Editing KSGU:Volume 7 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 13===

(Riddhe Marcenas, Romeo 008. Launching!)

Ensign Riddhe’s voice could be heard from the opened wireless communicator, and the burst noise of the thrusters came from the ajar hatch. Since the enemy was right in front of them, there was no need to launch the machines from the catapult. Riddhe’s “Delta Plus” flew off the catapult deck on its own power.

BOOM, SWOOSH…the sound of the mega particles being fired rang bellowed like a thunderclap, and the black “Unicorn”—the second RX-0 unit “Banshee” passed through the shutter leading to the catapult. ''Is the one riding on it Marida?''  Banagher looked up at the uniformly black mobile suit with the lone golden horn on the head as he wondered, and clenched his fists that were handcuffed. At a corner of the mobile suit deck, the heat released from the “Banshee” flowed into the blind spot of the trailer where the white “Unicorn” laid, and Alberto could be heard beside him, “Listen up, your first priority is to defend the Medea transport carrier.” speaking into the wireless communicator.

“The substitute leader is on it, and she can’t return to the ship because of the enemy attack. You have to ensure the safety of the transport carrier and eliminate the enemies…is your head still hurting?”

Banagher could not hear Marida’s reply. “Good, don’t force yourself.” He looked at Alberto, who replied this and cut the line, from the corner of his eyes, and then looked up at the shutter gate where the “Banshee” walked out from. Once he passes through it, he would be able to see Audrey and the transport carrier that was still docked on the base’s runway. The moment he thought about it, he felt uneasy, and his gut would tense up whenever the tremor of the explosion shook the ground; however, like the rest, he was in a situation where he was unable to move. He was to be brought up to the transport carrier together with the trailer as well, but the sudden enemy attack prevented him from leaving the ship, and he was unable to move within the mobile suit deck. The mobile suit squadron of the “Ra Cailum” had already launched to intercept, but the battle situation did not seem optimistic from what he heard on the wireless communicator. It seemed that the enemy units that invaded the base were not the only ones troubling them, and also included beams that were shot from long distance.

''Who’s the one attacking?'' Banagher looked up at the “Unicorn”, lying on the trailer; the handcuffs attached onto his pilot suit rang as he was being pulled away, “Really, at this moment…” and stared at Alberto’s back as the latter muttered. He could see the man with pudgy back supporting himself off the trailer and trembling slightly.

''Maybe this man’s emotions are rather delicate.'' Banagher had this thought again as he looked up at the states of the two black-clothed Vist subordinates flanking him, and at this instant, he suddenly had an idea he never thought before. He looked up at the “Unicorn”, and thought, ''can I do it?'' and asked his throbbing heart. ''If I don’t move now, am I going to wait for my doom?'' such a reply came to him, and he took a deep breath and turned his stare at Alberto’s back.

“So even those who can control wars will feel scared?”

He moved all the muscles on his tense face as he showed a daring mocking smile. As expected, Alberto looked back in shock, “Who do you think is the cause of this…” and glared back to say to him,

“If you had listened to instructions obediently, we wouldn’t have needed to spend so much effort in getting trailer to move the “Unicorn”, right? If the ship didn’t need to land, we wouldn’t need to face the attack of those Zeon scrap metal. You’re really the plague.”

Alberto grumbled as he ranted everything at one go, only to suddenly show a startled expression, “Don’t tell me you planned this with those guys?” Banagher looked back at the fearful and doubtful eyes of the other man, “Even if I say it is, what are you going to do?” and gave a more sinister smile.

“Are you going to give up on finding the “Box” and kill me?”

He raised the lips on his face, and the smile looked really forced, but Alberto did not look like he could tell. He seemed to be overwhelmed by Banagher’s momentum, and pulled his chin in as he looked away. “In the worst case scenario, we’ll probably have to move the “Unicorn” later.” He said to the black subordinates following him, and Banagher merely moved his eyes, paying attention to the subordinates’ reactions.

