What is that supposed to mean?” Offbeat, as usual. That was just like the nerves-of-steel Mr. Flatter Me McFlatterson 311/3/15 [#7]. Pot, meet kettle.
The white three-headed winged dragon continued flying even as it took several hits from the Virgo IVs. [He] had lost quite a bit of speed. I thought he might be decelerating on purpose to bait them to the appointed spot. Or was it because the damage was so severe, that was as fast as [Nataku] could go? Either way, it was necessary to execute the mission before Epyon"s “ZERO” noticed Heero and Duo were there. But I watched and waited for my predictions to be disproved.
“That idiot…… like he has any smooth moves.” Before entering the deep gorge, the beam scythe wielding, black cape wearing Warlock leisurely planted himself [at the opening of the gorge]. With moving that machine on the sly, its abilities were supposed to be displayed to their full extent. The kid really shouldn"t have been named Duo.
“I can"t count on you.” It appeared that the Virgo IVs" target had now become Warlock. Immediately, they began a concentrated beam rifle attack. Warlock charged forward as he nimbly evaded to the left and right. As after image of the black cape left a trick track as he moved. The light footwork was pa.s.sable. The enemy seeking monitors on the Virgo IVs were probably fooled into showing a few or a few dozen Warlocks. Their beam rifles" aim was imprecise and they were shooting at the wrong places. I guess it wasn"t called Warlock for nothing. Warlock sped up even more as he was moving irregularly. But how close would he get--. Warlock, who was the closest, turned to the electromagnetic field and gave the beam scythe a huge swing and thrust. Just as I"d thought, the beam scythe was no match for the Neo Planet Defensers, which were prided as an impregnable defense. While going round in a big circular movement, Warlock seemed to be searching the Virgo IVs periphery, but there were not supposed to be any blind spots. Then, the white three-headed dragon made an about face and flew back over the battlefield. [Wufei] probably couldn"t stand watching my idiot son"s far-out moves. But in that utterly beat up condition, it was recklessly rash to offer his aid or even to go on a special/suicide [#8] attack. He quickly aimed his beam rifle up. At the same time, Warlock"s beam scythe attack was unveiled. The beam canon in the three-headed winged dragon"s dragon hang shot out. The cooperation between land and air made a wave-ike attack with superb (leniency and severity). It wasn"t quite enough to totally fend off the Virgo IVs [ALT: it wasn"t quite enough to overwhelm the Virgo IVs] but it wasn"t a bad combination.
“Do you think that"s a feint?” Kathy asked naively.
“Both of them together……” It gave me a really interesting thought. A wild attack and a reckless special/suicidal attack--. Behind this obvious battle, Snow White was cooly aiming for something. That suit, wearing its cape that was outfitted with a unique stealth feature, would be completely undetectable, even by the Mars Federation"s observation satellites. Epyon"s “ZERO” probably hadn"t pulled in the net of its investigative battle a.n.a.lysis. Suddenly, a thought came to me. In the back of my mind, I recalled the battle data from a few hours ago when Snow White and Warlock went up against Katrine"s Maganacs. I was sure Heero fought with only his beam sabre. When the suit was loaded onto the long-distance high speed hovercraft Voyage, it was supposed to have its new buster rifle. But it wasn"t used [to fight the Maganacs]. Heero said “I"ll kill Katrine,” but he didn"t use the most effective means. In other words, that [buster rifle] is his trump card, I suspect. The new buster rifle"s shooting range and (destructive coefficient [#9]) had been pretty souped up. Like the old Wing Gundam, it employed a custom cartridge loading system and at maximum power, could shoot three times. And spare cartridges would allow for three shots a piece. However--. I tried calculating that in my head and even with the buster rifle"s highest output, it wouldn"t punch through the triple layer electromagnetic defenses of the Neo Planet Defenser. If consecutive shots were concentrated at the same place, it might be possible to destroy the outermost layer, but as long as the Virgo IVs and Epyon hadn"t [yet] arrived, there was no way it could be a one-hit turn-around. With a more encompa.s.sing powerful attack, there would be no breaking through the triple layer electromagnetic field. Yet if it wasn"t decided to [shot] continuously in the same instant [that the shooting was started]--.
