Kidou Senshi Gundam UC Vol 1 Chapter 2

In the starry universe, there was a biplane that’s flying with a propeller. It was a middle-century cla.s.sical plane that operates on gasoline.

As he stared at the plane blankly, Riddhe Marcenas imagined himself to be sitting on it. He was wearing a flying visor, a white m.u.f.fler around his neck, and using fighting flying skills that were like acrobatics to tease the enemy’s destroyer. A pilot had to be like this. Even if the propeller planes were all replaced by jet planes or even evolved into s.p.a.ce fighter jets with g, pilots were all proud riders. A pilot shouldn’t be part of minor things like being called out by an older non-commission officer or pointed at by a senior pilot. That’s the bad customs that pa.s.sed down from the navy. And the pilots after the mid-century occupy a unique atmosphere called the air force, and they’re an unique existence that had to be separated from ordinary soldiers. At least they shouldn’t forget about this…that’s what he thought.

However, reality was cruel.

“Ensign Riddhe, the captain’s calling you over to his room.”

A window opened in the s.p.a.ce, and the Mechanical Officer Jona Gibney’s mustached face chuckled as he said that. He was the oldest and the most experienced of the maintenance staff, and he was one of those senior soldiers who would not hesitate to scold an officer. Riddhe was sitting on the linear seat and pouted, “Why always me?”

“You have to bring stuff to the captain’s room. This job is more or less suited for a rich boy!”

“I’m an officer too, you know! This has nothing to do with lineage, right?”

“Only those who shot down an enemy’s plane has the right to say that. Now go!”

Mechanical Officer Gibney’s face disappeared from the screen, and only angry roars echoed throughout the c.o.c.kpit. Riddhe unhappily turned off the all-view monitor and grabbed the biplane model that was floating above his head.

Once the s.p.a.ce simulated image disappeared, the screens that were connected on the inside walls of the ball, and the c.o.c.kpit suddenly became a cramped and unpleasant c.o.c.kpit. Riddhe used a plastic bag to wrap the plastic body of the biplane and put it behind the display guard before opening the door. The door that could only be pa.s.sed through by bending down was right in front of him. The sound of welding, cranes and metals rubbing against each other entered the c.o.c.kpit.

Also, there was a chatter behind him, and Gibney, who was in that jumpsuit that the mechanical staff would wear was showing blank white eyes. Riddhe kicked the linear seat and easily let his body float out of the c.o.c.kpit. Gibney’s body didn’t move as he floated in the air, and he said with a heinous tone, “Were you meditating inside that c.o.c.kpit again?”

“I’m embracing the time when I can be one with my beloved plane. Are you touched?”

“And you even dare to say that you brought a toy in!”

“Please don’t randomly touch and spoil it. That’s a limited edition. It was hard to get it!”

One has to strike the fine balance between being orderly and doing things one’s own way. One shouldn’t remember the grudges when there’s vexing words said, but to forget it after hearing it. Having grasped the secret to s.h.i.+p service, Riddhe took the doc.u.ments he was to deliver and left. “Who cares about you, Mr Mania?” after leaving these words behind, Gibney looked like he exchanged places with Riddhe as he slipped into the c.o.c.kpit. His underlings, 4 new technicians in s.p.a.cesuits followed him from behind and looked into the c.o.c.kpit from all directions.

Their job was to pay attention to all of Gibney’s actions and quickly hand the important tools to him. This deck was often filled with air, so there was no need to wear the bulky work s.p.a.cesuit. However, Gibney wanted the rookies to wear them at all time. “What’ll happen if we’re attacked and there’s a hole in the wall? Once you’re sucked outside, the blood in your body will immediately freeze and you’ll immediately die.” That was Gibney’s saying, and he did see this personally on the s.h.i.+p he was on. Those who experienced the One Year War, the ones who fought in war, had the most weight in their words.

When Riddhe was first a.s.signed to this s.h.i.+p, he would also show respect to this, and would wear a pilot’s s.p.a.cesuit when he entered the deck. However, he would now be lightly dressed in a jumpsuit and a jetpack. Since he’s riding on a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, he will die anyway if they were attacked, no matter where they were, and even Gibney himself wouldn’t wear a s.p.a.cesuit before the siren rang. After seeing the tense profiles of the rookies, Riddhe thought that they were really pitiful…but this made Riddhe remember his own sadness, and he suddenly had an urge to drop the doc.u.ments that he was told to deliver onto the floor. He took a deep breath, held back this urge, grabbed and messed up his blond hair that was a little longer, and used the steel cable to move alongside the floor.

As he was being dragged by the cable, he could see his personal suit fully as he went near the pa.s.sage that’s located at the wall. It was a blue humanoid body that showed the artistry of straight and curved contours. This was the RGZ-95 > that had a variable booster unit behind. As the front part of the booster was extended out from the back of the head, it looked a lot larger than an ordinary mobile suit. Gibney and his subordinates who were gathered at the c.o.c.kpit right at the abdomen looked like they were the size of the >'s fist.

On the large mobile suit deck that was more than 7 levels high, there were 7 similar-typed > and the main forces of the Earth Federation RGM-89 > were also at their fixed positions and undergoing maintenance. The > was a ma.s.s-produced frame, and though the > was cla.s.sified as the latest transformable mobile suit, both mobile suits inherited the basic design from the Federation Army’s mobile suit, the RGM-79 >, which wasn’t changed too much. Most notably, the visor protector on the head that blocks the optical sensor was of the exact same design. Riddhe’s personal suit, the > had the identification number NA-R008 on the chest, and the visor that was basically its eyes was being washed.

There was no sign of any streamlined winged mobile suits, only the humanoid mobile suits that looked like they will pop out in old cartoons. This scene just looked like the rows of Buddha statues Riddhe saw with he was young and went on a trip to Asia, which irritated him again. The beauty of aircraft was created from the coordination of air resistance. Thus, it would be natural for machines that’s to be used in vacuum to display other characteristics. Also, the reason why s.p.a.ce fighter units that resembled planes and replaced by mobile suits called ‘robots’ was because of the One Year War that happened when Riddhe was 6.