“If possible, let the transport carrier leave the ground. The safety of the substitute leader is priority.”

“Yes.” The subordinates said as they left the scene and went off to the driver seat. Alberto watched them leave, and suddenly glared at Banagher; he grabbed the latter by the chest and pulled him over. “I won’t kill you that easily.” He whispered at Banagher’s ears, and immediately pushed him aside.

“I won’t do anything to you until we find the “Box”. As far as what we do to you after that, it’ll all depend on your performance.”

With his back turned towards Banagher, who took a few steps back, “Move the trailer to the back of the deck, and move out when you can.” Alberto called out to the driver seat. Banagher watched him walk towards the driver seat, and upon hearing the ignition of the trailer engines, he made up his mind. This would be the only chance. He waited for the trailer to move, and after several seconds, the wheels that were as tall as a human started to spin. The 16 wheeler vehicle drove off, and Banagher used that opportunity to sprint off.

He darted part Alberto and ran right at the cockpit. “What the?”  “Hold it!” with the angry growls behind him, he dashed past the driver seat and ran straight at the front end of the trailer. Once he spotted the appearance of the pilot, he closed his eyes and got down on the floor. The pressure of the several tons vehicle went by his head, and the heat of the engine blew over his back, before the shrill sound of an emergency brake surrounded him.

“Was he run over!?” “WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!?” the voices of Alberto and the rest could be heard. Banagher twisted his body, rolled away from where they were, got out from the gap between the wheels, and used the momentum to roll out and stand. He leaned himself onto the ladder at the side of the vehicle, took a leap up, gritted his teeth, and only thought about rushing onto the platform.

''As long as you don’t give up, the opportunity will definitely come—'' Banagher relied on Captain Bright’s words as support and used his handcuffed hands to grab onto the ladder for support as he moved his feet on the steps. He would be able to see the “Unicorn” once he got on, and if he could get into it, he would be able to find a way to escape. He looked up at the white machine that laid weakly, and just when he reached his hands to the platform. “He’s here!” the voice caused him to panic. The Vist subordinate poked his upper body from the driver seat and aimed its pistol at Banagher, who, upon seeing the other man in the eyes, felt that he could not move his arms grabbing the ladder.

“It’s fine if he doesn’t die! Just shoot the legs or anywhere else!”

Alberto yelled as he went around the back of the vehicle, and the subordinate narrowed his eyes as he used the finger to flick the hammer. Banagher could not even close his eyes as he heard a sound that caused his hairs to stand. He knew that he would be shot if he remained still, but he could not move. He could not bear the killing intent, which he could dodge within the mobile suit, with his body of flesh alone—

“Get down!”

At that moment, a heavy sound rang, and Banagher’s body reacted on its own as it let go of the handrail on its own. The sound of metal clashing with each other rang above his head, and he watched the sparks scatter off the ladder and rain down. As he rolled onto the floor again, he heard the sound of a machine gun being fired, and could see sparks flying near the car of the driver seat. The subordinates immediately jump off the driver seat and hid behind the blind spot of the vehicle. The mechanics nearly ducked down, and the subordinates used the vehicle as a shield and immediately shot back.

The machine gun shots were many times that of the pistols as they hit the vehicles, and a subordinate could only give up on the gunfight as they hid into the corner. The other pushed Alberto down and got onto him to protect him, and the bullets of the machine gun went above their heads. Two figures immediately charged out from the blind spot of the hangar, and Banagher could sense a throbbing on his chest that was lying on the floor. One of the men raised his sub machine gun and fired, while the other man used this chance to get into the driver seat of the trailer, and turned his head back to look at Banagher. That man in Federation uniform stared right at Banagher’s eyes, and his wide open mouth was covered with bearded stubble.

“Over here! We’re running!”

