Yes, we're actually doing this. We're more than just manga here at Moon Moon. You've had the manga for years in the form of Tokyopop's terrible translation. While we are doing that, we're doing the novel too. We're going to publish novel chapters concurrently with where they are set during the manga.
In contrast to the manga, the novelization follows Elysia Nocturne and her side of the story. The novel is completely different, and works more as a companion piece to read alongside the manga, as opposed to an alternative option. Most scenes in the novel set around what we see in the manga, with only some overlap. There's even entire characters and backstory here not featured in the manga. We hope you enjoy a really obscure piece of Gundam media most of the western fandom didn't even know existed, finally translated. I would also like to clarify that we did keep a lot of quirks of the author's writing intact, even though it makes the book a little more confusing to read.
Also, thank No More Cheese Deep for the excellent work making English versions of the cover and dramatis personae spread.
Chapter 1
Every detail of the sky was reproduced mechanically, with swaths of blue in every corner of her vision. To an untrained eye, it would appear like a wall of blue construction paper. It was flat, and with no visible shading. Was it possible for a scene like this to exist in reality? One where the sky and the zenith of the visible horizon appeared to be one in the same, with the same shades of colors in their pallets? This peculiar distortion of the world and the things in it were unique to inorganic things such as this. The sky was perfectly mechanical and flat, not even betraying a single hint of life in its appearance.
With such a beautiful view in front of her, Elysia Nocton kept hooking the collar of her uniform with her fingers. It wasn't hot, on the contrary the temperature on Elysia's skin was as comfortable as rays of sunshine pouring down from the sky on a warm spring day. The internal temperature of the cockpit, which was designed for use in space, was regulated to 22 degrees Celsius. It was designed ergonomically to prevent the pilot from feeling any unnecessary discomfort. Things such as temperature, humidity and lighting were all designed to be as universally comfortable as possible. Despite this, it failed to ease that cramped feeling some people had in their hearts. The vast sky and the untamed desert that lie before Elysia were all artificial. That's why her palms and neck were dripping with sweat. Her throat stung painfully, urging her to let out a silent scream for air.
Elysia was inside a sphere with a diameter of just over 2 meters. The inner wall of the sphere was filled with monitor screens on which the artificial sky was displayed. It was like a one-man planetarium, except the display showed no romantic starry sky or breath taking sunset over a beach. The scene being displayed was actually rather grim, with plumes of black smoke trailing in the battlefield above Lake Huron, as forces prepared to land and begin a raid on the Toronto supply base.
Elyisia looked down below her feet in time with the voice on the speaker. If you looked closely at the desert below, you could see that it followed a distinct pattern. The western and eastern ends of the desert were both the same, right down to the perfect arrangements of bushes on both sides. It was quite obvious. Beyond the hills was a lake, from which Elysia saw a Swan flying away from and to a forest. The target supply base was in that very same forest. She tapped at the console above her knees to confirm, and an array of different maps appeared one after the other. As she followed these maps, her eyes trained to one window in particular that was completely unrelated. It showed a white dome that resembled an upside down salad bowl and a girl that appeared to be the same age as Elysia wearing what looked like an Earth Federation military uniform.
There were lots of children in the video, all of them appeared to be about 16 or 17 years old. They all looked similar in build. They were wearing what looked like Federation military uniforms, but not quite, they were different. The Earth Federation military uniforms were usually grey, but these uniforms were a light green color. The white upturned salad bowl was actually a control device directly connected to the database stored underground. The artificial sky surrounding Elysia and the desert too were just data stored in this database. The detailed data is reconstructed according to a program and displayed as a realistic image on the monitors. Elysia stared at the monitor window showing the outside of the simulator. But even that seemed like an illusion created by a computer.
"Elysia Nocton! There are too many information windows!"
This sharp reprimand from the speaker snapped Elysia back to reality. It was the voice of her instructor, Yahagi Franziback, who was known to be strict when it came to these kinds of things.
"You can't just look at that many things during a military operation!"
"Are you watching?" Elysia asked in surprise, with just a hint of a smile on her face.
"I'm not the one watching, they are."
Elysia chuckled and switched the display, this time showing her own reflection mirrored. She was wearing the same light green uniform as all the boys and girls outside. She had a healthy tanned complexion and silky blonde hair, adorned with feather ornaments given to her as a gift by her brother on her tenth birthday. This was complimented by lustrous lips and eyes giving a cool gaze. Her eye brows were arched sharply with thin lines creasing her forehead expressing her determination.
"Come on Elysia, do something, but don't embarrass yourself in front of everyone."
She spoke words of admonishment to herself in response to the praise, and then returned her dignified gaze to what was in front of her.
"What!?"
Adjusting the camera's viewpoint, Elysia leaned forward and followed the shadow. The desert spread out at her feet closer than it was before. What she saw next, was a thick cloud of dust spreading out like a circle from where the shadow landed. Then it rotated and rose up to the height of Elysia. There was a distinct rustling sound accompanying this, most likely sand falling and hitting something.
Is this an enemy attack!? She reflexively looked up to the sky, but there was nothing there. Then she looked back down to the ground in front of her. The dust was still was rising and visibility was quite poor.
"Did it... fall?"
Elysia muttered softly. That's right, there must be another pilot besides her.
"Did it fall too quickly?"
Elysia muttered to herself once more. In just one swift motion form Elysia's hands the image was already pulled up on her monitor. Ten seconds, eleven seconds, twelve seconds... In just a few taps of her fingers on the control panel, the video was rewound.
The shadow passed across the screen, and looking closely it appeared to be a pale white armor with a parachute. It had a blue visor over the yes, and the strings of the parachute held by iron clad fingers. For that matter not only the surface, but everything corresponding to muscle tissue were made of a special alloy. It was a weapon in the shape of a human, a weapon called "mobile suit", with a total height of nearly 20 meters. These humanoid weapons were versatile and capable of using a wide variety of fire arms and melee weapons. This versatility made them an overwhelming force, and a staple of modern warfare in an era where radars were useless. This was proven in the dreadful war that ended 5 years ago.
In the year 0079, in the era known as the Universal Century, there was a great war. Mankind had moved a large portion of its population to space in response to explosive growth in the population. Those who had been living in space for more than half a century started the first space war against those who were still attached to the earth. It was the bloodiest conflict in human history, with half of mankind's total population lost in the fires of war and cast into the endless darkness of space.
In preparation for the next disaster, the Earth Federation was forced to expand its facilities. Securing human resources was an obvious issue, as was the expansion of their weapons, especially mobile suits. In response to this, training centers for mobile suit pilots were created in various locations. It was one of these schools, the Montreal campus, where Elysia was based. At this school in Quebec Canada Elysia was one of the candidates for the next generation of Federation ace pilots.
Any student could become a candidate too, including this one in the mobile suit that fell in front of Elysia. Elysia pulled up the data on the other pilot without delay. The data of an innocent looking young girl was superimposed on the screen. Her eyes appeared to almost be smiling. Her lips were thin. She had beautiful brown hair that curled out towards the ends, and when combined with her Asian features made her appear much younger than she actually was.
"Asuna Elmarit?"
Elysia read the name displayed on the monitor in a monotone voice. "Seven battles in the simulator... lost!?"
A loud warning sound drowned out Elysia's voice as the dust cleared and a rumble could be felt in her seat. Asuna's mobile suit was only 800 meters away. The search program, processing in parallel with the balancer enlarged the image enlarged the image of Asuna's mobile suit. Elysia was speechless at the sight; a mobile suit crawling on the ground and tied up in parachute wires. She had never seen quite a horrid sight before.
"I'm sick of you... washout!"
