Eli, Once the God of Death

During the 08th Team's third sortie, they encountered the Apsalus while it was undergoing test flights.

Eli remembered this point clearly.

And Aina, the woman Shiro Amada held so dear, was the very pilot of the Apsalus.

That behemoth was capable of taking three direct hits to its frontal armor from a 180mm Cannon and still managing to take off again, rendering the advantage they had created completely void.

Therefore, Eli intended to use his Beam Rifle to inflict irreversible damage, destroying its Minovsky Craft and grounding the Apsalus for good.

If he could do that, Shiro Amada would be able to retrieve the person he longed for, the Southeast Asia theater would complete its designated mission, and everyone would have a bright future.

Because of this, Eli was currently asking the maintenance crew to calibrate his Beam Rifle.

As for himself, he opened the mobile suit's training mode and continuously practiced anti-air maneuvers.

Only when he could down a Dopp Fighter with a single shot from his Beam Rifle did he lean back against the cockpit seat to take a brief rest.

However, this respite was quickly broken by the noisy commotion coming from below.

"Nice shot!"

"Hit another one!"

"Bets are open, get your bets in!"

Just by listening to the voices, Eli could confirm that a fight was breaking out down there.

Such things were quite common in the military; even Eli had gotten into scuffles with others in the past.

Eli rose from his seat and looked down, discovering that the two sides fighting were people he knew well.

One side, needless to say, was Sanders.

The other side consisted of members of the 07th Team.

Seriously, even after all that was said, they still ended up fighting. Could it be that this world really has some sort of "correction force"?

Eli complained to himself as he stepped onto the cable to descend to the ground.

Regardless of whether a "correction force" actually existed in this world, it was a matter of no consequence to Eli.

He had already made up his mind to retire after the One Year War ended and use his severance pay to open a shop in a safe place on Earth.

Even if the end of the Universal Century was destined to be a tragedy, as long as one was a dyed-in-the-wool Federation citizen, simply enjoying a stable life shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, Eli kept these thoughts buried deep within his heart.

As a qualified transmigrator, he naturally knew how to avoid these death flags.

Eli pushed through the crowd and looked at the two sides currently brawling.

"How about it? Want to place a bet?"

Captain Nika held up his hat, which contained a fair amount of money.

As mentioned before, there weren't many forms of entertainment in the military, so gambling like this was something everyone enjoyed.

The current situation was not looking good for Sanders.

After all, Sanders was facing the fists of two men; it was inevitable that he would struggle to parry.

However, even so, Eli did not speak up to interrupt their fight, instead blending into the crowd to watch.

Of course, Eli still didn't participate in the gambling.

This fight ultimately didn't reach a conclusion; Shiro Amada arrived just as Captain Kojima happened to pass by, and seeing the commotion, he came over to investigate.

Both sides had no choice but to separate immediately, brushing it off under the guise of "friendly exchanges between teams."

However, the 07th Team still had an extra round of guard duty added to their schedule by Captain Kojima and were immediately sent to the front lines.

The 08th Team was similarly scolded and ordered to go perform maintenance on their mobile suits.

"So, what was the fight about?"

After the crowd dispersed, Eli approached Sanders, who was checking the status of his mobile suit.

"Sir! Lieutenant Eli."

Sanders first gave Eli a salute.

It was only then that Eli noticed the bruise on Sanders' left cheekbone, clearly the result of being hit hard by the 07th Team members.

Eli signaled for Sanders to lower his hand, then leaned against the side of his mobile suit, handed Sanders a cigarette, and told him to continue.

Sanders took the cigarette and stared blankly at it for a long time.

"When I was still at Luna II, someone handed me a cigarette just like this."

Eli didn't respond, simply flicking his lighter and holding it out in front of Sanders.

As the flame flickered, Sanders' eyes grew distant.

"Back then, Luna II was under the tightest blockade, and a single cigarette was a precious commodity. The person who gave me that cigarette was my captain at the time, but during our third sortie, he sacrificed himself to save me. Ever since then, every time I join a new team, I'm the only one who survives the third operation."

Sanders took a sharp drag, causing the cigarette to burn down by more than half in an instant.

"That's why those people just called me the Grim Reaper; I got angry for a moment and ended up fighting them."

Sanders sighed, stubbing out his finished cigarette against the armor of the Gundam.

Meanwhile, the cigarette in Eli's hand had only burned halfway down.

"Second Lieutenant Eli, perhaps I won't be able to board an MS for this battle."

Hearing those words, Eli lost the desire to continue smoking.

"Is that so... Before you make a decision, how about listening to my story?"

Without waiting for Sanders to answer, Eli tapped on the armor of the Gundam Ground Type.

"You should know that our 06th Team has two scrapped Gundams."

Sanders nodded.

"Those were my teammates. It happened right after I arrived on Earth; I was too reckless during a mission and ended up charging into a Zeon encirclement. My teammates dove in to save me, and we launched a breakout together. The result was that I only made it out because the 08th Team provided cover at the time. However, my teammates were severely wounded and left the front lines, and their machines were left in tatters."

Eli looked toward the west, where the sun was sinking.

That day, Eli, who had been chasing a Zaku relentlessly to see if his first kill would trigger the "Deep Blue Stat Point" in his system, had committed a grave error. It hadn't just reduced the 06th Team to a skeleton crew; it had also forced the then-captain of the 08th Team into retirement.

That day had also been under a sunset just like this one.

"Unsurprisingly, I was called the Grim Reaper, a jinx, and all sorts of things at this base... To be honest, I was very hurt by what others said back then."

"Lieutenant..."

Sanders looked at Eli in disbelief as he laid his past bare.

Seeing Eli's popularity at the base, Sanders had assumed that Eli's teammates had left the front lines due to their own mistakes.

"Later, it was Karen who punched me and told me to take responsibility for both teams being pulled from the front, which pushed me to throw myself back into battle so the 06th Team wouldn't be disbanded. Slowly, people's opinions of me changed, and I became a hero of the base."

At this point, Eli smiled.

"I'm not bragging; I'm just saying that the military is like this—people don't care about who you are, they only care about what you've done. I believe you've survived this long not because you sabotaged your teammates, but because you have the skill to stay alive. Since that's the case, use that skill to shatter the title of Grim Reaper."

After the sun dipped below the horizon, the cigarette dangling from Eli's lips flickered in the encroaching night.

Immediately after, the base's floodlights flickered back to life.

Eli saw Sanders silently throw himself into the maintenance work on the Gundam.

He stubbed out his cigarette and returned to his own machine.

Passing by his teammates' ruined unit, he placed the last small stub of his cigarette on the foot of the machine.