We’re back with a spooky one
Category: Uncategorized
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We’ve got another one done!!! (Well, there are two bonus chapters still but they’re bonuses from toys, this is the end of this story) I’m going to finish the Re:Master edition of Tokita’s manga with X ASTRAY after those two bonus chapters while continuing through the novels and then we’ll be onto DESTINY :)
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Bear with me because this is a bunch of smaller posts in one and this is the most convenient way to share it without clogging up any feeds, I’m releasing the first 8 chapters of Astray B all at once because the I had them all sitting waiting for editing and the editing got done now, so the releases of this will be a bit more sporadic until the main novel is finished, I’ll include both tumblr links and back-up wordpress links for the rare few who my tumblr domain is for some reason blocked by their IP
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The sector where the colony Liteiria had once existed.
Now, Liteiria is gone. With a roar, the colony left for Jupiter.
When Gai arrived, his mission was to “erase a missing nuclear weapon.” His client: the Earth Alliance.
With the invention of the Neutron Jammer, which could seal off nuclear fission, nuclear weapons had been rendered useless. To deal with this, a plan was hatched to dump some of the remaining nuclear weapons into the sun. However, before this plan could be executed, some of the nuclear weapons suddenly went missing.
Why would someone steal useless weapons? Did this mean that someone had a use for them? The Earth Alliance guessed that the answer was that an invention that could counteract the effects of the Neutron Jammer had been created. If such a device existed, it would’ve been a game-changer in the fight against the PLANTs. The Alliance immediately launched an investigation. And hired Gai, a mercenary, to assist in that investigation. He was to work with the Alliance fleet during this process.
During the investigation, a mysterious message came in informing them that the missing nuclear weapons were on the neutral colony Liteiria. Gai went to the colony ahead of the fleet in his Blue Frame.
There, Gai ran into Elijah, who had come to Liteiria for a different mission.
Elijah had just finished a battle with his dearest friend, Vair.
His Mobile Suit was damaged and Elijah looked exhausted.
“What the hell happened here?”
Gai heard the details of the situation there from Elijah.
In truth, Liteiria had been converted into a giant spaceship. The nuclear weapons had been brought to the colony to be used as a power source. The people of Liteiria had converted the colony into a spaceship in an attempt to escape the war-torn Earth Sphere.
“Well, I guess my job is done too.”
Gai muttered to himself as he listened to Elijah’s explanation. Gai’s job from the Alliance was to “figure out where the nuclear weapons were” and “figure out why they were taken.” He had the answers to both questions now. In other words, his work there was done. The client might not have been satisfied with those results, but that wasn’t Gai’s problem.
Then, Gai watched the glow of the nuclear flames as the colony left. In the space where the colony once was, the ships of the junk dealers who had been in charge of converting it into a spaceship remained, along with some scaffolding that appeared to have been used in the process.
“…Do you read me, Serpent Tail 1! Serpent Tail 1!”
A message chimed in the Blue Frame’s cockpit.
Serpent Tail 1 was the code-name for Gai’s Mobile Suit during this mission.
“I read you.”
“Thank goodness. We’re engaging a Mobile Suit of unknown affiliation in Liteiria’s airspace. Please lend us a hand!”
The person on the other end was the client, a soldier from the Earth Alliance. His panicked tone showed that he had been driven into a corner.
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to decline.”
“What!? What do you think you’re doing!? You wanna betray your client!?”
In contrast to Gai’s calm tone, the Alliance soldier’s voice had lost all restraint and was nearly shouting over the comms.
“My mission here is already complete.”
“Then I’ll hire you again!”
“No thanks. You can handle this on your own.”
Gai spoke simply and clearly.
To fight an enemy, he would need to be well prepared and well rewarded. If either one of these criteria wasn’t met, Gai had no choice but to refuse the job.
Besides, Gai had other things to do. Elijah’s GINN was heavily damaged when he found it. It couldn’t move on its own anymore. Gai’s Blue Frame was also running low on power. If possible, he would find one of the junk dealers in the area and ask them for help. Some of them might have been willing to give them a ride for a small fee.
✥✥✥
“The Blue Frame! Is that you, Gai!?”
While Gai was searching for a junk dealer that could give them a ride, someone’s voice came over his comms.