Elysia said, stepping on the pedal at her foot. There was no need for her to hurry, she could just use her the sword shaped beam weapon mounted on her mobile suit's back to take out all her troublesome targets. She slowly approached Asuna's mobile suit, caught in the wires of the back pack and there was no sign of a possible counterattack. In the blink of an eye, right as she was about to pierce the belly of Asuna's mobile suit, she smelt a burning scent. It was just an illusion though, temporarily throwing her off with the accuracy of the illusion provided by the simulation.
The early summer winds blew down from the mountain and tousled her golden hair. Her hair was tied into tails on both sides of her head, with both swinging in the breeze. The small feathers, dyed a light green were a memento from her brother Moegi. They blended in to the rest of her hair almost as if they were a part of Elysia Nocton's body.
"It's only June, but the wind... it's already so cold."
Elysia whispered softly as she ran a hand through her loose hair. As she looked down she saw a shadow imitating her movements exactly. Her body was in shape from horseback riding and cricket. From her loose waist to a firm chest, her slightly muscular frame was not particularly tall, but she walked with excellent posture and a straight back, giving the illusion of additional slenderness. She already looked a lot like a grown woman, despite only turning 16 last month.
"Oh that reminds me, here's a birthday present!"
The man just remembered something. A tall man was standing in front of Elysia, more precisely they were the only two people there. They stood at the entrance of a loading path that led to the underground hanger behind the Montreal academy's building, which was barren at that moment. Some people refer to the Montreal campus as the "owl campus", because the pure white building from above resembled the face of an owl. The curved shape resembled a seagull spreading its wings, and the dome shaped simulators placed upright were held inside these wings, and resembled eyes. In this analogy the underground loading entrance is like where the wrinkles of the eyebrows are.
The man remained silent as he stood in the darkness of the underground. He wore a mechanic's overalls, but his well groomed silver hair that reached down to his back made it clear he was a soldier. Elysia wondered what somebody who saw him for the first would time think. Maybe they'd think he was some kind of local thug, or an old fashioned kind of rock and roll guy. He had a curved yet deeply rough edged face. His arms were very muscular, and a tattoo of a heart of steel could be seen on one of them. Elysia stared back at the man.
"Chandel, why don't you dress a little nicer?"
"That's none of your business."
Chandel reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a ballpoint pen with a white clip. The thin pen resting in his large gnarled hand seemed rather weak and flimsy to Elysia, like he was holding a toy. Chandel curled his thick lips and hurled the thin ballpoint pen at her.
"What is this?" Elysia asked
"You wanted a present, right?"
Elysia listened to his words, and then pressed the end of the ballpoint pen. The tip came out with a strange clicking sound, revealing it to be an ordinary ballpoint pen.
"It's not a normally supplied item."
Emiru pursed her lips in response to Elysia's words.
"Piloting mobile suits is a little different between Zeon and the Federation. I know Asuna can get the hang of it if she tries, we'll just have to wait and see"
Emiru said, beaming with pride and puffing her chest out like she was Auna's guardian.
"Zeon? I see, so Asuna, you are from Zeon."
Elysia muttered to herself in confirmation. It was well known in the Montreal campus that Asuna was from Zeon, the instigator in the war. When she was enrolled a week after the others, it caused quite a stir. It was no surprise really, everyone civilian and military alike lost something in that war with Zeon.
"I'm not part of Zeon anymore!"
Asuna said firmly. There was no sadness in her eyes as she rejected her homeland, but rather some kind of determined light, like hatred or some similar emotion. Ahh, now it made sense. This girl had been through a lot, Elysia could feel it, however both those feelings and friendship were completely different things. Elyisia was not sitting on the same bench as Asuna for a reason like friendship, but rather she was only here by chance due to the somewhat forceful guidance of Chandel Tadashi. Asuna and Emiru seemed to sense this from her.
Asuna respectfully used honorific-language when talking to Elysia, which made their conversations somewhat awkward. The tense atmosphere was then broken up by sudden rumble. A shadow fell on the bench where they were sitting.
"That's..." Emiru, who raised her voice in response, fixed her gaze on a far off spot above Elysia's head. "There's no head..."
Elysia turned her head in response to Emiru's words, and what stood before them was a humanoid weapon, a mobile suit. Asuna had a puzzled expression on her face, probably because as Emiru pointed out, the mobile suit had no head.
"That's a TGM-79C, it's a mobile suit used for practical training in a real vehicle. If the head is just going to get broken by a student during training, why have it in the first place? It's just for decoration, all you really need from it is the camera anyways."
Elysia said as she touched her hair. Saying it loud it didn't sound right to call it a real vehicle, even though it was a mobile suit. She probably called it that because it was a training vehicle maintained by the same staff as the rest of the vehicles such as tanks. Elysia couldn't help but get the impression that mechanics sensibilities were very outdated. Thinking about that she suddenly remembered Chandel.
"Yeah... this is what Chandel was waiting for."
"Did you say something?" Emiru asked in response to Elysia's muttering.
"No, it was nothing."
"You're knowledgeable on mobile suits"
"Well, Yeah..." Elysia replied in vague terms, crossing her arms over her chest and brushing them up against her hair.
"That mobile suit is made by my father's company."
As Elysia said that, all hint of emotion left her face as her calm gaze focused squarely on the mobile suit.
"My father's company makes exterior parts used in mobile suit and space ship production. While they aren't his specialty, his company spearheaded the development and creation of that headless model, GM Canard, as well as the two seater unit GM Cannes."
"Oh, so that maintenance officer must have been someone from your father's company"
Emiru spoke in such a bright and cheerful voice as if she understood. Elysia immediately turned around to face her.
"That person? You mean Chandel?"
"I heard a while ago from my instructor, that someone from the manufacturer was coming. If so, I would like to have the chance to ask him about the mobile suit's structure."
"You better not do that!"
Elysia uncrossed her arms and gave a wry smile.
"Because that man is rude, blunt and nosey. You'd only be wasting your time."
With Elysia's left hand on her hip and her right arm outstretched, Asuna and Emiru watched her with wide eyes.
"Wha-What's wrong?"
"Nothing... We just didn't know you could make a face like that."
"Eh?!"
Elysia exclaimed as her cheeks turned to a bright red. She wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from people.
"It's surprising... but I'm jealous."
Elysia looked a little angry as she approached Asuna, wondering if Asuna really just said that.
"Jealous!? What could you be jealous of?"
"Because... you two seem to get along so well."
Asuna's expression was gentle, and it was obvious that she was thinking about someone. However Elysia's own feelings were complicated, and as if by instinct she touched her hands to the feather ornaments in her hair.
"There's nothing special between me and Chandel, we've just known each-other for a long time."
"But..." Asuna was continuing to press her, but then Elysia smiled spoke.
"If you two really want to know about the structure of the school's mobile suits, you can just ask me. I already asked Chandel all about it."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! We're friends right?"
And with those words she left Asuna and Emiru. A shadow fell over her face as she turned her back to the sunlight and the headless GM Canard's unshakable form towered over her in the sky. Two days later, Asuna Elmarit would be banned from using the simulator.
Looking down from the podium that was about a meter high, you could easily see the faces of all 30 trainees. You could say they were all pretty young. All of them with only a few exceptions were around 16 years old. To Yahagi, who was in his mid 30s, it was only natural all of them would seem like children to him. This was on his mind as he looked at the large arch shaped entrance to the school building. The weather was nice, and there was no wind, but he still wasn't used to leading people. Yahagi, who was originally from the military's R&D department, had a pretty weak sense of hierarchy compared to most soldiers.
"Techniques aren't taught. They're stolen."
When Yahagi was a new recruit, a veteran solider lectured him about what it means to be a veteran soldier, despite the two rank difference between them. He had no intention of saying anything like that to the trainees, as he believed it was up to them to shape who they were and what kind of soldier they'd be.
