Kidou Senshi Gundam UC Vol 3 Chapter 2

As he reported that he was leaving the s.h.i.+p through the wireless communicator, squad leader Norm’s “ReZEL” number 1 slid out from the catapult deck. Riddhe saw his thruster flare on the all-view monitor, and grips onto the control stick.

“Riddhe Marcenas, Romeo 008. Launching!”

The display of the countdown timer showed 0. The G force seemed like it was trying to rip off the flesh on the bones as it struck the body, and the catapult deck beside his feet was immediately at its end. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and let the “ReZEL” number 8 fly out of the “Nahel Argama”. The wasteland that was right below the s.h.i.+p—the destroyed scenes of the colony flashed by his eyes, and in less than 2 seconds, the machine thrusted itself into the dark vacuum.

Perhaps they were crushed by the pressure from the inside. The debris of the colony look just like crumbled waffles. The pa.s.sing scenery that was tightly packed together showed the scenery of a phantom city in the vacuum. No matter whether it was the width of 1km all around or the amount of gas floating about, even though this place had many conditions that allowed for the “Nahel Argama” to hide its presence, one would still want to look far away after seeing that white s.h.i.+p object being buried by junk. It looked like there ware bugs or something clinging tightly onto the back of wilted leaves and climbing up.

The s.h.i.+p was floating around with shrapnel of all sizes floating around, and the cloud of s.p.a.ce junk that was 100km wide in diameter expanded up, forming a debris field that was much thicker within the shoal s.p.a.ce region. This was the aftermath of that first battle of the One Year War that increased to such scale that it became the largest fleet battle in history—the colony that was destroyed in the Battle of Loum now looks like this. The Earth Federation and Republic of Zeon clashed with each other directly in this Battle of Loum, right before the Antarctic treaty that forbade the use of weapons of ma.s.s destruction. It was said that several colonies were destroyed by the notorious nuclear bazookas. When they were suddenly sent flying into s.p.a.ce with the rubble of the artificial land, did the people manage to realize that they died? Realizing this, Riddhe felt a chill down his spine. He shook his head slightly and turns his gaze to the front.

And right in front of Riddhe, the following descendants of those who did such damage—the remnants of the Neo Zeon army who were given the derogatory term “Sleeves” were moving towards them. The wireless radio let out a signal and he could hear the Lieutenant Homare’s “ReZEL” number 4 moving beside him side by side. Riddhe makes a simple check to see that his mobile suit had stopped accelerating. The core reactor was still in good condition, and as he was equipped with a large weapon, the beam launcher, the machine itself was a lot heavier than usual. Riddhe stepped on the pedal and lets the boosters flared out its jets to maintain the machine’s posture. He increased the output to 1.5 times to match the equipped beam launcher.

As he moved in front, Squad Leader Norm activated the main thruster and moved right at the target. Riddhe and Homare’s machines take the two sides. The “ReZELs” formed a triangular formation in the debris. As there was a chance that they might crash into the debris that was overly packed, Riddhe and gang did not change their machines into waveriders. The 3 mobile suits boosters let out short bursts as they moved forward, matching the speed of the remains that were of varying sizes and keeping their hands at a position such that they could shoot immediately when needed.

“We’re approaching the s.h.i.+p. Please respond. This was the “Nahel Argama” of the Earth Federation army’s Londo Bell. Please state your affiliation and stop your flight. Your s.h.i.+p has entered out s.h.i.+p’s defensive line.”

There were no Minovsky Particles nearby—because there was no need for that when they could hide their whereabouts in the shoal s.p.a.ce region–the communication operator’s voice sounded a lot clearer than usual. It was not Mihiro, but Communication Officer Bellard this. Mihiro was left to be in charge of the civilians, and it seems that she is removed from active duty for now. As he wondered about this, Riddhe removed the safety of the beam launcher. He used the 30m long rock as a s.h.i.+eld and pointed at the target.

They were at the border of absolute defense at the target, and the distance was less than 10m. The target’s movements were not changing. Even though it was moving slowly in a straight line while showing the form of debris, one could still detect heat signature from it. On the debris that was formed by the war 16 years ago, joking aside, there might still be heat left in it.

“You terrorists, even if you want to pretend to be a stone block…”

Muttering this, Riddhe placed his hand on the trigger on the control stick. This movement caused the “ReZEL”s mechanical arm to move, and the beam launcher that’s the size of an enemy unit points itself at the front. I’ll scare the enemy by pretending to shoot, and then immediately move my position to provide cover for squad leader Norm. As Riddhe again reaffirmed the basis of the attack he was taught, he stared at the target inside the reticule. Suddenly, Norm’s voice rang.

Norm’s unit, which was supposed to be the offense unit, moved to the front. Riddhe kept his position such that he could shoot anytime, moved to a distance such that the optical sensor could detect the profile, and stared at it. The enlarged window of the all-view monitor appears in the corner, and the image that was somewhat crude in definition was corrected by CG. The target’s length was less than 50m, and the shape was…

“What the heck…?”

Riddhe’s fingertips, which were locked on the trigger, shuddered slightly.

“You say it’s junk?”

It’s been 6 minutes and 30 seconds since the order was given to begin battle. On hearing the report from the mobile suit squadron that was launched, Otto Mitas could not help but ask. “That’s what they said.” First Officer Liam Borrinea calmly said.

“We’ve determined it to be the debris of a Salamis-cla.s.s s.h.i.+p. It seems that the backup power was still working, and the heat sensor ended up determining it to be something unknown. There were no signs of enemies nearby, and there were no signs of survivors.”

“It would be amazing if there were. That’s a s.h.i.+p that was sunk more than 10 years ago.”

Otto grumbled at the report made by the communications officer and sighed, undoing the fastener of the helmet’s latch. Most likely, it was the dead souls of the Loum battle and other bodies knocking into each other or something and started to float around ending up reaching the sensor range of the “Nahel Argama”. The backup power source that was thought to be an unknown object seemed to be activated when it collided, causing a short circuit. That should be the case.

