KSGU:Volume 8 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Part 1

"Nigel Garrett, Uniform 007, launching!”

The countdown timer showed 0, and the catapult was fired. Nigel Garrett grabbed the control sticks as he took on the G force that amounted to a maximum of 5G.

The catapult deck that slid by below was a lot shorter than the one on the "Ra Cailum", and the launch velocity was slower as a result. Once it left the deck, Nigel stepped on the pedal. The "Jesta" got into the darkness of space as it used its thrusters, and pulled itself away from the Base Jabber in front of it. Right when the 20m tall machine was about to use its manipulator to hold onto the platform, the machine behind was at the start of the catapult deck.

Daryl McGuniness "Jesta" too followed the same process as it launched from the catapult of the "Carrot". This ship of the Clop-class was only approximately half as heavy as the "Ra Cailum", as there was only one deck that was aligned to the bow. Daryl's machine had to follow the same path as Nigel's as it merely activated the AMBAC on its limbs to adjust itself and connected itself under Nigel's machine. Unlike the machines with specifications for Earth use, the Base Jabber for space use had platforms on the top and below, and the flat machine, commonly called the "Clog", xould allow for two machines to ride on it. The tremors came when Daryl's machine connected on, and Nigel stepped on the pedal again. The "Jestas" crouching on the platforms lit their thrusters again, and the SFS ferrying them started to accelerate. It took the thrust from Daryl's machine and pulled its distance from the "Carrot" and entered the darkness of the vacuum.

He activated the laser communication with the mothership as he looked around the all-view monitor. The Earth was behind him, the size of a basketball, and the three Earth, and there were 3 celestial objects that could be seen above in front of him, Capella, Aldearan, Rigel. The stars that were CG corrected for astronomical observations were giving off unnaturally large glows. He could see the “Tenenbaum” that was of the same class as the “Clog” below him, and numerous thruster flares could be seen dragging from the side, forming silver trajectories in space. Those were the lights released by the mobile suits of the Tenenabum fleet. There were two SFS, one “Stark Jegan” and two normal “Jegans”. Nigel saw that they were also headed to L3, turned to the space region in front of him where the “Luna Two” could be seen; then, he spotted the Base Jabber catch up from behind, and the 3rd machine riding on it appeared in his sights.

The beam cannons and Gatling cannons equipped on its backpack were protruding out, and the enhanced armor had missiles and grenades all over its limbs. This heavy-armed “Jesta Cannon” included a hand-wieldable beam rifle and a grenade launcher set with physical ammunition. The bulk of the machine really complemented the stumpy Watts Stepney. “Looks heavy there, Watts.” Nigel looked at the hulking machine that was standing watch on the “Clog” as he muttered this, (It’s nothing much.) However, the gruff voice came, and Watts let his personalized Base Jabber spin once.

(We’ve been trained under Earth’s gravity. We’ll repay them the debt we owe from Torrington Base.)

(We’ll leave it to you, Tri-Stars brothers. That disguised merchants ship caused our Carrot fleet some suffering too.)

The lieutenant in charge of piloting the Base Jabber injected through the contact loop. (Roger that. We won’t forget the grace of this pit-stop.) Upon hearing Daryl’s voice, Nigel turned forward again with a stare intending to hunt the enemies. The Moon was across the other side of the Earth, and the space in front of him looked like a bottomless abyss. The radars could not work under the effects of the Minovsky Particles, and they could not detect the target’s thruster flares; however, they could be certain that the “Garencieres” was nearby. The fake Neo Zeon merchant ship took down the mobile suits of the “Carrot” and wrecked the “Ra Cailum” to a point of paralysis. With the “Unicorn” it stole, this “Sleeves” ship was definitely somewhere in this pitch darkness, hoping to meet up with the main fleet.

It had been 3 days since the Zeon remnants attack on Torrington Base. The “Ra Cailum” could not leave the ground as its engines were wrecked, and the reason why the Tri-Stars were the only ones who went up to space was because Nigel and company insisted on not letting go of them, and the “Carrot” needed to make up for the loss in fighting strength it had, resulting in an outcome where both objectives were met. They immediately launched from a nearby launch base, and met up with the 3rd team, 16th Task Force of Londo Bell that was moving by in low orbit. However, it seemed that the “Garencieres” had already left Earth’s Absolute Defense zone, and since they were unable to keep track of their target, the “Carrot” and the “Tenenabum” were surrounded by an urge to give up. But one hour ago, the atmosphere changed when they detected a source of Minovsky Particles moving quickly.

They still did not know where the “Garencieres” headed towards L3 was headed towards as it scattered its Minovsky Particles. Lagrange Point 3 between Earth and the Moon had only the Side 7 colony cluster that was under construction and the “Luna Two”, the stronghold of the Federation space fleet; it would be hard to imagine that there would be “Sleeve” bases nearby there. Side 6, where the Neo Zeon fleet was rumoured to be hiding in, was at L5, a completely different place, and it was improbable for a rendezvous to be held here.

Where is it going—no, more importantly, where has it been during the 3 days after the commotion in Torrington Base, and what had it been doing? Nigel felt the excitement in him as he stared at the location the mothership indicated. (Did you hear, Leader? The rumors regarding the “Nahel Argama” of Team 4?) the communicator rang, and Daryl spoke as they were exactly 100,000km away from Earth behind them.

“You’re talking about the ship that went missing after carrying out the secret mission of the Senate Council?”

(Yeah, the “Carrot” crew said that they saw it before the attack on Torrington, before we arrived there.)

Nigel felt a chill down his spine, and once he confirmed that this was simply a lone channel with Daryl’s unit, “Oh”, he answered while pretending not to care about it. (It seemed that they activated the Ballute, and the angle’s extremely acute if they were planning to enter Earth.) Upon hearing the rest of Daryl’s words, Nigel felt the chill on his spine intensify.

(It’s the same time as when that disguised merchant ship entered space. I don’t feel this way, but Captain Bright’s attitude has been weird…)

“Yeah, it doesn’t feel like he wants us to chase after them.”

Now that I think of it, it seems that the slow response during the Torrington raid was deliberate. Captain Bright would normally have us chase after the enemies even if our butts have to be spanked. (That Ensign Riddhe used to belong to the “Nahel Argama”, right?) Nigel kept his voice down.

(And if he has any beef with the pilot of the “Unicorn”, this so-called secret mission from the Senate Council…)

We can deduce it. The weird happenings that had been going on this month or so, from the Dakar incident to the Torrington attack incident all had the involvement of the “Unicorn” in it. It was a product of the UC plan—the crux of the Earth Federation Space Realignment plan, and though it was meant to destroy the Zeon myth of Newtypes, why would the entire army be up in arms for this? He felt the sweat on his back freeze, and remained silent for a moment, (We see it!) But Watt’s call caused his heart to jump suddenly.

(L 8 degrees above. I’m going first!)

The rocket flashes of the Base Jabber ferrying the “Jesta Cannon” lit once he said this, and the accelerating machine faded to the top left corner. However, it was moving rather fast as it had only Watts’ unit on it. (Oi, Watts!) Daryl yelled, but Nigel stopped Daryl, saying, “It’s okay, let him be.” He checked the source of light above the indicated location, and felt anxious that he did not detect this first, but he still activated his Base Jabber and chased after Watts’ machine.

“The “Jesta Cannon” range is longer. Let him delay them first.”

(But leader, he may start firing without telling the ship to stop first, you know?)

(GET OUT HERE, “UNICORN”! WE’LL SETTLE THE DEBT FROM BEFORE!) As Daryl expressed his concerned voice, Watts’ bellow was mixed in, and as he saw Watts’ unit charge right in, Nigel muttered to himself, “This doesn’t look good…”. Then, he let his Jesta leave the Base Jabber.

Daryl’s machine too left the Base Jabber, and the two machines got lighter as they followed Watts’ “Jesta”. The “Jegans” of the Tenenbaum squad leave their “Clogs”, got into battle formation, and started to accelerate; once Nigel saw that, he released a light signal, telling them that he was going to go first as he readied his beam rifle to fire any time soon. (We’re the Federation space fleet Londo Bell. “Garencieres”, please stop.) Daryl’s warning voice echoed, and Nigel looked at the image of the ship on the window that was enlarged to the maximum. There was no signs of slowing down as the “Garencieres” continued to accelerate as its engines, most probably modified illegally, continued to let out thrust.

It has the “Unicorn” on it, that monstrous white machine. Nigel saw the thruster flares that were almost buried within the starry lights, and was shocked that he could not feel any sense of pressure at all. (The “Carrot” is…!?) Suddenly, he heard a scream from the wireless communicator.

He opened the rear monitor window to check the location of the mothership. The sight of the “Carrot” was there, and he saw it surrounded by blueish-white fireballs, creating a blurry image that dyed everything white. A silhouette that seemed to belong to that of a mobile suit passed by in the foreground, and an explosion of light that appeared again covered the ship of the “Carrot”. (Leader!?) Daryl exclaimed, and Nigel let his machine do an emergency brake.

“Watts, return back! The mothership’s attacked!”

His mouth consciously moved as he felt the G-force forcing his eyeballs out. A raid? From where? These fragmented words vociferated in his mind. He did not have time to wait for Watts to answer as he turned the “Jesta” while going above the safety speed limit. (Where’s it coming from!?) (Is it the “Sleeves”?) he heard the messages through the wireless communicator as he accelerated the machine towards the “Carrot” deploying its anti-air fire.

The main cannons on the two flanks of the ship fired, and two beams cut through the space. An umpteenth fireball boomed after the pink mega-particle cannon shots were devoured by space, and in an instant, the enemy machine that were instantly lit moved to the belly of the ship. The body of the enemy unit’s frame moved in an arc, and the thruster unit on its back looked like a set of wings as it ostensibly soloed the “Carrot”. The bazooka in its hand continued to let out consecutive trails of flashes, and the physical ammunition that were fired let out trails of gas, hitting the tail of the ship directly. The engines at the back of the ship were engulfed by a large fireball, and the “Carrot” shattered in the midst of the flash.

The expanding fireballs immediately cooled, and the ship that was severed in half scattered in the gas clouds that remained. (The “Carrot”…!) A certain person’s cry entered Nigel’s overheated head, and he looked for the enemy machine that was hidden amongst the debris. It leapt onto a piece of rubble, changed its course at high speed, and spun the wings on its back at the “Tenenbaum”. The bright red color was captured by the enlarged window, CG corrected, and appeared in Nigel’s eyes.

