In the morning, to be able to wake up as late as possible is
a blessed affair. Even so, if it happens day after day, can it still be
considered an accident?

If our purpose in life is to seek enjoyment, then we need to invent
entertaining activities that we will never tire of. Should this ever be the
case, we may never stop killing each other...

However, “living” is not about seeking such an intense phenomenon.

Humans are slow and stupid.

They are only concerned with feeling comfortable. If they are able to enjoy a
moment of happiness, they do not require more. A large part of life is spent on
“What shall I eat? What shall I wear? When should I visit the toilet? When
should I bathe” and such other trivial matters.

Those unable to experience life in this way do not think at all. During their
daily lives, they cannot acquire proper food or portable water because they do
not have any consumption “standpoint”.

In order to support these needs, a basic economical structure needs to be
created. For this reason, no matter if you are a blue or white collar worker,
you endure and force yourself to work.
This is a difficult thing; but without such work, going to the bar, grabbing a
drink, and chatting with others becomes a special treat to lift one’s spirit.

If everyday life became a holiday, then what would this extended holiday be?

“Murder clubs… I heard rumors about them.”

“… Mmm …”

Beltorchika buried her thick lips in Amuro’s chest. “Mmmmmm…”

“Is that true?”

“On Earth, it seems such of games exist...”

“… So, if the rest of life becomes a vacation, will we know how to live
properly?”

“People are like this now. If this goes on, do you think that comforting
feelings will still exist?”

“Huaaa huaaa...”

Beltorchika grunted sensually.

“When I’m with you, Amuro, I always feel good... I don’t care about any of
that.”

“Really? Don’t you feel embarrassed saying that? Get off me, my chin is
hurting... Bel-chan your chin is too sharp...”

Amuro grabbed Beltorchika’s hair with both hands and lifted her off.

“That hurt!”

Snorting, Beltorchika sat up, used both her hands to wrap a towel around
herself and stood up from the bed.

“You’re too rough!”

Beltorchika’s lustful voice, well defined back and soft, uniform bottoms
disappeared from the room.

“Yeah… I can be like that sometimes…”

Amuro continued the thought in his mind.

Towards who?
Amuro didn’t understand, but he had the strange habit of talking to himself. He
raised his right hand to open the blinds.

“…!?”

It didn’t seem like dawn- the sunlight resembled noon. Their bedroom was
enveloped by the sunlight. The feelings of both pride and shame entwined with
each other and rushed up the chest of the half naked Amuro.

“… Ah shit...”

This was also meaningless talk.

Amuro adjusted the angle of the blinds and his lower jaw while examining his
upper body. He was surprise by the robustness of his body. The small chest hair
he had, like the hair on his head, was a weird reddish tint.

“… It doesn’t seem similar at all... ?”

He thought in his heart, as that did not resemble that of either of his
parents.

“I’m not a bastard child, am I?...”

This was something to be worried about when it came to his mother, Kamaria Ray.
He had learned as much in his youth. When he thought about how his father, Tem
Ray, the fact that he was Tem’s son could not be easily denied.

“Father sure died at a good time…”

His change of thought was sudden.

The sound made by the running shower could be clearly heard.

The sound was more intense then usual, but Amuro didn’t notice.

Firstly, this was because his feelings were sagging; and secondly (how shall we
say this?) common noise from everyday life would not wake him from his
thoughts.

Amuro’s mind might occasionally be a mess, but this was only part of everyday
life, after all.

He decided that he was going to get out of bed.

A feeling of having to face reality, finally made him think about what was
going on.
Having to leave the “nest” he shared with Beltorchika was actually a rather
compelling thought.

When spending time together with Beltorchika, they isolated themselves from all
facets of reality, so that the two of them were alone together, and their
relationship didn’t feel so ragged. This was not just in terms of sex. If they
let various “messy” events get in-between them in the rare times that they were
alone, they would not care about each other. Had that happened, such a “nest”
would not exist.

Therefore, in order to leave this “nest”, some courage is needed.

“… It says they can’t see any movement of the “Sweetwater’ fleet? That’s a
lie!”

The sound of running water continued in the shower. Amuro felt apologetic
towards Beltorchika as he used the keyboard of the computer terminal on his
desk next to the bed and downloaded Londo Bell’s data. This was another bad
habit of his.

