The man was both a soldier and a Coordinator, but he didn’t work for ZAFT, nor did he work for the Earth Alliance. He was in his mid-twenties, with an asian-looking face. His brown hair was slightly wavy, and not too long, only reaching down to his shoulders, a length unbefitting of a soldier. On his face, he wore lightly-colored sunglasses. As a Coordinator, his genes had been carefully selected at birth, so he shouldn’t have had any visual impairments, meaning the sunglasses probably weren’t for vision correction. Of course, even Coordinators can gain disabilities throughout their lives, though…
He had a larger than average build, giving off the impression that he was firm and toned. He wore a modified version of the Earth Alliance military uniform, with the sleeves cut halfway for ease of movement. His uniform had no rank insignia on it.
People who met him for the first time would try to figure him out based on his appearance, but it always ended in vain. It wasn’t that they couldn’t tell anything about him. It was that there was so much information that they couldn’t put together a cohesive picture of him.
His name was Murakumo Gai, and he was a mercenary.
“Tell me the whole thing again, step by step, with more detail.” Gai’s tone was quieter than one would normally expect from his profession.
In front of him was a single, thin old man. They sat facing each other across a small desk in a small reception office. There was nothing special about the office aside from the fact that it was rather old. Gai and the old man were the only people there.
The old man had just told Gai the details of his request. His story was complicated and difficult to get the gist of.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have much time…” The old man seemed impatient. A restless expression on his face. His thin body itself looked even more unreliable.
“Let me explain again, in more detail.” With a long, deep breath, the old man began to speak slowly.
He was from the Orb Union. He didn’t tell his name, but he did say that he held a very high political position in his nation. Orb was an island nation in the South Pacific that held a neutral position during the war. So, naturally, it didn’t belong to the Earth Alliance, but it wasn’t an ally to the PLANTs either. Orb owned a space colony called Heliopolis, which, like its home country, had declared its neutrality.
However, within the supposedly neutral Heliopolis colony, development is being done on a top-secret Alliance Mobile Suit. An astonishing story, but not an impossible one.
Heliopolis was a colony built into a resource mining asteroid, with a large cylindrical residential area directly attached to the asteroid, because of this, the colony had a substantial industrial sector inside. It also had a reputation for holding Orb’s highest technological prowess.
To end the prolonged conflict, the Earth Alliance would need Mobile Suits of their own. They were acutely aware of this fact. Therefore, they gathered up all of their technology and Mobile Suit development began. When the Earth Alliance made the decision to develop Mobile Suits without ZAFT forces finding out, a neutral colony like Heliopolis was the ideal location.
“Originally, I was against it!” The old man spat.
According to his explanation, the existence of their Mobile Suits became known to ZAFT forces. That on its own was a serious issue, but behind the scenes, an even worse scenario was being set in motion.
To his surprise, Orb had secretly been developing its own Mobile Suits to defend itself by taking technology from the Earth Alliance without permission.
Codename: ASTRAY. Named for “going astray from their path,” the Mobile Suits were developed at the same time as the Earth Alliance’s own.
If such a thing were to be made public, Orb wouldn’t just become an enemy to ZAFT, but to the Earth Alliance as well. It would be impossible to remain neutral.
The development was already in its final stages. The top-secret Mobile Suits developed by both the Alliance and Orb had been completed, with only some final tests left to run. In response to the sudden change in the situation, the old man took matters into his own hands.
If ZAFT forces approach Heliopolis, the ASTRAY project should be destroyed and all of its data should be erased.
It is highly unlikely that those involved in the development of the ASTRAY project would follow such orders. But, if they tried to take the machines out of the colony by force while ZAFT forces were invading and were discovered (not just by ZAFT, but by the Alliance as well, in this case), that would be the worst case scenario.
“So, you want me to assure that the order to destroy and erase the project is carried out?”
“Yes. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I can’t trust the people at Orb. But a mercenary like yourself, if paid, can make sure that the job is done right.”
“I suppose so.”
“I’m asking for a complete erasure of the ASTRAY units and any data that may be left from it.”
“By ‘complete erasure,’ do you mean not just the actual machines and their data… but any witnesses, as well?”
“…That’s right.” After a short pause, the old man silently nodded his head.
Gai stared at the old man’s face, clearly pondering something. The old man could sense that the mercenary was judging him.
Eventually, Gai opened his mouth. “Can I ask one question?”
“…Go ahead.”
“Why not just tell the Alliance about the ZAFT forces? Then hopefully the Alliance would be able to repel the enemy and you won’t need to destroy this ASTRAY, or whatever it’s called.”
“ZAFT’s forces will move quickly. At this very moment, the battle could already have started. If the battle is unavoidable, we would like to prioritize eliminating ASTRAY as soon as possible. This is necessary if Orb is to survive.”