“A red mobile suit…!? That’s…!”

The Second Coming of Char, Full Frontal of the “Sleeves”. The machine searched through the database, indicated the name of the machine “Sinanju”, and the mono-eyed enemy left the sensor while seemingly mocking them. It was still far away from Nigel, and he looked around, searching for the enemy machine that disappeared. The red machine continued to step upon the shrapnel of the “Carrot” that was scattered around, and accelerated towards the next pretty by moving in a zigzag manner without using its burners. It looked like a replay of the “Char shot down 5 ships” recorded in the war. He employed a blitzkrieg by using a “Zaku” to shoot down 5 ships—

The “Tenenbaum” started to create a net of anti-air fire, but the “Sinanju” dodged it easily, charged right at it, and fired its bazooka. I’m still not in range? Nigel resisted the urge to click his tongue as he turned his anxious stare at the fireballs that continued to ignite, only to be taken aback by another light that came from somewhere else.

“What…?”

The “Jegan” that was moving on his right side was devoured by the beams, and its ripped limbs were scattered everywhere. The beams then grazed by the feet, and Nigel hurriedly evaded. There’s still another enemy? He looked at the sensor that did not respond at all, looked around, and found a beam pass right behind him, hitting the Base Jabber that was following behind.

The Base Jabber engine was blown up, and the cockpit at the bow was blown apart. (Where’s it coming from!?) Watts yelled. The “Jesta Canon” fired a sweeping trail of shots at the enemy it could not see, but the beam attacks did not stop as the mega particles charged in from the back of the “Jesta Cannon”, while another beam came flying in from another direction, grazing Daryl’s machine. (How many are there!?) Daryl called out. Nigel turned the machine and got ready to raise covering fire, but the strong killing intent he felt behind him caused him to feel a chill.

He lost all control over himself as he spun the beam rifle around and squeezed the trigger. The fire raced through the darkness, lighting something, and Nigel widened his eyes as he saw that strange object. The mini-object that looked like a remote-controlled object with 3 claws surrounding the cannons. It looked like an eagle claw, and the thick cable from its tail was lit by the light of the beam before disappearing into the darkness.

“Funnels!? No, that’s the INCOM…!?”

This was different from the funnels that were guided by the wireless system, but a psycommu installation that was wired and controlled from afar. The control was certainly better than a wireless system, but because it was cabled, there was a limit to the number of weapons that could be used. This still was a weapon that could attack in all directions on its own. Nigel did not make the mistake of chasing after that wired cannon at that moment as he only thought about how to leave the surrounding killing intent, and moved the “Jegan” in a zigzag manner as he looked for the main unit controlling the cannons. The criss-crossing beams caught a second “Jegan”, causing the exploding machine to be engulfed in a hot ring of light. It appeared again, lighting the cabled INCOM, and the abnormally shaped mobile suit floating afar appeared in Nigel’s sights.

The purple machine had a mono-eyed head and streamlined limbs. It certainly was a mobile suit, but that abnormally large shoulders looked like petals as they covered the head with several layers or armor, causing the balance of the humanoid profile to resemble that a monster. The abnormally shaped machine had blooming metal petals, and it resembled a rose as the cables at its hands slid like vines while it freely controlled the 2 INCOMs freely. The “Stark Jegan” seemed to have detected this rose with a savage presence as it dodged the continuous volley of cannons and drew its beam saber. It used its beam saber, intending to cut the cable, and the missiles on its shoulders let out gas as two sets of missiles charged right at the purple enemy.

The rose-like machine shot out the high-output thrusters and flew through the vacuum at such a high speed that did not match its image at all. It accelerated towards the missiles, dodged elegantly. The missiles that were timed to explode in close proximity exploded, creating a flash. At that moment, it left the flash behind it, got down below, and the INCOMs attaced the “Stark Jegan”. The smooth cables wrapped the machine, and the 3 claws stabbed into the abdomen. The “Stark Jegan” twitched as it got caught, and once it raised its beam saber, the beams fired from point blank, shooting through the cockpit of the “Stark Jegan”.

The humanoid that was severed at the waist became a fireball. (This guy…!) Watts yelled out and let the “Jesta Cannon” charge forward as it fired the beam cannons and the Gatling cannons on its shoulders. Nigel saw the beams and the ammunition cut through vacuum towards the rose machine, “Leave it!” and growled as he slammed into Watts’ machine. The tussling machines flew aside, and the criss-crossed beams grazed by them at the last moment.

“Our priority is to defend the mothership. A formation!”

The roar went in the opposite direction of the spinal cord (Roger!), Daryl and Watts answered in unison. First, we have to regroup and lure the enemy away—though it doesn’t feel useful against the monster Psycommu weapon and the Second Coming of Char. Nigel suppressed his true thoughts as he turned his back against the pursuing beams, and let the “Jestas” accelerate.

Daryl’s “Jesta” and Watts “Jesta Cannon” followed, forming a V. The “Tenenbaum”, which was was beside the icy cold debris wreckage of the “Carrot”, was surrounded by numerous fireballs, and looked like it was about to be whiffed out in the wind.

Part 2

3 small flies escaped from the hands that were reached out to the maximum range of the psycommu weapons. They barely managed to dodge the mega-particle cannons fired from the INCOMs and escaped towards the mothership that became a fireball.

“Too slow. You’re not going to have any place to return to now!”

Angelo Sauper smirked as he watched the three new machines, the “Jestas” raise their beam rifles and fire missiles. Of course, this level of interference was not enough of a threat to Full Frontal’s “Sinanju”, as the red machine passed through the shots fired from the 3 units and shot an umpteenth bazooka shot into the Clop-class ship, lighting a new explosion upon the 3 machines. The scatter shrapnel struck like numerous blades, causing the 3 “Jestas” to scatter away, and at this moment, the “Sinanju” released a strike to collapse the Clop-class bridge.

A final flash appeared from the middle of the ship, and the Clop-class collapsed as it was devoured by the fireball. “You see!” Angelo shouted, stepped on the pedal to move the machine forward, and recalled back to the INCOMs on its hands. The INCOMs were reeled in back onto the hands by the wires, and the 3 claws were clasped. The high-output thrusters set up all over the machine let out flares, and the large YAMS-132 “Rozen Zulu” raced through space.

The moveable frame was based on the Zulu-type, but this “Rozen Zulu” had the Pyscommu system and Psycoframe built around the cockpit, and its mobility was something the “Geara Zulu” could not match. There was nothing Angelo could nitpick about the Psycommu installation as he could clearly feel the enemy intent of the 3 machines attacking the “Sinanju”, which dodged the fires from 3 directions, reloaded the bazooka magazine, and squeezed the trigger to fight back. When the second Clop-class cooled down suddenly after being sunk, a 380mm missile head charged forward, releasing a trail of smoke, and activated its proximity fuse. As it exploded, hundreds of metal balls scattered, hitting into the back of a “Jesta” that could was evading. The missile head’s power could not match the mega-particles travelling at sublight speed, but with the acceleration of the “Sinanju” propelling it, it was not to be underestimated. The “Jesta” looked like it would leave the battlefront like this, but it quickly spun around to fire the beam rifle, causing Angelo to feel a shudder. Once the other 2 units regrouped and fired, that “Jesta” pulled its beam saber and closed in on the “Sinanju” without hesitation.

The two machines’ beam blades clashed, and interfering flashes appeared. While the other two machines fired to corner the “Sinanju”, the machine with the beam saber struck over at it, and the grazing high-heat particles severed the muzzle of the bazooka. The “Sinanju” lost its balance, but it immediately gave up on the bazooka and drew the 2 beam axes on the inside of its shield and attached them. The sickle-shaped beams blades were at maximum output, and the beams that appeared on both ends showed itself in the form of a weapon inherited from ancient Japan—a Naginata.

“You made the Captain use the Naginata…!?”

1 against 3 was not the problem; that “Jesta” used perfect cooperation as a weapon to pressure Frontal. The “Sinanju” swung the beam naginata that was taller that itself with one hand to parry away the enemy’s slashes, and swung the blades at the other two machines that were offering covering fire. The beams blades spun quickly as they acted like a shield, deflecting the mega particles released by the Cannon-type machine. Angelo saw that it looked a little intimidated for a moment, but immediately fired grenades from it; in response, he activated the INCOMs from its hands. The hands of the “Rozen Zulu” shot out, and the claws filled with killing intent raced through space. The cables extending several kilometers reached out like a ferocious raptor as it barged into Frontal’s battlefield.

The INCOM cannons flashed out beams, and the grenade was shot through the hot particles, becoming a fireball. The “Sinanju” did not let go of this opportunity as it counterattacked, melting the left arm of the “Jesta” that was trying to parry. There was the calm will of faltering, fear, anger, and a calm will restraining these emotions, and the combined emotions from the 3 enemy machines raised through, forming a weak current in the perception, and Angelo felt a pressure pressing on his head, feeling incensed by it. If I can shoot down the source of that calm will, the guy bothering the Captain, the remaining two units are easy to deal with. Angelo dodged the missiles from the Cannon-type and locked its INCOMs at the “Jesta” that lost its left arm. However, (Angelo, there’s no need for you to interfere here.), a line caused him to return back to reality. (Go pursue the “Garencieres”. I’ll chase up immediately.)

The “Sinanju” let out this calm voice as charged at the lights of the explosion, flashing its mono-eye. Angelo realized that it was the grip of the INCOM manipulator ferrying this message through the contact loop, “Yes! Captain Full Frontal.” and hurriedly answered as he reeled in the cables. No, even if I don’t interfere, the Captain can control the situation. Angelo felt ashamed of himself for doubting his commander’s power, and the “Rozen Zulu” turned away to leave the battlefield without looking back.

The INCOMs that were reeled in caught up to the accelerating machine, and attached themselves onto its hands. It seemed that the “Garencieres” had already caught sight of it, but it showed no signs of slowing down. Angelo had no intention of viewing them as allies any longer as he remained in battle mode, letting the “Rozen Zulu” race over. This ship worked with the remnants on Earth without permission from headquarters, attacked a Federation base, and disappeared without any notification for 3 days. It had already taken back the “Unicorn” and “Mineva”, but did not interact with any friendly forces, but went right at “Luna Two”. One had to wonder, why?