If one hadn’t found the new particles that would bring about the revolution to physics, the Minovsky Particles that would jam all electronic devices, there wouldn’t be humanoid machines that formed the basis of recent wars. If it wasn’t for the creation of mobile suits and the Princ.i.p.ality of Zeon’s creation > being such a huge success that caused the Earth Federation which had overwhelming advantages to be on the brink of defeat, this hangar would still have signs of the descendant of the biplane, the s.p.a.ce fighter jets.

Of course, the fighter jets didn’t disappear completely. The main machine of the Federation’s air force, the > was a fighter plane that resembled an aircraft. The s.p.a.ce army still had the fighter planes that were used for long distance support, but they were already out, and the budget for new machines was already interrupted for so long. Also, once the air force finished clearing the remnants of Zeon Forces on Earth, they were treated like they fulfilled their purpose and were abandoned. No matter how much one liked planes, to this person who graduated from the Officer Cadet School with outstanding grades, it wasn’t an attractive path.

In the end, Riddhe came here. He was affliated to a top-notch large s.h.i.+p under the Federation, and became a pilot of a mobile suit. He managed to fulfill his dream since childhood…and he even used his links with his ‘family’. What he got was completely different from what he expected though. He was living in the world whether that brave pilot was gone and began living his life while being called a ‘young lord’ by experienced pilots and soldiers as he was told off every day.

Considering that he couldn’t get away from the pressure of his ‘family’ whenever he goes, this was still a surrounding he could compromise with. He continued to hold back the unhappiness within him and reached his hand out to the handle on the deck. Suddenly, he heard voices from under his feet going ‘what’s with that ugly and fake tank?’. A pilot who was being pulled by the cable was glaring at the two vehicles parked in the corner of the deck.

The dark brown machines that were over 10m in length were large crawlers. They did look like armored cars or tanks. While leaving >, about 30 transport carrier personnel suddenly came in with the vehicles. As Riddhe watched these vehicles, other voices could be heard, ‘Did the special forces bring these people in?’.

“They had been using cover to cover it, and they didn’t allow us technicians to touch.”

“The killer squad of the hunters. Such annoying visitors.”

On hearing these bad words that were deliberately said for others to hear, the ‘visitors’ who were maintaining the vehicle—the special Federation s.p.a.ce forces ECOAS glared over, but the pilots themselves didn’t seem to reflect on this as they went above while holding the cable. Instead of merely being crude, it was more like small fries acting childish, and Riddhe really felt like sighing.

The ECOAS, also known as the hunter squad, had quite the bad reputation. They would often have a clear divide from the s.h.i.+p crew, and they would cover their equipment with cloth and not allow others to get near. Riddhe really didn’t like such secrecy at all. However, it would be immature for him to return nail for nail. Basically, the training and regimentation of the s.p.a.ce army were all like the navy, and the group mentality for each s.h.i.+p was too strong. An experienced soldier like Gibney could be so cool was because of the bad habit of experience triumphing over rank. The concept of the term ‘s.h.i.+p’ in s.p.a.ce and bringing the seaman’s mentality into s.p.a.ce was the cause of all this.

If the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p could be described as a large plane, learning the elements of the air force may be like becoming an independent organization that had open communication channels. While repeating the meaningless grumbles, Riddhe looked over at the armored car-like thin the ECOAS had. The squad members were getting ready as they started to pull the covers off the vehicles, most likely because they were getting close to their destination, and they gave a tense feeling from their backs, making that place look like a completely different world. They were dressed in impromptu T-s.h.i.+rts and army pants, but they were highly skilled in moving under zero gravity, and they wouldn’t shout randomly. They weren’t extremely muscular, but the abnormally thick upper body and the thick chest muscles made them look like they trained.

Riddhe’s eyes met one of them. It was the man who shot a glare at his crewmate for saying harsh words. Riddhe gave a smile as he tried to compensate for his crewmate’s unreasonable action. But the man didn’t smile as he looked at Riddhe like he was looking at a ‘thing’ and then looked away before continuing his work.

He didn’t look like he was looking at other people. The cold inorganic-like eyes was definitely of someone nicknamed a ‘hunter’. Riddhe felt like he was being held at knifepoint on the throat as he hurriedly left.

The s.h.i.+p’s name was called >. It was an a.s.sault landing s.h.i.+p that belonged to the independent unit of the Earth Federation, Londo Bell. Right now, it was in between Earth and the moon, right before the dark wasteland s.p.a.ce of L1. In three hours, they would be entering the s.p.a.ce debris field, and they will deploy all forces to monitor the region.

The s.h.i.+p that was almost 400m in length had a mobile suit catapult launcher at the deck of the s.h.i.+p. The bridge was right in the middle like a bow, and there were 2 giant wings with hidden solar panels extending out from the back of the bridge and reaching out to both sides. If one were to designate the two engines that are equipped on the rear left and right sides of the s.h.i.+p as the hind legs and the catapult decks on both sides as the fore legs, it would look like a sphinx with wings or a large wooden horse. Based on this point, this s.h.i.+p could be said to have inherited the Pegasusc-cla.s.s obile a.s.sault landing s.h.i.+p that was active during the One Year War—the Federation’s first mobile suit carrier >.

However, the > didn’t belong to any cla.s.s, and neither did it have a similar s.h.i.+p. If there’s a need to cla.s.sify it, it should be cla.s.sified as >, a one and only s.h.i.+p. That’s because it was a s.h.i.+p that wasn’t designed through standard National Security planning during the time after the war, in the internal tussle that divided the Federation Army into half—what one would call the Gryps War. However, it didn’t have interchangeability and was hard to deal with, so it was removed from the army’s reorganization plans. Though there was a large scale reconstruction after the Gryps War, Londo Bell, which took it, didn’t know what to do with it, and it wasn’t set as a cornerstone of a fleet. It was hard to mobilize, so there was no accompanying fleet, causing it to be mobilized as a single s.h.i.+p.

This s.h.i.+p of the external group of the s.p.a.ce army Londo Bell was an isolated one…and the isolation caused a twisted group mentality. It couldn’t be helped that the old habits of rejecting others happened. Riddhe used this thinking to scatter the anger that he couldn’t purge and left the mobile suit deck to move towards the center of the s.h.i.+p.

