riddhe pretended to lose sight of the enemy as he waited for it to close it. ''It’s not like that guy’s beam rifle has infinite ammo. If there’s a need for it to make sure that the Nahel Argama can’t fight back, it’ll definitely get as close as possible to let out a fatal damage. This will be decided within a range of 20km. I’ll be happy if I can take revenge here, even if it means dying together''.

The distance between them was shortened, and Riddhe caught sight of the enemy mobile suit through the sensor image and switched the position of his unit the moment the enemy went past 20km. The “ReZEL” used its balance burners on its entire body, turned 90 degrees back and faced the “Sinanju” head on…it may look this case, but the machine itself could not maintain its anticipated angle as it tilt to the left like it was tugged aside.

The loss of the right leg caused the AMBAC function to err. It was too late by the time Riddhe realized this, and the enemy mobile suit that it once caught sight of went slightly aside. Riddhe immediately stepped on the pedal, but he knew that it was too late. ''I’ll be hit, the direct hit would be arriving; I’ll not be able to repay anyone’s expectations. I will die like a target. '' These thoughts of fantasia appeared in his mind, and as the fingers holding the control stick stiffened, Riddhe detected ‘that wave’ which blew through the inside of the cockpit.

The red enemy suit suddenly changed its course and left the path of contact with the ReZEL. ''Did that guy detect it too?'' Riddhe immediately took avoid to dodge as he got goosebumps trying to find the source of the wave on the all-view monitor. The wave expanded through the vacuum like a heart pulsating in cadence. He felt this feeling during the battle the day before. This time, it came from the white mothership that was floating amongst the sea of debris.

Riddhe let his cursor point at the Nahel Argama that was firing and enlarged the image. On the middle of the ship that lost its portside catapult deck, the first catapult deck that formed the bow opened its hatch as a mobile suit was sent there. It had white armor like the ship, had a human-shaped build and a lone horn on its forehead—

“It’s the Gundam…!?”

The dual eye sensor inside the visor flickered as if in response to Riddhe’s inadvertent musing. The white mobile suit was wielding a beam rifle and a shield on its arms, giving off a devilish presence as it stood on the catapult deck of the Nahel Argama.

===Part 11===

“It’s the first catapult. The Gundam…!

One line from the operator caused everyone on the bridge to look at the communication console. Audrey—Minerva Lao Zabi heard her heart pump as she stared at the side monitor too.

Multiple surveillance cameras installed inside and outside the catapult deck caught sight of the “Unicorn” as the images were shown on the multi-screen. The right hand was wielding a beam rifle loaded with a reloadable pack of 5 rapid-fire rounds, and the left hand was wielding a shield that was as white as the unit itself. The white unit looked like a carrier as it waited for the moment to launch. “SOMEONE TELL THE ONE PILOTING IT TO STOP!” Minerva ignored Captain Otto’s roar as she stared at the “Unicorn” which had reloaded completely. ''There’s only one person who can use that machine. What does he plan to do—''

Daguza forgot that he had his gun pointed at Minerva as he got engrossed looking at the screen. “Gundam, may I know who the pilot is? The captain hasn’t given the order to launch. Please return!” The communication operator repeated, but the “Unicorn” showed no signs of returning. ''Did he cut the line, or does he not know how to use it?'' Minerva deduced that it was most likely the latter as she looked for the man called Alberto on the bridge.

He, who seemed to be one from Anaheim Electronics, knew that the “Unicorn” was the key to the Laplace Box. If it were that man, he would know how to control the machine from the outside. Minerva looked around the bridge, and amongst the many people dressed in normal suits and working, there was not sight of Alberto himself. At her wits’ end, Minerva looked back at the screen. The door to the corridor opened after that, and she saw Alberto floating in.

At this moment, Minerva realized something. Daguza, who seemed to realize the exact same thing as he launched himself at Alberto who intended to move towards the commander seat while pretending not to know anything. He merely pretended with a defensive stance before giving a shameless look at Daguza. Minerva saw this and believed that her instincts were right.

“You bastard…! Did you let the boy get on it?”

Daguza said while grabbing the other party’s normal suit by the collar. Captain Otto and the rest were shocked as they looked back, and Minerva gave a probing look there. Alberto sneered as he answered unabashedly, “I merely answered everyone’s request.”

“I equipped him with everything. The RX-0’s capabilities are guaranteed. Even an amateur pilot can buy us enough time to escape.”

“This is basically handing the Box over to Neo Zeon, and you dared to say that it was merely a key to the Box itself.”

Alberto suppressed Daguza’s rare emotional voice as he continued, “If the key is spoilt, the Box won’t be opened, and the Federation’s interests are protected. I don’t suppose you have any disagreements, do you?”

The anxiety depressed his blood as his heart pumped loudly again. “You bastard…you already calculated the outcome…” Daguza pushed aside Alberto, turned his back on him and mused, while Minerva stared at the side monitor that showed the “Unicorn”.

“There’s no need to worry. Young Banagher will fight well. Until the RX-0 is wrecked, that is.”

Alberto said as he floated due to inertia and his back hit the wall. He—Banagher, who did not respond to the operator’s call, was waiting to launch inside the “Unicorn”s cockpit, and did not know that this plan was underway. He did not know that he was sent onto the “Unicorn” to be destroyed with the secret of the “box”. Perhaps that was the karma that came with all who inherited the blood of the Vist family? Maybe so. However, he did not do this because he was being bound by shackles or duty. Banagher was simply being driven by a powerful impulse, passion as he sat in the “Unicorn”s cockpit.

He would be leaving just like this. The owner of the skin that touched her hand was going on a path of no return. Minerva realized this as she reached her hand out of the console, seemingly trying to shake aside the operator as she was driven by swelling emotions she had not imagined. Everything she had abided by up till this point collapsed, and Minerva realized that she would expose her own fear as she yelled.

“BANAGHER, STOP…!”

===Part 12===

The pilot suit that was developed for the “Unicorn”s use was not inferior in any ways to an ordinary pilot suit. It could be said to be a more customized version. Unlike normal suits, it had 5 layers of mixed fabrics containing fiberglass and flexible plastics, successfully forming a streamlined body-shape. Also, there was a protective armored vest on the inside that was equipped with an installation to withstand G-forces and life support systems. There were many tubes inside this armor connecting the elbows and arms to the Anti-G force installation, but would not affect the appearance of the suit itself as the tubes were all parsed inside. The suit itself was white to match the “Unicorn”s color, and the red lines of it made it look smart. The chest had a Unicorn on it, the logo representing the Vist Foundation, and the simple design gave it a tone that was not too cumbersome.

(That pilot suit itself has a system that can reduce the stress from the G-force through drugs. Logically, it will be activated when the NT-D is activated. It is injected through painless osmotic pressure, there will be some psyche when it is activated.)

Alberto’s subordinate—who called himself a secretary, but was obviously trained in such matters—remained at the takeoff-and-landing command zone as he spoke through the wireless communicator. Banagher felt a chill when he heard the terms drugs and injections and the like, and asked, “The NT-D?”

(That will refer to the state when the RX-0 removes its limiters. It can’t be activated randomly, but you once activated it, so it’s fine.)

The man’s voice sounded like it was consoling Banagher. Under Alberto’s arrangements, Banagher put on the pilot suit and sat inside the cockpit of the “Unicorn”. He thought of how he was being nudged in the back by such voices. ''Basically, I’m being used as a nice meat shield, but fine. It’s good if I can force that red mobile suit to retreat and retreat when I find the opportunity. '' Banagher’s rationality over whether he could be able to do such a thing was reduced halfway as he saw the numerous explosions appearing on the all-view monitor. The thin layer of space was replicated using CG like a game image—

Suddenly, a point in the middle of space gathered sharply, causing Banagher to feel goosebumps on his back. ''I can’t stay here. I’ll be targeted.'' Banagher finished the safety checks done for the mini-mobile suit and held onto the control seats on the sides of the linear seat, declaring to the wireless communicator: “Launching checks, done.” There was no answer, and the catapult showed no signs of initiating a countdown as the operator’s voice that was trying to stop him rang from the bridge public channel. The Captain and the rest may had realized what was going on as the catapult control was switched to the bridge.

Something gathering in the middle of space gathered its intensity. Banagher stared at the catapult that showed no movements through the monitor, and turned his eyes to the front, exerting all his trength into his abdomen. “Forced release!” He called out, removed the linkage with the catapult, and stepped on the pedal.

The hooks on the heels were released, and the machine of the “Unicorn” gently left the deck. The beam that flew over destroyed the catapult, and the light and shockwave exploded right below the feet. Banagher left the Nahel Argama far below him, and then turned his stare at where the beam came from as the beam rifle in his right hand started aiming.

Banagher switched on the aiming screen, which automatically caught sight of the red mobile suit flying amidst the debris. “I see it!” He felt his head burning as he hooked the finger on the trigger in a dream-like state.

“GO!”

[[Image:KSGU3 197.jpg|thumb]]

The mechanical hand of the “Unicorn” wielding the linked joystick squeezed the trigger of the beam rifle. At that moment, the light-filter could not hold in the large expansion of light as the large energy rocked the frame of the “Unicorn”. The empty chamber slid out of the E-pack, and a new pack was reloaded.

The beam that was a lot thicker than the enemy shots raced through the debris, hitting the 30m thick rock. The rock immediately exploded with the heat, forming countless rays of light in the middle of vacuum. The vortex of light let out a shockwave, and the enemy unit behind the rock got caught in this. The pilot of the enemy suit “Sinanju” seemed to hesitate due to the unexpected power as he hurriedly regrouped. The explosion shone on the red armor as the unit evaded.

“Amazing…!”

The “Unicorn” used up 4 shots worth of energy at one go, and the power was enough to be considered a beam magnum. Banagher was stunned by this overwhelming power. ''Am I able to do this?'' This thought only appeared in his mind at this moment, causing him to swallow his saliva.

===Part 13===

If a normal beam was a ‘trail’, that thing would be called a ‘fireball’. If it were the main cannon of an enemy warship…the position itself would not be right. One would think that a new mobile suit was launched and shot it.

“What is that…!?”

A chill rose up his body. The battlefield that was dyed by Full Frontal was being invaded by something else. Angelo inadvertently put on his helmet, and that abnormal’ fireball went by 5km, causing a chill in him. It was not just a beam launcher. The mega-particle cannon that would match a ship’s main cannon flashed in the middle of the vacuum. The second and 3rd fireball that were shot missed quite a bit, but the overwhelming power of caused the debris that acted as shields to explode, and the “Sinanju” looked like it was trying its best just to dodge.

“Is it a mega-bazooka launcher? But this speed…”

The mega-bazooka launcher, the weapon described as having the most firepower amongst mobile suit weapons, would require lots of time to charge the beam launcher, and had the fatal flaw of being unable to be shot consecutively. ''This weapon however has equal destructive power, the speed of a beam rifle, and it also has the range that won’t lose to a launcher. What is it?'' Angelo muttered as he grabbed onto the ball-shaped joystick, and saw the large energy move past him was close range.

That energy that was a mere stray bullet grazed past Ensign Sergi’s “Geara Zulu”. If it were a beam rifle shot, this would only cause a light burn at such a distance, but the high-energy particle cannon that came over like a fireball melted the machine’s armor, and in mere seconds, Sergi was collapsed within a pile of scrap. The shockwave that grazed past continued, and the machine got bent in half at the waist, snapping into halves and floating in space for a short while.

There was no time to even call out through the communicator. “What…!?” Sergi’s machine that was divided in half exploded right in front of the speechless Angelo. Suddenly, static could be heard from the wireless communicator, and the shockwave that spread through space caused the pilot to let out a deep sound.

“A LITTLE GRAZE DESTROYED IT!? THAT WAS…!!”

Angelo turned away from the expanding explosion and looked at the battlefield. An umpteenth flash that shook the vacuum hit the debris that would be viewed as the debris of a colony. The “Sinanju” braked suddenly as the exploding debris got in its way, only for the enemy mobile suit to get behind it. Angelo could only see a rough CG visual, but that white machine would definitely be the Gundam—the mobile suit that even Marida Cruz was forced to retreat from, the one that inherited the name of the devil from the Federation. Angelo pushed the trigger of the beam launcher to the maximum before that overly powerful beam was shot over.

The beam that was shot out from the muzzle lit the purple armor, flying right at the white mobile suit. This was not something that was done after consideration. The Gundam hurriedly flew away to dodge, and the “Sinanju” managed to regroup, intending to go underneath to attack. Lieutenant Cuarón seemed to have started shooting covering fire, but Angelo did not actually see for real. ''I squeezed the trigger, I stained Captain Frontal’s battlefield.'' Angelo felt black remorse and rage enter his blank white mind, and felt the fingertips that were clenched trembling.

Trust and loyalty. The clear banner that he bore for himself was stained by this decisive attack. No matter how much he tried to wash it, he would not be able to buy a new one to replace it. Angelo, understood that he had already lost a world in the sense that it could not be back to before.

The exalted utopia where he did not and would not have to pull the trigger did not exist anymore. ''That white mobile suit destroyed this world—and stained me like filth that robbed my world before.''

“You forced me…to shoot!?”

Angelo squeezed the trigger while losing himself, sniping at the white mobile suit that was dodging. ''If I’m stained, there’s no need to hold back. I must shoot it down—no matter the means.'' The enemy suit continued to zig-zag its way to escape, and Angelo squeezed the trigger mechanically. ''You better be stained by these hands!''

===Part 14===

The mega-particle shots flew over at sub-light speed, but they would not be able to hit an object moving at several kilometers every second easily. The scary thing was that when the machine flew at the same level as the enemy—the unexpected snipe would either come from the front or the back.

Thus, he had to zig-zag around. If he moved in the same direction for more than 5 seconds, it would be the same as stopping. This was an actual state in space battles. The snipers knew that when they had allies, one machine would pursue the enemy to try and lure him into the range of the other unit. At this point, Banagher was facing such a situation. He had been focusing on the red enemy unit’s movements and chasing after it, and nearly lost his legs to the beams that came flying in from afar.

“2 vs 1…no, 3 vs 1, huh?”

Banagher mused as he felt a chill from the beam that grazed his head. There were the red enemy suit and the 2 enemy suits supporting from afar, and once he got baited by the red guy, the intersecting beams that crossed the 3 dimensional plane would fly over. He could not let himself get hit.

“Calm down, Banagher. You may not remember, but you should have received training in this. that man trained you…”

Banagher’s temples pulsed. His head that had a band tied on it gathered its concentration on the target. The machine continued to move around, and Banagher pulled out the spare magazine that was mounted on the “Unicorn”s waist to reload it into the empty beam rifle. 1 magazine had 5 shots, and including the spare shots, he had another 10 rounds—Banagher vaguely remembered that there were no limit in the ammo count during training.

''I can’t waste bullets like this.'' Banagher continued to pursue the thruster jets flares of the red enemy suit through the all-view monitor. The killing intent continued to pressure from all directions, coldly stimulating the skin that was drenched in sweat. ''A beam may fly from somewhere now and burn the cockpit. Don’t miss sight of them. Got to hang on. Don’t get forced back, be the one pressuring.''

One hit, two hits. The “Unicorn”s beam rifle let out shots, and the hot magnum rounds were ejected from the cartridge. The thick and large beams merely shone for a while as small debris were evaporated on the path, creating rings of light. This scene of a massacre made the light filter pretty useless as Banagher had his face staring right at the monitor dyed in white. The red enemy suit quickly turned around, and the alarm indicating a lost signal rang through the cockpit.

Neither the object sensor nor the heat sensor showed any response. Banagher felt sweltering sweat as he turned his eyes around. He could receive the radar signal from the Nahel Argama and the remaining machine on their side, but he could not find the enemy’s response. Countless debris floated around, and the object sensor was showing a complete blank. ''Are the heat sources mixed in the enemy or the exploded hot metal bits—''

“Damn it, I can’t touch him like this…!”

The red enemy unit had not fired a single round as it continued to merely lure Banagher into its allies’ range. Both sides had not stepped on the same battleground as Banagher anxiously shot the 3rd round, turn the machine around, and saw a savage light explode at the back.

The entire body of the “Unicorn” was lit by the mega-particle that grazed by, and the horizontal G-force tugged at the unit through the impact. The beam grazed by, and the remaining particles that hit the armor let out knocking sounds that were like small stones hitting it. Banagher felt intense pressure from the legs. The airbag that was installed on the pilot seat expanded, preventing the pilot’s blood from rushing to the legs. At that moment, the enemy could be spotted amongst the just dimmed view, and Banagher frantically held onto the control stick that was nearly let go.

''The next direct hit will come.'' Banagher instinctively realized as he stepped on the pedal, moving the machine around as he fired the beam magnum. The large light ripped through vacuum, and the red enemy that had been evading agilely appeared amongst the debris.

“That was close…!”

The skin let out a clattering sound as goosebumps rose. Banagher unwittingly squeezed the trigger, and he felt the last magnum shot fly out. The red enemy dodged the beam attack and closed in on the “Unicorn” without slowing down. ''He’s coming right at me.'' As Banagher thought about this, another person’s breathing could be heard from the communicator. (As long as I don’t get hit…) The sharp voice said this as it rang in Banagher’s ears.

(This will be nothing!)

The monoeye of the red enemy shone, and the blade of the beam saber swept up from the feet. Banagher screamed out as he pulled the control stick. He was originally unable to make it, but the “Unicorn” was faster by a beat or so, causing the thrusters on the back and legs to flare up and leave the danger area directly. The red machine’s beam saber swung through the space at the last moment, leaving behind a trail of yellow light.

The Intention Automatic System could allow the “Unicorn”s psycommu installation to pick up the pilot’s thought waves, allowing the machine’s skeleton—the full psycommu body to be able to react at the same time and operate. Banagher remembered the explanation Alberto gave when he was hurrying down, “There’s no need to control it. Is this it…?” Banagher muttered to himself, and widened his eyes at the evil intent that surged up his spine. ''I’m being shot at. I got too careless of that red guy.'' Banagher saw that he was moving in a straight line for several seconds undefended, and unwittedly raised the shield in his left hand to the front. The mega-particle bullet then covered the all-view monitor.

He was already ready for a hit, but the beam was deflected right in front of the shield, and a wind-pressure like impact shook the machine before stopping. Yes, the beam bent. The original beam trajectory would have hit the machine directly, but it was like an invisible pressure bent the path of the shot.

(An I-field…!?) The enemy’s voice could be heard from the wireless communicator. Banagher looked side to side without knowing what was going on. The shield that was equipped on the left hand changed, and the completely different silhouette on the monitor attracted Banagher’s attention. The many layers of heavy armor expanded above and below, and the radial armor had slid aside to show what resembled a flower instead of a shield.

With the round installation that was hidden at the center, the radial-shaped sliding armor opened like blooming petals, forming an invisible field around it. The I-field kept Minovsky Particles compressed and cause the mega-particles to deflect off. This field that was used to control a core reactor deflected the beam trajectory. The shield itself had a device that would create small I-fields and protect it against beam weapons.

The red enemy showed a doubtful action. Banagher checked the machine to see if it took any damage, mused “Is this thing really okay?” and heaved out the breath he held. He reloaded the last magazine before the sweat on his body could even drip down, and aim the reticule at the red unit.

“In that case…!”

Banagher pointed the shield right at the front and fired the beam magnum. He went right at the exploding debris and intended to get right below the enemy unit as he fired two shots. ''If I can defend against a beam flying from afar, there’s no need to worry about moving around wildly. I can definitely hit him if I can calm down and shoot.'' The third flare lit the red enemy armor. ''Once more-this call echoed within Banagher’s agitated mind, and the 4th shot was released when the red enemy stopped.

The exploded ball of light expanded, and the debris appeared on the monitor in black trails. ''Did I get him?'' Banagher bent forward, only to feel a chill to a chill from the siren that rang inside the cockpit. It was the approaching siren—coming from below. It was too late by the time he realized it, and the red mobile suit’s monoeye suddenly appeared on the monitor as the leg kicked the abdomen of the “Unicorn”.

The tough 20 ton block of metal caused the machine to experience a destructive amount of recoil due to the mass and the velocity of the impact. The “Unicorn” was sent flying back as the powerful G-force rocked Banagher from behind. The attachments at the back let out a clattering sound, and the air barrier that shot out of the display board formed an invisible cushion. The helmet that hit the board did not crack apart because this layer of air barrier lessened the impact, but was unable to nullify this bone-crushing impact completely. ''I definitely thought that I got rid of the enemy, so why? Did he predict my fire and let a missile he has explode?'' His mind that was experiencing the pull of the powerful G force was having these thoughts that faded. ''I can’t match this enemy. This conclusion and fear appeared at the same time. ''The capability of the mobile suit isn’t even half the factor determining the win. The pilot’s abilities are based on experience, talent, and—''

Suddenly, a shocking impact could be felt from behind, dispersing all doubt. This G-force struck from the front, and Banagher was pushed back onto the linear seat, only to feel an icy cold liquid flow out of his nose. The “Unicorn” that was sent flying slammed hard into a stone tablet 50m in diameter.

''This is definitely not a coincidence. The enemy definitely predicted the flow of the debris and planned to let me hit this stone block, and it’s obvious from how it continued to close in on me.'' Banagher caught sight of the monoeye amidst his blurry vision, and subconsciously raised his rifle. He saw the last magnum round let out a torrent of bullets, and blankly squeezed the trigger while the enemy unit with considerable mobility continued dodging as the alarm rang. Everything and anything seemed to be covered by a translucent field as the sense of realism gradually faded. Banagher thought, ''Will I die like this?'' as the bones and flesh clattered.

''I couldn’t do anything at all. The Nahel Argama hasn’t left the radar range, I haven’t damaged the red enemy by the slightest. I couldn’t save Audrey, I can’t repay the expectations dad gave me when he handed me this machine ''—the enemy mobile suit in front let out a gust of killing intent, and as the hair rose from the scalp, Banagher realized that it was the ‘heat’ burning within his body.

This ‘heat’ started when he ignored the silent adults and boarded the “Unicorn”…no, it existed even before that, when he met Audrey for the first time, this ‘heat’ that was born when he was walking with her still pulsed within this body. Banagher knew that this ‘heat’ was letting blood flow through his fearful body and soul, gushing out from his pores. ''That’s not all. There’s definitely something else I can do.'' This ‘heat’ continued to say this to him as a small glow exploded through his forehead.

Banagher visualized this burning sensation piercing through the psycommu that formed the frame and gathered on the “Unicorn”s lone horn. The horn split in halves like lightning-chopped wood, forming a V shape, and the units on both sides of the head turned half a round. The beam sabers handles that were on the back poked out, and the dual eye sensors hidden under the face mask flashed like a human blink, and the gaps that were formed by the armor bits that slid off gave a red glow.

The wrists and the feet felt a heavy impact as the monitor of the circular device installed at the arms of the pilot seat was activated. The display board showed the words ‘NT-D’, and the condition monitor changed gradually while the full psycommu that was like an exoskeleton expanded as several parts of the armor slid aside. It was the “Unicorn” that was larger than before—the white mobile suit that did not fit its name at this point. The ‘transformation’ that happened in milliseconds happened, and the exposed thrusters that were on the back and legs became really hot as the machine automatic activated its mobility to leave the debris field. The red enemy’s beam saber stabbed into the surface of the rock, causing the dust to explode out.

This instantaneous explosiveness, acceleration and maneuverability were different from the controls before. The red enemy immediately turned around and quickly left the scene. The “Unicorn” did not let go of the enemy’s movements as it burned its thrusters and immediately got behind the enemy. Banagher was shaken by the fatal G-force, and despite fulling that his body was being crushed by some heavy fluid, he continued to follow the enemy that zigzagged its way out. The enemy he could nota approach before could be seen easily at this point. Banagher’s consciousness was on the same wavelength as the machine as he knew that his consciousness was all over it.

“This is the Gundam…!?”

His hear pounded wildly like a morning bell, and the body that was forced down the linear seat felt very hot. The attachments on the headrest forced the helmet down, and he could not turn his head around. However, it was not inconvenient to control it as the V-shaped multiblade antenna of the “Unicorn Gundam” let out a golden glow reflecting how Banagher was consciously turning his head to think and predict as it caught sight of the enemy unit right in front of it. The thruster jets of the red enemy flared in intervals as it got between the debris. It was fast—but the trajectories were predictable.

“I can see it…!”

Banagher brushed aside the air that felt somewhat sticky as he held onto the joystick. The beating in his heart was faster, and his body heated up like it was about to explode. ''Too slow.'' Banagher was aware for this, but the “Unicorn Gundam” that predicted this a second earlier let out a burst of Vulcan cannons from the fixed armament without the pilot’s input. The tracer shots that took up 1 out of 5 shots let out trails of light, and the visible-laser like fire charged right at the enemy.

The red enemy turned its body to evade. Once it predicted the where the thruster jets would be from the enemy’s posture, the Gundam fired out a flare that reached that place first. The shockwave of the shot rocked the cockpit (Oh…?) Banagher heard this sigh through the wireless communicator, and felt a chill from the enemy’s voice that had fear and delight, feeling that this was the time he would get serious. The enemy suit that suddenly flipped kicked the debris nearby.