“But the risks are pretty high. Heliopolis could be completely overrun by ZAFT forces. Are you sure about this?” Gai spoke clearly without pinning any blame on the old man.
On the other hand, the old man looked at Gai accusingly for a moment. But, when he saw how direct Gai’s gaze was, he averted his eyes toward the floor.
“…I have no obligation to answer that…” The old man finally choked out a few words.
“…I see.” Gai’s tone was completely quiet. The old man, probably not able to stand the atmosphere in the room any longer, changed the subject.
“Well, do you have any other questions?”
“Not particularly…”
“Please, there’s no need to be hesitant.”
“How do you know that ZAFT’s forces were informed about Heliopolis?”
“You wish to confirm the reliability of this case’s information. As a mercenary, that’s only natural. Though I cannot reveal the name of our source, I can confirm that it was someone we have been in contact with for some time now.”
“So that’s how it is.” Gai nodded meaningfully.
“What is it…?”
“Maybe your source sold the information about Heliopolis to ZAFT’s forces, and then turned and sold you the information about ZAFT’s forces.”
“What are you saying…?”
The Earth Alliance is developing Mobile Suits.
With this one piece of information, the informant was able to cash two paychecks. Maybe even a third or fourth.
The old man hadn’t exactly been tricked, but he had surely been taken advantage of. He wouldn’t want Gai to figure out any more unpleasant facts, so he tried to wrap up the discussion.
“More importantly, will you take on the job? It would be no exaggeration to say that the lives of every human being in our country is on the line.”
Our country. Not including the people living within Heliopolis. Gai found himself becoming a touch cynical. That’s what happens when you take on a job that you aren’t enthused about, apparently.
If he isn’t interested, he could always turn down the job. But turning it down after hearing all of that would mean abandoning the people of Heliopolis. To say ‘It’s none of my business’ now would be…
“Alright. I’ll take the job.”
“Thank you so much. You are our nation’s savior.”
For a moment, Gai thought the old man was being sarcastic, but his eyes were shining with gratitude.
✥✥✥
Gai called upon several of his colleagues to help him with this mission. They were all freelance mercenaries, each capable of carrying out such missions on their own.
Serpent Tail.
They take on missions that the government can’t handle, but are the first to be cut off when they aren’t needed. Their ironic name is fit for a mercenary group. As the name implies, they’ve been discarded numerous times, but even on battlefields where the main unit that discarded them were completely wiped out, they came home safe.
The name of their unit is well known on the seedier side of things. They get many requests saying “I want Serpent Tail to do this for me.”
This time, Gai chose three of their members.
The first, the Coordinator Mobile Suit pilot, Elijah Keel.
He was a boy with a beautiful face. He had numerous scars all over his body and even one on his face, but rather than detracting from his beauty, they had the opposite effect, actually increasing his mysterious charm.
The second was a Natural, a man with a large network of information within the Earth Alliance, Reed Weller.
He had a thick body and even thicker nerves. He used to be an officer for the Alliance, but, according to him, he had alcohol problems and had to leave the military.
The third, another Natural, the only woman in the group and a skilled analyst and planner, Loretta Azure.
She was a single mother to one little girl, and popular among her fellow mercenaries (the men in particular). She’s kind, strong and capable, so there’s no reason to complain.
These were the three mercenaries Gai chose for this mission.
When Gai told the three about the job, they instantly got to work. They quickly got a small ship together and headed for Heliopolis. On the way, Reed, who was gathering information from the Earth Alliance’s communications network, caught onto a promising piece of information.
ZAFT’s assault on Heliopolis had begun, and seemed to be drawing to a close.
ZAFT’s forces made their move faster than Gai and the others expected. Their surprise attack went on without much of a counteroffensive, and they had reportedly succeeded in capturing four of the newly developed Alliance Mobile Suits. The Alliance was able to recover one of their recently completed battleships and escape, along with a single Mobile Suit.
Because of the damage caused by the fighting on both sides, Heliopolis collapsed.
“If we don’t hurry, we might lose the whole job. Well… on the other hand, this might actually open up even more work for us.” Reed spoke in a joking tone, but didn’t respond.
It seems that the Earth Alliance and ZAFT left Heliopolis without noticing ASTRAY. At least, no information about the top-secret Mobile Suit developments had come out. They thought that the people involved in developing the ASTRAY project erased it as ordered.
However, they can’t rest easy just yet. Even if they did erase the ASTRAY, they couldn’t know if it was completed. If the erasure was incomplete, the likelihood that a third party could discover it would only increase as time passed.
Gai sorted through each possible situation in his mind one by one. This way, if something unexpected comes up, he won’t panic.
Gai decided to leave their mothership and sortie with Elijah. His common sense dictated that there was still a long distance left to travel.