Vice-Captain Liam and the rest removed their helmets as well and pulled their normal suits collars out to allow air to move in. The horse-shaped bridge on the highest level of the “Nahel Agrama” was not as wide as it looked to be from the outside. In this s.p.a.ce that was only about 10m, there’s the Captain seat at the middle rear area, which Otto was sitting at, a seat on the left and right side, one for the communicator and the other for the sensor monitor operator, each facing the panels on the side walls. At the front end of the bridge, starting from the left, there were the navigator, steering operator and weapons controller seats, and right above their seats, there was the main screen on it with many monitors. The windows were set halfway around the bridge, ensuring that it had visibility of s.h.i.+ps in the Minovsky era. This layer of window was made of extremely hard plastic, and it could block radiation and even the heat of beams. The front of the bridge was covered with 4 such layers of this thick window panel, and the back part was reinforced with multiple bulletproof armors. With this, even though they would not have to deploy the protective shutter in battle and could see the outside scene with their eyes, on the other hand, the bridge that’s pressured by the thickness of the sh.e.l.ls became much narrower.

In the current age where ordinary bridges were built separately from a battles.h.i.+p’s bridge, one could not deny that the “Nahel Argama” bridge’s construct resembled more of the old styled concept. But during the One Year War, there was neither time nor technology for the s.h.i.+p to have that level of protective measures. Otto looks at the main screen in front of him, saw the debris of the Salamis-cla.s.s s.h.i.+p that had 2/3 of its body chiseled away, and felt a little spooked out as he stared at that burnt remnant now.

Most probably, the turbine took a direct hit, and the inside immediately exploded. In that situation, n.o.body would be able to escape successfully. “Really…are all the parts that aren’t human taken away from the junk here?” Otto muttered to himself as he turned his back on the main screen. If it were his grandmother, she would probably draw a cross in front of her chest. But to Otto, who was an atheist, it was rather rare for him to even pray silently in his heart for a single moment.

“Even if it’s that kind of thing, it’s a piece of treasure to those guys from the recycling business. Shall we contact them to earn some bucks?”

Otto tried to speak up in a motivated tone to hide the fear inside him, but the laughter he hoped for never appeared, and he could only see First Officer Liam, who’s returning back to the navigation seat, roll the thick eyelids. That large burly 40 year old female, both horizontally and vertically, was larger than Otto himself, and like usual, stares at him without a smile, showing a frivolous att.i.tude as she turns back to the console. Otto breathed hard through his nostrils to make up for this blank timing and ordered with a somewhat tired voice, “Alert removed. Operations to resume as per normal. Let the mobile suits return back to the s.h.i.+p.”

Communications Officer Bellard broadcasted this to the entire s.h.i.+p, and Liam looks back at Otto again, saying, “Was this good?” Otto was overwhelmed by that abnormally forceful poker face, and asks back, “Was there a problem?” Her face that was covered by some form of unknown make-up was staring at Otto, and she turned back forward without saying anything. What’s going on? Otto did not even have the strength to sigh out as he removed the helmet and looks up at the ceiling.

It’s said that a captain’s nightmare would be two things, one, losing a s.h.i.+p, and two, riding on a s.h.i.+p with a crew that’s not on good terms with him. However, Otto himself felt that there should be an additional item, and that will be having a large woman who was so hard to handle that he could not let his guard down around her as the First Officer. Otto managed to fight his way to the rank of a captain without any obvious battle accomplishments or camaraderie with people, only through his general qualifications. It was one thing for the battles.h.i.+p itself to be an unorthodox model that was hard to maneuver; it’s another thing for First Officer Liam’s existence to p.r.i.c.k his nerves no matter when. Instead of saying that there were too many incompatible things between them…it’s more like she never had any intent of getting along. Whether it’s for good or bad, one could say that Liam had the temper of an artist, but her silent presence will sometimes overpower the captain and even dominate the atmosphere inside the bridge. Of course, it’s not like she herself didn’t try to avoid this situation through her own means, but her expression that already lacked emotion could give off a frivolous vibe. Sometimes, the crew on the s.h.i.+p will even say random things like “Captain Liam, First Officer Otto”.

In fact, in terms of instinctively detecting danger like an animal, her instincts were sharper than his, and her simple personality of ensuring the safety of the s.h.i.+p was guaranteed. That’s why he could not just leave her alone like that. Otto had already been looking forward to an ordinary life with no extraordinary events, but the aftermath of the battle this time may affect him in some way. No, I might not even be able to guarantee that I will survive this time. Thinking about it this time, Otto’s heart was covered with a layer of gloom.

Ever since the battle started, the command given by the advising headquarters were to ‘retreat’ and ‘remain on standby’. They were only told to first leave “Industrial 7” before the media surrounded them; remain on standby until reinforcements arrive, and nothing else. They lost more than half of their fighting capabilities, and the enemy was still out there, so even without instructions, they could only retreat. Even though they entered deep inside the shoal s.p.a.ce region and use the debris of the colony as a place to hide, it’s been more than half a day since they were left alone.

The retreat point was sent from the base coordinates of L1, so there’s no reason why the reinforcements could not find as. Since this mission is so special, is the reason why the reinforcements are so slow was because the higher-ups were arguing over ‘adjustments’ because of the unexpected damage from the battle? This might be more appropriate. It will be alright if we can get contact with the command of Londo Bell, Otto thought. If there’s something, the Londo Bell fleet will be on standby. Once they know that an ally is in trouble, they will hurry over to a.s.sist without waiting for the senators to make their decisions. But since we’re undertaking this secret mission under a direct from the Senate Council, we could not just make contact with our original affiliation as we wish—

Do we even have a next move? Otto felt tired over his thoughts that were going nowhere, and felt that it’s time to tidy his head that had been thinning in hair over the past few hours. He saw Commander Daguza Mackle walk in front the automatic door at the back, and hurriedly puts the captain’s hat that was hung on the side of the seat.

Daguza was wearing a deep dark brown normal suit which one would identify him as a member of ECOAS, and he removeed his helmet, turning his head around to look. He seems to understand what was going on with such a motion, and turns his narrow eyes at Otto, saying, “May I know if it’s true that you mistook debris for an enemy unit?” Daguza asked with a voice that sounded courteous “Just like what you’re seeing.” Otto answered back coldly.

“Luckily, we’re not facing the enemy…up till now, there were still no signs of our army appearing.”

