Editing KSGU:Volume 2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 16===

It’s rather scary riding on the cargo lift at the airtight wall and moving 3,000m in the air. The lift that’s used for moving doesn’t have a wall or a ceiling, and the limo can be said to be fixed on a metal block, moving up to the slanted surface of the airtight wall. Of course, the higher the height, the closer the fires of the battlefield in the air. The fires and the mobile suit thruster jets that pass through the clouds are blinking, causing the defenseless limo to be lit up. Whatever that happens in the next ten minutes will be left to the heavens.

The doors leading from the colony to the ‘Snail’ are all over the artificial sun, and there’re 6 of them. Each of them are airtight walls that are 15m wide. The limo reaches one of them, and Banagher immediately leaps out of the limo. They’re near the axis of the colony, so this place is completely free of gravity, and if he doesn’t mess up how he kicks the ground, he won’t find it hard to move around. He has to move for another 50m before he gets to the door, but Banagher finds a shortcut after taking a few steps.

He just came by here with Audrey a few hours ago, so he vaguely remembers where the roads are. “Oi, Banagher! Wait!” Banagher hears Takuya’s voice and stands in front of the partition and looks up at the large wall. This large wall that’s used to transport goods is tightly shut, but there are access points on both sides for people to use. They used these doors to enter the ‘Snail’ a while ago.

Another shot may come flying here when they stand around like that. Banagher presses the button for access, but the passage point seem to be locked, and there doesn’t seem to be any reaction from the number lock beside as he pressed on it. ''We can’t do without a cardkey.'' Banagher clicks his tongue and returns back to the car.

Takuya, who’s carrying Haro, asks, “No go?” and Banagher moves by him as if he’s trying to cut short the answering time and head towards the limo. Most likely, there’s something wrong with the fixations as the limo’s still stuck on the lift and unable to move. While the man on the driver’s seat is working on the car, the youths in the passenger seats all leave one after another. Micott looks around uneasily and kicks the ground to fly at Banagher. Seeing her like this, Banagher yells, “FORGET ABOUT THAT CAR!”

“HURRY UP AND OPEN THAT DOOR!”

It’s unknown if they heard it or not as the men from the Foundation aren’t looking over, merely saying things like “It’s stuck” and “There’s a safety release for emergency use on that door.” The youths are also all gathered around the door and not moving about as the blueish-white moon shines on them, causing Banagher to feel a chill. The flashing of the lights and the sounds of the explosions are much sharper than before, and the time interval between each explosion is becoming shorter. These heavy vibrations seem to happen at the same time as the heavy tremors.

This indicates that the battlefield is coming closer, and a huge profile grazes past the door on the other side, seemingly proving his intuition. That mysterious profile in the vortex-shaped clouds is the mobile suit with four wings, and on the other side of the clouds that are sliced up is a mobile suit the size of a thumb when viewed from here. I saw that before. It’s the main unit of the Federation army…the <<Jegan>>, right?

The main body that looks a lot finer than the 4 wings shoots out the thruster jet lights and adjusts its position. Banagher looks up to see the situation, and feels that he’s having goosebumps. He can predict what’s going to happen next—or rather, the ‘killing intent’-like thing the <<Jegan>> in front of him is releasing cause him to feel this. In other words, he knows that the mobile suit is about to fire.

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“GET DOWN!” He immediately shouts out and knocks into Micott, who’s in front of him. He can hear Micott cry out, and just when their floating bodies are crashing into the wall, the flash and heat waves come from behind. His hair is charred, his neck feels hot and painful, and a strong heat is expanding in the wall. After a short while, a firework-sounding explosion pierces the ears, and the air that lets out a cracking sound charge over as an impact. Banagher cuddles Micott and crashes into the wall, and the recoil cause the floating body to touch the ceiling. The bodies that lose their senses of up and down take the impact. The air they breathe is hot, and a sharp pain can be felt from the head that’s hit. Banagher closes his eyes and exerts more strength in his arms and he hugs Micott harder. He’s being flipped by this wild hot air, and can only pray that the next pain isn’t fatal.

After quite a while, the heat and the sounds of explosions vanish. Banagher can hear himself breathing frantically, and fearfully opens his eyes. He sees the illuminator that’s blown into bits and scattered all over as glass, and then, about 10m away, there’s the floor. Banagher realizes that he’s floating near the ceiling, but the cruel situation below him cause him to stop think, and the cruel scene takes his breath away.