He did not feel that Zinnerman would defect to the Federation, but he knew the new coordinates indicated by the “Unicorn”—where the “Laplace Box” was, and there was a chance that he would try to keep it for himself. Besides, he was an old Republic survivor edified by the Zabi family, an old-time who would worship Mineva Zabi like a goddess. They had to make him reconsider now if he wanted to get the “Box” and stir up the Zabi faction in Neo Zeon to take down Frontal. He spotted the “Garencieres” which he could see in clear view at this distance, and let out a final thrust. It was designed as a disguised merchant ship, but it could not escape this “Rozen Zulu”. “Suberoa Zinnerman, “Garencieres”! This is Lieutenant Angelo of the escort squad!” he yelled into the communicator as he aimed the reticule of the beam rifle at the triangular prism-shaped ship.

“Stop down. We’ve already dealt with the Federation pursuers. Answer immediately.”

There was silence, and the “Garencieres” did not let out a signal at all. “If you disobey, we’ll view this as an insurrection.” He said this and aimed the lock-on red reticule at it, but the ship with the “Libacorner Delivery” showed no signs of slowing down. Is that so? He valued Mineva so much that Angelo was incensed by his lack of respect for Frontal since a long time ago. “I’VE WARNED YOU!” Angelo hollered as he reached the right hand of the Rozen Zulu forward.

The INCOMs shot out, and the “Rozen Zulu” extended its 3 claws as it bit into the flank of the “Garencieres”. It then reeled in the INCOMs that broke through the deck like a scythe, and closed in on the ship. It stepped on the open-air deck with its high-heels and turned its left hand to the bow of the ship, while the other INCOM was shot out, gnashing at the armor beside the bridge. The frozen air rushed out from the hole, forming a white mist. Upon seeing this, “I’ll destroy this ship! Get out now if you’re there, “Unicorn”!” Angelo yelled.

“We know from our information that you’re taken in. If you want to resist us, get out! This “Rozen Zulu” is made to defeat you.”

The “Rozen Zulu” could not fulfil its real value fighting against the Federation mass-production units. It was built with the Psycoframe of the “Sinanju” spare parts and a unique Psycoframmu terminal on the back, and the machine was built with the intention of taking down the “Unicorn”. Angelo reeled in the right INCOM, let his hands attach, and latched the claws upon the ship that should have the white machine with it. The armor plates were ripped like paper, and the short-circuited sparks and crystallized air surged out. Even so, there was still no response from the “Garencieres”. Angelo felt that something was wrong, and then concluded that he was taken for a fool, “Are you ignoring me…!?” he yelled savaged as he expanded the claws jammed into the ship until its maximum size.

“How insolent can you be!?”

The face of that arrogant “Unicorn” pilot, Banagher Links appeared on the surface of the deck where the claws were stabbed into, and Angelo increased the output of the mega-particles to the maximum. The beams pierced through to the bottom, and the “Garencieres” body jerked violently. Angelo then kicked the deck, used the momentum to move the “Rozen Zulu” towards the bow, and looked into the bridge through the window.

The hatch was still opened, and the bridge was completely empty as it was not in battle mode. The Captain’s seat, navigation seat and steering seat were all empty, and there was only weak reflected light from the very monitors on the consoles. The steering plate was set at autopilot, and though it was moving, it did not look like it adjusted its path after being knocked off course by the cannons, and the alarm inside the ship was ringing through the contact loop.

Angelo could not believe his eyes for a moment. He thought that maybe the people in the ship had evacuated, and checked all corners of the bridge on the enlarged screen. With the noisy alarm ringing, there was a female digitalized voice that was ostensibly synthesized by the computer. That monotonous and unnerving voice was making a countdown. 5, 4, 3—

The hairs on his body stood as his limbs inadvertently moved on their own; he pulled the control sticks, stepped on the pedal, and the next second after the “Rozen Zulu” left the ship, an explosion occurred from within, blowing the windows of the ship to complete smithereens as the fireball shot out, ripping through the deck as it expanded. The body of the “Rozen Zulu” was knocked away as it got hit by the impact wave; Angelo’s head and helmet hit the safety cushion with a dull sound, and he spotted the sight of the “Garencieres” scattering from the corner of his eyes.

The continuous explosions caused the deck to expand like a tumor, and the triangular-prism ship looked like a string of grapes as it broke from within. The large fireball filled his sights, and the ship that was crushed into several thousand bits of shrapnel danced with the impact as several of them were embedded into the armor plates of the “Rozen Zulu”. The continuous impact noises shook Angelo by the heart and body, and he tried to control the “Rozen Zulu” and let it escape from the torrent of shrapnel. Once he checked the status of the machine through the condition monitor, he opened the helmet visor that had cracks on it. The beam scattered, and a pale gas remained in space as there was no sight of that unique-looking triangular-shaped ship. There were a few remaining shrapnel left of the “Garencieres”, but it had completely vanished.

“A decoy…”

He held onto the ball-shaped control grip as the voice came through his clenched teeth. They set up a self-destruct installation beforehand—no, it was most likely a system that would activate when it was attacked. Angelo’s mind could not think calmly about why they did this as he only felt a bitterness of shame. (Looks like we’ve been had) at this moment, a voice rang, and he turned around to see the red humanoid machine of the “Sinanju” approach from behind on the monitor panel that was full of noise.

“Captain…! What about those three machines!?”

(There’re always priorities. Are you hurt?)

The cold deliberate tone caused Angelo’s heart to jump. The Captain wants to check on my safety even if he had to let the enemy units escape, he suppressed the hot sensation that was rising in him, and wanted to turn the machine around as he said, “I’ll pursue them”; however, he was stopped by the hand of the “Sinanju”. (You’re still not used to the machine. There’s no need to force yourself.) Frontal’s voice rang as he stopped the “Rozen Zulu”.

“I’m really sorry. This machine uses your…the spare parts of the “Sinanju”, but I let it get wounded, Captain.”

(Don’t mind. The “Rozen Zulu” is at its most effective when fighting the “Unicorn”. Just get ready before that.)

“But if this is a decoy, he…”

If they were using the unmanned “Garencieres” as bait to hide their whereabouts, the chances of them being in another space region was very high. (So it looks like the report of them making contact with the Mock Wooden Horse is true.) Frontal said as the monoeye of the “Sinanju” looked towards Earth. Angelo saw the face of the mask on the face of the machine, and could not help but gulp.

(In that case, we have to consider that they went in the opposite direction, towards the Moon as we’re completely lured to “Luna Two”.)

“Did that Zinnerman fall into Federation’s hands?”

(Or he may be working with them. A human’s heart is hard to grasp after all.)

The “Sinanju” released the hand placed on the “Rozen Zulu” shoulder as it broke contact. Angelo thought that it was not really possible, but Frontal’s voice sounded like he was prepared for everything, and Angelo could only believe him as he followed the thruster unit that looked liks wings.

(Return back to the “Rewloola”. We’ll continue our pursuit after that.)

“Yes! …Can we catch up?”

If it were just as Frontal concluded, the Mock Wooden Horse—the “Nahel Argama” may have pulled quite a distance to the Moon. Even if they were to turn back immediately, it would take an entire day for the main fleet, with the “Rewloola” as the flagship, to pass by Earth and reach a position where they could see. Logically, it was impossible to catch up, but Frontal seemed rather leisurely by this. (I have a plan) Angelo frowned as he looked at the “Sinanju” moving before him.

(Let’s have our sponsor help out.)

Before Angelo could ask, the “Sinanju” lit its thruster unit and accelerate. It seemed that no one could ever catch up to the Red Comet, whether it was in thought or the capabilities of the machine…which is why there’s worth in chasing after it. Angelo was in a near-intoxicated comfort as he subconsciously followed the back of the “Sinanju”.

Part 3

(The “Garnecieres” sank.)

Captain Bright Noa’s voice came through the main screen, and upon hearing this, there were more than one sighs. After this one month of commotion, the ship that viewed as an enemy was defeated just like that—or rather, perhaps they could not accept how their hearts accepted the end of that ship so simply. “Is that so…” Otto Mitas let out air from his abdomen as he said. Liam Borrinea was standing beside her as she too sighed, folded her large arms, and stared at the Fleet Commander Bright on the screen.

Behind Liam were the new subordinates, the senior navigation officer, the engine operator in work clothes, and Mihiro Oiwakken with a tense look on her face. This originally show but a private communication for the Captain alone, but since they were at Londo Bell’s laser communicator relay satellite, this may be the last time they could contact Bright on Earth. Currently, they were completely isolated, and there was a need for all crew members to clearly understand the current situation, so he called in all the important crew onto the bridge. He actually wanted to let the entire ship’s crew hear it, but the bridge of the “Nahel Argama” was far constrained as compared to the ship, and it was impossible to fill in more than 400 people here. In fact, there was not much space left to remain in after putting in 21 of the important crew members.

(The “Carrot” and the “Tenenbaum” that went to investigate were sunk too, and it seems that they made contact with the Red Comet of the “Sleeves”. I suggested to the Senate Council not to scatter our forces, but…)

Bright took the 21 stares through the screen as he continued, his expression betraying some bitterness. After the attack of Torrington, he was stuck on the “Ra Cailum” that was still immobile, but he could be said to be in the state of being replaced. The Londo Bell fleet that was activated was drafted under the direct control of the Senate Council, and he could not identify their whereabouts; in this situation, this commander practically had his limbs sliced off. Otto considered how Bright felt losing the lives of his subordinates, but at the same time, he realized that he may be next tomorrow, “Did the decoy work?” and voiced his current concern. Bright wiped his face to remove his sadness, (You can consider this to be so.) and raised his voice as a commander again.

(The Neo Zeon fleet chased after the unmanned “Garencieres” and went towards “Luna Two”. Even if they are to turn back, it will take 3 days for them to catch up to you. The remaining problem is—)

“How…do we avoid the sights from the Federation army.)

Once he said it out, Otto again felt the heavy reality pressing upon his shoulders. He could not wait for any resupply or support like before, but from this point onwards, the “Nahel Argama” would have to avoid the Federation army and carry out this unorthodox mission alone—Birhgt glanced at Otto’s silent expression, immediately looked away, (That’s right, but I have a plan about this) and said with a flat tone.

(Due to the attack on Dakar and Torrington Base, the Senate Council is finally starting to take action. They feel that this show of Neo Zeon firepower is far beyond the scale of mere terrorist attacks and small insurgences, and are wondering if they should view this as a ‘war without declaration’.)

“In other words, they view it as a Third Neo Zeon War?)

(There’s such a view appearing, starting from Senator John Bauer. If we’re in a state of war, the Central Council will not be a closed room. In that sense, some of the hidden conspirators that were supporting some organizations can’t act on their own secretly.)

