Vol 5 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2

Part 1

Universal Century 0079, January 10th On this day, the sky fell A space colony fell onto Earth through the hands of the Principality of Zeon Army

This timent in this Operation British was named “Colony Drop” as they planned to coees This space colony that fell on Earth was the initial resolution since the declaration of war that occurred on the 3rd day of the same month After merely 3 seconds since they declared war, the Principalities arotten into position beforehand, attacked at the same time and immediately destroyed 3 sides The Federation ar their forces quickly; the Principality coolly observed this in their rear sight as it startedthe space colony, its own “bomb”

The colony that was built on Lagrange Point, located at a gravity balance between Earth and the Moon, and once the orbital speed decreased slightly, it would leave the original gravity equilibriuines on the Side 2 “Island Iffish”, which they chose as the bomb After several hours of burst flares, the space colony ended up leaving its original orbit and started freefalling on its own

The space colony that becaravity took more than 5 days to orbit half a round around the ically, the Federation exerted all its forces to prevent this situation, but they could not defeat the Principality of Zeon army that followed the colony The Federation did not know of the existence of mobile suits at that tie of Minovsky Particles in combat, and its 3-to-1 superiority in numbers were of no use

With the one-eyed “Zakus” accoe mass of the colony approached the at ether with the 3 largeheat of the friction would cause the colony to be so hot that it would beco the atmosphere to take a hit it had never experienced before The peeled outer ould beco meteor shower, and the colony itself followed a black pressurized s its trail of destruction

The fortunate thing for the Federation army was that the colony orn out somewhat due to the skirmishes that occurred for several days The initial estimates were that the colony would hit the headquarters at Jaburo located in South America, but it split in the air soon after it entered the atmosphere above Africa The colony broke into 3 blocks, one hit Australia, one hit the Pacific Ocean, and the last one hit North Aed to avoid a calaed to protect its headquarters that would end up leading the counterattack, but the tragedy of having a colony crash into Earth was not soated

The colony became a massive bomb, and it was said that the poas around 200 times the power of a nuclear weapon that turned a city in japan into a sea of fire—the atost the 3 broken pieces, the largest piece landed in Australia, and it crashed into Sydney at the speed of 11k down as it covered the sky was taken with caenerations learnt of that ‘sky is falling’ instant of horror It crashed, causing an impact that caused Sydney to disappear immediately This impact caused Sydney to disappear immediately, created a crater 10knitude earthquake, and this was just the start This large earthquake left an observed nitude of 90, rocked the entire continent of Australia, and the eny caused the landscape on the eastern coast to change drastically One-sixteenth of Australia was subed in the sea, and another one-third of the land took a devastating hit However, this was just part of the daht at the moment the colony fell, the Earth’s rotation was affected, and it revolved 01, 02 seconds faster every hour

The North A situation like the continent of Australia, but one quarter of the land recked The part that dropped into the Pacific Ocean triggered a large tsunami, and even the shores off the Indian Ocean suffered utter devastation The colony pieces that fell through the atmosphere caused ie-scale stor the residents on Earth into chaos If there were an end of the world, this would be the scene

The storm and tsunamis covered the lands on Earth for a week, and the abnormal weather did not subside for 6 years after that The teions rose up because of this calamity, and not only did it cause sea level to rise, but also, the air pressure changes due to the sea currents caused desertification in huees continued for several years after the war There was a saying that al, but actually, they could not determine the actual numbers

A week passed since the start of the war on the 3rd The One Week Battle got Zeon’s war for independence off to a ru Jaburo itself, it allowed the Principalities arest fleet battle in human history, the battle of Loue-scale invasion to Earth They used the Earth military headquarters located in New York City, North Aradually expanded its territory

The sround in the form of a meteor shower The ones that landed on the Earth with authority were the giants with one eye, and it was not hard to iine what sort of impression the residents on Earth had as a result These de Earth—and the devastation they brought about was not soine In that sense, the people on Earth viewed this ar their homeland as ‘aliens’

In terms of national power, the difference between the Principality of Zeon and the Federation was approximately a thousand times, and the options Zeon could choose were liration plan, the spacenoids’ plea for Self-governance was crushed by the Federation, and the people ere h lives These were facts, but despite the room for empathy, the fact would reanization

