Editing KSGU:Volume 7 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 9===

(…I heard that the “Box” key is left to that “Unicorn”. Have you detained its pilot?)

(Yes. He’s currently resting inside the infirmary.)

Just when Banagher thought that the air trembled suddenly, a familiar voice immediately echoed in his ears. His body that was lying on the bed immediately bounced up, and he turned around to look at the communication panel that was suddenly lit.

This place, which was used as a detention room, seemed that it was originally a personal room for officers, and there was a 10 inch monitor set up beside the bed. On see the figure of the voice’s owner, Banagher felt his gulp become a vomit.

(The infirmary? Is he wounded?)

(The boy’s fine. He’s just a civilian who ended up riding on the “Unicorn” out of coincidence, but he certainly has the talent to pilot and guts. If you wish, I can arrange for you to meet him after this.)

An unfamiliar woman’s voice interrupted, (Sorry to bother you about this.) and Audrey answered back before stepping forward again. The hidden camera that was installed on a certain person’s chest was moving after her, and her chestnut-colored hair was swaying on the monitor. The scenery shown was definitely the mobile suit deck of the “Ra Cailum”, and she, Audrey Burne, was aboard this battleship. “AUDREY!” Banagher yelled as he reached his hand for the intercom button of the communication panel. He continued to press the unresponsibe button, “IT’S ME, BANAGHER!” and yelled at Audrey on the monitor.

“NO, AUDREY! YOU MUSTN’T REMAIN HERE! AUDREY!”

Audrey walked off without turning back, and the Vist Foundation’s subordinates surrounded her, sheltering her back that was covered with a white blouse. Banagher punched the monitor, leaped off the bed and rushed to the bedroom. “SOMEONE! OPEN THE DOOR! LET ME OUT!” He slammed the locked door hard and yelled.

After a few slams , the sound of the lock being opened rang, and the automatic door swung aside. Banagher instinctively backed away, saw the man’s face standing behind the door, and was startled, rooted to the floor.”

“I said it before. Even if you’re unwilling, you’ll have to cooperate one way or another.”

Alberto did not look away as he walked into the room. Banagher turned to look at Audrey on the monitor, before looking back at Alberto again, “Don’t tell me…” and eked out a trembling voice.

“You came all the way here, riding on the “Unicorn”, in order to save her. Then, you should now cooperate with us to save her.”

“You’re despicable!”

“Whatever you say. We can only do this in our positions.”

There were Vist subordinates looking inside the room, standing behind Alberto, ostensibly blocking off all exits. ''I caused everything here''—once he had this realization, Banagher felt his knees tremble, “Let me speak with Mr—Ensign Riddhe!” he said out the thought he suddenly had.

“That man definitely won’t agree with this doing. Audrey should be protected by his family now…!”

“It’s useless. We’ve already struck a deal with the Marcenas’ family. Her Highness Mineva will be taken care of by the Foundation.”

“What did you say!? Is this something adults should be doing!?”

“Yeah. Thanks to brats like you messing around, the adults certainly suffered quite a bit. You have to empathize with us here.”

Alberto’s firm stare that was different from before caused Banagher’s legs to tremble as he was speechless. The former looked back at the latter, “Since we share the same blood, I’ll just give you one advice.” and continued,

“Cardeas’ father, our grandfather, was killed by our great-grandfather, the leader of the Foundation. Do you know what this means?”

Alberto continued to force this smile on his lips as he brought his face over to Banagher. The latter was pushed back, deep inside the room, and sat on the bed.

“This is the Vist bloodline. In this cursed bloodline, you and I are both just pedestrians. Give up on the naïve thinking that we’re relatives. Even father and son have to kill each other, and the Vist family will kill even their own kind to protect the “Box”.”

The stare of someone who once killed his father was looking down at Banagher in a twisted way. At that moment, a certain emotion that was forced to its limits let out a creaking sound, and he felt his chest cool down immediately. “Hand over the data of the Laplace Program. You’ll get your freedom, and she’ll be saved.” Alberto spoke to exert pressure, and Banagher, who looked back at those bloodshot eyes, lowered his face and nodded slightly before he understood what he was doing.

