Editing KSGU:Volume 10 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 5===

The residential block had once ceased to revolve, and it slowly began to revolve. It did not stop at any point, but continued at how it usually did, gradually accelerating, giving the impression that it was completely over.

The impact belt surrounding the cylinder began to move in the opposite direction, accelerating its relative velocity, and everything appeared to be returning back to normal. Riddhe exhaled, and looked forward from the massive dryer-looking residential block  of the “Magallanica”. Whatever happened could only be left up to imagination, but the anomaly that happened surely had something to do with the “Box”. So Banagher had arrived, so he vaguely convinced himself. His eyes had nowhere to go as they drifted in the empty voice, and the “Banshee” drifted towards “Industrial 7” lifelessly, acting as part of the space debris.

The closer he got towards the space colony, the thicker the space debris. If he kept drifting he might end up leaving the meteor cluster he was hiding in. Riddhe was in no mood to fear the opening of the “Box”, and he did not know what he should do thereafter. The reason for his presence, for his arrival, had become ambiguous. He callously looked over at the “Industrial 7” the size of his arm, and perhaps it was due to him being on the other side that he could not see the healed scars on the outer wall a month after it was damaged in the battle.  The white silhouette of the “Magallanica'' caused Riddhe’s numb heart to ache again.

''I heard your voice too. Everyone’s waiting for you. Come back,'' Ensign Riddhe—Mihiro’s voice kept calling for him, but he could not hear it. Everyone was too distracted due to the anomaly of the “Magallanica” , but Riddhe found himself to be lucky. How can I go back now? I could have shot at the bridge of the “Nahel Argama” if not for her…Marida Cruz.  I could have killed everyone on the ship, including Mihiro. How can I possibly go back now? To whom do I beg for forgiveness? Looking away from the ship that caused his eyes to sear, Riddhe pulled the joystick, and let the drifting “Banshee” turn around, wanting to leave the scene before they called for him, only to see another unit beyond the countless debris.

It was a Base Jabber, their identification tags indicating they belonged to the “General Revil”, but was not the one ferrying the “Banshee”. Riddhe expanded the visual, saw the many crates it ferried, and gasped upon instant realization. Feeling much pain in his heart again, he tried to flee the scene, “Is that you, Riddhe?” but a familiar man’s voice rang through the wireless.

Riddhe could not move upon hearing this voice; he had no answer for “Alberto……”Riddhe groaned, looking at the seemingly floating Base Jabber.

He had no idea why Alberto would enter the battlefield while ferrying a spare psycoframe, but Riddhe did sense that he ignored his own family problems, his grudge against Banagher, and had the utmost desire to seek a certain person. The passing thoughts linked together, the countless ‘voices’ of yearning, loss  and pain echoed distantly, causing ripples in Riddhe’s heart again. The latter looked away from the flat looking Base Jabber. The pain, the guilt he could not shift, they were all what he deserved, for he did something that could not be taken back …

“Sorry, I…she—”

''“Don’t mention it.”''

Riddhe’s eyelids twitched once he was interrupted by the terse voice, ''“This isn’t what I’m talking about.”'' the heavy voice rang through the wireless.

''“It doesn’t matter now…”''

A heavy silence beckoned. The guilt grew in his heart, the blame he could not shift as he clamped up, having no right to say anything. The two units had no intention to approach, and no intention to separate as they simply drifted in the void. Time merely passed on, allowing them to recognize the importance of their losses. The surrounding debris seemed still, “Industrial 7” and the “Magallanica” merely flickering as they continued to move endlessly.

''“…I investigated the movements of the “Magallanica”.''

After a while, Alberto muttered, and Riddhe lifted his lowered head.
 
''“The strange movement is to allow the residential block and the impact belt to resonate and interact at a certain point., opening the path from the residential block into the impact belt. It’s like the leader’s cryo is inside there.”''

Riddhe’s mind was not fully sober, but he too felt it was the most plausible explanation. He stared at the revolving residential block with multiple layers of the snail-like “Magallanica”, “And that’s not all.” So Alberto continued.

''“‘I can see the outer layer of the impact belt moving, so it’s probably three layers. This part is usually fixed to the outer shell, and it looks like it covers the gaps  of the revolving block—”''

“The space where the “Laplace Box” is hidden…?”

Riddhe answered. The residential block, impact belt, and the secret layer on the outermost sidelined together, creating a massive passcode.  After a terse silence, “So the seal has been undone.” Alberto’s heavy voice sounded so pessimistic.

''“Everything will come to an end…can you tell me now?”''

There was no pretense, no spite. Riddhe’s eyes looked towards the relatively tilted Base Jabber.

''“Before the contents of the “Box”…the true identity of the curse that binds us vanishes.”''
 
Vanishes. This saying was not simply a metaphor, but Riddhe was in no mood to question further, the word ‘curse’ instead resonated in his empty heart. Whatever, since the seal of the “Box” had been undone, since everything will be cleared up, Alberto too had the right to know earlier. He too was bogged down by the gravity of his family, by that overly serious personality of his, leaving him with nowhere to escape. Even the one wish he wanted to fulfill could no longer be done. Alberto was a man who, the more he sought, the more he lost. Riddhe too felt much empathy as he looked at the “Magallanica” that was covered in rocks. Countless beacon lights flickered like fireflies, along with the connector at the wheel, and other items. There was an intense white light brighter than the beacons, a needle-like flash—

“Light signal…?”

It was a flash probing on its own, ignoring the various beacon lights. A different angle caused it to be blocked by the “Magallanica”. Riddhe tried to pursue it in his “Banshee”, only for a shrill siren to echo in the cockpit, and in his shock, he looked towards where it indicated.
 
There were two lights moving at high speeds, passing through the debris and approaching “Industrial 7”. Riddhe saw the lights instantly enter the connector, and after a brief silence, explosions of light occurred.

The fireballs expanded wordlessly, illuminating the “Magallanica” silhouette along with the space colony shrouded by the ‘wheel’. It was too far for the impact to be felt, but the light remained bright, and the visor could not filter it completely, vaporizing the shrapnel caused by the explosion pressure , and illuminating the floating debris and Base Jabber.

“Missiles…!?”

There was no other possibility. Someone fired at the “Magallanica” , the long range missiles hitting the colony connector. Riddhe had the “Banshee” raise its beam rifle, seeking the enemy towards where the missiles came from “What? What came flying!?” Alberto yelled flustered, and several beams shot through the void. The mega particles flew in from the same direction as the missiles, becoming thinner due to the long distance, yet still causing another explosion on the “Magallanica”  and the space colony.