Vol 6 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2

Part 1

Marida Cruz was pushed hard by the back, and nearly fell as she barely ht The door was then closed, and the loud sound rang behind her

There was darkness all around her From the echo, she knew that she was in a rather wide place Marida Cruz was not so reckless as to make a careless move, and she first closed her eyes, took a deep breath, let her eyes get used to the darkness, and scanned the place There were no s or anything similar inside this roo installation laly high Is this a ht about that, the handcuffs locking her hands let out a slight sound, and she felt them fall off

(Ple Twelve)

The handcuffs that were remotely reh the darkness Marida’s body jerked as she used her sight to track the source of this sound

(That is your naht? Answer me You should obey your master’s instructions)

The voice that echoed throughout wasMarida’s heart and soul Is this a new kind of experih for the past 10 days as her body and even her ated, and she inadvertently clenched her fists that were free The continued use of drugs in the experiments caused her head to hurt, but she felt that her body had recovered to the point of adapting to the 1G gravity She was only wearing a thin surgical tunic, but her movements were rather unrestrained

If they had any intent to check on her body functions, it would not be a bad idea for her to move as much as possible and treat it as rehabilitation Marida exerted strength on her legs that ht turn limp if she relaxed, “You’re not my master” and answered with a calm voice At that ly with a voice, and her sights were dyed completely white

Marida inadvertently raised her hands to block and narrowed her eyes to stare at the source of light Her vision that recovered several times faster than an ordinary person shoo silhouettes with their backs facing the light She could see the silhouette of a wos instru towards her Is the ht secretly as she stared at the duo that were undefended, not wielding handguns or tasers, and her body froze as she took the stare that was several times more intense

The woainst her, and she stared right at Marida “It’s dangerous” Alberto said as he tugged at the woman by the sleeve, “It’s fine” but was shaken aside by the woh-heeled shoes stood about 3m away from Marida

“This girl can’t protect herself on her oithout her master’s instructions”

Just like what she heard at first, that voice with a heavy pressure surrounded Marida The woman did not look away fro, “Isn’t that right?”

“If that’s not the case, it’s impossible for her to be tortured till such an inhumane state, and she can possibly escape whenever she wants to, right?”

The woman lowered her stare at Marida’s stons of pity If the woh the results of the checks, she would definitely know that Marida’s body was “incomplete” in some sense At that moment, Marida deeply felt the humiliation that caused her body to tremble, but she immediately turned her lips into a s misunderstood here” and said to the woman with a restrained tone,

“I am a Neo Zeon officer now I have a duty to protect myself as a soldier I don’t need a master to instruct me”

“I can choose to take you as a hostage and escape fro experi with silence as she darted her eyes to look at the dark space in front of her that looked like a hangar “Iave Marida an unwavering stare

“But you sure are pitiful, having to come up with such a reason to protect yourself”

“Pitiful…?”

“That’s because you’re trapped by the logic of men Don’t you feel that omen should live more freely?”

The testing eyes of the wohtly, and she smiled as she stepped towards Marida, who inadvertently backed away

She was siht district filled with sour stench—and she definitely could not allow herself to let her guard down against these people ould smile in such a way They would first let the other party relax before going rough Marida was able to sense the fear alathered her concentration on the woman’s actions under her e, shocking her

“I’m not a soldier, and I’ I want to ask of you”

The woman’s tone was different from before as it had a business-like flair She reached her hand forward, and Alberto, aited on standby like a shadow, approached her, and handed the notepad terminal over Then, the wo There was a 3-panel display of a mobile suit, and Marida’s stare was fixated on the display before she could even think

It was the silhouette of a Federation-styled machine; and the head that formed its features and the unique structure of this machine were even asped as she saw this, and Martha did not look away from her once as she said with a hard and stern voice, “We call it the “Banshee””

“I hope that you’ll become its pilot”

The face that spoke was vastly different froht district, and looked like a powerful elite who had established her authority Marida could not believe her instincts at first, and looked cautiously at Martha

“I suppose you understand very well that this isn’t a machine that a pilot can use Only a completed Cyber-Newtype like you will be able to accomplish this, and you can definitely fulfill its capabilities to 100or even more”

Martha closed the terminal and handed it over to Alberto behind her Marida felt an inti chill froht in her expression

“The problem is that you are too complete, and it’s hard for us to carry out adjustments on you However, I feel that a pilot like this is able to become the pilot of the “Banshee” It is not in my interest to put in a puppet whose memories can be swapped easily What I want is…”

The skin of a powerful elite was shed away, and Martha again showed a smile that was hard to comprehend What exactly is with this woer that was as thin as a lath approach her, and she forcefully waved it aside

“I said that I’m a Neo Zeon officer There’s no reason for me to help you”

“That’s just you trying to convince yourself that Your soul actually wants to fly somewhere else…”

“Even so, I don’t want to fly in the place you provide You ate me if you want me to help you”

This woerous Marida was able to sense this as she felt an irritating poison on her that would spread to everyone related to her “Y, you, you should watch your onistic look at Martha while ignoring Alberto who said this with an agitated voice At that moment, the smile disappeared off Martha’s face, and she bellowed, “You shut up!”