Amuro straightened himself and mindlessly gazed at the monitor.

“Char’s motives have changed?”

Displayed on the screen was secret data processed by the Ra Cailum, the
military vessel that Amuro was assigned to. Only people of Amuro’s rank were
able to access it.

“…Going to make a move soon. Then I definitely must leave by tonight.”

Even though the situation was so, the unit had not formally sent him a notice.
This was because most of the things that required Amuro’s presence had already
been done. However, it wasn’t complete, it was just prepared.

Even if he had spent every day rushing around to help prepare against Char’s
fleet, Londo Bell had always been pretty well prepared, so Amuro was required
to do very little.

In addition, the commanding office of the Earth Federation Forces had yet to
issue an order to move out.

However, Char, who they had their sights on, had already moved his fleet out of
Sweetwater last night.

Thus, Amuro and Beltorchika had to realize that this is most likely their last
break.

Before Amuro entered the bathroom, he printed out the log from the news
transmission and several pieces of other information.

At the same time, Beltorchika entered the kitchen to prepare food.
These activities seem normal in Amuro’s house, but it was actually busier than
usual, as it was, after all, an odd period of rest time.

“… Last night’s information has leaked out. Char’s fleet left Sweetwater. The
Sweetwater government has also made an unilateral statement to support Neo
Zeon…”

Amuro placed the newspaper down on the television. When he is alone, Amuro
always avoids being disturbed by external noises.

“When is it?”

Beltorchika Irma, upon commencing her meal, asked Amuro.

“It’s tonight, I guess. The attack…”

“I don’t understand. Then, should I go to Anaheim Electronics, like we
planned?”

Beltorchika, who was in her intimate undergarments, was also starting to talk
about work.

“Let’s do it. You’ll help me make the final adjustments to the Hi-Nu Gundam.
Londo Bell only has that suit usable.”

“Before we go, I’ll buy a few things. Has ReGZ, that MS, been assigned to
Astonaige?”

“Of course. Compared to you, Bel-chan, he’s more professional.”

“I’m very sorry then…”

Beltorchika held a cup of milk in her hands and gave a shrill laugh.

“ All right, help me to buy some frozen strawberries, because on the way back,
I want to eat something sweet…”

Amuro went along with Beltorchika’s shopping topic.

“Okay…”

Planning ahead on what to do before returning home, that was a characteristic
of military personnel.

If people were rushing out on a trip, they would not need to think about
returning. Like rushing out to buy a model kit but end up only looking at the
manual; buying some ingredients to make pickled vegetables by drying them in
the living room, and yet at the same time prepared canned food. This was
something an average soldier would do.

But Amuro has forgotten these natural instincts because he has unconsciously
lost the basic foundation of family values.

Amuro finished his preparations, kissed Beltorchika and walked out of his
apartment.

The small lanes of Karsi**(Note: I can’t properly translate the name. It is a
location in India, can be a street or even a city name), a market district
located in the northern part of India, has retained its original look from
several hundred years ago.

After entering the age of space colonies, and the forced migration to outer
space, the number of residents had declined until it had been almost abandoned.
However, the entirety of India was considered a “special zone”, so a few people
moved around the place.

Today, there were a few black cars speeding around nosily. In addition, several
police officers wearing special protection used for “man-hunting” were also
running about.

On Earth, there are several Earth Federation Forces “special zones”. To put it
simply, they might be called “Nature Reserves”.

When it comes to India, due to religious implication, its status as a “Holy
Land” has been preserved.

Thus, there are a lot of people coming in from the various colonies to visit
it, and due to the popularity of religion, the place has also become a tourist
attraction for the younger generations.

However, it is not as lively as it was in the past, as no one is actually
allowed to reside there. The reason why it is fairly crowded is because trade
with tourists is allowed. Though it is contradictory, it is the way things are.

The police agency of the Earth Federation Forces, even though they watch over
the people who are coming in and out, have no intention of managing the huge
land of India. However, the Earth Federation Forces, in order to not let people
notice this face, will occasionally (out of the blue) go after those who have
broken the law. As the action is, their actions are very aggressive while they
pursue targets. Due to this, they have been branded “Man Hunters”.

Today, the action was different from their usual “Manhunts”.

“What is it?”

“Are they searching for someone?”

