KSGU:Volume 5 Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Part 1
The confetti continued to dance in the air like snow. The fragments that covered the sky were scattered over, mixing together with the cheers of the people, forming a vortex. This vortex rose up due to the wind currents of the artificial airflow, and the multi-colored powder of light swayed as it rose up the colony’s sky.
Right, left, right, left. Suberoa Zimmerman recited as he marched at the same pace as his breathing, darting his eyes as he tried to look at the crowd that was moving by. There were young children holding military flags and old people with their backs arched, looking like soldiers who returned to their hometown. A woman poked her head out from amidst the human wall, waving a handkerchief, and she was probably looking for her lover amongst the squad that came back. Zimmerman immediately looked around to check that there were no stupid soldiers who would wave back at the woman.
There were no radicals that could be seen messing up the formations’ proceedings. All the soldiers wore metal helmets that covered their ears and necks and their secondary combat uniform. They were equipped with rifles that worked under gravity, slung on their shoulders, and they turned their tense expressions before. Right, left, right left. Zimmerman saw that they did not mess up in their marching, and secretly felt relieved that the special training was taking effect. The newly gathered recruits formed more than half their ranks, and old experienced officers like Zimmerman had always been guiding the actions of these rookies, training them until they could attend a parade, whether it was in the past, or at this point. He finally managed to train them to a decent level, including the newly-appointed squad leaders who had brand new officer-use mantles on them. Feeling satisfied, Zimmerman looked over at the other end where the formation was, the large building located at the end of the avenue.
The Chancellor Government Building, which thoroughly displayed the splendor of capital of the Republic of Zeon “Zum City”, was a large building that had 3 sharp towers on the tip of the chalice-like structure, built in a complicated planar structure, and it looked like an angry man’s face when seen from the front. To think that I would be marveling at this Zeonism cultural promotion at its finest, the government office where Chancellor Degwin Zabi lives in. Zimmerman never thought that this day would calm, and as he secretly tried to suppress the agitation as he was about to laugh out, he continued to divert his eyes onto both sides of the avenue. The confetti continued to fall like snow, and the brick houses that were built in the style of European streets were lined side by side with each other, and the banners that were dropped down from the windows had large handwritten words on them. There were words like “Beat the Earth Federation Government!” “Let the Republic of Zeon gain real independence!”. There was a satirical image of a Federation soldier hanging onto Earth on a banner with the words “Save our national patriots!”, and on it, there was an illustration of a mobile suit that looked like a “Zack” point its machine gun at them.
Save our national patriots, huh? That doesn’t sound bad. Zimmerman thought. It had been more than 20 years since he, a gruff person of no education and charisma, joined the Zeon Republic Defense force. For a man like him, who would have ended up as a mob member if he did not do this, those overbearing words would be tough to live up to. This place was changed into a Republic after Zeon Deikun died, and as drastic things happened, including the growth of the national army, they had to withstand the financial sanctions from the Federation government. Even though the hopes of colony self-government they betted on were trampled on, even though they endured oppression after oppression, even though the days of hibernation would continue—this day would be a glorious day for these people who were already prepared to live their lives like this.
It was January 3rd, Universal Century 0079. The fuse signaling Zeon’s war for independence was lit when Operation British started at a lightning-quick speed. The Sides that were allied with the Federation were crushed, and Earth took a severe hit due to the colony drops. It will be our turn next; the mission entrusted to us will be to bear the fate of the republic and fight into enemy ranks. What other stage allows old-timers like us to perform when we offer no advantage besides our determination?
“It has been a month since the war started. With every soldier’s rigorous pro-activeness, our Zeon Republic has finally suppressed the Earth Federation government as we hoped. But we still have to win this tough battle if we want the Federation to succumb, and for us to fulfill the ideals of our founding father Zeon Deikun.”
Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi said as he faced the thousands of soldiers located at the plaza in front of the Government Building. Zimmerman could not even see the live broadcast on the large television screens, let alone see him talk on the stage. He pricked his ears to listen to the loud baritone, stared at the wall of spectators waving their right hands, and looked for the petite figure of his wife, who should be here to send him off.
With the help of the squadron leader, a close friend, all officers’ families would have special treatment, so there was no reason for her to be behind the human wall. His wife, Fei, who had been supporting him for many years through, and his lone daughter, Maree, who he finally got the chance to meet after a long time, were supposed to be there. Where are they—?
