Editing KSGU:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 11===

The large and white ship frame of the “Ra Cailum” had a catapult deck on both port and starboard sides that were unified with the ship. It was about as old as the time of establishment since Londo Bell was formed, and could be considered a newly built model. The long and narrow ship was inferior to the “Nahel Argama” in terms of quality, but it was almost 500m in length, and could hold 12 mobile suits.

This “Ra Cailum” once led the Londo Bell fleet opened a defense line during the Second Neo Zeon War that happened 3 years old, and managed to prevent the space asteroid base “Axis” from falling onto Earth, indicating its activeness to the world. It was said that the fleet that was half-decimated took a large sum for repairs, and the reason why this ship continued to be the flagship of Londo Bell was mostly due to political considerations. The Neo Zeon War could be seen as one where both sides suffered heavy casualties before everything ended, and thus, the Federation government had to brag their army’s victory and hailed the “Ra Cailum” that saved Earth as a symbol of victory.

The fact that Captain Bright Noa was the ship captain during this war should probably be a big reason for such political considerations. The man himself may not have such ambitions, but this young commander of “White Base” was hailed as a hero of the One Year War, and after more than a decade, this hero was hailed as a symbol of the war’s victory. Ever since he took over as Fleet Commander, he was given an exception of a personnel order to continue as a ship captain from the Senate Council deliberately. That was because he wanted to remain distant from the Central government, and because they felt the danger from the title of “Newtype Squadron Commander”. Perhaps these two thoughts created a coincidence that created this outcome.

If that were the case, there would not be a more troublesome ‘guest’ than Riddhe himself on this ship. He was taken in by the “Ra Cailum”, and before he could even take off his pilot suit, he was summoned to Captain’s room. Without changing his expression, he gave a bitter laugh at how he was thinking about he, who hated politics all this time, would be considering the other man’s political position…

“Today’s training didn’t include “Jesta” anti-water properties, right? Lieutenant Nigel.”

Bright did not look over at Riddhe who said this as he stared at Lieutenant Nigel Garrett, who too was summoned to the Captain’s room for questioning. “Yes, I’m really sorry.” The Tri-Stars leader seemed to understand that the actions of an ace pilot were not restrained by rank. His still posture was wavering somewhat, and his glittering eyes under the slightly long bangs were very calm, not hiding the thought that it was part of his job to listen to a superior officer’s lecture. For a 27 year old soldier, Nigel’s expression was extremely reserved, and he not only had an aura of coolness and elegance for a man, but also a sense of arrogance, seemingly the most trusted pilot. But basically, he had a sense of bottomless presence to him.

Perhaps Bright was already used to seeing such things as he did not look like he minded while sitting in front of the table. Like the “Nahel Argama”, the Captain’s office was squared, 5m a side, and besides Riddhe and the Tri-Star leader, there was First Officer Meran, who had been giving a pessimistic look right from the beginning. Riddhe recalled Squad Leader Norm saying that the mothership and a pilot had to have a married-like camaraderie. If the pilot were to misbehave, the defense line of the mothership would be affected; and if the crew members of the mothership hated the pilot, the pilot would have nowhere to call home.

“They met Ensign Riddhe’s “Delta Plus” during flight training, and with Lieutenant Nigel’s suggestion, the Ensign agreed to take part in the training, and during the mid-air transit, Sub-Lieutenant Watts lost control and caused the Uniform Nine to fall into the sea…is the truth different from what I said, Ensign Riddhe?”

Nevertheless, First Officer Meran continued to frown with his thick eyebrows as he said with a gruff voice befitting of his hulking figure. Riddhe intended to speak up, but Sub-Lieutenant Watts Stepney went forward to say, “I didn’t make a mistake.” causing Riddhe to remain quiet. The round-faced Watts did not know that he was in a completely opposite position from Nigel. It seemed that Watts was the most impulsive amongst the Tri-Stars, and he was the one who looked for trouble with Riddhe first when he got on the ship. Things managed to end quietly before this because Nigel yelled at him, but Riddhe probably would expect another surge of emotions from him.

“I operated it just as per normal. It’s because—”

“Sub-Lieutenant Watts.”

Sub-lieutenant Daryl McGuinness, who was standing beside Watt, interrupted him as he spoke up, saying, “First Officer Meran is asking Ensign Riddhe here.”

As the infuriated Watts calmed down, Daryl did not look at anyone else in the eyes as he merely looked before. His relatively thick Latin blood and curly hair matched each other, giving him a carefree presence, but this man was not to be underestimated. Daryl merely felt that this was not something they could deal with, and unlike the simple-minded Watts, he had another kind of danger to him. Riddhe held back from sighing and turned to Meran, answering, “What you said is the truth.” No matter what, Riddhe’s thoughts were no different from the other two members of the Tri-Stars. He too wanted to get away from this place as fast as possible.

Of course, the one who asked most probably knew that this was not the truth. He stared at the emotionless Nigel, and then turned to the unkempt faces of Daryl and Watts, “It’s great to be so passionate about training.” and sighed as he said.

