《Secret Rendezvous: Amuro and Lalah》 CH 1 1. Things Are Still Hot Even with no clouds, the sun could only peek through the brownish curtain of haze, but it was still enough to scorch the land. The shadows cast by the trees, which had faded to the same brown color as the sky, helped to soften the air somewhat, allowing for a small respite. ¡°Ha¡­¡± To the east, red sandstone mountains looked over the treetops, but it was difficult to tell where the mountains ended and the sky began. Attracted by the sour-sweet scent of the bougainvillea, when she looked at the leaves of the tree, covered in blooming red flowers, they looked so vibrantly green that it almost felt embarrassing. ¡°Fly to space¡­?¡± That¡¯s right. The girl¡¯s heart skipped a beat at the thought, and she wondered why she hadn¡¯t made up her mind, even though that was still an option as well. I don¡¯t have any interest in going to space. That isn¡¯t true, the vermillion flowers replied, dispersing their petals vigorously and vividly into the air. The girl swayed. ¡°¡­I see¡­¡± She didn¡¯t know where she was. Even if it looked like a forest it was only a short distance away from the national highway, and beyond the trees there was supposed to be a vast wilderness people called a field. A pale yellow flower fell, landing with a plop just in front of her toes. Ah!? Looking up, she noticed for the first time that she was leaning against a sal tree. ¡°¡­I¡¯ve been so stupid¡­¡± Feeling the muscles in her legs tighten, she now regretted running at full speed. After hiding the scooter with the dead battery off to the side of the cracked asphalt road, she ran blindly, before her thighs started cramping and she stumbled and fell. Maybe I¡¯m going to die here in the wild, my insides pecked out by birds until there¡¯s nothing left but bone, disappearing without even becoming nourishment for the soil¡­ She believed that it was her fate never to remember her parents, which was the reason she thought her soul might at least be reincarnated as a field mouse. ¡°¡­although the Buddha said that¡­death is void¡­¡± It was the idea that there was no life after this one, a denial of the cycle of reincarnation. The people who criticized that sort of thinking as devoid of dreams were those who had no concerns in life, people beholden to their egos. The sort of people afraid of death, hoping that they would have the same things in the hereafter. But for those who had spent the majority of their life in poverty, the people who had experienced emotional trauma or those reaching old age and the twilight of their life, the idea that they would be forced to keep going in the next life was a bitter pill to swallow. The void was emptiness. A void which couldn¡¯t even be perceived was something that couldn¡¯t be described by the term nihilism. In other words, the void was overwhelming serenity. I am emptiness¡ªthe path revealed by the Buddha was sacred because it brought peace of mind in life, while the endless cycle of reincarnation was a hell where one could never escape from suffering. Why didn¡¯t I notice that sound, the girl wondered. It was the ferocious racket of gasoline engines, coming through the trees and closing in around her. From the way they were approaching, the abandoned scooter must have been discovered and they were tightening their search area. ¡°Gwaak!¡± With a muffled cry, a peacock with magnificent plumage came running out from between the bougainvilleas. It seemed like the girl had dozed off. It hadn¡¯t been a conscious action, but when she realized that she had fallen asleep the girl climbed up the sal tree she had been leaning on. It felt like the trunk of the tree was also telling her to climb, spurring her on. The thick clusters of leaves, along with the weeds at the base of the tree seemed like they would conceal her. Plus, the long branches were covered in ivy, which made it look even more climbable. If that wasn¡¯t so, the tree would have never called to her. Even if they found her she still had plenty of excuses, so she told herself that there was no need to be overly nervous. ? It was entirely a coincidence that she had been able to escape from Cabas this morning. When she awoke there was no lover in her bed, and the wind was gentle and didn¡¯t sting her skin. When she went out onto the third-floor fire escape the breeze coming off the Ganges felt slightly damp. It was impossible to jump down to the road below from here. The jagged shards of glass embedded into the top of the wall put a damper on any such feelings of bravery. Besides, for the girl whose earliest memories were of growing up in an orphanage, any place that gave her food, clothing and shelter was precious. A few times a month she would sleep with the men she called her lovers, and as long as she fulfilled their requests her life at the place called Cabas was more than provided for. She had been taught that these sorts of people were ¡°lovers,¡± and although she puzzled over the differences apparent in her reality when compared to the dramatized versions, the other women around her were doing the same thing, so there was nothing about it that she found disgraceful. In fact, the owner¡ªher foster father¡ªhad gone through great lengths to pick out only ¡°good¡± lovers for her, allowing her to even keep hold of her self-respect. The Kama Sutra says so as well. A relationship of loving and being loved can¡¯t happen with just anyone. You can¡¯t fall in love if there isn¡¯t the appearance of pride and modesty. Without a longing heart, the relationship is fruitless. Lovemaking is a union of people¡¯s hearts. That¡¯s what the owner had taught her. For that reason, in the spring of her seventeenth year, the person to become her first lover was an elite working for the Environmental Conservation Bureau, a young man unable to forget that he belonged to the K¨¡yastha caste. ¡°There must be a reason that someone like yourself, instilled with the virtue of pride, found themselves at Cabas. I¡¯ll do what I can to have you brought to the fortress.