Alberto’s silhouette could be seen with the backlight, his shoulders tre At the next moment, Martha’s expression then broke into a smile as she stared at Alberto that said, “you should understand, right?”

“This is a conversation betoht?”

Martha’s stared at Alberto and his outstretched arm, and patted down his abdoth to be sucked away fro with its tail between its legs, Marida immediately looked away from them

Their relationshi+p was not just that of superior and subordinate, and they were not just relatives Marida could sense some sort of twisted rotten presence of a man and a woman—and Martha quickly shot a heinous stare over that was about to pierce her, causing her to look in front in shock

“This girl’s instincts as a woman are enhanced too? What a troublesome woman…!”

Even though you’re just a created being Martha gave such an unexpected tone froht hand above her head The hand that was raised did not swing down at her as this tihts in front of Marida went out, and the ones at the back lit up the dark and diar The object that was shrouded in darkness appeared in front of Marida’s eyes, causing her to be unable to breath for a few seconds

The indigo coloredof darkness had its li weakly, and it had a wrecked monoeye and a burnt black head It was definitely a mobile suit, but the curved profile clearly indicated that it was not a Federation e binders on its shoulders and the refined profile on the front end of their toes were part of a product of civilization not created under Earth’s gravity—ould be called the eht in front of her eyes After the war, the Zeon remnants that escaped to the asteroid belt built this machine to preserve their memories of their country In a way, it could be viewed as a syia in this abnormally shaped machine…

“This is the mass-produced “Qubeley”, a machine all of you piloted”

Martha said Marida’s heart beat her chest wildly, and she was unable to breathe easily as she clutched onto her tunic

That’s right, that’s the machine I, we rode on It can be considered part of our bodies, and it should have been destroyed with my sisters, so why did it appear here? Whose machine was it? Marida felt puzzled The machine serial number on the left torso was burnt black and unidentifiable , and the serial nus could not be seen as they were blocked by the shadow of the toes The binders on its shoulders were sagging weakly, and the giant leaned on the wall as it sluhts were laid on the cockpit hatch She stared right at it, not h to cause the hatch to explode, but the ejection pod showed no signs of shooting out The machine did not take a direct hit, and the dim cockpit that was opened looked coht be other survivors—

Suddenly, she felt goosebu up in her I this out started to tremble wildly, and she hurriedly looked away from the machine in front of her She did not knohy her body showed such a rejection that was so strong she could not believe it Perhaps there was so on this world, and for soically

It felt like a night fear, she subconsciously backed off No, I won’t be able to remain as myself if I stay here I have to leave this place as far as possible I have to hurry and get away froht

“Look closely”

Marida got grabbed by the ared entered Martha’s clutches, and her chin was held as she was forced to face the machine

“That’s how you look You’re still inside the cockpit of that machine Even if you want to act as the human called Marida Cruz, your soul is still imprisoned in there”

The dark opening of the cockpit entered her eyes, but she was unable to close them She could shake the hand off if she wanted to, but her body could not exert strength at all Stop it! Her own intent was unable to become a voice, and she could only face her separate identity helplessly

“Do you knohy that’s so? That’s because you’re a product of ht until their heads bleed, as a tool of war You’re created from a woman’s womb, so don’t you find it unnatural?”

Marida eating, and her heart was beating faster That’s right, I’m just a tool Once I lost my purpose for battle, I could only be used to satisfy ht that brewed in her body, shocking her so badly that she started to twist and struggle Martha’s hand however re Marida’s face spread their icy body temperature onto her

“But no in, it doesn’t matter You do exist as yourself after all, and there’s no need for you to restrain yourself to fulfillyou out of that machine”

Martha’s icy cold fingertips went down from the face to the throat, and then stroked past the curves in front of the chest Marida felt like her strength was sapped away coht

“The world outside is interesting too There won’t be anything that will restrain you, and you can use your own strength freely As long as I have this strength of yours, it will be possible to restructure this world Come with me Let’s walk out of this dark place and save this world that followsto its doom ”

The lips that broke into a sloomy eyes The “Qubeley” that had its monoeye blown off overlapped with her face, and Marida could not help but let out a voiceless scream