After the war, the reo, the “5th Luna” that was used as athe capital of the Federation as they planned The tragedy brought about by this atrocity was deeply etched within the people of Earth, and the spacenoids’ views and stand were all blurred At this point, as countless debris particles re the bloody-colored sun setting in the West—

The lush trees covered their heads fro above

The trees that gren the road had their branches reached out, and the density even caused the green leaves to grow onto the lane The green corridor that was extended without an end in sight looked so dazzling, and Mineva put her face at the car , observing the scenery outside The ones hite and pink floere Dogwood, and were the vines growing off the mistletoe Kudzu? Despite the scars of the colony drop in the sky above, this place still had the vegetation exclusive to Southern USA Due to the warradual lowlands, the flowers obtained lots of huht

It had been one and a half hours since the disease prevention checks were done at the Atlanta Naval Air Station, and Mineva was sitting on this lies of war everywhere, the streets of Atlanta still showed scenes of atio At this point, as shown in front of Mineva was a snaking narrow lane within the forest They passed through the lowlands surrounded byin the opposite direction The sparsely scattered farht be the private land space the Marcenas’ owned Mineva i a boundary, and glanced at Riddhe’s face as he sat right beside him

Riddhe was looking in front silently, not looking at the greenery passing by outside theHe was about as silent as the time when he piloted the “Delta Plus” into the atonally in front of hi to look away from the notebook terminal As for what they actually talked about on the li Home in Switzerland” What was left was the heavy and unbearable silence passing between them

This situation did not allow for anyone to talk easily, and Mineva understood that Riddhe never wanted to face his ‘fa caused her to feel that it would be easier if these two men were unrelated people What is with this weird depressed silence? Once they entered society, they noticed each other’s flaws ers did, and could only create a divide between each other Is the relationshi+p between father and son like this? To Mineva, who lost her parents before she wasshe could not understand, and she held her sigh as she looked outside theThe green corridor faded in thickness, everything frorew on the other side of the oak trees onwards could be seen, and the large Tudor-styled hts

The entrance, which was decorated with Corinth-styled ornaments, had a Greek temple-like style, and the s connected to it on the side, looked rather siallanica” Both houses gave off the feel of age, radiating a sense of existence that was basically sie style, but one had to wonder ith this cold air surrounding this house This house did not look like it would waver as it remained rooted a silent threats without trying to hide or show off the special authority of those living in it, wanting outsiders to lower their heads Mineva suddenly felt a chill up her body that was still not used to the 1G gravity, and grabbed her hands that were cupped in front of her chest under her blouse tightly

There was no concern for spacenoids, whether it was the house that was stubbornly protecting the old century traditions or the people with special authority living inside There was no place for understanding each other—

“Do you know the story of “Gone with the Wind”?”

Riddhe suddenly spoke up, and Mineva nodded without thinking through properly Mineva herself had not read that book, but she knew that it was one of the classic books during the Middle Ages, and was even rewritten as a movie Riddhe looked outside theand explained to Mineva, “This stretch is the stage for that story Warm climate, fertile land, a very rich farm owner; this prosperity was supported by the black slaves captured and brought in from Africa

Ronan lifted his face slightly froh the reading glasses over, but Riddhe’s face that was facing there self, “What an irony, isn’t it?”

“The ones who started the space ration issue committee would actually live in Southern USA that relied on slaves”

The prosperity and revival in this place was created through the resources squeezed out from the spacenoids—this sarcastic line even children could understand caused the atmosphere in the limousine to become heavier, and Riddhe did not look at Ronan as he shut up Ronan let out what seeh from his nose, and turned his face back to the notebook Mineva looked back and forth at these two e as she looked at the Western sky that was starting to become red

The liate located between the oak trees and drove right into the courtyard of the residence At the same time, the sound of the rotor could be heard fro in the air reached Mineva’s sights There was no reason for the if there were any Neo Zeon strike teams around with the intent to snatch her back, so the likelihood was that they would be patrolling through the night There were aruards lurking around—All for the sake of receivingout from the forest as looked up at the Marcenas’ residence that was right in front of her The triangular roof at the entrance had a bird-ornament, and it took her a little while to realize that it was an authentic black condor

Part 2

The quality of servants would determine what the family was made of In this case, the fact that a servant would arrive at the carpark to invite them in proved that the Marcenas’ stature was for real

