PROLOGUE: DAY 0

Our scene opens on the prisoner convoy Aurida. A man stands, breathing heavily. Having just taken down another massive grunt of a man, he bellows out to the crowd around him, looking for someone else with a little more bite to them to fight. The crowd backs away as the warden, an older man named Burroughs, lounges on a sofa, watching the fight from a corner of a catwalk overlooking the playroom. He’s chomping away on a cigar.

A fight was going on among the prisoners, but instead of stopping it, the guards were all enjoying it, even placing bets on who was going to win, with Burroughs as the ringleader. To liven things up, he offers a reduced sentence to the winner in the fight against the infamous prisoner #503.

It is U.C.0075. The Federation Police decided to transfer fifty prisoners to a newly built prison on Side 6 (Riah) due to the increase in the number of prisoners on Side 2 (Hatte). Side 6 was a cluster of colonies that took a neutral position amidst the intensifying feud between the Republic of Zeon and the Federation government. Five days had already passed since the prisoner convoy left Side 2, and it would finally arrive at Side 6 the following day. This fight was a way of killing the boredom until then.

Guards descend to the floor, taunting prisoners with their stun batons as they drag the huge man away that was still lying on the floor. As they do, a tanned man in handcuffs lumbers in. His thick arms and muscular body indicate that he’s been trained well. He had been locked up away from everyone else on account of him taking on the guards when the ship initially departed. In exchange for his release, he agreed to a match. Burroughs is quite skeptical that the guy is strong enough, but the deputy warren is pretty confident, saying he beat five street fighters to death. He’s introduced as prisoner #618.

Prisoner 503 scoffs at the man who is a head shorter than him. The two go at it, sharp jabs and kicks exchanged amidst a flurry of ducking, guarding, and attacking. The crowd of prisoners quickly gets whipped up into a frenzy, chanting, “Kill him! Kill him!” Burroughs raises the stakes, and the guards happily throw their money at him. As the two continue to tussle, 618 whispers to 503 to hit him with all his might. In the next blow, 503 lands a shot to 618’s face, launching him back. One of the guards counts to ten. 618 didn’t get up. He’s ordered back to his cell, but just as the guard is about to pull him up, 618’s hand grabs the guard’s stun baton.

Taking it, he electrocutes the guard. As he falls, he snatches the pistol from his waistband, pulling the trigger and taking out the warden and the guards. It took less than ten seconds. There were two rounds left in the gun. Pulling a new gun from a dead guard, he says that there is 15 guards total, and only eight are left. Subdue them, and the ship is theirs. Other prisoners shouted out, and some grabbed guns from the other guards and ran off. 503 looks at 618 and says, “You’re late. Do you know how many people I beat up before you got here?”

618 smiles wryly before tossing one of the bullets in his hand to 503. He says that if they catch you, it’s a fate worse than death, so save the last bullet for himself or me. 618 picks up the warden, who was somehow still alive (didn’t hit a vital spot), and drags him in another direction. He says he still has business with him and that he’s going to open a special cell. As alarms blared throughout the ship, the remaining guards prepared to quell the prisoner’s mutiny.

618 arrives in front of the special cell, using the warden’s fingerprint recognition to open and enter the cell. Inside was a nervous-looking young man, probably of college-age, reading at a desk. He asks if they’ve arrived already, but 618 says he’s there to save him. The boy asks where they’re going, and he says that they don’t need to know. As they get ready to go, the boy grabs five or six books in his arms, but 618 tells him to put them down. The boy protests before 618 bats them away and yells, “just one!” The boy elects to take a book on Fritz Haber’s research papers.

Heading to the emergency deck of the ship, there is an assortment of two-person emergency escape pods. Eight pods total. 618 says they’ll just leave the other prisoners if push comes to shove as he jettisons seven of the eight pods. 618 says that it can hold three in a pinch, but the boy is confused. 618 explains that it’s for his buddy, who just happened to enter through the emergency deck door. He says that he just rewrote the ship’s program, and it’s going to sail into a debris cluster and sink. They have ten minutes at most.

The young boy gleefully asks whether the evidence against him is going to be destroyed and if they’re saving him. The trio crams into the pod and jettisons off and away from the Aurida, just as it enters the cluster and explodes. There is a massive explosion; the shockwave scatters the bodies of the jettisoned prisoners and guards but also spews debris towards their fleeing pod like arrows.