The enemy unit flew right at Banagher by using the recoil from the kick to spin its body. ''He’s below me.'' As Banagher thought this way, the upswinging beam saber appeared in his sights. While the body was unable to move, the acutely aware consciousness deep within took action on its own. The Gundam reacted earlier and drew a beam saber. The beam particles from both sides clashed, and a glow brighter than an explosion expanded through the sea of debris.

(You’re going to be my enemy again, Gundam…!?)

''Die he open the communication channel?'' The enemy’s voice rang clearly in Banagher’s ears. He had no time to think as he shouted, “Please retreat!”

“If you don’t retreat, Audrey will…!”

[[Image:KSGU3 211.jpg|thumb]]

The beam sabers that were clashed with each other bounced off, and the two units pulled their distance while the remaining particles were scattered like fireworks. Banagher immediately regrouped as he saw the red enemy unit on the monitor before aiming at it, only to be shocked by another voice (I’ll flank him. Rise up quickly!)

Banagher immediately went up, and a beam that felt in from a corner grazed past the enemy unit. The enemy unit managed to dodge the attack at the last minute, only to be stumbled by the huge particle beams that were shot over, leaving the machine undefended right in front of Banagher. ''A good chance!'' His thoughts shouted as he let the Vulcan cannons fire over, letting two trails of fire fly right at the enemy unit.

The ally transformable mobile suit continued to fire the beam rifle docked on the shield at the bottom of the machine as it closed in. The silhouette that was in fighter jet form went below Banagher, immediately transformed into a mobile suit, and the unit that lost a leg got right below the enemy. He might look rather anxious at this point, but that mobility was something to behold. “That’s Ensign Riddhe, right?” Banagher muttered for a short moment as he changed the direction the “Unicorn” was heading based on the ally machine’s movements. Both machines fire intersected each other, forming a large and long beam cross in the vacuum.

Their consciousnesses were connected with each other as Banagher felt that he was forcing back the red enemy unit. The red enemy fell back, and the intersection point of the beam was moving onto the unit, looking like it was sucking in the unit. The debris that got involved in the beam exploded, and as the enemy unit intended to dodge the flying debris, Banagher saw the red armor take a direct hit with a glow as it exploded.

“Did I get him?”

This time, he did not make a mistake. The enemy unit took a hit on the hell, and looked like it was turning around. The thruster jet that stopped glowed, and the machine tried to escape while abandoning the thruster unit on the back/ Banagher was numbed by the excited heart and controlled by the burning sensation of blood rushing up his brain as he chased after the enemy unit showing its back.

The “Unicorn” charged forward recklessly while dragging a trail of red luminous light. It used its shields to block the enemies’ long-ranged attacks, got past the relatively large debris, and could see the silhouette of the red enemy. (Don’t go too far in!) Ensign Riddhe’s voice rang from the wireless communicator, but it did not matter. Banagher let the left mechanical hand wield the trembling beam saber, and stepped on the pedal as much as possible.

The hand movements were synchronized with the psycommu, and the Gundam immediately accelerated as it charged right at the red enemy. The airbag equipped inside the cockpit expanded, surrounding the entire body tightly like it was about to explode. ''My heart’s going to break, I can’t breathe.'' The circular device at the wrist flickered, and the warning sign appeared on the display board. The enemy unit was right in front of it. Everything was dyed red, and the vision that was narrowed quickly was dyed in the color of blood. Banagher did not bother with thinking about why this would be the case as he moved the aiming reticule of the beam saber over the sight of the enemy unit he capture. The red enemy suddenly turned around with its monoeye staring at Banagher, and at this moment—

(How naïve.)

The enemy’s voice rang from the wireless communicator, cooling the nerves that were excited. Numerous beams then came flying in from a completely different direction, and the exploding sparks appeared between the Gundam and the enemy.

These were not beams that were support fire from afar, but attacks that came from an extremely close range. Banagher instinctively raised his shield to let the machine retreat, and Riddhe called out (Behind you!), causing his numb fingertips to tremble.

The “Unicorn”s psycommu read that Banagher intended to look back as its head unit quickly turned around. The weirdly-shaped mobile expanded its 4 pods like wings as it appeared right in front of him. Banagher felt his mind turn blank.

''The 4-winged that attacked “Industrial 7”—where did it come from?'' The consciousness that was attracted by the red enemy suit returned back to its body, and it was too late by the time he grabbed onto the joystick. The large unit with 4 wings covered the all-view monitor as its support arms that were like insects grabbed the “Unicorn”s body.

The left arm, right shoulder and head were pinched, and the impact reached the cockpit that had the warning lights flickering. One of the pods was still damaged, and the hidden arm was melted off with the front part. He saw that it was that 4-winged machine, which then clenched its right mechanical hand as a fist and slammed it into the Gundam’s abdomen.

This punch splendidly hit the body as if it was swung by a person himself. The impact that was several tons heavy erupted through a layer of armor. The monitor suddenly flickered abruptly, but the Unicorn could not be blown behind since it was grabbed by the 3 hidden arms. The impact that could not be reduced rocked the machine, and the force of the hit charged right at the cockpit, causing the weakest point of the unit—Banagher’s body to short-circuit.

The loud sound of metal clashing with each other rang, and the abruptly expanding air struck Banagher. The linear seat let out a creaking sound together with its support, the heart that felt like it pounded suddenly gradually calmed down as the white sparks appeared right in front of him. The vomit that came out from the mouth dirtied the visor, and all Banagher could see was the monoeye of the 4-winged becoming rather blurry as his vision gradually faded.

The body that was extremely tense collapsed together with the mind, and the machine’s nerves were the only thing supporting the frame of the Gundam. The ‘heat’ was swallowed by the icy cold darkness. ''I’m sorry, Audrey.'' As the giant gradually transformed into the “Unicorn”, Banagher’s battered body let out this musing in the middle of the giant’s abdomen, and the final part of this ‘heat’ seeped out in the form of water from the eyes. He could not even look at the red enemy right above him as he lost consciousness.

===Part 15===

The luminous light that could be seen from afar faded, and the machine used its 3 support arms under its wings to capture on the Gundam as it stepped on the pedal. The Gundam gradually changed back into the mobile suit with the lone horn. Riddhe saw 4 thruster jets start to flare on the monitor, and stepped on the pedal without even thinking.

“Wait…!”

''The beam launcher has finished charging, but I can’t snipe at it as long as the 4-winged’s still carrying the Gundam. I can only go close and use the beam rifle equipped under the shield to slow the enemy down, but with the 4-winged allow us to do?'' As Riddhe thought about this, countless beams appeared in multiple directions right in front of him, forcing him retreat immediately. They were not beams of support fire from afar, but thinner beams.

Despite these being attacks from close distance, the funnels did not trigger the sensors.

“The funnels…?”

The beams that closed in from all directions appeared on the all-view monitor, and the complex lights lit the cockpit piloting the trembling machine. Riddhe got through the surrounding funnels that were sent out by the 4-winged, and bit his lips as he could not do anything.

''Everything was planned right from the beginning. That red guy—the “Sinanju” acted as bait, while the lured Gundam used its 4 wingeds to clamp it. That 4-winged hid inside the debris and entered the battlefield while our side was attracted by the opening left by the “Sinanju”. They definitely planned using this red guy to show us that he got hit.''

''Is this planned based on the unknown factor over whether the Gundam would launch? I guess so. Those Zeon guys definitely expected that the Gundam would be launched. It’s impossible for the Nahel Argama to defend against such an attack with their current fighting strength alone. The previous battle already showed the enemy fully our powerless our side is.''

“Damn it…!”

''They actually looked down on us like that!'' Riddhe charged out from the surrounding funnels, and forced his machine to transform. Despite losing a leg, the Waverider form itself would allow them to catch up to the enemy unit. ''We can’t hand the Gundam, the mobile suit that looks like it had something to do with the Laplace Box, over to those guys.'' This thought appeared in his mind, and he did not think after that. He kept waiting for the machine’s status to change, but it just would not change no matter how much he waited. What replaced it was an alarm indicating that the machine functions were down. The multiple windows covered the all-view monitor, showing the damaged parts as the warning lights shone through the cockpit.

He could not activate the standby circuits, and the damage control system could not recover. Riddhe tried all means, recognized that his machine had already becomd scrap metal, and groaned, “Damn it!” as he slammed the display board. He saw the light dot of the Gundam being held by the enemy leave the sensor range. The pilot that was inside it was too—

“It’s that brat…why did he…”

Riddhe muttered as he clenched the fists lying on the display board. He knew the answer clearly. ''That voice came through the wireless communicator…calling for Audrey. That boy, Banagher the civilian, boarded that Gundam to save her. He was the only one who took action as the adults got more than what they bargained by grabbing a hostage and shot themselves in the foot. He did not care whether she was Minerva Zabi or not.

''And then, I got saved again. I’m the only one who survived in this space where so many of my comrades died. Live even if I have to bite on stone…what should I do when you say this? How do I pay you back for your deaths?'' Riddhe looked around the floating debris and asked this at Norm’s machine that showed no signs of life, standing around without finding any answers. The enemy units were no longer in the sensor range, and Riddhe felt the space with the disappeared explosions cool down silently.

===Part 16===

''The unit probably malfunctioned there. That transformable unit with its lost leg has given up on pursuing. There’s no need to shoot it down.'' Marida turned back and deduced this as she ordered the scattered funnels to return. She closed her eyes, imagined the return paths of the funnels, and turned her stare right at the white mobile suit grabbed by the extra arms.

The mobile suit lost its Gundam appearance as an antenna that looked like a lone horn appeared on it. ''Looking at these straightforward attack patterns that showed no signs of retreating, it seems that it’s the same pilot as the one that pilot this mobile suit the last time. IT’s expected that the cornered enemy ship would send out the Gundam, but what’s the point of sending the same pilot who’s no different from an amateur? Even if this is a very important machine related to the Laplace Box—''

A slight shock shook the cockpit, and Marida stopped what she was thinking. The “Sinanju” flying beside her touched the “Kshatriya”s fingertips with the left hand. (I probably would not get this chance if I didn’t show that I got hit…this would be what I want to say, but that’s not all.) The calm voice that rang through the wireless communicator echoed in Marida’s ears.

(I’ll probably would be shot down if you weren’t around, Lieutenant. Thank you, Lieutenant Marida Cruz.)

Full Frontal’s voice showed some signs of self-depreciation, but despite that, it was rather sincere. As far as Marida knew, his “Sinanju” had never taken a direct hit before. She stared at the red machine that was charred by the burn on the calf in a concerned manner, and deduced that it was not too much of a an issue. “I was just following your plan, Captain.” Marida answered without any expression. “More concerning though…” she wanted to continue (I understand) the other party’s voice reached her helmet before she could continue.

(It’s unexpected for Her Highness Mienrva to be captured by the enemy ship. I want to save her as fast as possible, but we have to prioritize this unit first.)

“As far as we know, the enemy doesn’t have enough forces we know of. If you permit, I can go back to retrieve her on my own.”

(It can’t be helped. If the Box is taken away, the enemy fleet nearby may show signs of mobilizing. It’s not fun to be surrounded by the enemy before we return back to “Palau”.)

“But…!”

(There are many chances to save Her Highness, including political means. We shouldn’t force ourselves here and lose you and the “Kshatriya” together, Lieutenant. You have to be patient.)

Frontal said as these words seemed like they were telling himself to endure. ''Tactically, he’s right to say that we had to leave ‘her’ alone. But is this merely all an act? Basically, we have been assuming that all the actions this masked man of unknown origin did are all an act.'' “…Yes.” Marida answered as she turned her eyes to look at the monoeye of the “Sinanju”. Then, other voices could be heard within the wireless communicator (Captain, good thing you’re fine!) as a “Geara Zulu” followed them.

The purple machine that was blazing off its boost port turned itself as it followed the “Sinanju”. The “Kshatriya” took the pressure from the thruster pressure, causing Marida to click her tongue. Angelo would always do this whenever he had a chance, and it looked like he did not care about Marida’s existence. She saw the leader of the escort squad circle the “Sinanju” as it first showed its loyalty by checking if the machine was safe. (Is that so? What happened to Ensign Sergi was really unfortunate.) Frontal said with a rising tone.

(I’m sorry. I was right beside him…) Cuarón let out this voice that sounded like he was gritting his teeth as he sharply turned the monoeye over to the Gundam. (So this is that Gundam…) Marida felt goosebumps as she heard that deep voice.

(It’s just as the predictions we had from Lieutenant Marida’s report. It does look like a rather radical unit. It’ll be great if the pilot isn’t crushed.)

Frontal said. ''This abnormal function that views a pilot’s life as secondary can’t possibly be maintained for a long time. It’s correct to guess that there’s a time limit, and we managed to capture it successfully, but we can’t guarantee if the pilot could survive until we open the cockpit.'' Marida felt annoyed by the heinous stare from Cuarón’s unit as she looked for some place to stare into at the wide space behind her.

''The enemy ship’s covered with debris; I can’t grasp the correct position, and I can’t feel any pressure…in that case, is this pilot the one letting out the ‘presence’ before?'' Marida thought about this, felt that it was just an ‘artificial being’, stopped thinking, and looked back at where the Garencieres was.

''No matter what, Her Highness Minerva is on that ship. I have to get back this symbol of Zeon’s revival Zinnerman has been risking his life on protecting no matter what—''

===Part 17===

“We lost response. Target left the radar’s range.”

The sensor operator’s report rang painfully. “Understood.” Otto answered with an obviously heavy-hearted tone, while Minerva clenched the hands that were on the back rest of the navigation seat.

The machines it was carried were completely wrecked. The ship itself too heavy damage, and the “Unicorn” landed in the hands of the enemy. The current situation was such that there was nothing other than defeat, but the atmosphere that filled the “Nahel Argama” was not of regret over the loss of the battle, but regret and anger over being unable to do anything. ''Did we not lose by fighting? Didn’t we end up being unable to do anything?'' Such a feeling struck everyone’s shoulders. Such a self-awareness caused the mouths to become heavy, creating an atmosphere that surrounded the ship, one where everyone did not dare to look at each other straight in the eyes.

That’s right, nobody managed to do anything. Including themselves, everyone present did not manage to do anything. They did fight—to survive, to carry out their responsibilities. However, they never got anything. From the beginning till the end, they were all restrained by their positions, started bluffing, playing pointless tricks, and yet never did anything that was really necessary. In the end, everyone lost something important.

“THIS ISN’T THE TIME TO SAY UNDERSTOOD! CAPTAIN, START SEARCHING FOR THE ENEMY!. THE “UNICORN”, THE BOX WAS TAKEN BY NEO ZEON…!”

As everyone remained silent, Alberto was the only one pointing at the space outside the window. He took action through his own way before, and lost the most important thing to him. Before Minerva could even turn around, “It’s impossible for us when we don’t even have a mobile suit, right?” Otto’s deep voice rang throughout the bridge.

“Thanks to you meddling around with your unnecessary stuff, the “Gundam” ended up being taken by the enemy. Shut up.”

“What are you saying!? If I didn’t do so, this ship might have been sunk by the Red Comet. This is the same as Commander Daguza using a hostage. Didn’t you silently agree as well, Captain!?”

The hulking assistant leader was standing beside Daguza, who was giving a stone-like face, and gave a disgruntled look at Alberto. Otto continued to look in front, and even though he was just holding onto the handle of the Captain’s seat, the rage that could not be vented elsewhere was different from Daguza’s. Alberto got close to him and continued to say in a commanding tone, “If that’s the case, we have to hurry up and ask for instructions from the Senate Council.”

“Hurry up and get into an area where the laser communicator can be—”

“I told you to shut up.”

As he said this, Otto reached his hand for Alberto’s helmet. He grabbed the visor and pulled it to him, bringing his face to a distance where their helmets were nearly sticking to each other and said, “Try saying another word if you dare.” The emphasized voice that had killing intent in it caused Alberto’s pulled body to tremble.

“I’ll throw you into space. Together with your subordinates.”

After intimidating him with a serious voice, Otto pushed him away. Alberto’s body continued to float in zero gravity until First Officer Liam, who was standing behind, grabbed him. Liam gently carried Alberto up until he was able to let his feet touch the floor. Just when he was about to grumble, he was stunned by the woman who was a head taller than him glaring down at him. He timidly looked around the bridge. All of them were responding as such. Alberto, whose soles were magnetized to the floor, started to stagger.

“Looks like your expectations failed you.”

Daguza muttered. Alberto could only clench his fists hard and tremble slightly as he did not say anything. Daguza passed by Minerva who was nearby and stood behind her with the usual poker face that had its emotions restrained.

“Pardon my rudeness to you.”

He silently spoke up and reached for Minerva’s shoulders. However, Minerva turned away before his fingers touched her cape.

The hand that reached out missed, but Daguza did not leave the place. Minerva kicked the floor and let her body float towards the exit of the bridge. The hulking assistant leader followed her from behind, and though Minerva felt that he had the intention of taking over Daguza’s duties in escorting her, she had no intention of looking at anyone. Right now, she did not want to see anyone’s face, and neither did she want anyone to touch her. Even though the communicator’s voices continue to enter, Minerva still felt that the bridge was completely silent. Before she left, she again looked at the universe that was expanded outside the window.

There was a sea of stars filled with silent lights in front of the people who lost their expressions. ''Just like that, Full Frontal obtained the key to the ‘Box’. In terms of how every person here wasted their efforts, I myself lost a lot too, but is that all?'' A large hole was opened in her chest, and Minerva muttered to herself in her heart as she experienced the feeling of loss that felt like her body was going to curl up if she did not tense up. The certain person she did not know how he looked like until yesterday, the one who called her Audrey, the puppy-like straightforward expression of his appeared in her mind as the feeling of the hand that held her hand tightly awoke again. It was not out of duty nor loyalty, but the warm hand of that person who reached out to her…

''Banagher.'' The name was called out without avail in her heart, and she sighed. ''It is not a loss; it may have become my own burden.'' As she randomly thought, Minerva took the lift without waiting for the assistant leader to lead her. No matter where the detention room was, she knew that it was somewhere after taking this lift. ''As the person who inherited the Zabi name, I must not let myself be seen being dragged by the arm in such an unkempt manner by the public.''

===Part 18===

At that moment, something strange was happening inside the cockpit of the “Unicorn”.

The warning lights of the all-view monitor and the display port were turned off, and the display words <nowiki><La+></nowiki> appeared again. The power of the monitor was immediately turned off, and the cockpit was covered with real darkness. What replaced it was the visual image of outer space shining vaguely on the linear seat.

The visual that was not processed through CG was similar to what he saw with his naked eyes. The “Kshatriya” that was grappling the machine, the “Sinanju” and the “Geara Zulu” that were probably moving in front were not on the screen. The infinitely deep pitch black space that was painted with silver powder started to spread out, causing the red <nowiki><La+></nowiki> that was in the center of the void to look extremely eyecatching. That word that was floating parallel to the linear seat continued to flicker with the coordinate data, seemingly indicating where the “Unicorn” should head to next.

Banagher did not notice the existence of that light. The attachment was loose, and the body that was floating up slightly from the linear seat was not moving at all. The eyes continued to remain shut as the visor of the helmet was the only thing reflecting the light of the stars. The <nowiki><La+></nowiki> light flickering behind did not even reach inside the visor. Banagher left aside the lights that caused him to lose control of his fate and many to gradually sink into chaos—indicating the location of the “Laplace Box”, and passed out in a groggy state.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[KSGU:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Gundam Unicorn|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[KSGU:Volume_4_Illustrations|Volume 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Talk:KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2013-01-14T06:40:12Z

75.85.182.130: Possible error at part 4 paragraph 1

Part 4

The combat data was immediately sent out, and the mobile suit squad received this data through the radar. The unknown CG image model was corrected by the data, allowing the pilots to grasp the shape of the enemy mobile suit. However, the '''situation''' did not improve in this situation.

This may be an error, what did the original text say?

KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 2

2013-01-14T06:27:24Z

75.85.182.130: changed Lewloola-class to Rewloola-class

==Chapter 2==

===Part 1===

<nowiki><Norm Basilicock. Romeo 001, launching></nowiki>

As he reported that he was leaving the ship through the wireless communicator, squad leader Norm’s “ReZEL” number 1 slid out from the catapult deck. Riddhe saw his thruster flare on the all-view monitor, and grips onto the control stick.

“Riddhe Marcenas, Romeo 008. Launching!”

The display of the countdown timer showed 0. The G force seemed like it was trying to rip off the flesh on the bones as it struck the body, and the catapult deck beside his feet was immediately at its end. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and let the “ReZEL” number 8 fly out of the “Nahel Argama”. The wasteland that was right below the ship—the destroyed scenes of the colony flashed by his eyes, and in less than 2 seconds, the machine thrusted itself into the dark vacuum.

Perhaps they were crushed by the pressure from the inside. The debris of the colony look just like crumbled waffles. The passing scenery that was tightly packed together showed the scenery of a phantom city in the vacuum. No matter whether it was the width of 1km all around or the amount of gas floating about, even though this place had many conditions that allowed for the “Nahel Argama” to hide its presence, one would still want to look far away after seeing that white ship object being buried by junk. It looked like there ware bugs or something clinging tightly onto the back of wilted leaves and climbing up.

The ship was floating around with shrapnel of all sizes floating around, and the cloud of space junk that was 100km wide in diameter expanded up, forming a debris field that was much thicker within the shoal space region. This was the aftermath of that first battle of the One Year War that increased to such scale that it became the largest fleet battle in history—the colony that was destroyed in the Battle of Loum now looks like this. The Earth Federation and Republic of Zeon clashed with each other directly in this Battle of Loum, right before the Antarctic treaty that forbade the use of weapons of mass destruction. It was said that several colonies were destroyed by the notorious nuclear bazookas. ''When they were suddenly sent flying into space with the rubble of the artificial land, did the people manage to realize that they died?'' Realizing this, Riddhe felt a chill down his spine. He shook his head slightly and turns his gaze to the front.

And right in front of Riddhe, the following descendants of those who did such damage—the remnants of the Neo Zeon army who were given the derogatory term “Sleeves” were moving towards them. <nowiki><Using the IFF, not responding and not slowing down.></nowiki> The wireless radio let out a signal and he could hear the Lieutenant Homare’s “ReZEL” number 4 moving beside him side by side. Riddhe makes a simple check to see that his mobile suit had stopped accelerating. The core reactor was still in good condition, and as he was equipped with a large weapon, the beam launcher, the machine itself was a lot heavier than usual. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and lets the boosters flared out its jets to maintain the machine’s posture. He increased the output to 1.5 times to match the equipped beam launcher.

<nowiki><Romeo 001 to all units. We’re using Delta formation. Make effective use of the remains></nowiki>

As he moved in front, Squad Leader Norm activated the main thruster and moved right at the target. Riddhe and Homare’s machines take the two sides. The “ReZELs” formed a triangular formation in the debris. As there was a chance that they might crash into the debris that was overly packed, Riddhe and gang did not change their machines into waveriders. The 3 mobile suits boosters let out short bursts as they moved forward, matching the speed of the remains that were of varying sizes and keeping their hands at a position such that they could shoot immediately when needed.

“We’re approaching the ship. Please respond. This was the “Nahel Argama” of the Earth Federation army’s Londo Bell. Please state your affiliation and stop your flight. Your ship has entered out ship’s defensive line.”

There were no Minovsky Particles nearby—because there was no need for that when they could hide their whereabouts in the shoal space region–the communication operator’s voice sounded a lot clearer than usual. It was not Mihiro, but Communication Officer Bellard this. ''Mihiro was left to be in charge of the civilians, and it seems that she is removed from active duty for now.'' As he wondered about this, Riddhe removed the safety of the beam launcher. He used the 30m long rock as a shield and pointed at the target.

They were at the border of absolute defense at the target, and the distance was less than 10m. The target’s movements were not changing. Even though it was moving slowly in a straight line while showing the form of debris, one could still detect heat signature from it. On the debris that was formed by the war 16 years ago, joking aside, there might still be heat left in it.

“You terrorists, even if you want to pretend to be a stone block…”

Muttering this, Riddhe placed his hand on the trigger on the control stick. This movement caused the “ReZEL”s mechanical arm to move, and the beam launcher that’s the size of an enemy unit points itself at the front. ''I’ll scare the enemy by pretending to shoot, and then immediately move my position to provide cover for squad leader Norm.'' As Riddhe again reaffirmed the basis of the attack he was taught, he stared at the target inside the reticule. Suddenly, <nowiki><Wait!></nowiki> Norm’s voice rang.

Norm’s unit, which was supposed to be the offense unit, moved to the front. Riddhe kept his position such that he could shoot anytime, moved to a distance such that the optical sensor could detect the profile, and stared at it. The enlarged window of the all-view monitor appears in the corner, and the image that was somewhat crude in definition was corrected by CG. The target’s length was less than 50m, and the shape was…

“What the heck…?”

Riddhe’s fingertips, which were locked on the trigger, shuddered slightly.

===Part 2===

“You say it’s junk?”

It’s been 6 minutes and 30 seconds since the order was given to begin battle. On hearing the report from the mobile suit squadron that was launched, Otto Midas could not help but ask. “That’s what they said.” First Officer Liam Borrinea calmly said.

“We’ve determined it to be the debris of a Salamis-class ship. It seems that the backup power was still working, and the heat sensor ended up determining it to be something unknown. There were no signs of enemies nearby, and there were no signs of survivors.”

