Editing KSGU:Volume 8 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 9===

(All hands, this is the Captain. We shall now head to the coordinates indicated by the Laplace Program and investigate the “L1 Junction”. All investigation teams are to sortie in order, and all hands are to buck up in the anti-air supervision.)

Captain Otto’s voice rang through the open circuit, and the mobile suit deck start to draw out air. Banagher saw the ‘AIR’ on the display board turn red, (RX-0, please step onto the mobile suit deck. We’re awaiting good news from you, Banagher.), and then heard Mihiro’s voice. “Roger that.” He answered as he stepped on the pedal slightly.

The “Unicorn”, wielding the beam rifle on its right hand and the shield on its backpack, started to move forward as it left the hangar. It let the hooks on the feet sink into the deck indentation, and for every step it trudged forward, a quake-like rumbling reached the cockpit. Banagher sensed that Audrey, who was sitting on the assistance seat beside him, was a little tense, and there was an unnerving weight on the right foot as he pressed down on it, causing him to curl his lips. The automatic handgun Conroy gave him was stuffed in the right ankle holster. ''it’s not wrong to say that this is a standard equipment for a pilot, but I wonder if Audrey will mind?'' Banagher wanted to look over at the assistance seat on the right side, but sat Zinnerman and company standing in a corner of the deck, causing him to be unable to breath.

The man dressed in civilian normal suits brought in from the “Garencieres” was looking back at him from the catwalk with his black eyes—an insuppressible urge suddenly rose in Banagher, and he stopped the machine at the elevator leading to the deck. “Banagher?” Audrey called out, “I’ll be back.” but Banagher answered, opened the hatch, and leapt out of the cockpit.

“Captain!”

The air inside the hatch was sucked outside, and Banagher yelled out as he floated towards the catwalk. They were in the middle of moving out, and the noises were mixed around in the air. Even if Banagher called out loud, Zinnerman might not be able to hear him, but Banagher still did so, and the latter heard it. Zinnerman showed an ostensibly shocked expression for a moment, before backtracking away, and reached his arm over the railing to grab Banagher by the shoulder and pull him onto the catwalk. Banagher practically flew into Zinnerman’s clutches, and their helmets were touching each other’s.

“Thank you for believing in us, Captain.”

“Wha…what are you saying out of a sudden?”

“I feel that I haven’t thanked you properly…that’s all. Please keep watch here.”

For an instant, Zinnerman gave a stare through the visor that could see through someone else’s heart, and perhaps he had already seen how fidgety Banagher was within. He grabbed Banagher’s helmet with both hands, “We’re the one who need to request you.” This time, his bearded face closed in on Banagher, and the steady voice caused both helmets to vibrate.

“You have to come back. If the Princess gets even the slightest scratch, your life will be in peril.”

The black eyes were full of firm will, just like the stars above the African desert—those stars that would not boast about themselves, that would not guide their path as they continued to twinkle. Those were starts that could soothe anyone whenever they were needed, stars that had the warmth of human skin. This man would never betray him; he could not give up on the human heart, and Banagher had already witnessed this countless less. ''I’m just worrying too much.'' Once Banagher understood this, the goosebumps within him disappeared, “I understand.” He left Zinnerman, waved farewell to Flaste, and kicked hard at the catwalk railing to float towards the “Unicorn” cockpit.

(What are you doing, Banagher? You’re in the middle of a launch!)

Mihiro’s growl rang in his ears as he sat back on the linear seat. “I’m really sorry!” Banagher answered as he closed the hatch, let the “Unicorn” head towards the elevator, and apologized to Audrey on the assistant seat. The latter might had realized something as she shook her head slightly and showed a smile, but her expression immediately looked down. Amidst the tremors of the elevator that was starting to rise, the shadows from within shone onto the face under the helmet, leaving the cockpit in an isolated atmosphere no outsider could enter.

The first catapult deck in the middle of the ship was in vacuum. Banagher left the elevator, let the slipper-shaped catapult launcher attach itself to the feet of the “Unicorn”, and looked into space through the opened hatch. They could see the L1 region of the Moon, and the “L1 Junction” shone like a corroded moon in front of their eyes. ''This will be the last, or maybe—'' Banagher grabbed the control sticks before the following thoughts appeared, “We’re launching.” And said to Audrey,

“There’ll be a jolt from the launch. Watch up.”

“It’s fine. I once launched in a mobile suit together with Ensign Riddhe.”

The calm narrative voice caused Banagher to feel like he remembered a homework assignment he forgot to do. (Path’s clear. RX-0, please launch.) He was driven by Mihiro’s voice afterwards, “Got it.” and did not have time to reflect on Riddhe’s name as he answered. He could not deal with it even if he thought of it at this point, and there were other issues to prioritize. His mind forgot about the face of the person who once fought against him on Earth, exchanged looks with Audrey, and looked forward with no intention of looking back.

““Unicorn Gundam”, Banagher Links.”

“Mineva Zabi.”

“Let’s go!”

