Still think the Federation is a beautiful prison?

"Lock the cockpit."

Eli instructed Shiro Amada.

The cockpit of a Mobile Suit was equipped with an external emergency handle to facilitate the rescue of pilots trapped inside.

However, in this era where early designs were not yet mature, it had instead become one of the weaknesses that infantry units could exploit.

Of course, with Eli present—someone who saw through the enemy's tactics—the final threat posed by this group of guerrillas had completely vanished.

"Let's go."

After confirming that everything was foolproof, Eli ordered Shiro to follow his pace. Both machines stepped forward once more, appearing to completely ignore the guerrilla fighters.

The two Gundam Ground Types strode forward, not even glancing at the people standing in the tree canopy, and proceeded directly along their predetermined route.

"Hey! Can't you hear me? This is our territory! You aren't allowed to go any further!"

Seeing this, the orange-haired girl leading them became frantic, actually raising the pistol in her hand and firing three consecutive shots at the Gundam Ground Type piloted by Shiro Amada.

Those 9mm caliber bullets struck the Gundam Ground Type, only splashing against its armor with feeble sparks.

Even so, Shiro Amada stopped his machine in confusion.

For Shiro Amada, he merely wanted to see what kind of person would be bold enough to fire at a Mobile Suit; he had no intention of engaging them in combat.

But for the guerrillas, it was a different story.

"Attack!"

Following a sharp shout from the leading girl, the guerrillas retreated into the thicket with extreme agility.

Then, several barrel-shaped objects were thrown over.

A blinding flash instantly turned the screen of Shiro Amada's cockpit white, rendering him unable to see the scene outside.

"Ugh!"

Caught completely off guard, Shiro Amada had no choice but to cover his eyes.

In the next moment, several grappling hooks latched onto the Gundam Ground Type.

The orange-haired girl even hooked her line onto the Gundam Ground Type's antenna and vaulted up onto the head's forehead sensor.

As Shiro Amada regained his vision, the first thing he saw were the girl's glaring eyes.

"Hey! Get out of here right now, or else!"

Shiro Amada watched speechlessly as the girl clamored, pointing her pistol toward the direction of the cockpit.

Shortly after, he noticed knocking and tugging sounds coming from his hatch.

"Miss, Miss, this hatch doesn't seem to open."

A moment later, a man approached the girl and whispered—though clearly enough for Shiro Amada to hear—the fact that no matter how hard they twisted the handle, the hatch wouldn't budge.

"Huh?"

The girl froze for a moment, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

Then, her head stiffly turned back to face the camera.

Their plan had been sound: if they could capture the pilot of one machine, the other would be forced to hold back.

It was just that Eli had prepared for this in advance.

"Have you had enough?"

Eli's voice reached the outside through the machine's external speakers.

"We are currently executing a mission. If you retreat now, I can spare your lives."

Eli finished this sentence in a calm tone, and then, the mechanical whirring of the 60mm Vulcan Cannon and the Multi-Purpose Launcher on the chest of his Gundam Ground Type could be heard as they aimed at Shiro Amada's machine.

To be precise, they were aimed at the guerrillas standing on top of Shiro Amada's Gundam Ground Type.

The 60mm Vulcan Cannon could not be fired casually, as at this range, it might damage Shiro Amada's Gundam Ground Type.

However, the Multi-Purpose Launcher was already loaded with anti-personnel canister rounds; a single shot would be enough to eliminate all these reckless guerrillas.

Facing those massive muzzles, even the girl who had acted fearless until now couldn't help but tremble and take a small step back.

"B-but this is our land..."

The girl looked extremely unwilling.

"No, this is Federation land. Your actions have already constituted treason and obstruction of military duty. If not for the special circumstances of this period, no one would fault me for gunning you down right now. This is the Universal Century; the tactics from the Vietnam War won't work here."

Eli continued to deliver this verdict to the girl in a calm tone.

"But..."

"Enough talk. Move aside, or I will fire."

Eli's voice turned abruptly cold.

The girl looked around at her subordinates in a panic, only to find that most of them were also breaking out in cold sweat, not daring to make another move.

The person who had previously told her the hatch could not be opened leaned in even closer.

"Hey, that '06' marking... it looks like the one the Zeon Forces call the Devil."

He whispered into the girl's ear, causing her expression to change instantly.

Looking back, she found that her subordinates were all staring at her with astonishment, the plea in their eyes obvious.

"We're leaving..."

The girl clenched her fist and held it before her eyes for a long moment, but in the end, that was all she could manage to say.

Just as suddenly as they had appeared, they retreated in a great hurry.

In the blink of an eye, there was no trace of them left in the dense forest.

Confirming that the guerrillas had departed, Eli disengaged the loading mechanism on his chest armor, operated his mobile suit to turn around, and returned to the originally scheduled route.

Only then did Shiro Amada realize that the conflict had been resolved.

"Don't just stand there, we don't have much time left."

Urged on by Eli, Shiro Amada operated his mobile suit and stepped forward to follow.

The two mobile suits proceeded in silence through the dense forest for a long time.

"Second Lieutenant Eli, what did those guerrillas mean by 'the Devil'?"

After a long while, as if unable to bear the monotony of the march, Shiro Amada took the initiative to start a conversation.

"...It's a title given by Zeon because I've shot down too many of them. It's nothing special. Isn't the pilot of the Gundam also called the White Devil by Zeon?"

Eli had no intention of hiding it and explained the rather unpleasant title to Shiro Amada.

"Ah, is that so? But then again, since it's a title given by the enemy, it could be considered a compliment to us, right?"

Shiro Amada truly believed this from the bottom of his heart.

Even though he harbored some feelings for a certain person in Zeon, he still identified himself as a soldier of the Federation.

"Haha, I suppose so."

Eli, who had never taken the title very seriously, laughed lightly and leaned his back against the seat.

He looked at the handle on the side of the console, where a photograph was tucked.

It was the family of this body's original owner.

After saying this, the communication channel fell into silence once again.

"By the way, Second Lieutenant Amada, you said before—if there were good people in Zeon, what would I do?"

Hearing Eli's sudden question, Shiro Amada was taken aback.

But he quickly realized that he was continuing the conversation that had been interrupted by the guerrillas.

"I think that if there really are good people in the Zeon Forces, then they should leave Zeon."