Otto finally said with a wry tone. To Otto, the reason behind so much trouble was because of the unshakeable fact that COAS used them as a transport. To this transport captain who did not have much authority, ECOAS and the higher-ups of the Federation could be said to be birds of a feather. However, Daguza did not seem to mind. The large body with the cast wrapped around his left arm was standing beside the Captain’s side,

“Leaving aside our allies, the enemy will definitely arrive.” He continued without emotion,

“Unlike us, the “Sleeves” have a very simple objective. A simple enemy will be much faster in their movement.”

Liam gives a sinister look at Daguza. All the crew in the s.h.i.+p felt repulsed by the ECOAS members, but even since they left the dock, she seemed to have twice the hatred for Daguza than anyone else. Why in the world is this guy here? Otto leaves aside Liam’s expression that was telling him this, sighed and says, “That “box” they were talking about…?”

“That’s right. The enemy felt that we’ve taken the “box”.”

“How can you conclude so?”

“There’s no evidence to deny this. Even though the enemy’s depleted as well, that four-winged mobile suit is still out there. Once there’s a chance to get it, they will use force to come over to check.”

One could feel that beside Liam, everyone in the bridge suddenly jerked. Everyone knew that with their current firepower, they could not match the enemy machine that’s equipped with psycommu and was like a monster. Do I have to say it? Liam glares at Otto with the blaming look, “Looks like you’re trying to say that now’s not the time to leisurely wait for reinforcements.” Otto seized the initiative to talk.

“Yes. We’ll first break through with this s.h.i.+p before the enemy discovers us. It will be smarter to leave this s.p.a.ce region.”

“Do you want me to ignore the orders from headquarters? Something like this…”

“Is within the jurisdiction of the current commander. A captain makes a decision by considering the safety of the s.h.i.+p and the crew, and after that, he could get recognition when everyone saw that he managed to preserve the weapons.”

Otto cannot say anything that will ensure the pride of a captain in response to Daguza’s solid logic. At this moment, Daguza seized the initiative and added on, “We should hurry and return back to “Lunar Two”.”

“The Gundam -type mobile suit that was taken back may very likely be related to the “Box”. The Senate Council will also hope for us to do such a thing.”

This report did reach headquarters. “But…” Otto’s eyes start to look away. He would not have any standing if he let Daguza beat him completely in giving suggestions. “I agree, captain.” Otto was panicking over what to argue back about as another voice rang inside the s.h.i.+p.

“But we’re not heading to “Lunar Two”, but the moon.”

As he says that, Alberto makes his way into the bridge. The normal suit he’s wearing makes his plump body stand out further as he stood beside the captain’s seat. He glanced at Daguza and gives a polite smile that was hard to stomach, saying “Unlike “Lunar Two” that’s on the other side of the Earth, the moon was just nearby, so it will be easily to head there, I suppose?” More than that, I’m really bothered that you would just randomly come in here.Before Otto could say that, Daguza let out a calm voice and said, “Not necessarily.” The fuse starting the debate immediately lit up.

“The enemy’s predicting that we will head to the Moon as well. There’s a possibility that we will be ambushed on the way. No matter how far the distance will be, we should move towards “Lunar Two”.”

“s.p.a.ce is large. I don’t think it’s easy to ambush us. Besides, we can still break through the ambush with our remaining fighting strength, right?”

“Our movements within the shoal s.p.a.ce region are limited. Besides, in terms of military affairs, losing two-thirds of our fighting strength is practically total annihilation. Right now, it’s not a situation where we can simply force our way through.”

“In that case, we could not get to “Lunar Two”, right? Aren’t you a little too hasty to bring that “Gundam” back to the military, Commander Daguza?”

“We’ll naturally feel anxious if we don’t get reinforcements. That’s because the military command seem to have some civilian pressure in this mission.”

“That sounds like an excuse from you. You have to finish any mission. Isn’t that what a soldier should do? It will be unreasonable to blame it on us when the mission fails.”

“Because of this, I have to speak up as a soldier. Right now, we should have this s.h.i.+p break through this s.p.a.ce region and return back to “Lunar Two”. There’s no other way to complete this mission.”

“What was your mission? To prevent the “Box” from falling into the hands of Neo Zeon? Or to use this chance to grab the “Box” and let the army use it?”

“Since you say so, Mr Alberto, what do you plan to do after taking the “Box” back to the moon? Are you going to lock the “Box” back into the shared treasury between Anaheim and the Vist Foundation like the past?”

This tug-of-war that left the captain aside finally paused at this point. As Alberto immediately tried to argue back, “KNOW YOUR PLACE!” Otto roared to stop him.

“This is a bridge, not a place for you to carry out your debates, and definitely not a place where outsiders could randomly come and go at will! I agree that ECOAS can do whenever they want to in this mission, but I didn’t say that your suggestions are welcomed, Commander Daguza.”

Daguza was definitely a mature adult for shutting up and backing away, but on the other hand, Alberto gives a smug look while looking like he managed to win this time, “ YOU TOO, MR ALBERTO!” and Otto could only do the same to him.

“Even if this is a secret mission, the limits of our s.h.i.+p’s actions are completely based around counter-terrorism. The reason why the reinforcements are delayed is simply because of a problem with the procedures, nothing to do with the “Box” at all. I hope you don’t forget your role as a civilian inspector.”

Even though he already knew that these would be words of an idealized scene, Otto said so as he stood by his words. “If that’s the case, I’m fine with it…” Alberto looks like he was not listening as he scratched his sagging cheek.

“Right now, the “Nahel Argama” is an independent force that was commanded by the Senate Council at the last minute. Under the jurisdiction of the counter-terrorist laws, our s.h.i.+p is already considered one of the few fighting forces who can act on their own without the Federation Senate’s permission, right? Who knows how much time we will take letting the main forces mobilize…as an inspector, I still suggest that we head to the moon. This is to prevent you from having to resign over such a large responsibility, captain.”

“Londo Bell has carried out countermeasures, but the Senate Council may be deliberately withholding information. Londo Bell might not even know that we’re waiting here to while they’re wary of multiple terrorism acts. I feel that we should head back to “Lunar Two” and wait for the Senate Council’s instructions.”

Daguza spoke up after Alberto did so. “I AM THE CAPTAIN HERE! ANYTHING WITHIN THIS s.h.i.+P WILL…” suddenly, a siren rang, causing the roaring Otto to swallow his words.

