Chapter Text
Chapter 11: Young days
Two days had passed since the last Zeon attack, and even when they won, the ship’s morale was down. People were on the floor, with their eyes dead. No one wanted to help, they were always lashing at every crew member they could find.
“You still need to rest, Ma’am. But in a couple of days, you will be able to move.” Sayla was attending an older woman, she looked around and saw something she was very used to seeing in her life: people who had lost everything. She saw people like them in many parts of the world growing up, and when the war started, it increased.
She aspired to become a doctor to save lives and make a positive impact. However, she was frustrated that it seemed like it didn’t matter, even when she was doing something. But she couldn’t give up; her mother wouldn’t have done it.
“Haro! Haro!”
“Wait!” Sayla saw a group of children playing with a green robot.
“I told you not to run!” Fraw Bow came after them. “I’m sorry, Sayla!”
“Don’t be. But kids, you should listen to what she is saying. Is very dangerous.”
“Yes!!” The three kids said at the same time. It was nice that, even in this situation, they could smile despite everything.
“You know, my bro always joked about you being a mom, but now you’re taking it a step forward,” Shiro, Koji’s young brother, joked. Sayla noticed he was with a chubby boy she hadn’t seen before.
“Do you want me to take it a step further and spank you?”
Sayla sighed and went out; she was starving. Before she realized it was already morning, it wasn’t good for her body, but those people needed her. “Sayla!”
“Sayaka?”
“Are you on your break?”
“Yes, I just finished my turn. I was going to eat something.”
“So I am! We can go together~!”
“Eh? Are you girls having launch without me?! I want to go to!”
“Don’t have children to take care of?”
“Please, don’t start, Sayaka. Last time, you girls let me out of your meeting.”
“We were arrested.”
“I don’t mind her if she joins us.”
“Can we go too?” Kikka, the youngest child, asked.
“Of course, sweetie.”
“I’m going to see if my bro is there. You wanna come, Genki?”
“Sure, I wanna meet him. He is the one who pilots the black robot, right?”
“Yeah! And my Grandpa made it too!”
“Shiro, don’t brag about those things in public.”
“Why not? Mazinger is the coolest thing he's ever made. When I see him again, I will ask him to build one for me.”
“I want one too!”
“Me too!” Katz and Letz said.
“Yeah, yeah, you're all gonna get a robot. Now, let’s not waste their time anymore.”
The group went to the dinner room, which was full of civilians. “Girls, over here!” Musashi called for them from a table, he was having dinner with the other boys.
“Bro!” Shiro went running towards his brother. “Genki, this is my brother Koji!”
“H-Hello…”
“Eh, you made a friend, eh, Shiro? Nice to meet you, hope that this little rascal didn’t bring you trouble.”
“No, he is… a very good friend.”
“Well, glad to hear that.”
“Koji, has Amuro eating well?”
“Can you see that I’m eating?”
“But what you’re eating is what is important!”
“Never gonna beat the mom allegations…” Sayaka whispered behind her back, but Fraw Bow listened.
“I want to see you with a kid.”
“Forget it, I’m never going to have kids. No offense, kids. But I don’t see myself being a mother.”
“None taken.”
“Is this usual with them?” Sayla asked to Amuro.
“Well….it could get worse, especially with Sayaka and Koji.”
“What was that?”
“Ehhh…..”
“Women got you whipped, Amuro.” Ryoma commented while eating his bread.
“Ryoma, why are you wearing your pilot suit?”
“One, I’m a pilot. Two, those assholes can attack us at any moment, so by wearing this thing all the time, I save time.” Sayaka and Fraw looked at him with disgust and sat further away from him.
“Ryoma, may I remind you of the problems of wearing dirty clothes?”
“Hmmm.”
“It will increase the growth of bacteria and fungus.”
“Aha.”
“Which will end in skin irritations and or infections.”
“Is that so?”
“Especially in tight areas.”
“So it seems.”
“You don’t listen to what I’m saying, don’t you?”
“Whatever you say, blondie.”
Sayla was used to deal with rude people; it came with the job of being a medical volunteer. And she was aware that when she became a doctor, those kinds of people were a given. She learned to ignore their comments and behavior but Ryoma…..the only person that made her want to hit someone this badly was Zegwin Zabi.
But at the very least, she will have no problems if she hits the leader of Zeon, even if he was an old man.
