Editing KSGU:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 11===

A bright light in the form of a voice entered Banagher’s head, causing his body on the cockpit to shake. He suddenly blinked as if he was blown away by the wind below.

“Audrey—!?”

Banagher turned his head around and used the beam saber to block the beam tonfa of the “Banshee”. He used the momentum to let the machine retreat to the edge of the “Garuda” wing, and looked over at the clouds that were passing by below. ''No doubts about it, she’s calling me.'' A certain familiar lifeform was calling out to Banagher, and the direct thoughts passed through the thick clouds as they entered his body.

There was no room for him to make a choice. He held his breath and stepped on the pedal. The “Unicorn” leapt up from the “Garuda” wing and entered the empty sky before ripping through the field of light and disappearing within the clouds.

(Hold it!) Marida’s call was mixed in with the static, and though the massive frame of the “Garuda” had already left his vision, the beam of the Beam Magnum followed him as it pursued the “Unicorn” and grazed it. Banagher managed to evade the scattered particles by spinning around, and gathered his thoughts on the thick layers of clouds. 5000m, 4800m, 4200m, the altitude meter continued to decrease in value, and the “Unicorn” expanded its limbs out wide as it charged down like a rocket. The clouds disappeared soon after as an endless sea surface appeared in front of his eyes, and his main camera caught sight of a certain bean-sized object. Her flight jacket was flapping, and her slender limbs were trembling as her silhouette fell straight down the roaring atmosphere.

''She’s there.'' Banagher widened his eyes as he stared only at Audrey as he gripped hard onto the control sticks.

(You can do it, right? “Unicorn”?)

A rumbling sound, probably a roar, rose up from within the machine, and the NT-D logo blinked. The white armor slid apart amidst the friction from the air, and the sudden low pressure caused the water in the atmosphere to freeze as the “Unicorn” was immediately surrounded by water vapor in an explosive manner. The lone horn on its forehead opened in a V-shape, cutting through the surrounding white mist, and the exposed Psycoframe let out a glow as the machine in its “Gundam” form used up all its verniers. The “Unicorn Gundam” spread its limbs wide to increase the air resistance and negated its falling speed as it approached Audrey.

The person flying through the wind gradually got larger, and the cursor overlapped with her figure on the monitor. Audrey’s hand fidgeted slightly as she turned her body around, and the emerald eyes were slightly opened, staring at Banagher. She had not passed out. It was just like the moment when she was floating in the sky of “Industrial 7” as her body, hoping for survival, appeared, in front of him. He wanted to let the “Unicorn Gundam” reach out to get her, but determined that he would not be in time, and opened the cockpit. With the incoming wind pressure blowing upon him, he brought his body away from the linear seat and reached out from the hatch, just like the last time.

[[Image:KSGU7 252.jpg|thumb]]

Audrey’s profile flashed by in front of him and entered a blind spot in his vision that was formed by the cockpit, preventing him from seeing things clearly. The Intention Automatic System detected his emotions as the machine started to regulate its falling speed. He saw Audrey again, and reached his body out from the hatch; at that moment, he clearly saw the emerald eyes looking back at him. He was prompted by his throbbing heart, and reached out his arm more just when his body was about to be blown away by the air currents. The hands of the “Unicorn Gundam” moved too as they clasp with each other to form a net, caught her gently, and brought her towards the cockpit. Banagher reached his body forward as he held himself from the hatch, and once their fingers matched, he grabbed her hand tightly.

He immediately pulled her towards him, and they fell into the cockpit. After using all his strength to grab that delicate body, he sat back on the linear seat, closed the hatch, and grabbed the control sticks again. ''Haa,'' Audrey heaved a huge sigh, and Banagher could feel the warmth from her forehead reaching his chest, and spreading through his pilot suit. ''She’s alive, alive in my arms.'' He trembled, both in body and in mind as he had the urge to embrace her tightly, but he understood that the situation did not allow for it. The machine had already fallen to below 3000m in height, and there was nowhere to land as he could only see the blue seas below him.

He opened the throttles and let the main thrusters flare out. They managed to slow down and regain approximately 100m in height, but they were still in trouble. Even if they could negate the falling speed, he had no idea how to handle it. If they fell into the sea, the drowned machine could be crushed by the water pressure. “Banagher…” Audrey let out a troubled hoarse voice, and Banagher did not look at her face as he answered, “I’ll think of something!” and answered as he felt the weight of the life on his knees. ''I finally managed to meet Audrey, and now I’m going to crash into the sea?'' He bit his lips regretfully, and just when his trembling hands grabbed onto the control sticks, a siren suddenly rang, and an enlarged window opened on its own as it showed an approaching object.

