KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Part 1

(“…Even though it’s an initial estimation, I’ve already tabulated the accountable damages for you. We can use the work hazard insurance for those who died in the line of work, but it’s harder to determine what to do with the people who died due to other causes.”)

The face that was shown on the screen was of a woman’s, a face that one could hardly believe was over 50 years old. The medium-long blond hair still retained its glow, and the cheeks that were slightly protruding never lost their elasticity. The background was of a dull color that was suited for business, and the lips with lipstick on even look bewitching.

Even so, it was not appropriate to describe this woman as young and lively. This ‘woman’ that appeared was not one a man would recognize as one—or rather, recognize as an ideal ‘woman’ despite her beauty. The reason behind this thinking was because of her eyes. In her wish to become treated as an upper-class lady, the probing eyes were giving off an icy cold magnetism. The greedy expression of the woman who was never satisfied with anything and only hoped to continue take in more was showing an evil tension.

(“Considering how the media would react, it’s more appropriate that we should offer some form of compensation to the victims. My husband will do something with regards to this as well.”)

After saying that, Martha Vist Carbine remained silent, perhaps waiting for the other party to respond. The other displays were showing all sorts of information like ‘insurance claims’, ‘medical fees’ and ‘survivor pension’ as each individual estimated sum scrolled down the displays. The amount of the total fees required to revive the colony was enough to match the budget of a small country in the old centuries, but Martha’s expression was rather calm as if she merely met a small car accident. Right below the numerous displays that were emulated in the air, “That’s really well thought out.” Syam Vist responded while looking similarly calm.

The body that laid down on the bed did not show any signs of moving, and the side of the emotionless face was basked under the light reflected off the displays. The Vist Foundation leader, who had been watching how the world changed ever since the start of the Universal Century and fought through many backdoor wars multiple times before making it till here, never changed his sharp expression even when he was lying down frailly on the bed. The presence he himself gave off never once faded. (“Someone will deal with this, so shut up. Is that what you mean?”) The voice that continued were so cold it felt like they were piercing into his bones.

(“This accident happened in a colony operated by Anaheim Electronics. No matter how we counter, it’s impossible to prevent the stocks from falling, right? I know very well that my role is not to let the voices of blame reach the Foundation.”)

Martha laughed away the leader’s sarcastic remark, narrowed her eyes and showed a suspicious look. The display beside her showed the words ‘A large-scale terrorist attack happened at Industrial 7’, ‘Is it done by the Neo Zeon guerillas?’, ‘The number of dead and missing people has already passed 600’, ‘The Federation space army has already issued warning to the forces guarding each side to remain alert’ and all sorts of such messages continued to appear and disappear. Only the top half silhouette of the news broadcaster or the reference footages of Industrial 7 when it was being built could be seen on the display, and there were no footages of what happened there at all. As for the footages the residents there provided to the media—the Federation units using beam rifles inside the colony and crashing into the residential areas—they could not be seen about 30 minutes ago, whether it was the TV or the Net. Syam shows an expression as if he never saw anything in the first place to avoid Martha’s doubt. “Cardeas did that. I don’t know anything.” He simply answered calmly.

(“You managed to argue back first…”) sighing, Martha could only show wrinkles as her lips give a bitter smile. (“I’m happier than anything to see you being so happy and lively, grandfather. I hope that I can go over to meet you in the near future.”)

“You don’t have to see such a sad old man like me who watched my son and grandson died earlier than me. Those who are still involved in the current world affairs should have something else to do, right?”

(“Please don’t say that. We’re siblings with the same blood, so of course I’m being emotional now that my older brother died. But since I’ve already wedded into the Carbine family, I can’t just dwell in sadness. If any independent action by the Vist Foundation cause Anaheim to be dragged down, how can I possibly meet my husband and my father-in-law? Besides, I’ve already got the approval to take over brother’s duties as the head of the Foundation…”)

After saying that without practically no sincerity, Martha gives a smirk to the display. The matter of succession was not decided through hierarchy, but through the agreement of most of the family members, and there’s something behind the expression. Anaheim Electronics was the family business of the Carbine family she married into, and while keeping this position, she use the muscle power that surpassed her husband to interfere with all sorts of affairs, playing a vital role in linking the Foundation and Anaheim in such a way that they were more than just partners. Syam’s eyebrows could only twitch slightly as he see his granddaughter’s shamelessness in not denying nor admitting that she was involved in this incident.

