Gundam Fire Still

Lieutenant Colonel was an appropriate rank for a ms captain, and while it wasn't for a 16 year old, being a member of this country, and not an ordinary one at that, he had no choice in the matter.

After all, the teenager had an unparalleled amount of experience related to MS, both in combat and programming, and there was hardly anyone in the entire oRB who could take his place, so he experienced what was probably the fastest promotion in the history of the oRB in the Dawn Society.

But rapid promotion isn't always a good thing, and the young adjuster was by no means a fool; he knew that many times the perks of leapfrogging the ranks belonged to the daredevil, which might be a sign of a dangerous mission.

After all, rising in rank wasn't easy, especially in Orb, a familial state, a country where he'd gotten a glimpse of the subterfuge required behind rank advancement, with the Asha's behind Colonel Chisaka and Sahak behind Director Simmonds, while still being a free man, and even having a slight connection to the Combine, having been on the Combine's list as an untrustworthy The tainted freeman. He hadn't shown favor to any of the families, but none, not even one, had questioned or expressed displeasure at his unusual promotion, a rare occurrence in a country where Ob's family interests were intertwined. Knowing that after that border crisis of the United and Zaft firefight, which has almost become a pot of boiling water on Obuben Island, several MPs and bureaucrats were attacked, whether the attackers were supporters of whichever side of the conflict or Obu nationalists or militants in the military, not a single member of the family was affected, and those high up in the political hierarchy would have been the target of popular discontent, but they and the Their friends seemed to stay completely out of it.

While essentially an increase in rank meant an increase in pay and pension was a good thing, he didn't like the situation, his intellect allowed him to deduce some of the beginnings of why this was, who was behind it, and what was wanted of him. The things he had done himself were classified, but to those in power they were clear facts on the water, and like the Union at the time, someone needed their power.

It was just after he had been promoted to Major, the first three test pilots had completed their training and programming, and mass production of the Astray was on track, that he had been summoned. It wasn't an order from the cabinet or the council, but a more personal, yet corrupting, gathering of the families of the oRB chiefs from the previous era. The gathering of families that occupied the upper echelons of this island's politics to liaise with each other, exchange interests under the table, and then talk about the future of this country.

But he didn't like what he saw, and being familiar with the technical details and combat operations he was completely unable to hold a conversation with the young sons of those families, whose behavior of putting military or business secrets on their lips to fill the conversation made him frown in frequent silence.

The only other person who was out of place among them was the blonde, somewhat boyish girl. As they sat awkwardly at the table, in the midst of a barely contained conversation, he thought back to Heliopolis, and then realized the fact that the girl who had walked through the corridors of the epicenter colonial satellite together was the other. But neither of them wanted to remember that, whether it was for himself who was forced to sit on the ms, or the other who saw the ms that should never have been there, there were no good memories left in that colonial satellite that was now in pieces.

He didn't have to endure it for long, though, and soon he received a summons from the old man, the conversation he'd been expecting to come. Uzmi. Nara. Asha, the serious, middle-aged man who had supported the oRB almost single-handedly, met with him alone. He remembered the man who had left the front lines after that border crisis, the man who had once again stepped up and then cleaned up the mess, his steadfast and decisive speech in the council chamber that had ended up barely getting the coalition to drop the bar of sanctions while barely maintaining relations with the Klein government at the same time. But now, looking at the Uzmi before him, the teenager realized that the temperament of the man known as the Lion of Orb had almost belonged to the old man.

"The boy, Kagari, is going to be in your, and Director Simmonds', care."

"What..."

He whispered in shock, never expecting the old man's first words.

"You've heard the rumors about how she's not my real daughter."

The young man still looked confused, he had made some guesses as to what this conversation was about, but what the old man was saying was far more than he could guess at.

"Never heard of it? It's just political gossip, but it's better to know a little. In any case, the House of Asha needs an heir, whether it's true or not." It was an unexpected, deliberately vague statement that seemed to confirm the truth of that rumor.

"Because it's tradition," the old man's eyes took on a weary look.

