Gundam, Gravity Elegy

Those busy, impatient voices lingered in my ears, guiding me toward a certain fact.

Someone must be held accountable for this.

…………

I went through a few more lion head paintings, but I was too tired to continue. I picked a few that caught my eye, and I personally preferred the first one because it has more obvious cultural characteristics.

Chapter 57: Who is the Red Comet?

On the desert, the pyramids, belonging to the earth and witnessing the changes of the times, still stand silently.

The Sphinx, whose original appearance was no longer discernible, stood like a guardian, watching over the distant base. From day to night, the people who had been guarding this place gradually emerged from the chaos and cleaned up the mess and ruins.

However, this does not mean the end.

The sudden attack and the casualties and losses at Sphinx Base must be accounted for.

But the question is, who is the person who can provide the answer?

"Your Mightiness."

As the door opened, the bald, burly man, whose stature was completely disproportionate to his size, cautiously walked up behind the tall, thin officer.

"Those matters have all been taken care of."

Bathed in the bright moonlight, the commander-in-chief of the African front, a man named Jamitov Hyman, opened his eyes:

So, what was the result?

"There's a spy."

The Basque responded in a low voice:

"Our base's intelligence was completely betrayed, which is why Zeon was able to launch precision bombing and surprise attacks on our base."

"Who did this?"

"They are... local residents, possibly backed by Arab financial groups, and also some space dwellers."

"A Zeon spy?"

"No, it's the Republic of Leia in Side 6. They and some high-ranking officials within the Federation do not want the war to become one-sided, nor do they want it to end too quickly, so that they can profit from it."

"And then what? What role did the 'Lion Dance' play in all of this?"

"Awakened Lion?"

Perhaps not expecting this point to be brought up suddenly, the Basque was taken aback, but when the burly man looked up, he was met with a gaze as sharp as a knife.

Under the moonlight, Djamitov Hyman stood there, but his body seemed to blend completely into the shadow, which stretched out as if to swallow the frontline officer's figure whole.

"But the Lion Dance team had nothing to do with this incident. According to the subsequent investigation, they were filming a program with reporters and programs arranged by us at the time, and only returned to help when they noticed the attack."

"Okay, that's settled then. Double-check that nothing has been missed, then submit it directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Gabro and request further assistance."

And then, the pressure just disappeared.

When Basque came to his senses, he only saw that the supreme commander had turned his gaze away and turned his eyes toward the distant desert.

"I can only say that Gao Yun is quite lucky. Not only did he catch the eye of Lord Reibir, but he also obtained an ace that countless commanders dream of. With this wave, his status will probably rise rapidly."

The moonlight shone on that chiseled, pale face, and the deep-set eyes revealed a murky look that was hard to see through and hard to imagine.

When a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes, the Basque captured it instantly:

"If you just want the Lion Dance Squad to work for you, you can try to temporarily tie them to the African Army, as long as we... do that."

…………

"Drip drip"

"Ah Ren, the phone."

"Beep beep beep beep beep"

"Ah Ren, communication."

As dawn broke, when the sound of communication accompanied by the duet of Black & White Hello echoed, Gao Ren struggled to peek out from under the covers.

In fact, after encountering a sudden defensive battle, the Lion Squad's mechs needed repair and maintenance.

Furthermore, given that it is independent of the combat sequence, it should have a considerable amount of time off when it is unable to even be deployed for missions.

But the problem is that theory is ultimately just theory.

Under normal circumstances, who would contact him during the time right after sunrise?

"If I remember correctly, the sunrise time in Egypt is now either 3:40 or 4:30?"

"...I'm very sorry, Lieutenant."

On the other end of the communication, Corporal Ellen's timid voice clearly carried a hint of apology.

"But I really can't make that decision..."

Of course, even if Gao Ren really had a bad temper when he woke up, he wouldn't actually take it out on his own communications officer at this time.

"So, what's the situation?"

After getting out of bed, Gao Ren habitually kicked away the two rolling Hello toys and walked to the bathroom with the communicator in his hand.

Since I've already been woken up, I might as well brush my teeth, wash my face, and get up.

But just as Gao Ren was thinking this, the voice on the communicator stunned him:

"It's from the 'Fragments of Stars and Moon' program team. They said they wanted to do another special interview about the attacks that happened a couple of days ago."

"what?"

A TV program? An interview?

He knew about "Fragments of Stars and Moon." It was the most official of all the media outlets he had worked with, and it was even led by a relative of General Gop. They had even published a special feature on him to promote the project.