“You can"t do this……I can.”
Heero told me that long ago. He sure was the guy who could make the impossible possible. Well, all I could do now is see how good they were.
The Caped Misbehavor (lit: black-caped naughty boy) was still circling around the electromagnetic field, leading those mobile dolls around by the nose. Virgo IVs did not excel at hand-to-hand combat. On the other hand, with Zechs" Epyon closing in and fighting, he [note: or the Virgos?] would demonstrate his own specialty. You didn"t need “ZERO”"s judgment to know Zechs would begin attacking the (prominent) Warlock, that was self-evident. At the same time as the white three-headed winged dragon flying pylon circles overhead fired, simultaneously Zechs" Epyon raised its beam sword overhead and went for Warlock. That was the moment Duo had been waiting for. From under the black cape, he pulled out what looked like a hand grenade and flung it into the sky. It was [actually] a spare buster rifle cartridge. Epyon"s falling beam sword and Warlock"s up-thrusting beam scythe colliding in the middle with a spark. Warlock caught Epyon"s sword in a fixed position with a twist of his wrist. Without missing a beat, he used his other hand to pull out a second cartridge with a skillfulness that rivaled that of a true magician"s, and like the first one, he threw it into the air.
“Oh, I get it, (there was that option, too).”
Heero"s Snow White must have been up on the cliff aiming the buster rifle. 02PX-78DY point. That"s probably the point from which he"d fixed onto his target. The three cartridges flying through the air began freefalling in the Virgo IVs triple layer electromagnetic field. A blinding beam of light shot straight from where I thought it would. Heero hit a buster rifle cartridge. The biggest output energy beam hit the first spare cartridge and there was a huge explosion. The outer most electromagnetic field and eight planet defensers were simultaneously destroyed. For all that “ZERO” had been involved [in calculating the shot], the marvelous (snipe) was truly unparalleled and of the greatest subtlety. I couldn"t help being blown away by [Heero"s] hitting that little detonator on the spinning, falling cartridge from that distance. But if he didn"t do it like that, he couldn"t have raised the power of the buster rifle to destroy the [electromagnetic] field [and the planet] defenser. Two tenths of a second later, the second spare cartridge was. .h.i.t by the energy beam and the second electromagnetic field disappeared. Another three tenths of a second later, the third was exploded and took out the last of the Neo Planet Defensers. The area was swallowed up in a flood of light from the violent plasma currents and red-hot torrents [from the explosion]. The Virgo IVs lost their best defenses. But they weren"t such small potatoes that [the others] could ease up on the attack. Wufei was particularly merciless. At the same time the white three-headed winged dragon suddenly came down and changed modes to land as Nataku, he instantly went about destroying the Virgo IVs using successive attacks with the beam trident and the beam canon in the dragon hang. He was as fast as lightning. One suit left--only Zechs" Epyon survived. If Warlock showed its real power, it could easily pin [Zechs] down then and there. Duo, however, could not. He"d likely stopped moving for a second during the above mentioned explosion of light. But I couldn"t hold that against him. Not because he"s my son but because anyone who"d been right beside that explosive light [like he had been] would have done the same. That kid had played his part well beyond expectations. Zechs" Epyon changed into the red double-headed flying dragon mode and just flew off into the sky. Evidently, he"d decided to evacuate. Wufei"s Nataku changed modes again to the mobile armor mode but even though he gave chase, there was no way he could catch up [to Zechs] with the severe damage to the exterior [that Nataku] now [suffered]. Neither of the “ZERO”s could come up with anything better than that.
“Mission all over…… [we] somehow managed to win.”
Just then, an encrypted line of communication came from Wuife.
“This is Nataku……I will finish the operation [alt: it"s done].”
“Roger…… Master Chang, that was truly some splendid fighting.”
“No, Lieutenant Commander Kathy……I was weak.”
“Impossible.”
“Nataku didn"t approve of/accept me.”
“That"s not true! I"m quite proud to have a superior officer blessed with valiant boldness such as [you] Master Chang.”