At the controls, 618 deftly avoids debris, maintaining visuals on the flight radar. The young boy, meanwhile, has been screaming the entire time, and 503 is sick of it, so he knocks the kid out. The escape pod clears the Aurida’s blast radius. Captain Dozle Zabi’s voice echoes throughout the cabin of the escape pod. He tells them that they’ve achieved ample success in this operation and will now work under his command as regular soldiers of the Republic versus mercenaries.

618 tries to ask who the kid is, but Dozle says he doesn’t know, that it’s a matter that Gihren handled personally. The escape pod is picked up by Dozle’s Valkyrie. As they’re brought aboard, prisoner #618 Cucuruz Doan and prisoner #503 Egba Atler are congratulated. Egba is pretty bummed out that a lot of people had to die to save this guy, but Cucuruz replies that it couldn’t be helped, and that he’ll pretend it was an accident.

Egba hopes the kid is worth it, to which Cucuruz replies that the value of a life is determined by what you don’t know. Just then, Egba asks Doan when his kid is supposed to be born, and he replies that it’s next month, and he’s expecting a son. He pulls out the bullet, as does Egba. The two pledge to use it when the time comes, as promised. The two clenches one another’s fist, each with a bullet in hand.

CHAPTER.1: DAY 1

Part.1

Bright Noa is in his captain’s quarters listening to the shrill, screeching voice of Commander Ed Klein, chief of staff from Joint Command at Jaburo, a civilian officer with zero combat experience. Bright loathes the man. He’s telling Bright that they have to remove all possible obstacles before the Battle at Gibraltar. Apparently, there’s a mysterious remote island where they think leftover spies are hiding out, mainly because two GMs were destroyed. Klein says that it can’t be remnants and has to be agents gathering for a special mission.

Klein is all about sucking up to Gopp for a promotion. Gopp, aboard the La Gran Paz, is supposed to be passing through Las Palmas, hence the mission. So, Bright is apparently 25, and he was given a two rank promotion to Commander on account of recognition for his distinguished service thus far. After a brief argument about how Bright and company are doing ragtag missions at the behest of Gopp, they’re ordered to snuff out the remaining enemies holed up on the Isla de Alegranza.

From the bridge, Bright watches the Dragonfly carrying Klein depart. Around him, in the port of Las Palmas, dozens of warships led by the Federation Forces were gathering. The Pegasus, on account of its color scheme, stuck out among them. We’re given a cursory summary of the events thus far (outbreak of war, attack on Side 7, refugees, etc.).

A major counteroffensive against the Zeon’s Odessa base was about to start, so their docking at the port was the calm before the storm, so to speak. Bright inwardly thinks to himself how amazing it is that he’s managed to survive for so long. But, he remembers the sacrifices of the many that have got them where they are today as a result. Picking up the phone, he summons everyone to the bridge. As the strain of fatigue tries to take over him, he ponders getting some rest. Before he knows it, Mirai is at his side, her hand on his shoulder. Bright had to discipline himself; he had to maintain dignity as captain of the ship. He couldn’t get too comfortable with her. She had a fiancee, after all.

Part.2

Bright began his briefing. The entire crew was present, though it was half of what it should’ve been for the ship. Amuro is trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. Bright explains they’re to mop up whoever is left on the island, displaying a satellite image of the Isla de Alegranza. He explains that it’s a small island, about five kilometers in diameter. Just then, Sayla notices there is a lighthouse. A lighthouse means there must be inhabitants on the island. But Bright shoots that theory down, saying it’s old and broken.

Kai pipes up with his usual grumblings about time wasted on a mission that’ll accomplish nothing. Bright, meanwhile, is searching for someone: Sleggar Law. Their new replacement for the deceased Ryu is apparently off in town for a drink with other platoon members. Bright is severely agitated by this fact. Sleggar couldn’t fill the void that Ryu left, not by a long shot. Bright barks out for everyone to go to their stations: Kai is ordered out in the Guncannon, Amuro in the Gundam, Job Job is in the Gunperry, and Hayato is the gunner. Amuro meekly asks if he’s going out, and Bright snaps at him, saying, of course he is, he doesn’t get special treatment.

