Editing KSGU:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 10===

There was a sound, either a human cry or a beast’s roar, causing the mobile suit deck to tremble, and their eardrums to rumble. The maddening light feast showed no signs of stopping as it got more savage. Mineva did not care about the tremors as she continued to look at the sky that continued to glow at the rear hatch. As everyone remained silent and still, “This may have happened.” Alberto spoke up with a stiff tone.

“There are many things we don’t know about the Psycoframes in the first place, like for example, why they glow, and why two different machines can resonate with each other even though the reception range of the psyco waves is limited…no, the term, the name is just a wave that can be observed in electricity, and we have no understanding about its true characteristics. Some people explained the Psycoframe as a metal that can enhance human consciousness, but there had never been an actual case of it, just an analysis of rational human theory. Besides, the “Unicorn” and the “Banshee” are the first machines to have full Psycoframe in history. The battle between these two is completely beyond the manufacturer’s expectations, and we had never had a simulation for it. If we mass-produce such Psycoframes that have this kind of result, what results will there be on the battlefield…I think there is a very likely possibility that a Psyco-field will be produced.”

“A Psycoframe resonance, and an overload of Psycowaves which results in physical energy…you mean that this is a reenactment of the “Axis Shock” again?”

Martha spoke up. Upon seeing her pale face, it was clear that there was no need to pursue on regarding the significance of those words. “In that case, the “Garuda” is basically a paper plane in this phenomenon. Call the “Banshee” to back down, immediately.” Martha commanded next, “Ye-yes” and Mineva heard Alberto’s reply as she looked at the light that continued to dance about wildly without fading. The flashing light itself was throbbing, and there was pressure formed within and outside the “Garuda”; it was appropriate to call it a ‘field’. That was a light that could cause goosebumps on the skin, a light that could agitate the senses; and that was the demonic light that took the rage and sadness of Marida and amplified it, a light that could take a human life away—

“Let’s go.”

Mineva’s shoulder was grabbed unexpectedly, and Riddhe’s face appeared in the direction she was being pulled towards. He forgot to control his strength, and even if it may be caused by anxiety, this caused her to feel a little repulsed.

“There’s no reason for you to be here. Come with me.”

“But Banagher and Marida are still…”

“Marida? Are you referring to that puppet?”

Riddhe simply spoke up, and the moment Mineva’s body inadvertently tensed up, the sound of something breaking rang as the Medea transport carrier, fastened at the rear hatch, tilted drastically.

The wires snapped, and the machine that should be fastened down tilted backwards. The 70m wingspan fell from the hatch, and the Medea, that was gliding in the wind for a moment or so, flipped over and abruptly disappeared from everyone’s sights. After a beat, a light that was bright enough to overpower the Psycofield, and a tremendous boom came in a moment later as it surged its way into the mobile suit deck. The fire and the Medea’s clipped wing flew by the outside of the hatch, and the scattered debris and explosion shock the belly of the “Garuda”, causing a numbing trembling on Mineva’s feet.

“We’ll get onto the space shuttle instead. Tell the captain to raise the height!”

Martha shouted as she held down her blonde hair that was unraveling in the strong winds. “It’s dangerous here, let’s go!” Mineva saw the growling Riddhe’s face as he grabbed her arm, and instinctively shook his hand away.

“Audrey…?”

“Ensign Riddhe, I understand your good intentions, but I can’t leave with you now.”

Mineva understood very well that Riddhe did not have any malice, but he would choose to abandon Marida like a puppet without care, and that was something the old him would do. This man who used to be so understanding ignored all that he could see in the past because he tried to kill his old self, but even with that factored in, the pull he had was not enough for Mineva to entrust her life to. She looked back at Riddhe, giving a veil of rejection in the face of the fists that were trembling and the knees that were practically limp.