Bright said as his lips curled into a smile. John Bauer was one of the Defense Ministry Senators who led the charge in setting up Londo Bell. He often attended the meetings of the Settlement Issues Council, and had a deep relationship with Anaheim Electronics. Though Otto did not know how much Bauer knew about this, but if Bauer were to declare that this may be a state of war in this time, there would be no doubts that Bright was the one who offered this suggestion. If Bauer and company were acting, it meant that the media would take action. The world’s view will be focused on the Senate Council itself, whether it would be a parliamentary hearing or something else. With the Senate Council being transparent like glass, and the Vist Foundation and the Settlement Issues Council could not make drastic interference, and they could not secretly deal with the “Nahel Argama”.

But once everything was revealed, Bright’s actions of letting the “Garencieres” steal the “Unicorn” and arrange for the “Nahel Argama” to make contact with it would undoubtedly come back to bit him. “Understood, but are you sure you’re alright? Fleet Commander Bright?” Otto asked, and Bright shrugged,

(I used the Zeon remnants attack to snatch you back from the Senate Council. If it’s revealed, it’ll be a stripping of rank at best or the firing squad at worst.)

The commander of Londo Bell made a joke of himself, but nobody could laugh. Bright looked around at everyone, who remained silent, (Everything will have to depend on what you do now.) and continued heavily,

(You have to reach the coordinates indicated by the Laplace Program and get the “Box” before everyone else. Once we can confirm that the “Box” really exists, we can send out Londo Bell in the name of maintaining peace. If it really has the power as it says, we can use it as a negotiating tool to ensure our safety.)

“Yes. The estimated time of arrival is—)

“No, you don’t have to say it. It’s better for you and your crew to know, Captain Otto.)

Otto felt a chill upon hearing Bright’s interjection. Bright was already mentally prepared to be brought in for interrogation-like investigations, and chose this action. Otto reflected on the weight of the fate pressing down on him, and inadvertently clenched the grip of the Captain’s seat. (You may hate me; I understand that I’m going overboard for asking you to do this.) Bright seemed to have noticed this as his voice echoed through the air of the bridge.

(But we have no other ways of surviving on. I hope that everyone can work together with our new crew and get the “Laplace Box” before the Foundation and the Senate Council.)

Otto felt the added burden of the term ‘new crew’, “Yes” and said as he adjusted his position. Bright took a deep breath, If possible, I hope that I can be on your ship too. and for a moment, his eyes seemed to say this. (I’ll leave it to you, Captain Otto.) this line showed his respect for the people older than him.

(I believe that people are beings who get reconciliation through countless trials, and to all of you who managed to survive till now, I look forward to seeing your performance.)

“Are you saying this as the ex-commander of White Base that lived on its own through the One Year War?”

(Yeah.) Bright smiled, hinting that this would be the end of their conversation. He answered back the salute from Otto, and disappeared from the screen. A wordless heaviness descended upon the bridge, and Otto got up from the Captain’s seat in a near instinctive manner.

He could not let the silence continue and increase the uneasiness within everyone. As he took the stares from everyone, he did not take the time to take a deep breath, “Everyone, it’s just like what you heard”, and broke the heavy silence with this line.

“Based on the information we got from the “Unicorn”, we shall take action to ensure the “Laplace Box”. We’ll not be associated with the Senate Council any longer, and we may be judged to be insurgents if the Federation army finds us out.”

Everyone’s wordless face showed their inner anxiety and tension, and the 20 people in grey officer uniforms were looking back at the Captain. Otto clenched his fists that would tremble if he ever let go, and looked back at every single member in the eyes.

“Right now, the Senate Council has become a battlefield where the Vist Foundation and the Settlement Issues Council are fighting for authority. Since we’re involved with the “Box”, we may be buried in darkness no matter which side we lean towards. For us to live on in this situation, we can only take the initiative to take part in this treasure hunt that had been dragging us down. I won’t say anything cool like ‘prepare yourselves’. We have no need to die for this stupid reason, and so everyone, do not die. Remember, we shall fight on for survival, and our greatest resistance in this messy reality is to show everyone that we’re living.”

Everyone clasped their heels together and raised their hands to salute. Words alone could not salvage anything, and in this situation no one could accept nor give up, in this unreasonable situation—nothing can begin if we don’t look forward. Otto convinced himself as he returned the salute, and sat back on the Captain’s seat without look at anyone. “That’s all. Return to your positions, everyone.” Liam quipped, and everyone left the bridge in groups.

The 20 presences left, and the duty officers were left. With the rest gone, Otto could not help but notice Liam’s stare no matter what. Even if it’s a state of necessity, did I say too much of my honest thoughts? Otto suppressed the wavering in his heart as he looked up at Liam, “Captain.” Who called out. “Is there a problem?”, he asked back, and Liam walked towards the side of the Captain seat with her patented poker face.

“I’ve fallen for you.”

Once she whispered beside Otto’s ears, she showed a smile that could hardly be considered one. “I’m desperate here too.” Otto whispered back; Liam nodded, seemingly agreeing, and left the ship with a relaxed expression on his face. Otto looked around, saw that no one saw this, and sighed as he fixed his stare upon the window in front of him. He patted his face that was still blushing red even at his age, and looked at the space in the direction of the Moon.

Their current location from Earth was approximately 200,000km. There were no signs of any ships crossing by, just a blank large space covering the “Nahel Argama”. They avoided the military’s major patrol regions and flew by relying on inertia for 3 days—the coordinates given by the Laplace Program was still 100,000km away.

Part 4

There was noise on the binary file scrolling down the display board, and it blackout suddenly. Several seconds later, the screen reverted, and once it was reinstalled with the Psycommu system, the work was done in 10 minutes or so.

“This should be alright. I never thought that such a small chip can transfer the psycommu waves out…”

Aaron Terzieff, who was working behind the linear seat, said as he handed the chip over with his fingers. Banagher Links received this chip that was no bigger than a thumb head, looked at it, and then turned his eyes to the cockpit hatch in front of him as he handed the chip over to the bearded face of Suberoa Zinnerman looking in from the opened hatch. Zinnerman pinched the chip with his thick fingers to his eyes, but those eyes seemed to be looking afar.

He seemed to be showing the bitterness of betraying his ideals, as his eyes gave a cloudy expression, not knowing where he was, and being unable to grasp situation. As Banagher looked into those eyes, “Is that the Psyco Monitor?” a clear voice rang from aside. “Yeah.” Zinnerman answered as he turned his head away. The fatigue disappeared from his face, and his expression regained its usual sharp glint. He was looking at Audrey Burne, wearing a Federation army flight jacket.

“More correctly, that’s the transmitter. I heard that it’s a kind of process embedded inside the “Unicorn” Psycommu. Since technician Aaron has already cleared through the system, I suppose there’s nothing to worry.”

Audrey wordlessly brought her face to the chip she received, and tilted her head to ponder. Once he handed the chip over, Zinnerman turned a sharp stare through the inside of the cockpit. Aaron, who was inside, seemed to be afraid as he averted his stare, probably because he saw the beast Zinnerman was raising within him. This Anaheim technician got into an unexpected incident that changed his life all because he took part in the development of the “Unicorn”, and he obviously could not catch up to the quick changes during the past three days. Banagher left Aaron behind the linear seat as he left the cockpit of the “Unicorn”. The “Unicorn” was at a corner of the “Nahel Argama” deck; Zinnerman, Audrey, and Lieutenant Commander Conroy Haagensen were standing at the gondola right in front of the “Unicorn” cockpit. Conroy bent his hulking figure that was no slouch as compared to Zinnerman, received the chip from Audrey, and looked amazed and suspicious.

The Psycommu transmitter—the Psyco monitor was secretly installed on the “Unicorn” when it was held captive by Neo Zeon. Whenever the NT-D activated, it would receive the shown information and send it outside. If Zinnerman had not said about it, even Banagher would not have found out, and the latter again looked at this transmitter chip. “In this case, we won’t have to worry about the Laplace Program” being eavesdropped on, right? Conroy said as he gave an affirming look. “This should be the case.” Zinnerman answered bluntly.

“Speaking of which, there’s no need to worry about being eavesdropped on if the next target is the final destination.”

This somewhat teasing tone caused the ECOAS member behind Conroy to tense up. Both he, who had the handgun on his waist, and Conroy, who took over Daguza as the commander of ECOAS, could not let down their guard against Zinnerman and his “Garencieres” crew. Banagher saw Zinnerman’s expression sharpen, met Audrey’s somewhat uncomfortable look for a moment, and interrupted both of them, “The latest information…the Neo Zeon fleet hasn’t received any information on the coordinates the “Nahel Argama” is headed to, right?” Both Zinnerman and Conroy turned their heads, making sure their eyes would not meet each other.

“I just said that the next coordinates were in space, that’s all. I don’t know whether this will be the last time, but it should be fine if the Psyco Monitor is removed. We’ll reach the “Laplace Box” before the pursuers find us.”

“Is this a Newtype’s instinct?”

Conroy, with his arms folded in front, asked. Eh? Banagher blinked his eyes as he was unsure of what was going on. “We’ll feel better if you say yes.” He said as he turned his wry face at Banagher.

“Anyone who heard of your exploits on Earth will wonder how you are possibly an inexperienced student. Unordinary people have their missions. Even if you don’t have any self-belief, you got to act like you have one, you have a duty to calm the people around you.”

It was a half-joking line, but to Banagher, whose heart had sank so much ever since he went down to Earth, these were heavy words. He shook off the term ‘Cyber-Newtype’ from his mind, looked at Audrey, saw her emerald eyes that had taken countless burdens, felt the lump he could not share with her in his heart, and looked at the torso of the “Unicorn” with its cockpit cover opened. The giant with the lone horn let out a pure white glow after the dust of Earth was washed off it, and did not respond to its only pilot as it looked at the opposite wall with its emotionless face, covered by a face mask.

He looked down, and saw several mechanics surrounding the “Unicorn” mechanical manipulators, and behind them, he could see a large hand with 5 fingers. The armor was opened, showing the Psycoframe within it, and it looked like a human hand shed off its skin. “Mr Gibney!” Banagher felt a little chill as he shouted out at those mechanics.

“How is it? Is the frame defective?”

“Not at all! The armor’s all messed up, but the Psycoframe inside doesn’t have a scratch. It’s the same no matter how many times I checked.”

The mechanic officer Jonas Gibney shouted back as he checked the Psycoframe with the inspection tools. Upon hearing this expected answer, Banagher’s grip on the handrail got strong. (What’s going on?) Conroy asked as he looked at him.