“Welcoreeted him, and answered, “It’s been a while, Dwiyon”, and he, whose face had been tense ever since he reached Earth, finally relaxed somewhat at this moment The butler called Dwiyon here h it was hard to see his expression, even Mineva could sense a surge of e shoulders It was co them up, but there were not many servants ould weep earnestly for the fa emotional, but he would not try to inquire about his master’s private life on his own, couldwhile doing so obediently, and the h-class family would have with a top-notch butler

After passing through the arched entrance, there was a large eht that shone in diagonally from the second level as reflected off the clean and polished floor Like its outer appearance, the inside arrangement of the house and the width was not too different from the Vist’s mansion Mineva’s official residence was basically no different fro raised in a fortress full of defeated warriors, and this current situation did not intied pillared, walls, furniture and all sorts of things still produced an aura that would discourage anyone

Unlike the old yet gri in this place reeked of its own history, giving a suffocating feeling that was resisting change Riddhe, who grew up in this fa Mineva shook off this air that filled the space, and did not land her sights on anything as shein She turned to the hall located on the left side, past a table that could seat 10 people in the dining roo to the inside of the house It was an art gallery with paintings decorating the corridor, and with the varying light intensity lighting the paintings, the fine artworks could bevisitors

Mineva stared at the first portrait, and stopped The person in this portrait seemed to be of mixed blood, and he had brown eyes that were half-passionate, half-rational It was a man who looked like he was in his sixties Mineva did see this face several tiain, she found that he resembled Riddhe somewhat, “This person is Ricardo Marcenas, the first Priovernment” Ronan explained, and Mineva continued to look up at that painting silently

“The one over there would be the 3rd Prirandfather He would be called Ricardo Junior in movies or books based on historic themes”

Ronan ss lined down the corridor with his eyes, introducing them one by one, “The first Prime Minister, Ricardo Marcenas, was unfortunately assassinated, but the Marcenas faovernovernment is also our family history Our fa the country…I suppose you can say that”

There was no sense of conceit or deliberation in these words as his voice merely described the cold hard facts calmly There was a chill that arose suddenly in this dis that could not talk, understanding where the pressure in this house came from

The ancestors of the Marcenas’ fa the history of the Federation These were the people, the group of guardians for the Federation, beconer They were glaring at the forgotten ree—

“Theythat kind of job”

Riddhe spoke Mineva recovered and looked at him

“The culprit that blew up the first Priainst the Federation’s rule, but nobody knew the truth Some people said that the overn that the liberal and idealistic Priet in the way This is the saes was assassinated”

Riddhe looked up at the paintings, showing a look of disgust on the side of his face As a descendant of this family and a son who deserted his fa his presence in this corridor of tinored Ronan, ent silent, and continued with a stiff voice,

“The terrorist attack that caused the explosion of the official residence…that “Laplace Incident” was a good excuse for the Federation to sweep the separatists At that tiedy of Laplace Never ever forgive those despicable terrorists” The pitiful separatists were iovern that time, what did our Marcenas family do? We relied on the conservatives who killed the first Pri wiped out After the deputy Prime Minister became the second Pri support from the people and was elected as the third Prihly eliminated the terrorists, the ones who killed his father These were all beautiful things that were made up, heroes that were made up After that, the Marcenas family—…”

“JUST SHUT UP!”

The sharp roar echoed through this corridor of ti what he wanted to say The paintings held their breaths, staring silently at their descendants Ronan lowered his cold stare on the silent Riddhe

“So what you’re saying is that the world is run on conspiracies? You read too many nonsensical books Politics is not that sis you, who abandoned your family, don’t know about”

Riddhe did not say anything as he turned his back on the other person, and his face was definitely looking like a stubborn child He’s trying to be like a spoilt child to his father, and got told off as a result; the current situation ht seem to be like this “Miss Mineva” As she continued to ponder aimlessly, Ronan looked at her, and she seemed to panic somewhat as she looked back

“We will be talking about the details later, but I still have to ad to bet my personal honor and do all I can to make sure that you are not mistreated”

The sincere yet sharp stare appeared in Ronan’s eyes, and this stare caused Mineva to feel a fluttering in her chest “I alad to hear you say that” She responded with a voice appropriate for the occasion and gave a polite smile

“Let the unfortunate past pass by I hope for a positive developo all out in that”

Mineva wanted to answer back with a smile at that moment, but Ronan suddenly lowered his face and looked away, “However, there is so I hope that you can understand first” Mineva felt a chill

