Eli had known all along that life aboard White Base was never going to be peaceful.
But he hadn't expected them to be attacked three times in five days, twice by sizable forces with Mobile Suits.
Needless to say, Ramba Ral had followed them all the way here.
Eli sighed.
Ramba Ral's piloting skills were far superior to those of the enemies Eli had faced before.
Even with Amuro backing him up several times, Eli hadn't been able to take Ramba Ral down in one fell swoop. They'd only managed to drive him off.
Fortunately, though, they had now entered M'Quve's jurisdiction.
M'Quve, a member of Kycilia's faction, had done his best to meet Ramba Ral's demands on the surface. In reality, however, he had secretly withheld the new Mobile Suits that were supposed to be deployed to Ramba Ral.
As a result, Ramba Ral's revenge force had fewer and fewer Mobile Suits, and posed less and less of a threat to White Base.
"Amuro, why didn't you follow orders and pursue the enemy just now?"
As soon as Eli entered the bridge, he heard Bright reprimanding Amuro.
Having watched all of Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, Eli knew Bright was venting his nerves this way, but Amuro didn't know that.
"If we'd pursued them any farther, we could've walked right into an ambush! Why can't you understand that?"
The hotheaded young Amuro and Bright clearly hadn't built up enough rapport yet. They each stubbornly defended their own point of view, and were on the verge of an argument.
"All right, all right. Bright, you don't need to get so worked up. Amuro was thinking about White Base's safe arrival at Jaburo, and the enemy has set traps before."
Eli spoke up at once, putting a temporary damper on Bright's anger.
Amuro, however, immediately seemed to take this as a show of support, and his expression grew even more haughty.
"And Amuro, you should try to understand the pressure Bright is under. Next time you have an idea, say so right away. Bright and I can adjust our plans based on what you think. Even in the military, people are allowed to think for themselves."
Amuro immediately turned around, his eyes filled with an emotion he could barely hide: the fury of betrayal.
Though could it really be called betrayal?
In any case, Amuro turned and left without a word.
"Frau, sorry for the trouble, but could you go comfort him?"
Eli sighed and had no choice but to ask Frau, Amuro's personal emotional stabilizer, for help.
After the two of them had left the bridge, Eli rubbed his brow, feeling a little irritated.
"Bright, you're being too hard on Amuro. At the end of the day, he's only sixteen."
"Yeah, Bright, why not try to understand how Amuro feels? He still needs time to grow, too."
Ryu, another White Base pilot and one of its few regular servicemen, agreed with Eli.
In Ryu's eyes, Amuro wasn't just courageous; he was also capable of thinking calmly on the battlefield.
That talent was precious, even aside from his value as a soldier.
"We don't have time to wait for Amuro to grow up."
Bright lowered his head, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the captain's chair.
"Then why not trust me a little more? Even if it's only a mass-produced Gundam, I'm confident that, with everyone's help, I can protect White Base."
Eli understood perfectly well why Bright was so anxious right now.
The importance of White Base, the trust his superiors had placed in him, and the upcoming Odessa campaign.
All of it weighed on this young man, who had only just graduated from military academy.
"I..."
Bright opened his mouth, only now realizing what had been behind his attitude toward Amuro.
All along, Amuro had been the only person aboard the ship they could truly rely on.
Ryu was a regular serviceman and a pilot, but his skills weren't good enough to face Zeon's Mobile Suits head-on.
Hayato Kobayashi and Kai could barely manage in combat, so they weren't people Bright could count on.
Bright had no choice but to pin his hopes on Amuro.
"I understand... I believe in you as a Mobile Suit pilot, and I believe Amuro has what it takes, too."
Bright's words sounded almost like he was reminding himself.
"That's more like it. A captain can't put too much pressure on himself or the people under him. You need to get some rest, too. Your eyes are full of blood vessels."
Eli waved a hand and headed out of the bridge.
He happened to run into Mirai Yashima, who was carrying some food to the bridge.
Eli smiled at Mirai, signaling that she should take good care of Bright.
As it happened, Mirai was also no ordinary young woman. She was the heiress of the Yashima Group.
The products of the Yashima Group most relevant to Eli were the cargo-handling system on the Gundam Ground Type and its 180mm Cannon.
If Bright wanted to, he could have gained the Yashima Group's support by getting together with Mirai after the One Year War, and his career could have soared.
What's more, General Gopp had a very good personal relationship with the Yashima Group.
Unfortunately, Bright hadn't made good use of all these resources, and ended up as the captain of a transport ship.
If he really wanted to change the world, starting here could probably make some difference...
"Ding."
"Lieutenant Eli?"
At the sound of the elevator, Eli abruptly came back to his senses and looked toward the person who had spoken beside him.
She was another heiress aboard this ship.
No—"princess" might have suited her better.
Sayla Mass, or rather, Artesia Deikun.
Like him, she was an orphan of the Deikun Family, yet she was aboard a Federation ship fighting against Zeon.
How would Deikun have felt, seeing his children on opposite sides of the conflict?
"Lieutenant, where are you going?"
Sayla stood beside the elevator buttons and asked Eli.
"Oh, just to the cafeteria."
Eli watched as Sayla pressed a single button and leaned against the elevator wall to wait.
Come to think of it, Sayla's identity was also enough to shift the balance of the world.
After the One Year War, Char left the Earth Sphere, and there were few people left in the entire Earth Sphere who could influence Zeon.
But Artesia was certainly one of them.
Even though she hadn't appeared in public for a long time, the Deikun name alone said plenty.
With the right maneuvering, she could also...
"Lieutenant, why do you keep staring at me?"
When Eli came back to himself, he saw Sayla giving him a somewhat annoyed look.
She held her arms loosely across her chest, clearly uncomfortable with a man staring at her in the confined space.
But she was the sort of woman who could openly express her displeasure. Her frank and sincere personality was the complete opposite of her brother's.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about what Deikun would have thought of this war."
I'm exhausted. I stayed up late writing these two chapters... I have a full day of classes tomorrow, and I don't even want to think about how tired I'll be.
Before you continue