Yahagi shot glances to the left and right, where two towers rose in the place where the white dome shaped simulators normally were. There were two mobile suits housed inside each towers, with one on each side. The simulator used by the trainees was placed on top of a special elevator that carried the mobile suits out from the underground hanger. Even deeper underground, below the hanger, was where the the database for the simulator was kept.
"From this day forward, you will begin with practical training."
Yahagi's words, even without a microphone or loud speaker to amplify it, echoed through the walls of the school building. Asuna Elmarit was notably missing among the group of trainees listening to his speech. According to Yahagi those who don't improve themselves shouldn't move forward, and Asuna had yet to improve.
"It should go without saying that practical training is very different from the simulation training you've had up to this point. There's always a undercurrent of danger when you're piloting a mobile suit and all it takes is just one moment of carelessness to get yourself killed. You're not soldiers yet, just trainees, and if you go to the battlefield in this state, you'll be treated as such. But!..."
Yahagi took a step forward with his right foot, the toe of his shoe hanging off the edge of the platform.
"I have no doubt that you all will make for excellent soldiers. You've used the simulator 3 times as much as the average soldier who enlisted during the One Year War. You have much to be proud of, but don't let yourself get conceited!"
Yahagai shouted that last part at the top of his lungs. There was nothing more terrifying then self-conceit, especially in young people like them with an elitist mentality. Their over confidence was probably going to make most of them accident prone.
"Everyone..."
Yahagi suddenly stopped and the sound of silence permeated for the next several seconds. Then the murmurs of the students began to take its place. One person could clearly be heard saying "Yahagi is talking such nonsnese", but who was it?
"Who was just talking?"
Yahagi said in a low tone that echoed throughout the room with a ripple like effect.
"I heard what you were whispering amongst yourselves!"
With Yahagi's yell the room fell silent, as if somebody dropped a tombstone. It was so quiet you could even hear the breathing of each individual student. Of course the person who insulted Yahagi didn't reveal themselves, but they were probably regretting what they said.
"Will the student who was was talking... Please step forward."
Yahagi jumped off the podium and onto the ground below. If no-one came forward. he thought it necessary to punish everyone. This was not a game, especially with the training the students were going to be doing. If you got even a little careless while piloting a mobile suit, the results could be fatal.
"Someone step forward!"
"Yes sir!"
came a voice from the left in a very clear tone. There was no doubt the voice, which sounded dignified yet beautiful, belonged to a boy. That voice's owner, a handsome boy stepped forward to face Yahagi, making a sound almost like kicking sand as he walked. The boy's thin eye brows and smooth facial features reminded Yahagi of an oriental buddha statue. Yahagi faced the boy with a harsh glare.
"Shin Barnack. Was it you?"
Yahagi's voice displayed a calm and collected tone, but Yahagi seriously doubted Shin was the student who said that. Shin transferred from the naval academy, and was one of the only students in the school to actually have an existing military record and background. Would someone who actually knows military etiquette really say something like that about his instructor? He was probably protecting someone, if Shin felt the need to risk himself for a fellow trainee, than that would be an admirable mentality and Yahagi felt he could excuse this. Shin confronted Yahagi head on without even saying a word. He took a deep breath through his nose and then spoke.
"Stand with your feet shoulder with a apart! Arms behind your back! Grit your teeth!"
There was the dull sound of bone hitting bone as Yahagi disciplined Shin. His upper body swung like a pendulum for a moment as he was struck hard, but his feet were planted firmly in place at the length Yahagi requested.
"Thank you very much sir..."
"Your voice is weak!"
"Thank you very much sir!"
Yahagi watched with satisfaction as Shin yelled back. If punishing Shin would create tension among the trainees, then he thought reminding them of military discipline would be a good alternative. However the cold gaze shot his way as he left seemed to stick in his mind. Elysia Nocton, the girl's eyes saw right through his actions, and she watched Shin's actions with a cold glare. Yahagi remembered that Forma had referred to her as a "young lady", and he could see why.
A giant walked right in front of Elysia and the others, making the ground tremble beneath them. It was a mobile suit for training purposes: TGM-79C, also known as the GM Canard. It was a plain machine, designed to teach trainees the basics of movement on board a real mobile suit, but the headless form, the thick torso and shoulders made it seem rather intimidating. The cockpit in the torso is of course the latest model, equipped with a panoramic monitor.
"Once you get in, it controls like the simulator right?"
It was Shin who quietly whispered that. Without even thinking about it, he was standing next to Elysia. Normally discipline was strict during training, but unless ordered otherwise, trainees usually waited wherever they wanted.
"Even in a real mobile suit, the view from the cockpit is just a a screen, showing you mechanical composition reconstructing what's actually outside. The shaking might be more violent though. You said your name was Shin. Why did you ask me that?"
Elysia asked coldly. There was no doubt that two were classmates, but they weren't close enough to talk to each other in a familiar manner.
"Why? Your dad made it, right? Asuna said so."
Hearing Shin's words Elysia understood. If they were her friends, than this familiarity would make sense. Even the air around him was somewhat similar.
"So? Why are you asking!?"
Shin looked at Elysia with a puzzled expression as she repeated herself in a rougher tone of voice.
"Does that mean you don't know much about it yourself?"
"...That's not it."
Elysia said as she turned to Shin, as if she was fed up with him already. Shin was holding a wet towel to his left cheek, and smiling in a way Elysia found difficult to understand, the reason for the swelling.
"Your cheek."
"Hm? Oh, it's just swollen. It hurts a little."
Shin said this teasingly, but with a small hint of embarrassment. As he spoke, the smile never seemed to leave his eyes.
"Why did you protect him?"
As Elysia said this, her gaze shifted to the boy right in front of her. She knew Shin wasn't the one who insulted Yahagi, it was the boy with the short curly hair standing right in front of her: Kelly Signit.
"Did you think it was cool? He brought what he was going to get upon himself!"
"Well, I wouldn't say it was cool. I actually think it was pretty uncool."
"Sticking your neck out like that... I don't like it..."
"...Thanks for the input."
With Shin's face painted with a stern look, he turned his gaze to Kelly. At Kelly's feet, Forma Gardner was shouting instructions into a handheld microphone. Forma was the assistant instructor in Elysia's group. At the Montreal school, with 30 students in total and 5 classes. The classes were never called classes, but rather groups. Elysia and her classmates were in the second group. Group wasn't even the correct name, but an abbreviation of official nomenclature, which was the "Montreal School's Third Term Second Cadet Group".
Yahagi Franizback was the head instructor of group 2. He also had assistance from group 1 instructor Lina Sao and Group 4 head instructor Forma Gardner. While they were here, groups 1 and 4 were receiving academic lectures from active military personnel.
"Five laps left!"
Forma screamed. As if in response, the Canard's foot made the ground rumble and a thick cloud of dust rose up. The trainees instinctively covered their faces.
"Kelly! You idiot!"
"If you do that again, I'll tell everyone your secret!"
There was a chorus of yelling and laughter. It seemed Kelly was piloting the Canard, but the sand was doing a good job of masking who was saying what. Elysia looked at the back of the Canard with a displeased expression. Shin was sitting there smiling, his cheek swollen from disciplining earlier.
"I like this kind of thing too."
He whispered to himself as he faced forward.
"The tension from earlier wasn't bad, but I like getting the chance to laugh with my friends. I don't have to try and look cool or do anything like that. Who knows, in the future it might be me who needs a comrade to protect me."
"Solidarity?"
Elysia asked, doing her best to not let the sand get in her mouth.
"It's okay, I transferred to here from the naval academy, I got used to getting beaten up while I was there. If they even notice you're uniform isn't perfect, like if your hat is bent, that's a kick in the stomach."
"Is that normal?"