A voice that Gai knew quite well. It was the young junk dealer he had met the day he got his beloved ASTRAY. His name was…
“Lowe Guele.”
“Who would’a thought I’d see you again in a place like this! How often are we gonna keep running into each other?”
Gai and Lowe had run into one another just the other day at the Earth Alliance space fortress Artemis.
Gai had been hired to protect Artemis and they fought each other. The result was an overwhelming victory for Gai. Lowe, who wasn’t very used to fighting, quickly used up all of his power.
“You really got me last time. But after that, I thought it over and equipped Red with some sick new gear.”
As he said this, the Red Frame pulled a sword out from its waist.
It wasn’t a beam saber, it was a physical sword. A japanese katana, enlarged to the scale of a Mobile Suit.
“What in the world…?”
If any other person had seen it, they would’ve thought it was some sort of joke. But Gai’s words held tension, without any laughter or scorn involved. It wasn’t necessarily foolish to make weapons normally used by humans at a Mobile Suit’s scale. But when it came to a katana, special techniques would be required to use it. Of course, the Mobile Suit’s operating system would also need to be improved.
Gai didn’t express the tension inside of him.
“That’s an interesting thing you’ve created, for sure. But I’ve seen it now, so you can put it away.”
“Aw, c’mon, don’t be like that! You can take a closer look if you want!”
Gai’s words were meant to imply that he didn’t want to fight.
It was difficult to tell if Lowe’s response was meant to show his own intent to fight or if he seriously just wanted to show off. Perhaps it was both.
The Red Frame suddenly grabbed a piece of steel scaffolding that drifted nearby.
“Check this out.”
As he said this, he silently swung his sword down onto the steel frame. There was no wasted movement like a spirited yell or a shift in stance to take aim. The fact that there was no exaggerated forward motion in the swing was proof that the katana could really be used in genuine combat.
“I’m guessing you want to try it out on me sometime?”
“Heh, that would be pretty nice.”
A tension was building between the two of them.
As if to break that tension, a warning sound echoed in the air.
“Another enemy!?”
An enemy was approaching. A check of its ID code showed they were Alliance Mobius Mobile Armors. They had most likely come to take the Red Frame. Nobody dared to even touch Gai’s Blue Frame, but there was no end to the number of people trying to take the junk dealer’s machine.
“They interrupted us! Ooh, let’s have a challenge: which one of us can beat more of these guys!?”
Lowe initiated a challenge and rushed toward the group of Mobius without waiting for an answer.
“Ugh, fine… I’ll have to go along with it.”
Gai didn’t have any real reason to accept his challenge. But he found himself motivated for some reason. It seemed that Gai could get pulled in by Lowe’s fast pace.
Gai readied his beam rifle and shot down some of the Mobius with precise shots. The Alliance probably never imagined that Gai would attack them. He had turned down the Alliance’s request with the rationale that he wouldn’t fight in vain mere minutes earlier.
“Way to go, Gai!”
The Red Frame brandished the katana in its hand, taking out a Mobius with it.
Each time the Red Frame swung its sword, a single flash bursted in its path.
It was a completely inefficient way of fighting. But Gai didn’t dislike it.
✥✥✥
In the end, Gai won the competition.
“Aw, dammit! I lost! Oh, well! I’ll take you wherever you need to go since you won. And I’ll fix up your pal’s GINN too, on the house.”
After hearing Gai’s story, Lowe made a suggestion, and Gai had no reason to refuse.
“Then, we’ll accept that without hesitation.”
Gai’s Blue Frame began to move toward the junk dealers’ mothership: H.O.M.E.
NEXT OPERATION
Translated by TrafalgarLog
Edited by WattSynchron -
The boy they called the hero of ZAFT.
Gud Vair.
In his bright red GINN, he destroyed his enemies without mercy.
The people were overjoyed at the birth of their hero. All except for one, Vair himself. He eventually grew tired of his life as a hero and deserted the military.
The one sent to pursue him was Elijah, a member of the mercenary group Serpent Tail.
On the neutral colony Liteiria, Elijah found him. After making contact, upon listening to his story, Elijah and Vair opened up to each other and formed a bond that one could call close friendship.
Vair wasn’t the kind of person you’d imagine upon hearing the word “Hero.” He hated fighting and loved peace. He came to Liteiria because he sympathized with the people of the colony’s desire to leave their world for a one without war.
