Gundam: A Gundam Enthusiast's Journey with a Mecha Girl

"I came to prepare for the Junius VII memorial ceremony. Later, my ship encountered an Earth Force warship. When Earth Force soldiers boarded the ship for inspection, a conflict broke out, and then..."

Lux paused for a moment. Although her expression didn't change, Raven could sense that she wasn't as calm as she seemed.

"I was pushed into the escape pod by the others."

"how so……"

Although Lux spoke briefly, Maru could easily piece together the truth of the matter from her words.

In the Earth Alliance, where Blue Cosmosism is rampant, commemorating the Junius 7 incident is undoubtedly a taboo subject and the most politically incorrect act.

From the perspective of Blue Cosmosists, the Junius 7 Incident was a holy war to eliminate the Coordinators, a great victory for the righteous Blue Cosmosists over the "cosmic monsters." Lacus and her group, who came to commemorate the Junius 7 Incident, were undoubtedly a thorn in the side of these Blue Cosmosists.

After learning that it was a PLANT civilian vessel, the Blue Cosmosists' actions were self-evident. The so-called conflict was undoubtedly initiated by the Earth Force, which eventually escalated into yet another act of violence by the Earth Force against an unarmed civilian vessel.

"How is the Silver Wind I'm on now?"

"I'm sorry, I only found the escape pod that Miss Klein was in."

"Yes, is that so..."

Raven's answer made Lux lose her smile. Although she knew that the crew of the Silverwind were probably doomed, being told the result still made her feel very heavy.

Maru suddenly felt that her military uniform no longer fit her. She stood up and awkwardly tugged at the tight collar.

"That concludes our questioning of Miss Lux Klein. This ship will take Miss Klein in accordance with humanitarian principles. However, this is, after all, a warship, so please refrain from wandering around the ship unnecessarily. We'll take our leave now… Mr. Raven, aren't you leaving?"

Seeing that Raven showed no sign of leaving, Maru asked.

"I have some personal matters I'd like to ask Miss Klein."

Raven's words made Maru look at him with suspicion, but the bond they had forged through thick and thin made her decide not to delve into it further.

"Alright, Mr. Raven, please remember to lock the hatch when you leave. It's for her own good."

Maru led Mu and Bakirulu out of the private cabin, but the atmosphere did not become more relaxed after they left.

Clearly, even though Lux comes from a political family, she is still a 16-year-old girl, and the news of the Silverwind's entire crew perishing is still too heavy for her.

The atmosphere made it difficult for Raven to speak, but in order to break the deadlock, he still tried to speak in a relaxed manner.

"Although the atmosphere isn't quite right for this, Miss Klein, could I have your autograph?"

Raven pulled a record out of his pocket.

Chapter 14 Raven and the Diva

When Raven said this, even Lux, who has extremely high emotional intelligence, was stunned for half a second.

【Uh……】

A unique electronic sound emanated from Raven's chest pocket.

[Raven, is this the 'personal matter' you wanted to ask about? Even if you don't understand the atmosphere, why would you need an autograph in this situation?]

"I can't exactly ask people 'Have you eaten?' or something like that, can I?"

Why can't your choices include the option of comforting the other person?

"Hoo hoo hoo... Sorry. An autograph, is it? Of course, no problem, Mr. Raven."

Seeing Raven inexplicably start arguing with someone, Lux couldn't help but chuckle, and the gloom on her face finally dissipated a little.

"Operation a success. Excellent support, El."

[Was this really an operation to cheer Miss Klein up?]

"Of course it's true."

Raven answered somewhat guiltily.

"Then I'll take it as true."

El didn't pursue and fell silent. Lux, watching Raven and El's interaction, returned the signed record to Raven and asked with some curiosity.

"Mr. Raven, who was that lady you were just talking to...?"

Upon hearing Lux mention El, Raven spoke with a hint of pride.

"It's a fully autonomous, thinking artificial intelligence that I developed, named El."

Although Raven couldn't create a body for El to use in a short time, he could still share the access rights of his personal terminal's camera and microphone with El through a subroutine.

"That's right. Hello, Miss Lux Klein, I'm Al."

"Hello, Miss El."

Even though El wasn't human, Lux, who was well-mannered, still nodded slightly at the camera.

"Completely autonomous, self-thinking artificial intelligence—this is a technology that even PLANT hasn't achieved. It seems that the title of 'the youngest genius of this century' isn't just political propaganda from one side of Earth."

Lux's words made Raven blush. A large part of the reason why Raven was able to achieve such great success in this world was the solid foundation he laid in his previous life. This made Raven feel uncomfortable whenever he heard others call him a genius.

However, Raven also caught something interesting in Lux's words.

"Political propaganda? What kind of image do I actually have in PLANT?"

"This..." Lux hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth, "Actually, in PLANT, many people don't believe that you, a natural person, could have achieved this at such a young age. They are more inclined to believe that all your achievements were plagiarized by the Blue Cosmosists."

For researchers, there is no more malicious accusation than this. Although Lux is not in academia, she understands this simple truth. Therefore, when she told the truth, there was a hint of shame in her voice.

Despite always touting themselves as regulators of a superior species, driven by arrogance and jealousy, they still commit such despicable acts.

So the Coordinators aren't as rational as they claimed.

Lacus was embarrassed by El's sarcastic remark, but Raven didn't seem to care too much about it. The gap between Coordinators and Naturals had been long established; it would be strange if this hadn't happened.

"There's such a thing? That's interesting."

Aren't you angry?

Raven's carefree demeanor piqued Lux's interest in the young man.

"It doesn't matter how it is, and from the beginning I never thought I was a genius. All I wanted was to fulfill the dream I've had since I was a child."

Raven took a deep breath, opened his arms, and looked out at the starry sky through the Archangel's thick armor.