“It would be amazing if there were. That’s a ship that was sunk more than 10 years ago.”

Otto grumbled at the report made by the communications officer and sighed, undoing the fastener of the helmet’s latch. ''Most likely, it was the dead souls of the Loum battle and other bodies knocking into each other or something and started to float around ending up reaching the sensor range of the “Nahel Argama”. The backup power source that was thought to be an unknown object seemed to be activated when it collided, causing a short circuit. That should be the case.''

Vice-Captain Liam and the rest removed their helmets as well and pulled their normal suits collars out to allow air to move in. The horse-shaped bridge on the highest level of the “Nahel Agrama” was not as wide as it looked to be from the outside. In this space that was only about 10m, there’s the Captain seat at the middle rear area, which Otto was sitting at, a seat on the left and right side, one for the communicator and the other for the sensor monitor operator, each facing the panels on the side walls. At the front end of the bridge, starting from the left, there were the navigator, steering operator and weapons controller seats, and right above their seats, there was the main screen on it with many monitors. The windows were set halfway around the bridge, ensuring that it had visibility of ships in the Minovsky era. This layer of window was made of extremely hard plastic, and it could block radiation and even the heat of beams. The front of the bridge was covered with 4 such layers of this thick window panel, and the back part was reinforced with multiple bulletproof armors. With this, even though they would not have to deploy the protective shutter in battle and could see the outside scene with their eyes, on the other hand, the bridge that’s pressured by the thickness of the shells became much narrower.

In the current age where ordinary bridges were built separately from a battleship’s bridge, one could not deny that the “Nahel Argama” bridge’s construct resembled more of the old styled concept. But during the One Year War, there was neither time nor technology for the ship to have that level of protective measures. Otto looks at the main screen in front of him, saw the debris of the Salamis-class ship that had 2/3 of its body chiseled away, and felt a little spooked out as he stared at that burnt remnant now.

Most probably, the turbine took a direct hit, and the inside immediately exploded. In that situation, nobody would be able to escape successfully. “Really…are all the parts that aren’t human taken away from the junk here?” Otto muttered to himself as he turned his back on the main screen. If it were his grandmother, she would probably draw a cross in front of her chest. But to Otto, who was an atheist, it was rather rare for him to even pray silently in his heart for a single moment.

“Even if it’s that kind of thing, it’s a piece of treasure to those guys from the recycling business. Shall we contact them to earn some bucks?”

Otto tried to speak up in a motivated tone to hide the fear inside him, but the laughter he hoped for never appeared, and he could only see First Officer Liam, who’s returning back to the navigation seat, roll the thick eyelids. That large burly 40 year old female, both horizontally and vertically, was larger than Otto himself, and like usual, stares at him without a smile, showing a frivolous attitude as she turns back to the console. Otto breathed hard through his nostrils to make up for this blank timing and ordered with a somewhat tired voice, “Alert removed. Operations to resume as per normal. Let the mobile suits return back to the ship.”

Communications Officer Bellard broadcasted this to the entire ship, and Liam looks back at Otto again, saying, “Was this good?” Otto was overwhelmed by that abnormally forceful poker face, and asks back, “Was there a problem?” Her face that was covered by some form of unknown make-up was staring at Otto, and she turned back forward without saying anything. ''What’s going on?'' Otto did not even have the strength to sigh out as he removed the helmet and looks up at the ceiling.

It’s said that a captain’s nightmare would be two things, one, losing a ship, and two, riding on a ship with a crew that’s not on good terms with him. However, Otto himself felt that there should be an additional item, and that will be having a large woman who was so hard to handle that he could not let his guard down around her as the First Officer. Otto managed to fight his way to the rank of a captain without any obvious battle accomplishments or camaraderie with people, only through his general qualifications. It was one thing for the battleship itself to be an unorthodox model that was hard to maneuver; it’s another thing for First Officer Liam’s existence to prick his nerves no matter when. Instead of saying that there were too many incompatible things between them…it’s more like she never had any intent of getting along. Whether it’s for good or bad, one could say that Liam had the temper of an artist, but her silent presence will sometimes overpower the captain and even dominate the atmosphere inside the bridge. Of course, it’s not like she herself didn’t try to avoid this situation through her own means, but her expression that already lacked emotion could give off a frivolous vibe. Sometimes, the crew on the ship will even say random things like “Captain Liam, First Officer Otto”.

In fact, in terms of instinctively detecting danger like an animal, her instincts were sharper than his, and her simple personality of ensuring the safety of the ship was guaranteed. That’s why he could not just leave her alone like that. Otto had already been looking forward to an ordinary life with no extraordinary events, but the aftermath of the battle this time may affect him in some way. ''No, I might not even be able to guarantee that I will survive this time.'' Thinking about it this time, Otto’s heart was covered with a layer of gloom.

Ever since the battle started, the command given by the advising headquarters were to ‘retreat’ and ‘remain on standby’. They were only told to first leave “Industrial 7” before the media surrounded them; remain on standby until reinforcements arrive, and nothing else. They lost more than half of their fighting capabilities, and the enemy was still out there, so even without instructions, they could only retreat. Even though they entered deep inside the shoal space region and use the debris of the colony as a place to hide, it’s been more than half a day since they were left alone.

''The retreat point was sent from the base coordinates of L1, so there’s no reason why the reinforcements could not find as. Since this mission is so special, is the reason why the reinforcements are so slow was because the higher-ups were arguing over ‘adjustments’ because of the unexpected damage from the battle? This might be more appropriate. It will be alright if we can get contact with the command of Londo Bell,'' Otto thought. ''If there’s something, the Londo Bell fleet will be on standby. Once they know that an ally is in trouble, they will hurry over to assist without waiting for the senators to make their decisions. But since we’re undertaking this secret mission under a direct from the Senate Council, we could not just make contact with our original affiliation as we wish—''

''Do we even have a next move?'' Otto felt tired over his thoughts that were going nowhere, and felt that it’s time to tidy his head that had been thinning in hair over the past few hours. He saw Commander Daguza Mackle walk in front the automatic door at the back, and hurriedly puts the captain’s hat that was hung on the side of the seat.

Daguza was wearing a deep dark brown normal suit which one would identify him as a member of ECOAS, and he removeed his helmet, turning his head around to look. He seems to understand what was going on with such a motion, and turns his narrow eyes at Otto, saying, “May I know if it’s true that you mistook debris for an enemy unit?” Daguza asked with a voice that sounded courteous “Just like what you’re seeing.” Otto answered back coldly.

“Luckily, we’re not facing the enemy…up till now, there were still no signs of our army appearing.”

Otto finally said with a wry tone. To Otto, the reason behind so much trouble was because of the unshakeable fact that COAS used them as a transport. To this transport captain who did not have much authority, ECOAS and the higher-ups of the Federation could be said to be birds of a feather. However, Daguza did not seem to mind. The large body with the cast wrapped around his left arm was standing beside the Captain’s side,

“Leaving aside our allies, the enemy will definitely arrive.” He continued without emotion,

“Unlike us, the “Sleeves” have a very simple objective. A simple enemy will be much faster in their movement.”

Liam gives a sinister look at Daguza. All the crew in the ship felt repulsed by the ECOAS members, but even since they left the dock, she seemed to have twice the hatred for Daguza than anyone else. ''Why in the world is this guy here?'' Otto leaves aside Liam’s expression that was telling him this, sighed and says, “That “box” they were talking about…?”

“That’s right. The enemy felt that we’ve taken the “box”.”

“How can you conclude so?”

“There’s no evidence to deny this. Even though the enemy’s depleted as well, that four-winged mobile suit is still out there. Once there’s a chance to get it, they will use force to come over to check.”

One could feel that beside Liam, everyone in the bridge suddenly jerked. Everyone knew that with their current firepower, they could not match the enemy machine that’s equipped with psycommu and was like a monster. ''Do I have to say it?'' Liam glares at Otto with the blaming look, “Looks like you’re trying to say that now’s not the time to leisurely wait for reinforcements.” Otto seized the initiative to talk.

“Yes. We’ll first break through with this ship before the enemy discovers us. It will be smarter to leave this space region.”

“Do you want me to ignore the orders from headquarters? Something like this…”

“Is within the jurisdiction of the current commander. A captain makes a decision by considering the safety of the ship and the crew, and after that, he could get recognition when everyone saw that he managed to preserve the weapons.”

Otto cannot say anything that will ensure the pride of a captain in response to Daguza’s solid logic. At this moment, Daguza seized the initiative and added on, “We should hurry and return back to “Lunar Two”.”

“The Gundam -type mobile suit that was taken back may very likely be related to the “Box”. The Senate Council will also hope for us to do such a thing.”

This report did reach headquarters. “But…” Otto’s eyes start to look away. He would not have any standing if he let Daguza beat him completely in giving suggestions. “I agree, captain.” Otto was panicking over what to argue back about as another voice rang inside the ship.

“But we’re not heading to “Lunar Two”, but the moon.”

As he says that, Alberto makes his way into the bridge. The normal suit he’s wearing makes his plump body stand out further as he stood beside the captain’s seat. He glanced at Daguza and gives a polite smile that was hard to stomach, saying “Unlike “Lunar Two” that’s on the other side of the Earth, the moon was just nearby, so it will be easily to head there, I suppose?” ''More than that, I’m really bothered that you would just randomly come in here.'' Before Otto could say that, Daguza let out a calm voice and said, “Not necessarily.” The fuse starting the debate immediately lit up.

“The enemy’s predicting that we will head to the Moon as well. There’s a possibility that we will be ambushed on the way. No matter how far the distance will be, we should move towards “Lunar Two”.”

“Space is large. I don’t think it’s easy to ambush us. Besides, we can still break through the ambush with our remaining fighting strength, right?”

“Our movements within the shoal space region are limited. Besides, in terms of military affairs, losing two-thirds of our fighting strength is practically total annihilation. Right now, it’s not a situation where we can simply force our way through.”

“In that case, we could not get to “Lunar Two”, right? Aren’t you a little too hasty to bring that “Gundam” back to the military, Commander Daguza?”

“We’ll naturally feel anxious if we don’t get reinforcements. That’s because the military command seem to have some civilian pressure in this mission.”

“That sounds like an excuse from you. You have to finish any mission. Isn’t that what a soldier should do? It will be unreasonable to blame it on us when the mission fails.”

“Because of this, I have to speak up as a soldier. Right now, we should have this ship break through this space region and return back to “Lunar Two”. There’s no other way to complete this mission.”

“What was your mission? To prevent the “Box” from falling into the hands of Neo Zeon? Or to use this chance to grab the “Box” and let the army use it?”

“Since you say so, Mr Alberto, what do you plan to do after taking the “Box” back to the moon? Are you going to lock the “Box” back into the shared treasury between Anaheim and the Vist Foundation like the past?”

This tug-of-war that left the captain aside finally paused at this point. As Alberto immediately tried to argue back, “KNOW YOUR PLACE!” Otto roared to stop him.

“This is a bridge, not a place for you to carry out your debates, and definitely not a place where outsiders could randomly come and go at will! I agree that ECOAS can do whenever they want to in this mission, but I didn’t say that your suggestions are welcomed, Commander Daguza.”

Daguza was definitely a mature adult for shutting up and backing away, but on the other hand, Alberto gives a smug look while looking like he managed to win this time, “ YOU TOO, MR ALBERTO!” and Otto could only do the same to him.

“Even if this is a secret mission, the limits of our ship’s actions are completely based around counter-terrorism. The reason why the reinforcements are delayed is simply because of a problem with the procedures, nothing to do with the “Box” at all. I hope you don’t forget your role as a civilian inspector.”

Even though he already knew that these would be words of an idealized scene, Otto said so as he stood by his words. “If that’s the case, I’m fine with it…” Alberto looks like he was not listening as he scratched his sagging cheek.

“Right now, the “Nahel Argama” is an independent force that was commanded by the Senate Council at the last minute. Under the jurisdiction of the counter-terrorist laws, our ship is already considered one of the few fighting forces who can act on their own without the Federation Senate’s permission, right? Who knows how much time we will take letting the main forces mobilize…as an inspector, I still suggest that we head to the moon. This is to prevent you from having to resign over such a large responsibility, captain.”

“Londo Bell has carried out countermeasures, but the Senate Council may be deliberately withholding information. Londo Bell might not even know that we’re waiting here to while they’re wary of multiple terrorism acts. I feel that we should head back to “Lunar Two” and wait for the Senate Council’s instructions.”

Daguza spoke up after Alberto did so. “I AM THE CAPTAIN HERE! ANYTHING WITHIN THIS SHIP WILL…” suddenly, a siren rang, causing the roaring Otto to swallow his words.

While everyone was still frozen there, Liam had already turned towards for the sensor operator’s seat. “What’s the matter!?” Otto asked with an enraged tone. “Another misjudgment. It looks like the piece of debris just now was slowing down.” The sensor operator’s voice caused Otto to be rooted.

“It’s probably some cooling agent or something accumulated inside spraying out. The target’s heat source is unstable. It’s a little hard to determine the identification conditions for it.”

Once the alert instruction was removed, Liam said with a calm voice. ''A Salamis-class debris floated here through some coincidence, slowed down due to some coincidence, triggering the motion sensor and the alarm?'' Otto holds back his sigh and asked, “What’s the relative velocity?”

“Zero comma. It’s already floating right above our ship.”

The main window shows the remnant that just so happens to be right above the ship. If the speed and heat weren’t stable, the Salamis-class debris would be mistaken as an unidentified unit once it changed trajectory. Though he could only pray for it to hurry up and leave the range, it just had to be of the same relative velocity as the Nahel Argama. “Was there a dead soul of Loum occupying it?” Otto glanced aside at Alberto who was saying it like it was somebody else’s business, grabs onto the handrail tightly and sighs hard. ''As a captain, I must not randomly roar out. I have to remain calm.'' Otto muttered to himself within his chest that’s about to explode and commands with a highly restrained voice, “Let the mobile suit squad remove it.”

“We should be able to push it out if it’s of that size.”

“But they returned back.”

The already impeccably calm Liam answered. “What?”

“They’ve returned back to the ship as you commanded before.”

''That’s what I was trying to ask you just now'' The emotionless Liam’s expression was saying so. ''Be clearer so that I could understand!'' As Otto argued back deep inside his heart while biting his lips, Communication Officer Bellard says, “Should we order them to launch again?” Otto saw that Daguza was looking away in an unimportant direction, and Alberto was giving a vague smile. The self-restraint he had several seconds ago was pointless as he roars, “SHOOT IT DOWN WITH THE MAIN CANNON!”

“Yes…” The weapons operator answered as he looks past Otto and right at ‘Captain” Liam’. “Why aren’t you repeating it!?” Otto’s enraged voice overwhelmed his doubt.

“Yes, main cannon, ready to be fired. Bridge’s designated target is…” The weapons operator frantically turned his face to the console and hurriedly sent the instructions to the gunnery room. Otto snorted out warm breath from his nose and steadied himself on the Captain’s seat again. Liam gave him a hesitant look. ''To heck with that, I’m the captain here. I can’t let my First Officer’s expression affect my own view, and there’s no reason for me to be told off by other squads or civilians. To a crew, a captain has to have god-like authority here. Isn’t this the pride and tradition of the seafarers ever since the times of the Navy?''

''Even so, wouldn’t it be too casual for me to use the main cannon?'' As a fearful wind brushed Otto’s back, the weapons operator’s report can be heard, “Front cannon, firing preparations complete.” causing Otto to swallow his saliva. ''Daguza and Alberto are looking at well. I could not take back the order. I’ll be looked down on by others all the more.'' As he made up his mind, Otto squeezed out a voice, “Get ready!”

“FIRE!”

===Part 3===

A mega-particle cannon of a battleship-class ship could be seen, and the power output was vastly different from a mobile suit’s beam rifle. The beam released by the enemy ship was a thin light that looks like a thread, and one could see it with the naked eye. The Salamis-class debris that was directly hit gave out light in the explosion and scattered all over the place, becoming small flickering lights. Marida Cruz saw all of that.

<nowiki><Just as expected. They even earnestly used the ship’s cannon for us. Now we know the position of the enemy></nowiki>

Gilboa Sant’s voice echoed throughout the bridge, and they could tell that he was extremely agitated through the wireless radio. Marida let her body float behind the steering seat and stared at the pitch black vacuum that extends out infinitely outside the window. Gilboa Sant’s “Geara Zulu” was about 90km away from this “Garencieres”, and was making full use of the sensors of the machine to detect the space region the enemy ship was in. From the relative position of less than 200km away, they should be able to see the beam and the explosion clearly. If the situation was good, they might even be able to detect the enemy’s correct position.

They found a piece of debris that was of the right size, cause it to produce heat, and let it float to the shoal space region that might have the enemy ship hidden inside. Once the enemy ship mistake it for an unknown enemy unit and send out units to intercept it, they could deduce the location of the ship through the units’ location. The “Sleeves” basically viewed the Shoal Space Region as a garden, so it was not hard for them to deduce a specific coordinate from a vague position. Also, the enemy ship firing the main cannon so carelessly allows them to save a lot on manpower. “Alright, call Gilboa to come back.” Leaving aside Suberoa Zinnerman’s voice, Marida asked herself, ''What kind of enemies are they…''

''From the experiences of what happened in Industrial 7, I could tell that they’re a squad that’s not used to battle. An ordinary Federation ship that viewed daily training as part of work…are they such an enemy? Then what’s the mysterious pressure I feel—''

“We’re moving to an area where we can carry out laser communication, and we’ll send out a message to the “Rewloola”. Is there still no actions at Industrial 7?”

“Just ships moving to and fro from the moon. Side 2 is sending aid, but there’s no signs of any forces residing there.”

In response to Zinnerman’s question, the other crew member who took over Gilboa’s seat answered as he sat on the navigator’s seat. The optical sensor received the visual image that’s far away, and there was an interrupted electronic news broadcast from long distance that was mixed with static. In the past few hours, he had been keeping his hand on the headset to listen to the situation. “Don’t tell me that ship got abandoned.” Flaste Schole said as he sat at the steering seat. Half a day had passed since then, and even the civilian aid had started. It was really strange that there was not even a Federation ship coming over for reinforcements. “They probably suffered by undertaking such a dishonorable mission and were most likely viewed to not have existed in the first place.” Leaving Zinnerman’s words behind, Marida focuses her consciousness in the vacuum.

The debris floating around absorbed the sunlight far away and let out white lights that were vaguely bright and faint at times. This was the shoal space region Marida was used to seeing, the space dust that distorts with the bright light. On that side, the remains of the colony were gathered, having a hidden heavy ‘presence’ inside. It was not the kind that could be felt on the battlefield, the ‘presence’ that would come over at her, but the ‘presence’ that’s coming out from a certain existent, one similar to the breathing of a beast…

“What is it, Marida? You sensed something?”

The doubtful voice hit her from behind as the consciousness that was being sucked into the vacuum returns to the body. Marida turned to the captain’s seat and looked at her master who detected her reaction through her eyes. They do have reinforcements, but the “Garencieres” had a setback in the mission, and was now isolated without help, which makes them not so different from the enemy ship. Marida sensed Flaste and the rest pricking their ears, and she, who was relied on as the sensor amongst the crew, was shown looks of concern. She lowered her head and says, “No, it’s just…”

“I feel that the princess isn’t in Industrial 7 anymore.”

Unexpected words came out from Marida’s mouth, and she shut up. She had never thought of this before until now—but she did realize it when she said it out. She sensed ‘her’ presence when she went by the mysterious pressure given off by the enemy’s ship. ''That’s right, did I hear ‘her’ voice before when I fought with that white mobile suit that’s most likely kept there…?''

“You’re thinking too much.”

Zinnerman approached Marida from behind and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk.

“The “Rewloola” will immediately attack that ship. Whether they have the “Box” or not, we just need to go back to Industrial 7 after that. We’ll definitely find her.”

Marida felt a sense of warmth in her shoulder that was touched. ''That’s right. It’s not my job to think. I just need to follow this person who’s giving me warmth from his hand behind me.'' “Understood, master.” She answered softly and temporarily releases the strength inside her. Zinnerman supports her loosened body with one arm and scratches the hard beard on his chin.

“Let’s check out Full Frontal’s abilities.”

===Part 4===

“The “Garencieres” sent a report to us?”

The moment he entered the door, Angelo Sauper asked with a voice that was loud enough to echo throughout the entire bridge. Sitting on the Captain’s seat was Ship Captain Hill, who gives an unhappy look to him, frowning as he says, “We’re able to search out the target’s L1 basic target thanks to their report.”

“It seems that they’re near the remnants of the colony. There aren’t any other enemies around. In another three hours, we can capture the enemy in our range.”

“Just like what we expected. Those guys are left on their own. That’s what happens to those who failed in their own secret mission.”

The smile on Angelo’s lips widened as he put his hand on the back of the Captain’s seat. Even though it might be viewed as being unruly, Hill had no intent on correcting him. As the piloting crew of the transport carrier was in charge of protecting their forces, the atmosphere was such that they will allow for any forms of insubordination and overruling of authority. Amongst them, Full Frontal’s own escort squad’s identity was even more unique. Angelo ignored the Vice-commander’s look of frustration as he turned his eyes to the navigation screen.

Down the indicated arched trajectory of L1 in a block of shoal space region, the light spot representing the target was blinking. The coordinates were <nowiki><L1+02373.E39034.N44393></nowiki>. The speed and distance in space could only be indicated in relative terms, but the relative positions between the Earth and the Moon would remain constant. If the average value of the gravity of Earth and the Moon was used, they could at least mark an absolute value on the coordinate trajectory. At their current speed, they will need 3 hours before reaching their target. If they accelerate, they would reach the target earlier, but it was no picnic accelerating too much in the shoal space region. Even though they were using their own shoal space region maps that were much more detailed than the universal specifications, they could not avoid all the debris, and the ship itself was grazing by space dust and rubble of all sizes. Angelo felt that Ship Captain Hill’s judgement was correct and simply looked around at the bridge with more than ten communication operators working.

The bridge of the “Rewloola”, which had entered space for less than 5 years, was still considered a new model. This bridge in particular had an outstanding view and wide space, which Angelo really fancied. The unique traits were the ceiling that was most likely two levels high and the setup that puts the navigator’s seat cleanly in mid-air with support, allowing the operators to work right above the Captain. The observation window that was designed for one purpose only was put at the front to preserve sight, the 3-dimesional space was effectively used, and all the designs on the bridge could be used independently in battle. It could be said that the “Rewloola” itself was one of the results of the ship-building ideas during the Minovsky era that was maximized.

The ship’s shape itself had quite the characteristics as well. The ship’s body looked like a triangular block from above, and had many curves all over it to make it look alive. The 6 ball shaped booster tanks that were placed on both sides of the hulls look like the eggs of a living thing. It was not a far-cry to say that the “Rewloola” inherited the design of the large battleship of the old Republic of Zeon’s army, the Sadalahn-class. As for the reason why the ship itself was painted scarlet red, that was because the ex-commander-in-chief Char once rode on this ship, leaving behind a great influence.

The second Neo Zeon war was also known as Char’s Counterattack. Char Aznarble was the commander of the army at that time—as the son of the deceased Zeon Deikum and also the Zeon army’s Red Comet that terrorized the Federation. It was impossible for the flagship he rode on before not to be painted with the color red. He was about to send the hammer of judgement to the Federation to let the world known that the son of Zeon was to end his time of hiding. The “Rewloola” had to have the color red on it.

After an intense battle, the Neo Zeon army retreated in defeat, and the commander-in-chief Char disappeared as well, but such a closure made it hard to actually decide the winner. Londo Bell, which was the frontline of the Federation, took a devastating blow, letting the Neo Zeon fleet. After spacing into the Shoal Space region, they had an idea of using the remaining forces to launch special attacks, but after having lost their spiritual leader in Char, the Neo Zeon army was basically divided. At least half of the survivors scattered, and the fleet that became an empty space stayed in an asteroid full of resources that was basically a wasteland to catch their breaths, waiting for their annihilation—until that man called “The Second Coming of Char” appeared again, prompting Neo Zeon to rise again for the third time.

It had been 2 years after that. The “Rewloola” regained the life it had back then, and right now, the revived Neo Zeon army that was derogatory called “Sleeves” started to make use of its capabilities as a flagship. Including the Captain, most of the members were new, but there were still some deserters amongst the NCOs. Angelo felt there would not be an end to this if he was to pursue this, and he had no intent of doing so as well.

These activists included people who once escaped and yet came back after knowing that Neo Zeon was coming back, people of the Deikum sect and the Zabi sect who had been arguing against each other and started fighting over the basic ideologies as well. Angelo felt that they were all existences that could not be replaced. ''What the revived Neo Zeon army needs were the passion of young people and young blood. Only the young who will not dwell in their past defeats and focus all their efforts on revolution could became the core of the organization. That man had admitted this as well. That man who had the innate nobility and talent to lead us from birth intend to fulfill the ideas of Zeon and the real independence of Spacenoids. The pain and loneliness of Mankind that’s bestowed to the world was ultimately not what the vast number of vulgar people could understand. As he looks around at the bridge crew that were giving him stupefied looks, Angelo fluffs up the fringe that’s sagging down to his forehead and says to Ship Captain Hill, “We’re getting ready to launch.”