“I"m returning to base now……Kathy, could you get me some coffee when I get in?”
“Yes, gladly!” Kathy saluted with a face-splitting grin. “Oh, would you care for some sugar and milk?”
“Both please……extra of both.”
“Understood.”
“Xie xie [#10]…..”
After the monitor [feed] was cut, we were filled with a sense of relief.
“That was great……”
“Yeah……just like you said, Wufei"s Nataku won.”
“It"s not going to be that easy--” said a girl"s voice from the communication device. Next, the smiling face of Miss Katrine appeared on the large screen of the main monitor. “--since the Mars Federation"s aerial tactics division will arrive shortly.”Hearing those words, Kathy immediately got on the controls and increased the enemy detection radar"s area of (inspection).
“Confirmed…… fifty giant transport hoverships are approaching over the battlefield where Wufei and the others are.” It was a means to win victory by strategy more than by tactics.
“You hacked the observation satellite, didn"t you? If you did, the Mars Federation is watching the same footage so it"s entirely within the realm of possibilies that its come to this.” She looked like her big brother Quatre and how everything she said was absolutely right was sickening.
“…….”
I was about to cut off the comlink without saying anything but [Katrine"s] hacking had been superbly done: all operations [then] became ineffective/unresponsive.
“Oh, that"s right……there"s no point to the security codes and secret lines.” She smiled as she spoke, “Between you and me, I put a lot of work into it, I did.”
“How many Mars suits are there on that hover craft?”
Before Kathy could answer, Katrine continued to speak unperturbed as she cleaned her gla.s.ses. “There are ten unmanned flying Mars suits on each. So altogether that"s five hundred machines.”
“Oh, is that so…… Aaaand incidentally, you"re saying Wufei and them will round them all up.”
“You all probably think I"m just a traitor but I want you to try to understand……We need a Gundam and especially, Heero Yuy.”
“Wasn"t there a smarter way to go about it?
Katrine put her gla.s.ses back on and her cool blue eyes flashed. “This is how I"m doing it, naturally……but the Mars Federation isn"t an iron-clad thing, we cannot be stopped by [these?those?] runaway/reckless upper levels of military.”
“The unmanned flying Mars suits have been released from the transport hover crafts. Snow White, Warlock, and Nataku are beginning interception!!”
“Even if I believed you didn"t order this……why the h.e.l.l did you contact us? It wasn"t just to make excuses/explain.”
“Actually, there is that, ha ha ha.”
“Huh?”
“That was a joke……I contacted you because two manekazaru guests will be arriving and I humbly wished to inform you prior to their arrival.”
“What guests?”
“Please receive them with courtesy……that is all.”
The main monitor cut back to the feed from the observation satellite.
“P.S…….give my regards to Professor Hilde Schbeiker. Please tell her not to cause us too much trouble.” She left one word too many [ALT: Katrine had just said too much.] It was common knowledge that I, as I am now, had no reason to say [anything] to Hilde. More important than that was the current state of affairs. Kathy and I started intently at the main monitor. It was a horrendous view. A large scale aerial battle was unfolding mainly in the gorge. Heero"s Snow White, Duo"s Warlock, and Wufei"s Nataku furiously took on the five hundred Mars suits but it looked as though the fatigue from the successive battles (before) was acc.u.mulating. [And] the midrange buster rifles" ammo had been all used up. They could only use the beam sabers to cut down their enemies at close range. Even if Zechs" Epyon got caught up in the battle, it would have been one hundred to one. Either way, it would be a fierce battle. There"s a saying that one man is a match for one thousands, but we didn"t have enough fire power to actually [make that idiom true] 316/2/12-14. In the midst of a hard fight, the odds of defeat seemed certain.
That"s when the rear gate opened. We were shocked when we turned around. Standing there was the masked second president of the Mars Federation and her a.s.sisting (officer).
“Relena.”
“Peacecraft.”
Madame removed her mask and let her soft hair stream elegantly down; her clear eyes stared steadily at us.
“h.e.l.lo, how do you do, everyone?”
Kathy immediately made to move but I muttered for her to stop.