Usually, combat machines like Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors are linked to their mothership. Since the Neutron Jammer, which seals off nuclear fission was invented, there became a limit to the amount of energy that a combat machine was capable of holding. The supply of energy from the mothership is essential, making it near impossible to operate while apart from it. The mothership is the combat machine’s lifeline, to destroy it is to choke them to death.
Considering the limits of his combat machine, he was now very far from where he left the ship. But, in doing so, Gai left the mothership, which had very little fighting power, far away from the battlefield, prioritizing its safety and solving their greatest weakness at the same time.
Only someone deeply confident with their own skills as a pilot could take such a risk.
For this mission, Gai was using a ‘Moebius’ Mobile Armor that he had borrowed from their client. The Moebius is similar to a space shuttle, but with high maneuverability.
Various equipment can be attached to the lower weapons rack to suit each mission. This time, Gai chose a gatling gun. Since this mission would bring him to the inside of a colony, something that would bring destruction over a wide area, such as missiles, wouldn’t be desirable. Beams would be the most effective, but they consume a lot of energy, so on a mission like this where he doesn’t know how long it will be until they’re finished, it would be a poor strategy.
While Gai would always change his machine for each mission, Elijah was particularly fond of the mass-produced Mobile Suit, the GINN. His GINN was modified from the standard model. The biggest difference being on the head, which had a large crest on it. This wasn’t simply for decorative reasons, as the crest could function as a buster sword if the time came to it. But it should only be used in an emergency, because if it were used in its current position, there’s no telling what kind of damage it could do to the collection of precise instruments located within the head.
Elijah had a reason to love the GINN. He used to be part of ZAFT’s military.
But, for some reason, he didn’t have the heightened physical abilities that normally characterize a Coordinator. Though he was unrivaled when it came to his beauty… Elijah’s parents died when he was young, so he didn’t know if he was a Coordinator because his parents were also Coordinators, or if his genetics were modified directly. Therefore, he didn’t know if his idiosyncrasies were an accident or if he was created this way.
These idiosyncrasies made him feel that he was all looks with no substance, and it was a source of agony for him.
He began to feel a sense of inferiority around other Coordinators, and could no longer live among them. Which isn’t surprising when everyone around him was so excellent. Eventually, he left the military and became a mercenary. When he first met Gai, they were supposed to be enemies. Who knows how exactly it happened, but Gai wound up taking a liking to him, and invited him into his group.
On Gai’s Moebius and Elijah’s GINN, there were identical markings.
The image of a snake running like lightning. The mark of Gai’s mercenary group, Serpent Tail.
In the center of the mark, Gai had the number 1 and Elijah had the number 2.
Mercenaries do need to promote themselves. Therefore, they put their mark on the machines they use for each mission. With proof that they carried out their mission, it becomes easier to get more jobs.
✥✥✥
“Gai, that’s…”
Leaving the mothership and closing in on Heliopolis, Gai and Elijah caught sight of a lone transport ship. Its hull was outfitted with several cranes and an insignia on the center that consisted of a trio of wrenches.
“The Junk Guild.” The mark on the hull signified that it was a Junk Guild ship.
In this era of war, junk dealers formed guilds to protect their positions. Once collected by a junk dealer, the ownership of that junk would be transferred to said junk dealer.
It’s easy to go against this rule, but with the world’s productive capabilities so severely reduced, it would be near impossible to create anything new if recycling wasn’t promoted. Meaning that the position of junk dealers was much higher than it was before the war began.
“They’re pretty quick.” Gai gave his honest opinion. Considering that they got their intel from their client and got to work before ZAFT’s attack had even started, the junk dealers must be insanely fast for them to have arrived first.
“Hyenas are known to have a keen sense of smell.” Elijah’s reply was sarcastic.
“If they find the target before we do, it’s going to make our jobs a whole lot harder… Elijah, go take the junk dealers’ ship. And if there’s anyone already inside the colony, have the people onboard tell them we’re coming.”
“Got it.”
Even if they’re the stubborn sort of junk dealers, they wouldn’t take action if mercenaries were involved. Gai thought that by making their presence known, he’d be removing any will to resist they may have had.
Elijah’s GINN went off course and headed toward the junk dealers’ ship while Gai went straight to Heliopolis in his Moebius.
Unbeknownst to Gai and the others, another Mobile Suit was escaping Heliopolis at the same time. A one-armed Mobile Suit with a golden body. If Gai did notice the machine’s existence at that moment, his fate and the fate of his comrades would have been drastically different.
✥✥✥
Gai entered the interior of Heliopolis via the resource mining asteroid section. He had heard from the client that the Mobile Suits they were targeting were hidden in the industrial sector there.
Lots of various wreckage floated throughout the interior of the corridor. He was traveling near the axis of the colony’s rotation, so the gravity (the centrifugal force, to be precise) was weak there. There seemed to be some air left, but there wasn’t much chance that it would last.