Alberto heaved a sigh of relief, “Oi” and once called out at the door, Banagher could sense the former taking a step back. The three men on the passage walked into the room, and the feet clad in black leather shoes entered his eyes. He could see one of them taking out handcuffs and raised his hands. Once that man closed in, Banagher got up and used the momentum to send a headbutt into the man’s belly before his hands were grabbed.

The man groaned as he was sent flying back. Alberto, who caught him from behind, fell back on his backside, and the black-clad Foundation subordinates were in disarray. He darted below a subordinate who immediately leaped forward, lowered his head, and charged towards the exit before rushing out of the room in a forward lunge. “You…!” as Alberto growled , Banagher shut the door intently.

Banagher did not have time to lock the door. “Oi, hold it!” an angry growl rang through the corridor, and the guards with white gun holsters on their waists were pursuing right after him. However, he continued to run, and he followed his memory when he was first taken to this place as he made a right turn on the first cross junction, hoping that he could head towards where the elevator was.

The images displayed on the communication panel did show the hangar of the mobile suit. Audrey was detained in the mobile suit deck together with the rendezvous machine, and at this point, she was definitely at the bottom of the deck. ''What can I do once I get there?'' he could not think at all as he pressed the elevator button. “Don’t let him get away! Get him!” Alberto’s voice immediately rang from behind, and Banagher, who realized that he had no time to wait for the elevator, hurriedly darted down the stairs beside the passageway.

He immediately dashed down the extremely steep steps that were just like a ladder as its name implied. He arrived onto the lower deck, the siren rang, and right at that moment, two crewmen waiting on the corridor turned their faces at Banagher in surprise, “Oi…” a man spoke up, wanting to raise his hand, only to be sent flying away Banagher slid down the next set of stairs before the growls reached him. He rushed down seven levels worth of steeps as the many footsteps loomed behind him, and rushed to the corridor that should lead to the mobile suit deck.

The air flowed slightly, and the faint smell of grease whiffed in, indicating to him where the mobile suit was. Audrey’s heartbeat that was there, and the touch that indicated the beginning of everything, arrived along with the wind, and he continued to run forward despite the alarms and the people’s growls right after him. He turned at a cross junction, reached the end of a T-junction, turned right, and nearly knocked into someone else running over at him.

“You’re…!”

The young man dodged behind to avoid a head-on collision, and widened his eyes. “Mr Riddhe…” Banagher muttered, but the pursuers’ footsteps caused him to look back again. He immediately grabbed Riddhe’s uniform and pulled him over,

“Ensign Riddhe. Audrey’s on this ship now. The Vist Foundation wants to use her as a hostage.”

“Hostage…!?” Riddhe gasped, and lifted his lower jaw. “Wait!” “Oi, get that guy!” the yells came from the corridor behind Banagher, and he gave a pleading stare at Riddhe. ''It’s all on you. If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to understand.'' Banagher had relied on Riddhe when their mobile suits interacted with each other, and looked at the latter, who was gritting his teeth. Riddhe lowered his brown eyes, and gave Banagher a bitter expression.

“…Go.”

He muttered with a barely audible voice, and took the fire extinguisher installed on the wall. “The mobile suit deck’s straight ahead. Hurry.” Riddhe informed Banagher, who did not have the time to thank as he darted forward. The sound of the fire extinguisher being sprayed overpowered the pursuers’ footsteps. The rattled guards’ angry roars and shouts could be heard on the corridor, and entered Banagher’s ears through the white smoke.

The white smoke of the fire extinguisher was pushed by the air flow. Banagher opened the air lock before it caught up, and suddenly stopped upon seeing a wide space in front of him. He could see the mechanics who were stunned by this sudden alarm, the tractor units on their paths, and the cranes that were dangling from the ceiling approximately 30m. As he spotted the mobile suits standing there, he looked around this large cavity. He could see a group of men dressed in black at the bottom of the inner wall opposite where he was, and there was a woman in white blouse surrounded by these hulking men, fresh in his eyes, walking with her back straight.

“AUDREY!”

Banagher yelled as he gathered his entire strength in the form of a voice. Audrey stopped in her tracks and looked over, meeting him in the eyes. Despite the fact that she was smaller than a thumb at this point, he could clearly see her expression. Her emerald eyes were wide open, and he could even see himself as a reflection in her eyes.

“Banagher…!”