“Audrey…Mineva…” Riddhe muttered these names as he lost his voice and looked back at her. If she went with him at this point, she would simply fall into the abyss together—no, that was not the reason. Perhaps it was the feminine aspect within her that gave her the instant conclusion, that this man was not someone she was willing to go down with. His pleading look, and all that was shown in his eyes were causing her to reject them naturally. Even if she did not accept this instinctive response, her face would clearly end up ugly. “What a troublesome knight.” As Mineva lowered her head, she heard a spiteful voice from beside him, and her clenched fists were trembling. Martha gave Mineva a mocking stare as she remained surrounded by the subordinates wielding their handguns.

“But I admire your guts, Ensign Riddhe. It’s because of people like you that there won’t be openings when the world revolves. I suppose you’ll definitely become a long-lasting politician, just like your father.”

It was unknown if these words she said were the biggest humiliation to him. Martha commanded the subordinates as she stared at Riddhe. “Come, Your Highness. This way please. Let’s not embarrass the Ensign any further.” However, Mineva ignored her as she looked back at Riddhe, who stopped looking at Martha as he too turned his weakened stare back at Mineva.

“Is this the order you want to protect/”

Mineva looked deep into Riddhe’s eyes as she took a step towards him. At this moment, his shoulders shuddered.

“If the “Laplace Box” is opened, there’ll be a massive war. I dare believe that a twisted order is still better than a war. But if that kind of order is going to be suffocating…”

Mineva turned her back on Martha and the subordinates as she grabbed Riddhe’s hand together with the handgun. “Mineva…!” Riddhe muttered as he looked at his hand that remained unmoved, “I am the daughter of the Zabi family.” and Mineva continued.

“I can’t abandon my name. As a descendant of a family that had once committed a serious crime, I have a responsibility to carry out my duty.”

“Don’t do that. You’ll be killed!”

The black suit subordinates seemed to realize what was going on as they turned to look at Mineva’s back. ''I know that what I’m going to do is foolish, but there’re too many people who died. As long as I remain a hostage, the sacrifices will continue to increase. If I use myself as an exchange, I can at least remove a source that will continue a wronged situation—''she took Martha’s stare from behind, took a deep breath, and swung a hard elbow at Riddhe’s abdomen with all her strength. “Mineva…!” Riddhe groaned, and she grabbed the handgun from him before turning around to face Martha, only to hear consecutive gunshots fill her five senses.

''I got hit.'' She thought. At that moment, she could not tell whether she was standing as she closed her eyes, but someone knocked her down from behind. A sharp explosion rang, “AN INTRUDER!” and a certain voice rang above Mineva’s head as the gunshots rang. A drum-like machine gun burst followed suit, and she barely opened her eyes to see a slightly yellow smoke.

She could see a scene of Martha running away with the subordinates surrounding her and the flash of someone firing a gun, lighting the place, on the other side of the smoke whirled away by the wind. “Princess!” and heard a voice amidst the gunshots. Upon hearing this familiar voice, “Zinnerman…!?” she got up while wielding her gun, snuck out from Riddhe who was lying above her, and looked for the owner of the voice in the midst of this rapidly thinning smoke. She immediately found a hulking pilot suit figure sweeping through with machine gun shots and running at her, and she immediately turned her body to him as she ran.

“Mineva, wait!” Riddhe’s loud exclamation however was drowned out by gunfire, and the bullets passing through the sky flew by her head. The wind continued to blow in from the hatch, so the smokescreen could not last for long. She could see a white cloaked old man hiding behind the observation installation with a pale face amidst the smoke, and spotted Alberto coughing beside it. She readied the trigger of the handgun as she held it with both hands, holding off any subordinate trying to approach her, and glanced behind before running off. She met Riddhe in the eyes as the latter was unable to move due to the sparks of the bullets flying across the deck, “Excuse me!” a voice called out from behind.

“Hurry, to the rear hatch!”

Zinnerman yelled out with his gruff voice as he threw a new smoke grenade. The explosion shook the mobile suit deck, and the burly arms grabbed Mineva by the collar as he ran away before the smoke covered the black silhouettes again. She hurriedly moved her legs, looked up at the face with the Federation helmet on it, and affirmed that the bearded face under the visor was definitely the loyal servant who was practically her surrogate father. ''How many of them are on board—?''