Gai maneuvered the Moebius as if it were part of his own body and made his way through the corridor, dodging the trash littered throughout. The asteroid section that he entered through survived the collapse, but it was in a horrible state. It seemed like most of the survivors had already found their way out. Of course, the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces who destroyed it in the first place were long gone.
“By the looks of things, the ASTRAY could already be destroyed by now.”
Hopefully, confirming this fact will be all he needs to do. Gai continues on to the secret factory based on the information the client gave him.
As he moved through the passageway, keeping a close eye on the wreckage around him, his comms device suddenly chimed with an incoming transmission. It was Elijah.
“Gai, I’ve seized the ship, they really are junk dealers.”
“Do they have anyone inside the colony?”
“Three, apparently. Inside modified Mistral units. They don’t seem to be armed, though.”
The Mistral is a Mobile Armor commonly used by the Earth Alliance, a machine which would more likely be called an instrument for work rather than a weapon. It had a detachable spherical body mounted on a large base with four arms.
“I had the people on the ship tell their guys that mercenaries were coming down.”
“Right. Well, when they return to the ship, be sure to keep an eye on them.”
“You sure you don’t need me to come down there?”
“The whole interior is wrecked. Our target probably was too. There’s a good chance our only job here will be to confirm that.”
Got it. Elijah nodded, cutting his comms.
Then, just as the comms cut out, something happened.
Suddenly, a Mobile Suit appeared in front of Gai’s Moebius as he continued down the passageway. It fired the rifle in its hand.
ZHWOOM!!
A tremendous light floods the passageway, ionizing the air that had collected within.
It was the beam fired from the Mobile Suit’s rifle.
Beams are energized, accelerated particles, shot out at the speed of light. It is physically impossible to avoid them once they’re fired.
However, when Gai maneuvered the Moebius, he could dodge it easily. And as soon as he was out of the way, he was fighting back.
The gatling gun mounted on the Moebius’ belly spat out fire.
Slower than beams, but able to accelerate to a speed that a human can’t avoid, countless bullets were fired at the Mobile Suit.
Some of the shots landed, but the Mobile Suit that fired the beam disappeared down a corridor.
The other pilot surely must have been surprised, for their shot to not only be dodged, but then to be fired back upon at the same time. With so much wreckage floating around in all shapes and sizes, sensors were practically useless. The opponent must’ve fired with complete and total confidence. But Gai avoided it.
It wasn’t because of his sensors that Gai was able to dodge the attack. Naturally, it wasn’t intuition or any sort of psychic ability either. It was the result of insight that Gai had developed over the course of his many years on the battlefield.
The passageway was nearly weightless, but some air still remained. Whenever an object passed by, it pushed the air along with it. When it did, the pressure of the pushed object would be transferred to the other surrounding objects.
This phenomenon at this level isn’t something a regular person would notice, and Gai wasn’t consciously observing the floating objects either. But, his senses had been honed to respond to even the slightest change in circumstances.
Once he was aware of an enemy’s presence, parrying their attacks became easy.
Gai slowly moved his Moebius onward.
The passageway had an upper path and a lower path. The Mobile Suit came out through the lower path and escaped into the upper one.
“So this is the Mobile Suit I’m targeting… it wasn’t destroyed after all.”
The figure of the machine was visible beyond the flash of the beam. It was the same as the one shown in the photograph of the target the client had shown him. The frame itself was painted blue, with white armor covering it. Though, in the client’s photo, the frame was gold. This means that the machine he had just encountered had either been repainted since the photo was taken, or there were multiple of them in different colors. The client didn’t have a full grasp of the developmental plan, and didn’t know how many of the Mobile Suits had been completed.
One of the most striking features about these Mobile Suits was that they had two eyes on their ‘faces’, just like humans do. The design concept is clearly different from those of ZAFTs Mobile Suits, which had a single eye. The smaller backpack also gives it a silhouette that makes it look almost like a person. The backpacks were probably designed with the intent that they could be equipped differently to suit each mission. One of the advantages of a Mobile Suit is their versatility, which can be even further enhanced by adding on other equipment.
And, the beam.
That was its most startling feature. With the current state of technology, beam weapons could not be made small enough to be carried by Mobile Suits. But, the technological capabilities of the Earth Alliance and Orb had broken that bit of common knowledge.
Though there may be the problem of it consuming large amounts of energy, beam weapons have overwhelming destructive power so long as they hit their target.
The mobility of Mobile Suits combined with attack power comparable to that of a battleship. It would be considered a new kind of weapon entirely.
Though he had a rough idea of the machine’s performance based on the photo and the documents, when he actually faced the Mobile Suit, he had mixed feelings.
A shudder at the thought of having to fight it, but joy at the thought of getting to fight it. An ordinary person might find such a feeling incomprehensible, but for a mercenary like himself, it was only natural. There’s no such thing as a mercenary who hates fighting.