“Please, don"t go to any trouble……I have come with tea already prepared.” Lucretia Noin, the a.s.sisting officer, produced a Royal Copenhagen tea set. During that time, Relena looked sadly at the desperate struggle unfolding on the main monitor but she quickly looked away, shaking her head like she was in anguish.
“Hey-o! Don"t suppose Madame President has the authority to stop this war, huh?”
“The President of the Mars Federation doesn"t have as much authority as you believe. Furthermore, there are precious few who approve/support the (will to peace).”
“Huh……so then, you came all the way here behind enemy lines to dress up and have tea time. You have some nerve, just as you always have.”
When Relena took a sip from the tea filled cup, a nostalgic smile played on her lips and she said, “I"m happy to see that you haven"t changed, either.” That beauty that seemed to put/keep her above the rest and her high-mindedness/n.o.bility were the same as ever.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Father Maxwell, for taking care of Naina.” She looked like she had put on a few years but there was no change in her beauty. The worry-filled eyes and charming mouth were as Lucretia Noin had been back in the day.
“It"s been a while…..what do you want with the base?” I didn"t begrudge them [anything] but I just couldn"t help the enmity in my voice. “Just so you know, we"ve got no intentions of abiding by total pacifism! Realizing a total, complete peace in this place is practically imp--“
“What about Heero?” Relena was staring straight at me. “His awakening was successful, wasn"t it?”
“Yup……his comprehension (lit: recognition/awareness) is way better than yours.”
“Thank you kindly.” Her polite words of thanks were entirely unexpected. And then, once she handed her tea cup to Lucretia Noin, she slowly pa.s.sed right in front of us.
“……”
We couldn"t kill this Relena Peacecraft [ALT] This Relena Peacecraft could not be killed]. With the PPP ((Perfect Peace Program)) running now, it wasn"t possible for anyone but Heero to do that [i.e. kill Relena]. Not even me, who during the winter after MC 15--when I had had my bike accident--had been injected with the “PPP” which had been called the [Mars] endemic [disease] vaccination 317/1/8-10 [#10.5]. Relena stood before the console behind Kathy. There, once she switched on the communicator, called Snow White.
“Heero……” It was an average long distance line. “Heero, please respond.”
“It"s no use……Heero Yuy is currently running the “ZERO system”.”
And then, there was a response, Heero"s face appeared on the screen.
“This is Snow White……what is it?” He was supposed to be in the middle of battle but his calm face responded just like that.
“Heero……” the pretty/pitiful girl"s eyes had gotten wet; she looked happy from the bottom of her heart to be reunited with (her dear friend [#11])......I missed you, Heero……” Her hoa.r.s.e voice wavered and she couldn"t speak. A single tear traced down her cheek.
“Sorry but I"m in battle right now……could you just tell me what"s so important?”
“……yes.” Relena wiped away her tear admirably and with gallant calm, spoke as though she were thinking deeply about what she said. “Heero……please come quickly and kill me.” Her voice was calm. That was likely a suitable resolution. For however much Heero was the only one [to whom] that request [could be made], it was pretty sad to deliver those words to the one she loved 317/2/8-9.
Heero, however, spoke with unchanging coldness, “I"ve accepted that mission [already]. Once this fight is over, I"ll carry it out immediately……”
“……”
“But Relena, you won"t make/let your battle end.”
“My……battle?”
“End communication.”
Once again, the monitor returned to displaying the battle via feeds from the observation satellite. Relena seemed to be thinking about something there, her eyes downcast.
“Major Sally……” she slowly raised her head and spoke to Kathy who stood near.
“No, I"m her daughter, Lieutenant Commander Kathy Po, Madame President.”
“I don"t suppose I could receive a copy of the files that were used in the awakening of (this) “Aurora Princess”?”
“Father, would that be acceptable?” Kathy asked me.
“If you think all the answers are in the past, you"d be thinking wrong, yo.”
Relena turned her resolute face towards me, “I understand……But I, as I am now, cannot fight.”
“Do you really think it"s possible? Making “total pacifism” a reality?”
“It will be different from what has been, I believe it is possible for “New Total Pacifism” [to make total pacifism a reality].” The light of hope shone in those eyes.