“The battle will end in ten minutes. We just need to watch the battle here, Captain.”

“Sounds really intense. Will it really be that easy?”

On hearing Hill’s distressed tone, Angelo stopped his feet that were about to turn.

“The Federation had already done this trick of using optical observation on the shoal space region. They probably know about where we are. While they will normally let us go, this situation now involves that Laplace Box or something, right? If it were so secretive that the Manhunters have to be mobilized to take it back, the news that we’re closing in should be received by the enemy ship.

“The Federation’s ability to adapt isn’t that good. The number of forces they can hide is limited. Right now, they should be arguing amongst themselves over what they should be doing. None of them want to take responsibility for this.”

“That’s good if that were the case.”

“There’s no sign of reinforcements, right? No one’s backing them, that’s why.” Angelo showed a formal smile and let his body float towards the door. “Besides, if those guys were so efficient, we would be annihilated. The human economy isn’t so solid that it can be balanced in complete safety after all.”

“An occasional terrorist attack isn’t anything much if we consider the millions of jobless people, is that so?”

“That’s the case. That’s why there’s a need to change this rotten society, to allow humanity to live on for another 100 years.”

Captain Hill narrowed his eyes slightly as he answered with silence. ''You’re still green'', these words were telegraphed to Angelo’s back, and Angelo answered in his heart ''I’ll remember that'' as he left the bridge.

===Part 5===

The moment he arrived on the mobile suit deck, the smell of grease and the body heat permeated the air inside the enclosed space, and the air that was heated by the electric cables let out such a smell. Angelo was bothered that the smell of cologne on his uniform was nullified as he kicked the floor, passed through a passage and floated to the large deck.

There were 12 mobile suits docked inside the “Rewloola”. In the large and expansive space, 6 mechanical hangars were lined up on each side, and one could see the main machines “Geara Zulu” placed them. The mobile suit silhouette itself was based on the Zaku-types of the Republic, and the part that was basically the wrist had a sleeve logo drawn on it. One could tell its affiliation from the logo’s color or the design itself, and this was the reason why the Neo Zeon army was derogatorily called “Sleeves”. Also, leaving aside the blade antenna that indicated the leader’s machine, even the shoulder armor all had flexibility that allowed affiliation or rank to be changed, which allowed the “Geara Zulu” to show the characteristic of not being a mass-produced suit.

Amongst them, the most eye-catching would be the escort squad’s machine. Angelo let his body flot towards the 3 escort squad machines on the deck. The machine had sharp armor plates on both shoulders, and the fixed shields were removed, making the silhouette more offensive. The back had two thruster tanks and stabilizers, and they were attachments that were taller than the shoulders, and one could imagine them to be like angel’s wings. The other thruster tank and stabilizer that was not installed was on the back of the butt, poking out like a tail, causing the entire appearance to be more suitably described as a demon, a ferocious demon that protects the Red Comet—

Most notably, Angelo’s squad leader machine was designed with a purple base coloring, making it stand out from the thick green machines. While checking the preparations for his own machine, Angelo went for the mechanical hangar’s platform. As the mechanic officer and the rest were inspecting on the spare parts, the other two pilots of the escort squad quickly saluted Angelo.

[[Image:KSGU3 0105.jpg|thumb]]

These two people were the tall, lankly blond with good looks, Lieutenant Cuarón and Ensign Sergi with cold green eyes. Both of them were officers in their early 30s, and the green uniforms of the escort squad really suited them. These two backup pilots and the other mechanics on this ship who were less than 30 years old were all part of Full Frontal’s own personal escort squad. However, they were given special privileges in equipment and training. Each of them was strictly chosen from the army, talents who were able to beat 100 enemies. Angelo stepped onto the platform and notified the duo, “We’re sorting out in 3 hours. Remain on standby until then.” Cuarón and Sergi stood still “Yes, Lieutenant Angelo.” They chanted.

“It will be your first battle as part of the escort squad for you today, Ensign Sergi. How does the “Geara Zulu” of our escort squad look?”

“Yes! The machine’s more specialized in long distanced combat than I imagined, but I’ll try to get used to me. I won’t forget your kindness in nominating me for the escort squad.”

“Don’t give yourself pressure. Meritocracy is Zeon’s tradition. Just perform as per usual…besides, there probably won’t be any chance for you to perform this time.”

Cuarón gave a meaningful smile, and Sergi frowned in a puzzled manner. Angelo flicked his own fringe and told Sergi, “The Captain will be sorting out today. There’s no work for us.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll understand once the battle starts.”

Angelo inadvertently curled his lips and turned his eyes to the mechanic behind him, ordering them, “Captain Full Frontal will be coming over. Don’t ever ease up the atmosphere in the mobile suit deck until the end.” The mechanic answered, “Yes, I’ll inform the rest!’ and floated away from the platform. Angelo watched him leave, and in his eyes, he saw a mobile suit that was docked in the deepest part of the deck. The crimson red giant was larger than the “Geara Zulu”. As Angelo stared at the cockpit that was basically the abdomen of the machine, the excited Sergi whispered to him, “So the rumors are really true?”

“Like how the Captain won’t wear a normal suit when sorting out.”

The green eyes flickered, and Sergi looked like he wanted to say “It’s like…” Angelo corrected Sergi inside his heart. ''It’s not that it seems, but that it is'', “Yeah, there’s no need for that for the Captain.”

“That’s because he has the belief that he will definitely return from the battlefield.”

Sergi’s boyish face turned slightly red as his eyes were captured by the red mobile suit. Cuarón turned his back on Sergi, smiling proudly, while Angelo turned his eyes onto the machine that was waiting for the master to arrive. The MSN-06S “Sinanju” was a crimson red machine that used a large around of curves as part of Zeon’s flair and had a elegant and streamlined contour. ''That is the only mobile suit that matches that man, the Red Comet who will snatch the Box, which has a secret that can topple the Federation, and liberate the world.'' Angelo was immersed in his own motivating thoughts as he smiled away in a fanatical manner.

===Part 6===

<nowiki><All personnel, regaining space visual department. All passages open.></nowiki>

A vague voice could be heard as it echoed through the speakers inside the ships. As he saw the sergeant beside him heave a sigh and remove his helmet, Banagher asked, “Is it over?”

“Yeah. You can take it off too.” The sergeant answered while he took off the fastener of the normal suit. This middle-aged sergeant who was giving off a vibe that he trained officer was an NCO who was assigned to guard the command post, and it seemed that he was an old-timer who had the most experience in being a guard. He was the one who brought Banagher here to evacuate after the siren alert for battle rang. They were near the “Unicorn”s maintenance hangar, and several rows of normal suits were lined up in this room. Currently, he and Banagher were the only ones around.

As the wireless network in the ship was activated during battle, they could hear the conversations between the bridge and all the other departments. However, Banagher still could not say that he could even vaguely understand the conversations that included lot of technical jargon. Even though he could roughly tell that this raid was a bogus judgment, it was still a mystery why the main cannon of the ship was fired. As they were evacuating, he could hear messages like <nowiki><Backup personnel, swap duties 5 minutes earlier></nokwiki> and <nowiki><Execute Assignment A></nowiki>, and he could see the passengers walking around frantically at the doors. ''They’re working, huh?'' Banagher thought blankly. ''Even if they’re the military, there’s nothing unique about them. They’re just like the workers in the factories, doing their own duties to let the ship move, that’s all—''

“That’s why I’m asking where you’re bringing me to…haa? How will I know if the squad leader doesn’t?”

The sergeant growled angrily into the room’s internal phone he picked up. The lax assignment of duties caused the crew to be unable to handle the unexpected situation. ''Everyone’s not used to an actual battle, huh?'' As he thought about that, Banagher was about to keep the normal suit he put on as a familiar color and shape crossed by him.

“Haro…?”

Banagher did not think that he made a mistake in identifying it. He went after the green ball that moved past the door and arrived outside the locker room. “Oi, don’t just run out like that!” the sergeant growled. “That’s mine.” Banagher answered and held onto the grip lift. “Oi, wait!” Banagher kicked the floor as he ignored the sergeant who left the phone behind.

Banagher thought that he could catch Haro immediately, but it ignored his calls as it flapped its ears and nimbly turned around the corner. “Oi, you! Hold it!” as he heard the sergeant’s growls behind him, Banagher switched grip lifts at a cross junction and moved down a narrow passage 90 degrees aside. ''That’s weird. There’s no reason for Haro to ignore me like this. Maybe somebody else gave it a verbal command. If the memory’s not deliberately deleted later, Haro will treat the owner and anyone it talked to for a long time as a friend. If it can follow even a simple command, the only ones on this ship who are registered as friends are Takuya, Micott, and as for the rest—''

At the second turn of the cross junction, Banagher finally caught up to Haro just before it turned around the corner. As he carried it, he felt that it stopped on its own, and said, “This isn’t good. You have to be with everyone.” Haro’s eyes merely flickered as it answered, ''<Haro>'' Banagher was about to return to the locker room when a hand reached out for the coat of the collar.

Banagher was pulled from the back of his head and went into a door on the passage that was opened. He wanted to share it off immediately, but got a glimpse of the emerald green eyes that shone in the dim light, and his heart pounded crazily.

“There’s no time, Banagher. Listen to me.”

''Audrey.'' The mouth of the emerald-eyed girl covered Banagher who was about to call her name, and she showed an irritated look, muttering quickly, “Oi, brat. Answer me!” On hearing the sergeant’s angry growl pass by the door, Banagher nodded at her. Audrey released the hand holding Banagher down and led him deep into a room that was like a storeroom with all the lights switched off.

The light that shone in through the door caused the purple cape that fluttered with the air to appear. ''Why is she here? What happened to Ensign Mihiro and the rest? There were a lot of things Banagher really wanted to ask, but he did not even have the time to ask as Audrey pushed him to the pile of cardboard boxes that was fastened with a belt, and brought her face close to a distance where he could feel her breathing. She let out a questioning voice, “Did you really activate the “Unicorn Gundam”?”

“Unicorn…Gundam?”

The term was something he knew, yet it felt alien to him. Banagher repeated the term that was that felt like a mysterious curse, sometimes safe and sometimes dangerous like a parrot. "So that was the name of that machine." Banagher accepted it in his heart unconditionally. “What happened?” Audrey’s anxious voice repeated.

“Seemed that way…”

“You say it seems—”

“I don’t really know. Everything happened so quickly. There wasn’t even a warning or something…”

Banagher diverted his eyes away from the frowning Audrey as his eyes escaped to the shadow formed by the gaps between the boxes. The bloodied face in his nightmare appeared in the shadows , causing him to clench his fists.

On one hand, Cardeas talked about believing in possibilities and doing what one had to do. On the other hand, he could hear Cardeas talk through the wireless network like a war merchant. "Which one is the real you?" Banagher thought as he recalled the words Alberto said. “Alright.” At this moment, Audrey sighed. She turned away as she made up her mind.

“Can you still activate it?”

Audrey’s voice sounded rather sound. "Eh?" Banagher thought as he looked up. As he was held down by the intimidating stare in her eyes, he answered, “I guess…”

“Then, leave this place with me.”

Her calm voice caused Banagher to hold his breath and gasp. He looked around meaninglessly, and then asked, “Here, as in, this ship?” as he stared at Audrey who was floating 30cm away from him. She however did not even nod.

“Impossible. I can’t do this.”

“There’s always a way when you get onto the Gundam. The ship crew here isn’t experienced enough. The remaining problem is to shake off the Special Forces.”

Audrey said as she diverted her eyes to a corner of the ceiling. Banagher realized that there was a surveillance camera there, and exchanged looks with her serious expression. He eked out a voice, “Audrey…”

“You can still make it back to Industrial 7 now. Once you reach there, I’ll deal with the machine. You’ll be fine when you say that you were threatened, right?”

“But…”

“That’s a dangerous machine that can’t be handed to anyone. We have to destroy it before it docks in the Federation base…”

“Please wait for a while, okay…!”

Banagher was driven by the fear that was about to blow him up from within as he subconsciously grabbed Audrey’s shoulders. He pulled her body down from the air and stared at the eyes that were at the same height level as him. Audrey looked over with an expression that was hard to discern.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What did you say that mobile suit is? Please explain it clearly to me.”

“There’s no time now. I’ll explain the details to you later. First…”

“How can I decide on something without knowing what’s going on!? Why must you talk to me like this!?”

“Like this…?”

“Like you have to do this, like there’s a need to do that. It’s really too sly to try and force someone to accept it in such a way…besides, ain’t I not someone you don’t nee?”

Even though he felt that it was sneaky of him to say it, Banagher still said it. Everyone only thought of saying what would be convenient to them and not actually talking heart to heart. Even though those were the words of others, he could only feel empty as he was left in the lurch. "What can I believe now when some things have to be decided in such a situation now?"

Banagher felt that his stomach was starting to heat up as he shut up and turned his back on Audrey. He pressed a fist against a cardboard box and muttered with clenched fists, “Everyone’s making decisions on their own…”

“You too, the people here too, even that man…” The heat continued to swell and rise in him, breaking through his restrain. Realizing this, Banagher closed his eyes and squeezed out his remaining words, “Saying that he’s my father out of a sudden…”

“Father?”

“Forcing that kind of mobile suit to me, saying it’s the curse of the Vist Family, and the Laplace Box or something…I don’t even know what’s what now!”

Banagher felt that Audrey held her breath. “Are you talking, about that Cardeas Vist? Then, you’re the Vist family—”

“I don’t know! I was separated from him when I was young, and I couldn’t even remember his face. He didn’t come over to mother’s funeral, he wouldn’t even meet us, and now out of a sudden…”

The thoughts after that never became words. The hatch limiting his emotions was gone. Fear and anger raged on in his abdomen as if it was a backlash of emotions that was held for several hours. After a stunned silence, Audrey muttered, “Such things happened…” Banagher could hear the surprised voice that seemed to understand something from behind him as he moved to reach for Haro that was floating in the air with nowhere to go.

This was an old toy that he continued to maintain and update ever since he received it as a Christmas gift at the age of 5. The familiar touch entered his clutches safely. At that time, the fad for toys ended in less than a year, and it was a long time ago since the time when the manufacturer stopped sales of Haro. Even so, Banagher never let go of Haro when he entered middle school. He would try his best to repair it himself whenever it was spoilt, and his mother would often nag at him in an annoyed manner,

''“Just give it up already. Haro’s already at its limit. Isn’t it weird to go around with an old toy?”''

''“It can still move if I repair it. That’s nothing bad about it.”''

How did the mother feel when she knew who gave that Haro to this son of hers who argued back? No, Banagher had already realized that it was a gift from his father, and his mother knew that Banagher already knew about that. Even though nobody said it out, both of them viewed that as an unspoken secret and accepted Haro as a family member. ''Why am I still bringing it around? Is it because it’s the only thing linking me to the father I know? I never had the feeling of wanting to meet my father before.''

''No—I probably still want to meet him. I created an impression of father myself though mother’s words and the immaturity of my sealed memories. I let myself believe to make up for the ‘absent’ reality, and there are still a lot of things I should really look forward too.'' Banagher was hoping that he could one day lift his head up high and meet the man who was his father, and such an idea gave him his minimum level of aspiration and made him not stay inside the slums that were his hometown. Perhaps it was this motivation to improve that was effective in a certain way that was able to allow him to endure his mother’s death and take on that loneliness of being isolated by the world.

''But in reality—''Banagher put down Haro and closed up the seal of his memories. Haro floated around in zero gravity, hit the wall and flicker its eyes, flapping its ears and making some sounds.

“…A long time ago, there was a story that was passed down like a legend.”

As Haro made noises, Audrey’s voice directed itself at Banagher, who moved his face slightly.

“Once the Laplace Box is opened, the Federation government will reach its end.”

Banagher was driven by a pulsating feeling and turned behind. He saw Audrey rooted over there, a figure in the darkness.

“This isn’t something everyone knows of. However, something that involves the center of what they call society will naturally reach some people’s ears somewhere. One must fear the Vist Foundation. They have the Box. Those that follow the Foundation will have riches and honors, and those who disobey will have death…”

It felt like a supernatural story. Banagher swallowed his saliva, but Audrey shrugged him aside as she continued to state calmly,

“Nobody knows what was inside that Box, but they knew it really existed. The Laplace Box was a form of convenience obtained from the government, an invisible pressure on the government’s eyes. The most triumphant example is the Anaheim Electronics company. It single-handedly controls the military needs and public needs, and won’t be pursued even when it was helping Neo Zeon. Without the backing of the Vist Foundation, it would be impossible to imagine that they would have such rights.”

Banagher unwittingly used his hand to touch the chest of his jumper. The initials and crest of Anaheim Electronics was printed on it, and they left a rough feeling on his fingers.

“Cardeas Vist intended to hand that Box over to the “Sleeves”…Neo Zeon. The location was Industrial 7, the colony builder that was under the name of the Vist Foundation. However, the Federation army sniffed out signs of the deal and sent this ship and the Special Forces over. And then…”

That battle happened. Banahger sense that his body was about to tumble over as he used his hand to hold onto the pile of cardboard boxes.

“I had to prevent the Laplace Box from being handed over to Neo Zeon. I don’t know Cardeas Vist’s real intent. However, Neo Zeon still can’t use that Box. Once that power that can topple the Federation land in their hands, there will undoubtedly be a war that will be like the One Year War, causing devastation on both sides.”

Banagher recalled the history shows he once saw on the television, the images of the colony landing on earth. It was an idea of ‘throwing a colony down’ that a colony in orbit was slowed down to act as a mass bomb. The military country controlled by the Zabi family, the atrocities of Zeon, the moment the megacity was wiped out, and how the landscape was changed as a result, bringing about all sorts of calamities onto the earth. There was no need for special technology and expenses. By manipulating the resources around them, they were able to cause a disaster that never happened before—''that’s right, it’s not difficult to destroy the world just like that.'' Banagher abruptly thought.

''With some imagination and madness to do it, it’s not difficult to destroy the world. There are definitely many chances to start a war of total annihilation, but people probably haven’t discovered them yet. If the Laplace Box contains such methods, and if they end up in the hands of Neo Zeon that is the descendant of Zeon…''

“Neo Zeon hasn’t obtained the Box yet, but since they know it exists, they will come for it no matter how many times. The same thing as yesterday will happen again. A war will start. We have to destroy it before it actually happens.”

“Don’t tell me, that is…”

''There’s no need to hear the answer.'' Audrey answered with her eyes.

“It’s not the Box itself, but a guide to the Box. Cardeas Vist handed the key to open the Box, the “Unicorn Gundam”…that machine to you, his heir.”

The last words Cardeas left behind and the words about the “Unicorn Gundam” everyone on the ship was rambling about started to echo in Banagher’s head. He slowly floated around in zero gravity, leaning his back on the cardboard boxes. Audrey stared at him and twitched her long eyelashes slightly.

“I don’t feel that the current world is perfect. We have a lot we want to say as well, but if we let so many people die…I think there’s still a way to gradually change the world’s thinking. Up till now, humanity has managed to survive like this. It’s better not to have such a thing like the Laplace Box—”

“Who, who are you?”

''I couldn’t listen to everything you said.'' He said. Audrey’s shoulders jerked slightly.

“It’s like you know everything about Neo Zeon…it’s like I’m listening to some great person. It’s different from your voice in Industrial 7.”

Audrey lowered her head and closed her mouth. It was the same whenever she faced him and raised some unreasonable requests; it was the same when she said that she did not need him, the helpless look she showed during that short moment after she finished her words. The wavering of emotions that were restrained showed that she was actually rather delicate. She was smart and had a strong sense of responsibility, but in contrast, those emerald eyes would not see anything else once she was determined. The side of her face that showed a slight smile when she called herself duckweed was alluring enough to drag him in. It was not simply because Banagher could resonate with her emotionally, but that he realized that there’s a spark in the resonance to her existence.

Right now, Audrey did not have that charisma. Even as she pretended to talk in like an adult, it was the same. The way she held back by her position as she spoke covered her up. ''Is it because she can’t remain undefended against me once she feels that I’m necessary to her? If that’s the case, I might as well be someone unnecessary to her.'' “Let me hear your voice.” Banagher said. ''This alone won’t be able to create a spark because I’m not smart enough to act based on logic.''

“I want to hear, not about what you have to do, but what you want to do. If you’re willing to tell me…”

What can I do then? Banagher’s voice softened as he spoke, and he was unhappy about his own sputtering as he waited for Audrey to speak up. ''Logic doesn’t matter. Just find something that allows you to find your passion. Find a passion that allows us to be together, that passion that can’t be created in the disjointed world, that passion that can resist the icy cold world.'' Banagher felt that no matter whom Audrey was, that would be enough for him to escape from here. ''To save her, I have to bear the weight of the world—''even if Cardeas’ words became reality.

Audrey lowered her eyes and clenched her fists, having finally showed an expression of realization. She stared at Banagher.

“I want—”

“What are you two doing?”

A cold voice suddenly rang, interrupting the rest of the words. Banagher froze and at the door from past Audrey’s shoulders, who in turn was stunned. With the light source shining from the corridor, Banagher could tell that it was Micott standing at the door.

“Being all sneaky over here…what are you doing, you? Pretending to be missing along with everyone, is there something you want to discuss with Banagher?”

Micott let out stinging words as she grabbed tightly onto the door frame. Banagher felt the icy expression from her eyes as he stood in front of Audrey. “I’ll take to you later, Micott…” he said “WHEN’S LATER!?” Micott’s loud voice echoed throughout the room, causing the skin to tremble.

“A lot of thing was messed up ever since this woman appeared here! Are you one of the terrorists allies? Now you’re intending to trick Banagher? What are you planning?”

''I just entered a trap I dug myself and forgot about''—he had such a feeling. “I…” Audrey muttered softly, only to stop midway and bite her lips. Banagher saw this and instinctively growled back, “Micott, that’s not right of you.” “What…” Micott cringed back as her eyes showed signs of tears.

“The colony we lived in is ruined! Slyvia and Mario disappeared like dust! Even Anaheim Electronics was blown with the ground…do you think I can forgive her!?”

No response. He felt that Micott’s response was the normal one, and yet felt that he had to continue to keep a secret. Both these issues bore down on Banagher’s heart, and the thought of him being the worst traitor bored down on his heart. ''I can’t go back to Industrial 7. I can’t remain in the days with the disjointed feeling. It’s really a path of no return.'' All sorts of thoughts appeared in Banagher’s heart.

“If you’re allied with the terrorists, I—”

She stared at Audrey with teary eyes and eked out a voice before stopping there. “Ah, over here.” “Miss Micott, disappearing like that out of a sudden is really…” as they wondered why other voices came over from the passage, Takuya and Ensign Mihiro appeared at the door.

Takuya first noticed them in the room as he blinked and said, “Huh, Banagher?” Mihiro, who put his hand on Micott’s shoulder, showed a shocked expression as she said with an absent-minded tone, “What are you doing here, Miss Audrey? Everyone’s been looking for you.” After a short pause, “Sorry, but I’m still not used to controlling the liftgrip.” Audrey said the answer she had already prepared beforehand. Banagher looked back in Micott’s direction after seeing Audrey answer, and realized that they would be doomed if things were revealed here. However, Micott did not look at anyone as she merely shook of Mihiro’s hand to leave the scene.

“Wait, Miss Micott!” Mihiro called out as she chased after her. Banagher too got onto the corridor and witnessed Mihiro turn around the cross junction. Takuya then got up from behind to clamp Banagher on the neck and whisper, “What exactly is going on?”

“Even if you ask…”

“I did help you speak up the last time, but actually, I still haven’t accepted things yet.”

Takuya put his hand on Banagher’s hand and glanced at the door of the room where Audrey was in. Banagher’s fingers that were placed on Takuya’s arm shuddered slightly.

“Her lack of immigration record will be exposed once we get back to “Industrial 7”. You better put an end to this before that happens.”

Takuya quickly finished and released Banagher, stepping on the floor to leave. ''He’s not actually angry, but worried about me.'' Banagher stared at the back of Takuya that gave this vibe and saw a glimmer of hope. He then met Audrey’s eyes at the door. ''Put an end to this—how?'' As both their eyes gazed into each other’s “You brats actually came all the way here!?” a rude grol rang through the corridor, and the guard showed a completely different expression as he stood at the cross junction.

===Part 7===

The reason why Daguza could not avoid that shadow completely was because he had to protect his lleft arm that was fastened with the cast. He quickly kicked the wall and barely managed to avoid direct collision. After seeing that person who lost her balance slightly, he gasped a little.

The person had slight wavy long black hair and long legs under her shorts. The girl who basically did not look like she was a member of the ship crew was the reason why he gasped. She probably did not use the liftgrip, but used inertia to move over. Daguza grabbed the girl as she looked like she was going to slam into the wall quickly and let her hold onto the liftgrip well.

“Excuse me…”

“No worries.”

The girl did not look like she minded about this as she held onto the liftgrip and slowly moved. She was one of the civilians he met in the recreation room, the girl who brazenly said that her father was a factory owner. Daguza saw this girl who looked a little lifeless, completely different from before and mused in his heart: ''To think that they’ll let civilians move around the ship like that…'' and sighed as he got ready to hold onto the liftgrip again.