(“It’s the Vist Foundation’s leader right to know the location of the cryo the boss is in and the view of the ‘Box’, and also a duty. Please take a nap before I go meet you, boss. ”)

After leaving this message, the communication was cute off. The many displays shown in the air disappear, and darkness and silence return back to the space that had nothing but a bed. Soon after, the panel installed on the wall of the dome increase in luminosity until the actual image of the universe was shown inside the room, and Syam’s bed was already surrounded by the clear stars.

The cloud of stairs light up every single corner of the room as if the floor was scattered with silver powder, and the image of outer space showed all corners of the cryo the Foundation’s boss was in. Gael Chan hid himself in the darkness where neither the earth nor the moon could be seen as he saw that bed that was floating there in a lonely manner, sighed and stepped forward. As he lies on the bed that acted as a cryo device, Syam mutters to him ‘just laugh all you want’ as the side of his face that had lost all its glory shows self-mocking wrinkles.

“This is the portrait of the Vist Foundation.”

“I can’t laugh at all. I didn’t fulfill my responsibility in protecting my boss.”

Syam turns his stare at Gael, who’s standing about 3 meters away from him. It’s been half a day since the sudden battle in Industrial 7 and when he learnt about Cardeas Vist’s death. The Foundation’s boss had been through a lifetime that’s far too long for a human, watched too many of his relatives die, and now, it’s impossible to see any sadness in him. He lost his most trusted successor, and watched the Foundation he single-handedly built up move on its own. Right now, he could not even let out a sigh—maybe this was Syam’s current mood. If he could already realize that his own relative were all involved in such series of plots and gradually becoming the next successor, how would he feel—

Gael himself wasn’t as open-minded. He wasn’t able to protect his master, Cardeas, and he did not even fulfill the duty of destroying the “Unicorn”, the final order that was given. Even though he understood that all his paths of entry were already blocked by the Federation’s special forces, the burning hangar deck and the passages being sealed weren’t enough to be excuses. In fact, Cardeas himself dragged his heavily wounded body and managed to reach the “Unicorn” successfully before dying—he was devoured by the flames the moment he left the cockpit, and he was blown into bits the moment he was struck by the incoming shrapnel. The surveillance cameras at the hangar clearly caught the image.

The dire consequences happened in front of him was because of his own negligence. The bald head wrapped in the bandage sank as Gael clenched his burned fist. Just regretting alone can’t change anything, and these are all the results of fate—if it were Cardeas, he would probably say such a thing. Gael had already lots this boss that would comfort him like this. That one and only client of his who could understand him heart to heart; that only man who was worth selling his life to, whether in the army or in the underground society.

“Since it’s Cardeas, I suppose he has already prepared a failsafe such that even if he died, he can protect the secret tightly…someone like Martha will be forceful. She’s different from the men who’re concerned about their pride; she will not have any reservations when carrying out her plots. From the way she could get the approval of the family as the substitute leader in such a short time, I think it’s better to assume that it’s only a matter of time before she finds this place.”

“I’m a man. I won’t just be protective of my own pride, I’ll even swear allegiance for the sake of my own pride.”

At that moment, Gael forgot about being tense in front of the boss. He lifts his face.

“So long as you permit, boss, I’ll be willing to take revenge for Master Cardeas even if I have to sacrifice my life.”