Haro and Fraw appear. Before he goes, Sayla tells Amuro to be careful, that she has a bad feeling about something, which of course spreads to Amuro and starts making him worry. He runs off, seemingly ignoring Fraw altogether, much to her chagrin.

Part.3

The Gunperry is in flight, with Job John at the helm and Leading Seaman Olsen as co-pilot. Kai and Amuro are onboard with Hayato as a gunner. As Olsen is Norwegian, he’s familiar with the weather in the North Atlantic, but for some reason, the clouds that are rolling in are rather uncharacteristic for the area. Visibility is so poor, that they can’t tell if they’re over the island. As they break through the clouds, their altitude brings them low enough that they can see the island for the first time, and they’re shocked. First by the huge hole from the volcano and next because it was a tiny island. Kai spots the lighthouse that Sayla had noticed and comments on how the island looks like a diorama. They report back to Bright.

Back on the White Base, Mirai had brewed Bright a fresh pot of coffee as he mulls over the bad decisions he feels regarding his treatment of Amuro. As the two continue to talk, a chime from the bridge alerts Bright that info is coming in from the Gunperry. Both he and Mirai head for the bridge to see what’s going on. Images are started to be relayed from the Gunperry. Pouring over the images, they spot another downed Gunperry. There are no survivors. The GMs are nowhere to be seen either, presumably out on recon and possibly destroyed.

Bright orders them to land and conduct recon of their own.

Part.4

As they begin to land, everyone has their misgivings. Job sets the Gunperry down near the wreckage of the other as Amuro and Kai climb into their cockpits. The two head out. They decide to split up and search. Kai heads east, and Amuro takes west. In front of Amuro was a bleak, rocky landscape that stretched as far as the eye could see. In his mind, he thinks to himself that he doesn’t want to die in such a desolate place as this. Ryu and Matilda had been killed in an instant, and he thinks that life is so easily extinguished. He feels that so long as the war drags on, it’ll eventually be his turn to die.

The lighthouse was located to the east, with a giant crater in the background. Kai gawked at it, noting that it wasn’t being used. He grumbles that Amuro isn’t the only pilot and wishes he had chance to show off his skills too. Kai didn’t really care for Amuro. Kai was a high school student and a convoy racer, while Amuro was just a nerdy kid that tinkered with machines all the time. Kai had been a Spacenoid since his parents’ generation, so he resented Amuro as one of the privileged people from Earth who were given preferential treatment, despite Amuro’s dad’s obvious work. He’d tease Amuro a lot and didn’t like the arrogant Federation soldiers much either. He never imagined he’d become one. But, the last two months aboard the ship started to change his mind. He still felt that Amuro whined a lot, but he gave him kudos for risking his life in the Gundam.

As Kai approached, he looked down and saw what appeared to be crops with something growing in them. As he gawks at them in bewilderment, Bright chimes in and asks him what’s going on. But, Kai can’t form the words to what he sees, too caught up in the instantaneous salute he gives Bright whenever he addresses him. Just then he hears thumping sounds against his suit. Looking through the monitor at the ground, he saw children pelting his suit with rocks. Bright, meanwhile, is calling and calling him, but Kai is too confused to respond.

He thinks the lighthouse was their hideout but now feels it’s just a preschool for kids. Just as he goes to respond to Bright, the comms cut out.

Part.5

Amuro continued westward at combat readiness. He wondered who they were supposed to be fighting again in a place like this. Thunder roared, and lightning began to flash as he pondered turning back. Just then, Kai’s voice came in with a camera image depicting children at the feet of the Guncannon screaming at him to get out, that he’s stupid, a murderer, etc. As Kai tries to run away, kids are latched onto his suit. Amuro, clearly confused, tries asking him what he means by kids and what he is doing.

He turns around to go and link back up with Kai before he notices footprints belonging to a mobile suit in the muck. They weren’t Federation suit footprints, but Zeon. He trails them but soon discovers the end at a steep cliff. He’s confused, pondering what happened. Just then, he hears a creaking sound behind him. Looking back, he saw an all too familiar monoeye staring back at him. A Zaku! As lightning danced across the sky, the Zaku emerged in all its brilliant glory. This machine, though, was unlike any he had ever seen. Its armor was peeled off, and parts were cobbled together.