While everyone was still frozen there, Liam had already turned towards for the sensor operator’s seat. “What’s the matter!?” Otto asked with an enraged tone. “Another misjudgment. It looks like the piece of debris just now was slowing down.” The sensor operator’s voice caused Otto to be rooted.

“It’s probably some cooling agent or something acc.u.mulated inside spraying out. The target’s heat source is unstable. It’s a little hard to determine the identification conditions for it.”

Once the alert instruction was removed, Liam said with a calm voice. A Salamis-cla.s.s debris floated here through some coincidence, slowed down due to some coincidence, triggering the motion sensor and the alarm? Otto holds back his sigh and asked, “What’s the relative velocity?”

“Zero comma. It’s already floating right above our s.h.i.+p.”

The main window shows the remnant that just so happens to be right above the s.h.i.+p. If the speed and heat weren’t stable, the Salamis-cla.s.s debris would be mistaken as an unidentified unit once it changed trajectory. Though he could only pray for it to hurry up and leave the range, it just had to be of the same relative velocity as the Nahel Argama. “Was there a dead soul of Loum occupying it?” Otto glanced aside at Alberto who was saying it like it was somebody else’s business, grabs onto the handrail tightly and sighs hard. As a captain, I must not randomly roar out. I have to remain calm. Otto muttered to himself within his chest that’s about to explode and commands with a highly restrained voice, “Let the mobile suit squad remove it.”

“We should be able to push it out if it’s of that size.”

“But they returned back.”

The already impeccably calm Liam answered. “What?”

“They’ve returned back to the s.h.i.+p as you commanded before.”

That’s what I was trying to ask you just now The emotionless Liam’s expression was saying so. Be clearer so that I could understand! As Otto argued back deep inside his heart while biting his lips, Communication Officer Bellard says, “Should we order them to launch again?” Otto saw that Daguza was looking away in an unimportant direction, and Alberto was giving a vague smile. The self-restraint he had several seconds ago was pointless as he roars, “SHOOT IT DOWN WITH THE MAIN CANNON!”

“Yes…” The weapons operator answered as he looks past Otto and right at ‘Captain” Liam’. “Why aren’t you repeating it!?” Otto’s enraged voice overwhelmed his doubt.

“Yes, main cannon, ready to be fired. Bridge’s designated target is…” The weapons operator frantically turned his face to the console and hurriedly sent the instructions to the gunnery room. Otto snorted out warm breath from his nose and steadied himself on the Captain’s seat again. Liam gave him a hesitant look. To heck with that, I’m the captain here. I can’t let my First Officer’s expression affect my own view, and there’s no reason for me to be told off by other squads or civilians. To a crew, a captain has to have G.o.d-like authority here. Isn’t this the pride and tradition of the seafarers ever since the times of the Navy?

Even so, wouldn’t it be too casual for me to use the main cannon? As a fearful wind brushed Otto’s back, the weapons operator’s report can be heard, “Front cannon, firing preparations complete.” causing Otto to swallow his saliva. Daguza and Alberto are looking at well. I could not take back the order. I’ll be looked down on by others all the more. As he made up his mind, Otto squeezed out a voice, “Get ready!”

“FIRE!”

A mega-particle cannon of a battles.h.i.+p-cla.s.s s.h.i.+p could be seen, and the power output was vastly different from a mobile suit’s beam rifle. The beam released by the enemy s.h.i.+p was a thin light that looks like a thread, and one could see it with the naked eye. The Salamis-cla.s.s debris that was directly hit gave out light in the explosion and scattered all over the place, becoming small flickering lights. Marida Cruz saw all of that.

Gilboa Sant’s voice echoed throughout the bridge, and they could tell that he was extremely agitated through the wireless radio. Marida let her body float behind the steering seat and stared at the pitch black vacuum that extends out infinitely outside the window. Gilboa Sant’s “Geara Zulu” was about 90km away from this “Garencieres”, and was making full use of the sensors of the machine to detect the s.p.a.ce region the enemy s.h.i.+p was in. From the relative position of less than 200km away, they should be able to see the beam and the explosion clearly. If the situation was good, they might even be able to detect the enemy’s correct position.

They found a piece of debris that was of the right size, cause it to produce heat, and let it float to the shoal s.p.a.ce region that might have the enemy s.h.i.+p hidden inside. Once the enemy s.h.i.+p mistake it for an unknown enemy unit and send out units to intercept it, they could deduce the location of the s.h.i.+p through the units’ location. The “Sleeves” basically viewed the Shoal s.p.a.ce Region as a garden, so it was not hard for them to deduce a specific coordinate from a vague position. Also, the enemy s.h.i.+p firing the main cannon so carelessly allows them to save a lot on manpower. “Alright, call Gilboa to come back.” Leaving aside Suberoa Zinnerman’s voice, Marida asked herself, What kind of enemies are they…

From the experiences of what happened in Industrial 7, I could tell that they’re a squad that’s not used to battle. An ordinary Federation s.h.i.+p that viewed daily training as part of work…are they such an enemy? Then what’s the mysterious pressure I feel—

“We’re moving to an area where we can carry out laser communication, and we’ll send out a message to the “Rewloola”. Is there still no actions at Industrial 7?”

“Just s.h.i.+ps moving to and fro from the moon. Side 2 is sending aid, but there’s no signs of any forces residing there.”

In response to Zinnerman’s question, the other crew member who took over Gilboa’s seat answered as he sat on the navigator’s seat. The optical sensor received the visual image that’s far away, and there was an interrupted electronic news broadcast from long distance that was mixed with static. In the past few hours, he had been keeping his hand on the headset to listen to the situation. “Don’t tell me that s.h.i.+p got abandoned.” Flaste Schole said as he sat at the steering seat. Half a day had pa.s.sed since then, and even the civilian aid had started. It was really strange that there was not even a Federation s.h.i.+p coming over for reinforcements. “They probably suffered by undertaking such a dishonorable mission and were most likely viewed to not have existed in the first place.” Leaving Zinnerman’s words behind, Marida focuses her consciousness in the vacuum.

The debris floating around absorbed the sunlight far away and let out white lights that were vaguely bright and faint at times. This was the shoal s.p.a.ce region Marida was used to seeing, the s.p.a.ce dust that distorts with the bright light. On that side, the remains of the colony were gathered, having a hidden heavy ‘presence’ inside. It was not the kind that could be felt on the battlefield, the ‘presence’ that would come over at her, but the ‘presence’ that’s coming out from a certain existent, one similar to the breathing of a beast…

“What is it, Marida? You sensed something?”