Part 2

The club for the tee shot swung down, and the unique sound of a hard ball gliding through the wind as it passed through the sky highly The ball that was sent flying flew above the fairway entered the blue sky, and the eyes could not find it

To an outsider, this shot was nicely hit, and there was a little applause from the crowd The man understood that this should be a forolf at all, and he had no intent of ht Noa stared at the back of the round, who picked up the tee and handed the club to his caddy Ronan seeed soround and showed a sht

“This way, please”

Patrick Marcenas, as standing beside Ronan, seemed to notice his intent and whispered Once he heard the news froht to the dock at Sasebo to welco to introduce himself as the public secretary as he led the other ht understood that Patrick was showing respect to hins of actual contempt under his polite and attentive appearance, but he felt uneasy about this overly exaggeratedaside this, there was also no reason why he had to olf course

Ronan, earing a pink polo shi+rt and a visor, withdrew hier seat of the cart With the overly serious look froht walked towards theHe continued to rereenery on the course, “Sorry to make you come all the way here” and spoke up first

“I wanted to invite you to our house, but unfortunately, the outside world is sticking its eyes too tightly on us”

“No…ould you, as the chairman of the Settlement Issues Council, have with a soldier like me?”

Bright restrained his tone, but still expressed his intent Ronanlook on the otherthat, he turned his sights to the wide golf course

“This isn’t popular in space”

Bright felt that his ansas not appropriate, but he had nothing else to answer At that moment, the sound of the wind could be heard as the next player swung the next shot, and Ronan applauded courteously as he said with a wry look, “You’re really an honest man!”

“It’s good to know that you’re a man just like what they said, but at this point, I really have to ask you to play along for now I hope that you’ll callat the clubhouse”

The sharp glance briefly showed the ht politician, as he then showed a casual solf cart At that htly as he nearly tuht wanted to reach out his arht back at hi understood that the ‘skit’ had started, he frowned “What’s wrong?” the other players asked as they showed their concern

“It’s fine, don’t worry I’ve not been feeling well this ”

“That won’t do Do you want to head back first?”

“I guess, since I ed to pull quite a lead in the last round…”

With the caddy supporting hiht did not look at the back of the ed looks with Patrick, did not look at the other players who seeround

There was an ireen carpet of the 7th hole To soldiers, who did not haveout, there were not many chances for them to walk aolf course Bright refused to sit on the cart together with Patrick, who invited him on, and decided to walk to the clubhouse as Ronan, ould reach back earlier, would need so Since there were eyes froht determined that it would be best if they did not move at the same time

Bright was invited to ride on the private jet at the Sasebo factory located in the Eastern half of Asia, and olf course in Atlanta on North A down here gave a sense of appropriate greenery, and it felt coht huolf course were lined up neatly like hoas in a colony, but they did not give the feeling that they were able to hide the climate of the landscape This lifeforce that could not be restrained was Earth’s characteristic, and as Bright understood that he was a su back, he realized that he had been e and the docks ever since he cae to walk under the sun properly for once He viewed this as a temporary solace; that it was not a bad idea to bask in the forest of a high-class golf course To him, as in the latter half of the 30s, a lack of exercise was an issue he could not take lightly

But once he takes a step out of this place, he would have no choice but to understand the intention why Ronan summoned him As the commander of the independent force Londo Bell, the politicians would view him as a pawn that could be sued this private h a minister of the General Staff, there had to be some reason why the other party took the trouble to look for him The situation was such that they had to keep it a secret froovernment—either way, he hoped not to be ferried to the Marcenasstuffed into the trunk As he played around with this iination that could not be considered a joke, he strolled past the turf that was ht of Southern USA caused his head, which was still not used to the jet lag, to hurt somewhat

Part 3

At this time, there were quite a few shi+ps equipped with Minovsky Particle Engines An I-field was a forcefield that was created through the Minovsky Particles that were forines, and the spacecraft had an I-field that covered the bottoh the recoil caused by the conductive material All spacecrafts could operate within the ath this product of Minovsky physics In other words, the era of ‘space battleshi+ps’ flying in the skies of Earth had come

However, except for a minority, those spacecrafts lacked the ability to return back to earth Even if they could use the Ballute to enter Earth, they could not leave the gravity field with their own thrusters and enter space again That would be due to the insufficient output from a Minovsky Craft Once it landed onto, it would require an external force like a booster or a mass driver to send it back into space As they resembled the Earth orbital fleet, operation flexibility and costs were issues that were commonly deemed necessary for improvement as soon as possible