Martha Carbine was staying in the lunar city Von Braun that’s under the protection of Anaheim Electronics. If the Foundation itself was just an organization meant to expand the family’s earnings, then she’ll be described as a really outstanding person who revived and expanded the authority of the Vist Foundation. She, who could even interfere with politics without a problem, detected Syam and Cardeas’ plans for Laplace Box and got the Federation army to attack Industrial 7. Even though the battle that got intense was a result of unforeseen circumstances, the main reason for Cardeas’ death was on Martha. In terms of underground talk, there’s no one else other than her who ‘settled the bill’.

Syam turns his head slightly at a way where one could not even detect, and his face that’s half-buried in the pillow faces over here. Gael gives an unwavering expression as he gets this answer,

“Do you want me to command you to kill my own granddaughter now?”

It was a growl that was full of rage, causing the temperature within Gael to drop. Gael’s stiffened by the other person’s overwhelming presence before he could even reflect on his words, “…I’m really sorry” and lowers his head.

“Very good. Cardeas did get a very good subordinate. Since this is because of what Cardeas did, we can only believe that things will proceed in the positive direction; no matter whether it’s the whereabouts of the Laplace Box or the future of Earth Celestial sphere.”

Syam clasps his hands on the blanket and closes his eyes. Gael had nothing to say and could only bow and answer ‘yes…’, showing a professional expression as he lifts his head to look at the boss.

“About the Box, I’ve already investigated on the details involving the pilot of the “Unicorn”.”

Gael reaches his hand to the floor and operates on the touch-type display that rose up from the floor silently. The holographic display again lights up the space above the bed, showing the photo of a boy’s face.

“Banagher Links, 16 years old, a student studying at Anaheim Electronics. Registered from Side 1 area 3’s ‘Eden’. No special positive or negative data on him, and no records of him taking part in political activities. I don’t understand why he came to the “Magallanica”, but he did meet the leader hours before the battle. As for what happened when both of them met, it’s puzzling…”

Gael gives an overview of what happened yesterday, including the accidental meeting with ‘her’ . How Banagher, who was taken back to Industrial 7 once, managed to enter the “Magallanica” and ride on the “Unicorn”, was a mystery to Gael. However, the pilot login data that was sent to the Command Module “Magallinca” matched Banagher Links information from the records in Industrial 7. The fact that he piloted the “Unicorn” and forced the “Sleeves’” mobile suits to retreat was without a doubt. Also, ther was the fact that he was taken in by a Federation ship—

“To be registered as the pilot of the “Unicorn”, one has to gain the biometric authorization of the leader. In other words, Master Cardeas chose this boy as the pilot and died after that. I can only deduce that, so what happened that time…”

Due to its nature, the records of the “Unicorn’s” pilot could not be easily erased after its logged it. There was a chance to destroy all the system, so Cardeas must had his reason for handing the “Unicorn” to the outsider Banagherr Links. Gael starts to stroke his chin as he looks at what seems to be a boyish instead of a youthful face, but was suddenly startled by a snicker.

Syam lets out the snicker as he watches the face of this boy that’s projected in space. His wrinkled face was smiling. Gael frowns in response, and Syam mutters, “I see. So you don’t know.” and turns to stare at Gael, who in turn inadvertently gulped his own saliva.

“Don’t you understand? He’s the new hope. Cardeas handed the “Unicorn” over to the most suitable person…”

Syam turns his eyes to look at the boy on the display and narrows his eyes as if he’s afraid of light. The boss of the Foundation let out a kind grandfather’s expression, and Gael could only blink hard bewilderedly.

Part 2

On the display of the notepad-type PC, the designed English alphabets were shown. It was a simple logo formed as a combination of the letters U and C.

“The UC plan, the codename of the army reassembly plan that’s affiliated to the Federation fleet, one that the company underwent under extreme security; the “Unicorn” was a machine that was developed as the flagship under the project of the same name.”