The Gundam shifts position, but he’s too close for the beam rifle. He scuffles with it, but the Zaku starts pushing him towards the cliff. Making a hasty decision, Amuro tosses the beam rifle over the cliff. This left him an opening. Seizing the opportunity, he manages to push the Zaku back, though just barely. As the Zaku jumps back to a comfortable range, he pulls out his heat hawk and immediately lunges for an attack. Amuro counters with his own beam saber, but the Zaku jumps backward again.

His opponent was exceptionally good at melee combat; he could feel it. Just then, a thud resounded, and the lower half of the Gundam’s shield melted away. He had no way of defending himself. The two continue to tussle before the ground gives way under the weight of both machines. Just then, the Zaku jumped backward as Amuro, and the Gundam fell over the cliff into the dark sea. He experienced a floating sensation before being knocked unconscious from a powerful impact.

Part.6

Kai winces in his cockpit as a clap of thunder sounds all too close to him. Having fled the kids’ “attack,” he hangs out at the Gunperry for a bit and is surprised that Amuro hasn’t returned. No matter how many times they tried to hail him, there was no response. Kai complained to Job about how this was no deserted island. All he saw were little shits everywhere he went! Job says he can’t reach Amuro either. Just then, Bright broke in on comms asking for an update. They fill him in, and after a brief pause, he tells them that he, too, can’t reach Amuro.

Mirai steps up behind Bright, asking if something is wrong, when just then, a series of loud thunderclaps distorts the comms. Hayato, meanwhile, is freaking out over the sounds. As he’s trying to ask Job to try and get down, Bright orders them to return to the ship. Kai, oddly enough, tells him that it’s not right for them to leave like that and come back. Either way, Bright’s orders were firm.

Back on the White Base, Sayla had been calling for Amuro over and over. Still no reply. Bright begins to second guess himself again before he’s interrupted by Sleggar appearing on the bridge. He reads the room, and it’s heavier than the usual atmosphere, and it is about to comment on Bright’s attitude before Mirai rushes over and explains the situation. As the Gunperry crew acknowledges their return, Bright slumps into the captain’s chair. As his mind began to wander, the stench of alcohol caught his nose. Sleggar stood a good distance away, looking uncomfortable as he tried to hide behind the much smaller Mirai.

As the two men locked eyes, Sleggar’s face turns red as he readies himself for Bright to strike. Instead, Bright looks at him and asks him to go find Amuro. Sleggar is initially surprised at Bright’s unexpected request but hardens his features and nods back at Bright. He didn’t think he could take the place of their dead comrade, but no one else could take command in the field aside from Sleggar. He had extensive combat experience. For now, they had no choice but to pin their hopes on him.

CHAPTER.2: DAY 2

Part.1

Without warning, a crack stretched across the pressure bulkhead of the colony. The fissure quickly widened, and with jettisoning of air, buildings, houses, and people were sucked out into space. In the opposite direction, several Zaku came through the crack. It was a surprise attack by the Principality of Zeon forces. The hyper rifles of the Zaku smashed everything that lay in their paths, their heat hawks slicing through buildings, plants, and even people with their searing hot blades. Cries of horror from the fleeing masses filled the air, the screams of the terrified reaching a crescendo: families, neighbors, and friends were all vaporized into dust.

This was the war that Amuro saw.

At that moment, he saw the prototype Gundam mobile suit lying before him, on its way to being transported. It was the same suit from the blueprints in the classified files he had lifted from his father’s study. Unfortunately, the pilot had been killed in the current battle. Reflexively, Amuro climbed into the cockpit.

If I don’t fight, I’ll die!

He mustered everything he had to launch the Gundam. He found the machine-gun fire of the Gundam’s beam rifle had obliterated the Zaku when he came to. Its performance was absolutely astounding. One of the frightened Zaku was further pursued. He fired, and fired, and fired, and kept firing.

But, it wasn’t the Gundam that was shooting, but rather Amuro himself. He was in a refugee camp on Earth. A Zeon soldier lies on the ground in front of him, the gun in Amuro’s hand still smoking from its muzzle. Someone grabbed his hand, the hand of a woman much slimmer and whiter than Amuro.

His mother, Kamaira, was in front of him. She looked at him with a gaze that held neither sadness nor contempt. “Did your father teach you that? You were always such a sweet boy. What a disgraceful child!” Before he could retort, she dissolved away into darkness, and his father took her place, urging him on to fight piloting the Gundam your father built.