“I’m not the only abnormal one; This “Unicorn” is too. It can actually pull the “Garencieres” by itself. Won’t the arms of any ordinary mobile suit snap?”

The shredded armor on the manipulators were the scars left from back then, the consequence of grabbing the tether wire released by the “Nahel Argama” and pulling up the “Garencieres”, which resulted in friction on the hands and melting due to overload. However—

“But the Psycoframe took no damage at all. When I was fighting against Miss Marida’s Unit 02, our Psycoframes resonated and destroyed the “Garuda”…Mr Aaron, you took part in the develop of the “Unicorn” too, right? What exactly is the Psycoframe? I heard that it’s a metal that reflects the will of the pilot, but that’s not all, right?”

Everyone suddenly turned around to look at Aaron as he appeared from the cockpit, and he felt bothered as he tried to hide away. “I did see a phenomenon that surpasses the ideas of physics…” Aaron spoke up, but another stiff voice interrupted him. “Talk later.” It was Conroy, and Banagher was surprised by his unnatural attitude, but gulped slightly as he saw Conroy’s stare that was right at Zinnerman’s group.

This was not merely the level of being wary, but an expression that clearly showed hostility. To Conroy, Zinnerman and company were still Neo Zeon soldiers, the ones who killed his commanding officer and subordinate. This isn’t it now, Banagher wanted to speak up, but he could not as he could only look down at the floor. “I want to hear it too.” However, a voice caused him to raise his head.

It was Captain Otto. He stepped onto the catwalk along the wall as he floated over to them, and he hooked his feet off the railing of the gondola before landing perfectly. He did not respond to Banagher’s stare or Conroy’s attempt to refute as he passed by in front of them. “Before that, there’s something I want to report to you, Captain.” He said as he stopped in front of Zinnerman.

“The “Garencieres” sank, right after it lured away the pursuers, as we planned.”

Zinnerman’s eyebrows twitched, and Audrey’s expression clearly changed as she muttered, “So the “Garencieres”…”. Perhaps to her, that was the ship that supported her long life as a fugitive, the ship that was like a home. As Banagher tried to recall the appearance of that ship that once went through life and death with him, “…Is that so.” Zinnerman muttered, his voice entering Banagher’s heart.

“As someone of the same position, I can understand the pain of you losing your ship. It’s because we requested of you to offer the “Garencieres” that we can safely continue on, Captain. Allow me to thank you here.”

After saying this, Otto reached his hand to Zinnerman, who hesitated before clasping the hand as he answered, “I don’t dare to”. The difference in affiliation was not an issue as they both knew the burden of their responsibility; the etiquette between them became a form of warmth Banagher felt in his chest, suffocating him. Haste would not get the job done, and they were making the first step. Everyone will soon certainly get along. He thought as he turned his inadvertently smiling face at Audrey, but the latter’s face was a little gloomy as she looked at Zinnerman’s expression. Once she noticed Banagher’s stare, her emerald eyes looked down weakly.

After that, she did not lift her head again, but stared at a certain spot as if she was cornered. Banagher frowned and turned to Captain Otto, “Then, Mr Aaron, can you please continue?” Otto said this, but Conroy spoke up, “Captain…” seemingly wanting to stop him.

“Lieutenant Commander Conroy, I understand your feelings, but I think this “Nahel Argama” has no line between Federation and Neo Zeon anymore. We have to let everyone know all we need to know for everyone to live on.”

Conroy was overwhelmed by this forceful tone he normally would not hear, and swallowed his refute. Everyone, with Otto leading the charge, turned towards Aaron, and Banagher turned to look at him too. Aaron lowered his head, seemingly wanting to talk, but stopped as he clasped his hands in front of his chest tightly. After a short moment of silence, “Alright.” He seemed to have made up his mind as he said this.

“The Psycoframe is beyond my expertise, but as I’m in charge of the armor materials department, I did hear some things regarding it. Please lend me a room with a monitor; there’s something I want to show everyone.”

Part 5

The large 150 inch monitor showed a small object similar to an asteroid breaking in half, creating a solemn sight of a large amount of fragments breaking. The visual was rather crude, probably due to the many reproductions, but they could still see a nuclear pulse engine nozzle built into the corner of the Asteroid and countless artificial objects built on the wall. The Earth was in the backdrop of the small asteroid, and as they had just witnessed its cerulean beforehand, it looked extremely refreshing now.

“This is the space fortress “Axis”, and it used to be a base for Neo Zeon. During the Second Neo Zeon war, Field Marshall Char wanted to throw this “Axis” down to Earth to trigger what is commonly called a “Nuclear Winter”, where the impact from the drop will create a large amount of dust that covers the atmosphere, cooling Earth down.”

Aaron operated on the notepad terminal connected to the screen as he stood on the podium to explain. These images seemed to be part of his personal collection, something he requested of his good friend, contents of personal collection. Audrey, Zinnerman, Otto and company were seated on the chairs full of people, while Banagher was attracted by the paranormal scene on the screen. Liam and Flaste Schole were also in this briefing room for pilot use, and the main members of the two ships were here.

“His aim is to make sure that Earth becomes an uninhabitable planet and force all Earthnoids into space, but was stopped by Londo Bell. The official report was that the “Axis” that was falling was broken from within, split in half, and the impact of the explosion caused them to deviate off course…”

The screen was filled with the blue Earth, and “Axis”, which broke in half, let out a light from one side. It was unknown if this light was that of an explosion as a luminous rainbow flash covered the large rock, leaving behind a strange impressionable light on the screen.

“In fact, the impact of a break caused one of the pieces to accelerate and fall into Earth’s orbit, so it seemed that there was no way of stopping it. But just when it was about to reach the atmosphere, “Axis” was surrounded by an inexplicable light, as you can see. And then, it left the Earth’s gravity zone while seemingly being pushed aside by this light.

This luminous light veil that had light green, red, blue and yellow in it could only be described as colourful as it swayed about. This rock that was several kilometres in diameter was wrapped in mesmerizing light as it moved slowly out of the screen. “This light’s just like that time…” Banagher spoke lightly as he sensed the surrounding anxiousness. The “Unicorn Gundam” Psycoframe let out a rainbow light as it took the weight of the “Garencieres” with its entire body. “This is called a Psycho field.” Once the commotion subsided, Aaron continued,

“During the prevention of the drop, there were mobile suits with Psycoframes fighting against each other. They were the Federation’s RX-94 and the Neo Zeon MSN-04. Both machines were lost, so the details are unspecified, but this Psycho field that changed the course of “Axis” was thought to be the result of the two machines’ Psycoframes resonating, something born out of coincidence.”

“Axis Shock…”

Audrey spoke up, and everyone looked at her. “Martha Carbine of the Vist Foundation said this.” She continued as her face ostensibly reflected the light on the screen.

“It’s a physical energy that results from the resonance of the Psycoframes and the overload of the Psycowaves. The field of light created from the two “Unicorns” is the result of this.”

“That’s correct. There’s no other way to explain this phenomenon. In other words, we can only make this level of hypothesis.”

A ring of Saturn seemed to surround the light surrounding Earth as it extended beyond the trajectory, and the image suddenly stopped. The light was lit up, and the white light shone upon everyone’s stiff expressions. Aaron took a sip from the drinking straw and continued to explain,

“At first, the Psycoframe was developed to strengthen the psycowaves. These Psycowaves range were originally limited to around the pilot, but when different machines interact with each other, they may use the pilots as a medium to expand the range to the maximum. In this situation, the theory is that the consciousness of all the people in the field can be taken in…and some researchers tried to describe the Psycho field preventing the “Axis” drop as a collection of the thoughts of billions of humans. The united consciousness of humanity did not want Earth to be destroyed, and became a physical energy through the Psycoframe.”

Aaron lost more confidence as he spoke, and a few people were laughing awkwardly. “It’s practically a fantasy.” Zinnerman muttered as his chair let out a sound. “I feel this way too.” Aaron shrugged as he said.

“But there’s one thing certain. This incident involving “Axis” caused a huge ‘impact’ upon the military. There was no reason, no theory, but the metals used to form the spare parts of mobile suits could exert enough power to move stars.”

The air in the room that was about to warm up suddenly cooled down, and the smile disappeared from Zinnerman’s side face. “I see. This commotion is not something a nuclear weapon can raise.” Otto folded his arms again as he said grimly.

“Yes, the “Unicorn” power output increased drastically, and we can deduce that it is the result of the Psycho Field working upon the machine itself. If we can understand how to control it, it’ll become a powerful weapon humanity had never seen in its history. The military will research on it under extreme secrecy, and the experimental machine that was stolen by Neo Zeon…the “Sinanju”, was for this purpose. Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be much progress in this research. The only thing is that the relevant data obtained from the testing on the “Sinanju” was used on the UC plan.”

And the “Unicorn” was born as a result. Once he understood this, Banagher realized that he was riding on something extremely incredible, and his shoulders shuddered. “Something that can’t exist…” Liam narrowed her eyes as she muttered.

“Maybe. Some call them the Orichalcum of the Universal Century, but I would find it more appropriate to call them OO Parts. They’re like the things that looked like lightbulbs on the murals of ancient Egypt, technological things that should happen at that time, and couldn’t possibly happen. Those are things that scared future humanity 10,000 years later when they were dug up…”

Aaron pulled the long explanation to a close, ostensibly trying to hide his own embarrassment. There was a shroud of silence that descended upon the heavy atmosphere of the briefing room, not even the point of half-doubting. Banagher continued to look at the pitch black scene and reflected on that line he agreed with, “It’s something that can’t exist.” But at the same time, he imagined the aurora lights that covered Earth on the screen, and was mesmerized by it as it remained in his eyes.

It was a light that encompassed the wills of countless billion of people, and could push the stars. If this was a creation of a coincidence brought by the Psycoframes, there would be no mystery in it. The actual fact is that miracles were created by man too, and that light’s pretty too. Banagher thought. The light created when it resonated with Marida’s “Banshee” was terrifying, but the lift covering the “Garencieres” felt beautiful and warm. That warmth could gather the wills of the people present, and pass the warmth on the skin. In the harsh environment of space, the senses of the people, spread afar, meet with each other and resonate. This power formed the light, shaking the celestial bodies, and saved Earth as a result. There was no difference of Spacenoids or Earthnoids, Zeon or Federation, and there seemed to be a need to use a heart, isolated by space, to fill this wide space—

“…This can be one of the possibilities too.”