The lift that’s attached to the door is completely melted, and the black charred mark is extended out to the partition in a straight line. The construction materials that are burnt black is still giving off smoke due to the heat, and the scalding hot air is coming from there. Banagher, who’s standing there, smells the stench of ozone, and uses his sleeve that’s covered with dust to cover his nose. This is a direct hit from a mega-particle cannon—that <<Jegan>> used a beam rifle, and the stray shot hit the door. The hi-energy shot that can pierce even the armor of a mobile suit rips aside the ordinary metal like clay. The beam was too hot, and a crack’s formed on the floor as it melted and cooled. It just looks no different from a hot giant snake slithering through. He can’t even find a part of the limo, and nothing that can be called corpses. There’s a lot of debris floating beside the door, swaying like a mirage. Nothing’s moving through their own strength. The men from the Foundation, Micott’s friends, all of them vanished perfectly like a joke.

''Yes, they vanished. They didn’t die. Those people that I was talking to just now, those that were still breathing just disappeared suddenly. This isn’t death. I won’t admit that this is a way humans should die.'' Banagher thinks. In that case, nothing’s left behind as they awaited their deaths without even feeling it. It’s more like this is a wipeout instead of death. He can’t summon his emotions and sentimental feelings, as what should exist are gone now—that kind of wipeout.

Suddenly, he senses someone else’s smell in the ozone. This smell is similar to the smell from a hamburger kitchen, the smell of meat that’s either cooked or steamed. He spits out some saliva to try and get rid of the weird stench in his nose, and focuses on Micott, who’s in his clutches. Micott’s still conscious, but her eyes are wide open as she looks at the catastrophe down below.

There’s no response from her even as Banagher called her. Micott waves aside his arms that are shaking her and mutters, “Mario, Laila, Slyvia…” and floats towards the door. Banagher feels somewhat spooked by that monotone voice, and tries to catch up to Micott, but hears another voice and jerks his shoulders.

“Oi, are you guys alive…?” Right beside the partition that’s full of cinders, Takuya comes out from the under the shadows of the passage wall and pokes his head out.

Those eyes are exceptionally bright on the thoroughly blackened face. Takuya looks over as he controls his emotions that are about to collapse. It’s that protruding wall that protected Takuya from the heat waves. ''He’s alive. But thinking about it, I shouldn’t have brought them along. It’s all my fault.'' The thoughts that are caught between relief and regret climbs up Banagher’s heart.

“I’m still alive. What about you!?” Banagher finally manages to utter out as he sees Takuya floating over from the corner of the wall.

“I’m still alive…I am, but…” A sharp sound echoes, and Takuya’s eyes seem to be attracted by the burn scar of the burn on the floor, and he doesn’t even notice that Haro slipped out of his hands.

Banagher really wants to get over, but he can’t just leave Micott alone. “Don’t move, Micott doesn’t look fine at the moment.” He kicks the ceiling that’s covered with cinders and floats over to the melted lift. Micott’s back profile looks like it will float from the door to the outside, and that will be very dangerous. “Micott!” Just when he shouted out, another flash appears above the entrance, and the explosion pushes Banagher’s body back and surrounds him.

The <<Jegan>> has been firing continuous beam shots, and the diagonally-flying beams can be seen between the clouds as the pilot flies horizontally. The mobile suit with 4 wings agilely flip sideways to dodge those beam shots, flying and closing the distance with the <<Jegan>>. As both of them meet each other, the pink beam scatter, and the <<Jegan>>’s sliced in half at the waist. Swwosh, this sound of air being sliced echoes through the colony. Banagher knows that it used a beam saber, but he doesn’t understand when it was drawn or when it was sliced at all. The movements were too fast. The <<Jegan>> that’s sliced in half at the waist gives off sparks and disappears on the other side of the clouds. If one looks closely, he’ll notice that the beam saber in that machine’s hand is sliced as well.

“Amazing…”

''The difference in level is too great. This isn’t just a question about the machine’s ability.'' This instinctive conclusion surges up at Banagher, and though he feels that the blood vessels in his forehead are throbbing again in pain, but the movements the 4-winged mobile suit does next cause him to forget his pain. The 4-winged that defeated the enemy unit flies over at them.

The metal block that’s about several tons is closing in, and the overwhelming mass covers the door. Just when he thinks that they’ll crash, the 4 wings hurriedly rise up, and the 20m large giant opens its wings—The jet lights of the thrusters explode in front of the door. Banagher hurriedly uses his hands to cover his face and uses his entire body to endure the hot air that’s blowing over wildly.

Then, the sound of the impact that rocked the door echoes in the air. Banagher holds down Micott, who’s floating to the lift, and looks up to see the airtight wall where the metal giant with 4 large wings is at. The 4-winged machine sticks to the door that’s 50m diagonally above on the left side, right at the door for ship-use, and the hidden arms within its wings open up. The 4 mechanical side arms latch onto the gap in the look and stick itself on the wall like insects. This humanoid-giant pulls out its beam saber and stabs it into the gap.