A familiar triangular ship was descending down the clouds. “The “Garencieres”…!” Audrey exclaimed, but Banagher did not pay attention as he stepped on the pedal first. The main thrusters of the “Unicorn Gundam” let out long smoke trails, and it fell towards the falling “Garencieres”. The 120m long ship body closed in on it, and once it got right below the “Unicorn Gundam” that was trying to elevate itself, Banagher immediately spotted a “Geara Zulu” poking out from the deck, waving at it.

The two machines crossed by each other, seemingly reaching out to each other for aid. The “Unicorn Gundam” got pulled onto the “Garencieres”, and its limbs touched the ground. The “Geara Zulu” put its hand around the “Gundam”, (I caught him! Bring the ship up!) and Ivan’s exclaiming voice rang through the contact loop. The thruster nozzles on the aft let out flares as the “Garencieres” accelerated, lifted its bow, and started to rise up the sky again. Ivan’s “Geara Zulu” quickly ducked inside  the hatch again to reduce the air resistance, and a shockwave created waves upon the sea surface.

(Are you alright, Banagher?)

The machine followed Ivan’s machine as its lower body slipped into the hatch, and Flaste’s voice immediately rang through the cockpit. Banagher met Audrey face to face, and grabbed her shoulder in a daze, “I’m fine! Audrey’s with me too!” he then said that with a thoroughly delighted voice. (Audrey?) However, Flaste asked back with a puzzled tone.

“It’s me, Flaste. Sorry to trouble you.)

Audrey’s sudden interjection caused a stunned moment of silence in the wireless communicator. (Eh, this voice, is that the Princess!?) Soon after, a higher pitched voice rang through the communicator, and Banagher and Audrey gave smiles. The dazzling emerald eyes in front of him suddenly had a sense of life, and he frantically removed his hand that was resting upon her shoulder.

(What’s the situation now? Where’s the Captain?)

“He’s still in the “Garuda”. Please direct the ship there.”

“Don’t say something unreasonable! If the limbering “Garencieres” is to approach it, it’ll just become a target for the enemy unit. Leave the recovery of the Captain to Besson.)

“Miss Marida’s on that enemy unit! Please turn the ship around and bring me there. Also, please take care of Audrey.”

Banagher immediately finished off his words without waiting for a response, and held onto the control sticks again. He let the “Unicorn Gundam” kneel down on the deck, checked the air pressure, opened the cockpit hatch, and leaned the machine towards Ivan’s “Geara Zulu”. He looked over at Audrey, seated on his knees, and gave a slight nod. Her emerald eyes showed a little uncertainly, “Banagher…” as she put her hand on his shoulder.

“I heard your voice clearly just now.”

Banagher held her hand and said this as he looked straight at her. Her fingertips were trembling as she had not regained her warmth yet, and she looked up at Banagher’s eyes.

“I’m so happy. I finally understood why I’m here. You called me here.”

“I’m still…”

“If this feeling is real, the Captain and my voices will definitely reach Miss Marida’s heart. I’ll definitely bring her back, so wait here, okay?”

The “Geara Zulu” on the other side of the cockpit hatch gave a glow in its monoeye as it reached its hand over. “Over here, Princess!” Audrey spotted Ivan, who showed his face from the cockpit, and looked back at Banagher again. She tried her best to remove all uneasiness from her face, showed her dignity as a leader, “I’ll leave it to you then, Banagher Links.” and said as she got up. Banagher endured the sudden loss of weight on his knees as he gave her a look of promise.

“Be careful of that light. It’s a demonic light that absorbed Marida’s sadness and continues to expand. You’ll be sucked in if you fight it directly.”

Audrey brought her feet onto the hatch as she silently gave a warm look right at Banagher. Her tone, her precise insight made Banagher certain that it was the Audrey he knew, “Roger that.” He answered as he closed the helmet visor. She gave him an affirming look, leapt towards the “Geara Zulu” arm and followed it down to the mobile suit deck. The “Unicorn Gundam” cockpit hatch and cover were then sealed as it got up and poked its head out from the upper deck hatch where the wind currents swirled.

The white mist passed by his vision, and the ship approached the “Garuda” that was showing itself through the gaps. Banagher spotted the ship that had one-thirds of its engines malfunctioning with black smoke rising from it, and dismounted the Beam Gatling guns that had a few shots left from the “Unicorn” arm as it wielded the 4-shot guns in both hands. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, he wanted to ask. He would do any task laid before him to avoid any sacrifices, and to buy time for everyone to calm down and face the issues. He looked up at the thin veil of light that was swaying with a dangerous pressure, and made up a suggestion of compromise in his heart.