Between Battles

"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Ginias. I failed to save that position."

Norris, his right arm wrapped in bloodstained bandages, spoke to the man before him with shame.

Ginias Sahalin was the current head of the Sahalin family, to whom Norris had sworn his loyalty.

Though it was called a family, these days it consisted of only Ginias and his younger sister.

That was why the once illustrious Sahalin family had appeared on the Southeast Asian battlefield.

Ginias intended to revive the Sahalin family through the grand plan he had devised himself.

For that reason, Norris, who considered himself Ginias's retainer, couldn't accept that his failure might affect Ginias's plans.

"It's all right. It was only a small loss. As long as Apsalus succeeds, it won't matter."

Of course, Ginias wouldn't punish Norris over an insignificant artillery position.

"Get some rest. The test flight is about to begin. Without your escort, Aina won't feel safe up in the sky."

Ginias smiled kindly at Norris, then personally tightened the bandage Norris had hastily wrapped around his arm before coming to apologize.

"Dong!"

Just as Ginias finished bandaging Norris's right arm, the clock chimed.

"Creak..."

The heavy wooden door opened.

"Brother, it's time for your medicine."

The person who entered was Aina, the sister Ginias had mentioned and the other member of the Sahalin family.

Aina wore a standard-issue uniform and carried a tray. A glass of water and some pills sat on it.

She stopped in front of Ginias and smiled at him.

Then her gaze shifted to Norris. When she saw the wound on his right arm, concern showed in her eyes.

"Are you all right, Norris?"

Aina set the tray on a nearby tea table and gently lifted Norris's right arm.

"I'm fine, Miss Aina. It's only a minor wound, and it certainly won't interfere with the Apsalus test flight. If you'll excuse me, I'll go rest."

Norris waited until Aina had finished examining his arm and seemed satisfied before taking his leave.

Ginias nodded, and Aina waved to him.

Norris left, giving the siblings some privacy.

Only after watching Norris leave the room did Aina turn to her brother.

Ginias was sitting on the sofa, swallowing his medicine with water from the tea table.

Aina walked over, sat beside him, and then leaned against him.

"Your dream is about to come true, Brother."

Aina watched Ginias swallow the pills as she spoke.

"We still have a long way to go, but at least we've taken the first step."

Ginias gently stroked Aina's neatly cropped hair.

She had cut it short for the sake of piloting a Mobile Suit, but it was still silky to the touch, with a distinctly feminine quality.

Just as Aina herself was beautiful, that quality wasn't diminished by her appearance.

"How is Apsalus doing?"

As the head of the Apsalus project, Ginias naturally knew its condition.

Even so, he asked Aina.

For him, this was a way for the siblings to share their feelings.

"Mmm... Everything's perfect, but the air conditioning doesn't seem to work very well. I'm drenched in sweat."

Aina gave her brother a slightly playful answer.

Until just a moment ago, she had been in Apsalus's cockpit, helping with the adjustments.

She had climbed out of the machine and brought the medicine straight here without even changing her clothes.

"Is that so...? Just bear with it for a little while. Changing it now would interfere with the test flight."

Even though it was his own sister who had made the request, Ginias didn't give in or let his concern for her sway him.

Aina didn't press him.

She quietly nestled against Ginias's chest, feeling his heartbeat.

All of this was Ginias's dream: to complete Apsalus and revive the Sahalin family.

That was why Ginias couldn't even bring himself to let anyone else test-pilot Apsalus. He would only feel at ease if his own sister were at the controls.

Aina had no complaints.

"This is only right."

Feeling Ginias's weak heartbeat, Aina let guilt wash over her and followed his arrangements.

Shiro Amada put away the women's pocket watch in his hand.

For some reason, it had suddenly started chiming just now, interrupting his peaceful sleep.

The watch rang at this time every day. That must have been a very important time to her.

With that thought in mind, Shiro didn't tamper with the watch or cancel its alarm.

But they had only just returned to base to rest, and Shiro and the others had been asleep.

"That sure is loud. Is it from your girlfriend?"

Eli, another officer who shared a room with Shiro, rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, teasing him.

Of course, Eli knew what the pocket watch was about. But saying it outright would be far too shocking.

Besides, there was something else Eli wanted to know.

Now that Shiro had taken part in the fighting against Zeon, what did he really feel for Aina?

"Did I wake you? Sorry. And no, it's not from my girlfriend. In my current situation, how could I even think about that?"

Shiro first apologized to Eli, then answered his question.

"A friend gave it to me. I might never see her again, so I keep it as a memento."

Shiro looked at the pocket watch in his hand, a hint of regret in his voice.

But what was he really regretting? Was it that he hadn't gone with Aina back then, or that he still longed for the time they had spent together, regardless of which side they were on?

Eli didn't press him. Instead, he got out of bed and got dressed.

"Are you going out?"

Seeing Eli get ready, Shiro asked him.

"I'm going to work on my Mobile Suit. There's a weapon I want to use."

Eli had nothing to hide, so he told Shiro.

"What is it?"

"A Beam Rifle."

"Why use that all of a sudden?"

Shiro asked, puzzled.

The Gundam Ground Type could also use a Beam Rifle, but it could only fire about ten times in a battle before running out of energy, and it couldn't be recharged on the battlefield.

On top of that, the air was very humid in this part of Southeast Asia, and the costly Beam Rifles often developed all sorts of problems.

The moisture in the air also affected their accuracy to some extent, so these weapons were usually left in storage and rarely used.

Eli knew all that, of course.

He turned to Shiro and smiled.

"Just call it a hunch."