Elijah was originally a member of ZAFT’s forces, but he lacked the advantages that came from being a Coordinator. His lack of ability had naturally made him nothing more than a liability in the military. In the end, he had to leave.
Despite the vast difference in their circumstances, being unable to remain in the military was a point that they had in common.
“Elijah, if I were like you, a person with no special abilities, I’m sure I never would have had to fight.” Staring at Elijah’s face, Vair said these words.
The words had left Elijah bewildered. No one had ever talked about him like that before. If they had come from the mouth of anyone other than Vair, they probably would have come off as sarcasm. There was nobody in the world who would say that having less ability would actually be better.
“I never asked to have abilities like this.” As if he were mumbling, Vair’s mouth trembled slightly as the words managed to escape his lips.
“Everyone wishes to be as highly capable as you are, it’s a luxury few have, Vair.” Understanding that Vair was hurting, Elijah deliberately spoke in a light tone.
“…I suppose so.”
Near Elijah and Vair, there was a lot of hustle and bustle around some junk dealers, who had been gathered to help with the colony’s departure. In a daze, Elijah glanced over at them, and suddenly remembered that he had met them before.
His name was Lowe Guele, and he would probably be able to laugh off all of Vair’s worries and his own. Lowe’s carefree smile sprung to mind.
Thinking about it, how would Gai react if he saw him with Vair?
“…” The Gai in Elijah’s imagination just went quiet and refused to give a real answer.
“…Well, that’s Gai for you.”
“What?” Vair questioned the words Elijah had just spoken aloud, but Elijah simply laughed and evaded the question. There was no point in talking about Gai right now.
Elijah wouldn’t have much time left with Vair after that. It was already too late for him to carry out his duty as a mercenary.
Eventually, the fateful day arrived.
Enemies, intent on preventing the colony’s departure, were closing in. Elijah and Vair went out to cooperate in stopping them.
✥✥✥
And that was when it happened…
BRRATATATA!
Without warning, the machine gun in the hand of Vair’s GINN erupted. Aimed straight at Elijah’s GINN. He managed to dodge in the nick of time.
“Vair, why!?”
“Hyahaha!” The sickening laughter that came from Vair’s mouth was something Elijah had never heard from him before, as if it had come from another person entirely.
“Who… are you!?”
“Vair! But not the Vair you’re all buddy-buddy with. The Vair who actually is a hero!”
“…What’re you talking about!?”
“Ugh, you’re so slow! Vair has a split personality!”
For a long time, Vair’s heart had hurt from the intense stress of combat.
Vair, the hero and the Vair who loved peace. His heart had been torn in two.
Do we really have to fight…!? His heart cried out.
Having steeled himself, Elijah fought with all his might. This would be a battle to liberate the Vair who had become his friend.
✥✥✥
When their fierce battle drew to a close, they had shot each other down.
Vair had died, and Elijah, though wounded, survived.
Elijah’s GINN was repaired by the junk dealer, Lowe, who happened to still be in the area.
“I’m gonna use some parts from that red one over there to fix yours.”
“Yeah.” Elijah couldn’t bring himself to say much else.
“It’s cool, right? This way, it’s like your GINN gets to come back to life, but the red one gets to live on too. Y’know, like two becoming one?” Lowe knew just what to say.
“…Please do.” Elijah was finally able to reply.
“Then I’ll get right to it!” Lowe answered his request with a smile on his face.
It was the exact smile Elijah had imagined.
NEXT OPERATION
Translated by TrafalgarLog
Edited by WattSynchron -
“Man, this is like somethin’ out of a comedy.” Reed, a fellow mercenary, chuckled to himself as he looked at the Blue Frame’s current mission preparations.
The Blue Frame had a large booster equipped on its back, with the usual backpack equipment lowered to the waist area.
From the design stage, the ASTRAY was built so that additional equipment could be added onto the back while keeping the backpack functional. When compared to the Alliance’s Striker System, which were additional pieces of equipment that prevented the use of the normal backpack functions, the ASTRAYs were superior.
Despite this, the equipment used for this mission was far larger than it normally should’ve been. The rocket attached to the Blue Frame’s back was several times as tall as the Blue Frame itself.