These weren’t all bad things, and Riddhe could even say that it’s better for him to be isolated. Also, he didn’t really dislike this atmosphere completely. He was the one who volunteered to be a.s.signed to Londo Bell, and he considered his position and suitability before being a.s.signed to the ‘Nahel Argama’. If he was sent to a main fleet, that wouldn’t be all the pressure. He would probably end up with his superiors fearing him, his peers hating him, and he couldn’t fulfill his duty in such an environment.

The weight of his ‘family’ was this great. He was the eldest son of the important senator in the Federation Central Council Ronan Marcenas. It was a political family that once gave birth to a Prime Minister, and he was the heir to the Marcenas’ glory. This guy’s here to pilot a mobile suit? Impossible. He’ll most likely be decommissioned after a while. It’s not rare for a political heir to enter an officer cadet school as one would say that being outstanding in the Federation army would be a shortcut to being a politician. Most of the time, he would be intending to get along with future generals to creating camaraderie with the army…

No! But no matter how many times he emphasized this, such words continued to be echoed. I didn’t want to be a politician. My dream is a pilot, so I entered the Officer Cadet School even with my family against it. However, having entered officer cadet school for 4 years and the mobile suit learning squad for a year, Riddhe really felt that it was meaningless to argue back, and didn’t want to face these words already. In contrast, he started to search his way from the center. It was a place where high ranking officers wouldn’t try to latch on to him so that they would be outstanding in the future. Even if they teased him as ‘young lord’, this was a place where they wouldn’t have any ill intention, but treat him as a pilot—

However, it was unexpected that they would call him to be a runner. Grimacing inside, Riddhe let go of the moveable handle and used the momentum to float through the path and stop in front of the lift that would lead to the gravity area. Mihiro Oiwakken, who was his junior that graduated in the next batch, was coincidentally in the lift.

“Oh my, are you delivering these doc.u.ments?” “Yeah.” Both of them continued to talk as the lift carried them. The inside of the > had a cylindrical gravity area that was like a s.p.a.ce colony. It uses centrifugal force to create gravity on the inside of the cylinder. Of course, as the diameter was smaller, it could only create a weak amount, but even if the object’s not fastened to the floor, it could keep it to the floor. When flying for a long time, especially while eating and undergoing military medical treatment, this design would be extremely important.

The lift went through the axis on the side of the gravity area and arrived at the rotary axis of the cylinder. Both of them were exchanging information this time about the emergency departure and the uncertain battle plan before the door opened again. The destination was the Construction s.p.a.ce Colony > that’s in the Dark Wasteland s.p.a.ce. The main operation would be carried out by ECOAS, and the > was in charge of sending them.

“>’s Anaheim Electronics’ s.p.a.ce Colony, right? The Dark Wasteland Region a place where a new Side will be built on in the s.p.a.ce colony redevelopment project…I don’t think that it’s a place where the ‘Sleeves’ will show up.”

“I don’t know about the details, but the atmosphere in the bridge is really bad. We’re already unhappy that the hunters are using us as a transport, and we may even end up in a real battle. First Mate Liam was forcing the captain to make the hunters tell the truth…”

“Captain Otto can’t hold on for long if that old hag’s going to continue pressuring him like that, right? Even I can’t handle it.”

“Yeah. It’s really hard to imagine him when he’s commanding.”

Even though she would say this, Mihiro herself looked like she was far from the active battle. Her dark brown eyes and hair showed a heavy Eastern heritage. She was wearing a grey officer uniform and was shorter than Riddhe. Perhaps it was her inferiority complex in her height that she was so hardworking, and she was giving the nickname ‘mini-tank’ in Officer Cadet School. However, she wouldn’t give a vexing feeling, and is a nice female officer who wouldn’t lose her cool. The way she rolls her eyes would give people the impression of a small animal like a chipmunk instead of a mini tank.

22 year old Mihiro was only deployed to Londo Bell for half a year, and Riddhe, who graduated a year earlier, went to the mobile suit learning squad, so he was a.s.signed here at the same time as her, and for the two of them, it was their first duty in their first s.h.i.+p. It’s been three years since the war with the remnants of Zeon in what people called ‘Char’s Counterattack’, and right now, even Londo Bell, which was meant to be an immediate response team, had not fought for a long time. Thus, there were quite a lot of people who didn’t have actual combat experience. Recently, the renegade organization called ‘Sleeves’ were starting to move, and had fought against several squads under Londo Bell. However, the >, which was on the outside, didn’t take part in the a.s.sault, thus, new cadres like Riddhe weren’t the only ones who couldn’t imagine the actual scenario.

“Real battle…since we have the hunters on board, it won’t be an exercise, I guess.”

“It’s troubling to have to fight secretly in a civilian s.p.a.ce colony. > has the school Anaheim Electronics runs, right?”

Mihiro said this as that student-like face of hers became gloomy. As he saw that delicate Eastern skin of hers, Riddhe’s thoughts became a little uncouth, and the lift reached the gravity area before opening. After saying goodbye to Mihiro who was heading to the bridge, Riddhe let his body float through the pa.s.sage that looked like the axis of the rotating gravity area.

Once he landed on the gravity, the body that was captured by gravity creaked, and Riddhe felt like he was struck by dizziness. He grabbed the handle on the wall. Riddhe frowned as the blood in his body was being pulled down as he didn’t feel well about that. He moved past the weapons personnel who came over from the cafeteria and entered another lift. The captain’s room was at the lowest level in the inside wall, where the gravity was the strongest. After descending down the axis for another 50m, his body started to become heavier because of the zero gravity during the journey, which caused his body to expand.

In fact, the atmosphere in the captain’s room was rather heavy too. After reporting and calling out ‘excuse me’, Riddhe walked into the captain’s room, and immediately knew the reason.

The captain’s room of the > had the operation room and the reception room. The reception room itself was a wide s.p.a.ce that was more than 60 sq meters large. The s.h.i.+p was being expanded continuously to match the current mobile suit capacity needed. However, the basic amount of facilities needed wouldn’t require that much s.p.a.ce, which ended up allowing them to use as much s.p.a.ce as they wanted to. Inside the reception room right now was captain Otto Midas leading the people in charge of the weapons and the navigation were here. However, they weren’t the ones who made the presence in the room heavy. In contrast to the tired looking captain, there was a commander sitting on the opposite sofa, and there was an organization where everyone was dressed in suits—the dangerous ‘guests’ who were riding on this s.h.i.+p. They were the ones who made the reception area feel so heavy.

