IMMEDIATE REPORT

Over and Over From the Ashes
–Side 6 Helium-3 Stockpile Base Criticality Explosion Accident Report–

　We say “from the ashes,” and yet there is nothing that could be called ashes. Instead, what we have is nothing more than mere scrap iron melted at incredibly high temperatures and a frozen vacuum at absolute zero. Brought in from the far-reaches of Jupiter with enough to cover the energy consumption of Side 6 for almost an entire year, all traces of helium-3 gas had vanished like a mist along with the stockpile.

(Ref. 1) Side 6’s Helium-3 Stockpile Base

　The criticality explosion of the helium-3 stockpile base in Side 6 (Ref. 1) resulted in many casualties, including the General Revil, an Earth Federation Space Forces vessel that happened to be en route nearby. The cause of this extraordinary accident in which helium-3, the foundation of our everyday lives, caused a critical explosion while stored in their tanks, has yet to be clarified.

　There are rumors that a battle may have broken out around the stockpile base in connection with an attack by Neo Zeon remnants at Metis, also in Side 6, prior to the accident; however, helium-3 is just gas and isn’t in a critical state. Even if a stray shot hit a tank, it would only cause a gas explosion. In order to bring helium-3 to criticality and extract the energy, a sealed fusion reactor is needed. It is physically impossible for the Minovsky particles dispersed in combat to combine with the nucleus of helium-3, as some rumors have started to spread. On the flip side, even if an ultra-high-pressure environment were to be created for a fusion reaction to occur, it would still take more than the entire Federation Forces Minovsky particle dispersal equipment to bring a single storage tank of helium-3 to criticality.

　In other words, we can only conclude that something unthinkable happened, but the highly ambiguous feeling from news reports has led many people to think back to the incident of a year ago. Yes, on the day of the Laplace Declaration, the Federation Space Forces is said to have fired a colony laser at Mineva Lao Zabi, who made her global broadcast from the colony builder Magellanica.

　Although the military denies it, striations from the colony laser emitted from Gryps 2 were witnessed from various locations. There is video of them rapidly diminishing and disappearing just before they struck Magellanica. It was the result of some sort of “force field” deployed along the line of fire interfering with the laser. It is rumored that at the center of the “force field,” acting as a barrier, was a mobile suit—the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam—which disappeared with the Mineva faction after the incident, the climax of the so-called “Laplace Incident.” Or so the “legend” whispered among the Spacenoids goes.

　Long since the One Year War, there have been many “legends” about the Gundam. Most of them are fictional, exaggerated tales. Still, the fact that the Mineva faction managed to escape with Magellanica despite a massive pursuit by the Federation Space Forces has led many people to believe them. There is also a “legend” that says that the RX-0 instantly neutralized the pursuing troops with the “force field” it generated again. While I am well aware of the dangers of equating the explosion that killed so many people with fictional gossip, some facts make me suspect there is a connection. One of them is the photo I have posted.

　An RX-0 is often seen in underground publications, even if major news organizations don’t cover it, but its form is slightly different upon closer inspection. Two RX-0 units have been confirmed to exist, but the suit in the photo differs from either of them. Its golden body, with its stabilizer swimming along like a phoenix’s tail feathers, is a different kind of gracefulness from the traditional Unicorn type.

(Image 1) Although the image is grainy, the video data captured by the surveillance satellite does indeed show an “inexplicable” light. If a criticality explosion had occurred with helium-3, there would have been massive damage throughout the Earth Sphere. The golden Unicorn-type definitely gave the RX-0 yet another legend.

　This image (Image 1), a magnified and enhanced photo of light that was accidentally captured by a surveillance satellite under the control of Side 4, has been difficult to obtain. In recent months, the Federation government has been desperately collecting and scrubbing all image data taken in space, including the recent explosion, so that this is the only photo that remains. Details like this seem to overlap with the incident from a year ago, but other interesting facts exist.

　It seems that the Federation Space Forces were conducting a covert operation around the time of the explosion and the attack on Metis. Luio & Co., a large trading company on Earth, was involved in that operation. One of the victims of the explosion was Michele Luio, the second daughter of Luio & Co. chairman.

　So, what kind of picture do these fragmented pieces paint? Although not much time has passed yet to verify all this and more information needs to be gathered, however, the fact that the codename for the covert operation was “Phoenix Hunt,” along with the photograph of a golden Unicorn-type reminiscent of a phoenix, can’t help but make your imagination run wild.

　The truth is not clear. However, according to someone who joined the Accident Investigation Committee, the criticality explosion should have caused much more damage to the Earth Sphere. They stated that the damage to the surrounding space was far too limited for the conditions to have been right for a criticality explosion to have caused a chain of explosions that would have destroyed the stockpile. The person described it as though the entire area was enveloped in a powerful “force field,” which leads me to wonder if they knew about the “legend” of the Unicorn Gundam.

　Though images were not available, a crewman who witnessed the explosion while traveling in the vicinity said, “The last huge explosion seemed to spread like a bird’s wings, then converged and disappeared as if it were closing its wings.” A Unicorn that may have caused a miracle a year ago, and a mobile suit that was given the design of a phoenix despite being the same type… For now, there are only fragments and no answers. However, with the Laplace Declaration, should the beast that could have brought both hope and strife to all Spacenoids exist, it should come as no surprise that it was a phoenix that contained the hellfire of the critical explosion.

　A phoenix leaps into the flames and rises from the fires again and again. Even if no ashes remain, the rumors and “legends” deep in people’s hearts will not easily disappear. Regardless of who denies them, they will continue to traverse the cosmos with the white, single-horned beast, continuing to beckon us to the great beyond.

Kai Shiden
U.C.0097.08.28