"Yeah, we're going to become soldiers after all."
Shin fell quiet after that. Kelly's GM Canard sank into the training grounds. The wind from the training grounds brushed against Elysia's cheek as she stared at the back of the Canard. The wind from the reactor exhaust was still warm.
From the view inside the cockpit, the campus didn't look like a school, it appeared more like a company research lab. This may have been because the building was all white, or because of the unorthodox design, which made an extensive use of curves which did not give off the use the rigidity that many would associate with the term "school".
Elysia remembered that the research center her father opened up in New Dehli had a similar atmosphere. It was probably around the time that she was accepted into that British prep school located in Dahka, when her older brother picked her up and took her to visit the research center. The fact that were so many British prep schools in Dahka, the city where she grew up was probably owed to the fact that Bangladesh was a British colony in ancient times and the two continued to maintain a close relationship. She remembered her mother saying that her family had British ancestry back in the day.
It was during the first space war, known now as the One Year War, where Elysia's father made his fortune. He became involved in the war when he used his skills and knowledge to contribute to the making and design of the materials used in the creation of the Federation's mobile suits. In other words, Elysia and her family were upstarts. Because of this, she didn't have any good memories from her time in prep school or public school. For example, horseback riding was a compulsory subject to the upperclassmen in her prep school. Only half the students in her class could even ride a horse with any level of proficiency, but it was expected of higher class families to have their own horse.
Elysia didn't have one, so for her younger self, having to get used to a horse was a huge handicap, and she endured the humiliation that came with learning. It took a month before she could finally calm down the frightened horse enough for it to listen to her. The others in her class laughed at her struggles behind her back, and Elysia could never forgive them.
She was an unnatural talent by the time she graduated from prep school. She was the best horseback rider in school. Elysia was infamous for being able to ride the most untamable horse at the school, a fiery red hoarse with a wild temperament matching its color. The most important thing she learned at prep school was to have a clearly defined and distant goal, and an image for how you wish to achieve that goal. That last part was important, because if you couldn't visualize your goal and how to achieve it, visualizing your goal would become the goal itself.
Elysia doubted Shin's words and thought there was something off about them. She could never imagine a situation where she would need someone to protect her. The "comrades" that Shin spoke of and the "friends" that Chandel spoke of, seemed like the furthest thing from Elysia's mind.
Elysia realized that when Chandel called her a "friend" that he was referring to her brother, who died in the war. Chandel used to be a thug in the town, and the only person he had any emotional connection to was her brother. She always hung around her brother, and knew he always cherished Chandel, and never treated him with pity or sympathy. Elysia's brother liked to use the term "justice". He always told Elysia that there are right and wrong in this world, and the biggest difference between the two was that doing right usually came with hardship. He sensed something right in Chandel and told Elysia that it wasn't a law or teaching, but that he had a righteous and healthy spirit.
Elysia sat in the cockpit of her mobile suit. When she pressed down on the pedal, a slow vibration moved to the seat of her cockpit and the Canard took a big step forward. Shin had said "we're going to become soldiers". She didn't choose this path to avenge her brother, but to prove her brother's righteousness. It would be horrible if her brother was crushed by his own beliefs and lost. She wanted to prove to herself that he only died because he chose to stick to what he believed in until the very end. To protect her brother's honor, she was going to succeed using her brother's methods.
With a sense of determination her hands squeezed the grips of the Canard. The silhouette of the school could be seen on the omnidirectional monitor, and beyond that laid the forests comprising another large portion of the training grounds. Suddenly the school grounds in the shadow of the main building came into view, she saw lone figure running. Typically only one group at a time took part in practical training. This was due to a number of factors, but the main ones being space restrictions and the number of instructors required to assist. The other groups were probably taking courses on campus or classes on tactical theory, so it was strange to see anybody outside Elysia's group on the ground right now at all.
Elysia wondered what as going on, and tapped her fingers on the console. The sub-window of the spherical monitor showed a close up, which showed a close up of a sweaty, short girl with hair curled at the bottom. Elysia felt like she'd seen this girl before.
"Asuna..."
Elysia called Asuna's name out loud. Then, she turned away and moved forward, she didn't look back at Asuna. She continued moving forward, ahead was a special light only she could see, promising her a new landscape lying before her.
Asuna Elmarit already knew that the mobile suit on the other side of the school was a training mobile suit called a GM Canard. It was equipped with anti-tipping mechanisms and a full compliment of sensors to measure the pilots athletic abilities. This mobile suit was primarily used for early-stage training, such as learning the basics of walking. If things had gone well, Asuna would have been piloting a Canard by now. But things turned out differently, and now she was running alone on the school grounds.
The Canard shook the ground with its every step and the wind blew. The aluminum weather vein, rusted from exposure, spun around with a clatter while a military flag from the same tall pole swayed gently. The design depicted on the flag was a ship's anchor with a star in front of it, which was the emblem of the Earth Federation military. Asuna's home country fought the army that bore that very flag, and lost. Asuna, alone, looked up to the flag.
"Why am in a place like this?"
She murmured as she stopped in front of the pole. When she touched the pole, a cool and crisp sensation radiated through her palm. Asuna looked at her reflection, with the weather vein acting like a mirror reflecting the image of her in the wetsuit-like athletic gear back at her. Embroidered on the small of her chest was the school emblem, a design depicting a sword and some birds. Asuna gently touched the emblem embroidered onto her clothes.
Her time in the colonies wasn't fun at all. In fact, it seemed like she had more painful memories than happy ones. It wasn't because they were at war, but because Asuna's father had high expectations of her and her talent. Her mother respected her father as an academic, so much so that it got to the point where she grew insensitive to her own daughter's feelings. Between the two of them, their daily life was far from the image of a happy and warm family.
If there was no joy or comfort at home, how was Asuna going to find these things at school? You could say it was the times that helped her avoid getting bullied. Wartime was a different story, as bullying was very present there, but the targets of it were different than those who were bullied during peace time. A very notable example of this was one girl in Asuna's class, who's father was a member of the anti-war movement and as a result she was subjected to insidious bullying by her classmates. Asuna never took part in bullying her, but she never made any effort to defend her either. She knew doing either would have drawn attention to her, when her goal was to be as inconspicuous as possible.
All she wanted was to be happy and comfortable with where she was in school. Asuna's behavior meant she was never the subject of any bullying herself, but it also meant she never had any friends to keep her company during break time or after school with anything more than trivial conversations. Asuna built a wall around herself, in return the people around Asuna built walls around her.
Though thinking about this, Asuna knew she had changed since she came to Montreal. She had made a friend in Emiru and was able to set small attainable goals for herself in her every day life. Rather than let her poor grades hold everyone back, she wanted to learn logistical skills, so that way she could still be use of to everyone by providing support from the rear. Asuna herself thought that this was a strong sign of her own personal growth.
Yahagi Franziback had banned Asuna from participating in training. His words echoed in Asuna's mind "Someone who can't even grasp the basics of mobile suit combat has no need for further training!" Sure, Asuna could see what he meant and even agreed with it, she didn't know why it was just her. So she started her own training, and thought this was the best way forward, but first she had to catch up with everyone. Asuna was able to forgive her uselessness when she got here, but now she didn't want to be the same useless person she was before.
Asuna had trained herself with a strong determination, and now here she was looking up at a GM Canard. In a way, she had to climb up to that level, that height. She couldn't just look at everyone form below, she had to spend time with them looking from the same perspective. Or so she thought.
Suddenly her eyes seemed to meet the Canard's. She had a vague recollection of where the main camera was and grew a vague suspicion that she was being watched. "Who was on board?" Asuna asked herself in her mind. Of course there was no answer, and she continued to star up at the Canard in silence. The Canard turned its back to Asuna and disappeared into the training grounds in the forest. It must have taken less than fifteen seconds, but still, Asuna felt a strange sense of satisfaction. The Canard was definitely waiting for her, or her at least that's how it felt to Asuna as she stood there on the school grounds.