Such a heavy feeling made him remember about his ‘family’. Once Riddhe entered the room, he immediately saw the mobile suit squadron leader, Norman Basilic.o.k. He avoided the looks of the rest as he handed the doc.u.ments over to the colonel. He wanted to immediately turn around and leave the room, but Commander Norm said, “I need to sign this. Please wait for a moment.” Causing him to remain where he was.

Sitting at a corner of the L-shaped sofa and signing the nominal roll, Norm’s face looked rather unhappy, and Captain Otto took off his cap, a rare feat for him. As they had to put on s.p.a.cesuits in battle, the s.p.a.ce army wouldn’t use military caps when riding in s.h.i.+ps, but Otto would definitely wear the normal cap. This was to hide his reclining hairline, and it’s an open secret in the s.h.i.+p. Some vicious mechanics would even say, “Does he even need to worry about being bald when he looks like that?”

“We’re fine with ECOAS leading this battle.”

Otto touched that head of his that was lacking in hair and broke the silence. The voice of a middle-ranked officer bemoaning matched his face that looked like an old uncle in a civilian factory.

“But Londo Bell also has what Londo Bell needs to do. At least tell us your objective…”

“That’s cla.s.sified. I personally have no rights to reveal this.”

Sitting opposite Otto was the fierce commander, who answered without an expression. He was the leader of the ECOAS squad, Daguza Mackle. His straightened back and those st.u.r.dy thighs of his would make one wonder whether he could still maintain the same position even when someone takes the sofa away. No matter whether it’s the stone-like expression or the sharp expression that would make anyone freeze, he does look like a man who could lead the hunters.

Commander Norm stopped his hand from flipping through the doc.u.ments and stared at Daguza. Riddhe found that he was in a situation where he didn’t want to face at all, as his straight body froze harder. As the leader of the counter-terrorist Special Forces, Daguza had handled much more covert missions. Compared to his expression, Otto, who was forced onto the Nahel Argama which no one wanted, lost out a lot. Norman and all the crew on the s.h.i.+p saw that the captain was losing out a lot, and were obviously looking outraged. However, Daguza didn’t really pay much attention to these stares. Riddhe was right in the middle of the epitome of a messy situation.

“But this is to be held in a civilian s.p.a.ce colony. At least make some explanation to reduce the causalities to the minimum…”

“That’s why I’m allowed to come along.”

Otto manned up his pride as a captain and spoke, and the one who interrupted him was one of the men dressed in suits beside Daguza. Amongst the men dressed in traditional suits, there was a man who was wearing a collared Nehru Jacket. He placed the Nahel Argama model he was playing in his hand back onto the table and looked around at everyone.

“I’ll reveal this then. There’s a deal that’s about to take place in >. The parties involved are the ‘Sleeves’ and the leader of the Vist Foundation.”

The man said as he smiled and relaxed his plump face. He was a ‘visitor’ that came along with Daguza and the ECOAS members, and the one with the largest profile. They only knew that he was an important member of Anaheim Electronics, and his name was Alberto. This man had an arrogant smile, and he seemed to be telling everyone that the authority over this entire battle is in him. Otto asked back, “Did you say Vist Foundation…” and at this moment, Norman and Daguza narrowed their eyes in unison as they gave unhappy looks.

“That’s right. On the surface, it’s a philanthropic foundation that transports art pieces into s.p.a.ce colonies, but in fact, we control practically all of the Vist Foundation’s wealth and power. Though there’s a difference in the authority wielder, it’s the major stakeholder of our company here.”

With his back facing the Earth Celestial Sphere map on the wall, Alberto ignored the unhappy looks everyone gave.

“Of course, > is our company’s a.s.set. However, even if there’s some damage, we have to prevent the deal between the ‘Sleeves’ and the “Vist Foundation’. This isn’t Anaheim’s decision only, but also the conclusion the highest authorities of the Federation Army came to.”

His eyes with double eyelids made him look like he got a doll like face, but his demeanor and bulky frame really made it hard to tell his age. Though Anaheim Electronics was the largest military enterprise in the world, but for a civilian like Alberto to take part just because he was a crucial figure in this, for what reason did the highest authorities make such a decision? “What’s this…deal that we needed to prevent at all cost?” Captain Otto asked with a somewhat trembling voice.

“It’s the >. The Vist Foundation intend to hand that thing over to the ‘Sleeves’.”

Immediately, the heavy damp air scattered all over, and Riddhe felt cold air blow through the reception room. “>…?” Otto frowned.

“No one knows what that thing is, or even what’s inside. But one thing’s certain. Once the > is opened, it would bring about the end of the Earth Federation government.”

Alberto leaned his back on the sofa as he gave a serious look. Captain Otto tried to force a smile, but wasn’t successful as his stiff expression started to ache in numbness. Daguza’s sharp expression remained on Alberto.

“The Vist Foundation hid the > and used that to preserve its wealth. Anaheim shares the same fate with it too. No matter what the aim is, we must stop the leader who lost his mind, if the thing that can topple the Federation government lands in the ‘Sleeves’ hands…things will become serious, captain.”

Alberto said as he gave a self-mocking smile. Facing the doubts and fears everyone showed as they remained silent, Riddhe could only curse himself for meeting such an unlucky and unfortunate situation.

No matter how one walked on the side of the corridor, there was the sound of a fist slamming into flesh. Marida Crus let go of the moving handle and saw the back of Flaste Schole.

“IT’S BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T CHECK PROPERLY THAT WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THAT WE WERE USED AS TRANSPORT!”

Right in front of Flaste, who was roaring away, was a young deck crewman whose face was beaten till it was red and swollen. Under zero gravity, both of them had their feet stuck to the ground by magnets, so anyone who’s. .h.i.t would be hurting. Even if Flaste held back, that hard metal-like punch that can’t be dodged landed straight on his face. The crewman swayed about and stood still, saying, “I won’t give any excuses for this.” While blood was dripping from his mouth.

“THAT’S JUST YOU TRYING TO ACT COOL! WHY DON’T YOU JUST GET ON YOUR KNEES AND APOLOGIZE!?”