¡± Any lover who was capable of saying something like that so easily would not be able to bring the girl to the fortress. However, thanks to that young man she was able to become a woman without it being a repulsive memory for her. Looking down from the fire escape into the courtyard, there was no sign of the usual lookout. It wasn¡¯t until after getting on the scooter that she would learn the staff had left to take the remains of the eldest person at Cabas to the river. The scooter still had the key in it, and it would be mostly accurate to say that she found herself sitting on it because she was feeling mischievous. ¡°Oh?¡± The quiet sound of the motor running made her think that she could get out, and when she pushed against the gate dividing the courtyard and the outside world it opened. She was probably fortunate to have only just woken up, dressed in a t-shirt and compression shorts and not even wearing makeup. She was able to make it through town without being spotted, driving onto the highway. Just once did something catch her attention. A submarine-like rocket, flying up through the brown haze. She knew about space from watching the news on television, so she was aware of things like that in the sky. However, at the time she never would have imagined it to be something that concerned her. CH 2 2. The Giant¡¯s Shadow The gasoline powered bikes belonged to a security company working with Cabas. Two of them passed on by, and then the third came to an abrupt stop underneath the sal tree the girl was hiding in, followed by a fourth. ¡°¡­Seems like something she would think of.¡± Wearing black helmets and dressed from head to toe in leather, the men (it was possible that some of them might have been women) didn¡¯t look up, as one of them drew a gun. The bikes that had gone ahead returned as well. The black helmet brandishing the gun didn¡¯t even take the time to aim, and the girl felt the impact in her leg just as she thought, ¡°stay away!¡± Even something like a syringe could be fired at incredible speed, and as it stuck into her thigh it felt like her arms, wrapped around the trunk of the tree, had been knocked flying. A tranquilizer!? The moment the thought entered her head her body dropped sluggishly, following the path of the tree down as she tumbled head over heels. How barbaric! A numbing sensation spread from her right thigh to her hips to her back, chilling her body and blurring her vision. Even so, she could still make out the streaking lines of green. *ROOOAR* {Didn¡¯t I tell you so?} There was a flash of consciousness that came from the commotion above her. {Things turned out just as I said they would.} That voice, or rather, that thinking, touched the awareness of the girl who had just broken though the lowest branch of the sal tree. It belonged to a man she knew. {If you had just made a decision when I invited you to space none of this would have happened.} The Lieutenant Commander! *VROOOOSH* The thunderous roar felt like it was pushing down on the top of her head, and the powerful winds whipped through the forest, blowing away the layer of sand that covered the trees, until it looked like the pair of legs was about to wear the trees as shoes. Lieutenant Commander! What are you doing here? The enormous giant was painted in a color that resembled the flowers of the bougainvillea, descending like Shiva or the storm god Rudra. {I was curious, since it was the day I was going to space, so I flew here and I saw Lalah riding a scooter. It was quite the unexpected sight.} It wasn¡¯t a voice speaking, but¡­yes, she understood. Branches snapped. As the giant¡¯s feet scattered the sal tree blossoms, the four gas bikes spun their tires and took off in multiple directions. The red giant¡¯s hand reached out and caught the girl, Lalah, just before she hit the ground. *Screeeech* One of the bikes flipped over while trying to avoid the red giant¡¯s foot as it touched down. The titan dropped a metal suitcase in front of the bike. ¡°The gold there should more than cover things!¡± The voice of the red giant boomed in all directions, audible to all of the riders, preventing the suitcase from being claimed by any one individual. ¡°Inform Cabas that Lalah Sune is under the protection of Char Aznable of Zeon!¡± Opening the suitcase and seeing the gold plates inside, the black-helmeted man accelerated away, holding tightly to the treasure. *ZOOOM!* The red giant ascended, cloaked in the shimmering air. That submarine-like rocket ship was waiting for them in the sky above. ? ¡°Something like the thread of fate tied around your pinky?¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± The young man named Char Aznable, wearing a crimson military uniform, laughed at Lalah¡¯s innocent comparison. He was telling her the story of why he had gone to Cabas, the place she had been allowed to live. Forced out of the Zeon military, Char had spent some time wandering the Earth. He had been ousted from his position for failing to protect Garma Zabi, the youngest son of Sovereign Degwin Sodo Zabi, leader of the Principality of Zeon. But even as he wandered, Char didn¡¯t become a vagabond, nor did the military intend to let him roam free forever. ¡°It was fate that I was taking receipt of this Zanzibar when Lalah called out to me.¡± That was the story that led to the comparison with the thread of fate. ¡°Can you tell? Where Cabas is.