“There was a saying that this one month war caused half the human population to die off. Because of this, many theories have slandered us, the Zeon Republic, as mass murderers that humanity had never seen before. But is that really true? About 100 years ago, humanity, which had worn out Earth to its limits, found a new lease of lease by sending the overflowing populace into space. This itself is a good thing, and it is worth mentioning as an accomplishment for human civilization. But in the long history natural ecosystem, only humanity continued to grow in size. Is this not a blasphemy against naturalism? Humanity followed its own desires without reflecting, and the results of pushing our living sphere into space is that we created a group of privileged people that controls Earth. They created an inapt government that created the laws that would protect the Federation, and believed that they could control space from Earth. They even carried out used the term ‘absolute democracy’ to cover the fact that they’re a bureaucracy, and even used the resources obtained from space to develop Earth. This act itself is foolishness even as compared to a reversal of priorities!
Now is the time for humanity to look at itself again. As part of the natural ecosystem, we should remain humble to nature, to Earth. If we consider this viewpoint, can’t we view 5 billion people’s deaths as atonement that humanity should do to nature? If that’s the case, the responsibility given to us is a huge one. With countless sacrifices as our basis, we have been given the responsibility to create a new management system that allows humanity to live on forever.”
Found them. Zimmerman saw the familiar faces from amidst the faces in the human wall that were the size of beans, and swallowed his voice that was about to come out from his throat. Fei, who was wearing a new coat she bought for this day, had put in effort to doll herself up as she smiled. Perhaps she noticed him here? Maree, who just passed her fifth birthday, was held in her mother’s hands, and it seemed like she was waving a military flag at him. Those plump and soft arms…!
“To all officers and soldiers gathered here, you have the honor of leading the invasion on Earth. Basically everyone has no experience of standing on Earth, and we have never seen the light of Earth for ourselves. I suppose that everyone will not be at peace, as we’re about to enter an unknown world, enemy territory.
But I hope that you do not forget about the founding ambition of Zeon. Do not forget what Zeon Deikun said, that the humans who come to space will revolutionized. This Side 3 on the back of the Moon is furthest from Earth, and amongst the people that were released into space, we’re the lowest level of Spacenoids. But because of that, we can become an outstanding race that can manage the next generation of Earth. We’re the chosen people who can view humanity objectively through the depths of space.”
The baritone increased in intensity, and the air that was concealed within “Zum City” rumbled. Is that the usual most outstanding humanity survival he’s good at again? No need to go about with those extra reasons, just tell us to win the battle for our country and for our families, right? Zimmerman grumbled somewhat unhappily in his heart as he continued to glance aside at his wife, and as expected, they noticed him. He could see that Maree was throwing a tantrum, wanting to get to her father. It’ll be great if I can go over there to carry her—
“Everyone, we are not invaders. We are descending on Earth to educate people and liberate them from the weak and corrupted hands of the Federation. As long as we, the superior ones, are the ones managing, humanity can approach a real utopia. Sieg Zeon!”
The cheers rained down at this moment, and several hundred thousand people’s passionate cheers rocked the entire colony. Sieg Zeon, Sieg Zeon. Zimmerman, who got caught in the passionate cheers as he raised his hands, suddenly felt uneasy as he felt concerned about his wife. He could not see the faces of Fei’s group as they were covered by the numerous fists. The crowd that was riled up emotionally by Gihren were only concerned about getting engrossed in his words, creating a riot that gradually swallowed his wife and daughter.
CALM DOWN, YOU PEOPLE! THERE’S A KID HERE! Zimmerman felt a chill from the rumbling and howling crowd as he only cared about looking for Fei and Maree’s faces. Confetti continued to fall like snow, and the shouts of ‘Sieg Zeon’ continued to rumble. Fei was pushed by the crowd that wanted to head to the front, and her unsteady body appeared at the edge before disappearing from amongst the coats of the crowd.
Zimmerman resisted the urge to break ranks and get to them as he reached his neck out to look for them. He could vaguely see Maree crying from amidst the human wall, and the military flag she was holding was dropped onto the avenue, trampled by some unknown person—
Part 2
The noise of the emergency call easily broke through the membrane of his sleep. As his fingers automatically pressed on the panel button, Zimmerman let out a hoarse “What is it?” as he undid the fastener of his sleeping bag completely.
“We’ve caught sight of an allied unit’s identification signal. The guess is that it’s the guest you mentioned.”
“I’ll go over right away.”
Zimmerman did not look at Gilboa Sant on the monitor as he cut the ship’s communication. He rubbed his oily face, rose up from the sleeping bag and let his body float towards the door. He grabbed the leather jumper that was floating in the air and glanced at the mirror at the side of the door.