The doubtful voice hit her from behind as the consciousness that was being sucked into the vacuum returns to the body. Marida turned to the captain’s seat and looked at her master who detected her reaction through her eyes. They do have reinforcements, but the “Garencieres” had a setback in the mission, and was now isolated without help, which makes them not so different from the enemy s.h.i.+p. Marida sensed Flaste and the rest p.r.i.c.king their ears, and she, who was relied on as the sensor amongst the crew, was shown looks of concern. She lowered her head and says, “No, it’s just…”

“I feel that the princess isn’t in Industrial 7 anymore.”

Unexpected words came out from Marida’s mouth, and she shut up. She had never thought of this before until now—but she did realize it when she said it out. She sensed ‘her’ presence when she went by the mysterious pressure given off by the enemy’s s.h.i.+p. That’s right, did I hear ‘her’ voice before when I fought with that white mobile suit that’s most likely kept there…?

“You’re thinking too much.”

Zinnerman approached Marida from behind and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk.

“The “Rewloola” will immediately attack that s.h.i.+p. Whether they have the “Box” or not, we just need to go back to Industrial 7 after that. We’ll definitely find her.”

Marida felt a sense of warmth in her shoulder that was touched. That’s right. It’s not my job to think. I just need to follow this person who’s giving me warmth from his hand behind me. “Understood, master.” She answered softly and temporarily releases the strength inside her. Zinnerman supports her loosened body with one arm and scratches the hard beard on his chin.

“Let’s check out Full Frontal’s abilities.”

“The “Garencieres” sent a report to us?”

The moment he entered the door, Angelo Sauper asked with a voice that was loud enough to echo throughout the entire bridge. Sitting on the Captain’s seat was s.h.i.+p Captain Hill, who gives an unhappy look to him, frowning as he says, “We’re able to search out the target’s L1 basic target thanks to their report.”

“It seems that they’re near the remnants of the colony. There aren’t any other enemies around. In another three hours, we can capture the enemy in our range.”

“Just like what we expected. Those guys are left on their own. That’s what happens to those who failed in their own secret mission.”

The smile on Angelo’s lips widened as he put his hand on the back of the Captain’s seat. Even though it might be viewed as being unruly, Hill had no intent on correcting him. As the piloting crew of the transport carrier was in charge of protecting their forces, the atmosphere was such that they will allow for any forms of insubordination and overruling of authority. Amongst them, Full Frontal’s own escort squad’s ident.i.ty was even more unique. Angelo ignored the Vice-commander’s look of frustration as he turned his eyes to the navigation screen.

Down the indicated arched trajectory of L1 in a block of shoal s.p.a.ce region, the light spot representing the target was blinking. The coordinates were . The speed and distance in s.p.a.ce could only be indicated in relative terms, but the relative positions between the Earth and the Moon would remain constant. If the average value of the gravity of Earth and the Moon was used, they could at least mark an absolute value on the coordinate trajectory. At their current speed, they will need 3 hours before reaching their target. If they accelerate, they would reach the target earlier, but it was no picnic accelerating too much in the shoal s.p.a.ce region. Even though they were using their own shoal s.p.a.ce region maps that were much more detailed than the universal specifications, they could not avoid all the debris, and the s.h.i.+p itself was grazing by s.p.a.ce dust and rubble of all sizes. Angelo felt that s.h.i.+p Captain Hill’s judgement was correct and simply looked around at the bridge with more than ten communication operators working.

The bridge of the “Rewloola”, which had entered s.p.a.ce for less than 5 years, was still considered a new model. This bridge in particular had an outstanding view and wide s.p.a.ce, which Angelo really fancied. The unique traits were the ceiling that was most likely two levels high and the setup that puts the navigator’s seat cleanly in mid-air with support, allowing the operators to work right above the Captain. The observation window that was designed for one purpose only was put at the front to preserve sight, the 3-dimesional s.p.a.ce was effectively used, and all the designs on the bridge could be used independently in battle. It could be said that the “Rewloola” itself was one of the results of the s.h.i.+p-building ideas during the Minovsky era that was maximized.

The s.h.i.+p’s shape itself had quite the characteristics as well. The s.h.i.+p’s body looked like a triangular block from above, and had many curves all over it to make it look alive. The 6 ball shaped booster tanks that were placed on both sides of the hulls look like the eggs of a living thing. It was not a far-cry to say that the “Rewloola” inherited the design of the large battles.h.i.+p of the old Republic of Zeon’s army, the Sadalahn-cla.s.s. As for the reason why the s.h.i.+p itself was painted scarlet red, that was because the ex-commander-in-chief Char once rode on this s.h.i.+p, leaving behind a great influence.

The second Neo Zeon war was also known as Char’s Counterattack. Char Aznarble was the commander of the army at that time—as the son of the deceased Zeon Deik.u.m and also the Zeon army’s Red Comet that terrorized the Federation. It was impossible for the flags.h.i.+p he rode on before not to be painted with the color red. He was about to send the hammer of judgement to the Federation to let the world known that the son of Zeon was to end his time of hiding. The “Rewloola” had to have the color red on it.

After an intense battle, the Neo Zeon army retreated in defeat, and the commander-in-chief Char disappeared as well, but such a closure made it hard to actually decide the winner. Londo Bell, which was the frontline of the Federation, took a devastating blow, letting the Neo Zeon fleet. After s.p.a.cing into the Shoal s.p.a.ce region, they had an idea of using the remaining forces to launch special attacks, but after having lost their spiritual leader in Char, the Neo Zeon army was basically divided. At least half of the survivors scattered, and the fleet that became an empty s.p.a.ce stayed in an asteroid full of resources that was basically a wasteland to catch their breaths, waiting for their annihilation—until that man called “The Second Coming of Char” appeared again, prompting Neo Zeon to rise again for the third time.

It had been 2 years after that. The “Rewloola” regained the life it had back then, and right now, the revived Neo Zeon army that was derogatory called “Sleeves” started to make use of its capabilities as a flags.h.i.+p. Including the Captain, most of the members were new, but there were still some deserters amongst the NCOs. Angelo felt there would not be an end to this if he was to pursue this, and he had no intent of doing so as well.