"I think you're aware that both Eurasia and East Asia or the Commonwealth are behind the idea that Ob's politics are still stuck in the Middle Ages. And we all know that's true." The old man gestured to the door to the outside room, then made a gesture that indicated encapsulation, "We all know it, every family knows it, but we don't have a choice."

"I think you've met the Sailan kid outside, the blue-haired one, he's just a dude under the wing of his father and grandfather and wants nothing more than to be a dude, and I or old Sailan know that all too well, but according to the traditions of this country, the Sailan family will be his eventually, all the property, all the employees and assets And with that comes a part of the burden of this country."

"The same goes for that kid Kagali, she's not really fit to sit in my seat, is she? At least for the time being she can't."

"Why are you saying this to me?" After a long, quiet listen, the teen finally spoke up.

"Because we have a plan, a plan that wants to change all of this, a plan that wants to allow them to make choices, even if it's only temporary."

The old man took a piece of paper from a drawer and then spread it out on the table, in Orb, paper meant respect for tradition and solemnity, and on that piece of paper was a list, a list with many familiar surnames.

"They will be on the universe," the old man pointed again in the direction of the door, beyond that through a corridor was the hall of drinking, the young men could already smell the alcohol on their lips, "most of the young men there, including Kagali, and you."

The young man held his breath, he waited in silence for the old man to speak.

"There's a good chance the place will be invaded, it could be the United, or Zaft, or maybe even the LoGos' private armies, or they'll instigate a coup and make the guys with the banners take up arms, but it's all the same, you know. For the Twilight Society, for the mines beneath the island, or to deflect internal conflict. And at that point, you'll be the last hope for this country."

"This... It's not going to happen."

"No, it could happen, it's a possibility calculated by Director Simmonds' quantum computer, sure, I know those gadgets can be wrong, but think about it, the PLAnt is now run by the old Sarah who is either me or the enemy, and the United also used to ship ms to the heart of our country as a threat."

The young man nodded, though he was thinking of something different, and in his mind flashed the one-eyed ms that fired heavy missiles, the collapsing Heliopolis, and the coercive words of the United officer in Artemis.

"We, the older generation, will remain on this island and maintain this country, and it is up to you, cosmically, and only then will they, the young who have left the shelter of our older generation, be able to make a choice."

"Otherwise, the Orb will rot, no, it is already rotting, the next generation of joint heads will lose the ability to make decisions that will preserve the survival of this nation, the Aurora will slowly forget to innovate, the cabinet will only remember to denounce each other and pull their opponents out of office, even colluding with other nations to do so, abandoning our neutrality, and ultimately making this nation cease to exist Go down."

The old man's tone was unquestioningly sure, and his eyes blazed with fire.

"This is an opportunity, 'under the threat of united war, the unrest of this island,' 'rotten families fearing for the safety of their children' to send out the itinerant government-in-exile, which our generation of old men can give to the Last chance."

"Of course, they also need to learn to face trouble, the Sahak's don't like us old men, and they won't like them, and they could become fat in the eyes of cosmic pirates and criminals, and so on and so forth. They need to learn to face risk, uncertainty, and death, and that's where the Kagari kid has gotten a head start."

"Supply problems? Very realistic idea."

Seeming to see the concern on the young man's face, "You can have Director Simmonds contact the help of the waste merchants if necessary, they will provide what you must, it's part of our deal with them. Of course, they also have their own ideas at the same time, so you'll have to protect them and take your team with you."

The young man was well aware that after all this pushing of lines, he would still have to use his own power, and he had already said too much, or rather, he already knew too much, so much that he had no more reason to refuse.

Whether it was because of his country and the revered and weary leader, or because of the secrets he already knew that should not be heard, he had to nod. After all, he was no longer the student writing on the lawn of the engineering college, so he had to do what the self that possessed the power had to do.

Ironically, the present self had no choice.

"Hey!" The teenager nodded stiffly

"You know what? We'll tell the brats that they'll be free, and when they get to the universe, they'll no longer be under the control of their families and can have freedom. Haha, freedom."