In the dim room, the man with the frail-looking face said as the lamp shone on him. Aaron Terzieff was a 32 years old staff member of Anaheim Electronics and the person in charge of the armor material section in the development of the RX-0. As the battle broke out in Industrial 7, he tried to escape with the other workers from the Magallanica, but was detained by ECOAS as he was too slow. As most of the relevant data of the plan was wrecked, he was viewed as one of the people who knew most about the plans regarding the RX-0—

“Unlike the Mobile Suits of the past, this unit’s biggest unit is that it’s fully covered with Psycoframe all over the body. The development base was the Anaheim Electronics’ factory in Granada, and about one month ago, we have already finished both Test Unit 1 and 2 separately. Unit 2 was sent to Earth, and right now, it should be undergoing activation tests in the presence of gravity. I was in charge of Unit 1, and about 3 weeks ago, I was ordered by the company to send it to Industrial 7. The notification was an official document, and the superiors said that everything would be over if I only worked for another month…”

“Mr Aaron.”

Daguza Mackle interrupted Aaron’s pleading-like voice with an emotionless face as he said, “I’m sorry, but we’re rather unaware of the technological side of things. Please describe the Psycommu, and get down to the details as much as possible.”

“Yes…”

On the other side of the table, Aaron nodded his head in agreement “Yes…” and gives a look behind to ask for permission. Standing behind him, Lieutenant Garrett nodded his head. Aaron then starts to use his trembling fingers to operate the computer he brought along. Before this, Aaron had reached out for the computer without permission before and had his hand twisted behind his back by Garrett, so this should be just precaution on Aaron’s side. Daguza senses that Lieutenant Commander Conroy was beside Garrett, shrugging and nudging his large body in the darkness, and deliberately leans forward to stare at the message on the screen. He used the cast-like left arm to slam the table and let out a shrill sound.

“Psycoframe. Basically put, it’s a unique alloy that has a psycommu functions on it. The theory behind it is to shrink the computer chips to the minimum and level them together with metal particles on the frame.”

The image shown on the display seemed to be an enlarged image of the psycommu under the microscope. If one stared at it closely, one could find what was obviously man-made chips lined in the gaps between the hive-shaped metal particles. That orderly yet mechanical construct felt more like a living cell than an object.

“As you know, the psycommu can receive and amplify the pilot’s brainwaves…or you can call it neural waves, and project the pilot’s consciousness into the movements of the machine. The psycommu that’s the main system is linked over to allow the psycoframe to receive the pilot’s neural waves and also the pilot and machine’s high-mobility coordination to happen. Due to the strength and production and all sorts of problems in the past, we could only install this system around the cockpit. However, the RX-0 in this plan uses psycoframe in all the mobile parts.”

Then, the CG image of the RX-0 appeared on the screen, and above the moveable parts that formed the frame, there was a red light blinking. As it was just a simple introductory picture, it was impossible to see the details. Even though Aaron was one of the developers, he could only download this much data from his terminal. Daguza did not say anything as he merely prompted Aaron to continue.

“Due to the actual assignment of the full-set psycoframe, the pilot’s neural waves can reach the machine’s activation system. In other words, the pilot does not need to ‘control’ the mobile suit as the word implies, and can control it basically through thoughts. Of course, all the joints are all magnet coated so in theory, the reaction speed of the RX-0 is unlimited. One can say that the machine’s one with the body…no, it may be even faster. No matter how outstanding a pilot is, there will be a timing lag of milliseconds from the moment the pilot detects danger to the moment the pilot reacts. The RX-0 interface far exceeds the reaction speed of the human body.”

“But in that case, the pilot’s body shouldn’t be able to react, right?”

If a metal giant that was more than 20m tall could immediately react to the pilot’s brainwaves, one could imagine the outcome if it moved at a speed that far exceeds human reflexes. No matter how big the mobile suit was, a slight movement will create vibrations of several meters, and no matter how sturdy the machine itself was built, the pilot inside would be all dizzy. “That’s right.” Aaron himself agreed with this sentiment.

“In order to reduce the large G force that happens when the machine moves, the RX-0 has a Shock Absorber that specializes in reducing the impact, and there’s also the pilot’s suit. However, even with these equipment, an ordinary person can’t endure the discomfort of piloting for a long time. Also, we have considered the stress the psycommu puts on the brain, and the maximum limit of continual operation is around 5 minutes. Thus, the limiter will be activated when the system is set in normal mode, and the NT-D device will only be activated in battle.”