When the training was done, the GM Canard was placed in front of the school to dissipate heat after its extensive operating time. The sun was setting and a blanket of stars twinkling from the east began taking its place in the sky. Chandel, who was making fine adjustments to the omni-directional monitor of the mobile suit, stopped what he was doing and switched it to live feed mode. The image, which had not been composited with computer graphics, was currently misaligned and distorted in places. Despite this, Chandel saw the beauty that could only be achieved through live action.
The maintenance crew scurried along busily like ants at the Canard's feet. There was a mountain of maintenance work to be done in the storage, and the space was too cramped for them to do it there.
"Chandel, is there any change to the hydraulic pressure gauge for the cylinder in the right arm?"
Detailed instructions one after the other echoed form the speaker and throughout the cockpit. He responded to the requests by tapping the sole of the Canard. When he looked up he saw the white walls of the Montreal campus dyed in the burning crimson glow of the sunset contrasting the purple sky. There was a certain divine mysticism to it that reminded him of the beauty of all the mosques in his home town of Dhaka.
"This is the true face of École..."
"École?"
Chandel heard what he said echoed back to him, and he directed his gaze down to the foot of the mobile suit. He didn't need to enlarge the image to tell who it was that had taken the work crew's intercom, the voice alone was enough to tell him who was looking up at the cockpit.
"Elysia, you should stop this."
"It's fine, you were just admiring the view, right?"
"You're getting in the way of the other crew members."
"Then put me up there with you."
When Chandel heard Elysia's selfish words he held his head in hands. He knew she wasn't saying this because she was childish and spoiled, she wasn't the kind of girl who enjoyed making adults feel uncomfortable. If he had to guess, she might be making herself appear intentionally vulnerable in front of someone she had known since childhood. No, that couldn't be it... Even if she was cunning and calculated, she still felt embarrassment like anyone else. Chandel operated the console and lowered the wires.
"Check in with instructor Yahagi, if he says it's okay, then you can come up"
Chandel spoke bluntly into the microphone. Boarding advanced equipment like a mobile suit without permission was grounds for severe punishment. Furthermore, he thought there was no way that a girl like Elysia with a spotless record would do something problematic like boarding a GM Canard while it was under maintenance. Chandel could imagine the frustrated look on her face and the sigh she'd light out, which gave him a half-hearted smirk.
Unfortunately, Chandel's bliss was only fleeting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the wires sliding up. It wasn't difficult to imagine what kind of weight was at the end of those taught wires. Oh dear... Chandel stepped out of the cockpit and leaned over to look at the end of the wire.
"Are you kidding me?"
He muttered in disgust when he saw Elysia at the end of the wire. She was trying desperately to get the wire out of his reach as she clenched her lips. She tried to stay calm as she looked at Chandel, her cheeks twitching slightly.
"I only came because I was told to."
As Elysia spoke she removed her left foot from the wire foothold and opened the cockpit hatch. She tried to step forward, but as she did, her center of gravity shifted and she started spinning around.
"Huh?"
"Idiot! Use your hands first! Grab the hook on the ceiling!"
"I know that!"
He clung to the wire and Elysia extended her right hand desperately, desperately trying to grab the hook in front of her.
"Okay, just pull your leg out of the foothold and... that's it."
Elysia's body suddenly tumbled into the cockpit, but Chandel caught her.
"Are you stupid!? That was so reckless!"
"I could come in, there's nothing wrong with that."
Elysia stated casually.
"Besides, I can't imagine you'd tell the instructor Chandel, that'd be the worst thing you possibly could do to me."
"You idiot! I have a duty to report these things."
"But in your mind that's also a case of telling tales isn't it?"
Elysia said and then turned her back on him. Whatever he or the crew would say, she'd say something different. Maybe it was because growing up she was always around adults rather than kids her age, but she has been really good with words since she was a child. Thinking this with a bitter expression on his face, Chandel looked past Elysia to the same direction she was, and saw that the sun had not disappeared behind the forest.
"It's too bad I missed the sunset, but the breeze feels nice."
Elysia let her long hair flutter in the wind. Against the sky, which had changed to a deeper color than it was before, Elysia's hair showed a subtle gradation. Her pale neck and rounded earlobes were clearly visible, and it was an Elysia different than the one Chandel had known.
"You said "École" earlier, is that the name of this school building?"
Elysia asked, with her back turned to Chandel and her eyes fixed on the pure white walls of the Montreal campus.
"I know it's French, but why is that building called "École"?"
The question brought Chandel back to reality and he let out a deep sigh to release the venom building up inside him. Upon hearing the sigh, Elysia turned around to look at him, assuming he was making fun of her again or belittling her. Chandel didn't even try to clear up the misunderstanding, and instead fixed his gaze past Elysia into the forests of Quebec. He then began to quietly speak.
"It's not the name of the building, it's a secret slang term for the school used by some in the military."
"Like a hidden language?"
Elysia repeated her question, but Chandel continued without paying any attention, shutting the microphone off in that moment.
"Did you know? Back in the old calendar era, Quebec used to be a French colony. Long before we took to space, and the greater powers running the world cared for nothing but expanding their territories. People call this place "École" because of that history. Not in a good way of course."
"The greater powers running the world are still trying to expand their territory... Seems like nothing's changed since then."
Elysia muttered softly. Chandel had similar thoughts himself.
The reasons for starting a war haven't really changed much over the years. The reasons vary from national pride, to economic development, to military matters, but in the end conflicts most often arise from people pursuing their own interests. These people in question are usually cunning and have already calculated the gains and losses before beginning another one.
"Is Nocton Ceramics part of the army?"
Elysia asked with a straight face. What a sharp girl, Chandel thought. Elysia's family owned Nocton ceramics and made a fortune during the last war. Elysia's father worked hard to expand their business even further during the war, even dipping his hands into the production of mobile suits and creating the one he and Elysia were in right now. He truly was the kind of a man who profited from war. So Chandel gave her question a simple answer.
"Yeah... I guess."
He didn't think anything more was necessary. The answer lie GM Canard itself that the two were inside.
"It's none of your concern anyways."
His hand tapped the console while the bundle of cables was still connected.
"Look Elysia"
Chandel said, nudging her and pointing to something. The image on the zoomed in subwindow showed a video of a clumsy girl running and doing her daily routine alone, wearing the school's athletic equipment and sports boots. Her brown hair that curled outwards in the bottom and could be seen swaying and bouncing with each step.
"That's it!"
"That's the video you were watching right? All the data's still here."
Elysia's voice had a slight hint of anger as she stared at the image in the sub window. Chandel knew the name of the girl in the video was Asuna Elmarit, it was Elysia he heard call her that.
"No matter what outsiders may think, the only thing that matters here is how hard you work. I think she understands that better than anyone."
Chandel then paused and remained silent, not bothering to enlarge the image. Elysia was also silently watching the video of Asuna, until she suddenly stopped and looked up, as if she knew Elysia and the others were watching. Elysia and Chandel looked back at Asuna's gaze intently.
"The same thing happened to me too back then... around the same time"
Elysia said quietly.
"Back when we were completely absorbed in chasing my brother. I never thought of it as anything that required effort. if you have a clear goal, you'll never feel any pain or exhaustion. Asuna is... different."
"That's right" Chandel said "It's just as Elysia said."
Elysia repeated the words and stopped the video of Asuna. Chandel seemed to be trembling violently, this was probably due to the vibrations of the linear seat. Elysia was a strong girl, Chandel knew that better than anyone, but he had had determined that if Elysia ever became discouraged, he would be there to support her. He would do this in place of his dearest friend, who was no longer with them.