In the end, there was a short-terh output Minovsky crafts that was basically achieved the previous year This engine that was the basis for the new generation was first installed on the flagshi+p of Londo Bell, “Ra Cailuravitational conditions The commander of this shi+p was also the coht Noa, and ht’s personal experiences played a part in his no the One Year War, there was a spacecraft with a Minovsky craft on it that had the ability to return to Earth It was one of the few exceptions— the Pegasus-class assault landing carrier “White Base”, and after the war, this shi+p was hailed as a symbol of the Federation arht was promoted to Captain

A young man as almost 20 years old was made a candidate officer due to the circumstances of battle, was ordered to command the first mobile suit mothershi+p that Federation had, and finally became a crucial hlighted the end of the great War, but to him, this was simply a result of coincidence It was coincidence that the port was attacked by the Zeon forces, that all the i the captain, were killed; it was also coincidence that he led a few lucky survivors, soee civilians inside the shi+p, but were able to break through the enele shi+p and attracted the attention of the Zeon arst coincidences that the prototype mobile suit that was recently completed at that ti accomplishments, to a point that the entire Zeon army called it the “White Devil” Without these coincidences, the High Command of the Federation military would not have set their eyes on “White Base”, and Bright would most probably be deployed to other positions If he was not forced to lead the shi+p alone as bait, he would not have ended up being a crucial figure in the final battle, and the responsibility that rested on hi to someone else

But in fact, the reputation of “White Base” had spread throughout the land The ex-captain was nominated for this experiment because the mass-production plan of new Minovsky crafts with equivalent capabilities was began Thus, Bright secretly wondered that his life was controlled by the coincidence that happened 17 years ago, as a ht of him and invited him to his private residence to talk He was not stuffed into the trunk, but he held his breath for allass on it He walked through the doors of the Marcenas’ residence, and finallyinto the office Patrick waited for a short while before heading back to the election firm, and nobody else came in after the old butler served tea The at history this political fa down on his mind and body that had no affinity for politics

However, the greenery of trees that could be seen through the ere stunning, and Bright could only concern hi outside thebefore Ronan sat down on the sofa opposite The verdant forest that surrounded the reenery of a golf course, radiating a charm that seemed like it would s the entire land fully if it was left alone Bright recalled that his wife once ht shi+ning inside the colony, reflected off mirrors, but they did not have any flavor In contrast, one could sht had on Earth, and she did mention that it was a presence even science could not determine that Earth became a nursery of life No matter how they recreated an environment similar to Earth, it would be impossible for them to create Life even after a billion years—

“Your son is studying Botany in High School, right?”

It sees as he sat down on the sofa in the office and spoke up Feeling soht turned his eyes to the front and answered, “Yes, you do know” as he seemed like he was stumped for words

“I sent soetation that was fro hi here I can recoetation inspector”

Ronan’s stare showed no other intent, but these words clearly showed the clear disparity in identities between theht sensed that the otherto pull him over, and answered back with a cautious voice “Hm…”

“You have a daughter at ho operator of “White Base”, and I heard that she’s a direct relative of the president of Yashi+ma heavy duty Company”

“That was all the in the past as she gave up on the right to take over”

Bright’s tone sounded like he wanted to interrupt, and seemed to clearly show Ronan that he had an overly clean life Ronan gave a wry smile and continued, “If we mention about your exploits, Captain, you were e, and beca the Gryps Conflict, you joined the Anti-Earth Union Group and clashed against the infamous titans nu the 2 Neo Zeon Wars, and now you’re the commander of Londo Bell…I never expected you to have no ah you have such talent”

“Talent?”

“Looking at your experience and popularity, Captain, the public and organizations will embrace you No matter how dire the area is, you will definitely be elected as long as our political party is supporting from behind”

Ronan showed a sht did not expect the other man to flatter him, and could only take a sip of red tea

“Even though that kind of response froood It’s because you’re such a person that I want to request so out of you”

Ronan opened the docuetting straight to the point now, Bright thought as he briefly browsed through the file that was not considered thick

It seemed to be the data of a space ement authority had, and it contained the specifics of the shi+pping coistration that were submitted, some battlefields, and what looked like a photo of the shi+p in question rushi+ng into the atmosphere included inside It was hard to tell, but one could see so like a mobile suit on the red-hot shi+p body

“This is a disguised merchant shi+p of the “Sleeves” It landed on Earth approxio”

Ronan said, and Bright looked back at the photo of the merchant shi+p called the “Garencieres”

“Currently, the ar for it I hope that your shi+p can join in their search”

The test-shi+p “Ra Cailuht had already heard frohting against Neo Zeon in a skirht could not help but lift his head, but could only hold in his words and shut his mouth the moment he heard Ronan continue, “I have another condition”

“I hope that you can find it faster than any other squads searching for it and act according to my orders Of course, I will try my best to allow you to et to you first”