Flaste grabbed the front of the crewman’s hair and looked like he intended to deliver a few more punches. However, he was stopped by a voice “Stop fighting.” Marida watched the human wall that was gathered on the pa.s.sageway scatter, and Captain Zinnerman’s bearded face appeared.

He sounded calm, but the expression hidden under the captain’s hat showed utter distress. It’s been an hour since they got a signal from the headquarters > that ‘she’ went missing. In the large Earth Celestial Sphere, the > itself would be a lone island in the large ocean. If she disappeared, it’s likely that she would be hiding inside the s.h.i.+ps that come in and goes out. After having checked the entire s.h.i.+p thoroughly, they found that one of the storerooms that was used as a storeroom had signs of a stowaway inside, which caused a huge commotion in the ‘Garencieres’.

Marida herself joined in the search, but ‘her’ presence wasn’t inside the s.h.i.+p. It seemed that she slipped out during the mess when they docked. It was the crewman’s mistake for not noticing that she left, and he should be punched by Flaste, but everyone knew that they couldn’t solve the problem by getting angry. Marida ignored the men who were staring at each other and went into the cabin ‘she’ looked like ‘she’ was in.

She looked through the window on the wall and out to the central dock, closed her eyes and concentrated. She couldn’t grasp the presence of people moving about, and the messy thoughts that was like heat from a crowd caused her head to spin. Though she felt a little hot on the forehead, she couldn’t detect ‘her’ presence. There were too many people. Marida could only be amazed about how the human presences she could focus on in the battlefield could move about messily at will. As expected, an artificial being couldn’t detect a specific presence—

“She’s inside this s.p.a.ce colony…but it’s not good if we take action and get held at ransom by our trade partner.”

Zinnerman said outside the entrance. Marida wiped away the sweat on her hands that came out unknowingly and returned back to the corridor.

“Is it likely that the ‘girl’ made contact with the other party already?”

“It’s likely that ‘she’ was opposed to this right from the beginning. Most likely, she made contact with Vist Foundation…”

Once Flaste pushed the crewman aside and finished saying that, Gilboa Sant continued on. Zinnerman watched his two henchmen, said “Not really” and put on his captain’s hat.

“It’s impossible to make contact with the outside world from Palau. She most likely intends to make direct contact!”

Most likely, she wanted to prevent the deal of the >. Zinnerman let air flow through his hair that’s linked to his beard and put on the old captain’s hat. His eyes showed bitterness and pride. During these past years, he put in his heart and soul to protect ‘her’, and to this man who viewed himself as her subst.i.tute guardian, he may be able to judge that ‘she’ would do this, and this was somewhat of a self-defeat feeling. Marida was thinking as such, but decided firmly that she didn’t understand this, and looked away from her master who looked somewhat old now.

She only knows one thing, and that is, this is a huge crisis that would bring about danger to the entire organization. If they lose her, the ‘Sleeves’ will lose their focal point, and the organization they were finally able to build will develop cracks. If she even ends up in the Federation’s hands, the problem wouldn’t be only about the organization called the ‘Sleeves’. It may even bring everything to an immediate halt, the 16 years of war—or even the struggle that originate about half a century ago. All the sacrifice, blood, sweat that were shed for this would lose all meaning. The ‘Sleeves’ and the members of the > will lose their support.

‘She’, who was really smart, couldn’t possibly not understand this. This was foolish…but as she thought this, Marida felt that doing this would fit ‘her’ nature, and thus she stopped thinking. No matter whether it was about ‘her’ or the ‘Sleeves’, all the necessary decisions were to be made by her master, and she only needed to obey. The more she thinks, the more she would hesitate when carrying out the order. It’s something an ordinary person would normally do. After using this logical thinking process of hers, Marida gave Zinnerman a look that showed that she was waiting for instructions.

“Please, Marida. That child doesn’t know about normal life, so she wouldn’t be too far off. She’ll probably leave clues behind.”

Perhaps sensing the stare over at him, Zinnerman looked over at her and said this. This was the minimum transmission of talking and breathing, the familiar voice of her master. After answering ‘understood’ simply, Marida left the scene. After hearing Flaste’s voice “Don’t create any commotion” from behind, Marida took the lift and head towards the bridge area.

The >, which had a vertical landing function, has the end of the s.h.i.+p as the floor when it lands; which made it look like a building, and the bridge at the front of the s.h.i.+p was at the highest level. While they’re docked with the port now, the floor inside the s.h.i.+p that’s parallel to the port is lying horizontally. The lift itself is moving horizontally, but under zero gravity, the scenery around would decide how it looked. Marida ‘ascended’ by about the equivalent of 10 levels and entered the bridge. She then entered the bottom of the bridge—or rather—the back—where the server room was. In this small room that’s filled with communication equipment and screens, the crewman continued to stare at the screen all this while, and the sound of the keyboard being typed on never stopped.

Besides the colony news network that anyone could read, they could see the construction progress of >, the blueprint and even the movement of the industrial workers. As they could use the network provided by the port while they were docked and connect to the colony’s network, a highly skilled hacker could check out a large amount of information. After plucking away the coffee tube from the air, Marida asked “How is it?” and the crewman didn’t look back as he tossed a printed paper over. What’s printed on it was the hottest selling news at the moment.

“A mini mobile suit was forced to land in the park. The student who used it insisted that he used it to save someone…is it?”

The sound of things piecing together rang in her mind. Marida looked at the time the news was broadcasted, and confirmed that the time was already past 9. She held onto the printed paper and left the server room.

“…As described above, the One Year War ended at the large scale battle at A Baoa Qu. After that, the Princ.i.p.ality of Zeon transferred control over to the new republic and signed a peace treaty, and where is the lunar city where the peace treaty was signed? Banagher Links?”

Fidgeting around and pa.s.sing through the back of the cla.s.sroom, Banagher was about to sit down at his seat, but was called out by his teacher, Mr Bancroft, and was immediately stunned.

“Yes. Un, that…‘Von Braun’?”

“It’s ‘Granada’.” *BAM*. After slamming the desk and correcting it, Mr Bancroft adjusted his gla.s.ses in an unhappy manner. “I heard about everything. Sit down.”

What’s going on? Banagher muttered inside his heart as he sat at a corner of the fan-shaped table. Takuya and the other students gave him looks as he plugged his laptop into the power port at the table. He opened out the retractable keyboard, entered his log in ID, and the world history definition that he missed out was shown on the screen.

