Editing KSGU:Volume 9 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===
The 4 CIWS located at the rear engine block fired its anti-mobile suit 60mm machine gun turrets. The “Geara Doga”, pursued by the crossing fires, made its way to the aft, and aimed its beam machine gun at the main thruster.

But right before it could fire the mega particles from its muzzle, the “Loto” hiding on the ship leapt off the deck and fired the Gatling gun mounted on its right shoulder. The “Loto” was a machine 2 sizes smaller than an ordinary unit, but the precise projectile hit the abdomen of the “Geara Doga”, causing the unit with the Zeon insignia on the sleeve to explode. The ring of explosion expanded near the “Nahel Argama”, and the shockwave and shrapnel rained above the “Loto”, lying prone on the deck. The ship let out a rattling noise due to the shrapnel hitting it, and Otto, upon seeing the external surveillance monitors being covered in white light “NOW!” roared with a voice no quieter than the explosion.

“Return Juliet 006 to the ship! Are you ready, mechanics!?”

(We can finish in 7 minutes!) The mechanics team response echoed amidst the bridge, shaken by the shockwaves, as the rear surveillance cameras showed a “Stark Jegan”.  The pale green humanoid had depleted its anti-ship missiles, and stumbled towards the deck, looking like a walking corpse. ''Looks like we have to use the emergency landing net.'' Otto sensed that it would be bad if they were being fired upon when taking in a unit, and the moment he glanced aside at the portside sensor panel, a “Geara Zulu” grazed by, causing him to shiver.

He saw a painted line on its right arm, probably for identification, and heaved a sigh of relief. This “Geara Zulu” had the identification logo of the Republic Army’s anti-air identification, and was definitely on their side. It was a unit belonging to the “Garencieres”, labeled with the code G.

“To all escort units, with the retreat of Juliet 006 our ship’s defense capabilities is reduced by 30%. Proceed in a cluster formation and focus on defending the lone ship.”

“Massive numbers of enemy units incoming. Roaming target 13 “Musaka” will enter our firing range.”

The sensor operator’s voice overpowered Ensign Mihiro’s, leaned forth from the Captain’s seat, “I’ll leave the evading to you.” and commanded the navigation operator at the front.

“The enemy ships are still around. They’ll shoot us!”

Without waiting for the command to be repeated, he stared at the 3 markers lit on the main screen. The fleet formed by two Musaka-class ships and one disguised trading ship had set up a triangular formation in front of them, and it seemed they were still mobile given their movements. Since it was the only fleet the “Unicorn” spared when it moved forward, there was no doubt that it still had its firepower intact, and was definitely an opponent the “Nahel Argama” could not handle alone.

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It had been more than 2 hours since the battle started, and though they had entered the Shoal Space Region, the number of mobile suits breaking through the anti-air perimeter had increased drastically, and the escorting units they had were unable to deal with them. It was not simply because the floating space debris obstructed them, but also because the ‘iron wall’ that was always in front of the “Nahel Argama” had disappeared—a fact Liam, Mineva, who was seated at the commander’s seat, and all that were present in the bridge realized. ''We overrelied on him, and now we have to pay the price for it?'' Otto gritted his teeth as he watched the enemy markers continue to close in on them. “I heard the “Unicorn” stopped moving?” upon hearing this line, he turned behind.

A normal suit with an Anaheim logo on the chest floated into the bridge, with the person inside panting hard. Otto saw Aaron’s face within the helmet, and recalled that he was the one who called the latter in. “That was 5 minutes ago”, he tapped at the console on the armrest, operating it.

“Since it’s from the optical sensor, we don’t know the details. The lase communication’s cut off.”

There was a grainy telescopic visual in a corner of the main screen. It was tough to determine, but it was the CG corrected visual of the “Unicorn”, which had yet to move since a while back. It was dodging the beams that were coming in from all directions, but the way it continued to roll about at the same place resembled that of a bug caught in an invisible fly trap. The ‘iron wall’—the RX-0 which had practically neutralized the Neo Zeon fleet single-handedly, was isolated in a space thousands of kilometers away, caught in some strange phenomenon. “This is…” Aaron stood at the side of the Captain’s seat, muttering, and the light from the explosions passed through the window, lighting his pale face.

“I heard the NT-D has an activation time limit. If that’s the reason for the stoppage, there’s a need to call Banagher back in.”

Mineva’s helmet too was lit by the same light as she spoke with a hushed voice. One could tell, without looking at her trembling state, that she wanted to scream out too. Aaron kept his eyes fixated on the visuals, “This may be one of the reasons.” and cautiously answered,

“But Banagher has completely mastered the “Unicorn”, and furthermore, the data shows that there’s a way to adjust the burden on the body and extend the time limit. It’s really too weird that he’s unable to move to this extent at all. It practically seems that the Psycommu was jacked.”