The man was obsessed with the Gundam, and it took priority over the evacuees. When Amuro questioned him about this, his father gave him a cold gaze. Always the same. Never thinking about Amuro or his mother, always with the research. That’s probably why his mother grew fed up with him. He questions why he accompanied his father to Side 7. He wanted to see space, and the allure of building a side appealed to him, but in the end, he was a descendant of his father, a scientist. His reason for them emigrating was solely about the mission. For all he knew, everyone living in the colony could’ve been guinea pigs. The last he had seen of his dad was when he was sucked out into space.

When he came to again, he was in the cockpit of the Gundam, in space, except it was excruciatingly hot. He was reentering the atmosphere in the Gundam. Even though his suit was covered with resistant paneling and a heat-resistant pilot suit, the intense heat enveloped Amuro’s body. He saw the White Base a short distance away, also enveloped in the flames from the adiabatic compression. He moved towards it, but the ship was quickly vanishing from his sight. As he pondered where everyone was going, a flash of red crossed his vision. A Zaku. A red Zaku.

The Red Comet Char.

Char’s high mobility Zaku, defying the gravity of the atmosphere, charges towards the Gundam, its machine gun sights locked perfectly with it. Char’s voice mocked Amuro. Bullets peppered Amuro’s field of vision, and the Gundam plummeted to Earth, enveloped in scorching flames and explosions. He called out to Mirak, Fraw, and Sayla before everything faded to black again.

Part.2

Amuro awoke to the vision of a pitch black bird ready to pounce on its prey: him. He tried backing away but was stuck in the birdlime. A dull ache in the back of his head returns him to reality, and he realizes that he was staring up at a thin stain on a dirty wooden ceiling. He had a bad dream. He lay on a steel bed with hard cushions, his entire body sweating profusely. Pockets of the sky peeked through broken beams and exposed rebar, and the sun was shining. He pondered how much time had passed since the last thing he remembered was it being stormy out.

Amuro felt that if it was the Northern Hemisphere, it should’ve been a cooler autumn day, but all thanks to the colony drop, climate change might have caused the four seasons to change. His memories of Earth’s climate were a fuzzy memory since he had lived in the colonies for so long. As a throbbing pain returns, he wonders where the others are and just where the heck he was. He notices that his head had been bandaged along with his upper body, and his pilot suit was peeled back down to his waist. Someone came to his rescue.

A plastic water bottle sat in a wooden box beside the bed. He greedily drank it down, finally feeling relieved. Something moved outside. He couldn’t tell what it was at first but slowly realized that the small figures were children. They were watching him. He stood up to go outside. As he cautiously went to go outside, there was a corridor leading to the front and a corridor leading to the left, and there seemed to be a courtyard. As he went to peek in to see what was going on, a bleating goat screamed in his face.

A boy of about 10 came running towards him with two other children in tow. Both seemed surprised that he was up, expressing a worried look even before turning back to milk a cow. The building Amuro was in was attached to the lighthouse, and there were many children in the front of the house. Some were tending a garden while others picked up rocks and pebbles. Further down, some children were plowing a small field. By a small watershed near the field, some girls were even washing clothes. It was like a village; only they were all children.

There was only one adult among them. When he saw Amuro up and about, he cautioned him that he should rest some more. To Amuro, the man looked like a farmer, but his physique betrayed him, and he thought he was probably a soldier, maybe even the pilot of the Zaku. But, he didn’t sense a desire to kill from the man. Amuro goes to ask him if he’s the one who saved him, but the man remains silent, though he doesn’t deny it. Amuro asks what the man did with the Gundam. The man stared at Amuro blankly.

Everyone starts staring at Amuro before a boy about the same age interjects and asks why the man always has to help soldiers and that he should just let them die. The next thing Amuro knew, there were 20 some odd children all around him hurling insults at him. He realized he couldn’t ask the man anything else. He looked up at the lighthouse and closed his eyes, trying to see in his mind’s eye the entire island, using the lighthouse as a base point. Realizing where he needed to go, he set off. The man asks him where he’s going. He said to find his mobile suit.

One of the kids’ protests, but Doan says to let him go and leave him be. Amuro continues onward in silence.