Reed was right, the enormous rocket on its back did look like something a comedian would’ve made up. As if they would light the rocket and it’d shoot up into the sky and explode into fireworks. Gai had seen a few movies where things like that happened when he was younger too.
But Gai wasn’t exactly in the mood to laugh. He was the one who would have to use that machine on his next mission.
Nobody laughs at their own misfortune.
The mission was to retrieve the data from a certain corporation’s unmanned high-speed experimental vessel. At that moment, it was flying out of control. It had run out of fuel so it wasn’t accelerating anymore, but it had already gained enough speed not to stop.
The corporation had spent a lot of money on that experiment, so they’d get the data back by any means necessary. If they could get the data, they could prevent the same mistake from happening again.
The experimental ship was traveling at an elliptical orbit through the solar system, so the amount of time that contact could be made would be quite limited. If they missed this chance, they wouldn’t get another one.
With the acceleration calculated, he would attach himself to the experimental vessel at a scheduled point, then retrieve the data he needed, completing the mission.
✥✥✥
“Tch…!” Gai was woken up by a loud warning, for a moment, it was like he was out cold. He had never experienced such breakneck acceleration for so long.
He looked at the controls in front of him to check what was going on, but his vision was dim. Maybe a capillary in his eyeball had ruptured. Gai took off the sunglasses he normally always wore to regain some of the vision he had lost.
Eventually, the controls became dimly visible. The warning beep was meant to indicate that the experimental ship was on the approach. Gai controlled his machine with the reflexes typical of a Coordinator. First, he slowed down. This would all have been for nothing if he overtook his target. He adjusted his thrusters further and approached the ship.
The experimental vessel that appeared nearby looked as if it were standing still, an illusion caused by his relative velocity. If he came into contact with any other object at this speed, both would be destroyed.
“It’s nice to die while laughing, but I’d rather avoid having somebody laugh at me while I die.” Gai muttered to himself in the Blue Frame’s cockpit, then got to work gathering data.
The Blue Frame’s arm extended and made contact with the experimental vessel. Since the speed was adjusted to be the same as that of the ship, it was able to make contact without any shock.
It was for this data recovery operation that Gai had gone to the trouble of attaching the giant booster to the Blue Frame. A regular high-speed vessel wouldn’t have been able to perform the data recovery. But Mobile Suits had arms that could perform the same precise tasks that a human could.
Of course, the pilot would need to have the skill to back it up.
Gai finished gathering the data from the main computer of the high-speed vessel in just a few minutes. He cautiously broke away from the ship, if he slowed down too much, making any contact with the ship would be disastrous.
The booster on Blue Frame’s back sputtered to a stop, pulling it backward. At the same time, the high-speed vessel (looked as if it) sped up and disappeared from Gai’s sight.
Probability would dictate that the high-speed ship would never be caught by human hands ever again. It had done its job. All that remained now was for it to fly off into the jet-black darkness of space, never to be seen again.
“See you.” Gai said farewell to the ship that had disappeared from his sight, but the ship didn’t answer.
Gai had no way of knowing this, but eventually that same high-speed vessel would be picked up by a lone junk dealer, who would then use it to toy with Alliance forces and deliver vaccines to the colonies.
Perhaps the ship knew this, and that was why it didn’t give a farewell in return.
NEXT OPERATION
Translated by TrafalgarLog
Edited by WattSynchron -
“An enemy that we can’t see?” Gai replied in a cold tone as Reed briefed him on their newest request. It was a natural reaction, there was no such thing as a completely invisible object in the world.
But, Reed, perhaps anticipating his reaction, simply grinned and continued talking.
“Yes, indeed. He’s completely invisible, apparently. Sounds like a pretty fun mission, doesn’t it?” Reed began to elaborate.
The request was received from an Earth Alliance official, who Reed could have worked with before becoming a mercenary. The official was from a military company that was on contract to develop weapons for the Alliance.
An important experimental machine they were developing using technology provided by the Alliance was stolen. It was a machine equipped with invisibility technology. Its equipment could hide its presence from the naked eye and all detection devices.
“So then, why did you accept this request? It can’t just be because it sounded fun.” Reed was a man with a keen eye for loss and profit, that’s why he was trusted with client negotiations. If he took on a request, there must’ve been some merit to it. There was absolutely no way he would accept the job out of some idea of “fun.” Neither Gai nor Reed were fools with heroic ambitions. Since being a mercenary is a business, the best requests are usually the simpler ones.