He mumbled subconsciously as he let out these words, causing a wordless silence. With everyone looking at him, “Isn’t this right?” Banagher stood and continued.

“I heard that the Psycommu was originally developed for Newtypes to use. Since the Psycoframe is an extention of this system, and it can accept the consciousness of humanity without limit, can everyone resonate with each other like Newtypes? At least there’s a possibility—”

“This is too far of a stretch.”

Flaste interrupted as he glanced aside at Banagher. “I don’t know how it’s like in the middle of the cockpit, but the people surrounding it did not have such self-awareness. In fact, humanity did not change after the “Axis Shock”. Earthnoids continued to pollute Earth, and the Federation army continued to be the dogs.”

These words were obviously full of spite, causing Liam, Conroy and the rest to glare over. “That’s more of a reason to give them this message, no?”

“Newtypes don’t have the specs of humans, or rather, I think it’s something like hope. As long as we consider that humanity still has such possibilities, there’s no need to keep watching us sink into despair, right? If the Psycoframe was created out of coincidence, it’s definitely built to from the wills of the people chasing these possibilities. As long as we keep viewing the current situation as reality, there’s no meaning in living on. Humanity should keep chasing possibilities to enter and exit space like this…”

I’m not being clear in my explanation here— he thought as he fumbled with his words, and the passion in his heart got drenched. At this moment, “This is a religion now.” A certain voice rang, causing a few people to let out awkward laughs. “It’s possible to understand if it’s a story…” “Once we’re older, such topics are…” some people continued, and Otto looked away disinterestedly, while Zinnerman exhaled and lowered his head. We feel an invisible thing together, even if it’s vague, and before we can confirm it with words, we’ll break away from the true nature of it, and understand our hearts that are opened to each other. “This isn’t it…!” Banagher felt extremely restless as he raised his empty voice, but a voice interrupted, “I agree with Banagher.” Causing him to hold his breath.

“They fed it, not with grain nor chaff, but fortified and nourished it solely with the notion that it might yet come to pass…this was one of the verses of the poem exalting Unicorns written by one of the old poets. It’s a being that’s born of trust and raised, and this might be what Banagher is saying by the possibility of humanity.”

Audrey’s slender body stood up as she gave him a little smile. Banagher however was at a momentous loss of words as he looked back at her face in a half blank manner.

“Humanity can change, and it has a soft heart that can take this change. If not for this, I won’t have a chance to talk with everyone like this. We were still opposing camps trying to kill each other not too long ago.”

These stimulating words caused everyone present to feel uncomfortable and look away from Audrey. “And we can end up like this due to the efforts from everyone.” Audrey said as she looked around at the members of both the Federation and Neo Zeon.

“I won’t say that we can control the Psycoframe if we can use this power properly…this thinking will only degrade this into a talk about efficiency. However, we can get along. As long as we don’t forget this and foster our relationships, I suppose the “Unicorn Gundam” will use its Psycoframe…the power of people chasing possibilities to protect us.”

Audrey’s words ended off with a prayer, and she went quiet. Everyone recalled the words that were echoing in their minds, digested on it, and the silence in this quiet room intensified. Banagher too was no exception. Mineva was the Princess that inherited the name of the Zabi family, a name that was unrelated to him, and this girl’s clear words shook his heart deeply. As he felt proud by her adamant position, he felt the lump of weight in his heart become heavier.

If this machine has such power, its existence will signify the gathering of the people here, and don’t I have no right to pilot this “Unicorn” now? I need to know what kind of person this me who fought till now is. This thought slowly floated up from the bottom of this silence.

Part 6

The scene caused him to have a sense of déjà vu. There was the regular ringing of the ECG and the antiseptic smell that was stronger than the infirmary linked to it. The drip used for low gravity use continued to let its transparent liquid flow, transporting the minimum amount of nutrients through the tube into the left arm attached. The oxygen mask was removed, but Marida Cruz still showed no signs of recovering. Her bandaged body laid down upon the bed, and her face was peeled slightly due to the burns as it faced the white ceiling.

This intensive care room was no different from the time when he was sent here, except that there was a flower placed on the table beside the pillow. Banagher looked at this radiant Yellow Carnation, and found that it was not artificial; if it was not kept within the freeze-dry supplies on the ship, someone would have raised it secretly. “Ensign Mihiro brought it over.” Doctor Hasan continued to focus on writing the medical records as he said without looking up.

“Miss Mihiro…”

Banagher thought of the stiff expression Ensign Mihiro showed when she insisted on strapping Marida in the straitjacket. “So Ensign Riddhe is still alive.” Hasan did not stop writing as he said emotionlessly.

“But even so, we can’t do anything. Everyone’s trying to accept this reality bit by this.”

After that, he gave Banagher a profound look, and joked, “Are Newtypes infectious?” Banagher felt his expression tense up, “How’s she?” he asked as he looked away.

“There are some burn wounds, and her external injuries are severe. I’ve done all I can, but it’ll take some time for her to recover. She’s a Cyber-Newtype, but she’s not superhuman after all.”

“Then…what about her inner heart?”

Banagher could not find any other ways to express himself as he spoke with a vague tone. Ple Twelve forgot her name as Marida and went mad as an embodiment of destruction; it was impossible to tell which state she was when she was asleep. “That’s beyond my expertise, and I can’t specify clearly here.” Hasan frowned as he answered.

“According to what Captain Zinnerman said, everything was normal before she lost consciousness…but with her current situation, it’s a very subjective thing to tell whether she’s normal or not. One can consider that she may be suppressing her inner self, and the readjustments showed her broken wish. She probably doesn’t know which state she’s in now.”

Her master’s hope is her hope, her master’s enemy is someone she has to battle— she knew that she could only maintain her state of mind, and she thought that it would be right if she were to keep her relationship of reliance with Zinnerman. She laid a curse upon herself, and Banagher used these words upon himself as he clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and lifted his head.

He came to the infirmary after leaving the briefing room, not just to visit Marida. “She’s not the only one. Everyone has their own doubts.” Hasan intended to turn away and leave as he said, “Doctor”, but Banagher called him with realization in his mind, and said the following words,

“Can humans erase their own memories on their own?”

“Well…if there’s a severe psychological trauma, this self-defense mechanism will kick in. It may be a subconscious suppression of memories.”

“Then, is it possible to be dominated by the memories that should have disappeared, and make us lose ourselves?”

He felt that he was squeezing out this voice that made Hasan frown in surprise. The unknown memories throbbing between his temples became one with him, a foreign language that could not be distinguished—“I want you to do a checkup on me.” Banagher said to Hasan as he looked at the latter in the eyes.

“I want to see if I’m like a Cyber-Newtype, if my memories were manipulated, whether I have a modified body.”

“What is it, out of a sudden…”

“I want to be sure whether the one speaking here is the real me. Is it possible that someone designed me to fight on like a Newtype?”

He could hear Alberto’s ominous voice, and Marida’s murmuring, Perhaps you’re the same kind as me. No matter the truth however, he could not look away. If the Psycommu could gather the consciousness of humanity, if the “Unicorn” could convert it into power, there would be a need to be clear about the soul at the core of it. If the soul was restrained by other people’s thoughts, it would not be able to face the “Unicorn”. Hasan was shaken by the pressure as he backtracked, and Banagher pressed on, grabbing him by the torso of his white cloak. “You’ve already done a test to determine Cyber-Newtypes, right? Do it again—” he spoke, but was interrupted by another voice, “You’re yourself.” And this shocked BAnagher.

“Even if you’re controlled by someone else, what you’ve done up till now won’t be hidden, and your existence won’t be denied. Isn’t this good enough?”

The curtain was pulled aside slightly, and the man got up from the bed beside him, showing a sharp expression. Banagher looked back at the fierce-looking bald man, and before he could understand what the latter was saying, Hasan hurried to him, saying, “Mr Gael, you’re on a drip, but I never permitted you to leave the bed.” Banagher looked at this tall man in pajamas, and those there were other members who were in treatment, Banagher never paid much attention to them. The man did not look away as he refused Hasan’s kind intention to lift him up. “I’m Gael Chan.” He reached his burly hand out as he said this.

“I’m really sorry for not greeting you formally. I’m being watched tightly by the doctor after all.”

Banagher was attracted by the gentle expression, and he too reached his hand out. It was a hard yet warm hand, and Banagher felt that he heard this voice before…after searching through his memories, he remembered the words he heard through the contact loop, and this shocked him as he looked at the man. This was the voice he heard when he clashed blades with an attacking enemy while investigating the remains of the Prime Minister residence “Laplace”. (You have to find the real identity of the “Box” and find a better way to use it.) (You must continue to live on and carry on the will of your father)—

“That time…!”

Banagher had forgotten all about it, and Gael, upon seeing the former retract his hand and backtracked, “That was rude of me at that time.” Gael lowered his head politely as he said this.

“I tried to take revenge for my master and got onto this ship with the help of Zinnerman…but as you can see, I’m still in a lackluster position here.”

“You…know my father?”

After he asked instinctively, Banagher shut up upon noticing Hasan’s presence. The latter looked at both parties with probing eyes, tapped himself on the shoulder with the records, “Don’t talk for too long.” He said as he turned away, wanting to leave, but before the white cloak left through the partition of the curtain, a clear voice rang, “No, doctor, please stay.” Banagher turned to look at Gael’s face doubtfully.

“Now that things ended up like this, there’s a need for the people on this ship to know the truth…is it alright?”

The last words were directed at Banagher, a request for him to be prepared. However, Banagher did not have any objective, as he wanted to be certain of everything because he felt that his body was not meant to serve himself only. His back was facing Hasan, who stopped and turned back to look, and nodded. “You’re truly alike.” Gael’s expression showed a gentle expression as his lips showed a smile, saying.

“The man who’s worthy of being entrusted with the “Box”…the bluebird the Vist Family searched for a long time. To think that it was amongst their own relatives.”

His black eyes were shaking as he harbored the relief no external party would know of. Banagher held his breath as he faced this bald Gael who knew the truth.

Part 7

After moving through the stationary satellite, he could recognize the gravity acting upon his machine. As he let gravity pull him down, he continued with the 4 hours of inertial flight, and spotted, the destination ship.