It’s said that the advance in technology in the old century and the wireless network system weren’t rare at all—an age where even handphones could be carried along—right now, the network and phones were all wired. That’s because as humans are living in human colonies, such ‘intricate technology’, there’s a strict limit on the electric waves used. However, as there’s Minovsyu particles floating everywhere, the limit became meaningless. These Minovsky particles that were of unknown origin causes electric short circuits of all types to happen often. Although there were many protective measures for life support systems, it’s a habit after the One Year War to print a copy of data out.

In other worlds, this Earth Celestial Sphere still had Minovsky particles floating about after the war. To put it plainly, there’s still a need for it—war continues to happen. Banagher suddenly thought about this and felt that his neck was aching a little like it was twisted. Of course, it need not be a real battle. Particles were also scattered for battle training. Recently, it’s said that even trading s.h.i.+ps would scatter the particles to deal with pirates. Some of them would definitely float over from a real battlefield, right? Maybe at this moment, someone’s betting his life and gets burned by a laser. Just like how he saw a mobile suit this morning amongst them remains.

"A war. There’ll be a large-scale war again."

The jade-colored eyes flashed through his mind as those words rang beside his ears. Banagher shook his head that was still swirling and gathered his concentration on the history lecture.

“The Princ.i.p.ality of Zeon was a military country that was controlled by the Zabi family. The Zeonism that Zeon Deik.u.m promoted described that humans in s.p.a.ce shall bring a brand new ‘Newtype thinking’, and garnered lots of supports like Gihren Zabi. It wasn’t Deik.u.m’s own intent, but after he died, his name was used by the Zabi family as an excuse for a war of independence. In a certain sense, it was still a dangerous thought.”

Someone could actually say such words even though it’s not knowledge derived from their own experience. How does it feel? Seeing Mr Bancroft continue to talk away, he wondered as a chat window appeared in the corner of his laptop.

This was to be expected. He was the one who caused an uproar in the entire colony by uprooting a cable on the road. How would the other students who weren’t motivated let this off? Banagher impatiently pressed the b.u.t.ton and let the chat window appear on his monitor.

“Master Icarus. How does it feel to be investigated by the police?”

Most likely, Takuya was asking on behalf of the entire cla.s.s. “Icarus?” Banagher asked back, and then, there was a link to a webpage. Banagher clicked on the click to check.

It was the front page of the ‘Daily 7’ news that Anaheim Electronics run. Banagher saw the photo of the Torohachi in the lawn and the headline ‘The Icarus that challenged the Artificial sun sadly fell onto the park’, and immediately turned off the webpage.

He felt the students around him all holding back their laughter as they looked at him. “Am I wrong to save someone?” Banagher answered.

“I heard that the person you saved disappeared like smoke.” “What did the police say about you using a mini-mobile suit on your own and wrecking property?” “What about the College?” The students asked, and Banagher used one hand to support his face and he typed with one hand.

“The surveillance camera of the maintenance system captured the image of the girl, so it was deemed that I did save someone. I was given a severe verbal warning and acquitted of charges. From the way the counseling teacher came to get me from the police, it seems that I don’t have too much problems with the school, but I have to head to the princ.i.p.al’s office after school.”

The male students, who made up about 70% of the cla.s.s, started to get excited and tap away at their keyboard “A girl!?” “Age, looks?” “What did you talk about?” “Where did she come about?”…On seeing the screen seemingly come to life, Banagher entered, “I don’t know. The police’s still looking for her.” At this moment, the sound of the lecture desk rang throughout the cla.s.sroom.

“You people. Don’t think that you can slack around just because it seems that history isn’t so useful to your work. Anaheim won’t hire idiots who can’t even pa.s.s a high school standard. Don’t just stupidly believe that they will hire all you people!”

Mr Bancroft used his ultimate technique, and the students immediately closed their chat windows and looked back at the podium. The reason why vocations were quickly switched was because the vocational students know that their future jobs will lie in the teachers’ hands. Banagher sighed and focused on the lecture screen. The One Year War, the Gryps War, the two Neo Zeon wars. As he looked at the boring timeline, Banagher couldn’t get rid of those jade green eyes spinning in his dizzy mind.

The bright eyes he saw several hours ago; the soft touch when he hugged her together with both hands; everything just felt so distant, so vague that it feels like he was seeing another person’s memory. Even Banagher himself couldn’t dare to believe that he stole a mini mobile suit to save her. He didn’t think that he would have such a reckless impulse. Why did he do this? Who was she?

As it was close to noon, there was a bright sunlight outside the cla.s.sroom window. At the field in front of the vocation building, there were mini mobile suits that were used for training lined up over there, moving equipment that’s to be used for training. Opposite there was a stack of trapezoid layers of the school campus that was designed with the Coriolis’ Effect of the colony’s self-rotation in mind. And far over on the other side, there’s a large wall that showed the end of a s.p.a.ce colony—the materials were still exposed to the airtight wall facing the moon. As it was blocked by the light of the artificial sun, it’s import to see the entire mortar-like war, but there’s a hatch in the center that’s connected to the colony builder, and right now, there should be equipment that’s to be used for building colonies that’s being moved in and out.

The colony builder collects the debris that’s floating around in the Dark Wasteland region and start to purify, refine and build >. That’s the redevelopment plan of the Dark Wasteland region, often called the experimental phase of the ‘Frontier Project’. In other words, this colony was built from the debris of past wars, and the colony builder was a magic funnel that uses this junk to build a ‘world’—and because of the shape, this large facility was given the nickname >. Banagher couldn’t help but concentrate on this seemingly blurry airtight wall.

That was the thing that built the s.p.a.ce colony, this ‘world’. She said that she had to go there, that there’s someone she had to meet. For what? To prevent a war?

“After the war, organizations that called themselves the remnants of Zeon created lots of conflict. They called for s.p.a.ce migrants to be self-independent, pushed for Ere-ism, and viewed Earthnoids as enemies. However, don’t forget the Newtype thinking in the republic that maybe people saw. That’s why colonies and meteors were thrown down to Earth. It’s unknown how many people sacrificed their lives because of this, and as citizens of the Federation who follow the idea of democracy, we…”

Another voice rang through his ears, covering the voice of Mr Bancroft who sounded more and more agitated. “How spineless…!” Who cares about you, Banagher argued back at the girl in his mind.