''It’s worrying that the fracture’s unable to heal because of long-term exposure to zero gravity. I want to hurry up and get to a place with gravity, but how are we going to let the ship move to “Lunar Two”?'' Daguza thought of that very bothersome Alberto’s face and was about to think of a way as a troubled voice could be heard from behind. “Erm…”

The black-haired girl stopped in the middle of the corridor. The half-turned face showed a hesitant expression, and once their eyes met, it looked like she intended to avoid Daguza, who noticed that the girl’s eyes were drenched in tears.

“There’s something I don’t know who I should talk to about…”

Despite being troubled, the girl said with a depressed-sounding voice. Daguza moved his hand away from the liftgrip.

===Part 8===

The metal door to the monitor room was pushed open. Conroy, who leaned the his big body on the terminal monitor, had his eyes half opened in a dazed manner.

“I want to connect with the ship’s database archive. Can it be done?”

Daguza quickly spoke to stop Conroy before the grumbling about how he should be sleeping came. Conro’'s expression changed the moment he saw the ID card that was obtained. “Please use it.” Conroy said as he stopped his half-completed assignment and gave up his seat in front of the terminal. Daguza pulled the chair and swiped the ID on the card reader beside the computer.

Daguza typed in the 10-digit password he remembered on the keyboard with his free right hand. The log-in screen shown on the access page was the database network managed by the Federation Central Intelligence, a download right a Londo Bell ship would have. Of course, only those of cadre class could log in, and the important classified information were removed from here. However, it was an important treasure when searching for particular information—for example, the appearance of a terrorist or a fugitive. Daguza first chose the picture comparison option, and entered the ship staff’s database, entered the name and gender and let the program pick up the selected photographs.

“Are these the civilians kept on board?”

Conroy let out a surprised voice as he looked at the photo shown on the terminal. All the civilians had their face photos and fingerprint data collected before they were taken on board the battleship. “This may be it.” Daguza did not actually believe that girl, Micott Bartsch’s testimony completely without belief, but once she mentioned it, he did notice something. He had an impression that he saw this somewhere before when he saw that person. As the relation between those two was too sudden, Daguza’s mind did not have time to actually think.

The forehead, eyebrows, eyes. The data match with the photo appeared in that order, and gradually formed a complete face. The search ended, and the face that was no different from the photo was shown on the matchup column. It was a front face photo that was secretly taken, CG repaired. The name was—

“This person is…”

Conroy let out a hoarse voice as he brought his pale face to the terminal. Daguza held his fingertips that looked like they were trembling, trying not to show any emotion, and briefly answered, “Keep it down.”

“Don’t take your eyes off ‘her’.”

''That’s all we can only do right now.'' Daguza gave this command to a still-puzzled Conroy and closed the database.

===Part 9===

The Captain’s room was not a place a pilot should be entering unless there was an order. Besides, it made even less sense for a pilot to be welcomed by the captain so much if the pilot had not achieved such a huge accomplishment.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. Come now, take a seat here.”

However, such an unreasonable situation was happening. Riddhe was prompted by Captain Otto’s mysterious courteous smile as he sat on the sofa of the reception room. Right beside him was Squad Leader Norm, who was invited in earlier, giving an ugly expression as compared to Otto. Riddhe could not tell exactly what was going on as he was suddenly summoned in after being on standby, and could only remain cautious and wait for the unexpectedly excited Otto to speak up. The officer room attendant wearing a white servant uniform served some cutlery for tea and poured red tea into the trio’s cup.

“This is an actual produce from Earth. It’s not cheap, but it’s one of the few forms of relaxation for me. I normally bug my wife to let me carry this onto the ship. Here, have some.”

The attendant left the room as Otto said with a very good mood. Riddhe glanced aside to check on Norm’s expression, deduced the moods, and realized that there would be no problems for him to start drinking as he sat properly, took the teacup, and answered, “Yes! I’m tucking in.”. Riddhe took the teacup, had a sip, and tasted the sweetness amidst the bitterness. “Ah, that’s right.” Otto suddenly patted his thigh as he said this. Riddhe barely managed to take a first gulp as he resisted the urge to spurt out the red tea.

“You’re born on Earth, Ensign. I suppose things like this red tea from England aren’t something rare?”

Otto chuckled while giving the vibe that he’s forcing things. Riddhe saw Norm’s slightly moving cheeks, understood that he intended to laugh with it, and pretended to give a smile as he answered, “No, not at all.” Both of them gave empty smiles that stopped inside this reception room, giving the mood that something annoying would be discussed within this room.

“Then, there is no special reason why I invited both of you. I suppose you can understand the situation in our ship now, Ensign?”

“Yes…”

“Ever since the battle started, we had only two instructions issued from the Central Council. Retreat, and standby. I really want to assist in the colony evacuation, but since we are on a special mission from the general headquarters, we can’t show ourselves in front of the media. We could only leave the colony after taking back the spare parts of that Gundam.”

''Shouldn’t this be part of the Captain’s jurisdiction?'' Riddhe really did not want to laugh with him as he put the red tea to his lips to avoid answering.

“We’re hiding inside the shoal space region like this…but there’s still no sign of reinforcements. It seems that Londo Bell has taken action, but just on usual alert. We can tell that the headquarters on Londenium have not grasped our location. Even if we want to alert Command, we can’t communicate with them when we’re under special orders even though we belong to them.”

Otto, who took a sip of red tea, showed a faint glint in his eyes. At this moment, I thought of you.” On hearing these words, ''Here we go again.'' Riddhe thought.

“If I’m correct, your father does have quite the high standing amongst the Central Council, correct? Ronan Marcenas. It’s said that he’s the chairman of the Settlement Issues Council, and also very active on national defense, a truly impressive important senator.”

''And an ‘if I’m correct’ to top it off.'' Riddhe thought. “That’s correct, I presume?”

“I hope you can contact your father through a private message and raise the issue that our ship is isolated without any traces—“

“Please allow me to refuse.”

Riddhe answered before he even heard the end. At this moment, he did not even look at Norm’s face as he stared right at the blinking Captain Otto, trying to answer reasonably, “Isn’t this against Military rules?”

“How can we send private messages during a secret mission? If it’ll be against Military rule, just ask ‘Londo Bell’ for assistance, and things will be solved, right?”

“That’s the hard part. If we send out an official request, we may be isolated by the headquarters and left out in the cold. This is the consequence of the magic of the Laplace Box’.”

The Box—Laplace Box. This term that shut everyone up the day before caused Riddhe to quieten down.

“You heard of this before, so I’m not going to hide anything here. The chances of that Gundam-type mobile suit being heavily related to the Laplace Box are very high. The higher ups seemed to be keeping still while trying to decide what to do with that mobile suit. There are people who want to use this chance to get the ‘box’, and the people who want to restore it back in its original position; both sides are fighting it out. Well, basically, the army and Anaheim Electronics are having a tug-of-war here.”

“Won’t this be easy? We’re soldiers, so let’s just follow what the army intends.”

“There are complicated costs and benefit relations involved in this. Basically, there are all sorts of people amongst the cadres in the Central Council, like those highest executive cadre members who intend to become senators and enter politics, and those congressmen who intend to move under Anaheim once they resign…it’s because of these people tussling with each other that reinforcements won’t come in no matter how long we wait. Even as Londo Bell asks for reinforcements, a certain level will intercept. Right now, the “Nahel Argama” can be said to be a small-scale version of the being two different sides being in the same boat, but the Manhunters and the Anaheim employees. There are so many people trying to lead the ship…that’s why.''

Otto put the finished cup back on the plate, and heaved a deep snort. ''I see. So it’s a political issue?'' Riddhe’s body that half-gave up on Otto reluctantly cooled down, and he drank the red tea that had no taste left. ''I understand this, but it’s annoying even if this is the case. That unhappy damp feeling that covered the ‘family’ made it all the way here''—

“However, we might have a chance of surviving if your father can pull some means from within, like give a call to Londonium’s Commanding Officer Bright Noa. If it’s him, he will send reinforcements while letting people think that it’s a patrol. With Senator Ronan’s assistance, the Central Council will not be able to get in the way much.”

“It’s hard to say…he’s someone who views cunning policies as his life. I can’t guarantee that he will take action based on the hopes here.”

“His cute son is on this ship too. There’s no way he will leave you alone.”

The shackles binding Riddhe’s heart was about to be broken as he faced the nonchalant sounding Otto. He clumsily put the teacup back on the plate and intended to glare at Otto. “I’ll ask for that too.” However, the voice that was let out stopped his idea.

“I think I can understand how you feel, but there’s no one we can rely on now.”

Norm, who had not said a single word since just now, and had no intention of putting the red tea to his lips, was clenching the fists that were placed on his knees. “Squad Leader…” Riddhe answered as he saw his mobile suit squad leader who lowered his head and would not lift it back up, his voice stuck in his throat.

“If the reinforcements don’t come, we won’t be able to take revenge for those brothers who died. I can only ask of you this.”

Norm’s shoulders trembled violently as he lowered his head such that it was nearly hitting the table. Riddhe saw the shoulders that were trembling because of this anger and regret that was more than his, and saw Otto, who swallowed his saliva as he witnessed this. He let out a sigh from deep within.

===Part 10===

''There’s no other choice.'' Riddhe returned back to his room and ended up spending 2 hours writing a mail to his father.

He had never sent a phone call for the past few years, let alone a message. His body did not have a function to communicate with his father, and he felt a chill when he started off with ‘Dear Father’. He wrote the letter while his heart was basically in agony. Riddhe was really about to faint when he ended off with ‘From your son Riddhe’. ''Someone like me actually ended up writing a request for help from that dad—''

No outsider would be able to understand this mental trauma that was like forcing a painter to step on his own painting. He quickly finished the mail, sent it to the bridge, and felt a surging urge to kill Otto for merely giving a ‘sorry to trouble you’ formality on the surface.

<Our ship will now be heading to an area where radar communication can work. We will be on second-level alert when leaving the shoal space region, but please remain in your own room, Ensign.”

“It can’t do if we make a request to the senator while getting his prince hurt!”

Otto gave a wink that gave the impression of a frozen face, and cut off the chatter linking from the bridge. To Riddhe, this might be a good thing. “DAMN IT!” Riddhe’s outcry caused his soles to be expanded on the monitor, but luckily, this scene was not seen by the Captain. Riddhe stamped on the communicator panel and went to lie on the bed.

Soon after, the siren telling the crew to remain on standby could be heard, and the engine which sounded like an air-conditioner increased. This was the sound of the Nahel Argama being ready to launch. They were leaving the remains of the colony towards a place where they could send messages by radar—a place where the radar would not be affected by the debris. On hearing the noise that came with the jerking of the furnishings in the room, Riddhe thought in the heart: ''Whatever you want. No matter where I go, the Marcenas’ name will never let me go. It’ll reach to the ends of the universe and surround me with its irritating damp feeling. The man who walks through that moisture leisurely will then give an arrogant wry smile and say: It’s about time for you to become an adult. Humans have roles they should perform since the moment they’re born. You shouldn’t be having a role of such a character on the other end like a pilot.''

''Then, what’s my role? Am I going to use my parents’ protection as a weapon? Reclaim the mantle to my family to answer everyone’s expectations? Do they want me to stay in this world where every corner is grey? Learn how to distinguish between black and white? Don’t joke around. I want to distinguish between black and white with my own power. A pilot doesn’t have a grey region. The superiority of abilities can decide life and death, and I survived from it. I tried my best. That’s because I ran away from ‘home’ and never thought of relying on it once.''

However—the actual battle from before proved that the biggest difference between life and death was luck. It taught Riddhe that the difference between sitting or standing when the god of death swung its scythe would decide things. The thing that decided these differences was the change in situation, and a pilot, a character on the far end of the spectrum, had no power to change the current situation. ''This ship is asking me for the power to change this situation to break this deadlock. They’re not asking for this pilot called Riddhe, but the direct blood kin of the Marcenas…''

He was tired. He had no motivation on wanting to escape to another place. Riddhe yawned as he noticed the thing floating his eyes, and widened his eyes that were about to close. The plane model that was placed on the table seemed to be floating because of the tremor from before. Riddhe grabbed onto the red baron plane model that was famous during an old century war, and let it float in the air where gravity had no effect. He thought, ''Oh yeah, my beloved Grumman is still kept by someone else. I left it with that mobile suit maniac kid…Takuya, was he?'' Riddhe got off the bed, stretched and moved towards the room door.

The civilians that were kept were kept at the recreation room in the same gravity block. ''It was tiring to talk to that brat, but it sure is better to shake off my thoughts instead of being gloomy by myself.'' Riddhe was rather excited about meeting Audrey again. He left his room and took his first step towards the recreation room as an intense tremor from the floor caused him to stop in his tracks.

Riddhe did not know what was going on. His body slammed into the ceiling, recoiled back onto the floor, and the corridor lights changed to the emergency red lights. Another tremor rocked the ship, activating the siren. The announcement from the operator was blocked by the explosions that rocked the ship, and a force that was 3 times stronger than before caused Riddhe to fly off.

This time, Riddhe got into a protective stance and kicked towards his footing that was either the ceiling or the floor. ''An enemy attack—and the ship took a direct hit. This is fast. Where is the attack coming from? There won’t be an answer even if I think here.'' Riddhe held onto the liftgrip that was jerking slightly and let his body glide towards the mobile suit deck.

===Part 11===

In this era where Minovsky Particles could render electronic weapons ineffective, the concept of guided missiles had long vanished from the battlefield. The times where guided missiles that would not let go of their targets, the era of the button wars had become a relic. This battlefield that could be seen before the Middle Ages was brought up to space as both sides fought it out while being able to see each other’s locations. The mobile suit that was at the front acted as a cavalry, while the ship at the back took on the role of moving its base. The missiles in this era would be less effective than even flaming arrows if the ships do not engage in close combat.

Even so, production of long-ranged missiles had never ceased even till this point, and the missiles viewed as important armaments for navigating ships. The concept was similar to the cavalry battles of the old ages, where throwing weapons were often viewed as treasures. Even though they could not use radar navigation to do precision attacks, the missiles would fly right at the targets once they caught sight of the enemy’s locations and determine the course for impact. The missiles, if used with conjunction with the rockets that could not be controlled when fired, would be very threatening in terms of distance and destructiveness. In particular, two direct hits from large anti-ship missiles could sink a battleship.

At this point, these anti-ship long-ranged missiles passed through the shoal space region and hit the debris of the colony where the Nahel Argama was hiding in. based on initial observations and the L1 basic coordinates that were derived after some time, it showed that 12 missiles were shot out from a Rewloola-class. 4 missed their target, while the remaining 8 hit the outer wall of the of the old colony debris, igniting the explosives that were filled within.

Blueish-white flashes continued to appear and expand, each expanding as the impacts collided with eac other. The 8 fireballs converged with each other, covering the debris of the colony. The supersonic impact caused the outer wall to be partially shed off, and the massive heat melted the materials. The common drainage built underneath were ripped apart, and the energy that crushed the buried dirt to break through the other debris, spurting through the inner walls.

The debris field had still had artificial land mass since the War before, and for a moment, looked to be surrounded by smoke. It was an impact tremor that could be felt from right below, as the dust that was on the building or ground—small particles that piled up after many years of floating in space—danced around. Also, the flash that appeared from underground was leaked out through the gaps of the earth plates, showing a chessboard-like network that spanned 1km of debris. Red flames shot out a second later like lava flowing, eroding the debris in the vacuum, and depicting the scene of uprooting perfectly.

[[Image:KSGU3 135.jpg|thumb]]

The Nahel Argama had kept its scout camera ball, which was used for outside surveillance, back in, and intended to leave the debris. This was a shocking thing to them. The scout camera ball was a complex sensor that was operated through long cables, and was originally tossed outside amidst the debris to act as a coordinate where the ship could see its blind spot. The Nahel Argama kept it to move, and basically lost its eyes that could see what was going on inside the debris for the time being, while the missiles seemed to rush here at this precise moment.

The debris that was floating in the silence of vacuum suddenly corroded, causing a large amount of debris that flew to hit the bottom of the Nahel Argama, and the uprooted street lights and half-wrecked electric cars hit the ship directly with blazing trails. The giant ship that was almost 400m long was obvious shaken as all the items that were not fastened within the ship were all flying. The crew started bouncing several times between the ceiling and the floor. The gravity block was no exception as Banagher and the dining tray were sent flying, Takuya and Micott slammed into the wall, and Audrey held onto the foot of the table. Mihiro beside them took the internal phone of the recreation room, but was knocked together with the receiver into the air by the continuous shaking. Banagher grabbed onto Mihiro’s waist to catch her, and both of them slammed together into the monitor panel on the wall.

Daguza was slammed into the ceiling of the corridor, while Alberto was curled up like a ball as he fell in the room he made his own. The cranes and the frames let out metallic cries that sounded like they were going to snap. Gibney and the other maintenance soldiers were moving all over the place in response to this. Norm, Riddhe and the other pilots leapt into their own cockpits. There were equipment that could not be used, starting with the anti-air machine guns that took direct damage from the debris, but the bridge had to confirm the damage of the ship later. They were already on standby, but First Officer Liam and the others who had not put on normal suits were thrown off the chairs. Captain Otto ended up having his head crash into the ceiling.

Cries and grunts caused the cries and all the noise to be messed up within his skull that was numb with pain. The scolding hot debris grazed past the front window of the bridge, and numerous red vestiges entered their eyes. It looked like the top of an erupting volcano—

“ENGINE ACCELERATE! EMERGENCY RETREAT!”

Liam finally managed to sit back in her chair and shouted out this command without waiting for the captain to make a decision. The steering crew member recited the order and turned the steering wheel into the designated direction. The bow of the Nahel Argama lifted by almost 90 degrees, and Otto, who saw that the ship was heading up through the colony debris, recognized Liam’s immediate decision in this situation. He also had the thought of accelerating forward to escape, but the rubble was scattering, and they were trying to limit the hit area to the smallest possible. The Nahel Argama left the colony debris and managed to escape with the scattered debris hitting the stern of the ship.

“CHECK THE NUMBER OF CASUALITIES! HURRY! WHAT’S THE AIR SURVEILLANCE DOING!?”

Otto shook off the heavy impact his head took as he started yelling. He received the normal suit from the warrant officer waiting on the bridge. “There’s no sign of any enemy around!” The sensor operator’s growl entered Otto’s ears.

“The guess is that the attack came from outside the radar range.”

“Impossible. Look for it. There’s definitely an enemy disguised as a debris out there nearby.”

Otto slipped his legs into the normal suit and pulled the zip. The sounds of the rubble hitting the ship could still be heard. The remains of the colony below them were gradually crumbling as he saw the saw of it scattering everywhere through the monitor. He then turned his eyes on the searching sensors located on the left flank of the ship. There were direct hits from the anti-ship missiles—and it was not just 2, 3 hits. There was definitely an enemy ship that fired countless missiles from very close distance. It was less than a minute since they kept the scout camera ball and reduced their detection ability. It was basically impossible for an enemy ship to get close, fire missiles and retreat back outside the radar.

“It’s not guided missiles from the radar era we’re talking about here. It’s impossible for missiles to be so accurate once they’re fired and control is lost, and from that distance too…”

Otto unwittingly said these words, and felt a chill on his back. ''An attack from afar. If there are no signs of enemies nearby, this is the only thing we can deduce. If we use outer space as a background, the enemy ship will merely be a speck of dust. There’s only one way to shoot from outside the radar range and into a 1km radius full of debris. That will be to deduce the absolute coordinates of the target and clear all obstacles in the way before shooting off all the missiles.''

''That’s right. The enemy knows where we are exactly. I carelessly used the main cannon just now because of the trouble with the Salamis-class rubble and revealed our location—

“We’ve been had.”

Liam, who looked like a bear as she was wearing the normal suit, whispered beside the captain seat. Otto saw the tense look from the side of the First Officer’s face and wordlessly looked forward. “High-heat object, closing in rapidly!” Shocked, he lifted his head once he heard the voice of the sensor operator.

“4 targets, coming in from above the ship. Estimated time before reaching, T-minus 3.3”

''It’s different from the first wave attack coordinates. We’re surrounded.'' Otto temporarily left aside this worst case scenario as he asked, “Missiles again!?”

“No, this movement is of a mobile suit, but…”

The stuttering voice showed fear. Otto looked at the back of the sensor operator from behind Liam’s shoulder.

“It’s unreasonable for it to fly through the debris at such a speed. A unit leading the squad is moving in 3 times faster than the mobile suits behind!”

The sensor operator lifted his head from the control panel, looking rather pale as he turned to the Captain’s seat. “What did you say..?” Otto felt his muttering mouth widen as he stared at the sensor image.

The unidentified unit left behind the units at the back as it flickered mysteriously. ''It’s a completely different unit from the ‘Sleeves’ mobile suits before, including that four-winged—''Otto heard his skin give off goosebumps as he unwittingly grabbed onto the armrest of the Captain’s seat.

===Part 12===

The attacking speed of that red mobile suit was definitely far above the Geara Zulus that were following behind. The high-output thrust unit installed on the back was a reason for this, but that was not all. The red mobile suit was also skilled and stepping on the debris in its course, utilizing superb technique of recoil and thruster jet use to move forward.

The unit immediately floated through the countless metal debris and stone rubble that were far larger, crossing each side, leaping on each debris piece, shot out thruster jets at full power to the next debris piece, and kept going through the shoal space region at this accelerated dash. Of course, the debris would move with the course, so it was not able to gain a proper footing beforehand. It predicted the course of the debris beforehand, chose the next landing point before having footing, and chose the shortest path to the next target. Even a high-capacity computer would not be able to compute in time, and this was an amazing skill that was like climbing a cliff by jumping off falling rocks. The pilot of the red mobile suit—the “Sinanju” could do it however. The angelic-looking wings of the thruster unit flared as the red mobile suit leapt through the torrent of debris like stepping stones, elegantly dancing through space.

As it moved forward, the colony debris that hid its trails was crushed as a Federation ship emerged from the chaos of debris. The face of the masked pilot wrinkled with a smile as he saw the white ship emerge into the underworld. His hands were wearing thing gloves as he held onto the control sticks, while his feet that were covered with boots stepped on the pedal. The pilot was wearing a crimson red uniform that had gold ornaments, and was not wearing a normal suit.

“Let me see the capabilities of that new model Gundam then!”

The bushy blond hair felt vitalized as it swayed gently in the air. As the “Sinanju” passed through the torrent of debris, Full Frontal chuckled in the cockpit.

[[Image:KSGU3 141.jpg|thumb]]

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[KSGU:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Gundam Unicorn|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[KSGU:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 2

2013-01-14T06:11:34Z

75.85.182.130: Changed “Lewloola” to "Rewloola"

==Chapter 2==

===Part 1===

<nowiki><Norm Basilicock. Romeo 001, launching></nowiki>

As he reported that he was leaving the ship through the wireless communicator, squad leader Norm’s “ReZEL” number 1 slid out from the catapult deck. Riddhe saw his thruster flare on the all-view monitor, and grips onto the control stick.

“Riddhe Marcenas, Romeo 008. Launching!”

The display of the countdown timer showed 0. The G force seemed like it was trying to rip off the flesh on the bones as it struck the body, and the catapult deck beside his feet was immediately at its end. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and let the “ReZEL” number 8 fly out of the “Nahel Argama”. The wasteland that was right below the ship—the destroyed scenes of the colony flashed by his eyes, and in less than 2 seconds, the machine thrusted itself into the dark vacuum.

Perhaps they were crushed by the pressure from the inside. The debris of the colony look just like crumbled waffles. The passing scenery that was tightly packed together showed the scenery of a phantom city in the vacuum. No matter whether it was the width of 1km all around or the amount of gas floating about, even though this place had many conditions that allowed for the “Nahel Argama” to hide its presence, one would still want to look far away after seeing that white ship object being buried by junk. It looked like there ware bugs or something clinging tightly onto the back of wilted leaves and climbing up.

The ship was floating around with shrapnel of all sizes floating around, and the cloud of space junk that was 100km wide in diameter expanded up, forming a debris field that was much thicker within the shoal space region. This was the aftermath of that first battle of the One Year War that increased to such scale that it became the largest fleet battle in history—the colony that was destroyed in the Battle of Loum now looks like this. The Earth Federation and Republic of Zeon clashed with each other directly in this Battle of Loum, right before the Antarctic treaty that forbade the use of weapons of mass destruction. It was said that several colonies were destroyed by the notorious nuclear bazookas. ''When they were suddenly sent flying into space with the rubble of the artificial land, did the people manage to realize that they died?'' Realizing this, Riddhe felt a chill down his spine. He shook his head slightly and turns his gaze to the front.

And right in front of Riddhe, the following descendants of those who did such damage—the remnants of the Neo Zeon army who were given the derogatory term “Sleeves” were moving towards them. <nowiki><Using the IFF, not responding and not slowing down.></nowiki> The wireless radio let out a signal and he could hear the Lieutenant Homare’s “ReZEL” number 4 moving beside him side by side. Riddhe makes a simple check to see that his mobile suit had stopped accelerating. The core reactor was still in good condition, and as he was equipped with a large weapon, the beam launcher, the machine itself was a lot heavier than usual. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and lets the boosters flared out its jets to maintain the machine’s posture. He increased the output to 1.5 times to match the equipped beam launcher.