On the way back to the dormitory, Elysia saw a strange sight. A boy with curly hair was confronting Shin in the almost empty washroom in the back of the school building. The sun had set, it was the time for the students to be back at their dorms and Elysia was no exception. Although there would be no penalty, she wouldn't be able to bathe before curfew. She wondered what they were doing at this time.
The reason why Elysia was interested in the goings on of other people was because she recognized the boy confronting Shin, it was a boy with light wavy and curly hair named Kelly Signit. He was the reason Shin got beaten by Yahagi. Elysia eavesdropped quietly from behind the corner of the hallway. She could hear Kelly's voice.
"I don't want to owe you anything."
"Who cares if you owe me something or anything?"
"That's not a good thing for me!"
Kelly's words were tinged with irritation, as it appeared he didn't want to be protected by Shin. If that was the case why didn't he come forward then and there when Yahagi asked? It could be dismissed as timidity, but to Elysia it was the very definition of cowardice. She had begun to lose interest in the conversation. Then she heard the sounds of fists against flesh, with the violent sounds of blows being exchanged echoing mercilessly as Elysia turned her back to leave. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm sure Shin hit him, or that he made Shin hit him."
It was a mentality that Elysia couldn't understand, it made her feel uncomfortable.
"You get me hit, I get you hit... That's all you need to satisfy yourself. You're not instructor Yahagi after all..."
Elysia whispered to herself softly. She walked back to her room and wiped away the sweat from her training with a damp towel.
With such a beautiful view in front of her, Elysia Nocton kept hooking the collar of her uniform with her fingers. It wasn't hot, on the contrary the temperature on Elysia's skin was as comfortable as rays of sunshine pouring down from the sky on a warm spring day. The internal temperature of the cockpit, which was designed for use in space, was regulated to 22 degrees Celsius. It was designed ergonomically to prevent the pilot from feeling any unnecessary discomfort. Things such as temperature, humidity and lighting were all designed to be as universally comfortable as possible. Despite this, it failed to ease that cramped feeling some people had in their hearts. The vast sky and the untamed desert that lie before Elysia were all artificial. That's why her palms and neck were dripping with sweat. Her throat stung painfully, urging her to let out a silent scream for air.
Elysia was inside a sphere with a diameter of just over 2 meters. The inner wall of the sphere was filled with monitor screens on which the artificial sky was displayed. It was like a one-man planetarium, except the display showed no romantic starry sky or breath taking sunset over a beach. The scene being displayed was actually rather grim, with plumes of black smoke trailing in the battlefield above Lake Huron, as forces prepared to land and begin a raid on the Toronto supply base.
Elyisia looked down below her feet in time with the voice on the speaker. If you looked closely at the desert below, you could see that it followed a distinct pattern. The western and eastern ends of the desert were both the same, right down to the perfect arrangements of bushes on both sides. It was quite obvious. Beyond the hills was a lake, from which Elysia saw a Swan flying away from and to a forest. The target supply base was in that very same forest. She tapped at the console above her knees to confirm, and an array of different maps appeared one after the other. As she followed these maps, her eyes trained to one window in particular that was completely unrelated. It showed a white dome that resembled an upside down salad bowl and a girl that appeared to be the same age as Elysia wearing what looked like an Earth Federation military uniform.
There were lots of children in the video, all of them appeared to be about 16 or 17 years old. They all looked similar in build. They were wearing what looked like Federation military uniforms, but not quite, they were different. The Earth Federation military uniforms were usually grey, but these uniforms were a light green color. The white upturned salad bowl was actually a control device directly connected to the database stored underground. The artificial sky surrounding Elysia and the desert too were just data stored in this database. The detailed data is reconstructed according to a program and displayed as a realistic image on the monitors. Elysia stared at the monitor window showing the outside of the simulator. But even that seemed like an illusion created by a computer.
"Elysia Nocton! There are too many information windows!"
This sharp reprimand from the speaker snapped Elysia back to reality. It was the voice of her instructor, Yahagi Franziback, who was known to be strict when it came to these kinds of things.
"You can't just look at that many things during a military operation!"
"Are you watching?" Elysia asked in surprise, with just a hint of a smile on her face.
"I'm not the one watching, they are."
Elysia chuckled and switched the display, this time showing her own reflection mirrored. She was wearing the same light green uniform as all the boys and girls outside. She had a healthy tanned complexion and silky blonde hair, adorned with feather ornaments given to her as a gift by her brother on her tenth birthday. This was complimented by lustrous lips and eyes giving a cool gaze. Her eye brows were arched sharply with thin lines creasing her forehead expressing her determination.
"Come on Elysia, do something, but don't embarrass yourself in front of everyone."
She spoke words of admonishment to herself in response to the praise, and then returned her dignified gaze to what was in front of her.
"What!?"
Adjusting the camera's viewpoint, Elysia leaned forward and followed the shadow. The desert spread out at her feet closer than it was before. What she saw next, was a thick cloud of dust spreading out like a circle from where the shadow landed. Then it rotated and rose up to the height of Elysia. There was a distinct rustling sound accompanying this, most likely sand falling and hitting something.
Is this an enemy attack!? She reflexively looked up to the sky, but there was nothing there. Then she looked back down to the ground in front of her. The dust was still was rising and visibility was quite poor.
"Did it... fall?"
Elysia muttered softly. That's right, there must be another pilot besides her.
"Did it fall too quickly?"
Elysia muttered to herself once more. In just one swift motion form Elysia's hands the image was already pulled up on her monitor. Ten seconds, eleven seconds, twelve seconds... In just a few taps of her fingers on the control panel, the video was rewound.
The shadow passed across the screen, and looking closely it appeared to be a pale white armor with a parachute. It had a blue visor over the yes, and the strings of the parachute held by iron clad fingers. For that matter not only the surface, but everything corresponding to muscle tissue were made of a special alloy. It was a weapon in the shape of a human, a weapon called "mobile suit", with a total height of nearly 20 meters. These humanoid weapons were versatile and capable of using a wide variety of fire arms and melee weapons. This versatility made them an overwhelming force, and a staple of modern warfare in an era where radars were useless. This was proven in the dreadful war that ended 5 years ago.
In the year 0079, in the era known as the Universal Century, there was a great war. Mankind had moved a large portion of its population to space in response to explosive growth in the population. Those who had been living in space for more than half a century started the first space war against those who were still attached to the earth. It was the bloodiest conflict in human history, with half of mankind's total population lost in the fires of war and cast into the endless darkness of space.
In preparation for the next disaster, the Earth Federation was forced to expand its facilities. Securing human resources was an obvious issue, as was the expansion of their weapons, especially mobile suits. In response to this, training centers for mobile suit pilots were created in various locations. It was one of these schools, the Montreal campus, where Elysia was based. At this school in Quebec Canada Elysia was one of the candidates for the next generation of Federation ace pilots.
Any student could become a candidate too, including this one in the mobile suit that fell in front of Elysia. Elysia pulled up the data on the other pilot without delay. The data of an innocent looking young girl was superimposed on the screen. Her eyes appeared to almost be smiling. Her lips were thin. She had beautiful brown hair that curled out towards the ends, and when combined with her Asian features made her appear much younger than she actually was.
"Asuna Elmarit?"
Elysia read the name displayed on the monitor in a monotone voice. "Seven battles in the simulator... lost!?"
A loud warning sound drowned out Elysia's voice as the dust cleared and a rumble could be felt in her seat. Asuna's mobile suit was only 800 meters away. The search program, processing in parallel with the balancer enlarged the image enlarged the image of Asuna's mobile suit. Elysia was speechless at the sight; a mobile suit crawling on the ground and tied up in parachute wires. She had never seen quite a horrid sight before.