"Okay, take it already."
“I give you my sincere apology and grat.i.tude……I"m sorry.” It was only very slightly, but I had the sensation of my chest tightening. “Thank you, Duo.” For just that last second, her (original) cute little girl smile returned. Gimme a break, you don"t have to pull out the big guns for an old man like me. I think I"ll pa.s.s. Right away, Lucretia Noin took the memory chip from Kathy and began copying it. On the monitor, the grim battle was being continued. But it looked like half the unmanned Mars suits had been destroyed. That"s just what you"d expect from Heero and Wufei. And let"s not forget (the activities of) my little (lit: expectation) ace and Special Officer First Cla.s.s Zechs Merquise who, until just recently, had been an enemy. They had thrown themselves [fully] into the fight despite hampered by being in a state of extreme exhaustion 319/1/11-12<. a="" ago.="" appeared="" dazzling="" fifty="" golden="" had="" heads.="" hundred="" i="" knew="" left.="" light="" limit="" long="" over="" pa.s.sed="" suits="" that="" their="" there="" they="" time="" two="">
“Cyrene Wind……” That was at Christmas four years ago. Lucretia Noin removed the memory chip that was done being copied and smiled gently at the dazzling light on the main monitor.
“Tallgeese Heaven, hmm……” In the midst of the golden light, a white mobile suit with beautiful angel"s wings spread out had appeared.
“My brother has arrived, yes?” A smile played on Relena"s lips, too. When I"d seen [the suit] before, I hadn"t been able to confirm the whole body shape because of the glare of the light, but over the observation satellite monitor, I could see it clearly. There was no doubt that it was the successor to {Tallgeese}. Cutting through a thick layer of cloud, that white light descending to earth made me feel a sense of the sublime/divine. And the golden light circling around the area was an energy ring that correlated to an enormous halo (lit: angel"s wheel). All of a sudden, the second I thought that ring had expanded to its greatest extent, all two hundred fifty Mars suits were swallowed [in the light] and disappeared--
To Be Continued……
#7 - Fat Max calls his son “ochoushimono” which means either: someone who gets off on flattery OR someone who matches his mood to that of his partner/opponent. It"s probably the former. I"m just totally having fun with name calling for lots of these terms, since English lacks a single word (that I can think of) to embody these qualities.
#8 - this word to the j.a.panese apparently means just plain old “special” but the dictionary says foreigners would say what the j.a.panese call “special” is “suicidal.” Yeah, this is a j.a.panese story written by a j.a.panese dude for a j.a.panese audience, BUT Sumizawa probably super aware of all the different nationalities and origins of all his characters… and most of the main characters don"t even hale from Earth, so I decided to use that ugly “slash” and you can decide which fits better.
#9 - Okay, math fiends! I only vague recollect the term “coefficient” from my days in algebra and my initial “durp durp drup this is math” had me thinking of COSINE, not coefficient. Anyway, in the expression (4x+y), the number four is the coefficient. I seem to recall this being more like any integer used when solving for whatever variables (and thus gets used on both sides of the equals sign in an equation). The definite of a PHYSICS coefficient, however, is this: a multiplier or factor that measures a particular property. I suppose, as far as buster rifles go, we"re talking about physics more than algebra, aren"t we? I never took physics, though so I"m not how well that definition fits.
#10 - This is Chinese, as such, I just wrote the closest I could approximate the pinyin (that"s how you write Chinese in roman letters, except to be real pinyin, there ought to be descending accent marks over the "i"s). It just means “thanks.”
#10.5 - Hey! Keep this in mind to compare against all the technospeak in the next chapter!
#11 - I guess I feel compelled to pa.r.s.e the language used to describe the dynamic between Heero and Relena and Heero and Duo (for obvious reasons). The words on the page say “dear person” which would probably be like “my dearest friend” type of language that no one TODAY really uses, but it was common around the turn of the last century (if Sherlock Holmes is indicative of speech patterns leastways). Relena, in j.a.panese in Frozen Teardrop, is EXTREMELY polite sounding. I wonder why I recall her sounding so DUMB in the English anime version…