¡± Shaking back his blonde hair in a practiced gesture, the young man motioned to a window-like display. It showed a depiction of the landscape directly below the ship. ¡°Right here.¡± Standing up, she pointed to a location on the display, which was then magnified. The few blocks of Cabas running along the Ganges River appeared like slightly squashed squares on a chessboard, recognizable from the forests and fields surrounding it. The image was moving out of the multi-frame display at a considerable speed, and Lalah¡¯s fingertip followed, tracing over its path. ¡°Impressive. You weren¡¯t off by even a millimeter.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not easy to do. Isn¡¯t that so, Mulligan?¡± The red uniformed officer looked to another officer standing by the doorway for agreement. ¡°There was no hesitation in identifying a single point, even on a high altitude image. Incredible.¡± ¡°I could sense her talent, that¡¯s why Lalah called out to me.¡± ¡°Is that how it is?¡± ¡°It was like that during my first visit to Cabas as well. You called me a Zeon, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Because of the air about you¡­¡± ¡°No, back then I was disguised. Or rather¡­my heart was closed off. I wasn¡¯t thinking of Zeon at all. Despite that, Lalah said that I was a genuine Zeon.¡± ¡°Did I?¡± ¡°¡­Even now, I never told you to point to the display, but you did. Why is that?¡± ¡°You asked me to, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. But I did think it. Lalah sensed it.¡± The officer in red looked happy to say her name. The way he used it was synonymous with saying, ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I could just tell from the atmosphere¡­¡± ¡°Really? But there was no need to stand up and touch the screen.¡± ¡°Oh¡­! I see¡­¡± Forcing a smile, she finally accepted the red-uniformed officer¡¯s words. It felt like the girl was playing a prank by pushing back against what the young man said. ¡°Even if you were only picking up on the atmosphere, your intuition is good. Would you allow me to make use of it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost as if you mean to make me into a soldier.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I won¡¯t force you. If your answer is no, I¡¯ll land the ship right now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re joking¡­¡± Lalah started to laugh, but when she realized the young man was serious she closed her mouth. The other young officer standing at the door chuckled at their friendly conversation, while also making it clear that Char wasn¡¯t lying. It seemed like he felt even more embarrassed about this than she did¡­ The ship was gaining altitude as it orbited the Earth, but even as they spoke it wouldn¡¯t have been out of the question to go back. On top of that, Char was also thinking that it would be a good idea to land at least once for practice, as part of breaking in the new ship, but he didn¡¯t mention that part. However, Lalah could tell that too, and she took her time deliberating. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you want to return to Cabas, that¡¯s fine. Or if you¡¯d like to live on your own, I can at least provide you with a small bit of support.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve only met once before. Why would you go that far?¡± ¡°I believe I¡¯ve made my intentions known.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what I¡¯ll be asked to do, but if my abilities can be of use to the Lieutenant Commander then I don¡¯t want to disregard them¡­this isn¡¯t me being conceited, okay?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Lalah is indispensable.¡± ¡°You never took me as a lover at Cabas.¡± ¡°Ah!? ¡­Did that offend you?¡± ¡°At that time, you were so rigid that it made me wary.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was so impressed by your aptitude that I lost my cool.¡± ¡°I see¡­Lieutenant Commander, this aptitude and sensitivity of mine that you keep speaking of¡­I suppose I¡¯ll place my trust in it.¡± As she finished giving her answer the officer named Mulligan made a stealthy exit. ¡°I paid off the owner at Cabas and was allowed up to your room, but as soon as I saw you I was convinced that you were the girl who had been calling to me. That¡¯s why, back then, I completely forgot all about trying to seduce you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lalah¡¯s smile stretched across her entire face. Night had fallen on the image of the Earth behind her. Compared to the previous century, the light from the cities across the continent was a fraction of what had been, but the sight seemed to give new meaning to the well-worn phrase ¡°diamond-studded.¡± ? Lalah Sune¡¯s earliest memories were of the orphanage in the crowded streets of Delhi, and she grew up living a life that was almost entirely self-sufficient. Some of the children from that facility were taken by families emigrating to space, but in Lalah¡¯s case she left at age nine, when the owner of Cabas asked to adopt her. None of the staff members at the orphanage seemed to care about the identity of the adults who took the children. Even though they knew the children couldn¡¯t survive on their own, the orphanage would throw them out as soon as they turned fifteen. Part of this was because the Earth Federation government, organized to facilitate emigration to space, had a policy of publicizing that life on the Earth was merciless, which only made it even more so. The history of mankind¡¯s exploitation of the Earth, which continued up through the 21st century, had finally pushed the planet to the brink of death. Consumption of goods requires consumption of energy. Consumption of energy wastes goods. In order for the majority of people to continue on with their