"I'm sick of you... washout!"
Elysia said, stepping on the pedal at her foot. There was no need for her to hurry, she could just use her the sword shaped beam weapon mounted on her mobile suit's back to take out all her troublesome targets. She slowly approached Asuna's mobile suit, caught in the wires of the back pack and there was no sign of a possible counterattack. In the blink of an eye, right as she was about to pierce the belly of Asuna's mobile suit, she smelt a burning scent. It was just an illusion though, temporarily throwing her off with the accuracy of the illusion provided by the simulation.
The early summer winds blew down from the mountain and tousled her golden hair. Her hair was tied into tails on both sides of her head, with both swinging in the breeze. The small feathers, dyed a light green were a memento from her brother Moegi. They blended in to the rest of her hair almost as if they were a part of Elysia Nocton's body.
"It's only June, but the wind... it's already so cold."
Elysia whispered softly as she ran a hand through her loose hair. As she looked down she saw a shadow imitating her movements exactly. Her body was in shape from horseback riding and cricket. From her loose waist to a firm chest, her slightly muscular frame was not particularly tall, but she walked with excellent posture and a straight back, giving the illusion of additional slenderness. She already looked a lot like a grown woman, despite only turning 16 last month.
"Oh that reminds me, here's a birthday present!"
The man just remembered something. A tall man was standing in front of Elysia, more precisely they were the only two people there. They stood at the entrance of a loading path that led to the underground hanger behind the Montreal academy's building, which was barren at that moment. Some people refer to the Montreal campus as the "owl campus", because the pure white building from above resembled the face of an owl. The curved shape resembled a seagull spreading its wings, and the dome shaped simulators placed upright were held inside these wings, and resembled eyes. In this analogy the underground loading entrance is like where the wrinkles of the eyebrows are.
The man remained silent as he stood in the darkness of the underground. He wore a mechanic's overalls, but his well groomed silver hair that reached down to his back made it clear he was a soldier. Elysia wondered what somebody who saw him for the first would time think. Maybe they'd think he was some kind of local thug, or an old fashioned kind of rock and roll guy. He had a curved yet deeply rough edged face. His arms were very muscular, and a tattoo of a heart of steel could be seen on one of them. Elysia stared back at the man.
"Chandel, why don't you dress a little nicer?"
"That's none of your business."
Chandel reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a ballpoint pen with a white clip. The thin pen resting in his large gnarled hand seemed rather weak and flimsy to Elysia, like he was holding a toy. Chandel curled his thick lips and hurled the thin ballpoint pen at her.
"What is this?" Elysia asked
"You wanted a present, right?"
Elysia listened to his words, and then pressed the end of the ballpoint pen. The tip came out with a strange clicking sound, revealing it to be an ordinary ballpoint pen.
"It's not a normally supplied item."
It had been two years since the Earth Federation military opened the mobile suit pilot training academy in the forests of Montreal Quebec. It was the newest of all the pilot schools the Federation opened after the war, and for that reason alone all of the equipment was new and state of the art. Not only the simulators used by Elysia and her class, but everything from the big screen in the auditorium to the air conditioning were the latest and greatest models. Of course not everything was so new. The underground hanger was remodeled from a frontline base used in the war, and the adjacent spaceport and training ground were once occupied by the Principality of Zeon during the war, and are still used in much the same way.
The Principality of Zeon was the nation that the Federation fought against in the war that ended 5 years ago. Of the countless manmade islands floating in space called "Space Colonies", the Principality was located in side 3, the cluster of colonies located farthest from the Earth and by extension the furthest from the Earth Federation government. They advocated for the autonomy and independence of the space immigrants and challenged the Earth Federation to a war, but in the end it was nothing more than the the runaway rulings of their leaders' power going unchecked.
The Principality of Zeon even attacked the space colonies housing the very immigrants they claimed to be fighting for, just because they chose to side with the Federation. Many of their plans were so cruel that they'd make you cover your eyes in horror, such as spreading nerve gas into the enclosed area inside a space colony, and using a space colony as a makeshift bomb. Who on earth would ever support such an obvious dictatorship? At least that's what Elysia thought.
"Hey!"
Chandel called out to Elysia.
"What were you thinking about?"
he asked without so much as a smile, his eyes still fixated on the darkness below.
"None of your business."
Elysia said in a sulky voice.
"Unless you want to guess what I'm thinking?"
Chandel just continued staring into the darkness indifferent and unfazed. It was unnerving. What did he see? When she looked in the direction of Chandel's gaze, he continued.
"Whenever you think about someone you hate, you have a habit of crossing your arms, and then your face sags into an expressionless stare. It's a bad and obvious habit. You should stop doing it before you make yourself into an eyesore"
Elysia was taken aback by Chandel's words. She lowers her arms, which were folded at her chest without her even realizing it. They had been friends for a long time, so it made sense for him to see through her. Normally it'd be fun that he figured something like that out, but she just glared maliciously at Chandel.
"Even if we're Childhood friends, don't talk like you know me!"
"I'm your childhood friend?"
Chandel snorted and then followed it up with a laugh.
"Don't get the wrong idea, you're just my friend's sister. Of course I've been friends with him for a long time, so I know almost everything about you. If you want, I could even tell you the words from a love letter I got when he confessed his love to me."
Elysia's face turned bright red at Chandel's mocking words. Was it out of embarrassment or anger? It didn't matter, Elysia didn't care which.
"You're the worst." she sulked.
"I'm just trying to warn you, quit coming around here during your all of your lunch breaks. Go play with your friends..... Look!"
Chandel's head tilted and pointed to a corner of the school building. The area on the first floor of the south building of the campus, which formed a gentle arc was lined with stores like the school shop and the snack corner. At one of these stores was a short girl with brown hair that curled outwards.
"Asuna Elmarit..."
Elysia muttered softly to herself. She remembered seeing the picture displayed in this sub-window of the simulator's monitor.
"That's your friend right?"
"Friend?" Elysia echoed Chandel's words. Even the word friend seemed so far removed from her. "I don't want to make friends. I heard the pilots of this school were extremely talented, but from what I've seen there isn't even a trace of tension here!"
"It can't be helped, it's not just here, but all of of the mobile suit pilot training schools are like this."
Upon hearing Chandel's words, Elysia turned her gaze form Asuna back to him. She knew there were other mobile suit pilot training schools, but she was surprised to hear Chandel talk about all of them like that. His eyes remained unmoving, though trained on Asuna. Then, he spoke, as if he was talking to Asuna, who was directly in his line of sight.
"This academy isn't exactly a military school. Did you know more than half of the operating costs are taken care of by private investors? I'm sure it has something to do with the military's financial situation, but I think this is for the best when mobile suit development is dependent on private investments. The military obviously wants to maintain their image. For starters, it would be bad if the military didn't follow that outdated child protection charter."
"Child protection charter?"
Before Chandel could say another word, Elysia interrupted him. Child protection charter. That was reassuring to hear. Chandel turned his gaze from Asuna back to Elysia, with his calm gaze sizing her up as if she was nothing more than a small child.
"The child protection charter was designed to protect the human rights of people under the age of 18, prohibiting corporal punishment, certain parts of military education, etc. Of course none of it actually makes a difference since nobody will find out."
"That can't be! They can't cover up this place's existence!"
"From the beginning this whole place has been full of contradictions. The Federation military academy is for people over the age of 18, but they've gotten desperate since most of their soldiers died in the war."
"That's garbage!"
Elysia spat out. Her venomous words were directed at all the adults in power who cared only for the appearance of the old status quo.
"My father's the same way... it's terrible." she said with her molars clenched. She watched Asuna's back from afar. She walked down a row of stores in what looked like a shopping center. She looked rather small to Elysia.