During these ten years, his hairline had receded back completely, and his face became loose and limp. The current image of this tired man in his fifties was of complete contrast with the old him as Zimmerman looked back at the back in doubt, wondering in his heart who in the world this person was.
The cheers of the people became a pipe dream, and a body that was like a remnant was looking at the mirror in this utterly cold captain’s room. Zimmerman heard the sounds of his dream dissipating, and estimated the time that passed ever since that day. 17 years—well, I’m already so old, and yet this is enough time for someone to change what’s happening in the world, is it not? Zimmerman gave a bitter smile as he thought about how he could still live on to this time. This man’s country and family was broken, and he, who had nothing else to continue living for, may had viewed the revival of Zeon as a wish he was banking on, but he never believed anything deep within, and he never felt that he could get back anything like this. This man was glancing at the world where everything to him was erased, and was just living aimlessly.
No—even if it were a hundred years, there were some things that could not be erased. The faces of his wife and daughter Zimmerman saw in his dreams blew aside the bitter smile in his chest. Zimmerman heard of the end of the war in a detention barrack, and on that day, when he returned to his homeland that was called Zeon Republic, when he saw that his homeland became a ‘public toilet’ of hungry soldiers who offered themselves to the Federation, Zimmerman decided that he would continue fighting until he died. The end point called victory never existed, and he continued to fight in order not to lose his mind, in order to stuff the deep valley that was opened within his heart, the crack leading to an endless hell—he knew that he was already crazy psychologically, and he knew that he could not fill that crack no matter what he did.
“Sieg Zeon, huh…”
The aftereffects of the dream caused the utterly cold air to waver slightly before fading away. To heck with your Sieg Zeon! Zimmerman stamped on the floor and left the captain room that was a dreary sight to him.
Part 3
At this point, they were 150,000km away from the shoal space region of L1, and the light of the Earth shining through the bridge window looked as large as a basketball. That mobile suit left the disposable booster board it used and slowly closed in on the “Garencieres”.
As its name suggested, the board-shaped booster board with laser rocket engines installed on both left and right sides was abandoned behind, and the giant with a flat head on the back. It was the RMS-119 “Eye-Zack”. The machine that had its own sleeve features lit the balance burners, negating the inertia from the booster board as it gradually matched the relative velocity of the “Garencieres”. The hatch at the back of the ship was opened, and the sliding-type cargo hangar was opened for about 30 seconds. The “Eye-Zack” drew a direct trajectory as it interacted with the hangar, and the extended restraints of the supporting frame held the machine.
Once the hangar took the machine in, air immediately flowed into the mechanical deck. Zimmerman waited for the alert light ‘Air’ to change from red to green before entering the mechanical deck. Due the long and narrow triangular shaped ship frame of the “Garencieres”, there was a long and narrow hollow on the front and back side of the mechanical hangar—or rather, above and below. There were 3 “Geara Zulus” docked with their backs facing each other at the tail end of the ship, the base of the triangular prism. Normally, there would be a “Kshatriya” occupying the upper level deck at the front of the ship, but at this point, there was no sight of the larger than average machine. The one replacing the “Kshatriya” at that place was the grey-colored “Eye-Zack” that did not seem to have any place to stand properly as it took up three mobile suits’ worth of space.
“Is it the old-fashioned EWAC?”
“This is a machine of little significance that’s here just to make up the numbers after we evacuated from “Palau”. They probably won’t feel any pity even if it were sent here.”
Flaste Schole, who was accompanying, said with a tone of disagreement. Zimmerman passed through the wide upper deck as he glanced aside at the “Eye-Zack” that had been used for a long time. The deck crew and the mechanics were already on it, and the normal suits with the logo mark Rivacona Cargo” on them were floating around the deck. They did prepare a set of book data for a cargo ship as disguise, like route certificates and cargo catalogs, but they could not guarantee that they could pass through the absolute defense line leading easily by sending data information to the patrol later. If a patrol ship met them on their way, the plan would be for this group of people to line up on the upper deck and give smiling faces at the mobile suits that would arrive on the ship for inspection.
Normally, they could sneak through about 8-9 times out of 10, but the recent commotion forced security measures to be tightened, and it would not be easy to slip by the Federation army with their tense eyes. Zimmerman landed on the deck on both feet, reached his hands at his neck and looked up at the giant body of the “Eye-Zack”. What exactly is the ‘guest’ that approached us at this time planning? Zimmerman was not given much time to think as the cockpit cover located at the machine’s abdomen was opened. Looking from afar, he could see a tall figure in the pilot suit appearing from behind the hatch.
