Reminiscence

"Mr. Eli? What's going on?"

Amuro had just arrived at the dining hall. He sat down beside Eli with his tray and quietly asked him what was going on.

When he and Frau had come in, there had only been two people in the dining hall.

Eli and Sayla.

They were sitting at separate tables, silently eating their meals.

Although they hadn't interacted before, it was perfectly normal for them to sit apart while eating.

Still, Amuro had a feeling that something had happened between them.

After all, the atmosphere in the room was far too heavy.

"Nothing... I just had some thoughts I shouldn't have."

Eli spoke as if nothing was wrong.

"Eli, did you sexually harass Sayla?"

"Cough, cough! Amuro, where did you learn a word like that?"

Eli had been managing to keep his composure, but he immediately lost it and choked on the food he'd just put in his mouth.

"Isn't that something they teach at school? They don't teach it where you're from? Is everyone on Side 2 that old-fashioned?"

"...That's not it. Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"

Eli took a sip of water, then spoke to Amuro.

"I think I've changed a little, but my actions haven't caught up. So I asked an impolite question, and that's probably why Miss Sayla is angry with me."

Eli's explanation was rather vague, but Amuro nodded as if he understood perfectly.

"When I first got into the Gundam, I had thoughts like that too."

Amuro was drawing on his own experience to understand what Eli was going through.

"Are you going to apologize?"

When he wasn't dealing with Bright, Amuro had at least some grasp of social etiquette.

At the very least, he knew that you had to apologize when you did something wrong.

"No. The awkward part is that I don't even know how to bring it up if I want to apologize."

Was Eli supposed to go up to Sayla and say, "I'm sorry for bringing up your late father just now"?

If he did that, Sayla might turn against him on the spot and even try to leave White Base.

As he thought this, Eli took a sip of water and used the chance to sneak a glance in Sayla's direction.

He saw that Sayla had just been looking his way, too.

Then she shot him an irritated look. After hesitating for a moment, she gave him a slight nod, picked up her tray, and left.

Seeing Sayla's contradictory behavior, Eli realized that she probably had the same problem he did.

That is, how to explain where her anger had come from, and why she had reacted so strongly to Deikun.

"Let's just pretend none of this happened..."

Eli had no choice but to say that.

"What an irresponsible adult."

Amuro watched Eli drain his glass of water and gave his own assessment.

"The Trojan Horse is moving fast."

M'Quve listened to his subordinate's report, his expression darkening.

In space, even if it was the newest battleship, it was still only one ship.

Even if it got behind his lines, his fleet could still defend against it.

But things were different on Earth.

Zeon's land battleships couldn't compare to White Base in either the number of Mobile Suits they carried or their firepower.

What was more, the Mobile Suits aboard White Base were superior to those fielded by Zeon.

As a result, the Trojan Horse had destroyed several mines in M'Quve's territory, leaving him furious.

But the European front had launched a large-scale diversionary operation, and M'Quve didn't dare spare troops to surround White Base.

"In that case..."

At the moment, the only ones he could think of who were free to deal with White Base were the revenge squad led by Ramba Ral.

"Honestly, if Lady Kycilia weren't about to come for an inspection..."

M'Quve glanced at the schedule, gritted his teeth, and gave his subordinate an order.

The order passed through many hands before finally reaching Ramba Ral, who watched three Mobile Suits being unloaded from a transport plane and exclaimed,

"M'Quve really is a fine fellow."

Ramba Ral thought he was incredibly lucky.

Wherever he went, the local commanders did everything they could to help him.

Even though he'd been told a few days earlier that these new machines had been destroyed by the Federation, M'Quve had still managed to get three more and send them to him.

At the thought, Ramba Ral's eyes dimmed slightly.

He had betrayed Ginias's trust. When he left, Ginias was still in the Apsalus manufacturing hangar. He'd heard that Ginias wasn't doing well and would shout Aina's name whenever he forgot to take his medicine.

Thinking of the Apsalus and Aina, both captured by the Federation, Ramba Ral felt a pang in his heart.

"Once I'm promoted, I'll help your Sahalin family restore its fortunes."

Ramba Ral reached out and ran his hand over the machine in front of him.

It was a hulking Mobile Suit, with massive legs and a cross-shaped head-mounted sensor track.

"With this kind of mobility, it'll surely be able to..."

Behind Ramba Ral, his wife Hamon watched him with concern.

Putting everything else aside, her husband was simply too upright.

No wonder he'd gone from a powerful figure in the Republic to a marginal figure in the Principality.

With her face veiled, she walked over to Ramba Ral and slipped her arm through his.

"I dreamed about the past last night."

"Oh? What was it?"

He was checking the supplies, but Ramba Ral didn't want to spoil his wife's mood.

"I dreamed of Zeon under Deikun's leadership... I wondered what kind of circumstances the space colonists would be in if that man were leading Zeon now."

Hearing his wife's words, Ramba Ral gently took her hand.

"I don't know... To be honest, I've almost forgotten what it was like for the space colonists to strive toward a common goal under Deikun's leadership..."

A distant look passed through Ramba Ral's eyes.

Back then, it had truly felt as if he were fighting for a noble ideal.

He shook his head, casting the thought aside.

"No one can say what would have happened. But the most important thing to me is getting a higher position, so I can protect you amid all this chaos."

Ramba Ral stroked Hamon's head and drew her into his arms.

"Other than that, I want for nothing."

Hamon's view was blocked by the man's chest.

Otherwise, she would have seen the yearning in her husband's eyes.

If she had looked more closely at what lay behind that expression, she might have seen two youthful figures.

"Casval, Artesia..."