“The Federation government is definitely not a sturdy rock that will not be destroyed We, the people of the Marcenas faenerations and dedicating ourselves to it It’s the same as you, the symbol of Zeon”

But we couldn’t do it Ronan’s words had such bitterness, and the emptiness that came as he drew the line caused his heart to turn cold “Dad…” Riddhe let out a doubtful voice, but Ronan did not look at his face as he merely looked far away at the portraits lined up in the shadows

“The Federation is still young, less than 150 years old, an immature nation Someone…someone has to protect it”

Part 3

During the war, the Zeon forces that occupied the land gave up on occupying the Marcenas’ residence, so one could tell how much historical value this office had The office table was used since previous generations, of the sae as the custom made bookcase, and they had been around for at least a century The chandelier that dropped during the colony drop still re as they went all out to find sie

The office and the linked study seemed like a mysterious space filled with the world’s secrets to children—is this roo? Riddhe looked around the room that was 7m wide, was shocked by the difference in the room from his previous memories, and recalled and yes, he was definitely unfa this conclusion, he gave a wry smile

He entered the office a few ti, and even sat on his father’s lap, hearing stories about the greatness of their ancestors, but at some point, he did not want to approach his place One of the reasons was that he grew old enough not to sit on other people’s laps, and another was that his father, who inherited the land fro Senator as he rushed about However, the biggest reason was that his father always took action according to his schedule, and excluded Riddhe and the family from his business

He basically spends an entire year at Dakar’s Senate Council, and whenever he returns horoup of people ill support hih petitions, attend parties for consecutive days or go on a trip for leisure To this Senate Council member who invested in several funds and had to take care of several fauarantee for the world to judge hi to receive Mineva and ht about that, Riddhe felt his htly to rehts

Cale, sitting down on the sofa that was used to invite visitors in He finallyat his father rudely, causing hi the scandals about the family rise to the surface, his father would first act calmly and determine whether there was any political value—and this was planned right fro It was because Riddhe knew that he had such a personality that he planned this as insurance He knew that he had no right to feel frustrated about the ht to criticize his father At this point, even Riddhe hi to secure political relations to do this

It was 430puest room His father, who told hi with the army and the Council, and they would ainst this neutral agreement At this point, he first had to secure Mineva’s safety and talk about the plans the Senate Council plotted to do with the “Laplace Box” The Senate would most likely be activated as soon as possible, and coama”s safety Riddhe continued to reflect upon this as he pondered about how he should respond At this moment, an abrupt knock on the door caused him to jerk his shoulders

There was no reason for dad to knock on the door first By the tiht about this, “Please excuse hly polished leather shoes moved on the carpet silently, and he put the coffee cup onto the reception table Riddhe smelled the aroma of the coffee from the pot, and he looked up and this old butler as a fatherly figure to him “Thank you” Riddhe said, and Dwiyon lowered his head that had neatly co voice as he said, “It is really great that you’re alright…”

“Really, you’re sounding like an old man now”

“I am old now, I am completely old Don’t you kno much the master was so worried about you this time…”

“Dad?”

“Of course, since the son is a pilot in the army Even I would worry whenever I hear any uproars on the news”

Dwiyon took off his glasses and used his handkerchief to quickly wipe the corners of his glasses “You’re exaggerating it there!” Despite saying that, Riddhe could not feel calm now that someone talked about these past three years he had not talked about, and sipped his coffee to avoid talking more about this “Really?” Dwiyon’s wrinkled face was reddening somewhat

“Young master Riddhe, I’ll just say this to you here The ood health”

“…Heart issues?”

“Yeah I think it’s because he was reassigned to Dakar or so er, so can you please return to the house?”

These ords Riddhe did not expect He used his hands to adjust the collar on his uniforhtly hot eyes

“I know I’ve crossed the line with this kind of request, but this old me will like to request this from you Please help the master—”

“So the son ent on the run is back?”

A co inside the roo Riddhe and Dwiyon to turn to the door at the same time That woman with a nice clean cut of blond hair had her hand on the door that was pushed opened, giving a mischievous smile on her face

“Sis…! You’re here too?”