She looked at the table, she didn’t remember the last time she had a meal with friends. Last time was…..was…..
….
She had friends…..right?
*THUMB!*
Sayla was put out of her thoughts when Koji punched the table. “YOU!!” Koji pointed at a man who was sitting at another table. “I saw you stealing food from that kid!” Everyone was looking at the old man.
“He is right! Mom, my food is gone!” A little boy said at loud.
“I didn’t! This is my food!! You can’t prove anything!!”
“You bastard….”
“Don’t act so highly! You damn Federation soldiers are the sole reason why we are starving! And you are being fed better than we are!”
“And for that, you think it's ok to steal from a child?”
“I didn’t steal anything! For all I know, this brat could be lying to get more food!”
“How dare you call my son a liar?!”
“Please, call down!” Musashi stood up from his seat. “We are all on the edge, but this isn’t the time to-!”
“Shut up, feddie!”
“Ouch!” Someone threw a plate to his head.
“Musashi!” Amuro stood up and so did Ryoma.
“Get out of here!”
“Screw you, assholes!”
“My son is dead because of you!”
Sayla saw in horror how all the people were starting to revolt against them, they were completely outnumbered.
“Oi….if I do something to these assholes….will count as self-defense, right?” Ryoma asked while holding a murderous stare at them.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Many people yelled when they heard gunshots.
“Good, now that I have your attention.” Hayato Jin stood on the edge of the door with a smoking gun . “Attacking a Federation officer is a crime that can be imputed by death unless you want to stop this buffoonery.”
“Fuck off!” A man tried to punch Jin but the young man dodged the attack easily. He extended his left arm and pierced his face.
*foosh!*
*THACK*
Something flew and landed on their table. It was something mushy and sticky, the group of teens looked at what it was.
It was a human face.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Fraw Bow and Sayaka screamed in horror, the boys couldn’t believe it either.
“UOOOHH!!” The man whose face was ripped off, was on his knees, grabbing where his face used to be.
“Well….does anyone want to do something reckless?” And with that statement, any rebellion was shut down. “Wonderful.”
“Hold on, square face.”
“Hmm?”
Ryoma stood from his seat and walked alongside Koji. The two teens were furious. “What the hell is wrong with you? They are women and kids here!!”
“And?”
“What if I take to lesson school?” Ryoma cracked his knuckles.
“What are you? Ten?”
“ENOUGH!!!” Sayla stopped the boys. “This man needs medical treatment!”
“I-Il’ help you.” Amuro helped the blonde woman to carry the man. “Shit! His face!”
“Grab it, now! We can reattach it!”
Garma was back at his base; he wanted to be alone. The last attack was a complete failure; three mobile suits took down 80% of his attack forces.
Three Mobile Suits!!
He had never felt so humiliated since his academy days, what did the Federation make in Side 7? He just wanted to slightly test them and fall back, but they were beyond his imagination. Garma needed to rethink his approach, quickly.
*Knock* *knock*
“Garma, is me.”
“Come in.” Char entered his office. “You were right, Char. I underestimated their power and my men paid the consequences.”
“No one could expect them, even if I tell you everything I saw back then, you wouldn’t have believed me. I still can’t believe the power of that Mazinger.”
“Just what are those things? That black thing-“
“Mazinger Z.”
“-Was fighting my troops without weaponry, but after seeing it in action, I can see why.”
“But it must have a weakness, back at Luna II, the two mechanical beasts managed to put him in a corner that he needed the help of the other two.”
“Did you say mechanical beasts?!!”
“You know about them?”
“That’s what I want to know! When and where did you learn about their existence?!”
“From Viscount Pygman, he even showed them to me before my mission. Why are you so concerned, Garma?”
“I’m sorry for my outburst, the mechanical beasts were a secret of Zeon, but the fact that they were deployed…..Char, come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
“What were you thinking?!”
“I was putting order in this ship, something you have failed to do so far.” After the dinner incident, Jin was called by Bright to the bridge.
“By skinning a man’s face?!”
“Force is the quickest way to make someone understand.”
“And now they are afraid of us!”
“Good, now they will think twice before they do something stupid again.”
“Those people are under our protection! Is our duty as Federation’s soldiers to secure the wellbeing-“
“If that were true, then Zeon would have never dropped a colony.”
“Hayato!” The professor slammed the table. “Do you realize what you are saying?!! You are terrifying my citizens!”
