Advice Given Out of Self-Interest

Eli broke into a cold sweat in an instant.

He had only considered the prospect of fighting alongside Amuro, failing to realize that Amuro, who had yet to steel his resolve, was unwilling to board a Mobile Suit.

At this moment, Amuro was reeling from his father's departure and arguments with his mother, compounded by having just witnessed Doan's will—a man willing to abandon the power he possessed just to live peacefully with the children.

Among those children were some of an age similar to Amuro's.

Having witnessed all of this, the young Amuro likely harbored a deep-seated resentment in his heart.

But!

Without Amuro, whether the Federation could successfully counterattack Zeon remained an unknown.

During the Battle of Jaburo, Amuro's contributions were truly immense.

And upon returning to space, Amuro's greatest contribution to ending this war was defeating the Zeon Forces' Mobile Armor, Big Zam, which allowed Operation Star One—the first step of the Federation Space Force's counteroffensive—to proceed successfully.

Only then did the subsequent Battle of A Baoa Qu succeed, cementing the outcome of Zeon's defeat.

Even regarding the Zeong piloted by Char, Eli believed there were others who could destroy or at least hold it off.

But for the Big Zam, only Amuro would do.

Driven by this selfish motive, Eli gritted his teeth, suppressing the guilt of pressuring a child into the battlefield, and stepped forward.

"To call yourself a discarded pawn is a mistake, Ensign Amuro."

Eli tried his best not to look directly into Amuro's eyes, focusing his attention instead on Bright.

"Ensign?"

Amuro voiced the same question Eli had once asked.

"This is an order issued directly by General Revil from Jaburo Headquarters."

Eli pulled a neatly organized document from the inside of his flight suit and unfolded it methodically.

"Sir!"

Bright immediately snapped to attention.

Eli noticed that while some of the maintenance crew on the ship followed Bright's lead, most of the others did not realize the significance of the document.

Even Amuro was the same.

Only Bright's expression was grave.

"This should have been read in a more formal setting, but since this young man has developed some unfortunate ideas, I shall read this order to everyone now."

Eli flicked the high-quality paper in his hand, stood straight, and puffed out his chest to project his voice as loudly as possible.

"By order of General Revil, the White Base unit is officially transferred under the command of Lieutenant General Tiam and reorganized as the 13th Autonomous Corps!"

Eli glanced at Amuro from the corner of his eye, noticing the boy's face clouded with surprise and confusion.

"Correspondingly, Sergeant Amuro is promoted to Ensign, and Ensign Bright is promoted to Lieutenant. All others shall be promoted according to their merits."

After finishing, Eli handed the appointment letter to the standing Bright.

"Sir!"

Bright accepted it solemnly and saluted Eli once more.

"Come, Ensign Amuro, accept your appointment."

Eli turned to look at the stunned Amuro, forcing a smile as he spoke.

"...But, I am not a soldier..."

Amuro clenched his fists.

"I only boarded the Gundam because I wanted to protect Frau!"

The boy's sudden confession caused Frau, who was already surprised by the turn of events, to blush.

Yet, the young Amuro did not think his words were strange; he had simply stated what was in his heart.

"Then why not just keep that same resolve when you board the Gundam? The rank of Ensign won't change anything for you, will it?"

"Frau..."

Amuro avoided Eli's gaze and turned to look at Frau beside him.

At that moment, an inappropriate and impolite thought crossed Amuro's mind.

That uniform really didn't suit Frau at all.

"Amuro is so amazing!"

"He's an Ensign now!"

"Amuro has become like Bright was before!"

The chirping and shouting of the children instantly shattered the stagnant, tense atmosphere of the hangar.

The children jumped and cheered around Amuro, leaving him staring blankly at them.

"Amuro, although this might seem cruel to you, that Gundam is not a machine we are capable of piloting. I have watched your battles; the Gundam's performance far exceeds our own machines, and with our skills alone, there is no way to control it."

Eli quietly walked to Amuro's side and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's a lie. We are all human; as an adult, you have no reason to be unable to pilot the Gundam."

Even at this time, when Amuro's Newtype abilities had yet to be developed, the words he spoke still managed to strike directly at the truth.

Eli was silent for a moment, then gripped Amuro's other shoulder, positioning himself so he could look directly into Amuro's eyes.

"Amuro, you might not understand this when I say it, but there are some things that only you can do, things that only you have the ability to accomplish."

"Eli, Lieutenant?"

Amuro stared straight at Eli, and for some reason, the thought of simply trusting the man before him sprouted in his mind.

In the end, he made up his mind.

"I will do it, but not because I am a soldier. I will do it because I must, and because Zeon is wrong."

Amuro exerted a slight force to break free from Eli's hands, then turned and walked toward the feet of his Gundam.

He turned back, glanced at Eli once, and then turned his head to leave the hangar.

"Sorry for the embarrassing display."

Bright, having finished comforting the children alongside Mirai and Frau, finally had the leisure to apologize to Eli.

"There is no need for that, Lieutenant Bright. Please head to the Southeast Asia frontline base now; there are people waiting for you there."

"May I ask who it is?"

"It is Miss Matilda. She is the one who piloted the Medea that brought us here. She said she has a gift for the Gundam, a gift for Amuro. You will have to arrive there to find out exactly what it is."

Eli smiled, then excused himself from Bright and walked toward Shiro Amada.

Bright stood there, the stone in his heart finally settling to the ground.

General Revil had never forgotten them; he had been supporting them all along.

Knowing this fact, the young officer felt incredibly relieved, and at the same time, his inner conviction was reaffirmed—he must bring the White Base to Jaburo.

He watched as Eli and his teammates began working with the maintenance crew to inspect the Gundam Ground Type, then looked back at the Gundam belonging to the White Base.

In a flash, he felt that scenes like this were something he would see many times throughout his life.

These two chapters today might be a bit of filler. But in truth, when I actually sat down to analyze Amuro's inner state at this time, I found the 0079 TV series to be a bit abstract, and it made my head spin. Furthermore, Amuro's reasons for fighting during this period are indeed not very substantial, and unlike Kira, he lacks an obvious turning point, so the result feels like I just wrote a bunch of nonsense... Sorry, meow.