<nowiki><Romeo 001 to all units. We’re using Delta formation. Make effective use of the remains></nowiki>

As he moved in front, Squad Leader Norm activated the main thruster and moved right at the target. Riddhe and Homare’s machines take the two sides. The “ReZELs” formed a triangular formation in the debris. As there was a chance that they might crash into the debris that was overly packed, Riddhe and gang did not change their machines into waveriders. The 3 mobile suits boosters let out short bursts as they moved forward, matching the speed of the remains that were of varying sizes and keeping their hands at a position such that they could shoot immediately when needed.

“We’re approaching the ship. Please respond. This was the “Nahel Argama” of the Earth Federation army’s Londo Bell. Please state your affiliation and stop your flight. Your ship has entered out ship’s defensive line.”

There were no Minovsky Particles nearby—because there was no need for that when they could hide their whereabouts in the shoal space region–the communication operator’s voice sounded a lot clearer than usual. It was not Mihiro, but Communication Officer Bellard this. ''Mihiro was left to be in charge of the civilians, and it seems that she is removed from active duty for now.'' As he wondered about this, Riddhe removed the safety of the beam launcher. He used the 30m long rock as a shield and pointed at the target.

They were at the border of absolute defense at the target, and the distance was less than 10m. The target’s movements were not changing. Even though it was moving slowly in a straight line while showing the form of debris, one could still detect heat signature from it. On the debris that was formed by the war 16 years ago, joking aside, there might still be heat left in it.

“You terrorists, even if you want to pretend to be a stone block…”

Muttering this, Riddhe placed his hand on the trigger on the control stick. This movement caused the “ReZEL”s mechanical arm to move, and the beam launcher that’s the size of an enemy unit points itself at the front. ''I’ll scare the enemy by pretending to shoot, and then immediately move my position to provide cover for squad leader Norm.'' As Riddhe again reaffirmed the basis of the attack he was taught, he stared at the target inside the reticule. Suddenly, <nowiki><Wait!></nowiki> Norm’s voice rang.

Norm’s unit, which was supposed to be the offense unit, moved to the front. Riddhe kept his position such that he could shoot anytime, moved to a distance such that the optical sensor could detect the profile, and stared at it. The enlarged window of the all-view monitor appears in the corner, and the image that was somewhat crude in definition was corrected by CG. The target’s length was less than 50m, and the shape was…

“What the heck…?”

Riddhe’s fingertips, which were locked on the trigger, shuddered slightly.

===Part 2===

“You say it’s junk?”

It’s been 6 minutes and 30 seconds since the order was given to begin battle. On hearing the report from the mobile suit squadron that was launched, Otto Midas could not help but ask. “That’s what they said.” First Officer Liam Borrinea calmly said.

“We’ve determined it to be the debris of a Salamis-class ship. It seems that the backup power was still working, and the heat sensor ended up determining it to be something unknown. There were no signs of enemies nearby, and there were no signs of survivors.”

“It would be amazing if there were. That’s a ship that was sunk more than 10 years ago.”

Otto grumbled at the report made by the communications officer and sighed, undoing the fastener of the helmet’s latch. ''Most likely, it was the dead souls of the Loum battle and other bodies knocking into each other or something and started to float around ending up reaching the sensor range of the “Nahel Argama”. The backup power source that was thought to be an unknown object seemed to be activated when it collided, causing a short circuit. That should be the case.''

Vice-Captain Liam and the rest removed their helmets as well and pulled their normal suits collars out to allow air to move in. The horse-shaped bridge on the highest level of the “Nahel Agrama” was not as wide as it looked to be from the outside. In this space that was only about 10m, there’s the Captain seat at the middle rear area, which Otto was sitting at, a seat on the left and right side, one for the communicator and the other for the sensor monitor operator, each facing the panels on the side walls. At the front end of the bridge, starting from the left, there were the navigator, steering operator and weapons controller seats, and right above their seats, there was the main screen on it with many monitors. The windows were set halfway around the bridge, ensuring that it had visibility of ships in the Minovsky era. This layer of window was made of extremely hard plastic, and it could block radiation and even the heat of beams. The front of the bridge was covered with 4 such layers of this thick window panel, and the back part was reinforced with multiple bulletproof armors. With this, even though they would not have to deploy the protective shutter in battle and could see the outside scene with their eyes, on the other hand, the bridge that’s pressured by the thickness of the shells became much narrower.

In the current age where ordinary bridges were built separately from a battleship’s bridge, one could not deny that the “Nahel Argama” bridge’s construct resembled more of the old styled concept. But during the One Year War, there was neither time nor technology for the ship to have that level of protective measures. Otto looks at the main screen in front of him, saw the debris of the Salamis-class ship that had 2/3 of its body chiseled away, and felt a little spooked out as he stared at that burnt remnant now.

Most probably, the turbine took a direct hit, and the inside immediately exploded. In that situation, nobody would be able to escape successfully. “Really…are all the parts that aren’t human taken away from the junk here?” Otto muttered to himself as he turned his back on the main screen. If it were his grandmother, she would probably draw a cross in front of her chest. But to Otto, who was an atheist, it was rather rare for him to even pray silently in his heart for a single moment.

“Even if it’s that kind of thing, it’s a piece of treasure to those guys from the recycling business. Shall we contact them to earn some bucks?”

Otto tried to speak up in a motivated tone to hide the fear inside him, but the laughter he hoped for never appeared, and he could only see First Officer Liam, who’s returning back to the navigation seat, roll the thick eyelids. That large burly 40 year old female, both horizontally and vertically, was larger than Otto himself, and like usual, stares at him without a smile, showing a frivolous attitude as she turns back to the console. Otto breathed hard through his nostrils to make up for this blank timing and ordered with a somewhat tired voice, “Alert removed. Operations to resume as per normal. Let the mobile suits return back to the ship.”

Communications Officer Bellard broadcasted this to the entire ship, and Liam looks back at Otto again, saying, “Was this good?” Otto was overwhelmed by that abnormally forceful poker face, and asks back, “Was there a problem?” Her face that was covered by some form of unknown make-up was staring at Otto, and she turned back forward without saying anything. ''What’s going on?'' Otto did not even have the strength to sigh out as he removed the helmet and looks up at the ceiling.

It’s said that a captain’s nightmare would be two things, one, losing a ship, and two, riding on a ship with a crew that’s not on good terms with him. However, Otto himself felt that there should be an additional item, and that will be having a large woman who was so hard to handle that he could not let his guard down around her as the First Officer. Otto managed to fight his way to the rank of a captain without any obvious battle accomplishments or camaraderie with people, only through his general qualifications. It was one thing for the battleship itself to be an unorthodox model that was hard to maneuver; it’s another thing for First Officer Liam’s existence to prick his nerves no matter when. Instead of saying that there were too many incompatible things between them…it’s more like she never had any intent of getting along. Whether it’s for good or bad, one could say that Liam had the temper of an artist, but her silent presence will sometimes overpower the captain and even dominate the atmosphere inside the bridge. Of course, it’s not like she herself didn’t try to avoid this situation through her own means, but her expression that already lacked emotion could give off a frivolous vibe. Sometimes, the crew on the ship will even say random things like “Captain Liam, First Officer Otto”.

In fact, in terms of instinctively detecting danger like an animal, her instincts were sharper than his, and her simple personality of ensuring the safety of the ship was guaranteed. That’s why he could not just leave her alone like that. Otto had already been looking forward to an ordinary life with no extraordinary events, but the aftermath of the battle this time may affect him in some way. ''No, I might not even be able to guarantee that I will survive this time.'' Thinking about it this time, Otto’s heart was covered with a layer of gloom.

Ever since the battle started, the command given by the advising headquarters were to ‘retreat’ and ‘remain on standby’. They were only told to first leave “Industrial 7” before the media surrounded them; remain on standby until reinforcements arrive, and nothing else. They lost more than half of their fighting capabilities, and the enemy was still out there, so even without instructions, they could only retreat. Even though they entered deep inside the shoal space region and use the debris of the colony as a place to hide, it’s been more than half a day since they were left alone.

''The retreat point was sent from the base coordinates of L1, so there’s no reason why the reinforcements could not find as. Since this mission is so special, is the reason why the reinforcements are so slow was because the higher-ups were arguing over ‘adjustments’ because of the unexpected damage from the battle? This might be more appropriate. It will be alright if we can get contact with the command of Londo Bell,'' Otto thought. ''If there’s something, the Londo Bell fleet will be on standby. Once they know that an ally is in trouble, they will hurry over to assist without waiting for the senators to make their decisions. But since we’re undertaking this secret mission under a direct from the Senate Council, we could not just make contact with our original affiliation as we wish—''

''Do we even have a next move?'' Otto felt tired over his thoughts that were going nowhere, and felt that it’s time to tidy his head that had been thinning in hair over the past few hours. He saw Commander Daguza Mackle walk in front the automatic door at the back, and hurriedly puts the captain’s hat that was hung on the side of the seat.

Daguza was wearing a deep dark brown normal suit which one would identify him as a member of ECOAS, and he removeed his helmet, turning his head around to look. He seems to understand what was going on with such a motion, and turns his narrow eyes at Otto, saying, “May I know if it’s true that you mistook debris for an enemy unit?” Daguza asked with a voice that sounded courteous “Just like what you’re seeing.” Otto answered back coldly.

“Luckily, we’re not facing the enemy…up till now, there were still no signs of our army appearing.”

Otto finally said with a wry tone. To Otto, the reason behind so much trouble was because of the unshakeable fact that COAS used them as a transport. To this transport captain who did not have much authority, ECOAS and the higher-ups of the Federation could be said to be birds of a feather. However, Daguza did not seem to mind. The large body with the cast wrapped around his left arm was standing beside the Captain’s side,

“Leaving aside our allies, the enemy will definitely arrive.” He continued without emotion,

“Unlike us, the “Sleeves” have a very simple objective. A simple enemy will be much faster in their movement.”

Liam gives a sinister look at Daguza. All the crew in the ship felt repulsed by the ECOAS members, but even since they left the dock, she seemed to have twice the hatred for Daguza than anyone else. ''Why in the world is this guy here?'' Otto leaves aside Liam’s expression that was telling him this, sighed and says, “That “box” they were talking about…?”

“That’s right. The enemy felt that we’ve taken the “box”.”

“How can you conclude so?”

“There’s no evidence to deny this. Even though the enemy’s depleted as well, that four-winged mobile suit is still out there. Once there’s a chance to get it, they will use force to come over to check.”

One could feel that beside Liam, everyone in the bridge suddenly jerked. Everyone knew that with their current firepower, they could not match the enemy machine that’s equipped with psycommu and was like a monster. ''Do I have to say it?'' Liam glares at Otto with the blaming look, “Looks like you’re trying to say that now’s not the time to leisurely wait for reinforcements.” Otto seized the initiative to talk.

“Yes. We’ll first break through with this ship before the enemy discovers us. It will be smarter to leave this space region.”

“Do you want me to ignore the orders from headquarters? Something like this…”

“Is within the jurisdiction of the current commander. A captain makes a decision by considering the safety of the ship and the crew, and after that, he could get recognition when everyone saw that he managed to preserve the weapons.”

Otto cannot say anything that will ensure the pride of a captain in response to Daguza’s solid logic. At this moment, Daguza seized the initiative and added on, “We should hurry and return back to “Lunar Two”.”

“The Gundam -type mobile suit that was taken back may very likely be related to the “Box”. The Senate Council will also hope for us to do such a thing.”

This report did reach headquarters. “But…” Otto’s eyes start to look away. He would not have any standing if he let Daguza beat him completely in giving suggestions. “I agree, captain.” Otto was panicking over what to argue back about as another voice rang inside the ship.

“But we’re not heading to “Lunar Two”, but the moon.”

As he says that, Alberto makes his way into the bridge. The normal suit he’s wearing makes his plump body stand out further as he stood beside the captain’s seat. He glanced at Daguza and gives a polite smile that was hard to stomach, saying “Unlike “Lunar Two” that’s on the other side of the Earth, the moon was just nearby, so it will be easily to head there, I suppose?” ''More than that, I’m really bothered that you would just randomly come in here.'' Before Otto could say that, Daguza let out a calm voice and said, “Not necessarily.” The fuse starting the debate immediately lit up.

“The enemy’s predicting that we will head to the Moon as well. There’s a possibility that we will be ambushed on the way. No matter how far the distance will be, we should move towards “Lunar Two”.”

“Space is large. I don’t think it’s easy to ambush us. Besides, we can still break through the ambush with our remaining fighting strength, right?”

“Our movements within the shoal space region are limited. Besides, in terms of military affairs, losing two-thirds of our fighting strength is practically total annihilation. Right now, it’s not a situation where we can simply force our way through.”

“In that case, we could not get to “Lunar Two”, right? Aren’t you a little too hasty to bring that “Gundam” back to the military, Commander Daguza?”

“We’ll naturally feel anxious if we don’t get reinforcements. That’s because the military command seem to have some civilian pressure in this mission.”

“That sounds like an excuse from you. You have to finish any mission. Isn’t that what a soldier should do? It will be unreasonable to blame it on us when the mission fails.”

“Because of this, I have to speak up as a soldier. Right now, we should have this ship break through this space region and return back to “Lunar Two”. There’s no other way to complete this mission.”

“What was your mission? To prevent the “Box” from falling into the hands of Neo Zeon? Or to use this chance to grab the “Box” and let the army use it?”

“Since you say so, Mr Alberto, what do you plan to do after taking the “Box” back to the moon? Are you going to lock the “Box” back into the shared treasury between Anaheim and the Vist Foundation like the past?”

This tug-of-war that left the captain aside finally paused at this point. As Alberto immediately tried to argue back, “KNOW YOUR PLACE!” Otto roared to stop him.

“This is a bridge, not a place for you to carry out your debates, and definitely not a place where outsiders could randomly come and go at will! I agree that ECOAS can do whenever they want to in this mission, but I didn’t say that your suggestions are welcomed, Commander Daguza.”

Daguza was definitely a mature adult for shutting up and backing away, but on the other hand, Alberto gives a smug look while looking like he managed to win this time, “ YOU TOO, MR ALBERTO!” and Otto could only do the same to him.

“Even if this is a secret mission, the limits of our ship’s actions are completely based around counter-terrorism. The reason why the reinforcements are delayed is simply because of a problem with the procedures, nothing to do with the “Box” at all. I hope you don’t forget your role as a civilian inspector.”

Even though he already knew that these would be words of an idealized scene, Otto said so as he stood by his words. “If that’s the case, I’m fine with it…” Alberto looks like he was not listening as he scratched his sagging cheek.

“Right now, the “Nahel Argama” is an independent force that was commanded by the Senate Council at the last minute. Under the jurisdiction of the counter-terrorist laws, our ship is already considered one of the few fighting forces who can act on their own without the Federation Senate’s permission, right? Who knows how much time we will take letting the main forces mobilize…as an inspector, I still suggest that we head to the moon. This is to prevent you from having to resign over such a large responsibility, captain.”

“Londo Bell has carried out countermeasures, but the Senate Council may be deliberately withholding information. Londo Bell might not even know that we’re waiting here to while they’re wary of multiple terrorism acts. I feel that we should head back to “Lunar Two” and wait for the Senate Council’s instructions.”

Daguza spoke up after Alberto did so. “I AM THE CAPTAIN HERE! ANYTHING WITHIN THIS SHIP WILL…” suddenly, a siren rang, causing the roaring Otto to swallow his words.

While everyone was still frozen there, Liam had already turned towards for the sensor operator’s seat. “What’s the matter!?” Otto asked with an enraged tone. “Another misjudgment. It looks like the piece of debris just now was slowing down.” The sensor operator’s voice caused Otto to be rooted.

“It’s probably some cooling agent or something accumulated inside spraying out. The target’s heat source is unstable. It’s a little hard to determine the identification conditions for it.”

Once the alert instruction was removed, Liam said with a calm voice. ''A Salamis-class debris floated here through some coincidence, slowed down due to some coincidence, triggering the motion sensor and the alarm?'' Otto holds back his sigh and asked, “What’s the relative velocity?”

“Zero comma. It’s already floating right above our ship.”

The main window shows the remnant that just so happens to be right above the ship. If the speed and heat weren’t stable, the Salamis-class debris would be mistaken as an unidentified unit once it changed trajectory. Though he could only pray for it to hurry up and leave the range, it just had to be of the same relative velocity as the Nahel Argama. “Was there a dead soul of Loum occupying it?” Otto glanced aside at Alberto who was saying it like it was somebody else’s business, grabs onto the handrail tightly and sighs hard. ''As a captain, I must not randomly roar out. I have to remain calm.'' Otto muttered to himself within his chest that’s about to explode and commands with a highly restrained voice, “Let the mobile suit squad remove it.”

“We should be able to push it out if it’s of that size.”

“But they returned back.”

The already impeccably calm Liam answered. “What?”

“They’ve returned back to the ship as you commanded before.”

''That’s what I was trying to ask you just now'' The emotionless Liam’s expression was saying so. ''Be clearer so that I could understand!'' As Otto argued back deep inside his heart while biting his lips, Communication Officer Bellard says, “Should we order them to launch again?” Otto saw that Daguza was looking away in an unimportant direction, and Alberto was giving a vague smile. The self-restraint he had several seconds ago was pointless as he roars, “SHOOT IT DOWN WITH THE MAIN CANNON!”

“Yes…” The weapons operator answered as he looks past Otto and right at ‘Captain” Liam’. “Why aren’t you repeating it!?” Otto’s enraged voice overwhelmed his doubt.

“Yes, main cannon, ready to be fired. Bridge’s designated target is…” The weapons operator frantically turned his face to the console and hurriedly sent the instructions to the gunnery room. Otto snorted out warm breath from his nose and steadied himself on the Captain’s seat again. Liam gave him a hesitant look. ''To heck with that, I’m the captain here. I can’t let my First Officer’s expression affect my own view, and there’s no reason for me to be told off by other squads or civilians. To a crew, a captain has to have god-like authority here. Isn’t this the pride and tradition of the seafarers ever since the times of the Navy?''

''Even so, wouldn’t it be too casual for me to use the main cannon?'' As a fearful wind brushed Otto’s back, the weapons operator’s report can be heard, “Front cannon, firing preparations complete.” causing Otto to swallow his saliva. ''Daguza and Alberto are looking at well. I could not take back the order. I’ll be looked down on by others all the more.'' As he made up his mind, Otto squeezed out a voice, “Get ready!”

“FIRE!”

===Part 3===

A mega-particle cannon of a battleship-class ship could be seen, and the power output was vastly different from a mobile suit’s beam rifle. The beam released by the enemy ship was a thin light that looks like a thread, and one could see it with the naked eye. The Salamis-class debris that was directly hit gave out light in the explosion and scattered all over the place, becoming small flickering lights. Marida Cruz saw all of that.

<nowiki><Just as expected. They even earnestly used the ship’s cannon for us. Now we know the position of the enemy></nowiki>

Gilboa Sant’s voice echoed throughout the bridge, and they could tell that he was extremely agitated through the wireless radio. Marida let her body float behind the steering seat and stared at the pitch black vacuum that extends out infinitely outside the window. Gilboa Sant’s “Geara Zulu” was about 90km away from this “Garencieres”, and was making full use of the sensors of the machine to detect the space region the enemy ship was in. From the relative position of less than 200km away, they should be able to see the beam and the explosion clearly. If the situation was good, they might even be able to detect the enemy’s correct position.

They found a piece of debris that was of the right size, cause it to produce heat, and let it float to the shoal space region that might have the enemy ship hidden inside. Once the enemy ship mistake it for an unknown enemy unit and send out units to intercept it, they could deduce the location of the ship through the units’ location. The “Sleeves” basically viewed the Shoal Space Region as a garden, so it was not hard for them to deduce a specific coordinate from a vague position. Also, the enemy ship firing the main cannon so carelessly allows them to save a lot on manpower. “Alright, call Gilboa to come back.” Leaving aside Suberoa Zinnerman’s voice, Marida asked herself, ''What kind of enemies are they…''

''From the experiences of what happened in Industrial 7, I could tell that they’re a squad that’s not used to battle. An ordinary Federation ship that viewed daily training as part of work…are they such an enemy? Then what’s the mysterious pressure I feel—''

“We’re moving to an area where we can carry out laser communication, and we’ll send out a message to the “Rewloola”. Is there still no actions at Industrial 7?”

“Just ships moving to and fro from the moon. Side 2 is sending aid, but there’s no signs of any forces residing there.”

In response to Zinnerman’s question, the other crew member who took over Gilboa’s seat answered as he sat on the navigator’s seat. The optical sensor received the visual image that’s far away, and there was an interrupted electronic news broadcast from long distance that was mixed with static. In the past few hours, he had been keeping his hand on the headset to listen to the situation. “Don’t tell me that ship got abandoned.” Flaste Schole said as he sat at the steering seat. Half a day had passed since then, and even the civilian aid had started. It was really strange that there was not even a Federation ship coming over for reinforcements. “They probably suffered by undertaking such a dishonorable mission and were most likely viewed to not have existed in the first place.” Leaving Zinnerman’s words behind, Marida focuses her consciousness in the vacuum.

The debris floating around absorbed the sunlight far away and let out white lights that were vaguely bright and faint at times. This was the shoal space region Marida was used to seeing, the space dust that distorts with the bright light. On that side, the remains of the colony were gathered, having a hidden heavy ‘presence’ inside. It was not the kind that could be felt on the battlefield, the ‘presence’ that would come over at her, but the ‘presence’ that’s coming out from a certain existent, one similar to the breathing of a beast…

“What is it, Marida? You sensed something?”

The doubtful voice hit her from behind as the consciousness that was being sucked into the vacuum returns to the body. Marida turned to the captain’s seat and looked at her master who detected her reaction through her eyes. They do have reinforcements, but the “Garencieres” had a setback in the mission, and was now isolated without help, which makes them not so different from the enemy ship. Marida sensed Flaste and the rest pricking their ears, and she, who was relied on as the sensor amongst the crew, was shown looks of concern. She lowered her head and says, “No, it’s just…”

“I feel that the princess isn’t in Industrial 7 anymore.”

Unexpected words came out from Marida’s mouth, and she shut up. She had never thought of this before until now—but she did realize it when she said it out. She sensed ‘her’ presence when she went by the mysterious pressure given off by the enemy’s ship. ''That’s right, did I hear ‘her’ voice before when I fought with that white mobile suit that’s most likely kept there…?''

“You’re thinking too much.”

Zinnerman approached Marida from behind and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk.

“The “Rewloola” will immediately attack that ship. Whether they have the “Box” or not, we just need to go back to Industrial 7 after that. We’ll definitely find her.”

Marida felt a sense of warmth in her shoulder that was touched. ''That’s right. It’s not my job to think. I just need to follow this person who’s giving me warmth from his hand behind me.'' “Understood, master.” She answered softly and temporarily releases the strength inside her. Zinnerman supports her loosened body with one arm and scratches the hard beard on his chin.

“Let’s check out Full Frontal’s abilities.”

===Part 4===

“The “Garencieres” sent a report to us?”

The moment he entered the door, Angelo Sauper asked with a voice that was loud enough to echo throughout the entire bridge. Sitting on the Captain’s seat was Ship Captain Hill, who gives an unhappy look to him, frowning as he says, “We’re able to search out the target’s L1 basic target thanks to their report.”

“It seems that they’re near the remnants of the colony. There aren’t any other enemies around. In another three hours, we can capture the enemy in our range.”

“Just like what we expected. Those guys are left on their own. That’s what happens to those who failed in their own secret mission.”

The smile on Angelo’s lips widened as he put his hand on the back of the Captain’s seat. Even though it might be viewed as being unruly, Hill had no intent on correcting him. As the piloting crew of the transport carrier was in charge of protecting their forces, the atmosphere was such that they will allow for any forms of insubordination and overruling of authority. Amongst them, Full Frontal’s own escort squad’s identity was even more unique. Angelo ignored the Vice-commander’s look of frustration as he turned his eyes to the navigation screen.

Down the indicated arched trajectory of L1 in a block of shoal space region, the light spot representing the target was blinking. The coordinates were <nowiki><L1+02373.E39034.N44393></nowiki>. The speed and distance in space could only be indicated in relative terms, but the relative positions between the Earth and the Moon would remain constant. If the average value of the gravity of Earth and the Moon was used, they could at least mark an absolute value on the coordinate trajectory. At their current speed, they will need 3 hours before reaching their target. If they accelerate, they would reach the target earlier, but it was no picnic accelerating too much in the shoal space region. Even though they were using their own shoal space region maps that were much more detailed than the universal specifications, they could not avoid all the debris, and the ship itself was grazing by space dust and rubble of all sizes. Angelo felt that Ship Captain Hill’s judgement was correct and simply looked around at the bridge with more than ten communication operators working.

The bridge of the “Rewloola”, which had entered space for less than 5 years, was still considered a new model. This bridge in particular had an outstanding view and wide space, which Angelo really fancied. The unique traits were the ceiling that was most likely two levels high and the setup that puts the navigator’s seat cleanly in mid-air with support, allowing the operators to work right above the Captain. The observation window that was designed for one purpose only was put at the front to preserve sight, the 3-dimesional space was effectively used, and all the designs on the bridge could be used independently in battle. It could be said that the “Rewloola” itself was one of the results of the ship-building ideas during the Minovsky era that was maximized.