“Of course Unlike a certain person, I do treat this place as my home”

Cynthia Marcenas answered with a tone that was that was hard to deterns of cynicislanced at Dwiyon, who quickly backed away, and sat on the sofa, causing Riddhe, who stood up as well, to sit back “Come here Let rab onto Riddhe’s head This person who appeared in frohten theup, and it was definitely Riddhe’s sister as older than him by 6 years “Oh? You seem a little bonier compared to before!” Cynthia said, and Riddhe answered, “You too, sis, you feel like a madam of the leisure class now” Half of this was Riddhe honest opinion, and half of it was a reminiscent of the past as he looked away from the face in front of him

Ever since young, Cynthia had been hailed as a talent of beauty and wits, and was recognized to be a flower in the social class, both internally and externally On the other hand, she was the owner of a strict and advanced work ethic Ever since she was a student, she started obtaining all sorts of licenses, and though the people around her kept saying that she was not sohter defied all expectations after graduation and sie her father made for her To quote her, “I proved that I can do it, so I’m happy” But naturally, it was not that easy to think that a woive up so e into the world of kinshi+p It was unknown if the world of politics poisoned Cynthia’sher life in her own house or the nursing ho reasons, and Cynthia herself felt repulsed that her mother could not fulfill the role of a wife and aexperienced a youthful period where she was flattered because of her na sister’s melancholy and rebellious nature becah this was a result of the above e as she kept her free and vibrant nature within

The reason why Riddhe could leave the house was because his sister and brother-in-law took up a stronger sense of existence as supporting pillars Cynthia earing a ladies’ suit, had make-up on her face and the aroma of perfume on her She had completely become a woman of the Marcenas’ family, and to Riddhe, who ran away fro or lonely Anyway, Riddhe really could not bring himself to face the other person Cynthia stared at her brother’s anxious face and said sharply, “Dwiyon begged for you to coht? Back home”

“You heard about it?”

“As I thought Bullseye”

As Cynthia snickered, Dwiyon gave a terrified look behind her Does this uess what Dwiyon said? Riddhe felt a chill entering his chest “But Riddhe, can you consider?” Cynthia followed up, causing hi on the knees

“Speaking of succession, isn’t brother-in-law Patrick learning? I heard that he’s going to take part in a local election…”

“Yeah, I’m here to prepare for that too I have to stand on the same side as hubby However, even if Patrick was married in, he’s still not a Marcenas”

Cynthia concluded, and one could i with her existence “It’s unexpected that you would say that…” Riddhe stood up, and Cynthia shrugged, saying, “Once I got into the world of politics, I ended up like that even if I don’t want to!”

“Dad won’t say that because of his personality, but he really wished for this If we let Patrick take over the family’s tradition, there will be mixed blood in the terrain the Marcenas’ family protected for more than a hundred years To be honest, Patrick isn’t the type to be a politician If you’re willing to come back…”

“I’M NOT MADE FOR IT EITHER!”

The atmosphere inside the house, the shadow of that unpleasant feeling will fall on ht his face to Cynthia

“If we can let new blood take over, the atloomy presence too, sis…?”

Of course, Riddhe did not understand what Cynthia was trying to say His brother-in-laas the second son of a very influential local entrepreneur, and at this point, he wasthe first secretary of her father He had very little relation with the ter about co part in a sports coood or bad, he would always be a Mr Nice Guy Riddhe knew that his brother-in-law’s har, but he understood that he was not suited to be a successor of a politician family, and that Riddhe hi this without warning Such unexpected developments probably caused the stress on his father’s heart to increase, but what could Riddhe do? Even his older sister, who used to be a very carefree person, was infected by this atmosphere, and naturally, she would start to talk about tradition and bloodline Riddhe could not cope with this gloomy atmosphere at all

Suddenly, Cynthia showed a grin and patted Riddhe on the head, saying, “You haven’t changed at all~” but while Riddhe could hear the warmth of his relative, he could only feel pain in his heart, and he, as unable to look at his sister, turned to look at the floor

“May I ask who that girl is?”

“Eh?”

“I’ht back She’s cute, isn’t she? Who is she?”

This second unexpected occurrence caused his heart to beat hard Neither Cynthia nor Dwiyon knew of the reason why Riddhe returned home this ti the house and the sounds of the helicopters rotors spinning from afar meant “Ah, she’s…Audrey Burne!” Riddhe immediately answered

“She’s the daughter of the largest stakeholder in Anahei ceremony…”

“Burne? I never heard of that name before”

Cynthia tilted her head that should have memorized the hundreds of investors’ naive a smile iating what relationshi+p you two have later on Will you be staying here tonight?”

“Yeah…”