“However, the “Jesta” is a crucial machine in the Federation space military reassignment plan. You’ll only add to the troubles if you go out of control and ruin the results of the tests, and besides, we’ll probably be called in to take part in a real battle in the future. Do you understand? This is an opportunity you’ve been waiting for so long since you couldn’t make it to the Neo Zeon War, right? What do you intend to do if the machines can’t move in the middle of a crisis?”

It seemed that it would truly be troublesome, as Nigel and company showed a slightly frozen expression. It was true that 2, 3 years ago that they broke a new training record through their own unique attacks, and became famous as the Tri-Stars of Londo Bell. If they could not prove that they could use their skills in actual training, their fame at this point would only be a fleeting image—perhaps the trio were anxious over this.

“That’s enough, Meran. I don’t intend to pursue things further, but you people are to try and appease the engineers of Anaheim as much as possible.”

Bright said that as he got up from his chair. . “Yes!” Nigel and company stamped their feet together and answered.

“Same thing to the deck crew. You’re to clean up the seawater on the deck.”

“Yes…” The trio showed a cloudy expression on their faces. “Is there a problem?” Bright then asked to confirm as he narrowed his eyes at the Tri-Stars.

“Clear up what you began. That’s all. You can go.”

“Yes!” The trio’s response echoed through the Captain’s room, and Riddhe sensed that they turned behind together from beside. Daryl pulled Watts, who was giving a heinous stare, by the shoulder, and retreated from the room. Finally, Nigel passed through the door. “Lieutenant Nigel.” The door was half-closed the moment Bright spoke up.

“What’s your appraisal of Ensign Riddhe?”

“He passed.”

Nigel simply answered and did not look at Riddhe in the eyes as he closed the door. Not knowing what expression to give, Riddhe could only look back at Bright. “Please excuse me then.” Bright nodded at Meran who said this as he looked back at the monitor panel. He waited for Meran to leave the room, and let out a soft sigh.

“You sure had a violent welcoming party, Ensign Riddhe.”

“Yeah…”

“Our course will change course to Africa. The report states at the Zeon remnants hiding in the Sahara desert are starting to move aggressively. If it has something to do with the disguised ship, we may end up fighting immediately after we make contact.”

Bright hid the smile he showed for a moment as he called out the satellite visual of the Western Sahara on the monitor panel. He continued to use his eyes to stare at the movements the Zeon remnants made for the past few days as he continued.

“Securing the “Laplace Box” is our utmost priority, but we probably won’t have that kind of freedom. Better tense up and work well if you want to be a pilot of this ship.”

Bright merely said this. Riddhe original thought that the other man would go more in-depth with the conversation as he gave a surprised expression, “Yes.” He stared at the back that was silently prompting him to leave, made his decision and spoke up, “Can I say something here?”

“What is it?”

“No matter my origin, I’m a pilot of the Federation army. I hope I won’t have any special treatment.”

The reason why the Tri-Stars would pull such petty tricks on him was because news of him being given special treatment was spread through the ship. He was already mentally prepared about being viewed as an irritant, but he could not stand being treated as a troublesome VIP and being unable to do anything. He stared at the back that had no intent of looking back at him and continued to emphasize with a restrained tone.

“I’ve been through battle before. Please don’t remove me from dangerous missions just because I have to keep watch—”

“DON’T BE NAÏVE!”

Bright turned around to let out a roar that pierced through the pilot suit, causing goosebumps on Riddhe’s skin. Bright turned back to say as he stared at the eyes on Riddhe’s stiff body, “This thought itself shows that you view yourself as a privileged person. If you want to be a normal pilot, go help clean the deck.” He pulled his black hair that was a little unkempt on the side and turned to the numerous obituary photos hanging on the war.

“I’ve seen a lot of pilots who believed that they won’t die in battle. However, people will die when it’s time to die.”

There were photos of pilots who served this ship in the past, but were unable to return as they vanished on the battlefield—Riddhe followed the stare that was fixed on the photo of Lieutenant Commander Amuro Ray, and felt that his mouth was blocked as he looked back at Bright. Bright’s face showed a mere moment of anguish before he showed the expression of a commander as he turned his calm stare at Riddhe.

“No matter who you are, I’ve never thought of giving you any special treatment. If there’s a need, I’ll naturally call you in to work, but you must definitely come back. If you can do that, I’ll recognize you as an ordinary pilot.”

Bright finished these words and sat back in front of the table without waiting for Riddhe to answer. In the face of these words only a commander who faced countless battles could say, Riddhe was overwhelmed by the weight of the words as he wanted to argue back ''You don’t say?'' He quietly clenched the hands clinging onto his thighs.

''I have no intention of dying. Right now, I don’t have a reason for that, before I can redeem the crimes of this cursed bloodline of mine—'' he muttered in his frozen heart, “Yes”, answered, and saluted. Bright had no intention of lifting his head as he continued to stare only at the document on the table.