everyday lives, food had to be shipped in from remote regions. Communication using one¡¯s mouth and ears alone and on-foot transportation all became insufficient, and a multitude of communication and transportation networks took their place. Houses were required to do more than provide shelter from the elements, clothing and tools were updated annually, and these structures were understood as acts of knowledge, of culture. Living such a life, modern humans became more aristocratic than medieval royalty, forgetting how to use the dynamism gifted to them by their arms and legs, mouths and ears, and forgetting, from the inside of their living spaces shaped by a myriad of technologies supporting the functions of those organs, that they were animals. They failed to see that even the consumption of ¡°clean¡± energy was accelerating the warming of the planet, or that the urbanization of the residential sector encouraged the outbreak of new types of diseases, instead believing all modern commercial enterprise to be good, until the harmful effects of technology appeared in the air and water and the food produced by it. However, when people began to realize that even the organism called the Earth had limits on the ability to heal itself, they also saw that just as the Earth suffered from illness, so did the human mind. Faced with such an era, people decided for the first time that the ideal of keeping the planet healthy for all time must be put into practice. Originally such problems were neither ideological nor epistemological, but people began to ask themselves whether or not it was okay for them to be consuming so much, if they were really worthy enough to use all of the tools they possessed. Following this obvious understanding, modern capitalism had a revelation. Outer space gives you infinite room for consumption! Humanity, which had flourished because of economic activity, could come up with no other logic. It was the thought that, from a commercial viewpoint, everything is either profitable or it isn¡¯t. Even though the space development that resulted from this clumsy idea could provide no help in extending the lifespan of the Earth, people loudly proclaimed what a stroke of luck it was that science and technology had progressed in such a way as to make space emigration possible. From the logical consequences of that reasoning came the formation of the Earth Federation government, the construction of space colonies and transportation systems for the immigrants. These undertakings stimulated the economy, promising unlimited consumption. The move to space continued over the last century, and restrictions were placed on living on Earth. The people allowed to stay behind were those working in environmental conservation, the primary industries, researchers studying archaeology, history and other related fields, along with people in the industries supporting all of the above. However, loopholes and exemptions have existed since antiquity. And so, in the end a new Earth came into existence, an Earth where the way of life seemed no different from the old one. With Char leading her by the hand, Lalah Sune made her departure from that planet. CH 3 3. Amuro Ray Born on the Earth, Amuro was brought to space by his father. There were multiple generations of mechanical engineers in Amuro¡¯s family, and because his father was employed by the military he was exempted from obligatory space migration. Conversely, because his father Tem Ray was an engineer in the Earth Federation Forces, he qualified to go to space. The difference between forced emigration and qualification for space was night and day. Traveling expenses to the space colonies were waived for those who qualified, while migrants were saddled with loans that took three generations to repay. It was harsh and unreasonable. Amuro moved to a Lagrange point (understand that these are regions where the gravitational pull of the Sun, Earth and Moon are neutralized) containing Side 7, the newest cluster of space colonies being built. There was only a solitary standard-size colony located there, two-thirds finished, and its construction had been halted due to the current war. There was no established proper name for a single space colony, so when people said ¡°Side 7¡± they were referring to that unfinished colony. Despite the fact that it hadn¡¯t been completed according to spec, the cylindrical colony, three kilometers in diameter and over twenty kilometers long, was a mid-sized city free of inconvenience, even though the influx of war refugees had made things chaotic. As for the current war, it was being fought between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation. Side 3 was located in the Lagrange point on the opposite side of the Moon. Because it was the third of the colony groups built, and because it was the farthest away from the Earth, anyone sent there was required to be self-reliant. Rather, it was only natural that a sense of isolation from the Earth took root in the people forced to move there. Despite that, once they saw repayment of the loans to the Earth Federation as overtaxation, they turned their attentions inward. It was a breeding ground for rebellion. When rulers start to think about plundering from the masses, their position of authority is taken from them. It¡¯s a fundamental rule of history, and one that boiled over in Side 3 during the era of space immigration. In the beginning the Earth Federation believed that Zeon Deikun, the man who had started advocating for Side 3¡¯s independence, was the founder of a new religious sect, even mistaking him for an occultist. Actually, that was all part of Zeon¡¯s strategy. While maintaining that appearance, he laid a foundation to establish political