“I have to fight that Mobile Suit and destroy it…”
If he was going to fight it, he would need a good strategy. His opponent was in a state-of-the-art Mobile Suit. He was just in some Mobile Armor. While organizing the data about his target the client had given him in his mind, Gai’s Moebius sped down the passageway where the Mobile Suit had fallen out of view.
After going through the passageway, he found himself in a somewhat larger space. There was still air left in this room and still plenty of wreckage littered about.
Gai’s target, the Mobile Suit, was just sitting there on the floor.
Looking closer, there was someone in front of the Mobile Suit, signaling surrender by raising up both hands.
Apparently, this was the man who was piloting the Mobile Suit.
He wasn’t wearing a Normal Suit. His hair stood straight up. He seemed young, probably in his teens. He had a smile on his face, seemingly unfrightened.
“So this is the junk dealer…”
Gai remembered what Elijah told him about the junk dealers. He was pretty sure he said there were three of them within the colony. The chances that this was one of them was high. Of course, it was possible that he wasn’t, but he didn’t look like a Mobile Suit developer.
“This guy either ignored Elijah’s warning… or he’s some other, unrelated junk dealer…”
If he had ignored the warning, it must mean he wasn’t someone with a normal state of mind. A regular person wouldn’t even think to fight against a mercenary.
At this rate, he’d have to kill the pilot to destroy the Mobile Suit.
However, since this person was a junk dealer, he would need to ask him how he found his target. It’s possible that his associates could be taking the rest of the targets out of there.
Once Gai was at a good distance from his target, he stopped his Moebius. He was about 30 meters away. At this distance, he could attack his target faster than the other pilot could return to its cockpit.
Gai made sure he had his pistol on his belt, and opened the hatch on his Moebius.
“Do it now, 8!!” Suddenly, the junk dealer shouted.
And, at that moment, the Mobile Suits arm moved, and fired its beam rifle.
When Gai heard the man shout, he took action.
He kicked himself off the upper armor of the Moebius.
The beam sped right past him.
Total destruction burned away everything that once stood below his feet. His reason was blown away and fear almost overtook him. However, the unconscious awareness he had cultivated from years on the battlefield let him shake off fear’s spell. Fear takes away the freedom of not just your mind, but your body as well. If he allowed it to overtake him now, it’d mean instant death.
The stream of particles became a wind and blew past Gai’s body. The very next instant, the Moebius, which had taken a direct hit from the beam, exploded, and his body was flung away by the violent blast.
Gai, by the skin of his teeth, was unharmed.
In a formidable show of athleticism, he regained his balance in midair. In an instant, he looked around to assess the situation. The junk dealer was at the mercy of the air currents created by his own trap. Floating in empty space, he had no choice but to let the air hit his body. But Gai had total control of the power he got from kicking off the Moebius and being launched forward by the explosion. He kicked himself off the surrounding wreckage and rushed straight for the junk dealer.
“No way!!”
The junk dealer had noticed Gai’s approach, but without any foothold, all he could do was squirm.
Jumping off the wreckage, Gai sped straight toward the junk dealer.
“!!”
In an instant, he grabbed both of his hands, robbing him of his freedom. Gai could feel the surprise on his opponent’s face as he rapidly closed in on him.
“That was a pretty good plan.”
Gai was talking about the trap he had set with his Mobile Suit. Normally, you’d never expect an unmanned Mobile Suit to fire on you. Even Gai would’ve been in danger if he hadn’t sensed from the junk dealer’s expression that there was some sort of trap.
“What’s your aim here…!?” The junk dealer shouted.
“I’m here to destroy that Mobile Suit.” Gai responded, quietly, then threw him backward. Inversely, throwing his opponent also pushed Gai forward. His body moved toward the cockpit of the Mobile Suit.
“Agh! You asshole!” As Gai entered the cockpit, the thrown junk dealer shouted. He must have hit some of the floating wreckage, as he was clutching his head.
“Dammit… So you’re here to take that thing back?”
Gai unhooked the pistol from his belt and aimed it at the junk dealer.
“Our objective is to destroy this thing. And get rid of any witnesses along with it.”
“What!? That thing is mine! There’s no way I’d hand it over to someone who’d destroy it! It’d go against my pride as a junk dealer! And it’d be a big waste!” That last part was a very junk dealer-like thing to say.
Gai looked at the screaming man in front of him and realized that he liked him. He’d give his life just for some treasure he had found. What a straight-forward way to live.
Gai took off the helmet of his Normal Suit and looked at the man honestly.
“Ah, such an interesting way to view things, but… considering the situation, what exactly can you do to stop me?”
In that moment, Gai may have faintly expected the man’s next move. But, no matter how much he could anticipate it, there was no way to escape the situation.