That person pushed aside the mechanic that was intending to approach him and descended towards Zimmerman. His face could not be seen as it was covered by the helmet visor, but he remembered that demeanor that showed no openings. The man did not look away from Zimmerman at all as he stopped on the deck 3m about away before reaching for his helmet.
“I’m Gael Chan. I’ll be in your care for a while.”
The bald man took off his helmet as he showed a fearless look. There was no mistake about it; he was the follower who accompanied Cardeas Vist when Zimmerman met them on “Industrial 7”, and also the watchdog of the Vist Foundation. Both of them, who once pointed guns at each other, exchanged looks, and at this point, Zimmerman could still identify blazing antagonistic intent from the other party. He cautiously asked back, “I suppose I won’t have to introduce myself, do I?”
“Why would a confidante of the Vist Foundation like you be at such a place?’
The “Rewloola” only notified them about the guest’s name and history, but did not tell them about why Gael visited them. Gael’s sharp stare glanced at Flaste, who put his hand on the pistol on his waist, and then turned right back at Zimmerman “This has nothing to do with the Foundation” and said with an emotionless expression.
“On a side note, there is nothing about my arrival here that is related to anyone here. There is a debt I have to deal with some people on the “Nahel Argama”. If I want to approach that place, I will have to borrow the power of the “Sleeves”.”
The eyes that showed no signs of wavering looked like there were black burns on the white eyeballs. This guy is the same as me—he’s unable to release his emotions and lost all other choices in life. Zimmerman felt his hardened chest shuddering as he asked, “So you’re trying to take revenge for your master?”, and Gael’s eyes remained unmoved as he answered with silence.
“So you’ll even use your enemies to achieve your goals…it’s not a trendy thing to do this nowadays.”
“Whatever you say. To me, Cardeas Vist isn’t just someone I’m indebted to because he’s my master. if that were the case, who would want to ride on this mobile suit that’s filled with the stench of Zeon?”
Gael’s words probably were not just directed at the “Eye-Zack” that was similar to the Republic army’s “Zack” exterior. To this man who survived the One Year War as a Federation soldier, people like us may be descendants of the demon that forced half the human race to die to him. Zimmerman used his hand to suppress the rising killing intent, and Flaste, who wanted to step forward unceremoniously, “You’re not going to build friendships with us? Fine by us.” relaxed his lips as he said.
“But since you’re on this ship, you’ll have to listen to me. Everything that happened in “Industrial 7” will not be mentioned until both of us achieve our aims. Is that fine with you?”
“I understand that it was an accident.” Gael continued without breaking his stiff expression, “I’m intending to settle this debt with someone else, and besides, I haven’t snapped your necks here, so please trust me.”
As this person stood while not caring about the antagonistic intent around him, there was bleak and gloom on the back of this person who had no place to return to. He might be a god of death that may bring disaster to this ship—but that’s fine. If we’re going to raise trouble against the largest army in history, why don’t we call in a death god too? Zimmerman lowered his face that was letting out a chortle, and ordered a deck crew member nearby, “Bring him to the room. I’ll listen to any words he wants to say later.”
Gael let the crew member accompany him as he stepped on the floor and left the scene gradually. “What’s with that bastard…” Flaste would not turn his heinous stare away from the back of the other party as he said this, but Zimmerman said, “Don’t mind.”
“Since he introduced himself to be from Anaheim, even Frontal can’t just leave him alone. Besides, that man will be useful at a certain moment, since he’s someone who understands the workings within Anaheim.”
The Federation army intruded at the venue of the dealing, and Cardeas Vist died amidst the chaos. Now that they recalled it, it was not hard to imagine that it was a family dispute that happened over the “Laplace Box”. There was definitely something going on between Cardeas, who wanted to break the deadlock in the world through the opening of the “Box”, and someone else, who used his assassination to protect the Vist Foundation and gain the benefits—Zimmerman turned his back on Flaste, who finally understood as he frowned, and looked back at the “Eye-Zack” that was standing there.
“That machine is way too pitiful to be left here as a replacement for the “Kshatriya”. We have to bring the “Kshatriya” and the princess back together soon…”
Our aim isn’t just this after all. Zimmerman did not exchange looks with Flaste, who nodded his head silently, and nudged his stiff beard on his jaw. He suddenly felt an emotion that made it hard for him to breathe and stepped on the floor.
He rejected all human things he could get in order not to lose, but this body of his was trembling because he realized how important the people he lost were. The empty container deck overlapped the hole in his heart, and he could not move due to an overwhelming chill. I’m a lost cause here, Zimmerman mocked himself in his heart as he left the deck that did not have Marida’s machine.