Their voices rang in unison, and the cable-powered catapult was activated. The portside catapult deck that was heavily damaged slid by, and the gliding deck protruding at the bow disappeared from the feet as the all-view monitor showed an endless void. Banagher endured the revolting sense of the blood flowing to his back as he checked on the laser communication with the “Nahel Argama”, and used the AMBAC propellers to turn the “Unicorn” around. There was no problem with the reaction speed, control feeling, etc. The newly calibrated beam rifle and shield he drew from the spare supplies responded well with the machine. Once he knew that the repaired mechanical arm was fine, his body felt contented, and the space that was devoid of air resistance and gravity was like a familiar backyard to him. The “Unicorn” rolled sideways, lit its thrusters, and flew in a straight line towards its target.

The Type 94 Base Jabber was launched from the “Nahel Argama”, and the bed-shaped machine ferrying 2 “Lotos” launched behind the “Unicorn”. The “Lotos” ferrying Conroy and company were to first reach the “L1 Junction” and check the inside of the facilities. (Listen, Banagher, no matter how trivial it is, report any anomaly you see.) Conroy reminded, “Got it. Please take care of me here, ECOAS” and Banagher answered as he ignored the handgun strapped to his ankle. (We’ll make a move first. Head straight towards the ‘light tower’.) After saying this, the 9-type Base Jabber dragged a trail of thruster light as it glided by from the side.

Banagher waited for that light to enter the stars, and took a deep breath. It would take another 5 minutes for him as he was moving to the target through inertia; the coordinates for the ‘L1 Junction’ was fixed, and he just need to let the machine move on its own. “Are you alright?” Banagher looked back at Audrey, and took off his helmet. It was against the rules, but he had to do this to prevent voices from entering. Audrey, who was prompted by Banagher’s stare, removed her helmet too. Her deep inhaling rang beside Banagher’s ears, and this proved how heavy the pressure the atmosphere in the ship was bearing on her.

“The emergency call will reach the console speaker. You can relax.”

“Do I look that tense?”

The expression looked unexpectedly cute, and Banagher looked back at her with a smile. “Is that so…” Audrey lowered her chin slightly as she looked at the space beside them. The space region that was replicated through CG was slightly blue, and it was insufficient to change their mood. Her sidelong expression, which seemed to be blaming herself for the lack of experience, was immediately filled with a blank relaxation, and Banagher felt that the gloom he saw before was covering that frail white face.

He wanted to see the true identity of this gloom, and if possible, remove it so as to create an atmosphere both of them could share in—but he did not know how to speak up. There were a lot of things he could have talked of, but none of which formed in his heart. After several seconds of silence, he looked in front.

On thinking about it carefully, he knew nothing about Audrey. He did not know her interests, her habits, or even her birthday, but he felt that they understood each other. One would have to wonder why that was so. It was a long, long time ago since the last time they were alone like this, and there were so few times they were together. After a moment a hesitation, he looked at Audrey, “Audrey…” “Well…” but their voices interrupted each other, and they were at a loss of what to do. Banagher’s mind was filled with a blank, and he forgot what he wanted to say.

Pressured by the emerald eyes looking at him extremely closely, he turned his eyes away awkwardly and looked forward. The sound of the generator was the only thing occurring as silence descended upon them. “Banagher, do you believe in it?” after that, Audrey’s voice broke the silence, and Banagher turned his stare towards her eyes.

“Can we…Neo Zeon and Federation really coexist together?”

It felt as if they wanted to pull out this heavy object slowly, but the tremendous weight crashed upon them. With the sincere stare looking at him, “…The results had shown, isn’t it?” Banagher did not look away this time as he cautiously answered,

“Regardless of country and military, everyone should have a world they feel. If everyone believe—”

“The result isn’t out yet. I don’t know, what will happen before we get the “Laplace Box”…?”

“Audrey…”

“On Earth, I saw a lot of things when I was in Ensign Riddhe’s house.”

With the Earth behind her the size of a tennis ball, Audrey was looking at a certain place that did not belong. Banagher could only look at the side of her face.

“What the Earthnoids were thinking, how they viewed things, the ideals of the people who created the system called the Federation, the scars Zeon left that could not be erased…even after knowing this, this Mineva Zabi is unable to live in such a world and experience their lives. I understood that the world I knew before was so small.”

There was a thin smile, and one could not help but think of the term ‘self-deprecaiation’. Banagher was unable to bear watching on as he lowered his head. “That’s why I can’t be imprisoned by my own narrow views. I need to see the world with a wider view, regardless of Federation or Zeon; this is what I really think. But maybe even I can’t accept this view. I thought of this several times when I was on Earth. I really can’t understand these people at all, I can’t find a common agreement with them…”

The word uneasiness was enough to describe the gloomy rising from her slender shoulders, and her clenched fists were trembling. She was uneasy that she could not be certain of her own actions, but even so, she had to try her best to keep bluffing; she had a pressure to be very certain of herself, and a self-guilt of fooling everyone. All of this became corrupted as it resonated with his uneasiness of the future, and he felt a mysterious sense of relief spreading deep within his heart.