The middle-aged man with the air of an old man laughed and shook his head, "But you know, ships don't have all that stuff they like, no luxuries or alcoholic beverages they want, they have to learn to put up with recycled air and shifting acceleration, standard army meals, and cold computers that won't take care of their capriciousness. Kagari will be their leader, at least I hope so, as I am now, if she can make it. And the final decision on the ship's voyage can only be left to Simmonds, Chisaka, and you."

As the conversation was coming to an end, and the boy had turned around with a full heart, the old man behind him spoke again.

"If, that child, Kagari, is feeling lonely and about to break down, no, I'm sure she's a strong child, but if she... You can tell her that she has brothers."

The old man-middle-aged man leaned back in his seat, and with a gentle wave of his hand he motioned him away, as if there were something in his words but not in his words, and as if these last words had exhausted all his strength.

20.The Story of a Teenager - Its V - Choices (below)

The voyage went smoothly at first, in fact how to get along with the noble children was not something he needed to focus on, he was only in charge of the squadron of ms that accompanied the ship, but was a senior bodyguard, although the ship was already carrying up to a third of the number of ms the oRB had, and gravity-free combat was not easy for those new pilots, but those noisy happy little girls learned. Soon. />

But a teenager was still a teenager, even if he hung up the epaulets of a senior officer and had his own men. He often watched the maneuvers of the alert and trained MSs outside by the porthole and the ion trails they left in their wake, the flickering ribbons of light were pretty, but there was still a voice in his head that reminded him that the MSs were still fully armed and killing weapons.

The young men who watched the ms pass at high speed through the portholes and cheered didn't know this, but he did.

The shadows of the war that had swept across the geosphere would not leave the ship alone; this was, after all, a mobile land adrift in space, needing to face its fate as much as Heliopolis, the cosmic land, or the real land above the Pacific.

What soon happened to make them steer their course to L4 was the contact between the mercenary named Serpent Tail, who had worked with the Twilight Society many times, and them. They brought not only supplies, but also the latest information, including news that a certain family, full of dissatisfaction with this decision of the old Asha, was planning some sort of unfriendly military action against the ship - and those on board; and in another piece of information, the leader of this Orb mobile land learned that the Krahnites were planning to make secret contact with the Union through certain channels.

The latter piece of information contains the obvious implication that an invitation was extended to one or more of the people on this ship to join this secret contact as a matchmaker when invited to act as a representative of the oRB.

And he, Kira . Lieutenant Colonel Yamato knew very well that it was not the mercenary's own idea.

"The Serpent's Tail mercenaries had always been known for their elite fighting ability, their calm, rational combat and their unrelenting haggling over commissions, and he'd never heard of them caring about politics.

So revealing the news of this secret contact to these young political heirs of the oRB is probably part of their task of accepting others. Because their reactions were easily predictable, these children of political families who were born out of the wings of their elders found it hard to resist the temptation to participate in this negotiation. Some of them were thinking of returning home, to the warmth and safety of the solid earth where the trial was over; others were nurturing their ambition to build their careers, hoping to do something to show their elders.

And participation in this thing is an opportunity, and both kinds of people are hoping to use their participation to achieve their goals.

For the decision makers on the military side of the ship, there was not much risk involved, as the clandestine contacts indicated a willingness to engage on both sides. The military would not be as naive as the young men to think that such contact would lead to peace, but even mutual intelligence gathering and even bribing of intelligence providers rarely ends in fighting and bloodshed. From a military and military point of view, this was not an adventure either.

In contrast, the fact that this group of mercenaries, who generally pose as neutral, revealed an assassination attempt from another family and then underwritten it for a low commission is more like bait to gain their trust.

Still good news for the teenager, he didn't need to drag test pilots who still lacked combat training into the fray, he had seen what it was like on the battlefield himself and he didn't want to see those girls strike out and never come back at all.

That the attack happened just as the information brought by the mercenaries said it would, and was easily taken care of by the mercenaries, which easily made it all seem a bit unreal.

Junior was used as a card without striking, and he stayed in the cockpit, watching the radar screen as the two sides moved, evaded, fired, and eventually the other side retreated and sought the heat source for the combined forces.