Editing KSGU:Volume 9 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 5===

The duty crew on the bridge was dressed in heavy normal suits, and they were seated at their consoles; this was a common atmosphere to Mineva Lao Zabi, who spent her infancy in battleships. She passed through the door, immediately faced Otto, who was seated on the Captain’s seat, and her body that was dressed in white normal suit just like them moved to the middle of the bridge.

“All hands, use type-A armaments.” “All cannons activated, T-minue 1,200 till the first enemy wave reaches our sensor circle.” “Minovsky Particles, scattered to battle mode. All mobile suits are ready for launch.” In the midst of these voices, “Please come here.” Otto said as he pointed to the Commander’s seat. The Commander seat in a battleship signified a higher rank than a ship captain. This was not a position that anyone could simply sit on, and Mineva gave a doubtful look back, but Otto did not falter in his stare as he prompted her to sit.

“You have such a privilege. Here.”

There was no pretense in his smile, and after saying that, he turned his tense face back at the main screen. “First wave of enemy scattered.” Upon hearing the sensor operator’s voice, “They’re observing our movements and preventing us from using the hyper-mega particle cannon.” Otto answered, showing the expression of a commander who was unable to be bothered with Mineva. In contrast, First Officer Liam approached her, “You can attach the helmet to the side of the seat” and said earnestly. Mineva followed her instruction, and looked at the three dimensional display shown on the screen. The time was GMT 0758, and the Neo Zeon fleet markers aligned in front of the shoal space region were ostensibly starting to scatter.

“Now’s just a matter of showing the information we can get from the optical sensors. We can’t catch sight of each other on the radar, and we’ll open the cannons 20 minutes later.”

Liam said. Mineva nodded to this female officer who seemed composed, and attached her backpack to the seat. She felt the delayed regret over not bringing a drinking straw.

“Please use this microphone. Your voice will be translated into a light signal and sent out. It’s very likely our opponents will carry out optical sensors on our side, so the light signal should be able to reach them. We’ll still send the voice and visual over, but do not be too expectant on the effects.”

“Then, won’t it be difficult for me to prove my identity?”

“That will depends on what you say, Your Highness.” Otto interrupted while the bridge crew was in the middle of a lull. “You have your personal vocal charisma, so please pass it on to your countrymen. Just call out to their hearts just like what you said to us.”

Mineva felt Otto look at her in the eyes as he said this, and Mihiro and the rest of the bridge crew nodded as they looked back from their seats. “I understand.” With an unfaltering expression, she reached her hand for the microphone on the armrest. She clasped onto the microphone that felt exceptionally heavy, irregardless of zero gravity, and looked outside the window at the vast black space.

Calling out to the heart—this was not something she could do as and when she wanted to, and neither was it something she could randomly do so. She once wondered whether she would be betraying her parents’ soulds for advising stubborn soldiers to change their minds, the ones who were praying for Zeon’s revival, those who saw her as a star of revival. Even if she was denying the Side co-prosperity ring Full Frontal talked about with her emotions, there was nothing that could clearly debunk his theory.

However, the words flowed out naturally. ''Trusting each other, calling out to each other,'' she felt the thoughts forge themselves in her heart, and rise up her throat as a heat source. ''There’s no way back now,'' Mineva concluded in her heart. She bet on the possibilities formed by this ship that combined two into one, she believed in the power that supported her from behind, this power that was similar to pressure, and at this point, she just needed to think of moving forward.

She sensed that she was being abnormally calm. ''Is it because the owner of the warm hands gave my body strength? Her tongue tip licked her lips that were still felt lubricated by the sensation back then, felt heat pass through her body, and the next moment, she emptied her mind and heart. Her lips approached the microphone, and she said out the first line,

“Greetings to the Neo Zeon fleet in front of us. I am Mineva Lao Zabi.”