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m the luckiest guy in the cosmos. After all, I struck gold by finding these Mobile Suits just a little bit ago today!”
“One does not survive in combat on luck alone…” Gai felt a twinge of disappointment.
Even mercenaries believe in luck, but no one has ever been able to live long by relying on luck alone.
What was I expecting from this guy?
Doubting himself, he put all of his strength into the trigger of the pistol in his hand.
That’s when it happened.
A warning rang out, cutting the tension between them.
It was emitted by a computer-like device that was placed in the cockpit of the Mobile Suit. Looking closer, it was actually connected to the instruments of the cockpit. It seemed like this is how the unmanned shot from before was set up.
The monitor lit up, and Elijah’s face appeared on it.
“Gai! We’ve got an emergency! We’ve been double-crossed! Our clients are attacking us! I need back-up now! Come back here!” His expression showed that he was pretty distressed.
His eyes were wet with tears. Elijah was mentally weak and would sometimes panic when met with unforeseen circumstances.
The client had turned against them.
Something like this wasn’t unusual in a business like theirs. The important thing to remember was to never allow a client to betray you. The job of a mercenary is to build a reputation of trust and skill. If you can’t deal with it when a client betrays you, you won’t get any clients in the future.
“Seems like according to these clients of yours, ‘get rid of any witnesses’ applies to you too!!” The man in front of Gai had a victorious look on his face.
For a moment, he wondered if it was his luck that caused the client to betray them… but he put the foolish thought out of his mind.
That couldn’t be possible.
Gai had to get back to Elijah immediately.
Of course, it wouldn’t take much time to put a little pressure on his pistol’s trigger to shoot the junk dealer in front of him. But… if the client had betrayed him, he didn’t need to follow his mission to eliminate anyone who knows about the secret Mobile Suits anymore.
He really is a lucky guy. Muttering these words, Gai chuckled wryly in his mind. This was totally his pace. Strangely enough, though, he felt no regret.
“I’ll be borrowing this!” Gai holstered his pistol and threw the computer-like object out at the junk dealer.
With that, he closed the cockpit door.
The Moebius he used to get there had been destroyed. The only way to get back to Elijah was to use this thing.
Outside the cockpit, the junk dealer was shouting something. Probably just complaining.
Gai quickly checked the systems, ignoring him. The energy was almost full. Nothing was wrong with the system.
However, he found several inadequacies in the operating system. It seemed like the coordination between the OS and the machine itself hadn’t been completely worked out yet. The OS was a kind he had never seen before. Were they using the same OS that the Alliance Mobile Suits do?
If so, this operating system was designed to be used by Naturals and it wouldn’t have been as simple for Orb to adjust it. With brilliant, piano-like grace and speed, Gai rewrote the OS to match the reaction time of a Coordinator.
Coordinators can operate Mobile Suits with a reflexive speed that is impossible for Naturals. The strength of a Mobile Suit is not just a difference in the performance of the hardware. The difference in pilots is just as much a part of a Mobile Suit’s superiority. Even if the Earth Alliance were to develop powerful Mobile Suits, the superiority of ZAFT’s Mobile Suits would not go away unless the issue of pilot quality was solved as well.
After finishing up the rewriting of his OS, Gai flew the Mobile Suit out to where Elijah was waiting.
Inside the cockpit of the Blue ASTRAY, Gai was astonished.
The ASTRAY moves exactly as he wishes. He could move it as if it were his own body. As a mercenary, he had plenty of experience with Mobile Suits, but he had never felt that he was controlling it like it was his own body like he did with this machine.
Obviously, humanoid machines are modeled after humans. But, the way that they’re operated requires completely different movements than human limbs do. Pulling a lever moves the hands, and stepping on pedals moves the machine forward.
The ASTRAY requires the same type of motions to maneuver it. But it doesn’t feel strange at all.
Is it the technological capabilities of the Earth Alliance and Orb… or am I just compatible with it…? Gai quickly stopped thinking about it. The reasons weren’t important. For now, he just wanted to enjoy the new Mobile Suit. This was the moment when Gai, who had always switched machines in accordance with each mission, had found a favorite machine for the first time.
✥✥✥
“Why would the client betray me, now of all times!?”
As the junk dealer said, it is probably to dispose of them as further “witnesses.” But then, they should have done so after confirming that the mission was complete. It’s unnatural for them to attack during this stage.
Maybe the client had drastically changed their thinking. As in, they no longer wanted to destroy and erase the ASTRAY project.
Maybe the old man who had asked Gai to do the job had already been killed. And a faction that seeks to protect the ASTRAY was taking extra action in attacking the mercenaries.
It was entirely possible.
If so, it would be a different Orb faction attacking them, not the client.
Whatever the reason, a mercenary can’t just tuck his tail between his legs and run away from an enemy that had attacked him.