The hard and sturdy wall let out a white hot light as it melts, and the remaining beam particles that are scattered like welding sparks are scattered all over. Banagher sees this and hurriedly leaves where he is. Even if the fire’s only the size of a mosquito coil, the beam particles that land can melt metal and leave a burnt black mark like the door. Banagher doesn’t have time to think of what will happen if these particles land on humans and yanks Micott before trying his best to move away from the door. Banagher kicks the door several times, and Micott’s hands start to move as she asks, “Banagher?” At this moment, her eyes have some life. Banagher retreats to the partition wall, and then kicks the ceiling to move to the floor.

The remains of beam particles that fall like rain cover the door, and the hot air has arrived. ''It seemed that the 4-winged is trying to get to the <<Snail>>. Why is that so?'' Banagher blankly feels Micott’s body temperature as she continues to stick on him, and thinks, ''Why? To take Audrey back? If that’s the case, Audrey and Neo Zeon is—''

“OPEN THE DOOR! HURRY UP AND OPEN THE DOOR!”

Takuya seemed to have lost it too as he slams on the partition, and Haro’s eyes are flashing as it floats about in the air blankly. “I DON’T WANT, I DON’T WANT THIS! I HATE THIS!!” Banagher feels that Micott, who’s screaming and clinging onto him, is somewhat annoying at this point, and looks around. There’re no other exits besides the partition and the access point. ''Since the men from the Foundation who’re holding onto the card key are gone, there’s no other way to advance, is there? What should we do? Even if we retreat back to the inner wall, the lift’s wrecked.''

''Calm down. If you panic, you won’t be able to deal with this.'' A voice buried deep inside his memories mutters. Banagher takes a deep breath, and the blood vessels in his forehead start to pulsate. He feels a chill up his spine. ''Something’s coming.'' This premonition that’s like a sense of danger hits his heart and causes him to look back at the partition behind him.

The soot that’s floating in the sky has become cinder as it clings onto the partition. At the center of it, a reddish-hot light is formed in a blurry manner, and immediately expands. The heat source protruding out from the partition starts to cover all the corners of the large partition. As the red heat in the center is about to become white, Banagher shouts, “TAKUYA, STOP!” and pulls him, who’s slamming at the door, to the back of the wall. The melted construction materials scatter all over the place, and a gust and an exploding sound roar inside.

The sturdy partition is destroyed from the ‘Snail’s side by a volcanic-like explosiveness. Banagher and the rest are hidden behind the wall, curling themselves up and bracing themselves for the storm that’s coming at them. The sound of thruster jets can be heard amidst the sound of twisted metal, and a large object seem to be covering them fly past them together with the storm. Bangher waits for the heat to subside, peeks out from the wall and looks at the door. A waverider-like machine flies out from the door, and Banagher thought that it will simply spin once, but this machine immediately transforms into a humanoid shape and pulls out a beam saber.

At the same time, the Vulcan guns on the head of the machine are shooting at the 4-winged hanging on the airtight wall. The 4-winged machine stops trying to cut the door and attacks the transformable mobile suit. Both of them clash their sabers in the midst of the clouds, giving off light. Using this time, Banagher looks at the partition that has a huge hole. He’s cautious as he doesn’t know if there are any more machines coming in front behind, but there doesn’t seem to be too many presences. The area on the other side of the crumbled partition is empty, and further on in the partition inside, there’s another hole. This is an emergency means the transformable mobile suit did to enter the colony, using its beam weapons to destroy all the particles. There’s still some red-hot light on the sides of the hole, giving off hot air that seem to be able to burn the lungs. The hole is 15m in diameter, so Banagher doesn’t find it hard to move through the partition without touching the crumbled parts.

The door leading to the ‘Snail’ is opened. Banagher swallows his saliva and doesn’t think of anything else as he grabs Takuya, who seemed to be shocked, and says, “Calm down, Takuya. Haven’t you seen that kind of transformable mobile suit? What unit does it belong to?” Banagher calls him with utmost self-restrain, and Takuya’s terrified expression is more or less calmed down as he answers with a trembling voice, “I, I don’t know, but…”

“If it’s the Zeta-type transformable mobile suits, it should belong to the Federation’s Londo Bell…”

“That means a Federation’s ship is at the ‘Snail’, right? If you can get to the dock, they’ll protect you. Head over with Micott.” If they move down through where the transformable mobile suit went, they will naturally reach the dock. He can’t get both of them involved.

“Alright?” Banagher adds on and pushes Haro, which is floating in mid-air, back to Takuya. Takuya hurriedly catches it and regains some calm as he looks back at Banagher and asks, “What about you?”