The horn on the forehead opened up to show a V-sign, and the shoulders, chest and leg armor slid. The psycommu frame hidden underneath appeared, and the thrusters and boosters of the machine that could be said to assure destructive power and mobility bared out. This was the real form of the RX-0—if this was really the case, the appearance of the so-called “Unicorn” would be some form of a limiter and fixed state. As he watches the CG of the RX-0 gradually changed its appearance, Daguza started to feel a chill inside his heart, and whispers, “What’s NT-D?”

“NT-D is the name of the OS that operates the full psycoframe. I was only in charge of the exterior in the past, so I don’t really know the specifics. However, I hear that NT-D is the shortened form of Newtype-Drive.”

The unexpected term echoed in Daguza’s ears as a ripple rose in his heart. After giving a meaningful look to Conroy, Daguza answered back to Aaron “I see” in a monotonous voice.

“After the RX-0 was moved to the Magallanica, it was once modified by someone. You should know clearly that the system wasn’t involved in the initial design, right?”

A B5 sized photo was displayed on the table, and Aaron’s expression obviously wavered. The army had taken close range shots on the interface panel in the cockpit when the RX-0 was taken back into the ship. In the photo, the terminal port showed a red symbol that showed “La+”. “I’m only in charge of the armor outside, so any questions about the system is a little too…” Aaron answered, but Daguza did not show any wavering in his stare as he questioned,

“Mr Aaron, you better think through this before answering. The army does outsource assignments to civilian enterprises, but military use mobile suit developments are still part of the items in the Federation Technological Research Department that we have to report to the higher ups, and you may be deemed a suspect of taking up military resources, you know?”

“Why…!? I’m just…”

“Industrial 7 is a colony registered under Anaheim Electronics, but it’s different for the Magallanica. In fact, the Vist Foundation can be said to be outside of legal means. After the final adjustments of the RX-0 ‘s OS, it had a program that wasn’t in the manual installed into it. I don’t think you can simply pass this with a I don’t know.”

“I really don’t! I only knew of the new program that was installed together with the NT-D after reading the updated specs design. There were rumors that the new program was provided by the Vist Foundation, but I don’t know anything else other than this! Even the activation conditions of the NT-D is an undisclosed classified secret to us who are in charge of hardware.”

“Activation conditions?”

“The pilot can’t just remove the RX-0’s limiter at will. The NT-D will only activate when certain conditions are met. I only heard that the program installed on the Magallanica…the Laplace Program was a program meant to install a new condition on the NT-D. As long as the machine’s controls aren’t affected, we never questioned too much into such hardware stuff.”

“But you should have taken part in the activation tests.”

“The activation was still in simulation mode. The Laplace Program was only installed after the tests!”

Two hands slammed onto the table hard, and Aaron covered his head with his hands as he sprawled down on the table. Daguza used his eyes to stop Garrett, who wanted to pull him up, and stared at the shoulders that were trembling.

“Of course I felt that it was weird. For a manufactured military machine, there’s too much classified information. Even since I reached the Magallanica, I was forbidden to make contact with outside, and I had to remain in full vigilance under the Foundation all day…the weirdest thing was that none of the workers had any relations to the army. However, ever since the war with Neo Zeon ended, the mobile suit productions had only been at the stage where slight modifications were made as we couldn’t even try out new designs. During this time, even if we find it suspicious, the technicians would only close an eye and work on new technology that’s being produced at such a time. Besides, the machine that was developed was that famous “Gundam”.”

““Gundam”?”

Aaron’s depressed eyes looked up as he answered, “That’s our nickname for it”, and gave a forsaken smile on his face.

“The moment we saw its NT-D activated…we could only treat it as if it was deliberately designed to be like that. That’s what all the involved personnel called it, the “Unicorn Gundam”.”