It has nothing to do with me. No, I can’t possibly be involved in this. Whether it’s this One Year War or the second Neo Zeon War 3 years ago—the so-called ‘Char’s Counterattack’, all these has nothing to do with me. That’s just something I only saw through the television screen, what happened in a far away world. It’s the same for all the students here and Mr Bancroft here too!

If there were countless billions of people who were sacrificed in the war, then including those that survived, it’s our job to rebuild Earth and develop. The commotion during the One Year War brought about the unification, and babies who were born after the war like Banagher grew up listening to these adults. Thus, even if there’s people trying to start a s.p.a.ce migrant independence or even start a large scale war because of this, it basically has nothing to do with them. It’s only that they would feel uneasy about hearing that some colony got wrecked because of war, but one could think that the chances of it was like being hit by a huge meteor. They were too unlucky, and could just treat it as other people’s business and forget about this. Movements of independence were just what people who to vent their depression as they weren’t able to get used to society. The stand that ‘lucky children who don’t know about war’ will never change, and it’s undoubted that tomorrow would be the same as today.

That girl was about the same age as he was, but the war she said ‘war’ had a different force from what the teacher said. It’s like a membrane covering a greenhouse breaking apart, and a strong gust of wind blew in. it’s also like a black spot that appears in an overly bright s.p.a.ce, and then the shadow of the entire world appeared—

“Our company allows every factory to be independent financially. Thus, a group of uncouth people accepted the orders from Neo Zeon, causing both ally and enemy to have machines made from Anaheim. Thus, people would view Anaheim as death merchants. However, do not forget that the people in charge will be punished too…”

Then, I, who’s attending Anaheim Electronics Industrial College, am already part of war. Thinking about this thing that he had never thought about before, Banagher’s brain suddenly remembered the pure white color of the mobile suit he saw this morning outside the subway train window, and felt bothered by his far-fetched thinking.

The unicorn that cut through the vacuum dragged its white afterimage of its mobile suit like it was soaring in s.p.a.ce. It flew towards the >, the creator of this world, the place where the colony builder was at, where normal people were forbidden from entering. If that girl was correct, that place would be the most critical place where the ‘war’ will be a.s.sociated with.

Something was about to happen. No, maybe it had already happen, it’s just that he only saw part of it. it’s like a curtain was drawn right in front of his eyes. Banagher again looked outside the window, saw the airtight wall that was filled with an unknown thing, and felt something in his heart throbbing. Mr Bancroft’s voice that was becoming more excited moved the air.

“4 years late, in Universal Century year 100, the Republic of Zeon shall give up on its self-independence and will be drafted back into the Federation as Side 3. When the country in the name of Zeon is destroyed, Zeonism shall fall, and humanity will be united again. Just like how our grandfathers or fathers continued to exist for Earth and humanity to create this united government called this Earth Federation after so many tribulations. To inherit such a great legacy and let the Earth Celestial Sphere continue to develop, you young ones…”

“Idiot, treating such words as well. That girl must be someone who’s enthusiastic about activity, thinking that the capitalist Earth is all evil and sort. That’s why she must be going over to Chairman Cardeas Vist.”

Puffing her slightly brown face, Micott Bartsch simply said. Banagher kicked aside Haro lightly while it was shouting ‘idiot, idiot’, and uneasily drank up his remaining coffee.

Studying in the private high school beside Anaheim Electronics, Micott’s dress code and verbal mannerisms were all a lot more free than the vocational school, and she wouldn’t even hesitate about entering other people’s schools. She came over to the vocation school to discuss about the night’s party during lunch break, and while Banagher tried to explain what happened in the morning, that was the answer she got.

The reality the girl said was the best weapon to deal with a boy who wanted to do something and was being all pumped up. Dressed in a hooded coat and shorts, Micott raised her leg as she sat on the bench, and Banagher avoided her gaze and said, “The chairman, as in, our vocation school?” he tried to avoid the thought that this may be true, and anyway, even if there was nothing he could say, he had to find something to say.

“That’s right. There’s a photo when you entered the school, right? Cardeas Vist, the largest stakeholder of Anaheim Electronics, also known as the second generation leader of the Vist Foundation that was the secret owner.”

“That person lives inside the >?”

That girl said that there was ‘someone she had to meet no matter what’. On hearing the term ‘secret owner’, Banagher’s heart started to pulsate. However…

“Idiot, how could such a big hotshot stay in such a rural s.p.a.ce colony? The chairman’s just a t.i.tle to him. He never even appeared in the graduation ceremonies before.”

Sitting beside Micott, Takuya put down the magazine he read halfway through and interrupted. That was the robot related monthly magazine he would regularly buy, and there was a photo of a mini mobile suit tournament on the cross-pages picture.

“But it seemed that he really has a house here! It’s said that the house was directly moved over from Earth. Even the > was said to be Vist Foundation’s property.”

Micott’s father was the factory owner of the 3rd Industrial area, so she would often hear about such underground news. The factory owner over here in > could be said to be like a mayor in the States, and even though Micott was a rich princess who’s studying in a private school, she would continue to come over to this vocation school where the smell of grease was thick. Maybe its because this s.p.a.ce colony was supported by the industry. She herself even said that ‘the boys in our school are boring, all spineless princes’.

“But isn’t the colony builder managed by the colony builder management? Why is it that there’s rumors of it being the Foundation’s personal property?”

“That’s because the colony builder management had some members of the Vist Foundation, right?”

“The rich ones are really different. Launching an entire house into s.p.a.ce, that’s crazy.”

Takuya looked like he didn’t have any other thoughts as he said what he wanted and continued to read his magazine. An open secret’s really scary, so scary that it can numb a person’s sense for the strange, Banagher thought. However, he himself never heard of the name of Vist Foundation. Was it because he was transferred in midway through, or was it that he was too dazed for a long time? Banagher really couldn’t tell which was the reason, and he looked through the trees in the school as he wondered what happened to the girl.