“If you could control them, I wouldn’t require to use such methods. You two can lecture me all you want but those people are out of control. What happened today is just a taste of what’s to come if you don’t deal with them efficiently.” Jin stood from his seat. “Remember, our objective is to deliver the prototypes to Jaburo. Not matter the cost.”
“If I remember correctly, your job is to pilot the Jaguar unit and maintain the Getter on check. Leave the ship matters to us.”
“Very well. I’ll take my leave, but not come back when they decide to rebel again.” The young scientist warned before leaving the two alone.
Bright sighed and touched his eyes. He was honestly exhausted; having Zeon on their track was already too much to handle. But having an insurrection on his ship? It was a miracle that he didn’t have a stroke.
“I’m sorry.”
“Excuse me?” Bright’s surprise comes from the sudden apology of the professor.
“I’m the mayor of Side 7. I should have done better to calm the nerves of my people, but it seems that I only brought more trouble to you, Captain.”
“Please, don’t say that, Professor. You and your scientists have been a blessing to us. If someone needs to apologize, it is me. I’m the Captain of the White Base, and I must take care of all of you and have order in my ship.”
“Then, what if we both accept each other's apology?”
“I would like that, yes.” Bright smiled. “Unfortunately, is just a matter of time for Garma Zabi come back for revenge.”
“Indeed. We need to talk to the boys, we need to talk about defense formations. Garma Zabi already saw what they could do, and he wouldn’t dare attack in the same way.”
“Zabi or not, he is a threat to all of us. Garma Zabi mustn’t be taken lightly. He has more resources than us, is just a matter of time before they attack us again.”
“Then, would you hear a request of mine?”
“I’m all ears.”
“My men have noticed the high amount of Minovsky particles in the air, especially close to the ground. I know is risky, but if we fly at a small altitude.”
“The particles could hide us from Zeon’s radars at the cost of our speed.”
“Have you ever heard the tale about ‘the turtle and the rabbit’?”
“Who doesn’t? And I’m going to guess we are the turtle in this metaphor.”
“We are slow but secure. We can’t risk the civilians inside, and we don’t have many resources to fight Zeon constantly.”
“I agree with you, Professor. The safety of my crew is my top priority; besides, we can’t reach Jaburo without a working ship.”
“Garma, what…what are we looking at?” Char asked confused. His friend took him to a secret basement inside the base, they went inside a highly guard gate, that could only be accessed with Garma’s authorization.
“That’s the same question I asked when they gave this thing to me a month ago. It is a top-secret weapon, but because you already knew about them, there’s no point in hiding it anymore.” Garma fixed his hair. “Behold, the mechanical beast, Toros D-7.”
“It looks very different from the others I saw.”
“Speaking of them, how different are they from Toros D-7? I haven’t seen another one of these mechanical beasts outside Toros.”
“They are….were bipedal, one of them looked like a two-headed dragon, and the other was a skull with two blades as horns.”
“So they were as bizarre as this one.”
“Yes, I never met Dr. Hell in person, but for what I heard about him, he sounds like the serious cold type. But he does these….machines.”
“As someone who has talked to him many times, I think the same. But everyone, regardless of their seriousness, has some quirks. Like you and the color red.”
“Hahaha, you got me there!” Char laughed. “I think what you want to do. Let me tell you, those three managed to kill two of them back at Luna II.”
“But they didn’t have any backup. Toros D-7 will have us, and two of the best Zeon pilots backing him up.”
“Mmmmm, it could work…..”
“Now that I know what they can do, they won’t catch us by surprise again.”
Back at White Base Medical bay, the teens were waiting for the nurse’s anylisis.
“How was that possible?” Koji asked at loud, he and the other were outside the surgery room. “Like….how is that possible? He didn’t cut his face or rip a part of it; he took his entire face in one swoop.”
“I don’t know, Koji. And I don’t want to know either.” Amuro answered while comforting Fraw. “Mr. Bright and Professor Yumi took him away.”
“I have a better idea: A wall and a loaded rifle.” Ryoma suggested.
“It's violence, the only thing you know?” Sayaka deadpanned.
“Hey, it works for me so far.”
“…..Weren’t you in jail for murder?”
“Details.”
*FOOOM*
The door behind them opened, and they saw an exhausted Sayla with her gloves tainted in blood. “He is stable….but he needs a skin transplant. The wound is too deep and impossible to regrow…..”