The ship’s shape itself had quite the characteristics as well. The ship’s body looked like a triangular block from above, and had many curves all over it to make it look alive. The 6 ball shaped booster tanks that were placed on both sides of the hulls look like the eggs of a living thing. It was not a far-cry to say that the “Rewloola” inherited the design of the large battleship of the old Republic of Zeon’s army, the Sadalahn-class. As for the reason why the ship itself was painted scarlet red, that was because the ex-commander-in-chief Char once rode on this ship, leaving behind a great influence.

The second Neo Zeon war was also known as Char’s Counterattack. Char Aznarble was the commander of the army at that time—as the son of the deceased Zeon Deikum and also the Zeon army’s Red Comet that terrorized the Federation. It was impossible for the flagship he rode on before not to be painted with the color red. He was about to send the hammer of judgement to the Federation to let the world known that the son of Zeon was to end his time of hiding. The “Rewloola” had to have the color red on it.

After an intense battle, the Neo Zeon army retreated in defeat, and the commander-in-chief Char disappeared as well, but such a closure made it hard to actually decide the winner. Londo Bell, which was the frontline of the Federation, took a devastating blow, letting the Neo Zeon fleet. After spacing into the Shoal Space region, they had an idea of using the remaining forces to launch special attacks, but after having lost their spiritual leader in Char, the Neo Zeon army was basically divided. At least half of the survivors scattered, and the fleet that became an empty space stayed in an asteroid full of resources that was basically a wasteland to catch their breaths, waiting for their annihilation—until that man called “The Second Coming of Char” appeared again, prompting Neo Zeon to rise again for the third time.

It had been 2 years after that. The “Rewloola” regained the life it had back then, and right now, the revived Neo Zeon army that was derogatory called “Sleeves” started to make use of its capabilities as a flagship. Including the Captain, most of the members were new, but there were still some deserters amongst the NCOs. Angelo felt there would not be an end to this if he was to pursue this, and he had no intent of doing so as well.

These activists included people who once escaped and yet came back after knowing that Neo Zeon was coming back, people of the Deikum sect and the Zabi sect who had been arguing against each other and started fighting over the basic ideologies as well. Angelo felt that they were all existences that could not be replaced. ''What the revived Neo Zeon army needs were the passion of young people and young blood. Only the young who will not dwell in their past defeats and focus all their efforts on revolution could became the core of the organization. That man had admitted this as well. That man who had the innate nobility and talent to lead us from birth intend to fulfill the ideas of Zeon and the real independence of Spacenoids. The pain and loneliness of Mankind that’s bestowed to the world was ultimately not what the vast number of vulgar people could understand. As he looks around at the bridge crew that were giving him stupefied looks, Angelo fluffs up the fringe that’s sagging down to his forehead and says to Ship Captain Hill, “We’re getting ready to launch.”

“The battle will end in ten minutes. We just need to watch the battle here, Captain.”

“Sounds really intense. Will it really be that easy?”

On hearing Hill’s distressed tone, Angelo stopped his feet that were about to turn.

“The Federation had already done this trick of using optical observation on the shoal space region. They probably know about where we are. While they will normally let us go, this situation now involves that Laplace Box or something, right? If it were so secretive that the Manhunters have to be mobilized to take it back, the news that we’re closing in should be received by the enemy ship.

“The Federation’s ability to adapt isn’t that good. The number of forces they can hide is limited. Right now, they should be arguing amongst themselves over what they should be doing. None of them want to take responsibility for this.”

“That’s good if that were the case.”

“There’s no sign of reinforcements, right? No one’s backing them, that’s why.” Angelo showed a formal smile and let his body float towards the door. “Besides, if those guys were so efficient, we would be annihilated. The human economy isn’t so solid that it can be balanced in complete safety after all.”

“An occasional terrorist attack isn’t anything much if we consider the millions of jobless people, is that so?”

“That’s the case. That’s why there’s a need to change this rotten society, to allow humanity to live on for another 100 years.”

Captain Hill narrowed his eyes slightly as he answered with silence. ''You’re still green'', these words were telegraphed to Angelo’s back, and Angelo answered in his heart ''I’ll remember that'' as he left the bridge.

===Part 5===

The moment he arrived on the mobile suit deck, the smell of grease and the body heat permeated the air inside the enclosed space, and the air that was heated by the electric cables let out such a smell. Angelo was bothered that the smell of cologne on his uniform was nullified as he kicked the floor, passed through a passage and floated to the large deck.

There were 12 mobile suits docked inside the “Rewloola”. In the large and expansive space, 6 mechanical hangars were lined up on each side, and one could see the main machines “Geara Zulu” placed them. The mobile suit silhouette itself was based on the Zaku-types of the Republic, and the part that was basically the wrist had a sleeve logo drawn on it. One could tell its affiliation from the logo’s color or the design itself, and this was the reason why the Neo Zeon army was derogatorily called “Sleeves”. Also, leaving aside the blade antenna that indicated the leader’s machine, even the shoulder armor all had flexibility that allowed affiliation or rank to be changed, which allowed the “Geara Zulu” to show the characteristic of not being a mass-produced suit.

Amongst them, the most eye-catching would be the escort squad’s machine. Angelo let his body flot towards the 3 escort squad machines on the deck. The machine had sharp armor plates on both shoulders, and the fixed shields were removed, making the silhouette more offensive. The back had two thruster tanks and stabilizers, and they were attachments that were taller than the shoulders, and one could imagine them to be like angel’s wings. The other thruster tank and stabilizer that was not installed was on the back of the butt, poking out like a tail, causing the entire appearance to be more suitably described as a demon, a ferocious demon that protects the Red Comet—

Most notably, Angelo’s squad leader machine was designed with a purple base coloring, making it stand out from the thick green machines. While checking the preparations for his own machine, Angelo went for the mechanical hangar’s platform. As the mechanic officer and the rest were inspecting on the spare parts, the other two pilots of the escort squad quickly saluted Angelo.

[[Image:KSGU3 0105.jpg|thumb]]

These two people were the tall, lankly blond with good looks, Lieutenant Cuarón and Ensign Sergi with cold green eyes. Both of them were officers in their early 30s, and the green uniforms of the escort squad really suited them. These two backup pilots and the other mechanics on this ship who were less than 30 years old were all part of Full Frontal’s own personal escort squad. However, they were given special privileges in equipment and training. Each of them was strictly chosen from the army, talents who were able to beat 100 enemies. Angelo stepped onto the platform and notified the duo, “We’re sorting out in 3 hours. Remain on standby until then.” Cuarón and Sergi stood still “Yes, Lieutenant Angelo.” They chanted.

“It will be your first battle as part of the escort squad for you today, Ensign Sergi. How does the “Geara Zulu” of our escort squad look?”

“Yes! The machine’s more specialized in long distanced combat than I imagined, but I’ll try to get used to me. I won’t forget your kindness in nominating me for the escort squad.”

“Don’t give yourself pressure. Meritocracy is Zeon’s tradition. Just perform as per usual…besides, there probably won’t be any chance for you to perform this time.”

Cuarón gave a meaningful smile, and Sergi frowned in a puzzled manner. Angelo flicked his own fringe and told Sergi, “The Captain will be sorting out today. There’s no work for us.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll understand once the battle starts.”

Angelo inadvertently curled his lips and turned his eyes to the mechanic behind him, ordering them, “Captain Full Frontal will be coming over. Don’t ever ease up the atmosphere in the mobile suit deck until the end.” The mechanic answered, “Yes, I’ll inform the rest!’ and floated away from the platform. Angelo watched him leave, and in his eyes, he saw a mobile suit that was docked in the deepest part of the deck. The crimson red giant was larger than the “Geara Zulu”. As Angelo stared at the cockpit that was basically the abdomen of the machine, the excited Sergi whispered to him, “So the rumors are really true?”

“Like how the Captain won’t wear a normal suit when sorting out.”

The green eyes flickered, and Sergi looked like he wanted to say “It’s like…” Angelo corrected Sergi inside his heart. ''It’s not that it seems, but that it is'', “Yeah, there’s no need for that for the Captain.”

“That’s because he has the belief that he will definitely return from the battlefield.”

Sergi’s boyish face turned slightly red as his eyes were captured by the red mobile suit. Cuarón turned his back on Sergi, smiling proudly, while Angelo turned his eyes onto the machine that was waiting for the master to arrive. The MSN-06S “Sinanju” was a crimson red machine that used a large around of curves as part of Zeon’s flair and had a elegant and streamlined contour. ''That is the only mobile suit that matches that man, the Red Comet who will snatch the Box, which has a secret that can topple the Federation, and liberate the world.'' Angelo was immersed in his own motivating thoughts as he smiled away in a fanatical manner.

===Part 6===

<nowiki><All personnel, regaining space visual department. All passages open.></nowiki>

A vague voice could be heard as it echoed through the speakers inside the ships. As he saw the sergeant beside him heave a sigh and remove his helmet, Banagher asked, “Is it over?”

“Yeah. You can take it off too.” The sergeant answered while he took off the fastener of the normal suit. This middle-aged sergeant who was giving off a vibe that he trained officer was an NCO who was assigned to guard the command post, and it seemed that he was an old-timer who had the most experience in being a guard. He was the one who brought Banagher here to evacuate after the siren alert for battle rang. They were near the “Unicorn”s maintenance hangar, and several rows of normal suits were lined up in this room. Currently, he and Banagher were the only ones around.

As the wireless network in the ship was activated during battle, they could hear the conversations between the bridge and all the other departments. However, Banagher still could not say that he could even vaguely understand the conversations that included lot of technical jargon. Even though he could roughly tell that this raid was a bogus judgment, it was still a mystery why the main cannon of the ship was fired. As they were evacuating, he could hear messages like <nowiki><Backup personnel, swap duties 5 minutes earlier></nokwiki> and <nowiki><Execute Assignment A></nowiki>, and he could see the passengers walking around frantically at the doors. ''They’re working, huh?'' Banagher thought blankly. ''Even if they’re the military, there’s nothing unique about them. They’re just like the workers in the factories, doing their own duties to let the ship move, that’s all—''

“That’s why I’m asking where you’re bringing me to…haa? How will I know if the squad leader doesn’t?”

The sergeant growled angrily into the room’s internal phone he picked up. The lax assignment of duties caused the crew to be unable to handle the unexpected situation. ''Everyone’s not used to an actual battle, huh?'' As he thought about that, Banagher was about to keep the normal suit he put on as a familiar color and shape crossed by him.

“Haro…?”

Banagher did not think that he made a mistake in identifying it. He went after the green ball that moved past the door and arrived outside the locker room. “Oi, don’t just run out like that!” the sergeant growled. “That’s mine.” Banagher answered and held onto the grip lift. “Oi, wait!” Banagher kicked the floor as he ignored the sergeant who left the phone behind.

Banagher thought that he could catch Haro immediately, but it ignored his calls as it flapped its ears and nimbly turned around the corner. “Oi, you! Hold it!” as he heard the sergeant’s growls behind him, Banagher switched grip lifts at a cross junction and moved down a narrow passage 90 degrees aside. ''That’s weird. There’s no reason for Haro to ignore me like this. Maybe somebody else gave it a verbal command. If the memory’s not deliberately deleted later, Haro will treat the owner and anyone it talked to for a long time as a friend. If it can follow even a simple command, the only ones on this ship who are registered as friends are Takuya, Micott, and as for the rest—''

At the second turn of the cross junction, Banagher finally caught up to Haro just before it turned around the corner. As he carried it, he felt that it stopped on its own, and said, “This isn’t good. You have to be with everyone.” Haro’s eyes merely flickered as it answered, ''<Haro>'' Banagher was about to return to the locker room when a hand reached out for the coat of the collar.

Banagher was pulled from the back of his head and went into a door on the passage that was opened. He wanted to share it off immediately, but got a glimpse of the emerald green eyes that shone in the dim light, and his heart pounded crazily.

“There’s no time, Banagher. Listen to me.”

''Audrey.'' The mouth of the emerald-eyed girl covered Banagher who was about to call her name, and she showed an irritated look, muttering quickly, “Oi, brat. Answer me!” On hearing the sergeant’s angry growl pass by the door, Banagher nodded at her. Audrey released the hand holding Banagher down and led him deep into a room that was like a storeroom with all the lights switched off.

The light that shone in through the door caused the purple cape that fluttered with the air to appear. ''Why is she here? What happened to Ensign Mihiro and the rest? There were a lot of things Banagher really wanted to ask, but he did not even have the time to ask as Audrey pushed him to the pile of cardboard boxes that was fastened with a belt, and brought her face close to a distance where he could feel her breathing. She let out a questioning voice, “Did you really activate the “Unicorn Gundam”?”

“Unicorn…Gundam?”

The term was something he knew, yet it felt alien to him. Banagher repeated the term that was that felt like a mysterious curse, sometimes safe and sometimes dangerous like a parrot. "So that was the name of that machine." Banagher accepted it in his heart unconditionally. “What happened?” Audrey’s anxious voice repeated.

“Seemed that way…”

“You say it seems—”

“I don’t really know. Everything happened so quickly. There wasn’t even a warning or something…”

Banagher diverted his eyes away from the frowning Audrey as his eyes escaped to the shadow formed by the gaps between the boxes. The bloodied face in his nightmare appeared in the shadows , causing him to clench his fists.

On one hand, Cardeas talked about believing in possibilities and doing what one had to do. On the other hand, he could hear Cardeas talk through the wireless network like a war merchant. "Which one is the real you?" Banagher thought as he recalled the words Alberto said. “Alright.” At this moment, Audrey sighed. She turned away as she made up her mind.

“Can you still activate it?”

Audrey’s voice sounded rather sound. "Eh?" Banagher thought as he looked up. As he was held down by the intimidating stare in her eyes, he answered, “I guess…”

“Then, leave this place with me.”

Her calm voice caused Banagher to hold his breath and gasp. He looked around meaninglessly, and then asked, “Here, as in, this ship?” as he stared at Audrey who was floating 30cm away from him. She however did not even nod.

“Impossible. I can’t do this.”

“There’s always a way when you get onto the Gundam. The ship crew here isn’t experienced enough. The remaining problem is to shake off the Special Forces.”

Audrey said as she diverted her eyes to a corner of the ceiling. Banagher realized that there was a surveillance camera there, and exchanged looks with her serious expression. He eked out a voice, “Audrey…”

“You can still make it back to Industrial 7 now. Once you reach there, I’ll deal with the machine. You’ll be fine when you say that you were threatened, right?”

“But…”

“That’s a dangerous machine that can’t be handed to anyone. We have to destroy it before it docks in the Federation base…”

“Please wait for a while, okay…!”

Banagher was driven by the fear that was about to blow him up from within as he subconsciously grabbed Audrey’s shoulders. He pulled her body down from the air and stared at the eyes that were at the same height level as him. Audrey looked over with an expression that was hard to discern.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What did you say that mobile suit is? Please explain it clearly to me.”

“There’s no time now. I’ll explain the details to you later. First…”

“How can I decide on something without knowing what’s going on!? Why must you talk to me like this!?”

“Like this…?”

“Like you have to do this, like there’s a need to do that. It’s really too sly to try and force someone to accept it in such a way…besides, ain’t I not someone you don’t nee?”

Even though he felt that it was sneaky of him to say it, Banagher still said it. Everyone only thought of saying what would be convenient to them and not actually talking heart to heart. Even though those were the words of others, he could only feel empty as he was left in the lurch. "What can I believe now when some things have to be decided in such a situation now?"

Banagher felt that his stomach was starting to heat up as he shut up and turned his back on Audrey. He pressed a fist against a cardboard box and muttered with clenched fists, “Everyone’s making decisions on their own…”

“You too, the people here too, even that man…” The heat continued to swell and rise in him, breaking through his restrain. Realizing this, Banagher closed his eyes and squeezed out his remaining words, “Saying that he’s my father out of a sudden…”

“Father?”

“Forcing that kind of mobile suit to me, saying it’s the curse of the Vist Family, and the Laplace Box or something…I don’t even know what’s what now!”

Banagher felt that Audrey held her breath. “Are you talking, about that Cardeas Vist? Then, you’re the Vist family—”

“I don’t know! I was separated from him when I was young, and I couldn’t even remember his face. He didn’t come over to mother’s funeral, he wouldn’t even meet us, and now out of a sudden…”

The thoughts after that never became words. The hatch limiting his emotions was gone. Fear and anger raged on in his abdomen as if it was a backlash of emotions that was held for several hours. After a stunned silence, Audrey muttered, “Such things happened…” Banagher could hear the surprised voice that seemed to understand something from behind him as he moved to reach for Haro that was floating in the air with nowhere to go.

This was an old toy that he continued to maintain and update ever since he received it as a Christmas gift at the age of 5. The familiar touch entered his clutches safely. At that time, the fad for toys ended in less than a year, and it was a long time ago since the time when the manufacturer stopped sales of Haro. Even so, Banagher never let go of Haro when he entered middle school. He would try his best to repair it himself whenever it was spoilt, and his mother would often nag at him in an annoyed manner,

''“Just give it up already. Haro’s already at its limit. Isn’t it weird to go around with an old toy?”''

''“It can still move if I repair it. That’s nothing bad about it.”''

How did the mother feel when she knew who gave that Haro to this son of hers who argued back? No, Banagher had already realized that it was a gift from his father, and his mother knew that Banagher already knew about that. Even though nobody said it out, both of them viewed that as an unspoken secret and accepted Haro as a family member. ''Why am I still bringing it around? Is it because it’s the only thing linking me to the father I know? I never had the feeling of wanting to meet my father before.''

''No—I probably still want to meet him. I created an impression of father myself though mother’s words and the immaturity of my sealed memories. I let myself believe to make up for the ‘absent’ reality, and there are still a lot of things I should really look forward too.'' Banagher was hoping that he could one day lift his head up high and meet the man who was his father, and such an idea gave him his minimum level of aspiration and made him not stay inside the slums that were his hometown. Perhaps it was this motivation to improve that was effective in a certain way that was able to allow him to endure his mother’s death and take on that loneliness of being isolated by the world.

''But in reality—''Banagher put down Haro and closed up the seal of his memories. Haro floated around in zero gravity, hit the wall and flicker its eyes, flapping its ears and making some sounds.

“…A long time ago, there was a story that was passed down like a legend.”

As Haro made noises, Audrey’s voice directed itself at Banagher, who moved his face slightly.

“Once the Laplace Box is opened, the Federation government will reach its end.”

Banagher was driven by a pulsating feeling and turned behind. He saw Audrey rooted over there, a figure in the darkness.

“This isn’t something everyone knows of. However, something that involves the center of what they call society will naturally reach some people’s ears somewhere. One must fear the Vist Foundation. They have the Box. Those that follow the Foundation will have riches and honors, and those who disobey will have death…”

It felt like a supernatural story. Banagher swallowed his saliva, but Audrey shrugged him aside as she continued to state calmly,

“Nobody knows what was inside that Box, but they knew it really existed. The Laplace Box was a form of convenience obtained from the government, an invisible pressure on the government’s eyes. The most triumphant example is the Anaheim Electronics company. It single-handedly controls the military needs and public needs, and won’t be pursued even when it was helping Neo Zeon. Without the backing of the Vist Foundation, it would be impossible to imagine that they would have such rights.”

Banagher unwittingly used his hand to touch the chest of his jumper. The initials and crest of Anaheim Electronics was printed on it, and they left a rough feeling on his fingers.

“Cardeas Vist intended to hand that Box over to the “Sleeves”…Neo Zeon. The location was Industrial 7, the colony builder that was under the name of the Vist Foundation. However, the Federation army sniffed out signs of the deal and sent this ship and the Special Forces over. And then…”

That battle happened. Banahger sense that his body was about to tumble over as he used his hand to hold onto the pile of cardboard boxes.

“I had to prevent the Laplace Box from being handed over to Neo Zeon. I don’t know Cardeas Vist’s real intent. However, Neo Zeon still can’t use that Box. Once that power that can topple the Federation land in their hands, there will undoubtedly be a war that will be like the One Year War, causing devastation on both sides.”

Banagher recalled the history shows he once saw on the television, the images of the colony landing on earth. It was an idea of ‘throwing a colony down’ that a colony in orbit was slowed down to act as a mass bomb. The military country controlled by the Zabi family, the atrocities of Zeon, the moment the megacity was wiped out, and how the landscape was changed as a result, bringing about all sorts of calamities onto the earth. There was no need for special technology and expenses. By manipulating the resources around them, they were able to cause a disaster that never happened before—''that’s right, it’s not difficult to destroy the world just like that.'' Banagher abruptly thought.

''With some imagination and madness to do it, it’s not difficult to destroy the world. There are definitely many chances to start a war of total annihilation, but people probably haven’t discovered them yet. If the Laplace Box contains such methods, and if they end up in the hands of Neo Zeon that is the descendant of Zeon…''

“Neo Zeon hasn’t obtained the Box yet, but since they know it exists, they will come for it no matter how many times. The same thing as yesterday will happen again. A war will start. We have to destroy it before it actually happens.”

“Don’t tell me, that is…”

''There’s no need to hear the answer.'' Audrey answered with her eyes.

“It’s not the Box itself, but a guide to the Box. Cardeas Vist handed the key to open the Box, the “Unicorn Gundam”…that machine to you, his heir.”

The last words Cardeas left behind and the words about the “Unicorn Gundam” everyone on the ship was rambling about started to echo in Banagher’s head. He slowly floated around in zero gravity, leaning his back on the cardboard boxes. Audrey stared at him and twitched her long eyelashes slightly.

“I don’t feel that the current world is perfect. We have a lot we want to say as well, but if we let so many people die…I think there’s still a way to gradually change the world’s thinking. Up till now, humanity has managed to survive like this. It’s better not to have such a thing like the Laplace Box—”

“Who, who are you?”

''I couldn’t listen to everything you said.'' He said. Audrey’s shoulders jerked slightly.

“It’s like you know everything about Neo Zeon…it’s like I’m listening to some great person. It’s different from your voice in Industrial 7.”

Audrey lowered her head and closed her mouth. It was the same whenever she faced him and raised some unreasonable requests; it was the same when she said that she did not need him, the helpless look she showed during that short moment after she finished her words. The wavering of emotions that were restrained showed that she was actually rather delicate. She was smart and had a strong sense of responsibility, but in contrast, those emerald eyes would not see anything else once she was determined. The side of her face that showed a slight smile when she called herself duckweed was alluring enough to drag him in. It was not simply because Banagher could resonate with her emotionally, but that he realized that there’s a spark in the resonance to her existence.

Right now, Audrey did not have that charisma. Even as she pretended to talk in like an adult, it was the same. The way she held back by her position as she spoke covered her up. ''Is it because she can’t remain undefended against me once she feels that I’m necessary to her? If that’s the case, I might as well be someone unnecessary to her.'' “Let me hear your voice.” Banagher said. ''This alone won’t be able to create a spark because I’m not smart enough to act based on logic.''

“I want to hear, not about what you have to do, but what you want to do. If you’re willing to tell me…”

What can I do then? Banagher’s voice softened as he spoke, and he was unhappy about his own sputtering as he waited for Audrey to speak up. ''Logic doesn’t matter. Just find something that allows you to find your passion. Find a passion that allows us to be together, that passion that can’t be created in the disjointed world, that passion that can resist the icy cold world.'' Banagher felt that no matter whom Audrey was, that would be enough for him to escape from here. ''To save her, I have to bear the weight of the world—''even if Cardeas’ words became reality.

Audrey lowered her eyes and clenched her fists, having finally showed an expression of realization. She stared at Banagher.

“I want—”

“What are you two doing?”

A cold voice suddenly rang, interrupting the rest of the words. Banagher froze and at the door from past Audrey’s shoulders, who in turn was stunned. With the light source shining from the corridor, Banagher could tell that it was Micott standing at the door.

“Being all sneaky over here…what are you doing, you? Pretending to be missing along with everyone, is there something you want to discuss with Banagher?”

Micott let out stinging words as she grabbed tightly onto the door frame. Banagher felt the icy expression from her eyes as he stood in front of Audrey. “I’ll take to you later, Micott…” he said “WHEN’S LATER!?” Micott’s loud voice echoed throughout the room, causing the skin to tremble.

“A lot of thing was messed up ever since this woman appeared here! Are you one of the terrorists allies? Now you’re intending to trick Banagher? What are you planning?”

''I just entered a trap I dug myself and forgot about''—he had such a feeling. “I…” Audrey muttered softly, only to stop midway and bite her lips. Banagher saw this and instinctively growled back, “Micott, that’s not right of you.” “What…” Micott cringed back as her eyes showed signs of tears.

“The colony we lived in is ruined! Slyvia and Mario disappeared like dust! Even Anaheim Electronics was blown with the ground…do you think I can forgive her!?”

No response. He felt that Micott’s response was the normal one, and yet felt that he had to continue to keep a secret. Both these issues bore down on Banagher’s heart, and the thought of him being the worst traitor bored down on his heart. ''I can’t go back to Industrial 7. I can’t remain in the days with the disjointed feeling. It’s really a path of no return.'' All sorts of thoughts appeared in Banagher’s heart.