“What do you plan to do next?”

“The “Garencieres” here. Please drop down with the parachute.”

“And you?”

“There’s still something I have to do.”

Once he finished, Zinnerman immediately ducked into the blind spot of a gondola shaft and fired a spray of machine gun shots at the pursuers. He intended to remove the spare parachute in front of him, but was unable to do so. “Go! I’ll catch up later!” he pushed Mineva in the back, and she ran towards the rear hatch. She leapt over the snapped wires and sprinted forward at the rectangular hole of the hatch. The Medea blocking the entrance had disappeared, and the rear hatch leading to the sky became exceptionally wide.

''Only 50m left. If I don’t get there fast, the crew might lock the hatch up.'' She had no time to look at Zinnerman behind her as she merely focused on running down the wide deck. However, a dazzling flash suddenly appeared, blocking her sight. She, who seemed to be pushed back by the light, covered her eyes with her hands, and at the same instant, there was a loud boom and an impact that entered the hatch, surrounding her body immediately.

She thought that the hatch in front of her had been crumpled like paper right at the instant before she was blown away, but that was an instant impression. The rampaging heat waves grilled her earlobes, and the smell of burnt hair entered her nose. After an abnormally long 2, 3 seconds, Mineva felt pain rising up in her as her back slammed into something. She moved her hands with vigor, and once she grabbed onto something hard that felt suspiciously like a steel frame, she tried her best to cuddle her body that could be blown away anytime. She did not know whether she was standing or lying on the floor, and as she held her breath and waited for the heat wave to pass by, she was suddenly covered with cold wind.

Her hearing was recovering, and the loud wind noises became gradually louder in her ears. she opened her eyelids, and what she first saw was that her hand was grabbing onto a steel bar that was poking out horizontally. She then lifted her head and saw the mobile suit deck that was larger than what her vision could hold. The bellowing smoke scattered quickly, and an unbearable ozone stench lingered in her nose as she spotted the burnt walls and ceiling. It was the stench of the mega-particles scorching the air. The floor near the hatch that was hit directly by the beam had a crater chipped off it.

The severed surface was still red hot, and white smoke could be seen fluttering away because of the strong wing. ''What about Zinnerman and Riddhe?'' Mineva felt worried as she supported herself off the twisted frame again as she stood up, but the loose footing shocked her, and she immediately grabbed onto it and looked at her feet. There was no floor below her feet , only a layer of the frame that was intertwined, forming a little cliff, and the sky was below this cliff. The sea of clouds flowing towards her formed a large vortex, flowing below her feet like a torrent.

Mineva tried to stand up while using the barely collapsed floor as a footing. The beam that was shot down from above blew the hatch away and pierced through the floor. She understood that she was at the edge of the structure as she leaned her body on the frame she could only rely on. If she moved 2m forward, she could stand on the deck, but the few footing points were too weak, and they were being peeled off with the wind. She felt that they would not be able to bear her weight, and did not feel that she had the acrobatics to walk along the steel frame. The frame linking to the deck was twisted halfway through, forming a dangerous arc.

She really wished that she had taken Zinnerman’s parachute, and grabbed onto the frame with her numb hands as she poked her head out to observe the situation, “Princess!” and nearly released her hands because of this voice. Zinnerman reached his head out from the head, saw Mineva in this situation, and gasped for a moment before he yelled, “Wait there! I’ll go right over there!” But once he said that, the sparks from the gunshots grazed his feet, and he disappeared without her reply. The sound of the machine gun was mixed in with the winds, and faded away. “Zinnerman…!” the sudden heat wave and roar caused her to feel the impact from behind, and her body that was leaning on the metal frame tensed up. She turned her head behind, and there was a black giant falling from the wing surface as its vernier flares were etched in her eyes.