“Psycommu Jack?

Mineva responded to this line she never heard of before Otto could ask. “It’s different from radio waves, but psycowaves are still a form of wave.” Aaron finally looked away from and explained as he turned around.

“To jam the waves, you just need to negate it with a stronger wave. The Unicorn-types are equipped with this function.”

“Neo Zeon has such a weapon?”

“It’ll take the full psycoframe’s large amount of calculation ability to control and manipulate them, but if it’s just jacking it—”

Another shock was large enough to rock the ship, hushing the words he was about to say next. The ship accelerated due to it, and caused all the personnel to be pressed onto the linear seats. Otto grabbed Aaron’s arm as the latter was nearly thrown to the aft, and endured the pressure coming from the front. “A direct hit! It’s Juliet 006!” Liam’s voice caused him to shiver.

(Landing deck is breached! Hurry with the partition wall!)

“The “Kshatriya” is passed through! 4 incoming enemy units from down below!”

“We lost contact with Juliet 006. Lieutenant Mako…!”

(They’ll attack us! ECOAS “Lotos”, proceed to the bottom of the ship ASAP!)

(The 3rd rear cannon seems to be caught in the explosion from Juliet 006. It’s wrecked!)

The voices coming through the wireless communicator overlapped with the voices of the people on the bridge, and the annoying alarms added to the chaotic atmosphere. The “Stark Egan” on the landing deck was shot down, exploded, and affected the aft area of the “Nahel Argama”. Otto checked the external surveillance monitors, with one third of them taken offline, saw the pillaged landing deck melted away, and hollered, “The cannon operator should be headed to the 3rd main cannon! Tell him to respond!” As there was a problem with the repairing of the power connector, the cannon operator had left for the bridge 10 minutes ago. As he heard the casualty reports coming in from everywhere, Mihiro’s feeble voice answered him, “No response. He probably was caught in the explosion…” Though he had anticipated it, Otto felt his mind go blank.

Otto’s stare was drawn to the empty cannon operator’s seat, and he was unable to move. “Captain…!” Liam seemed to be hissing at him, but he was no longer in the mood to respond. They had to intercept the enemy units and carry out emergency repairs to the damaged areas. He had so many things to affirm, but he was unable to say anything. The emptiness in his mind gradually spread, and his thoughts were slowly devoured by it. ''How many have died?'' He muttered emptily within, ''I dragged so many of our crew into this battle we had no chance of winning, a non-standard military operation to boot. How many of them were killed by this useless Captain—''

“Is this the end?”

The voice inadvertently leaked out, causing Liam’s face to cringe, and Mineva and Aaron to gasp. It was not simply a matter of losing that ‘iron wall’; the collective consciousness that bonded together because of the “Unicorn” existence was no longer around, and the feeling of isolation gave rise to a disoriented sense. Otto averted the uneasy stares from everyone, looked at the main monitor, and stared at the enemy fleet markers that were about to enter their line of fire. The enemy ships was lined in a triangular formation, with ample spaces between them ostensibly wary of the hyper mega-particle cannon. The “Nahel Argama” did not have enough firepower to aim at all 3 ships, and obviously, even if they had a lucky hit, they would take the hit from the gathered firepower of the remaining two.

''We’ll send a retreat signal to call back the “Unicorn”, and leave the current space region we’re in. But the only way we can do that is when the enemy’s not firing on us.'' Otto glanced back at Liam, who had been staring at him, closed his eyes for a short moment, and clenched his fists on his knees tightly. ''Retreat'', right when this line was about to gather at his mouth, he widened his eyes, “For the time being!” a voice rang behind him.

“Rotate the ship 270, and proceed further in that manner. When they enter our firing path, fire all cannons and shoot down the center command ship.”

The hulking body dressed in a normal suit continued as he advanced to the middle of the bridge. Otto widened his eyes as he saw the man behind the gun muzzle the previous night, “Zinnerman…” Otto heard Mineva mutter, and saw Liam get up with a face full of killing intent. “You want us to face the enemy by the side?” he asked, and Zinnerman nodded,

“This explosion just now will cause the enemy to think we have a large breach. As long as we pretend to be drifting, the enemy will gather in a cluster formation and fire at us in one go, rather than come attack us.”

“Your proof? The enemy’s wary of the hyper mega-particle cannon. They’ve been fighting in a spread formation.”

“The Tennyson fleet emphasizes most on reacting according to the situation. They have the notion that their commander will hammer their heads if they lose an opportunity. Once we show a weakness, they’ll react instinctively, especially since this place is the Shoal Space Region, practically their backyard.”