Gai tried to establish communication with Reed back on the mothership. To confirm the situation outside. Though he’d be able to get “live” information by contacting Elijah, he needed to avoid adding to his burden during battle.
As soon as communication was established, Reed told him what was going on.
The client’s forces are made up entirely of Moebius Mobile Armors. More than 20 in total. If Elijah was dealing with all of that in a single Mobile Suit, his urgency makes sense. It’s said that the ratio in strength between Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors is normally 1:3~5. The force Elijah was dealing with was nearly six times greater.
“Reed, you got any friends over there?”
The ‘friends’ Gai was referring to were people from the Earth Alliance, which Reed used to belong to. He had a rather large following when he was a military officer, and that had continued even after he left.
“Maybe, should I try to contact them? I doubt they’ll send any reinforcements.”
“Just get in touch with them. Make sure to be as secretive as possible.”
The last thing the client would have wanted would be for them to call reinforcements. Not just because of the fighting power, but if a third party were to see the fight, they would start to wonder “Why are they fighting?” Tracing this line of questioning back to the ASTRAY wouldn’t be very difficult.
“I see, got it. But, are you sure? If you drive the enemy away, you won’t be able to take home a grand victory.” As usual, Reed’s joke didn’t make him laugh.
“It’s better to only fight battles you can win than to play the hero and lose.”
“Sure, that’s true.” Reed nodded as if they were talking about something else.
✥✥✥
A large number of Moebius Mobile Armors close in on a single GINN Mobile Suit.
By nature, there is a gap in combat power between Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors. Mobile Suits, with their greater mobility, have the overwhelming advantage, but in this battle, there were just too many of them.
A great number of Mobile Armors were fighting with all they had. Though he was able to dodge any fatal blows, the damage to his machine was building up.
“D… damn it!”
Elijah was a professional mercenary too.
He may not have had the athletic abilities of a Coordinator, but he had all the confidence and skill he needed. But, all the same, at that moment, the thought “I’m finished!” was floating through his mind.
An enemy attack grazed his shoulder, blowing the armor off of it. The damage itself wasn’t serious, but the recoil from the attack caused a momentary loss of its posture.
The GINN’s OS shrieked as it quickly analyzed the situation and tried to automatically straighten itself out. However, because the armor had been blown off, the balance of the machine’s weight had been disturbed, so it would take some time to regain control.
In the middle of an enemy fleet, this would mean certain death.
“I’m finished!”
Just as he had really given up, his enemy stopped moving for a second.
“Why?”
While thinking this, Elijah took this chance to regain control of his Mobile Suit. The enemy was on the move again, but not in the way Elijah had expected. They had retreated, leaving only 10 of their machines.
“What’s going on here…?”
It was the result of Gai and Reed’s strategy. The enemy, fearing that reinforcements might come, began to retreat, just in case. Ten remained, perhaps thinking that a force of that size could take out Elijah.
But that plan very quickly fell through.
From Heliopolis, a single beam fired and instantly destroyed one of the 10 machines.
“Wha!?” Elijah looked in the direction the beam shot out from and saw an unfamiliar Mobile Suit.
“Looks like I made it just in time!” The transmission came in immediately. It was the voice he had been waiting for.
“That Mobile Suit… isn’t that our target?”
“I’ll explain later! Let’s do this!”
Gai and Elijah’s counterattack against the enemy Mobile Armors had begun. The machine’s performance was truly formidable. One after the next, it destroyed the enemies that Elijah had fought for his life against.
In the ASTRAY, Gai was able to read all of the enemy’s movements. As soon as Gai sensed his enemy, the blue ASTRAY would react.
“There!” In the same moment that he thought the word, the ASTRAY’s rifle would light up and a beam would destroy the enemy. Even Elijah, who was on his side, shuddered at its power.
“Gai… you…”
Gai’s usually high combat abilities had been completely unleashed with the ASTRAY at his command, and the ASTRAY, too, seemed to be more powerful than ever with such a great pilot.
The enemy Mobile Armors concentrated their attack on the powerful new enemy that had emerged. They moved to surround Gai’s ASTRAY, and attacked from all sides at once. An attack that aimed to take full advantage of their superior numbers. In this situation, there probably was no better strategy than this. But even their greatest attack couldn’t have taken Gai down.
Gai dodged the bombardment, one attack after another, and destroyed his enemies at the same time. Throwing his enemies off balance and then returning with abnormally accurate fire. Each time a light would flash from the ASTRAY’s rifle, the number of enemies would decrease. In less than a minute, there was only one remaining.
“Just one more!”
However, that one remaining machine did something unexpected. For some reason, it started moving toward the junk dealers’ ship. Maybe they had mistaken it for Serpent Tail’s mothership.
Gai held up his rifle to snipe the enemy Moebius.