“You’re as sharp as ever. It’s actually the data we’re looking for.” The ‘data’ Reed mentioned was design data they had found while analyzing the Blue Frame. Option parts for the ASTRAY that were never built because the ASTRAY project was abandoned partway through development.
“Our client this time is a well-known military company and they’re offering to make the option parts for free, based on the ASTRAY’s data. How’s that sound? Good, right?”
It did sound good. Gai and his team didn’t have the means to complete those option parts on their own.
“Some of those option parts would be a perfect fit for this mission, too. With them, this invisible enemy won’t even be scary at all.”
“Right. I’ll do it.” Gai nodded at Reed’s proposition and continued. “By the sound of it, you’ve already started getting those option parts built, haven’t you?”
“You really see right through me, Gai.” Reed had the look of a child who had been caught trying to pull a prank on his face. “We’ve got a pretty good idea where the enemy is holed up, Elijah and Loretta are heading there now.”
✥✥✥
“Uwaa!” Elijah’s scream was sucked out into space. His GINN was attacked out of nowhere.
“Elijah, it’s okay! I’m on my way!” Loretta sent him a transmission from their mothership.
“I’m fine! Don’t come out here!” Without pause, Elijah replied. A bit of impatience in his voice, but his tone was firm. He’d been shot, but the wound wasn’t fatal.
“Right, but get back here soon.” Loretta spoke in a motherly tone. In fact, she actually was a single mother to a daughter. Though she was still a top notch mercenary, especially when it came to strategy and bombing-related missions.
“I know.” Elijah replied and then cut off the transmission.
I say that, but I’m not fully sure I’ll be able to make it back to her… There was a reason Elijah refused Loretta’s proposal. Mobile Suits typically didn’t act alone. Because of the need for recharge and repairs, they usually acted in conjunction with a mothership. In other words, that meant that once the mothership was sunk, the Mobile Suits were no longer able to fight on.
By prioritizing the safety of his mothership, Elijah had increased the possibility of his own return.
Elijah was hit in the right leg, with no warning before the attack. But Elijah had noticed an anomaly, if only he could tell Gai about it…
“I know Gai will win, and that’s why I need to make it out of here alive!” Elijah mumbled to himself and began heading back to the mothership, keeping an eye out for any further attacks.
✥✥✥
When Elijah reported back, Gai was in the process of making final adjustments to his Blue Frame’s new equipment.
“Understood.”
Gai replied to Elijah with a single word. No show of thanks, no words of gratitude for his effort. But Elijah could tell from that single word that he had been of service to Gai. He replied, “Understood.” He had understood the usefulness of Elijah’s information.
Gai cut off communication with Elijah and went back to the Blue Frame’s maintenance.
Because of the new sensor unit, the Blue Frame’s head looked much different. Especially significant was the loss of the “V” shaped antenna. However, despite the lack of an antenna, its communication capabilities had actually been greatly enhanced, and the capabilities of its sensors were increased beyond comparison, along with its ability to process information.
However, it wasn’t all good. The various sensors consumed large amounts of battery life, and the increased complexity of the information they needed to process placed a heavy burden on the machine’s operating system.
After Gai had finished checking all the systems, he set out to complete his mission.
✥✥✥
Gai, in his Blue Frame, had come to the place where Elijah had encountered the unseen enemy. Based on the client’s intel, they had a general idea of their foe’s performance.
The target, an experimental machine, was based on the Mobius-type Mobile Armor used widely by the Earth Alliance. The combat capabilities of the machine weren’t very high, and it wasn’t the type of opponent that a Mobile Suit would lose to.
The biggest problem was the special equipment that allowed it to disappear.
Its name was Mirage Colloid.
The equipment consisted of a system of small particles attached to the surface of the armor. The particles enveloped the entire machine and refracted all visible light and radar waves. The only weakness was that they couldn’t hold onto the armor for long and went away over time.
Dshoom!
A shot was suddenly fired at the Blue Frame, the fact that Gai was able to avoid it with ease was the result of his years of experience as a mercenary.
In an instant, Gai sent the Blue Frame barrelling toward the debris field nearby. That was the place he had chosen for the decisive battle.