“It’s huge…”

Nigel said subconsciously as he looked at the ship that was on the largest telescopic visual. As there was no interference of air, it was hard to grasp the concept of distance in vacuum, but they could imagine the scale of the opening to the dock and the mobile suit launch exit. He could tell that this was beyond the ordinary specifications from the mysterious shape shown with Earth as the background. (Is that the new flagship for the Earth orbital fleet?) (There’s no way the “Ra Cailum” can compare to that.) upon hearing the voices from Watts and Daryl, Nigel stepped on the pedal light. The “Jesta”, which lost an arm, used up its remaining thruster flare, accelerated a little, brightening the details of the large ship on the window.

It was the Dogosse Giar-class battleship “General Revil”, with a length of more than 600m and a maximum width of 20m; it could be considered the largest battleship in the history of the Federation space fleet. The hull with constructed with a giant elevated bridge and 4 modules, each functioning as a mobile suit dock. On first glance, it looked like a double-ship, but the connected blocks of the ship were shocking large, to a point where one could not find the weakness of a join. The mega-particle cannons were scattered like a hill of swords, and it looked like a lumbering shadow, like a human sitting with its legs stretched from afar. However, that leg itself had the mass of a Salamis-class, which made this Dogosse Giar-class a frightening large figure.

The ship could contain 4 fleets of mobile suits, and there were more than 1,500 active personnel. After the war, there were plans to build 4 of this Dogosse Giar-class, ostensibly the embodiment of massive firepower on a ship, but the remaining constructions were suspended when the first ship under the same name was sunk. One of the reasons, as pointed out, was that even if they were to consider the current need to assemble as many mobile suit fighting forces as possible, it would be extremely dangerous to over-concentrate their fighting strength in one ship. Another reason was that the current military objective was counter-terrorism, and people felt that a large ship had no chance of deploying. However, there was another thought that went against the grain of effectiveness, ‘symbolism’, ‘might’; this allowed the Dogosse Giar-class to see the light of day again. As part of the Universal Century 0100 plan, the Zeon Republic would dissolve, and the space army would be realigned—and in the rebuild of the Earth’ orbital fleet, this Dogosse Giar-class ship was deemed the most suitable ship to be the flagship of the fleet.

Thus, the second ship “General Revil” underwent construction, and after 2 years, it was in the official testing stage. It had not entered space formally, and the ship’s loading was incomplete, but the bridge construct which resembled a city brought about a pressure beyond words. The Nigel, who was piloting the “Jesta” that looked like a resident of Lilliput in comparison, closed his relative distance to that of the “General Revil”, while Daryl, Watts, and the remainin survivors of the Tenenbaum fleet followed behind on the base jabbers. The landing deck received the group that had not eaten for a day as they flew with the scars of battle, its indication lights lit up to form a glowing path.

(The ship’s 80% fitted, right?)

Daryl let out a probing voice as he looked at the opening between the command zones. It seemed that as they were finally relieved to be able to land safely, Daryl was not happy by how this ship seemed to be bluffing about its might. Nigel turned his guide beacon over and said,

“I heard that the Vist Foundation sponsored it and pulled it out of official testing. I guess the spare supplies of the “Jestas” are here too…”

After losing their motherships, Londo Bell commanded its subordinates to meet up with the “General Revil”, and that was the only thing they were told. It seemed that the Vist Foundation changed the flagship through the Senate Council in their quest to get back the “Unicorn”. It was impossible for the Londo Bell members, on the outside ranks, to get along nicely with the mainstream Earth orbital fleet, but even without this point, this trip did not look like it was going to be easy. Nigel sighed as he looked at his unit that had its left arm severed by the enemy machine. He hoped to at least repair it, and muttered to himself in his heavy heart. I’m going to take revenge on that machine that showed me the fear of death for the first time, that Red Comet—

(Whatever, I just want to get a good rest.)

Watts’ muttering echoed through the wireless communicator, blowing aside the bitterness in his heart. He shook his head and looked at the “Jesta Cannon” following behind him.

(I don’t want to be a homeless kid now. Ever since we got tangled with that “Unicorn”, we hardly—)

Suddenly, an approaching alarm rang, interrupting the words from before. Nigel instinctively grabbed onto the control stick, got his beam rifle into firing mode, and looked at the thruster light approaching from behind. It got larger and larger as he looked on, and once it showed itself to be a humanoid mobile suit, joined their ranks moving in the same trajectory. (What the!?) Watts’ voice was overpowered by the machine, letting out a trail of thruster lights as they flew by above Nigel, and there was a storm-like thruster pressure rained down upon the 3 “Jestas”.

The black machine ignored its allied that broke ranks as it hurriedly stopped, and flew to their path. Nigel was the first to reposition himself, and gasped as he saw that machine descend towards the ship deck. This black machine that was one with space had an inorganic-looking face covered by a facemask. However, the golden crown was of stark contrast to the machine that was not decorated in any ways, and brought about an ominous impression—

“The “Banshee”…!?”

The “Banshee” turned its head over, ostensibly in response to the call, and showed the light from the gaps of the eyes. (Are you kidding me…!?) (Wasn’t it sunk together with the “Garuda”!?) Watts and Daryl called out respectively, and Nigel looked at the “Banshee”, which showed its agility the “Jestas” could not match, lighting its thrusters little by little as it landed onto the deck. There was a familiar presence that suddenly shot out from the back. It’s someone I know, this instinct flashed through his mind.

It’s the Cyber-Newtype I went past in the “Ra Cailum”…no, It’s more familiar. It’s someone with a stronger living presence. This pilot is—

Part 8

After passing through the automatic door, he saw a bridge that was much larger than any ship he had seen before. The number of active personnel here was not that much different from the “Nahel Argama”, but the height and length was 5 times longer; most importantly, the ceiling was very high. Alberto Vist looked up at the ceiling 2 levels high, filled with screens, turned to look at the large window made of absurdly hardly plastic, and made his two subordinates wait at the door as he stepped on the floor and moved forward. Captain Maseki Danbaef stood up from his Captain seat to greet the other man.

Alberto however ignored the outstretched hand as he grabbed the back of the commander seat. He got onto the seat in the same motion as when he was on the “Nahel Argama”, “How’s the collection of the Tri-Stars.” and asked without looking back. “It’s done.” Captain Maseki answered. “Then, please prepare for launch.” He said briefly, and reached his hand for the microphone on the console. Before the Captain could answer him, he pressed the call button and brought his mouth to the microphone. (To all forces on the “General Revil, I’m the inspector for this operation, Alberto Vist of Anaheim Electronics.” He started with the speech he prepared beforehand.

“As notified yesterday, this ship shall cease testing immediately, and will execute a real mission as a direct operative of the Senate Council. We’re to search for the Londo Bell ship “Nahel Argama” and secure the new mobile suit that’s now on it. The “Nahel Argama” is suspected to be working with the “Sleeves”, the Neo Zeon remnants, and have disappeared for more than 3 days. It is possible that they had made contact with the Neo Zeon fleet, and also, it’s very possible for us to enter combat upon meeting each other. If there’re still people thinking that this is just a easy and simple search operation, I hope that you will change your mood now.”

The officer, probably a First Officer, turned his back against the bridge crew that had their eyes widened, and glared at Alberto with killing intent. How can you make this decision on your own!? He looked like he wanted to charge forward and protest loudly, but Captain Maseki stopped him, shaking his head to tell the other man to forget about it. It was strange for a civilian inspector to announce publicly like this, and he knew that it was shameful of him to ignore this as a Captain, but he could not be bothered in doing so. He was a man who merely put his life as priority and won this ancient-era ship as a result. Alberto ignored the captain showing the expression of shame and tolerance as he continued,

“The current situation is complicated, and we cannot expect any allied ship’s reinforcements in this operation. This secret operation will have to be carried out by this ship alone. This mission really is unfitting of the name of the hero that led us to victory in the One Year War, but the situation is critical. The new mobile suit on the “Nahel Argama” is one of the pillars in the realignment of the space army plan, a product of the “UC Plan”. If Neo Zeon takes it away, this realignment will be subjected to a setback. As the flagship of the proud Earth orbital fleet, this ship displays the might of the Federation, and this ship has to prevent any breaks from the realignment. I believe everyone had heard of the recent spate of Neo Zeon terrorist attacks, especially the news of the many civilian casualties in Dakar. The Federation army now has to be reborn and get stronger to prevent the same things from happening again. We shall hunt down the dissidents, eradicate Neo Zeon, and stabilize the Universal Century that’s approaching its 100 year anniversary. This is the mission granted to this ship, the mandate. Do remember that this operation will decide the fate of the Federation, and I hope everyone can perform better. That’s all.”

Alberto cut the mic and put it back onto the console. As everyone was silent due to being dumbstruck, Captain Maseki applauded loudly, and the First Officer and company could only clap unwilling. Alberto did not look at anyone as he left the Commander’s Seat and let his body float to the exit of the bridge. This unpassionate clapping soon ended, and the Captain’s command echoed hollowly, “All hands, prepare for launch.”

Part 9

(I heard you made a brilliant speech.)

30 minutes later, he was in the communication room where the crew was forbidden to enter. Martha Vist Carbine spoke on the monitor, “Yes.” And Alberto answered without an expression.

(So you got stronger after nearly dying? As expected, men will only buck up when they go to war.)

The eyes filled with a chilling light pierced into his heart as her bright lips showed a smile. He could not look back at this expression at all, and lowered his head, pretending to scratch his nose. “How’s the situation there?” he asked.

After escaping from the “Garuda”, Martha stayed at the Matsushiro Base in the Far East. It did not seem too far away from the Central Government, a place easy for her to keep her eyes on them. (Anyway, Captain Bright’s removal is certain.) Martha answered as she reclined back on the chair, and the expression on her face had the flair of enjoyment over the madness through the past few days.

(There’s no doubt that he helped the “Nahel Argama” escape. Once the emergency repairs of the “Ra Cailum” are complete, it looks like he’ll be sent to the Senate Council.)

“Can’t we catch him and question him?”

(We can’t. Senator Bauer of the Defense Branch and a few others are watching over him, and after so many troubles, the Senate Headquarters can’t move. It took me a lot of effort just to deploy that one “General Revil”. Also, even if we can ask Captain Bright, do you think he’ll know where the “Nahel Argama” is?)

Don’t know what you don’t need to know. Captain Bright had been interacting with the vague presence of the higher ups in the military, and he obviously was not a foolish person. (It’s just a matter of time. The “Nahel Argama” is somewhere between the Moon and Earth. Once the entire army carries out the search, there’ll be information.) Martha showed a slightly anxious expression as she took a sip of red tea, and continued,

(There’s nothing big going on now, but Ronan Marcenas will definitely think of something. Your mission is to get back the ”Unicorn” and get the “Box” before they do. I’m counting on you, you know?)