These activists included people who once escaped and yet came back after knowing that Neo Zeon was coming back, people of the Deik.u.m sect and the Zabi sect who had been arguing against each other and started fighting over the basic ideologies as well. Angelo felt that they were all existences that could not be replaced. What the revived Neo Zeon army needs were the pa.s.sion of young people and young blood. Only the young who will not dwell in their past defeats and focus all their efforts on revolution could became the core of the organization. That man had admitted this as well. That man who had the innate n.o.bility and talent to lead us from birth intend to fulfill the ideas of Zeon and the real independence of s.p.a.cenoids. The pain and loneliness of Mankind that’s bestowed to the world was ultimately not what the vast number of vulgar people could understand. As he looks around at the bridge crew that were giving him stupefied looks, Angelo fluffs up the fringe that’s sagging down to his forehead and says to s.h.i.+p Captain Hill, “We’re getting ready to launch.”

“The battle will end in ten minutes. We just need to watch the battle here, Captain.”

“Sounds really intense. Will it really be that easy?”

On hearing Hill’s distressed tone, Angelo stopped his feet that were about to turn.

“The Federation had already done this trick of using optical observation on the shoal s.p.a.ce region. They probably know about where we are. While they will normally let us go, this situation now involves that Laplace Box or something, right? If it were so secretive that the Manhunters have to be mobilized to take it back, the news that we’re closing in should be received by the enemy s.h.i.+p.

“The Federation’s ability to adapt isn’t that good. The number of forces they can hide is limited. Right now, they should be arguing amongst themselves over what they should be doing. None of them want to take responsibility for this.”

“That’s good if that were the case.”

“There’s no sign of reinforcements, right? No one’s backing them, that’s why.” Angelo showed a formal smile and let his body float towards the door. “Besides, if those guys were so efficient, we would be annihilated. The human economy isn’t so solid that it can be balanced in complete safety after all.”

“An occasional terrorist attack isn’t anything much if we consider the millions of jobless people, is that so?”

“That’s the case. That’s why there’s a need to change this rotten society, to allow humanity to live on for another 100 years.”

Captain Hill narrowed his eyes slightly as he answered with silence. You’re still green, these words were telegraphed to Angelo’s back, and Angelo answered in his heart I’ll remember that as he left the bridge.

The moment he arrived on the mobile suit deck, the smell of grease and the body heat permeated the air inside the enclosed s.p.a.ce, and the air that was heated by the electric cables let out such a smell. Angelo was bothered that the smell of cologne on his uniform was nullified as he kicked the floor, pa.s.sed through a pa.s.sage and floated to the large deck.

There were 12 mobile suits docked inside the “Rewloola”. In the large and expansive s.p.a.ce, 6 mechanical hangars were lined up on each side, and one could see the main machines “Geara Zulu” placed them. The mobile suit silhouette itself was based on the Zaku-types of the Republic, and the part that was basically the wrist had a sleeve logo drawn on it. One could tell its affiliation from the logo’s color or the design itself, and this was the reason why the Neo Zeon army was derogatorily called “Sleeves”. Also, leaving aside the blade antenna that indicated the leader’s machine, even the shoulder armor all had flexibility that allowed affiliation or rank to be changed, which allowed the “Geara Zulu” to show the characteristic of not being a ma.s.s-produced suit.

Amongst them, the most eye-catching would be the escort squad’s machine. Angelo let his body flot towards the 3 escort squad machines on the deck. The machine had sharp armor plates on both shoulders, and the fixed s.h.i.+elds were removed, making the silhouette more offensive. The back had two thruster tanks and stabilizers, and they were attachments that were taller than the shoulders, and one could imagine them to be like angel’s wings. The other thruster tank and stabilizer that was not installed was on the back of the b.u.t.t, poking out like a tail, causing the entire appearance to be more suitably described as a demon, a ferocious demon that protects the Red Comet—

Most notably, Angelo’s squad leader machine was designed with a purple base coloring, making it stand out from the thick green machines. While checking the preparations for his own machine, Angelo went for the mechanical hangar’s platform. As the mechanic officer and the rest were inspecting on the spare parts, the other two pilots of the escort squad quickly saluted Angelo.

These two people were the tall, lankly blond with good looks, Lieutenant Cuarón and Ensign Sergi with cold green eyes. Both of them were officers in their early 30s, and the green uniforms of the escort squad really suited them. These two backup pilots and the other mechanics on this s.h.i.+p who were less than 30 years old were all part of Full Frontal’s own personal escort squad. However, they were given special privileges in equipment and training. Each of them was strictly chosen from the army, talents who were able to beat 100 enemies. Angelo stepped onto the platform and notified the duo, “We’re sorting out in 3 hours. Remain on standby until then.” Cuarón and Sergi stood still “Yes, Lieutenant Angelo.” They chanted.

“It will be your first battle as part of the escort squad for you today, Ensign Sergi. How does the “Geara Zulu” of our escort squad look?”

“Yes! The machine’s more specialized in long distanced combat than I imagined, but I’ll try to get used to me. I won’t forget your kindness in nominating me for the escort squad.”

“Don’t give yourself pressure. Meritocracy is Zeon’s tradition. Just perform as per usual…besides, there probably won’t be any chance for you to perform this time.”

Cuarón gave a meaningful smile, and Sergi frowned in a puzzled manner. Angelo flicked his own fringe and told Sergi, “The Captain will be sorting out today. There’s no work for us.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll understand once the battle starts.”

Angelo inadvertently curled his lips and turned his eyes to the mechanic behind him, ordering them, “Captain Full Frontal will be coming over. Don’t ever ease up the atmosphere in the mobile suit deck until the end.” The mechanic answered, “Yes, I’ll inform the rest!’ and floated away from the platform. Angelo watched him leave, and in his eyes, he saw a mobile suit that was docked in the deepest part of the deck. The crimson red giant was larger than the “Geara Zulu”. As Angelo stared at the c.o.c.kpit that was basically the abdomen of the machine, the excited Sergi whispered to him, “So the rumors are really true?”

“Like how the Captain won’t wear a normal suit when sorting out.”

The green eyes flickered, and Sergi looked like he wanted to say “It’s like…” Angelo corrected Sergi inside his heart. It’s not that it seems, but that it is, “Yeah, there’s no need for that for the Captain.”