This was a strange rumor. Man Hunters did not search for specific people.
Random selection was more of their way of operating. After that, they would
pack a predetermined amount of people into the escort car behind them and
vanish like the wind.

If it was just like that, it would be easier to handle, but Man Hunters, while
apprehending their targets, tend to half-heartedly use their weapons, resulting
in at least ten innocent victims per raid.
Because of this, several bad rumors were circulating constantly.

It is said that some people paid their way into become a Man Hunters. India was
probably the only place left now that still practiced the word “hunting”.

“Are they searching for a specific person?”

The lane was no wider then three meters, but due to the changing times, it
could now be considered a big street. Some people were in the center of the
lane. They were old Hindus who lived in the corners of darkened rooms and were
talking in a muffled voices while waiting for the Man Hunters to pass by.

“Sigh... ! As I said, we should not have let Quess join us!”

The last man spoke angrily while running.

A girl of about ten years of age stuck out among the bunch of youths that were
running in front of him.

“Then, you shouldn’t have followed!”

The girl in front cursed while rounding yet another bend.

“Oh!”

She jumped past the white bones of a cow’s corpse. Following her, the bunch of
youth also jumped past that pile of white bones.

“Wu…!”

The man who was complaining tripped over the pile of bone, fell seemingly
head-first into a pile of feces and landed on the pavement.

“A boat should be there after we get out of this river dike right?”

An intelligent looking youth who overtook the girl asked. They were dressed in
what could be considered as a “vagrant” manner. Their jeans had holes and their
vests were tattered and torn.

“Christina!”

The young man that had fallen down yelled miserably.

“Don’t look!”
The young man that was in front slid down a slope that was next to the
horizontal river.

Bang!

When the gun shot was heard resonating from the houses, the young woman named
Christina lifted up her ragged long skirt and slid down the slope. The girl
following behind her did not bother with her shorts, and just slid down the
muddy ground that was mixed with cow feces.

Following that, another two young men followed and slid down.

The flow of the horizontal river, compared to a hundred years ago, had dropped
by half. They ran through the gap between the river dike and the old shore, a
flat river bed of around ten meter or so in width.

The river dikes were used by the Hindus in the past as bathing facilities. At
the area where the water flowed to the lower regions, various Man Hunters could
be seen coming down by the ladders on the river dikes.

At the same time, old fashion gas-propelled patrol cars, which were following
the route the group of young people were fleeing on, started to drive down the
slope.

At the central part of the river bed, where water was flowing, was a small boat
made from thick wood. However when the leading young man jumped onboard,
intending to ride it, it gradually started to sink.

“Huh…?”

That muddy colored water, relentlessly submerged half of the small boat.

“Swim over!”

Christina who had lifted her skirt up, loosened the powdery mud from her legs
and patted the back of the girl following closely behind her.

The young girl who was wearing a cowboy vest was suddenly startled and slipped,
her feet landing on the bottom of the river.

“Eeeek!”

The young man who was standing on the small boat gave a sharp groan and felt
the gathering water.

“Ah?”

“Do not try to escape!”
This voice came from the heavily armored transport vehicle that had slid down
the ladders of the river dike and charged into the river head. The machine guns
positioned on top were all aimed at them.

Man Hunter patrol cars were located downstream, armored cars were on the river
bank and behind them, and they scattered dust as they closed in.

That black mask and thick defensive gear were used to protect the vital parts
of the human body and could also hide a person’s appearance.

“We didn’t get it wrong?”

“This little imp here is Quess Paraya!”

The Man Hunter who was commanding the operation from the top of the armored
transport vehicle made the confirmation.

“You have nowhere else to run! I’m arresting the whole lot of you for abducting
a minor!”

The young girl who was protected by the band of youths did not understand the
meaning behind those words, but she understood that the “minot” was her: she
was the youngest among them.

“What are you all saying?”

“You’re Quess Paraya, right? We’re here to protect you. Come here, quickly!”

Suddenly their speech became more courteous.

“You Man Hunters!”

The man who was beside Christina, suddenly strangled the girl called Quess and
made a twisting action.

“Now Quess is going to die! If you all insist on doing this, we will not hand
her over until our safety is guaranteed!”

“Milton!”

Christina wanted to pull away the man’s hand, but Quess had already bitten his
arm.

“Quess!”