He realized that he only had a single shot’s worth of energy left.
His finger put slight pressure on the trigger.
“….!” The next moment, Gai’s eyes widened in shock. His beam hadn’t fired yet. No, it wouldn’t be fired.
The Moebius that was heading for the junk dealers’ ship was suddenly hit by an object flung at a high speed and knocked completely off balance.
The thrown object was the shield of a Mobile Suit, and something was flying full speed along the same path as the shield.
An ASTRAY.
But it was different from the Blue Frame that Gai was piloting. This one had a red frame.
“You found another one!” Gai shouted in his mind. He imagined that junk dealer’s face on the head of the flying Mobile Suit.
The red Mobile Suit flew at high speed, pulled two beam sabers out from where they had been attached on its back, and cut through the Moebius as it passed by.
It wasn’t a particularly smart way to fight, but he thought it suited a junk dealer like him.
“How’s that!? See what I mean by best luck in the cosmos!?” A transmission was sent out from the red Mobile Suit. He remembered the voice. It really was that pilot, the junk dealer.
Inside the cockpit of the blue ASTRAY, Gai was baffled.
“Is he picking a fight…?”
During the battle inside the colony, Gai was able to overwhelm the junk dealer. Despite his superiority in terms of strength that the ASTRAY gave him, the difference in their levels of combat experience let Gai take the victory.
This time around, they were both piloting Mobile Suits with similar performance. However, the energy left in Gai’s Blue Frame was very low. Even his most dependable weapon, the beam rifle, only had a single shot left. The Red Frame, as far as he could tell, didn’t have a rifle. Of course, it could just still be hidden somewhere…
If a fight broke out, he wasn’t an opponent that he wouldn’t be able to beat, but he didn’t really want to fight him either. With the enemy in front of him, Gai felt lost.
“That luck of yours… did you want to test if it affects me?” To shake off his hesitation, Gai sent him a message.
“Sure thing~!”
The moment he heard his opponent’s reply, Gai’s body went into a combat stance. The only reason he didn’t attack immediately was because he was trying to plan the best timing to make use of his remaining energy. If his energy was full, he would’ve pulled the trigger immediately.
“Buuuut…” The Red Frame’s transmission continued. “There’s no need for that, I know my luck is the strongest thing in the world! Besides, if we fought now, we’d damage both of these expensive machines. And I’m not about to do that.”
He really was a lovable guy. Gai lowered his ASTRAY’s rifle.
✥✥✥
Gai and the others boarded the junk dealers’ ship.
After that, they both put down their weapons.
When Gai received the transmission asking for them to board the junk dealers’ ship, he didn’t hesitate.
No matter how you look at it, the machine he was now using was borrowed. He would need to return it. The mission to destroy it was over and the junk dealer who found it first had a right to it. Of course, there’s no telling what kind of organization might target him now that he had such a dangerous thing in his possession, but that wasn’t Gai’s problem.
On the bridge of the ship, Gai met the junk dealers.
There were four of them. First, a woman who seemed like a leader with an improper look on her face. She seemed to have been on the ship throughout the whole incident. The other three were the ones who had been inside of the colony. The boy who had attacked him in the ASTRAY, a tall man who looked to be the picture of diligence, and lastly, a girl who seemed to be a bit frightened. It was difficult to tell by looking what could’ve brought these four together as a team.
Well, I suppose our group would seem strange to other people as well. While looking at these junk dealers, Gai’s thoughts brought a wry smile to his face.
The boy who had attacked Gai was the first to open his mouth.
“I’m Lowe. Lowe Guele. What’s your name?”
“Murakumo Gai.”
“Looks like we’re in the same boat. They’ll be coming after you guys, too.” Lowe spoke with a cheery tone.
“Seems that way.” Gai answers without letting his facial expression show.
Despite not being chased because they “saw something they shouldn’t have,” as the junk dealer seemed to think, it was difficult to imagine that Orb would leave Gai or the others alone. In that way, it didn’t change the fact that people would be coming after them.
“About the blue Mobile Suit… just take it.”
Gai was a little taken aback.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, after all, you protected our ship too. ‘A debt owed must always be repaid.’ That’s what my late grandad used to say!”
“…In that case, I’ll accept without reservation.”
“See ya, though I feel like we’ll probably meet again.”
“Yeah, but at that point, we might be enemies.”
“Hey, that’s life.” The junk dealer laughed and replied with a pleasant smile.
“…Heh.”
Gai found himself letting out a laugh of his own. He really was a funny guy.
And thus, the ASTRAYs were let out into the world.
The Blue Frame with Gai and his group of mercenaries.
The Red Frame with Lowe, the junk dealer.
In a world where battle whirls on, these two will have checkered fates.
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Translated by TrafalgarLog
Editing by celico, ciel (nonbinarysunset), and Watt
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