“That’s because he has the belief that he will definitely return from the battlefield.”

Sergi’s boyish face turned slightly red as his eyes were captured by the red mobile suit. Cuarón turned his back on Sergi, smiling proudly, while Angelo turned his eyes onto the machine that was waiting for the master to arrive. The MSN-06S “Sinanju” was a crimson red machine that used a large around of curves as part of Zeon’s flair and had a elegant and streamlined contour. That is the only mobile suit that matches that man, the Red Comet who will s.n.a.t.c.h the Box, which has a secret that can topple the Federation, and liberate the world. Angelo was immersed in his own motivating thoughts as he smiled away in a fanatical manner.

A vague voice could be heard as it echoed through the speakers inside the s.h.i.+ps. As he saw the sergeant beside him heave a sigh and remove his helmet, Banagher asked, “Is it over?”

“Yeah. You can take it off too.” The sergeant answered while he took off the fastener of the normal suit. This middle-aged sergeant who was giving off a vibe that he trained officer was an NCO who was a.s.signed to guard the command post, and it seemed that he was an old-timer who had the most experience in being a guard. He was the one who brought Banagher here to evacuate after the siren alert for battle rang. They were near the “Unicorn”s maintenance hangar, and several rows of normal suits were lined up in this room. Currently, he and Banagher were the only ones around.

As the wireless network in the s.h.i.+p was activated during battle, they could hear the conversations between the bridge and all the other departments. However, Banagher still could not say that he could even vaguely understand the conversations that included lot of technical jargon. Even though he could roughly tell that this raid was a bogus judgment, it was still a mystery why the main cannon of the s.h.i.+p was fired. As they were evacuating, he could hear messages like and , and he could see the pa.s.sengers walking around frantically at the doors. They’re working, huh?Banagher thought blankly. Even if they’re the military, there’s nothing unique about them. They’re just like the workers in the factories, doing their own duties to let the s.h.i.+p move, that’s all—

“That’s why I’m asking where you’re bringing me to…haa? How will I know if the squad leader doesn’t?”

The sergeant growled angrily into the room’s internal phone he picked up. The lax a.s.signment of duties caused the crew to be unable to handle the unexpected situation. Everyone’s not used to an actual battle, huh? As he thought about that, Banagher was about to keep the normal suit he put on as a familiar color and shape crossed by him.

“Haro…?”

Banagher did not think that he made a mistake in identifying it. He went after the green ball that moved past the door and arrived outside the locker room. “Oi, don’t just run out like that!” the sergeant growled. “That’s mine.” Banagher answered and held onto the grip lift. “Oi, wait!” Banagher kicked the floor as he ignored the sergeant who left the phone behind.

Banagher thought that he could catch Haro immediately, but it ignored his calls as it flapped its ears and nimbly turned around the corner. “Oi, you! Hold it!” as he heard the sergeant’s growls behind him, Banagher switched grip lifts at a cross junction and moved down a narrow pa.s.sage 90 degrees aside. That’s weird. There’s no reason for Haro to ignore me like this. Maybe somebody else gave it a verbal command. If the memory’s not deliberately deleted later, Haro will treat the owner and anyone it talked to for a long time as a friend. If it can follow even a simple command, the only ones on this s.h.i.+p who are registered as friends are Takuya, Micott, and as for the rest—

At the second turn of the cross junction, Banagher finally caught up to Haro just before it turned around the corner. As he carried it, he felt that it stopped on its own, and said, “This isn’t good. You have to be with everyone.” Haro’s eyes merely flickered as it answered,  Banagher was about to return to the locker room when a hand reached out for the coat of the collar.

Banagher was pulled from the back of his head and went into a door on the pa.s.sage that was opened. He wanted to share it off immediately, but got a glimpse of the emerald green eyes that shone in the dim light, and his heart pounded crazily.

“There’s no time, Banagher. Listen to me.”

Audrey. The mouth of the emerald-eyed girl covered Banagher who was about to call her name, and she showed an irritated look, muttering quickly, “Oi, brat. Answer me!” On hearing the sergeant’s angry growl pa.s.s by the door, Banagher nodded at her. Audrey released the hand holding Banagher down and led him deep into a room that was like a storeroom with all the lights switched off.

The light that shone in through the door caused the purple cape that fluttered with the air to appear. Why is she here? What happened to Ensign Mihiro and the rest? There were a lot of things Banagher really wanted to ask, but he did not even have the time to ask as Audrey pushed him to the pile of cardboard boxes that was fastened with a belt, and brought her face close to a distance where he could feel her breathing. She let out a questioning voice, “Did you really activate the “Unicorn Gundam”?”

“Unicorn…Gundam?”

The term was something he knew, yet it felt alien to him. Banagher repeated the term that was that felt like a mysterious curse, sometimes safe and sometimes dangerous like a parrot. "So that was the name of that machine." Banagher accepted it in his heart unconditionally. “What happened?” Audrey’s anxious voice repeated.

“Seemed that way…”

“You say it seems—”

“I don’t really know. Everything happened so quickly. There wasn’t even a warning or something…”

Banagher diverted his eyes away from the frowning Audrey as his eyes escaped to the shadow formed by the gaps between the boxes. The bloodied face in his nightmare appeared in the shadows , causing him to clench his fists.

On one hand, Cardeas talked about believing in possibilities and doing what one had to do. On the other hand, he could hear Cardeas talk through the wireless network like a war merchant. "Which one is the real you?" Banagher thought as he recalled the words Alberto said. “Alright.” At this moment, Audrey sighed. She turned away as she made up her mind.

“Can you still activate it?”

Audrey’s voice sounded rather sound. "Eh?" Banagher thought as he looked up. As he was held down by the intimidating stare in her eyes, he answered, “I guess…”

“Then, leave this place with me.”

Her calm voice caused Banagher to hold his breath and gasp. He looked around meaninglessly, and then asked, “Here, as in, this s.h.i.+p?” as he stared at Audrey who was floating 30cm away from him. She however did not even nod.

“Impossible. I can’t do this.”

“There’s always a way when you get onto the Gundam. The s.h.i.+p crew here isn’t experienced enough. The remaining problem is to shake off the Special Forces.”