Quess went a bit limp. After that, the man fell to the ground, as if his body
was a wooden club, and lifted up a cloud of powdery mud.

Quess spat out a mouthful of saliva.
“… These people are friendly!”

The man hunter paid no attention to Quess’ words and leisurely continued.

“What is it? What do you all want?”

Christina spoke to the Man Hunters intensely, and her metallic necklace echoed
her words..

“People who randomly find amusement on earth, what else do you want to say?”

The Man Hunter who was standing in front of Christina slowly turned around and
slamed his baton into her chest, right where her heart was.

“Ahhhhh…!”

Christina’s body collapsed forward and lay flat on top of the coarse river bed.

“That’s too much!”

“Quess Paraya, please come with us.”

The man hunter who was standing in front of the young girl once again spoke
using a polite tone, but he still did not remove the black visor. They were all
arrogant.

“I don’t want to!”

“Your father is waiting for you.”

Two Man Hunters walked closer and lifted her up by her armpits. Quess feet
floated above the ground, and no matter how shestruggled, she couldn’t get
away.

Bang, bang, bang!

Shots rang out behind them.

“You…!”

Sunlight shone into Quess mouth as she screamed.

This wass the current situation in India.

“How is the situation?

“Boring. We’re heading for 5th Luna. It looks like Char is following the plan,
just like Amuro predicted…”

“We won’t do anything stupid and let him invade earth, right?”

“It won’t end up that way. It wasn’t easy for the commanding office of the
Earth Federation Forces to give permission. Those guys were planning only on
making a move after the battle ended!”

Bright Noa, the captain of the Ra Cailum and Amuro Ray were finally relieved.

What they hated was not that their fleet couldn’t move out if Lhasa didn’t
issue an order. They would take matters into their own hands if it came down to
that. Doing so, though, might have resulted in life in prison. The most
important thing, however, was to act instead of just sitting around and
thinking. The Earth Federation couldn’t afford to wait and take the damage .

Their enemy was now Char Aznable and the fleet he commanded – the Neo Zeon.

That man, to Amuro and Bright, was a special entity that they could not
personally ignore.

“Captain, supply will be done in another three hours. Everything is going on
smoothly.”

Amuro, using the monitor on the bridge to observe the loading sequence of the
MS squad, was preparing a report, as was demanded by his rank of Captain. **
(Note: Amuro’s rank is “Captain”, but Bright is the captain of the ship.)

“Understood! Captain**(Note: Referring to Amuro here), leave it to us, we will
make an end to that traitor!”

Bright seemed to be forcing himself to find some parting words.

“Don’t be too hot blooded. Captain……?”

It was Amuro. The feeling he was having was the same as Bright’s.

Thinking back, both of them were “reared” in a drifting state by the Earth
Federation Forces. This battle could be a chance for them to vent their
frustration. Of course, it was very clear that they could not look at battle in
such a wat , but it couldn’t be helped that those feelings still existed.

Char was not a person to be underestimated. As things were at the moment, he
couldn’t be let near the earth.

“I understand, I’ll mellow down…… Is Beltorchika still heading to the moon, as
planned?”

“Aye. The work on the Hi-nu Gundam seems to be behind schedule.”
“Will there be a need for it in the future? We do have a modified ReGZ until
then. How’s that? Is that okay?”

“I’ll use it! Bright, are you okay?”

“No problems. Using the annual pension given by the army, my wife and kids
should be able to get by. Yeah, that’s the only good part about the Earth
Federation.”

“Mirai’s strong. Even up in the colonies, she can survive.”

“Can you believe this? ‘Til today, I haven’t gone into space for long while..
From White Base to Argama and then to Neo Argama as a captain, even though I
was always nicknamed by you as an “old-fashioned father”, for some reason those
guys in Lhasa has also treat me as a Newtype. They always kept me under
observation, treating as if I would rebel upon entering space... so they have
bound me to earth?”

Bright Noa was suddenly transferred to Londo Bell a month back, which was
partly due to his vast combat experience. If Char was not stationed in one of
the space colonies, Sweetwater, his military career would have been spent on
earth forever more.

“Prepare for launch! Start the countdown!”

“Understood!”

Brightshouted. The vice captain, Melan, supervised preparations to leave the
dock while Amuro went down to the MS deck.