Part.3

Amuro wandered about, searching for his Gundam. He’s in a race against time (darkness looms) to find it. Alas, he cannot. It was nightfall before he reached the base of the crater, and darkness set when he got to the top. He laments how thirsty he is and wonders if he’ll end up withered and dried out like the carcass of a bird on the ground. Just then, he saw a light approaching him. It was the girl concerned about him from earlier.

He asked her what she wanted, and she said to check on him as she handed him a bottle of water. He gulped it down greedily yet again. She asks him where he’s going, and he says to the rim of the crater, to which she’s surprised he’s heading that far out. The girl manages to coax him back for dinner, back to the lighthouse where his journey started. Confused, he asks why the light at the top isn’t on. She explains that the generator is broken and that she’d hope it gets fixed, but Doan’s busy.

Amuro asks if that’s who the man is, and she says yes, Cucuruz Doan. She introduces herself as Kara. She ushers him inside to finally go and eat.

Part.4

Inside, Doan and some of the kids are relaxing. Stories are recounted of when kids arrived, how some couldn’t talk due to the shock of losing parents, how long it took them to finally start talking, etc. Various other ages and names are given for the children, nothing that I really need to summarize here. It’s basically a big old happy family scene.

Part.5

As Kara brought Amuro back into the house, the kids’ expressions soured and hardened. Ignoring the kids, Doan asks Amuro where he went. Kara answered. She explains he went as far as the great mortar, or great crater as the others refer to it. They serve Amuro food, a simple meal of bread and stew. The kids aren’t happy, saying he shouldn’t eat since he didn’t work. But, Doan explains that he’ll be working tomorrow to repay his debt, to which Amuro agrees.

The two finally introduce themselves. Doan senses that it’s difficult for Amuro to move around in his flight suit, so he tells Marcos to loan Amuro his pants. He begrudgingly does so. Kara rounds the kids up for bed, but not before they all make their promises for tomorrow. They all make pinky promises together, Doan included. Amuro looked on in bewilderment.

Part.6

Belfast, Ireland. A large warship is under construction in one of the shipping hards as Revil looks out at the scene through the window of the Dish that he’s on. Cue brief background of the man. Revil calls out to Elran to look down at the second Big Tray, the Moltke, that was under construction. Revil was preparing for the next phase of the war. He looks over at a screen with a map on it. From Belfast, they’ll cross Great Britain and the North Sea, land at Dantzig, then head south across the Polish Plains and capture Odessa in one swift go. As Revil outlined their game plan, Elran nodded. Revil says he’s going to call in the White Base, a name Elran doesn’t recognize. He refers to it as the Trojan Horse. They’re under Gopp’s command, but he still wants them in the fray with him.

In his office, Bright receives orders that they’re transferring to Northern Command, orders from the top. Bright tries to ask about their op to sweep the Isla de Alegranza, but that’s to be left to someone else. There was no getting out of it. Frustrated, Bright slammed the phone down, still peeved that he didn’t know where he was. As he sits contemplating, he recalls scenes of the past: Amuro getting on the Gundam, him slapping him. Several more scenes, including Char’s first assault and Garma’s death. Then there was Bright grabbing him by the chest and socking him, telling him to get in the Gundam. Then he hit him again, and Amuro was shocked, saying that not even his own father had hit him.

A short time later, Bright announced they were going to Belfast. None of the crew assembled on the bridge was happy they were abandoning Amuro. Bright didn’t want to look at any of them pleading with him. He dismisses them until their next orders. Fraw begins to cry as Mirai tried comforting her. Kai spat, staring at Bright all the while he left. Slegger pokes Kai, asking if they should try the court-martial thing. Kai liked this guy.

Part.7

The La Grande Paz is a mammoth aircraft carrier equipped with a wide array of main guns, machine guns, anti-ship missiles, anti-aircraft guns, and multi-missile launchers, you name it. It also carries Fly-manta onboard. It is surrounded by Himalaya-class aircraft carriers, Mont Blanc-class cruisers, Alberta0class destroyers, and supply ships. Overseeing them all is Gopp. As he sits on the bridge, M’Quve is on screen. Many of Gobb’s staff are on the bridge to watch this meeting take place.