Audrey’s mouth moved as she took a step towards him. The men surrounding her immediately blocked her way, and the figure in white blouse was covered by the men in black suits as she disappeared. An unfamiliar middle-aged woman looked over at him unhappily, ''Such insolence. Let go of me!'' Audrey’s struggling voice gradually faded away, and as Banagher spotted her being dragged to the air lock at the inner wall, he saw nothing else in his eyes. The distance to that point was 40m at maximum, and as his body estimated this subconsciously, he leaped off the floor, his palms ostensibly scratching the floor apart as he sprinted.

[[Image:KSGU7 071.jpg|thumb]]

At that moment, his right hand that was reaching behind was grabbed, and he was dragged over forcefully. In an instant, his body that was afloat in the air slammed into the wall behind, and a blunt impact struck the back of his head. He could not understand what exactly was going on, and he reached for his numb head as he spotted a person in black pilot suit amidst his fading consciousness.

The uniformly black fabric had golden stripes on it, showing the slender body of the pilot. On the left chest of this armor-like like vest covering the torso, there was the symbol of a Unicorn indicating the Vist Foundation, marked with golden lines as well. It looked like a personalized pilot suit for the “Unicorn”—a complete opposite indicating a stark contrast between light and darkness, a black color giving a demonic image. Banagher did not think too much about what it meant as he looked over the shoulder of the pilot suit in front of him, trying his best to look for Audrey. He tried to reach his leg forward, but a hand shot out like a bullet, grabbing his throat. In less than a second, his body was pushed back and slammed into the wall again.

The hand pressed down on Banagher’s windpipe like a plier, not moving at all. Stricken by the fear of suffocation, he flailed his limbs and tried to escape. However, the pilot’s head, covered by the helmet visor, did not move, and the slender body provided an unimaginable strength as it forced Banagher onto the wall. The flailing arms hit the helmet, the visor switch was immediately clicked, and a familiar pair of blue eyes appeared in his sights.

“Miss Marida…!?”

It seemed, deep within the azure pupils ostensibly leading to the sea, a certain emotion jolted for an instant. Of course, Banagher felt that he smelled her sweet body fragrance when he was facing off against that black “Unicorn”. He felt the hand on the neck relax, and shout, “Miss Marida, it’s me! Banagher Links!” He used this opportunity to grab her by the shoulder, and the most he was about to bring the face covered by the helmet to himself, Marida shook off all doubt as her eyes showed killing intent.

The hollow eyes were darker than when they first met, and were reminiscent of a cave—Banagher felt a chill as he wanted to draw back, but it was too late as Marida slammed her knee into his gut, and a piercing blow felt like it was about to stab through his spine, shaking his entire body. His legs lost strength, and he fell limply on the floor and squeezed out a voice, “Mari…da…”. He reached his hand and grabbed the pilot suit. Marida remained unmoved as her legs were spread apart, and as both of them looked at each other, Banagher again sensed that there was a hesitation in the bottom of the other person’s eyes, “Ple Twelve!” only to hear this growl.

“Don’t let this guy escape. Restrain him.”

Alberto, who was standing at the door of the airlock, was panting, and his shoulders were rising and falling as he growled a command. Marida’s eyes that were looking down at Banagher became dark hollows again, and the hand grabbing his throat regained strength. As he was being lifted to the wall again, Banagher used his hands to grab Marida’s hands. ''Miss Marida, please wake up. Audrey—Princess Mineva is over there. '' He tried to call out to her with all his will, hoping for the resonance in thoughts they once had; however, what appeared in the bottom of her eyes was a hollow where light could not shine into. Banagher’s hand was easily shaken aside, and his arm was restrained as she immediately sent him sprawling on the floor.

“Banagher!” Audrey’s call could be heard faintly. The stone-faced Marida betrayed no expression as she stared down coldly at Banagher on the floor. The eyes overlapped with the black “Unicorn”, and Banagher bit his lips tightly. He gathered his thoughts at Audrey’s presence that was moving away, summoned all his remaining strength, and yelled out,

“AUDREY!”

There was no response. He was dragged up by the arms above his head and brought away from the mobile suit deck. Marida did not respond as she stood around in her black pilot suit like a puppet, her eyes still within a corner of Banagher’s sights.