This was a common theme amongst a fleet with strong command. Otto stared closely at the man, who hid inside the detention room after the commotion the previous night. “But the “Unicorn” still can’t move.” Upon hearing this, Otto turned back and stared at Aaron, who interrupted calmly,

“The psycommu jamming weapon is preventing the “Unicorn” from transforming into the “Unicorn”. Without the “Unicorn” around, even if we go on like this—”

“It’s fine. That brat will hang on.”

“But…!”

“Doesn’t the “Unicorn” have a system to identify a Newtype? Do you think a real Newtype will lose its power because of some radio waves jamming?”

Aaron and Otto were both taken aback by this unexpected logic. “That’s…” while Aaron was at a loss of words, Zinnerman looked away from him and turned to the window, where the beams flashed outside. “I don’t know the theory behind the machinery, but I know that guy.” He stated with firm emphasis in his tone,

“He hung on up till this point, and now we can only trust in him. Just a little more, and we can break through…!”

''Trust is just like a gamble.'' Otto continued to stare at Zinnerman, who looked completely different from the man who said those words back then, and seemed ostensibly realized why the latter came to this place. He stared at the white machine on the telescopic visual, still trapped in the intangible net. (I feel the same too, Captain.) This voice rang from the wireless communicator.

(I heard the basis of the Laplace Program is beyond the unknown. A real Newtype will exceed the values. I guess it distinguishes between natural and artificial Newtypes through the ‘waves’ it can’t identify, and not the rigid forms of psycowaves.)

It was Gael, and Otto, who was unable to understand at least half of what he said, turned to Aaron, “Beyond the unknown.” who muttered as he looked far away. (I don’t know the basis behind the machine either.) Gael’s voice rang again.

(But let us believe! Let us believe in the possibilities the “Unicorn” shows. If we retreat now, we’ll lose some important things. Not just the Laplace Box, but also other—”

A giant flash appeared outside the window, and a stormy shockwave shook the ship. The hull rattled, echoing with the noise from the radiowaves, preventing the rest of the words from being heard. However, there was no need to listen anymore. Otto’s blank mind regained several pieces as he stared at everyone’s faces, lit by the explosion. He saw the faces of Zinnerman, Mineva, Liam, Aaron, Mineva and all the senior duty staff—they all had nothing protecting them from behind other than the term ‘trust’. They were simply driven by a reckless impulse, devoid of any thoughts about the consequences. ''What will happened if we retreat now? There’s billion of people in the Earth Celestial Sphere, and I’m the one chosen to lead these 400 plus people in front of me to the frontlines. If I choose to retreat at this moment, who am I going to beg for help?''

“Deep 010 downwards, 080 portside. Continue navigating through inertial flight. Wait for the enemy to cluster, and first fire at the roaming target 12 “Musaka.”

''This may be my last order as Captain.'' Otto had this passing thought in a corner of his mind as he finished these words,

“Then, aim at 14 and 15. Keep your eyes on the enemy ships’ movements. We only have one chance.”

Everyone nodded and faced their consoles, repeating and relaying the instructions. Otto felt the ship veer greatly as he turned to Zinnerman. The latter’s eyes met his, and his bearded face turned to Mihiro as he gave the instructions, “Send a light signal to the “Kshatriya”. Turn back immediately and maintain a distance of 15km away from the ship.” Mihiro nearly reacted to his Captain-like tone for an instant, and then turned to Otto in surprise.

“If we bring back all our units, the enemy will think that we took heavy damage. Is that enough?”
He explained with an unnatural sounding voice, showing how sensitive he really was. Mihiro looked to and fro between a nodding Otto and Zinnerman, and protested, “But we don’t know if the light signal will reach in this situation…” Her sensitiveness was the reason why she would have such a reaction, for she could not bring herself to forgive the man who was a traitor half a day ago. “Marida will understand.” Zinnerman immediately answered, and he again turned to look at Mihiro, deliberately bringing his chin back in.

“Please, Ensign Mihiro.”

This overly curt voice caused Mihiro to gasp, and turn back to the console. Otto watched her from behind as she started to send the light signal, and felt that Zinnerman could be kept here. “Captain Zinnerman, please sit at the cannon operator’s seat.” he said, and turned back to the main screen. “Thanks.” As Zinnerman spoke with a voice only Otto could hear, the latter glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, and then stared at the enemy ship markers that continued to close in. There was still no sign of these three ships gathering in a clustered formation as they remained in a wide triangular formation. Flashes of beams passed by on the telescopic visual insert beside the markers, showing a silhouette of the “Unicorn” on the defensive.

''It’s still moving slowly. Are we being tested now?'' Otto muttered to himself as he watched the enemy ships movements, suppressing the uneasiness within him. As the shots from friendly and enemy mobile suits flew by, the “Nahel Argama” glided through space with its side facing the enemy ships, gradually approaching the firing range of their main cannons.