The “Gundam” mode “Banshee” readjusted itself as it let out flashes from its back and leg thrusters, and got up onto the “Garuda” again. Mineva had tilted her head away because of the heat waves the giant gave off, but she still witnessed the luminous golden glow from the pitch black machine that was scattering around. It was the light from the Psycoframe –the Psycofield formed by the “Unicorn” and the “Banshee”. The twisted light covered the surroundings, and Mineva held her breath as she felt the two machine clash with each other on the wing as she looked at the clashing lights.

Banagher was in this light, and she could feel that he was fighting hard to avoid being sucked into Marida’s anger. The thing resonating was not a machine, but the two Psycoframes being amplified. Once she realized that this power was born from their consciousness, Mineva understood that her consciousness could be felt as well as she had a sudden thought, and shuddered at it.

She took a deep breath, exhaled it, and closed her eyes to gather her thought in the rumbling light. ''This is something only a mad person would do, but there’s a chance of it succeeding. If a human consciousness can call out and reach out to each other like this, that person with the warm hands who once caught me successfully in “Industrial 7” will definitely—''

“Mineva!”

The voice that came from close by pulled Mineva’s consciousness back to reality. She widened her eyes and spotted Riddhe at the edge of the deck. “Don’t move, I’ll go over!” the white pilot suit went out from the charred black deck, and immediately slid down the tilted surface of the hole without hesitation. He went down the twisted metal frame and reached his hand forward as his eyes met Mineva’s, who lowered her head as she hesitated on whether she too should reach her hand out.

''This isn’t the hand I should be holding.'' She could not think of an appropriate line as she let her stare fall onto the flowing clouds. “Mineva…!?” Riddhe muttered as he reached his hand out, but just when his fingers were about to touch her shoulders, she took a step back from the narrow footing.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and give me your hand?”

“I should have said it before, Riddhe. You’re heading down a different path from me.”

Riddhe gasped as he pulled his hand back slightly, showing despair on his face. “You’re still saying that…!?” he reached out again, but Mineva looked forward and bid farewell,

“I’ll use my eyes to see the true identity of the “Laplace Box”.”

An icy cold gust blew by them, and the shattered deck was peeled off. Riddhe looked back at Mineva, and his body that was grabbing onto the frame lost its balance.

“Perhaps I’ll commit the same crime as my father or grandfather, but even so, I—”

“You still intend to fight against the world?”

The stiff voice interrupted, and she looked over at him in surprise.

“Nobody, whether it’s those who rely on their privileges or those who have dissatisfaction,  believes that this world will rely change. If we can protect the current life, the world 100 years later will mean nothing to them. Do you want to fight against those people alone? What’s the point of sacrificing so mu—”

“I’m not alone.”

Mineva felt the familiar light from behind as she said firmly. ''I know that this choice’s illogical, but the hand I want is in that light. Maybe nothing can be done, maybe we’ll just die with regret, but this is a test to me—a test to see whether this puny me has the fate to interfere with the world.''

Riddhe’s face was twisting in a near-teary state as he reached his hand out with all he had. “Mineva, please…!” Upon hearing this voice he eked out, she lifted her face decisively.

“I assure you that I’ll find the most appropriate method. Goodbye, Riddhe Marcenas. I won’t forget you!”

As she yelled out, she closed her eyes and released herself from the frame. She felt a floating sensation covering her body, “MINEVA!” and Riddhe’s yell faded away in an instant as the sound of the wind blowing by her ears was the only thing she could hear. Her body passed through the hole in the “Garuda” deck floor and fell towards the clouds, not supported by anything as it got dragged with the torrents. The freezing currents swarmed her as she swallowed her realization, and she felt her mind and body freeze as she spun 5000m in the sky.

She felt neither a sense of falling or floating. If she had to describe it, she felt that her body was drifting as it mixed in with the falling shrapnel, dancing wildly in the wind. ''I can’t die now, it’s not time yet. You should be able to sense me, just like how I sensed you now. That’s because you right now are on a machine that enhances a human’s consciousness—'' the words she carelessly muttered deep within became tangible as she felt a pulsation within. It became a thin glow from the forehead, and once it resonated with the surrounding glowing field, her mouth that was blocked by the air currents let out a voice for real.

“Come and catch me, Banagher!”