But the problem isn't actually there...

"What's there to say about something that happened two days ago?"

The Sphinx base's arms reserves completely collapsed. Although it did manage to hold the base from being captured by Zeon, it also lost the ability to continue expanding the battlefront.

In other words, it was a failure.

"In any case, Zeon's raid was a strategic success."

The defeat at Sphinx Base meant that the offensive on the Arab world on the African front had to be paused in order to avoid a counterattack from the Zeon divisions still entrenched in Africa.

"After all, there is still a large Zeon force stationed in Kilimanjaro. For the Federation, which is currently conducting a full-scale conscription and announcing a formal counterattack against Zeon, shouldn't this kind of thing be kept secret and pretended never happened?"

“I don’t know either, but they said you, Lieutenant, protected a lot of soldiers there, and then…”

"And then what?"

"Then they also repelled the legendary red comet."

"...Who is it?"

"He's Zeon's ace, and it's said that he had the most dazzling independent record in the Battle of Loum, capable of sinking five space battleships single-handedly. He's extremely... strong."

In the end, even Corporal Ellen herself might have been a little unsure.

"That should be right, right?"

"I don't have much of an impression of such a strong character."

"It's... the one with the red paint."

"what?!"

…………

"Um……"

Early morning at night, Belfast base, Ireland.

It should have been bedtime, but only a heavy sigh could be heard from a bedroom that could only be described as simple as a musical score.

The bright moonlight shone through the window, illuminating a set of photographs on the table.

Among them are photos of a Gundam directly blasting into the cockpit of a Zaku, as well as scenes of a single Gundam confronting a Zaku formation.

Among them, one photo stands out: Gundam is covered in wounds, its armor torn apart by shrapnel, its arms outstretched and kneeling on the ground in a wretched state, while directly opposite it, the red Zaku takes a step back.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I never expected that he could suddenly create a big news story wherever he goes. Young people are so energetic."

Laughter echoed through the communication channel:

"Looking at them makes me feel so much older. Rebil, you must feel the same way, right?"

Then, the old man, who had seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, finally opened them.

John Ibrahim Rebil, Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Federation Forces!

"You shouldn't have fueled the fire."

His somewhat withered fingers tapped lightly on the table as he gazed at the old man on the other end of the communication line, who was laughing heartily.

"He shouldn't continue to be in the spotlight."

"It doesn't matter. If 'those guys' can't even tolerate such a small child, it just shows that this world is nothing special."

On the other end of the screen, a glint of shrewdness appeared in the eyes of the kind, plump old man:

“Rebil, the federal government... is already dead.”

Author's message

…………

Gopp himself was a pessimist. He wouldn't say he was misanthropic, but in his view, it was already surprising that the federal government had lasted for 90 years.

After all, corruption was rampant even when Gop was young, and the conglomerate controlled everything from the ground up.

I also omitted the lion dance elements and replaced them with a few unicorn lions. In terms of a minimalist style, this should be the final version.

Actually, I didn't know which one was better, so I just put them all out.

Chapter 58: Rumors?

"Welcome to Star Moon Fragments. Today's interview topic is, of course, the news that everyone has been waiting for: the legendary mech of our Federation."

Accompanied by the female host's lively and cheerful voice, the iconic unicorn lion pattern was projected onto the screen.

As it gradually stretched out, the pitch-black giant, seemingly overlooking all living beings, appeared on the image.

"Gundam!"

The female host let out an excited shout:

"Thinking about it carefully, it seems that even I haven't heard anything about this machine and its pilot, Lieutenant Gao Ren, for a while. It would have been better if I hadn't inquired. After asking around, I found out that the young lieutenant has once again achieved remarkable feats of valor, and this time his destination is an important area where our federal government's governing body is located!"

The image of Earth rotated, and then a continent appeared before us:

"Africa—Here, our hero faced the vicious Zeon invaders without flinching. When the base was attacked, he stepped forward and fought alone against Zeon's elite forces. At the same time, another figure appeared on the scene, and you would never guess who it was!"

Her voice rose and fell in a rhythmic cadence, as if to pique the audience's curiosity, and her finger pointed straight up.

Finally, the vibrant red appeared on the screen.

"The red Zaku—I'm sure you're all familiar with it. During the Battle of Loum, it was a mobile suit of the same color that exerted brutal pressure on our Federation's fleet."

Beneath what appears to be a burning, crimson shell, the Cyclops seems to be looking down upon all living things on earth: