Gundam: Changing the World Even with a Mass-Produced Unit

Chapter 33: You Said You Didn't Want to Be Here

"Norris, let him go..."

As Norris faced off against two Gundams, a voice came through the communication system that sent a chill down his spine.

"Miss Aina, what are you..."

At this range, they were able to establish video communication.

Norris quickly noticed that Aina had removed her pilot suit helmet, revealing her short, silver-white hair.

For a moment, Norris recalled the younger Aina, who used to have long hair. Back then, she looked like a real-life doll, evoking a protective instinct in anyone who saw her.

When had that adorable doll exchanged her attire for a military uniform?

"Norris, I knew it—I'm not suited to be a pilot. I don't want to stay here at all. Weapons that so easily take lives… they shouldn't have anything to do with me."

Even though Aina was smiling, Norris, who had watched her grow up, could easily see the forced expression and sorrow in her eyes.

"Aina..."

"Amada Shiro—he's a Federation pilot, yet he helped me back then. This war between Zeon and the Federation—what is it even about? I can't make sense of it anymore."

Seeing Aina pour out her feelings nonstop, Norris finally realized how much mental pressure she had been enduring all this time.

Her brother had shackled her life, forcing her against her will into this killing machine.

He should have noticed it much earlier.

"My brother's expectations, Shiro's invitation—I don't want to let either of them down. Norris, can you teach me what to do?"

Aina's smile was so strained that all Norris could do was open his mouth, only to find himself unable to utter a single word.

What could he say? He had considered himself her guardian and elder, yet he had failed to notice her inner turmoil.

Then Norris's pupils contracted.

A warning alert sounded in the cockpit—not a lock-on warning, but an alert that a friendly cockpit was opening.

From this distance, Norris could clearly see Aina's slender figure, as fragile as a leaf, standing vulnerable against the massive Apsalus, like a doll caught in the jaws of a monster.

"Shiro, catch me."

There was no dramatic leap, just her figure drifting downward as if blown away by the wind into the depths of the ravine.

"Miss Aina!"

Norris shouted in alarm.

But at that moment, his mobile suit shook violently.

He quickly turned to see the ground-type Gundam he was holding deliver a punch to the head of his Tiger, breaking free from his grip.

The Gundam wasted no time, jumping away from the Apsalus and igniting its thrusters to dive down.

"Shiro! That guy!"

Eli, watching the situation, realized that Amada Shiro, who had likely been unconscious from an earlier blow, had woken up and was now recklessly diving after Aina.

But before he could focus on Shiro, Eli turned his beam rifle toward the Tiger, intending to finish it off and then assist Shiro.

However, the Tiger followed the ground-type Gundam, diving downward as well.

"One after another... Sanders, take control of the Apsalus's cockpit. Don't let it crash!"

Giving instructions, Eli maneuvered his mobile suit to the edge of the Apsalus, crouched, and took aim with his beam rifle at the descending Tiger.

"Aina!"

"Miss Aina!"

Eli was momentarily dazed by the overlapping shouts of two men.

There should have been only Amada Shiro's voice in the communication channel, but he could also hear Norris's cries.

Was it the power of Newtypes? He had never heard it so clearly before.

"If you don't want to stay here, then I'll take you away! Zeon, the Federation—it doesn't matter. We'll leave this place!"

Amada Shiro's shout seemed to echo across the entire battlefield.

Yet Aina, drifting erratically in the ravine winds, remained unmoved.

Shiro thrust his control stick forward.

The force pushed his mobile suit's arms forward, reaching out as if to catch a falling leaf.

Cupping both hands together, he gently cradled Aina's fragile body.

Without hesitation, Shiro opened his cockpit against the howling wind, stretched out his arm, and touched Aina.

Pulling her into his embrace, he fell back into the cockpit, sealing it shut to protect them from the outside chaos.

"Wait for me, Aina. I'll get you out of here right now!"

Shiro's hands gripped the control stick once more.

However, the Gundam had been in freefall for too long, even accelerating with its thrusters earlier. The remaining distance might not allow for sufficient reverse thrust to slow down.

"Click!"

Suddenly, the mobile suit jolted, gaining additional lift and reducing its descent speed.

"Incredible..."

Eli lowered the scope of his cockpit's aiming reticle, gazing with complex emotions at the screen.

The Tiger had discarded its left-hand shield, bracing its left arm under the Gundam's armpit while activating all its thrusters for reverse thrust alongside the Gundam.

This way, both suits could land safely.

"Sanders, stabilize the Apsalus. I'm going down to check."

With that, Eli maneuvered his suit to leap downward.

While intermittently firing his thrusters to decelerate mid-air, he had already pieced together why Aina had done this.

Not wanting to betray Shiro or her brother, the only choice left for her was to escape everything decisively, extricating herself from it all.

Although it might seem like running away, it was the only choice for a caged bird that wouldn't harm anyone else.

When Eli reached the ground, the two mobile suits had already separated.

The Gundam still stood in the ravine, appearing mostly intact.

The Tiger, however, was billowing black smoke, its engines completely destroyed and the suit no longer combat-capable.

"...You're Amada Shiro, aren't you?"

As Eli approached, he overheard the two talking through the communications channel.

"I am."

"I see... Failing to recognize Miss Aina's feelings makes me an incompetent retainer. Can you keep your promise? Take Miss Aina away from this war."

"I can."

Eli's arrival didn't distract Norris in the slightest. His eyes were fixed solely on the man who had won Aina's heart.

"I see. In that case, I can rest easy..."

Then, the Tiger began to move again, slowly accelerating toward the two Gundams.

"Don't—"

"Buzz!"

Before Shiro could finish his sentence, a pink beam of light shot down from above, striking the Tiger.

The shooter's aim was precise, avoiding the nuclear fusion reactor and merely piercing through the cockpit from the upper chest, exiting out the back.

"Who's there?!"