The sparks of the bullet impacts struck the door of the driver seat, covering Zinnerman’s face as he spoke up. He got onto the floor and fired back with a submachine gun, and Besson, who was also in a grey uniform, used the covering fire to leap into the driver seat. Banagher saw the driver get pulled out and tumble onto the floor, and immediately got up. He ran out without a care about the crossfire, and at that moment, Zinnerman threw a grenade over his head, causing an explosive light and a loud bang behind him.

The yellowish smoke spread in an explosive manner. “It’s a smoke grenade!” “Close the shutter!” numerous sounds could be heard from behind. Banagher was ostensibly chased by the smoke as he got into the cockpit, but his hand was suddenly grabbed by another arm, and he was pulled in as a result. The hard metal fist-like feeling reverberated through his body, ''why?'' but before he could ask back, “Are you an idiot? You’re doing such unreasonable things here!” a familiar voice chastised him and rang in his ears.

“The plan we finally managed to come up with is all for naught. You just had to wait for your rescue quietly…!”

Zinnerman merely expressed his thoughts in his eyes for just a short moment, and immediately pushed Banagher into the vehicle and shot some suppressing fire from the opened vehicle door. Besson, seated in the driver seat, spun the steering wheel, and started the engines of the trailer as it boomed. “In that case, we can only barge in. Step on the gas!” Zinnerman shouted, and Besson immediately stepped on the pedal, causing the trailer to knock aside the crates of materials as it accelerate. Banagher was held down on the seat, and the pressure of the shutter closing slightly appeared in front of him, causing him to gasp.

The “Unicorn” on the platform barely missed the shutter, and the sparks caused by the friction caused the vehicle to tremble. The subordinates chasing the vehicle disappeared behind the shutter, and once the trailer barely managed to pass through the shutter, it accelerated again. From here on, it was a one-way street through the landing deck of the ship. Banagher could see the several mechanics dodge by frantically from the front glass window, and could only widen his eyes in shock as he could not comprehend what was going on. “Give me your hands.”  He heard this voice, and turned his head to Zinnerman. He followed the instructions, and a gunshot rang within the vehicle as the short chain linking the cuffs.

“Hurry up and get onto the “Unicorn”. The “Garencieres” is waiting in the sky.”

Zinnerman quickly explained and looked at the opened hatch of the landing deck 300m in front of them. At this moment, Banagher finally realized that everything, including the mobile suits that were creating chaos outside, were fighting as part of this operation, and he got up from his seat before he could think. He moved towards the rear hatch leading to the platform, looked back, and asked, “What are you going to do, captain?” Zinnerman reloaded his sub-machine gun, “We’ll fine a DO-DAI and escape.” And answered without looking at the other person in the eyes.

“Get on the back deck. Once you get into the “Unicorn”, cover us—”

“Captain, Audrey, Princess Mineva is on this ship.”

Banagher interrupted as he spoke up. “What did you say…!?” Zinnerman muttered, and at the same time, sparks appeared on the front of the front glass. Besson quickly spun the steering wheel, and the snaking trailer was rubbing against the left inner wall. The frictional sound was deafening, “MISS MARIDA’S HERE TOO!” and Banagher yelled with a voice no softer than that.

“Princess Mineva’s on the transport carrier outside, while Miss Marida’s piloting the black “Unicorn”. Tell the others not to attack it. She doesn’t know who I am anymore.”

“What’s going on? Why are the Princess and Marida…”

The front glass got shattered, and round fragments flew into the vehicle. “We’re almost there!” Besson groaned, and once Zinnerman saw that the deck hatch was already right in front of their eyes, “Talk later. Hurry up, Banagher!” he exclaimed and grabbed his sub machinegun again.

“Really, I’m always shocked by you.”

There’s a sense of familiarity in his eyes as he glanced at Banagher, and he immediately turned forward and squeezed the trigger to fight back. “Same goes for you!” Banagher yelled through the gunshot, and darted through the back hatch as his chest was heating up. He climbed up the ladder, got onto the platform, and found the frame of the “Unicorn” lying on it.