“Audrey may be around here. I’m going to the residential area.”

“NO! DON’T BREAK AWAY FROM US!” Micott, who was originally crouched down, suddenly shouted out. Banagher looks back at her in surprise and sees her teary eyes. Even though an unexpected pain reaches his heart, the command in his mind is stronger, telling him not to stop. “I’ll leave it to you then, Takuya.” After saying that, Banagher turns to jump off the floor and fly sideways through the hole towards the neighboring airight wall.

Banagher’s hand touches the ceiling of the airtight wall, and hears Micott’s hysterical scream “BANAGHER!!” from behind. ''Am I being too cold?'' He wonders as he continues to look forward and move on. The mobile handrail on the wall can still be used, and there should be a lift to the residential area at the airtight wall. The environment maintenance system at the ‘Snail’ seems to be fine, and there’s no air leaking out. ''It’s alright. I can go over.'' Banagher mutters to himself and grabs onto the mobile handrail.

He passes through the airtight wall that’s like a large tunnel, through about 5 partitions, and finally sees the gateway to the ‘Snail’ right in front of him. The construction materials are floating all over the place, perhaps as a result of being kicked down by the transformable mobile suit, and some of these materials are even floating to the other side of the gateway. Banagher however ignores this as he heads straight for the lift. The surroundings are really quiet, and he can only vaguely hear explosions rocking the colony far away. This situation causes Banagher to find it weird. Even if the colony builder’s in a standby phase, why is it that not a single person’s here with all this commotion? Banagher follows the memory of his intrusion before and tries to search for a road as he quickens his steps.

There’s a lift in this place that’s similar to the one in his memories, and the battery’s still running. Banagher controls his anxious emotions and touches the control panel on the wall. The lift that’s moving up lets out a slight electronic sound and stops in front of him. Banagher leaps into the compartment without waiting for the lift to open fully.

Immediately, a black hole that appears in front of him is holding down on him. The stinging sour stench enters his nose. ''This is a muzzle.'' Banagher’s mind understands this, and his mind becomes blank. He’s being pushed by that black muzzle as he blankly moves back.

A tall and large white man walks off the lift, and the thing he’s holding and pointing at Banagher isn’t a pistol, but a portable wireless speaker with the antenna modified into a muzzle. The black eyes on the bearded face are moving about, and after checking that there’s nobody else around, the man points his stare and the muzzle at Banagher.

The stinging smell on the jacket floats over with the man’s odor. This is the smell of gunpowder—different from the stench of ozone when a beam weapon’s used. It’s a smell that has more direct killing intent. ''I’ll be killed.'' Such a thought rushes down his spine, and he, who’s backed into the wall, finds that his body is all stiff now.

He’s not a Federation soldier, and neither is he an employee of the Vist Foundation. He looks really lethargic and careless, but this middle-aged man is staring at him so much that he can’t move. Banagher feels that he lost his strength in his lower body, which feel like they’re in zero gravity, and looks back at the middle-aged man’s expressionless face like a stone. Suddenly, gunshots and flashes can be heard from the lift, and the sounds of metal colliding echoes throughout the passage.

Banagher can’t help but close his eyes, and as he opens his eyes again, the muzzle is gone. The bearded man kicks the floor and looks over at the other men running out of the lift. It’s a man who’s seemingly hurt and a blond man who’s lending his shoulder for shoulder. ''Are they the subordinates of this bearded man?'' As Banagher wonders, the blond man’s fierce gaze captures him, and the hand holding onto the wireless speaker points it at him without hesitation. ''He’ll definitely fire this time!'' Banagher leans his back at the wall, but at this moment…

“Leave the kid alone.”

The bearded man’s interrupting words causes the blond man to put down his gun. He looks like he just recovered as he looks at the bearded man, and carries his injured comrade. The bearded man follows him and grabs the mobile handrail. The men leave the lift without looking back, and soon turn at a corner and disappear. “HAVEN’T WE MADE CONTACT WITH MARIDA YET!?” An angry roar rings as it’s becoming faint in the midst of the deep rumbling sounds due to the explosions.

Marida. He heard of this name before, but just can’t think about how he knows about this. Banagher lets his stiff shoulder move towards the lift. The entrance is giving off sparks, and the sounds of short circuits can be heard. The lift control panel is wrecked, and from the sparks just now, it’s obvious that it’s due to the gunshot he heard just now.

''I can’t get to the residential area.'' As he thinks about this, his mind start to start moving, and the body that’s frozen in fear starts to move slowly. Banagher grabs onto his trembling hands and floats about blankly in zero gravity.