M’Quve wastes no time, telling Gopp he wants him to cancel their attack on Gibraltar. Gopp asks if that’s a sign they’re surrendering, but M’Quve spins it around and says he could ask the same. The bridge is peppered with pockets of laughter. As Gopp says the attack on Odessa is about to begin, M’Quve highlights that Washington, New York, London, Paris, and many other cities would be obliterated. Gopp’s staff quickly hushed themselves. Those were all cities the Federation had managed to take back. Gopp wondered if he was serious or bluffing. He asks if he’s forgotten the Antarctic treaty, but M’Quve merely says a treaty is a treaty.

Gopp cheekily asks him, “Is Paris burning?” in reference to Hitler’s question after having ordered the city reduced to cinder out of spite. But, not even M’Quve was ignorant of history as he says he knows very well. Still, Gopp continues to press the man, though M’Quve seems to break slightly, snapping that although Hitler’s subordinates didn’t carry out his orders, his men aren’t traitors like his. Gopp wonders if he pushed him a bit too much, a cornered rat biting a cat and all. M’Quve quickly regained his composure. After he cut the line, Gopp recalls Karl Marx and a quote by the philosopher that says, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”

CHAPTER.3: DAY 3

*NOT YET SUMMARIZED*

CHAPTER.4: DAY 4

*NOT YET SUMMARIZED*

CHAPTER.5: DAY 5

*NOT YET SUMMARIZED*

CHAPTER.6: DAY 1 AGAIN

*NOT YET SUMMARIZED*

CHAPTER.7: DAY 5 AGAIN

*NOT YET SUMMARIZED*

EPILOGUE: DAY 6

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

On the bridge of the White Base, a group of those who had just returned from the Isla de Alegranza stood before Captain Bright, still caked in dirt and dust. Lieutenant Sleggar, Petty Officer Kai, Leading Seaman Hayato, Chief Petty Officer’s Job and Sayla, and Fraw, though not a regular soldier but a medical volunteer, along with the naughty trio of Katz, Letz, and Kikka standing by her side.

Slegger offers up a salute to Bright, his chest out. Bright looks over them all before returning the salute with a well done. Sleggar’s line of men splits in two opening a path to reveal Amuro, dressed in his dirty pilot suit. After pondering what to say to Bright, he offers a simple, “Warrant Officer Amuro Ray, I’ve come back now.”

“You’re late,” replied Bright, the man of few words. Mirai, standing next to him, welcome Amuro back, to which Amuro smiles, quite relieved. The entire crew greets him with smiles. Bright breaks up their little reunion ordering everyone to their stations. He announces their departure to Belfast to take part in Operation Odessa.

As he looks around the ship, he notices that no one is missing. He looks over at Amuro, and the two exchange emphatic nods. The White Base takes off into the skies.

Back on the Isla de Alegranza, Doan, Marcos, and the others are busy cultivating the fields. The children spot the White Base sailing through the skies. Doan looks up, wondering if Amuro is on board. Marcos, who was plowing, also looks up and asks somewhat sadly, “He’s gone, isn’t he?”

All of the kids are looking up and cheering at the sky as the White Base speeds away. Kara comes out of the house carrying a laundry basket as she looks to the sky. She calls out “goodbye” to the ship, and she emphatically waves. Everyone else joins in.

From the bridge, Fraw, Katz, Letz, and Kikka were glued to the windows, waving back. Mirai looks out over at the scene, joined by Bright. Sayla also gazes out at the lighthouse below on the monitor, bidding it farewell in her heart. Amuro was staring at the Isla de Alegranza. Through the window of his craft flying just past the lighthouse, Doan’s figure was clearly visible.

On the day he left, Doan had told Amuro that the entire Southern Cross team was scattered across the island. He’s going to erect crosses for them there. One day, he’ll eventually die on the island, and then there will be five.

He asks whether Amuro is going back to the battlefield, but Amuro shakes his head, saying he’s going back to where he lives. It’s the only place he can. That place just happens to be White Base. Doan realizes that’s Amuro’s home. The two shake hands.

As he flies away, Amuro says that while the war isn’t over, there’s still a glimmer of hope on that island. He hopes to be able to see their smiling faces once the war is over. Foreseeing the storm that was about to strike him and the people aboard the White Base, Amuro bid farewell to the Isla de Alegranza, hoping for peaceful days that would one day come.

Farewell, Cucuruz Doan’s Island.