"Don't you think it's romantic to pilot a robot you created and travel among the stars?"

The young man's figure, loudly proclaiming his dreams, seemed to be shining brightly in Lux's eyes at that moment.

"That's such a beautiful dream."

Lux said this with a smile, her eyes so clear that there was not a trace of mockery in them.

-----------------

'At my age, I'm still acting like a junior, talking about dreams in front of girls I'm just meeting. What have I been doing all this time...?'

Thinking about what he had done before, Raven felt like he could dig a sea-view house out of the floor with his toes.

For Raven, who prides himself on being a principled member of society, this act of revealing his true feelings to a young girl was, in retrospect, undoubtedly a form of torture against his sense of shame. However, Raven cannot deny that when he was with Lux, he did indeed feel a long-lost sense of ease.

Whether it was the unique temperament of a young girl or some other reason, Raven always felt a warm feeling soothing his spirit when talking to Lux. The pressure that had been weighing on Raven ever since the Archangel entered the Junius 7 wreckage zone dissipated without him even realizing it.

Perhaps this is why Raven lowered his guard in front of the girl.

After Raven revealed his dream, the invisible wall between the two dissolved. After that, Raven heard Lux ​​tell him a lot about his experiences with PLANT, which really satisfied Raven's curiosity.

However, Raven also sensed a hint of danger in Lux's words.

Similar to the situation on the Earth Alliance side, public support for the war in PLANT is steadily increasing, and the radical faction advocating the extermination of all Naturals is steadily growing its influence.

Under the influence of Blue Cosmosists and PLANT radicals, the war would inevitably escalate into a horrific standoff between the two sides using devastating strategic weapons.

Having personally participated in the war and witnessed the horrific scenes of Heliopolis and Junius VII, Raven has lost all empathy for war.

However, Raven could no longer extricate himself from the war; he was already mired in its quagmire.

To end the war and usher in a true era of peace, we must defeat the radicals and ambitious individuals who are fueling the conflict.

But where do we even begin?

His thoughts gradually became muddled, so Raven had no choice but to put this complicated problem aside for the time being. After glancing at the time, he took Lux to the Archangel's dining hall.

As the saying goes, "Man is made of iron, food is made of steel," you can't do anything on an empty stomach.

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

"Mr. Raven, is it alright to bring me out like this? The captain probably won't allow me to move around the ship freely, will she?"

"The cafeteria isn't some top-secret location like the engine room or weapons control room, so there's nothing to worry about. Besides, even without me, Miss Klein probably isn't the type to obediently follow orders, is she?"

"Oh dear, you've found out."

Although she said that, Lux showed no sign of panic on her face and still wore her unchanging smile.

However, just as the two saw the cafeteria door, Raven noticed Kira standing awkwardly outside. Curious, Raven quickly took a few steps forward, about to ask Kira what had happened, when he heard a sound coming from inside the cafeteria.

"I don't want to go see that Coordinator girl, she's terrifying."

Chapter 15 Revision

"I don't want to go see that Coordinator girl, she's terrifying."

Raven recognized the girl who spoke; she had a slender figure and gorgeous red hair, and her name was Frey Alster.

In addition to this, the girl has another identity—the daughter of George Alsta, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Atlantic Federation.

George himself is a supporter of Blue Cosmosism, and it goes without saying what kind of attitude Frey, who grew up in such a family, has towards Coordinators.

However, in Raven's view, Frey's dislike for Coordinators is more like a child unconsciously imitating the behavior of adults, rather than worshipping Blue Cosmosism as a belief.

It can be said that Frey is a typical example of people influenced by Blue Cosmosism. Although she is not a devout believer in the ideology, she has to conform to it in order not to be isolated due to the environment of following the crowd.

Frey is not the only one in this world who has been swayed by overly radical ideas.

"To truly resolve the conflict, it's necessary to break free from radical thinking. If I can't even change her, how can I talk about changing the world?"

Raven had a sudden thought and grabbed Kira's arm as he tried to leave.

"teacher?"

"Don't rush off, Kira, haven't you eaten yet?"

Raven gave Kira a smile, then turned to look at Lux.

"Miss Klein, please wait here for a moment."

Raven then pulled Kira into the cafeteria, while Lux looked on with curiosity, wanting to know what Raven was up to.

-----------------

"What exactly happened? I could hear you talking in the hallway."

Raven appeared in the cafeteria.

"Mr. Raven, actually it's..."

Miria, like a student caught daydreaming, carefully explained the whole story.

Because Mirialia had other work to do, she could only ask Frey, who was free, to help deliver food to Lux, but Frey refused.

"It's just delivering food, is there really any need for such a big reaction, Frey?"

When facing his students, Raven unconsciously adopted the posture of a teacher.

"But she's a Coordinator, isn't she our enemy?"

"Coordinators are the enemy, Frey, do you really think that way?"

Raven's words clearly displeased Frey.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Kira, who has always fought for us, is also a Coordinator. Could he be an enemy as well?"

Raven's tone became more forceful, and Frey then realized Kira's presence. Her expression changed, realizing she had misspoke, but her long-held beliefs and the pride brought by her privileged family background made her continue to retort.

"I... I didn't mean that! Kira is our ally, I know that. But she's different, she's with ZAFT, and ZAFT is our enemy, that's for sure, isn't it?"

“Just as you are not a soldier, Miss Klein is not ZAFT. Frey, she is the same as you, a civilian caught up in the war.”

Raven tried his best to soften his tone and present the facts to Frey. However, Raven's lecturing only provoked Frey's rebellious nature. Caught up in her emotions, she couldn't bring herself to agree with Raven's statement.

"I... well, I just don't want to go to her! Coordinators are not only smart, but they also have excellent motor skills. What if she goes crazy and attacks me?"

"Frei!"