power within Side 3, forming a government based on a doctrine of guiding new immigrants to space. The goal was the establishment of an independent nation, one free from the exploitation of the Earth Federation. To achieve this, Zeon Deikun used an extremely archaic system: a monarchical republic called a principality. There was no spiritual foothold for the immigrants, in space or anywhere else. In fact, after taking the week-long voyage from the Earth to Side 3 via the Moon¡¯s orbit and seeing the enormous artificial masses known as space colonies, there was no way anyone could believe that they had arrived at their new lands. There was no source of emotional repose. Only the feeling of weightlessness. What was more, they couldn¡¯t even see the Earth any longer. After nearly a century, a generation was born who had only ever known Side 3. However, they had also grown up raised with the awareness that their ancestors had come from Earth. And that Earth? A place of plenty, of greenery and oceans. The children of Side 3 grew up learning that plants and animals originated from the Earth. However, the government that controlled the planet was stealing from them. It forced them to live in poverty, unable to afford to return. Because when you try to maintain the space colonies in perpetuity, that alone exploits the time people have to live. Work in the lunar mines, in order to maintain the colonies. Work to produce the materials needed to maintain the colonies. Compulsory labor, in order to provide yearly maintenance to the colonies. These things by themselves robbed people of their time. Additionally, over half of the income made from this labor would go toward paying back the loans for travel expenses and residency permissions. All recreational activities had to take place inside the colony. There was no time to do things on the level of fostering the local cultures they would have known on Earth. When the only thing people had to do for fun was sex, it couldn¡¯t be called recreation. Rather, the outlawing of homosexuality and control of sexual practices in order to maintain the population, following the outbreak of diseases that occurred from life in space, felt like nothing more than a return to the Dark Ages. In order to rescue people from their mental and physical confinement, Zeon Deikun declared the implementation of his bygone system. He brought water to the people¡¯s hearts, and showed that there was richness to be found. The people of Side 3 responded with wild enthusiasm. As a result, the Principality of Zeon was able to achieve its independence, but that political action was not to be enacted by Zeon Deikun, but his successor Sodo Zabi. That it was Sodo Zabi who had Deikun assassinated would remain a secret. Also, the reason the Zabi family became lords of the Principality of Zeon was because the name carried so much weight that they were left with no choice but to use it. At any rate, the Zabi family was rapidly transforming Side 3 into a military state, and the people gave them their full support. If the other groups of space colonies followed Zeon¡¯s example and became independent, it would be the end of the current capitalist order. That would mean the collapse of the Federation¡¯s vested interests, not to mention its very function. Furthermore, the Earth Federation government sympathized with Zeon¡¯s fight for independence. That was why the space war, mankind¡¯s first, ended up becoming protracted. Side 7 was the newest colony and the one farthest away from Zeon, so it was still under the control of the Federation. That was where Amuro Ray had gone. ? Amuro had no recollection of the fun days spent on the Earth during his junior high years, most likely because the image of being separated from his mother was so painful. The memory of holding his father¡¯s hand as they left¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Amuro¡­I just can¡¯t handle outer space.¡± Remembering his mother saying something along those lines hardened Amuro¡¯s heart like a ball of ice. It was after he arrived at Side 7 that he would learn her words weren¡¯t the actual reason. Mother is with a man, a man who isn¡¯t Father. Her face in his memory had given it away even then, he told himself. He had stayed silent and departed their house, clutching his father¡¯s hand, but it was likely he thought, My father is a pathetic man. However, Amuro needed to go with one of them to survive, and he had simply chosen his father. He looked forward to going to space because he thought it might feel nice¡­but that wasn¡¯t the case. Although the ground back home was whitish and slightly powdery, he still loved the soil, which would grow abundant plant life when provided with enough water. In early springtime, even the clouds of yellow dust carried in from the mainland added to the feeling of the seasons, and from that feeling a realization of how huge the Earth was etched into his body. If that was the climate his mother had been born into, he would have liked to stay forever embraced by her warmth. However, Amuro felt that his father would fall apart if he wasn¡¯t there, and he accompanied him into space. And so, as Amuro grew older he was able to say that he had put the matter of his mother¡¯s adultery behind him. Of course, he had never spoken about these feelings since coming to Side 7. He had enough sense to know that nothing good would come from putting those sorts of things into words. If he mentioned it to the relentlessly cheerful Fraw Bow, she would probably just say something like, ¡°That must have been so hard for you!¡± Reality never stops moving, and Amuro¡¯s life on Side 7 was about coming to terms with that fact. ¡°It sounds like it¡¯s only a matter of time before they close in on the RX project.¡± Fraw Bow¡¯s father brought up the rumors swirling around Tem Ray¡¯s job. The Bow¡¯s house faced directly across from the Ray¡¯s, and ever since moving to Side 7 Amuro had eaten the majority of his meals here. Fraw was basically a sister to him. ¡°Everyone knows that the Zeons are going to attack here too, if the mobile suit development team doesn¡¯t hurry up and get out.¡± Responding to her mother¡¯s statement, Fraw looked at Amuro. ¡°¡­Your father hasn¡¯t said anything?¡± ¡°Mm, I think he was home again last night, but I don¡¯t have a clue.¡± From listening to the evaluations of his engineering obsessed father taking place around Fraw Bow¡¯s dinner table, it also became clear to him that the marriage with his mother would never have worked out. In which case, even Amuro would have to leave his father at some point and consider living on his own. He couldn¡¯t keep shamelessly burdening the Bow family forever. He had started to learn how to cook for himself, but Fraw, a meticulous busybody of a girl, still continued to brazenly show up at his house, even after Amuro had discovered the adolescent knowledge of masturbation. ¡°I¡¯m not joking. Give me back the key.¡± What made Fraw so formidable was, even when she was made to return his keycard she was sure to have a spare. It was always the same result, even if he changed the key code. Well, the reason for this was that Amuro was always leaving his keycard somewhere, usually at Fraw¡¯s house, and it was a simple enough matter to steal a PIN. ¡­Self-sufficiency? ¡­Independence? He had an interest in machines, but he didn¡¯t think he had it in him to patiently develop tools. At Amuro¡¯s young age, a boy¡¯s dreams don¡¯t convert into reality, and he hadn¡¯t matured to the point where he was setting goals for his life. I must have a grudge against women in general¡­since I was the child of a mother like that¡­ Amuro was able to acquire such an audacious understanding of himself after learning terms like ¡°mother complex,¡± and as he masturbated he started to find that he was aroused by not only normal pornography but BDSM as well. I want to reject female genitalia¡­even though I like looking at them so much. He was even able to come up with the theory that his desire to enjoy the erotic, when combined with the urge to forget such impulses, resulted in a new desire to destroy female reproductive organs. However, he was also concerned it might be a dangerous sign that a regular naked woman wasn¡¯t enough to sexually arouse him. This was why he absolutely did not want Fraw Bow, a healthy and wholesome girl, to catch wind of his fetishes. So, he remained very aware that he needed to keep presenting himself as a normal boy to her. However, he hadn¡¯t figured out the important question of how exactly he was supposed to do that, which only made him more frustrated. Still, as he grappled with sex, it seemed that he stayed at least somewhat smart about it, plus he lacked the courage to do anything that would cause him to stray too far. It was probably thanks to the support he had. Because his engineer father was with him, regardless of whether Amuro saw him as a man or not, he really was a more ordinary boy than he believed himself to be, stuck in the constricted space of Side 7, in the middle of an adolescence that was neither rich nor poor. He was able to visualize his father developing the new model of mobile suit to combat Zeon¡¯s Zaku, and that was enough to help fill some of the holes in his self-esteem. If that kind of work had caused his father to become impotent, he could accept that. As fellow men there were difficulties that they had to face¡­ However, the reality was a little harsher. The war refugees said that the Zeons would order a raid if the Federation conducted their mobile suit work on Side 7, and they wanted the development moved somewhere else. It was a depressing situation for Amuro. All the while, the reality of war was quickly approaching him, with as much force as Char rescuing Lalah Sune. That raid took place roughly six months before Lalah arrived in space, and the person leading it was Char himself. CH 4 4. From Space to the Earth and Back Again A raid on a space colony could have been carried out simply by seizing a single control point, but when the time came the infiltration unit, under the flag of the Principality of Zeon¡¯s Gihren Zabi and led by Commander Char Aznable, sortied two Zaku mobile suits to conduct guerilla warfare. Their objective was to reconnoiter the Federation¡¯s mobile suit development team and capture the new machines. Amuro was planning to leave for school when the colony sirens sounded, but Fraw Bow rushed him into hiding in an emergency shelter. It wasn¡¯t built to protect against air raids, but it had to make do. However, Amuro felt that they weren¡¯t safe there, and he intended to contact his father and arrange for them to be evacuated to a Federation ship, but as soon as he dashed out of the shelter he found himself staring up at the Zaku in front of him. The humanoid robotic weapon had a standing height of over twenty meters, and it was built like a tank. Its actions on the battlefield were exactly like those of the giants of legend. On top of that, it was a Zaku, said to be the crown jewel of the Zeon forces, and so the machine loving boy was simultaneously terrified and inspired. All of the scattered memories associated with mother complexes and the like quickly evaporated. Zeon¡¯s amazing for building something like this! What kind of functionality does it have!? What kind of system drives the limbs!? He was gripped by fear, but he couldn¡¯t help but observe. However. As soon as the giant fired off its howitzer-like rifle, empty shell casings the size of drum cans dropping to the ground, Amuro realized that this place was a war zone, and that if he stayed here it would claim his life. The smell of gunpowder reminded him of something animalistic, and he guessed instinctively that people wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything when there was fighting using a large quantity of it. *KA-BANG! FWOOOOOOSH!!!* A single explosion killed a dozen people, leaving the survivors to writhe on the ground, their arms and legs shredded. Of course, the Zaku wasn¡¯t targeting flesh and blood humans, but once a place became a battlefield this was the sort of thing that happened. Why!? The destructive power of the Zaku¡¯s rifle was extremely high, and as a result its effects were indiscriminate. However, the Zaku wasn¡¯t currently equipped with ammunition powerful enough to destroy the colony itself. Call that wisdom. It was all thanks to Char¡¯s considerations, but that meant nothing to the people here, dead and disemboweled. That¡¯s just evil, right!? Amuro saw Fraw Bow caught by the blast wave and knocked over. At that moment, the concept of a woman with a disgusting reproductive system didn¡¯t exist in his head. Nor did a pesky, meddlesome, sister-like pain in the ass. The only thing on his mind was, Why are they using weapons in a place like this!? He snapped, very calmly. Maybe he was angry that he could no longer see a future here. More than that, everyone was going to die if this evil wasn¡¯t stopped. It was unforgivable. It seemed like his thinking had focused outward. That¡¯s why he ran. He wasn¡¯t sure whether or not he did it to save everyone, but he ran to the Federation mobile suit testing site to look for his father. He asked every single member of the military he came across. You guys are the reason this is happening, so why don¡¯t we get the mobile suit development team to do something to stop it? At last, he found his father. But for some reason, Tem Ray was wearing a space-use normal suit. ¡°Go to the port. Evacuate to the ship!¡± He yelled at Amuro. Amuro would later learn that his father had put on that space suit because he already knew the raid was coming. He ran again, wondering what he was going to do even if he made it to the ship. Intending to find Fraw first, he then spotted the white mobile suit lying horizontally on a platform trailer. ¡°¡­What are you sleeping here for!?¡± He wanted to scold it. Looking at its pose, another image flashed through his head. A picture of the Buddha entering nirvana. There was no better description of the sleeping mobile suit, its white face gracefully turned up to the sky. Amuro felt like it was being much too carefree. It was almost like it was mocking him. Maybe he really was thinking of scolding it. He definitely wasn¡¯t thinking that if he got inside he would be able to hide, or fight. Climbing up the access ladder, he reached the maintenance platform. At that moment, he felt a wave of pressure from behind. Huh!? The Federation soldiers stationed on Side 7 had fired missiles to intercept the attackers. They might have been wire-guided, but the act of using missiles inside of a colony was nothing to make light of. Looking into the cockpit positioned inside the belly of the white mobile suit, it was like the vacant seat was saying, ¡°Sit here.¡± The blinking lights on the instrument panel were yelling, ¡°Do something.¡± As he slid into the cockpit, his attention was caught by a notepad sitting on top of the console, and once he recognized that it was a printed paper manual he skimmed through it. With that, he had an overall understanding of the white mobile suit. If the manual had been a computer, this would have been impossible without going through each of the menu headings. In the space age however, computers were no longer thought of as an absolute must for conceptualizing things, and the usage of analog materials like this manual had come to be preferred. Without understanding the basic logic of a computer, you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the meaning behind a single switch. This was the moment that Amuro came to a distressing decision. As long as the machine was sleeping it wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything, so the first thing it needed to do was stand. But once it stood up it would attract attention, and the machine could be what Zeon¡¯s Zakus were currently searching for. Just as he thought that, as he continued to flip through the manual, the enemy appeared. Doesn¡¯t it have any internal weapons!? Amuro faltered as he looked for the answer. The Zaku¡¯s gun bellowed in front of him. However, the white mobile suit had an automatic defense system which activated if there was a pilot on board, and there was. The mobile suit raised its left arm to block the rifle fire. It was likely that the manipulators were fitted with Chobham armor. The fireball from the explosive projectile was brushed away, while the machine¡¯s hand remained undamaged. ¡°I see!¡± Without waiting for the smoke to clear, Amuro raised the mobile suit up, and then maneuvered it into grabbing the beam saber attached to its backpack. The heavy metal particles, heated to several thousand degrees, extended into a streak of light, taking the shape of a sword. It cut upward through the Zaku¡¯s waist, piercing its main engine. The Zaku exploded. *BOOOOOM!!!* The explosion, equal to a dozen or so tons of TNT, breached the inner layers of the colony that formed the ground and kept going through the outer wall. Amuro¡¯s own father would be sucked out into space through the hole, but Amuro was unaware of that. With a cry of , the second enemy charged towards him. It was a fact that the mobile suit known as a Zaku had shouted at him, and Amuro panicked. ¡°Ah!!!