“Captain! Please do not head in front with just your ReGZ! If you get into any
trouble out there, you’ll cause your wife to be sad. I don’t want to see that
happen.”

Pilot Lieutenant Kayla Su, slid below the modified MS Re GZ and went to the
highest mobile deck.

“Would you not say that? I don’t remember having a wife.”

“Is that so... then, that who is that lady who has that similar name to ‘Londo
Bell’?”

“She’s a comrade!”

“Eh? You didn’t marry her?”

“Beltorchika didn’t like the idea, and I didn’t really encourage it… If there
is a need, we’ll go through all of the necessary formalities.”

“In what kind of situation?”
“Er... If there is a child, and a warm family location is needed, Beltorchika
and I will go through with it... I guess.”

“Is that okay?”

“Well, I guess there’s no choice…”

Grr!Baaa!

From inside the ship, the sound of the armor undergoing vacuum preparation
could be heard. The Ra Cailum was in space.

“Kayla, is the ReGZ ready?”

“Well, if we installed the backpack, the mobility of the machine would drop too
much!”

“I understand. I won’t force things.”

“Whatever you say...”

The ReGZ was a MS based on the frame of the Z Gundam, with different armor. It
wasn’t very high performance, and a backpack containing a mega particle beam
cannon used in cruisers was to be installed, to turn it into a support MS.

Amuro had strongly encouraged them to be mass produced, so as to supplement the
inferiority of the Jegan, the main MS of Londo Bell. However, this effort was
semi-wasted by the appointment of Bright.

The Earth Federation Forces had requested requested in-advance that Anaheim
Eletronics, which is around Von Braun, to develop a new MS and deploy it to
Londo Bell as part of Bright’s appointment, effectively making it Bright’s
gift.

Amuro let this MS be equipped with the psycommu system that he had designed,
turning it into a piece of equipment specifically used by Londo Bell. This was
the Hi-Nu Gundam.

Even though their offensive abilities were limited, the Earth Federation Forces
were not willing to let Newtypes use Gundam-type MS, hiding them away like
atomic weapons.

They worked too narrow-mindedly.

Accompanying the flag slip Ra Calium were three Ra Clop-class cruisers.
Together they headed on a straight trajectory toward 5th Luna.

During this time, they needed to investigate Char’s motives for moving his
fleet there and be ready to receive any commands coming from Lhasa. Thus, the
fleet needed to continuously monitor astrological objects and constantly
conduct laser communication with headwuarters.

This wass a very primitive job.

With the advancement of computers, navigating a fleet was easier, even with the
radar-interference caused by Minovsky particles. However, due to these
particles, all forms of wireless communication are knocked-out. They have to
resort to laser transmission. Even than, as high frequency waves might bend due
to the influence of Minovsky Particles, they have to ultimately rely on Morse
Code.

If observation wasn’t needed in this kind of stressful environment, which was
vital to understand the situation, most wars in space would end up being just a
simple exchange of missiles, and would come to a swift conclusion.

This being as it is, melee combat still exists in space. Things like MS,
humanoid machines which previously existed only in the realm of comics, were
now dominating space battles.

On the MS deck that Amuro was standing on, there were nine of these humanoid
machines - Jegans- with him.

Should we call it height or machine length? This machine was around eighteen
meters; a true giant. The part that resembled a chest had a small hatch,
through which is a spherical cockpit. Inside, there is a chair located right at
the center and on the walls of the sphere is a three hundred and sixty degree
display. The images shown on them are the same as what the pilot would see
around him. This is done by using various cameras to capture the surrounding
view, and after being processed by the computer, the images shown in the
cockpit as a three hundred and sixty degree image.

As this kind of images is produced based on the visual equivalent of the “eye
level”, it has been called “All Seeing Equipment”, “All Angle Display
Equipment”, and “Reality Monitor”, among other names.

However, the kind of images produced by these computers has been changed to
that similar to video games. Even though it is simple to change the display to
be realistic, if those highly intensive images are directly displayed on the
monitors, it is not uncommon for pilot to entering a state of anxiety.

Thus, the images produced by the panoramic monitor has been changed to resemble
that of video game devices.

On the other hand, it is exceedingly popular for the video game devices
commonly available to feature more realistic software.

In this situation, even though it needs the pilot to enter into a realistic
battle, there is a greater need not to terrify the pilots.