“That fucker!!!” Koji punched the wall.
“Calm down, bud. There’s nothing we can do to help besides protecting the White Base.” Musashi said. “Miss Sayla, you should rest. You are exhausted.”
“Yes, thank you….”
“My, you are a miracle worker, Miss Mass.” The group turned to see Jin standing at the door. “We are fortunate to have such a skillful young lady as yourself in our side.”
*TWACK!!*
Ryoma didn’t allow him to continue; he threw a punch at him but it was blocked.
“You are not going to escape this time.” He said with the most dread possible.
“Fine by me. I still owe you a fight.” He stepped back and---
“ORRRRRRYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Musashi grabbed both men by their collars and threw them away from the medical bay. “You idiots! This is an infirmary! Don’t you dare to start a fight here! If you idiots want to fight, we have thousands of zekes that need an ass kick!!”
“What’s happening here?!!”
“Mr. Ryu?!” Amuro and Koji exited the infirmary and saw the Ensign standing there, furious.
“All of you, to the hangar, grab a broom and a bucket and clean everything.”
“What?! We just cleaned the kitchen!!”
“And now the hangar! I want all those Mobile suits clean up, the same goes for you, Hayato!” The scientist groaned, knowing that he couldn’t win this argument, specially knowing how things were with the others. “You three as well.”
“Mr. Ryu!”
“That’s not fair!”
“I don’t care, go!” The boys groaned and walked away. “You too, Miss Sayla.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything.”
“You're supposed to be the mature one, and you are part of the group. Sayaka, look for your father and tell him to take care of the patience. NOW.” Sayla went outside and followed the boys frustrated.
“Are you ok, Mr.Ryu?”
“A lot of things are happening, kid. If the civilians see us fighting each other, they are going to turn on us quickly than we thought.”
The boys were having a bad moment, perhaps one of the worst of their lives. Koji and Amuro weren’t the experts on women, but they knew their ways, especially when you were friends with Sayaka Yumi.
Amuro learned the wrong way not to anger her or any other woman. So they learned how to be careful with their words.
Something that Ryoma Nagare doesn’t know at all.
“Say that again, bitch!!”
“Don’t call me that! Because of that rash attitude, we all got in problems!”
“Should we do something?” Amuro asked while cleaning the foot of the Gundam.
“May I remind you when we interfered with Fraw Bow and Sayaka when they got their argument about those singers?”
“Hrrr….”
“Can you two stop? You are worse than a married couple.”
“Shut up! You are the reason why we are here!!!” Ryoma threw his bucket and was ready to fight him again.
“STOP!!!” Musashi put himself between the two. “I have enough of both of you! I have enough problems to have you two fighting each other! And because of it, we all get involved!!”
“I can’t believe you guys are on it again.” Fraw Bow said. “Here, you guys didn’t eat nothing today.”
“Thank you, Miss Fraw!!!” Musashi grabbed the tray and ate the food.
“Thank you, Fraw Bow.” Sayla thanked her.
“Some things never change, right? Amuro?” Koji elbowed Amuro, who was annoyed.
“Thanks…….”
“Fraw Bow.” She corrected Ryoma. “Here, even though you don’t deserve it.” She passed a meal to Jin.
“Thank you.” He grabbed it without looking at her.
“OI! You should be grateful that a beautiful lady like Fraw Bow is giving you food!!!” Musashi was about to hit Jin just for that.
“How did I end up with these people…?”
“You are part of the club, whenever you want it or not, Blondie.”
“Can you revoke my membership?”
“Me too.” Jin added.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“He said a bad word!!!” One of Fraw’s kid pointed at Ryoma, and so did the others.
“I’m an adult, midget. I can say whatever I want.”
“I’m not a midget! I’m Kikka!!!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, midget.”
“Do you have a nickname for everyone except the boys?”
“Of course not. This is square face.”
“Are you always like this or are you so dumb that you can merely remember names?”
“Are you calling me dumb?” Jin pointed at Fraw Bow.
“Tell me her name.”
“…EEegggg….”
“Seriously? You just hear it a minute ago.”
“……………….Miriallia Haw.”
“No.”
“Atra?”
“You have one more.”
*BEEP*
*BEEP*
Zeon units approaching!!
Everyone at their position!!
“Oh, look at that! Duty calls! Let’s go guys!!”