¡± Even though the first Zaku exploded, it was a relief that it had been in an uninhabited area of the colony and not one of the residential zones, and even though the second Zaku¡¯s ferocious yell intimidated Amuro he still had time to think. He was able to instantly throw himself into his next thought, and the next. It was something that had never happened before. I can¡¯t let it explode! Determined, he decided that he needed to do something about the enemy pilot. With his machine crouching low to the ground, he pointed his beam saber at the enemy cockpit, thrusting forward and then pulling back. The Zaku collapsed. Amuro had two mobile suit kills in his first fight. Because of that, things would only continue to get more troublesome afterwards. A Federation officer ordered the white mobile suit to be withdrawn, and both it and Amuro were then put to work helping to retrieve the parts that had been scattered around the testing site and research facility. The recovered equipment was to be brought to the ¡°Trojan Horse,¡± a Federation assault cruiser that had arrived at the colony¡¯s port. ¡°I¡¯m just an amateur. A student. It¡¯s true that I might have taken the liberty of getting inside and moving it, but I¡¯d like to get out now.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any other pilots. I saw you take out those Zakus. That¡¯s an impressive achievement. Go and guard the ship! Take a beam rifle.¡± An awfully youthful sounding voice, pitched with excitement, gave Amuro his orders. He would only learn it later, but that voice belonged to one Bright Noah. Bright was no more than an officer cadet, but at that moment he had been made acting captain of the ship codenamed the Trojan Horse. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to rest either, and he ignored Amuro¡¯s pleading as he tried to carry out the mission that had been given to him. As everything else had unfolded, Char Aznable, commander of the cruiser that had sent the two Zakus, launched on his own and approached the Trojan Horse. The captain of the Federation ship had been killed in the ensuing skirmish. Placed in charge of the Trojan Horse, the officer cadet Bright Noah needed to get the white mobile suit and the refugees of Side 7 away from here. Amuro didn¡¯t really understand the circumstances that had brought the refugees aboard the Trojan Horse, but he discovered Fraw Bow wandering the port with the other survivors and helped them find their way. With things being as they were, Amuro was taken aboard the Trojan Horse and ended up returning to Earth. From the Federation¡¯s perspective, there was no way they could remain on Side 7 now that their new mobile suits had been seen by Zeon eyes, and so it was necessary to move them as urgently as possible. The Trojan Horse was called that because its silhouette looked exactly like a toy wooden horse, and while it was said that the ship¡¯s actual name was the White Base, there was no reason behind that other than its painted white hull, a customary color for space ships. When the Trojan Horse re-entered the atmosphere, Bright Noah still at the helm, it was attacked by Char, who was waiting for that exact moment and had pursued them in his Zaku, which had earned the nickname ¡°The Red Comet.¡± However, Amuro engaged him in the white mobile suit and the ship was able to successfully retreat. Whether it was a fluke or not, it became another one of Amuro¡¯s achievements. That was why the Earth Federation left the composition of the Trojan Horse as it was, even after retrieving the data on the practical tests undergone by the white mobile suit on Side 7. At the time they escaped the Red Comet, about half of the crew were civilians, but despite that they were taken by the Federation, without consent, to continue to serve as crew members. That went for Amuro as well, who was made into an official Federation pilot. It was the sort of local conscription that took place during times of crisis. ¡°Please don¡¯t joke around! I¡¯m scared enough as it is!¡± ¡°Your compatibility with the Gundam is good. Checking aptitude is going to be an important issue going forward, even for the military.¡± ¡°Gundam?¡± ¡°Yes, the mobile suit¡¯s name? You didn¡¯t know that?¡± The person relaying the orders from the top was Lieutenant Matilda Ajan, commander of the Medea supply corps. Faced with the lieutenant¡¯s exceedingly businesslike, seamless replies, Amuro was unable to object. The lieutenant¡¯s figure was on the slender side, but she exuded a feminine sweetness, and even though her lips were slightly too thin for his tastes he could feel a heat deep inside his core as he listened to her voice spill out from behind a layer of red lipstick, with just a touch of pink to it. He was also aware of his erection. That brown uniform and officer¡¯s cap really accentuated the Lieutenant¡¯s bob! There was no way Amuro could object, seeing how it was love at first sight. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t joke about something like this. Amuro. Looking at your achievements¡ªwe¡¯d call it combat experience in the military¨Care you aware that they¡¯re absolutely top-notch? It¡¯s possible that you could be an ESPer.¡± It was a knockout blow. ¡°Even the EFF is interested in understanding your talents, which is why we¡¯ve been collecting your data.¡± ¡°The military is?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Otherwise you¡¯d have been put on trial for moving the Gundam on your own.¡± Now that he knew the ridiculously attractive lieutenant seemed to have taken an interest in him, Amuro was hoping that he¡¯d get to see her on the next supply run. With that he had lost all interest in Fraw Bow or anyone else.