After entering the debris field, Gai immediately activated the Complete Sensor attached to his machine’s head section. He then sent instructions to the sensor and the motion computer. If the computer had human-like emotions, the instructions surely would have made it cock its head in confusion.
Eventually, the computer followed its orders and found its answer.
Without hesitation, Gai fired his beam rifle at a single point.
With that single shot, the match was settled. A huge flash of light spread before his eyes, and the invisible enemy vanished for good with a brilliant glow.
✥✥✥
“So, how did you know where the enemy was?” Loretta asked Gai once he got back.
“Elijah told me that even though he couldn’t see the enemy, he could see some of the rocks passing by vanish as it passed by.”
The Mirage Colloid on the armor’s surface had spread onto the rocks nearby. The invisible enemy had made its location known in relation to the newly invisible objects around it.
It was a subtle change. The kind of change that a normal person wouldn’t be able to notice, but Elijah saw it, which allowed Gai to tell his computer to notify him whenever something that was visible suddenly vanished. It was thanks to his new equipment that he was able to determine the location of his enemy based on such subtle changes.
“This machine still has a whole lot of possibilities…” Gai gazed up at his beloved Blue Frame with a satisfied look.
NEXT OPERATION
Translated by TrafalgarLog
Edited by WattSynchron -
Gai, in his Blue Frame, was dashing through the narrow passageway inside of the asteroid. At the same time, his Serpent Tail mercenary comrades outside were staging a diversionary attack. While they were drawing the enemy’s attention, Gai infiltrated the interior.
The passageway inside was narrow and winding. The asteroid’s original intent was to mine resources, and the spaces that were mined out now held military facilities. The caves dug during the search for rare materials now felt like a labyrinth designed to fend off enemies.
“Not much time left now…” Gai muttered to himself as he glanced at his watch. The time limit for their mission was 10 minutes, if they waited around any longer, their enemy would notice they were there, and they would very likely be forced to retreat. The passageway was narrow, so the idea of Mobile Suits entering through there wasn’t something they’d expect.
Blue Frame kicked off of the wall of the narrow passage. In zero gravity, moving this way was much faster, and didn’t use up as much of his propellant. Gai was aiming for the lifeline of the facility, the power generator that sat in the center of the asteroid.
✥✥✥
Eventually, the passageway opened into a wider area. This was the power generator that Gai was looking for.
Gai quickly glanced at his watch.
7 minutes had passed since he entered the facility. Taking into account the time it would take to leave, he didn’t have a second to spare.
The power generation facility itself was wrapped in a thick sheet of armor. It’d be impossible to destroy with a single blow unless it was a shot from something like a battleship’s beam cannon. So, naturally, it wasn’t something that could be destroyed by the weapons an average Mobile Suit would carry.
However, Gai didn’t hesitate to put his Blue Frame into action, his rifle already prepared. He couldn’t afford to miss his target simply because he was in a hurry.
He put his finger on the trigger.
Gai found the tension comfortable, but he couldn’t enjoy it for long.
He slowly pulled the trigger.
ZGYOOOM!
A single arrow of light shot out of the rifle. A beam.
Gai’s Blue Frame was equipped with a beam rifle, its power rivaling that of a battleship. At the time, Mobile Suit-use beam rifles had yet to be mass-produced. The one his Blue Frame had was a product that the Alliance developed, and then Orb stole.
“Every Mobile Suit will probably use beam rifles soon enough.” The power of the beam rifle he held was enough to make him think so.
But, for now, the concept of a Mobile Suit using beams wasn’t commonplace. Therefore, this facility couldn’t have taken it into account in their defenses.
That was where Gai saw a strategic advantage. Even then, not just anyone with a beam rifle equipped Mobile Suit could pull something like this off. No one other than Gai would even think to try infiltrating such a narrow passageway, firing such a precise shot, and then escaping in just 10 minutes.
After a brief moment of silence, the power generator, having been hit with a huge torrent of energy, erupted from the inside.
Gai’s Blue Frame flew away without looking back at the explosion. There was no need to confirm the results. Nothing in this world could survive a direct hit from a beam.
Or rather, it was more important that he make sure to be out of the facility before it detonated. Gai fired the thrusters on the back of the Blue Frame at maximum force and dashed out of the satellite like a bright blue meteor.
NEXT OPERATION
Translated by TrafalgarLog
Edited by WattSynchron