She narrowed her eyes and showed a probing gaze again. She wanted to see what happened to Alberto, who was abandoned on the “Garuda”, and what kind of mental change it brought to him, and her expression was pointed at his throat, preventing him from moving. Alberto realized that he had changed, that he had a motive different from before. “…Yes.” Alberto pretended to remain calm as he answered, but Martha did not look away as their eyes met, and showed a sadistic smile. (Speaking of which, how’s the new sample?) she changed the topic.

(I heard that it’s an adult male. Has he boarded the “Banshee”?)

“Extremely good. Unlike Ple Twelve, he’s an enhanced human with adjustments later on, but his emotions are stable, and his compatibility with the “Banshee” is good.”

He clenched the fists on his knees as he kept himself from faltering due to this sudden attack. Martha looked as if she could see the tension on his skin, and answered, (It seemed that President Bentner had died.) At this point, he could not stand the pressure as he averted his gaze.

(I didn’t know the Augusta Research Institute has such a hidden ace, but in that case, I can relax now.)

“Relax…?”

(I won’t have to worry about you being bewitched by a young woman, making the wrong decision, and I also won’t have to get jealous. I nearly cried when I thought I lost you while leaving the “Garuda”.)

His heart jolted as a result of his body being ‘raised’ for 20 years. Even though he knew that this was a lie, his heart still felt hot, and his body lost strength. He felt that he really was useless, lowered his head and gritted his teeth. Martha heaved out a sigh and crossed her speckles and smooth legs. (I’m concerned with Ronan’s movements too, and I’ll remain on Earth for the time being.) she said with a relaxed smile.

(Once everything is over, let’s go to the Mediterranean for vacation. I await your good news.)

The visual stopped before he could answer, and the communication room was shrouded in darkness. Alberto leaned his arm on the console and took a deep sigh. He examined the mix of shame and delight within him conflicting with each other, and let his body sink within the darkness. Soon after, that darkness moved, and showed the presence of the other person in the room.

He wiped away his drenched face, he turned on the lights. With the artificial lights shining on his back, he clasped his hands, “Isn’t it funny?” and muttered with his eyes looking down.

“The woman married to Anaheim trained the firstborn of her own family into her dog. This is the true reality of the family affairs in the Vist Foundation.”

He lifted his head and looked behind. Riddhe Marcenas was leaning at the door beside the wall, not answering at all. He, dressed in the pilot suit of the “Banshee”, folded his arms unhappily, and once their eyes met, he turned away disinterestedly. “I gave my aunt false information.” Alberto got up from his chair and continued with a business-like voice.

“It’s a sample data that’s similar to your body size, Ensign. I don’ t think it’ll be seen through easily, but don’t appear easily. There may be people involved with aunt’s dealings I don’t know of here. If anyone knows that the pilot is a member of the Marcenas family, there may be quite a commotion.”

It was troublesome because the speech he prepared in the ship reached Martha’s ears. He stepped off the floor and let his body float towards the door, “Why?” but a question caused him to turn his head slightly. Riddhe looked back with a hideous expression as his body remained unmoved as he folded his arms.

“Why did you betray your aunt and let me board this ship?”

“I didn’t betray her. The “Banshee” needs a pilot. It’s not often that we have a pilot who’ll give up his life to pilot a Psyco machine.

Riddhe’s eyebrows twitched as he muttered, “I’ll pilot it, you see.” Ever since they left the “Garuda”, his face became hideous, and it seemed to grow darker as the days passed. “And I want some insurance too.” Alberto looked away and spoke with a deliberate cold voice.

“Leaving aside the people on the “Nahel Argama”, even we don’t know what’s inside the “Box”. In this sense, it will be beneficial to have you since you seem to know what’s inside it, Ensign, just in case.”

“So you realized?”

Riddhe said as his eyes moved. He revealed some things on the “Garuda”, the history of the “Box” that started with the terrorist attack on the Prime Minister Residence “Laplace”. “Yeah.” Alberto answered.

“The problem is, what is recorded on it.”

Riddhe averted his eyes that met Alberto’s as he let out a vague voice, saying, “…It’s a curse.” His back left the wall he was leaning on, and he picked up the helmet floating in the air. He exerted strength on his shoulders, seemingly wanting to crush this helmet, and Alberto looked at his trembling profile.

“But these aren’t important. I came here with you just to beat the “Unicorn”. You can make use of me however you want, but I won’t hold back just because it’s the key to the “Box”; you better remember this.”

“No problems. You can’t beat the “Unicorn” without this realization. In the worst situation, aunt will accept it if we can prevent the “Box” from being revealed.”

This isn’t a lie. If he can avoid thinking of unnecessary things and make himself compatible with the “Banshee”, that’ll be best. This was why he revealed his conversation with Martha. “We want to get different things.” After leaving these words, he left the communication room, and the door closed, covering Riddhe’s back, leaving a dull sound that echoed through the corridor.

Part 10

The man shown on the monitor looked around 40 years old, was used to being the focal point of attention, and was familiar that he looked charismatic. To a handsome looking man like him similar to that of an actor, this was not uncommon for a role like his. But he was able to act like this so reasonably and yet brazenly, like he was facing a mirror, and this aspect could not be explained simply by his background and upbringing. Perhaps it was the unique characteristic this man had.

(I understand the situation, but it’s tough for me too. The Republic’s army is limited in movement. We need to gain the approval of the Federation if we want to move out of our own range.)

Monahan Bakharov, 44 years old, the eldest son of the Ex-prime minister of the Zeon Republic who occupied the position for a long time, Darcia Bakharov, and the current defense minister. On the surface, it seemed that he followed his father’s footsteps and pushed for the policy the Federation pursued, but he was secretly a rightist gathering the dissolved parties of the Republic, and the one stoking the revival of Zeonism. To Neo Zeon, he was a sponsor who had been supporting the Neo Zeon army quietly…but to Angelo, this man was someone he did not like.

He used his background of the 3rd generation of a political family as a selling point, and used his nice looking mask to gain the support of the people. It was still bearable to see that he, who was assigned to the space fortress “A Baoa Qu”, viewed himself to be a war veteran all because he experienced the feeling of defeat deep within the fortress. What was most unbearable however was his overly perfect self-act. He always made others see himself as the center of the attention, and act according to what the other party wanted him to be, but never put others in his eyes. If he were not a truly arrogant person, it would be hard to see him as something else.

There are often people like this amongst the ‘guests’. Angelo thought of this, and he clenched his fist due to unhappiness. He deliberately moved away to avoid being seen on the camera, and looked down at the lush blond hairs standing in front of him. “There should be a fleet training far away.” Full Frontal remained unmoved in the face of Monaghan as he spoke with a clear voice.

“You’re the Ambitious Defense Minister Monaghan. I suppose there are patriots amongst the defense fleet undergoing training under you, right?”

Frontal said as his masked face showed the reflected light from the monitor, and his lips twist with a smile. Frontal’s office was decorated like a VIP room, located in a corner of the “Rewloola”, and over here, only the owner of the room and Angelo were present. Monaghan narrowed his eyes a little, (I should say that you’ve checked me here.) he answered, but his voice remained steady as if he was reading a script.

(I certainly do have the means to operate this, but it’s not going to be fun bringing the Republic to the surface now. The recent commotions have made Zeon rather noticeable, though I do hope that the “Sleeves” can react better…)

“The incidents on Earth were caused by radicals on Earth, not planned by us Neo Zeon.”

(But the world doesn’t think this way. The Federation Council wants to use this chance to stoke the operations to eliminate Zeon, saying that this is the start of the third Neo Zeon War. Some people also insisted on investigating the republic—)

“And I heard that you still can’t grasp the whereabouts of the “Nahel Argama” even through that meeting. It’ll take time for our main fleet to move to the Moon, and even if we have to use the ships hidden in Side 6, we need even the tiniest clue we can get. In this case, the Republic forces surrounding the Moon have a better chance of searching through the area than the Federation.”

Monaghan was questioned by this cold voice endlessly, and his expression faltered as he was at a loss of words. Angelo’s lips curled up, thinking to himself that there was such a vast difference between those two. Monaghan’s self-directed script was at a level of a politician, but Frontal hoped to be the vessel for the will of all Spacenoids and turned his role into this. At this moment, Frontal again put on his mask ‘again’, deciding to act out this role thoroughly. There was no way a vulgar man like Monaghan could compare to him.

Just continue on with that baseless Nationalist speech that has nothing in it. The day of Frontal’s rise will come, and this man is destined to be the king for the abandoned Spacenoids, burning all injustice and bringing us to a pure world without stain. That day to rise will come—Angelo forgot about his reality as he was intoxicated in that awaited moment he imagined. (I understand.) Monaghan’s voice seemed so distant.

(But since it’s a mean we can only do under the tables, there’s still a limit to how much we can do.)

“It’s fine. As long as we know where the “Nahel Argama” is headed to, the escort squad and I will leave from the “Rewloola” first.”

(I’ll leave it to you. The current Republic army can’t take a real battle, whether it’s the equipment or the manpower. They’re unlike the “Sleeves” now.)

“And the one who granted the “Sleeves” this power is you, Defense Minister Monaghan Baharov.”

To add on, Monaghan Baharob was also the one who accepted Cardeas Vist’s proposal and allowed the deal of the “Laplace Box”. He forgot his act and showed a speechless expression before disappearing from the monitor, and Frontal stood up without showing signs of letting down his guard,

“It’s just like what you heard. Install boosters on the shackles, and get ready for a long distance raid. It’s about time to launch.”

The order became a jolt that shocked through Angelo’s before, and he answered, “Yes…!” Frontal kicked the floor and leaned his body to the window on the wall.

“But are they reliable? They lost all guts because of the clauses in the defeat, and the Republic army doesn’t seem like one now. If we’re to rely on guys who don’t know how to fight for real, who only know how to yap about Nationalism—”

“It’s possible. As long as we align our pieces, the “Nahel Argama” will report its position.

Angelo did not understand these words as he looked at the back of the bright red uniform. Frontal looked at the window, and his masked face looked into the vacuum, with no intention of looking back.

“A human heart is really hard to grasp…but hatred won’t vanish that easily.”

He looked at the darkness no ordinary person could peer into, and his back looked frozen as he looked into space. Angelo looked at the rose on the desk, clenched the fist that felt sensation of pain before, and left the office without a doubt.

There was no need for reason or explanation. He could die anytime for this person. With this new realization, Angelo floated his burning body to the corridor.