Anaheim Electronics wasn’t just the largest military producer in the Earth Celestial sphere, but there’s a house for the sponsor in the >. It’s no wonder that the crazy radicals will rush in to kill just to oppose war. In fact, there’s a lot of terror attacks on Anaheim every way, and it’s said that there’s a lot of expenses on safety. Even if the chairman of the Inst.i.tute was just an open t.i.tle, even Micott knew about the relations.h.i.+p between the Vist Foundation and Anaheim. It’s likely that this leader may be attacked.

However, the girl’s eyes made Banagher feel that things weren’t that simple. She had a strong will, but those eyes weren’t the eyes of a fanatic. It’s different from all the people he met till now. Those jade-green eyes had a strong allure to them—

“The police’s looking for her? You better not get involved with this. If the army gets hold on this, you might not even have a job.”

Perhaps reading through his own thoughts, Micott said the absolute truth and ended the current conversation before looking over at Takuya. “Speaking of which, tonight’s party…” Banagher wasn’t interested in this topic and took Haro away before leaving.

Do you think I don’t know about all of this? On one hand, he felt really angry, but on the other hand, his rationale side had to admit that Micott was right. His emotions that were being built up inside was forming a vortex inside him. It’s better not to get involved with her, and I know that. At the police’s side, he may be questioned hard by the police, and also by those executives in suits. Most likely, they would be public security personnel. If they’re eyeing me, my path to Anaheim will always be closed, and I may even be expelled from school and return back to the old colony of Side 1.

The old city Banagher grew up in was the first of the s.p.a.ce colonies that were built, and was at a corner where it was past its durability use. Other than old residents, there were refugees from war, people with unemployment and frustrated activists who were practically useless and had to rely on others. It was a small town where the circ.u.mstances were really bad, where the public drainage were often so bad that stench would always come out from it. Both mother and son seemed like they were fleeing from the sights of the world as they moved to his hometown, and it was the best place to live in for someone with no place to go. He also had the money his mother left behind, and he should be able to continue living on. However, there’s no future in that town.

Then, what about here? He intended to continue relying on this father of his who he had never met before and join the bottom rungs of the enterprise, but there wasn’t anything really different, nothing that he hasn’t seen. He didn’t have a goal, had no interests, and just felt ‘disjointed’ as the days pa.s.s. Does this mean that he had no future—he continued to be pressured by the swirling thoughts, and just when he quickly moved past the door, he heard a clear and refres.h.i.+ng voice “Are you Banagher Links?”. Banagher stopped.

There was an electric car parked on the road in front of the school gate, and a woman was standing right in front of it. The woman was wearing a fitting coat and tight skirt, and her long hair was tied behind her. She lifted her head and straightened her back, and one could tell from afar that she had a good figure that resembled a secretary of a large company. However, her face that didn’t have any make up made her look younger. Even though one could feel that she would fit into the school with just her appearance, the impression would change when they look into her eyes.

The emotionless blue eyes made it hard to tell whether she was focusing on him. The dark blue eyes that would remind one of the deep seas on earth made it look like there were two holes in front of her eyes. Banagher started to have gooseb.u.mps and picked Haro up from beside his feet. At this moment, the woman pa.s.sed through the gate and said “that’s good. I have a question I want to ask you” as she approached. She was wearing a business suit, but Banagher realized that she was wearing sports shoes underneath.

“Can you please tell me what did the person you saved this morning say?”

The woman merely showed a smile, and behind her, two men got off the electric car. Both of them were dressed really casually, but their expressions and looks didn’t look friendly at all. Banagher felt that his hands which were holding onto Haro were sweating and asked back, “Are you the police?” The media didn’t reveal his name, and these people didn’t look like reporters. That robotic smile the woman gave didn’t change as she answered with silence.

Banagher felt that the air around him went cold as his knees were trembling. Something’s not right with these people. They had the same stench as of those frustrated activists in his hometown—those who were already used to violence. He looked away and backed off, “I told all I should say to the police.” He quickly said that and wanted to get back into the school. Immediately, his shoulder was grabbed from behind, and the foot that was about to step out missed the ground.

“Just say the same thing you said to them. We won’t do anything else then.”

The hand that was grabbing onto the shoulder didn’t let go as her blue eyes closed in while she continued on. The force wasn’t great, but his body still couldn’t move. It felt like he would be taken down if he tried to struggle. Banagher just felt that this action was of someone who was extremely skilled and forced out a hoa.r.s.e voice, “What do you mean by that…” and the woman whispered to him, “You don’t want to be involved in trouble, right?” and exerted even more strength in her grip.

There was a sharp pain in his neck, and he let out a cry before he could endure it. His upper body couldn’t help but twist, and Haro dropped off his numbed fingertips. Banagher couldn’t breathe normally as he moved the only free eye. There weren’t any students nearby, and there weren’t any signs of the old guard beside the gate. These two men were standing behind the woman and creating a blind spot. He wanted to cry out, but his abdomen couldn’t exert force, and he could only let his sights move about before seeing those blue eyes again.

It was killing intent. The term that matched her blue hole-like eyes accompanied this chilling fact as it went down Banagher’s body. Unlike those activists who lost their way, these men were professional. They knew how to wreck a human body, they were soldiers—people who would use violence without hesitation if necessary. Just when he thought about this, he heard the woman say “Where did ‘she’ go?” Banagher inadvertently said out carelessly “The >…”

“The >?” the woman asked back as she exerted even more force. The pain that was added on struck Banagher as he answered, “The, the colony builder!”

“She said that she had someone she wanted to meet and talk with…”

He spoke too much. Just when Banagher felt that despair the moment he let out his voice, the pain suddenly vanished, and his body that regained its freedom took a few steps back. Banagher finally managed to support his knees and turned over to look at the woman who had already turned around. The two men who followed her from behind quickly left the school gate as if they weren’t looking at Banagher at all.

“You can’t possibly get over to the >…! It’s forbidden there. There’s also construction areas all around. You can’t even get over there!”

Banagher held his aching shoulder and shouted out unhappily. The woman stopped, and the beige hair that had a bit of orange was moved by the wind as she used those emotionless blue eyes to stare at Banagher.

“I’ll remember that. Thank you, Banagher-kun.”

It was a tone that was without compa.s.sion nor arrogance, which made Banagher feel all the more humiliated. The woman just took the electric car and left with the men. Banagher used his last ounce of courage to run out of the school gate and glared at the electric car that was gradually moving away. The electric car took a turn at the r