“If you’re allied with the terrorists, I—”

She stared at Audrey with teary eyes and eked out a voice before stopping there. “Ah, over here.” “Miss Micott, disappearing like that out of a sudden is really…” as they wondered why other voices came over from the passage, Takuya and Ensign Mihiro appeared at the door.

Takuya first noticed them in the room as he blinked and said, “Huh, Banagher?” Mihiro, who put his hand on Micott’s shoulder, showed a shocked expression as she said with an absent-minded tone, “What are you doing here, Miss Audrey? Everyone’s been looking for you.” After a short pause, “Sorry, but I’m still not used to controlling the liftgrip.” Audrey said the answer she had already prepared beforehand. Banagher looked back in Micott’s direction after seeing Audrey answer, and realized that they would be doomed if things were revealed here. However, Micott did not look at anyone as she merely shook of Mihiro’s hand to leave the scene.

“Wait, Miss Micott!” Mihiro called out as she chased after her. Banagher too got onto the corridor and witnessed Mihiro turn around the cross junction. Takuya then got up from behind to clamp Banagher on the neck and whisper, “What exactly is going on?”

“Even if you ask…”

“I did help you speak up the last time, but actually, I still haven’t accepted things yet.”

Takuya put his hand on Banagher’s hand and glanced at the door of the room where Audrey was in. Banagher’s fingers that were placed on Takuya’s arm shuddered slightly.

“Her lack of immigration record will be exposed once we get back to “Industrial 7”. You better put an end to this before that happens.”

Takuya quickly finished and released Banagher, stepping on the floor to leave. ''He’s not actually angry, but worried about me.'' Banagher stared at the back of Takuya that gave this vibe and saw a glimmer of hope. He then met Audrey’s eyes at the door. ''Put an end to this—how?'' As both their eyes gazed into each other’s “You brats actually came all the way here!?” a rude grol rang through the corridor, and the guard showed a completely different expression as he stood at the cross junction.

===Part 7===

The reason why Daguza could not avoid that shadow completely was because he had to protect his lleft arm that was fastened with the cast. He quickly kicked the wall and barely managed to avoid direct collision. After seeing that person who lost her balance slightly, he gasped a little.

The person had slight wavy long black hair and long legs under her shorts. The girl who basically did not look like she was a member of the ship crew was the reason why he gasped. She probably did not use the liftgrip, but used inertia to move over. Daguza grabbed the girl as she looked like she was going to slam into the wall quickly and let her hold onto the liftgrip well.

“Excuse me…”

“No worries.”

The girl did not look like she minded about this as she held onto the liftgrip and slowly moved. She was one of the civilians he met in the recreation room, the girl who brazenly said that her father was a factory owner. Daguza saw this girl who looked a little lifeless, completely different from before and mused in his heart: ''To think that they’ll let civilians move around the ship like that…'' and sighed as he got ready to hold onto the liftgrip again.

''It’s worrying that the fracture’s unable to heal because of long-term exposure to zero gravity. I want to hurry up and get to a place with gravity, but how are we going to let the ship move to “Lunar Two”?'' Daguza thought of that very bothersome Alberto’s face and was about to think of a way as a troubled voice could be heard from behind. “Erm…”

The black-haired girl stopped in the middle of the corridor. The half-turned face showed a hesitant expression, and once their eyes met, it looked like she intended to avoid Daguza, who noticed that the girl’s eyes were drenched in tears.

“There’s something I don’t know who I should talk to about…”

Despite being troubled, the girl said with a depressed-sounding voice. Daguza moved his hand away from the liftgrip.

===Part 8===

The metal door to the monitor room was pushed open. Conroy, who leaned the his big body on the terminal monitor, had his eyes half opened in a dazed manner.

“I want to connect with the ship’s database archive. Can it be done?”

Daguza quickly spoke to stop Conroy before the grumbling about how he should be sleeping came. Conro’'s expression changed the moment he saw the ID card that was obtained. “Please use it.” Conroy said as he stopped his half-completed assignment and gave up his seat in front of the terminal. Daguza pulled the chair and swiped the ID on the card reader beside the computer.

Daguza typed in the 10-digit password he remembered on the keyboard with his free right hand. The log-in screen shown on the access page was the database network managed by the Federation Central Intelligence, a download right a Londo Bell ship would have. Of course, only those of cadre class could log in, and the important classified information were removed from here. However, it was an important treasure when searching for particular information—for example, the appearance of a terrorist or a fugitive. Daguza first chose the picture comparison option, and entered the ship staff’s database, entered the name and gender and let the program pick up the selected photographs.

“Are these the civilians kept on board?”

Conroy let out a surprised voice as he looked at the photo shown on the terminal. All the civilians had their face photos and fingerprint data collected before they were taken on board the battleship. “This may be it.” Daguza did not actually believe that girl, Micott Bartsch’s testimony completely without belief, but once she mentioned it, he did notice something. He had an impression that he saw this somewhere before when he saw that person. As the relation between those two was too sudden, Daguza’s mind did not have time to actually think.

The forehead, eyebrows, eyes. The data match with the photo appeared in that order, and gradually formed a complete face. The search ended, and the face that was no different from the photo was shown on the matchup column. It was a front face photo that was secretly taken, CG repaired. The name was—

“This person is…”

Conroy let out a hoarse voice as he brought his pale face to the terminal. Daguza held his fingertips that looked like they were trembling, trying not to show any emotion, and briefly answered, “Keep it down.”

“Don’t take your eyes off ‘her’.”

''That’s all we can only do right now.'' Daguza gave this command to a still-puzzled Conroy and closed the database.

===Part 9===

The Captain’s room was not a place a pilot should be entering unless there was an order. Besides, it made even less sense for a pilot to be welcomed by the captain so much if the pilot had not achieved such a huge accomplishment.

“Ah, you’ve arrived. Come now, take a seat here.”

However, such an unreasonable situation was happening. Riddhe was prompted by Captain Otto’s mysterious courteous smile as he sat on the sofa of the reception room. Right beside him was Squad Leader Norm, who was invited in earlier, giving an ugly expression as compared to Otto. Riddhe could not tell exactly what was going on as he was suddenly summoned in after being on standby, and could only remain cautious and wait for the unexpectedly excited Otto to speak up. The officer room attendant wearing a white servant uniform served some cutlery for tea and poured red tea into the trio’s cup.

“This is an actual produce from Earth. It’s not cheap, but it’s one of the few forms of relaxation for me. I normally bug my wife to let me carry this onto the ship. Here, have some.”

The attendant left the room as Otto said with a very good mood. Riddhe glanced aside to check on Norm’s expression, deduced the moods, and realized that there would be no problems for him to start drinking as he sat properly, took the teacup, and answered, “Yes! I’m tucking in.”. Riddhe took the teacup, had a sip, and tasted the sweetness amidst the bitterness. “Ah, that’s right.” Otto suddenly patted his thigh as he said this. Riddhe barely managed to take a first gulp as he resisted the urge to spurt out the red tea.

“You’re born on Earth, Ensign. I suppose things like this red tea from England aren’t something rare?”

Otto chuckled while giving the vibe that he’s forcing things. Riddhe saw Norm’s slightly moving cheeks, understood that he intended to laugh with it, and pretended to give a smile as he answered, “No, not at all.” Both of them gave empty smiles that stopped inside this reception room, giving the mood that something annoying would be discussed within this room.

“Then, there is no special reason why I invited both of you. I suppose you can understand the situation in our ship now, Ensign?”

“Yes…”

“Ever since the battle started, we had only two instructions issued from the Central Council. Retreat, and standby. I really want to assist in the colony evacuation, but since we are on a special mission from the general headquarters, we can’t show ourselves in front of the media. We could only leave the colony after taking back the spare parts of that Gundam.”

''Shouldn’t this be part of the Captain’s jurisdiction?'' Riddhe really did not want to laugh with him as he put the red tea to his lips to avoid answering.

“We’re hiding inside the shoal space region like this…but there’s still no sign of reinforcements. It seems that Londo Bell has taken action, but just on usual alert. We can tell that the headquarters on Londenium have not grasped our location. Even if we want to alert Command, we can’t communicate with them when we’re under special orders even though we belong to them.”

Otto, who took a sip of red tea, showed a faint glint in his eyes. At this moment, I thought of you.” On hearing these words, ''Here we go again.'' Riddhe thought.

“If I’m correct, your father does have quite the high standing amongst the Central Council, correct? Ronan Marcenas. It’s said that he’s the chairman of the Settlement Issues Council, and also very active on national defense, a truly impressive important senator.”

''And an ‘if I’m correct’ to top it off.'' Riddhe thought. “That’s correct, I presume?”

“I hope you can contact your father through a private message and raise the issue that our ship is isolated without any traces—“

“Please allow me to refuse.”

Riddhe answered before he even heard the end. At this moment, he did not even look at Norm’s face as he stared right at the blinking Captain Otto, trying to answer reasonably, “Isn’t this against Military rules?”

“How can we send private messages during a secret mission? If it’ll be against Military rule, just ask ‘Londo Bell’ for assistance, and things will be solved, right?”

“That’s the hard part. If we send out an official request, we may be isolated by the headquarters and left out in the cold. This is the consequence of the magic of the Laplace Box’.”

The Box—Laplace Box. This term that shut everyone up the day before caused Riddhe to quieten down.

“You heard of this before, so I’m not going to hide anything here. The chances of that Gundam-type mobile suit being heavily related to the Laplace Box are very high. The higher ups seemed to be keeping still while trying to decide what to do with that mobile suit. There are people who want to use this chance to get the ‘box’, and the people who want to restore it back in its original position; both sides are fighting it out. Well, basically, the army and Anaheim Electronics are having a tug-of-war here.”

“Won’t this be easy? We’re soldiers, so let’s just follow what the army intends.”

“There are complicated costs and benefit relations involved in this. Basically, there are all sorts of people amongst the cadres in the Central Council, like those highest executive cadre members who intend to become senators and enter politics, and those congressmen who intend to move under Anaheim once they resign…it’s because of these people tussling with each other that reinforcements won’t come in no matter how long we wait. Even as Londo Bell asks for reinforcements, a certain level will intercept. Right now, the “Nahel Argama” can be said to be a small-scale version of the being two different sides being in the same boat, but the Manhunters and the Anaheim employees. There are so many people trying to lead the ship…that’s why.''

Otto put the finished cup back on the plate, and heaved a deep snort. ''I see. So it’s a political issue?'' Riddhe’s body that half-gave up on Otto reluctantly cooled down, and he drank the red tea that had no taste left. ''I understand this, but it’s annoying even if this is the case. That unhappy damp feeling that covered the ‘family’ made it all the way here''—

“However, we might have a chance of surviving if your father can pull some means from within, like give a call to Londonium’s Commanding Officer Bright Noa. If it’s him, he will send reinforcements while letting people think that it’s a patrol. With Senator Ronan’s assistance, the Central Council will not be able to get in the way much.”

“It’s hard to say…he’s someone who views cunning policies as his life. I can’t guarantee that he will take action based on the hopes here.”

“His cute son is on this ship too. There’s no way he will leave you alone.”

The shackles binding Riddhe’s heart was about to be broken as he faced the nonchalant sounding Otto. He clumsily put the teacup back on the plate and intended to glare at Otto. “I’ll ask for that too.” However, the voice that was let out stopped his idea.

“I think I can understand how you feel, but there’s no one we can rely on now.”

Norm, who had not said a single word since just now, and had no intention of putting the red tea to his lips, was clenching the fists that were placed on his knees. “Squad Leader…” Riddhe answered as he saw his mobile suit squad leader who lowered his head and would not lift it back up, his voice stuck in his throat.

“If the reinforcements don’t come, we won’t be able to take revenge for those brothers who died. I can only ask of you this.”

Norm’s shoulders trembled violently as he lowered his head such that it was nearly hitting the table. Riddhe saw the shoulders that were trembling because of this anger and regret that was more than his, and saw Otto, who swallowed his saliva as he witnessed this. He let out a sigh from deep within.

===Part 10===

''There’s no other choice.'' Riddhe returned back to his room and ended up spending 2 hours writing a mail to his father.

He had never sent a phone call for the past few years, let alone a message. His body did not have a function to communicate with his father, and he felt a chill when he started off with ‘Dear Father’. He wrote the letter while his heart was basically in agony. Riddhe was really about to faint when he ended off with ‘From your son Riddhe’. ''Someone like me actually ended up writing a request for help from that dad—''

No outsider would be able to understand this mental trauma that was like forcing a painter to step on his own painting. He quickly finished the mail, sent it to the bridge, and felt a surging urge to kill Otto for merely giving a ‘sorry to trouble you’ formality on the surface.

<Our ship will now be heading to an area where radar communication can work. We will be on second-level alert when leaving the shoal space region, but please remain in your own room, Ensign.”

“It can’t do if we make a request to the senator while getting his prince hurt!”

Otto gave a wink that gave the impression of a frozen face, and cut off the chatter linking from the bridge. To Riddhe, this might be a good thing. “DAMN IT!” Riddhe’s outcry caused his soles to be expanded on the monitor, but luckily, this scene was not seen by the Captain. Riddhe stamped on the communicator panel and went to lie on the bed.

Soon after, the siren telling the crew to remain on standby could be heard, and the engine which sounded like an air-conditioner increased. This was the sound of the Nahel Argama being ready to launch. They were leaving the remains of the colony towards a place where they could send messages by radar—a place where the radar would not be affected by the debris. On hearing the noise that came with the jerking of the furnishings in the room, Riddhe thought in the heart: ''Whatever you want. No matter where I go, the Marcenas’ name will never let me go. It’ll reach to the ends of the universe and surround me with its irritating damp feeling. The man who walks through that moisture leisurely will then give an arrogant wry smile and say: It’s about time for you to become an adult. Humans have roles they should perform since the moment they’re born. You shouldn’t be having a role of such a character on the other end like a pilot.''

''Then, what’s my role? Am I going to use my parents’ protection as a weapon? Reclaim the mantle to my family to answer everyone’s expectations? Do they want me to stay in this world where every corner is grey? Learn how to distinguish between black and white? Don’t joke around. I want to distinguish between black and white with my own power. A pilot doesn’t have a grey region. The superiority of abilities can decide life and death, and I survived from it. I tried my best. That’s because I ran away from ‘home’ and never thought of relying on it once.''

However—the actual battle from before proved that the biggest difference between life and death was luck. It taught Riddhe that the difference between sitting or standing when the god of death swung its scythe would decide things. The thing that decided these differences was the change in situation, and a pilot, a character on the far end of the spectrum, had no power to change the current situation. ''This ship is asking me for the power to change this situation to break this deadlock. They’re not asking for this pilot called Riddhe, but the direct blood kin of the Marcenas…''

He was tired. He had no motivation on wanting to escape to another place. Riddhe yawned as he noticed the thing floating his eyes, and widened his eyes that were about to close. The plane model that was placed on the table seemed to be floating because of the tremor from before. Riddhe grabbed onto the red baron plane model that was famous during an old century war, and let it float in the air where gravity had no effect. He thought, ''Oh yeah, my beloved Grumman is still kept by someone else. I left it with that mobile suit maniac kid…Takuya, was he?'' Riddhe got off the bed, stretched and moved towards the room door.

The civilians that were kept were kept at the recreation room in the same gravity block. ''It was tiring to talk to that brat, but it sure is better to shake off my thoughts instead of being gloomy by myself.'' Riddhe was rather excited about meeting Audrey again. He left his room and took his first step towards the recreation room as an intense tremor from the floor caused him to stop in his tracks.

Riddhe did not know what was going on. His body slammed into the ceiling, recoiled back onto the floor, and the corridor lights changed to the emergency red lights. Another tremor rocked the ship, activating the siren. The announcement from the operator was blocked by the explosions that rocked the ship, and a force that was 3 times stronger than before caused Riddhe to fly off.

This time, Riddhe got into a protective stance and kicked towards his footing that was either the ceiling or the floor. ''An enemy attack—and the ship took a direct hit. This is fast. Where is the attack coming from? There won’t be an answer even if I think here.'' Riddhe held onto the liftgrip that was jerking slightly and let his body glide towards the mobile suit deck.

===Part 11===

In this era where Minovsky Particles could render electronic weapons ineffective, the concept of guided missiles had long vanished from the battlefield. The times where guided missiles that would not let go of their targets, the era of the button wars had become a relic. This battlefield that could be seen before the Middle Ages was brought up to space as both sides fought it out while being able to see each other’s locations. The mobile suit that was at the front acted as a cavalry, while the ship at the back took on the role of moving its base. The missiles in this era would be less effective than even flaming arrows if the ships do not engage in close combat.

Even so, production of long-ranged missiles had never ceased even till this point, and the missiles viewed as important armaments for navigating ships. The concept was similar to the cavalry battles of the old ages, where throwing weapons were often viewed as treasures. Even though they could not use radar navigation to do precision attacks, the missiles would fly right at the targets once they caught sight of the enemy’s locations and determine the course for impact. The missiles, if used with conjunction with the rockets that could not be controlled when fired, would be very threatening in terms of distance and destructiveness. In particular, two direct hits from large anti-ship missiles could sink a battleship.

At this point, these anti-ship long-ranged missiles passed through the shoal space region and hit the debris of the colony where the Nahel Argama was hiding in. based on initial observations and the L1 basic coordinates that were derived after some time, it showed that 12 missiles were shot out from a Lewloola-class. 4 missed their target, while the remaining 8 hit the outer wall of the of the old colony debris, igniting the explosives that were filled within.

Blueish-white flashes continued to appear and expand, each expanding as the impacts collided with eac other. The 8 fireballs converged with each other, covering the debris of the colony. The supersonic impact caused the outer wall to be partially shed off, and the massive heat melted the materials. The common drainage built underneath were ripped apart, and the energy that crushed the buried dirt to break through the other debris, spurting through the inner walls.

The debris field had still had artificial land mass since the War before, and for a moment, looked to be surrounded by smoke. It was an impact tremor that could be felt from right below, as the dust that was on the building or ground—small particles that piled up after many years of floating in space—danced around. Also, the flash that appeared from underground was leaked out through the gaps of the earth plates, showing a chessboard-like network that spanned 1km of debris. Red flames shot out a second later like lava flowing, eroding the debris in the vacuum, and depicting the scene of uprooting perfectly.

[[Image:KSGU3 135.jpg|thumb]]

The Nahel Argama had kept its scout camera ball, which was used for outside surveillance, back in, and intended to leave the debris. This was a shocking thing to them. The scout camera ball was a complex sensor that was operated through long cables, and was originally tossed outside amidst the debris to act as a coordinate where the ship could see its blind spot. The Nahel Argama kept it to move, and basically lost its eyes that could see what was going on inside the debris for the time being, while the missiles seemed to rush here at this precise moment.

The debris that was floating in the silence of vacuum suddenly corroded, causing a large amount of debris that flew to hit the bottom of the Nahel Argama, and the uprooted street lights and half-wrecked electric cars hit the ship directly with blazing trails. The giant ship that was almost 400m long was obvious shaken as all the items that were not fastened within the ship were all flying. The crew started bouncing several times between the ceiling and the floor. The gravity block was no exception as Banagher and the dining tray were sent flying, Takuya and Micott slammed into the wall, and Audrey held onto the foot of the table. Mihiro beside them took the internal phone of the recreation room, but was knocked together with the receiver into the air by the continuous shaking. Banagher grabbed onto Mihiro’s waist to catch her, and both of them slammed together into the monitor panel on the wall.

Daguza was slammed into the ceiling of the corridor, while Alberto was curled up like a ball as he fell in the room he made his own. The cranes and the frames let out metallic cries that sounded like they were going to snap. Gibney and the other maintenance soldiers were moving all over the place in response to this. Norm, Riddhe and the other pilots leapt into their own cockpits. There were equipment that could not be used, starting with the anti-air machine guns that took direct damage from the debris, but the bridge had to confirm the damage of the ship later. They were already on standby, but First Officer Liam and the others who had not put on normal suits were thrown off the chairs. Captain Otto ended up having his head crash into the ceiling.

Cries and grunts caused the cries and all the noise to be messed up within his skull that was numb with pain. The scolding hot debris grazed past the front window of the bridge, and numerous red vestiges entered their eyes. It looked like the top of an erupting volcano—

“ENGINE ACCELERATE! EMERGENCY RETREAT!”

Liam finally managed to sit back in her chair and shouted out this command without waiting for the captain to make a decision. The steering crew member recited the order and turned the steering wheel into the designated direction. The bow of the Nahel Argama lifted by almost 90 degrees, and Otto, who saw that the ship was heading up through the colony debris, recognized Liam’s immediate decision in this situation. He also had the thought of accelerating forward to escape, but the rubble was scattering, and they were trying to limit the hit area to the smallest possible. The Nahel Argama left the colony debris and managed to escape with the scattered debris hitting the stern of the ship.

“CHECK THE NUMBER OF CASUALITIES! HURRY! WHAT’S THE AIR SURVEILLANCE DOING!?”

Otto shook off the heavy impact his head took as he started yelling. He received the normal suit from the warrant officer waiting on the bridge. “There’s no sign of any enemy around!” The sensor operator’s growl entered Otto’s ears.

“The guess is that the attack came from outside the radar range.”

“Impossible. Look for it. There’s definitely an enemy disguised as a debris out there nearby.”

Otto slipped his legs into the normal suit and pulled the zip. The sounds of the rubble hitting the ship could still be heard. The remains of the colony below them were gradually crumbling as he saw the saw of it scattering everywhere through the monitor. He then turned his eyes on the searching sensors located on the left flank of the ship. There were direct hits from the anti-ship missiles—and it was not just 2, 3 hits. There was definitely an enemy ship that fired countless missiles from very close distance. It was less than a minute since they kept the scout camera ball and reduced their detection ability. It was basically impossible for an enemy ship to get close, fire missiles and retreat back outside the radar.

“It’s not guided missiles from the radar era we’re talking about here. It’s impossible for missiles to be so accurate once they’re fired and control is lost, and from that distance too…”

Otto unwittingly said these words, and felt a chill on his back. ''An attack from afar. If there are no signs of enemies nearby, this is the only thing we can deduce. If we use outer space as a background, the enemy ship will merely be a speck of dust. There’s only one way to shoot from outside the radar range and into a 1km radius full of debris. That will be to deduce the absolute coordinates of the target and clear all obstacles in the way before shooting off all the missiles.''

''That’s right. The enemy knows where we are exactly. I carelessly used the main cannon just now because of the trouble with the Salamis-class rubble and revealed our location—

“We’ve been had.”

Liam, who looked like a bear as she was wearing the normal suit, whispered beside the captain seat. Otto saw the tense look from the side of the First Officer’s face and wordlessly looked forward. “High-heat object, closing in rapidly!” Shocked, he lifted his head once he heard the voice of the sensor operator.

“4 targets, coming in from above the ship. Estimated time before reaching, T-minus 3.3”

''It’s different from the first wave attack coordinates. We’re surrounded.'' Otto temporarily left aside this worst case scenario as he asked, “Missiles again!?”

“No, this movement is of a mobile suit, but…”

The stuttering voice showed fear. Otto looked at the back of the sensor operator from behind Liam’s shoulder.

“It’s unreasonable for it to fly through the debris at such a speed. A unit leading the squad is moving in 3 times faster than the mobile suits behind!”

The sensor operator lifted his head from the control panel, looking rather pale as he turned to the Captain’s seat. “What did you say..?” Otto felt his muttering mouth widen as he stared at the sensor image.

The unidentified unit left behind the units at the back as it flickered mysteriously. ''It’s a completely different unit from the ‘Sleeves’ mobile suits before, including that four-winged—''Otto heard his skin give off goosebumps as he unwittingly grabbed onto the armrest of the Captain’s seat.

===Part 12===

The attacking speed of that red mobile suit was definitely far above the Geara Zulus that were following behind. The high-output thrust unit installed on the back was a reason for this, but that was not all. The red mobile suit was also skilled and stepping on the debris in its course, utilizing superb technique of recoil and thruster jet use to move forward.

The unit immediately floated through the countless metal debris and stone rubble that were far larger, crossing each side, leaping on each debris piece, shot out thruster jets at full power to the next debris piece, and kept going through the shoal space region at this accelerated dash. Of course, the debris would move with the course, so it was not able to gain a proper footing beforehand. It predicted the course of the debris beforehand, chose the next landing point before having footing, and chose the shortest path to the next target. Even a high-capacity computer would not be able to compute in time, and this was an amazing skill that was like climbing a cliff by jumping off falling rocks. The pilot of the red mobile suit—the “Sinanju” could do it however. The angelic-looking wings of the thruster unit flared as the red mobile suit leapt through the torrent of debris like stepping stones, elegantly dancing through space.

As it moved forward, the colony debris that hid its trails was crushed as a Federation ship emerged from the chaos of debris. The face of the masked pilot wrinkled with a smile as he saw the white ship emerge into the underworld. His hands were wearing thing gloves as he held onto the control sticks, while his feet that were covered with boots stepped on the pedal. The pilot was wearing a crimson red uniform that had gold ornaments, and was not wearing a normal suit.

“Let me see the capabilities of that new model Gundam then!”

The bushy blond hair felt vitalized as it swayed gently in the air. As the “Sinanju” passed through the torrent of debris, Full Frontal chuckled in the cockpit.

[[Image:KSGU3 141.jpg|thumb]]

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