He was mystified by these emerald eyes, and saw that she was supporting him again—he felt relieved knowing that all this was not true. As long as he believed that her starting point was not wrong, he would have no objections against accepting the current situation, and he could only prepare himself for the future. ''As long as I’m with her, there’s always a way,'' Banagher suddenly thought of how he himself believed in this baseless theory.

“I saw a lot of things on Earth too.”

Banagher said to this Audrey Burne he met again. The latter lifted her head slightly, showing her eyes that were full of natural emotions, the same eyes he saw on “Industrial 7”.

“I nearly had a calamity in the desert, and I think I understand why humanity’s so bent on destroying the Earth. The human body is too weak to live nature. The natural these nature activists talked of is natural in the sense that it helps humans, but most of it can’t be helped. As long as humans remain as beings who want to live better lives, they won’t be able to avoid going against nature. I should say that this is natural for humans.”

“Someone once said before that everything starts with kind intentions…”

“I thought of it too. The Universal Century was started out of goodwill. The Spacenoids talk about Ere-ism…the drive to preserve Earth as a hometown, but it just feels so off-tangent because of the lack of experience in this sense. The Spacenoids can’t understand as their sense of nature is obtained from space.”

“Spacenoids’ sense of nature…?”

“I’m thinking of Newtypes are really like this. There’s the thinking that there’s a need to expand the senses humans have in order to make up for the overly wide space, but it’s impossible to experience this without going to space, no?”

Audrey blinked her eyes while looking surprised, nodded and showed an expression of understanding. Banagher lifted the fragments of thoughts in his head and continued,

“And as long there’s a possibility that humans may be abandoned in space, Earthnoids will never accept the thoughts Spacenoids have. Spacenoids can’t accept that the people left on Earth had special rights, and because of this twisted thinking, they did extreme things like throwing down a colony. It can’t be helped that there’s no common understanding, but the important thing is to understand that both sides are living in different worlds. It’s just like you said, that the world we live in can’t change. Once we admit that we’re living in an imperfect world and look for that path to near perfection…”

“A path to near-perfection…are you saying that’s a Newtype?”

“If we follow the definition Zeon Deikun laid out, there’s still no real Newtype born, though I hope that a few are standing at the door.”

Someone worthy of being entrusted with the “Box”—a real Newtype; no matter what his father thought, nobody other than God should decide this. The system hidden in the “Unicorn” relied on the machine to detect the brainwaves, including the artificial Cyber-Newtypes, and there was no real way to determine a real Newtype. It was the same thing as how a single-celled organism floating in the sea of beginning could never predict the evolution of life millions of years later.

“Fate can’t be changed, but destiny can. I have everything now…right?” Audrey muttered to herself as she looked at the moon a size larger than a basketball. That uneasy look on her face was erased somewhat. “You’re the same as us.” Banagher followed up on her words as he too looked at the Moon in front.

“Whether it’s the psycoframe that can move celestial bodies, or the “Laplace Box” that can change the world; as long we know such things truly exist, they will feel that humans really shouldn’t argue in this situation.”

“Yeah. This is…”

“They’re still in the “Nahel Argama”, but people like the Captain believe in such possibilities. The Federation and Neo Zeon…the common understanding between Earthnoids and Spacenoids is possible. Maybe the release of the “Box” will be the chance for this.”

Audrey thought of something, but could not say so as she lowered her head, showing gloom on her face again. “Of course, this is an observation based on my hopes.” Banagher hurriedly added on, but she suddenly lifted her head, and let her emerald eyes close in on him.

“I want to believe this too.”

She reached her arm out and grabbed Banagher by the upper arm. The forceful strength spread through the fabric, causing him to feel his heart race. ''Convince me…''was the voice that rang the voice of reality, or the ‘voice’ resonating deep within his heart? Banagher was unable to determine as his eyes were rendered immobile by the lips in front of him, and he unwittingly moved his hand onto the back of Audrey’s own hand.

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Time stood still, and it seemed that everything other than those two vanished. Banagher smelled a whiff of sweetness from the hair as he closed his eyes. Audrey held her breath, and their faces were almost touching as the lingering warmth from her face agitated his nose. Banagher predicted that their lips were going to touch each other, and was unable to think of anything; at that instant, an annoying breathing sound suddenly rang, causing their bodies that were almost united as one to suddenly freeze up.

(T-minus 60 till the designated location. It’s about time to open the wireless communicator, you two.)

Conroy’s voice rang, and he sounded like he heard everything, causing Banagher to experience what it meant for his face to flare up. He immediately looked forward and answered with a slightly higher pitch than usual, “Understand.” He did not have the guts to exchanged looks with Audrey, who hurriedly sat still and put on her helmet again, and he let his stare escape to the ‘L1 Junction’ that could be identified with the human eye. The snowflake shaped object was glittering as it reflected the distant sunlight, and the light tower in space continued to draw an intricate tessellation in space even as it remained this empty.

“It’s so pretty…” Audrey said. Banagher however abandoned all words that would match this atmosphere as he turned his stare to the coordinates meter on the display board. Once he was certain that it was almost 0, he checked the functions of all other systems. The Laplace Box showed no signs of activating, and for a short while, an awkward atmosphere remained in the cockpit.