Audrey said as she diverted her eyes to a corner of the ceiling. Banagher realized that there was a surveillance camera there, and exchanged looks with her serious expression. He eked out a voice, “Audrey…”

“You can still make it back to Industrial 7 now. Once you reach there, I’ll deal with the machine. You’ll be fine when you say that you were threatened, right?”

“But…”

“That’s a dangerous machine that can’t be handed to anyone. We have to destroy it before it docks in the Federation base…”

“Please wait for a while, okay…!”

Banagher was driven by the fear that was about to blow him up from within as he subconsciously grabbed Audrey’s shoulders. He pulled her body down from the air and stared at the eyes that were at the same height level as him. Audrey looked over with an expression that was hard to discern.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What did you say that mobile suit is? Please explain it clearly to me.”

“There’s no time now. I’ll explain the details to you later. First…”

“How can I decide on something without knowing what’s going on!? Why must you talk to me like this!?”

“Like this…?”

“Like you have to do this, like there’s a need to do that. It’s really too sly to try and force someone to accept it in such a way…besides, ain’t I not someone you don’t nee?”

Even though he felt that it was sneaky of him to say it, Banagher still said it. Everyone only thought of saying what would be convenient to them and not actually talking heart to heart. Even though those were the words of others, he could only feel empty as he was left in the lurch. "What can I believe now when some things have to be decided in such a situation now?"

Banagher felt that his stomach was starting to heat up as he shut up and turned his back on Audrey. He pressed a fist against a cardboard box and muttered with clenched fists, “Everyone’s making decisions on their own…”

“You too, the people here too, even that man…” The heat continued to swell and rise in him, breaking through his restrain. Realizing this, Banagher closed his eyes and squeezed out his remaining words, “Saying that he’s my father out of a sudden…”

“Father?”

“Forcing that kind of mobile suit to me, saying it’s the curse of the Vist Family, and the Laplace Box or something…I don’t even know what’s what now!”

Banagher felt that Audrey held her breath. “Are you talking, about that Cardeas Vist? Then, you’re the Vist family—”

“I don’t know! I was separated from him when I was young, and I couldn’t even remember his face. He didn’t come over to mother’s funeral, he wouldn’t even meet us, and now out of a sudden…”

The thoughts after that never became words. The hatch limiting his emotions was gone. Fear and anger raged on in his abdomen as if it was a backlash of emotions that was held for several hours. After a stunned silence, Audrey muttered, “Such things happened…” Banagher could hear the surprised voice that seemed to understand something from behind him as he moved to reach for Haro that was floating in the air with nowhere to go.

This was an old toy that he continued to maintain and update ever since he received it as a Christmas gift at the age of 5. The familiar touch entered his clutches safely. At that time, the fad for toys ended in less than a year, and it was a long time ago since the time when the manufacturer stopped sales of Haro. Even so, Banagher never let go of Haro when he entered middle school. He would try his best to repair it himself whenever it was spoilt, and his mother would often nag at him in an annoyed manner,

“Just give it up already. Haro’s already at its limit. Isn’t it weird to go around with an old toy?”

“It can still move if I repair it. That’s nothing bad about it.”

How did the mother feel when she knew who gave that Haro to this son of hers who argued back? No, Banagher had already realized that it was a gift from his father, and his mother knew that Banagher already knew about that. Even though n.o.body said it out, both of them viewed that as an unspoken secret and accepted Haro as a family member. Why am I still bringing it around? Is it because it’s the only thing linking me to the father I know? I never had the feeling of wanting to meet my father before.

No—I probably still want to meet him. I created an impression of father myself though mother’s words and the immaturity of my sealed memories. I let myself believe to make up for the ‘absent’ reality, and there are still a lot of things I should really look forward too. Banagher was hoping that he could one day lift his head up high and meet the man who was his father, and such an idea gave him his minimum level of aspiration and made him not stay inside the slums that were his hometown. Perhaps it was this motivation to improve that was effective in a certain way that was able to allow him to endure his mother’s death and take on that loneliness of being isolated by the world.

But in reality—Banagher put down Haro and closed up the seal of his memories. Haro floated around in zero gravity, hit the wall and flicker its eyes, flapping its ears and making some sounds.

“…A long time ago, there was a story that was pa.s.sed down like a legend.”

As Haro made noises, Audrey’s voice directed itself at Banagher, who moved his face slightly.

“Once the Laplace Box is opened, the Federation government will reach its end.”

Banagher was driven by a pulsating feeling and turned behind. He saw Audrey rooted over there, a figure in the darkness.

“This isn’t something everyone knows of. However, something that involves the center of what they call society will naturally reach some people’s ears somewhere. One must fear the Vist Foundation. They have the Box. Those that follow the Foundation will have riches and honors, and those who disobey will have death…”

It felt like a supernatural story. Banagher swallowed his saliva, but Audrey shrugged him aside as she continued to state calmly,

“n.o.body knows what was inside that Box, but they knew it really existed. The Laplace Box was a form of convenience obtained from the government, an invisible pressure on the government’s eyes. The most triumphant example is the Anaheim Electronics company. It single-handedly controls the military needs and public needs, and won’t be pursued even when it was helping Neo Zeon. Without the backing of the Vist Foundation, it would be impossible to imagine that they would have such rights.”

Banagher unwittingly used his hand to touch the chest of his jumper. The initials and crest of Anaheim Electronics was printed on it, and they left a rough feeling on his fingers.

“Cardeas Vist intended to hand that Box over to the “Sleeves”…Neo Zeon. The location was Industrial 7, the colony builder that was under the name of the Vist Foundation. However, the Federation army sniffed out signs of the deal and sent this s.h.i.+p and the Special Forces over. And then…”

That battle happened. Banahger sense that his body was about to tumble over as he used his hand to hold onto the pile of cardboard boxes.

“I had to prevent the Laplace Box from being handed over to Neo Zeon. I don’t know Cardeas Vist’s real intent. However, Neo Zeon still can’t use that Box. Once that power that can topple the Federation land in their hands, there will undoubtedly be a war that will be like the One Year War, causing devastation on both sides.”

Banagher recalled the history shows he once saw on the television, the images of the colony landing on earth. It was an idea of ‘throwing a colony down’ that a colony in orbit was slowed down to act as a ma.s.s bomb. The military country controlled by the Zabi family