The stores were full of things like T-Shirts, swimsuits, soft drink vending machines with a variety of drinks of vibrant colors and even an ice cream stand. To Asuna, all of these things were new and rare. Sure things like this existed in the Principality of Zeon, where she grew up, but they were rare and she had to go the nicer central districts of the colony. Space colonies were large, with ten million people living in just one cylindrical structures six kilometers in diameter and thirty kilometers in length. Each colony had its own administrative, residential and industrial areas.
The commercial district by the port was always busy. During the military regime it was always bustling, but to Asuna, who was in her early teens, it was by no means something familiar to her. Asuna always considered other places close, like the university, where her parents worked in the research lab, or the public school she attended and the small crepe shop next to it. Asuna would always get her favorite, a crepe made with vanilla ice cream.
When she first enrolled, everything was a new experience for her. She never imagined that there would be anything like this in a military school when she decided to enroll. Asuna was told that the Montreal Campus was a military school. Her homeroom teacher, a woman who always wore jeans, had told her so, as did the fat principal who only showed up at the opening ceremony. Asuna had wanted to go to art school, but she was enrolled in the Montreal academy, which was nothing short of a tragedy for the people of a defeated nation. Asuna was given no choice in the matter. She had to enroll here and separate from her mother, or she and her mother would have become homeless.
"You don't really think you could wear that!"
Asuna jumped at the sudden voice behind her and turned around. It was her friend Emiru. Asuna sighed in relief as she saw the round face of her friend Emiru Voigtlander, her best friend at the school, but Emiru ignored her and pointed at her chest.
"It'd never work, you have really small breasts!"
Emiru said in an exaggerated feminine annotation and a distinctive somewhat doll-like manner. She wore thin framed glasses, with her hair styled in what could be described as an extended bob cut framing her face. The freckles on her face stood out against her pale skin and when combined with her lips made for a face with many charming features. Asuna pouted at her.
"Shut up! I'm already feeling down, you don't have to make things worse."
"I don't know how I could make things worse for you when you have breasts like that."
"It's not about breasts!"
Asuna snorted and left the shop. As she walked away her face was stained with a look showing a heavy sulk.
Emiru, who was just a little shorter than Asuna, walked behind her.
"Well with eight matches and eight losses, I suppose there's no use getting depressed."
"And on top of that, my next vacation got cancelled too"
Asuna sighed. She put her hands behind her head and glanced at Emiru. Emiru glanced back, looking at her through the clear lenses of her glasses.
"Vacation? You don't have a boyfriend, why would you need a vacation?"
"No, Emiru, I don't have one."
"That's fine, you have me Asuna!"
Emiru gestured by clasping her fingers together and holding them against her right cheek in an exaggerated fashion. She tilted her head into her fingers and twisted her hips as if to use this gesture to say she's sorry, but Asuna didn't have the time or patience to deal with such a joke.
"What's the matter? You're so glum I can't even seem to cheer you up."
"I'm going to draw a picture"
Asuna spoke quietly, looking up at the sky without slowing the pace of her walk.
"It's going to be a picture of a bird. It's beautiful, like something out of a fairytale. I never knew anything like this before, because we didn't have anything like it in the colonies."
"Scenery like this?" Emiru asked
"There's mountains, the sky, forest and lakes, and the scenery stretches on forever. The mornings are especially nice. The humidity soaks into the plants and it chills you to your very bones, and then the morning sun rises and it warms everything up! Montreal is so beautiful. When I first landed here, I thought I was so lucky to be in a place like this."
Emiru watched Asuna as she stopped in her tracks and spoke, hanging on every word. Her eyes showed her surprise as she listened to what Asuna said.
"What happened?" Asked Asuna
"I was a bit surprised to hear you say something like that."
"Is that so?"
"Yes" Emiru nodded and started walking again, this time with Asuna following behind her.
"But I don't have much time to draw. Even in the simulator, I lost because all I could think about was the composition of a picture."
The Principality of Zeon was the nation that the Federation fought against in the war that ended 5 years ago. Of the countless manmade islands floating in space called "Space Colonies", the Principality was located in side 3, the cluster of colonies located farthest from the Earth and by extension the furthest from the Earth Federation government. They advocated for the autonomy and independence of the space immigrants and challenged the Earth Federation to a war, but in the end it was nothing more than the the runaway rulings of their leaders' power going unchecked.
The Principality of Zeon even attacked the space colonies housing the very immigrants they claimed to be fighting for, just because they chose to side with the Federation. Many of their plans were so cruel that they'd make you cover your eyes in horror, such as spreading nerve gas into the enclosed area inside a space colony, and using a space colony as a makeshift bomb. Who on earth would ever support such an obvious dictatorship? At least that's what Elysia thought.
"Hey!"
Chandel called out to Elysia.
"What were you thinking about?"
he asked without so much as a smile, his eyes still fixated on the darkness below.
"None of your business."
Elysia said in a sulky voice.
"Unless you want to guess what I'm thinking?"
Chandel just continued staring into the darkness indifferent and unfazed. It was unnerving. What did he see? When she looked in the direction of Chandel's gaze, he continued.
"Whenever you think about someone you hate, you have a habit of crossing your arms, and then your face sags into an expressionless stare. It's a bad and obvious habit. You should stop doing it before you make yourself into an eyesore"
Elysia was taken aback by Chandel's words. She lowers her arms, which were folded at her chest without her even realizing it. They had been friends for a long time, so it made sense for him to see through her. Normally it'd be fun that he figured something like that out, but she just glared maliciously at Chandel.
"Even if we're Childhood friends, don't talk like you know me!"
"I'm your childhood friend?"
Chandel snorted and then followed it up with a laugh.
"Don't get the wrong idea, you're just my friend's sister. Of course I've been friends with him for a long time, so I know almost everything about you. If you want, I could even tell you the words from a love letter I got when he confessed his love to me."
Elysia's face turned bright red at Chandel's mocking words. Was it out of embarrassment or anger? It didn't matter, Elysia didn't care which.
"You're the worst." she sulked.
"I'm just trying to warn you, quit coming around here during your all of your lunch breaks. Go play with your friends..... Look!"
Chandel's head tilted and pointed to a corner of the school building. The area on the first floor of the south building of the campus, which formed a gentle arc was lined with stores like the school shop and the snack corner. At one of these stores was a short girl with brown hair that curled outwards.
"Asuna Elmarit..."
Elysia muttered softly to herself. She remembered seeing the picture displayed in this sub-window of the simulator's monitor.
"That's your friend right?"
"Friend?" Elysia echoed Chandel's words. Even the word friend seemed so far removed from her. "I don't want to make friends. I heard the pilots of this school were extremely talented, but from what I've seen there isn't even a trace of tension here!"
"It can't be helped, it's not just here, but all of of the mobile suit pilot training schools are like this."
Upon hearing Chandel's words, Elysia turned her gaze form Asuna back to him. She knew there were other mobile suit pilot training schools, but she was surprised to hear Chandel talk about all of them like that. His eyes remained unmoving, though trained on Asuna. Then, he spoke, as if he was talking to Asuna, who was directly in his line of sight.
"This academy isn't exactly a military school. Did you know more than half of the operating costs are taken care of by private investors? I'm sure it has something to do with the military's financial situation, but I think this is for the best when mobile suit development is dependent on private investments. The military obviously wants to maintain their image. For starters, it would be bad if the military didn't follow that outdated child protection charter."
"Child protection charter?"
Before Chandel could say another word, Elysia interrupted him. Child protection charter. That was reassuring to hear. Chandel turned his gaze from Asuna back to Elysia, with his calm gaze sizing her up as if she was nothing more than a small child.
"The child protection charter was designed to protect the human rights of people under the age of 18, prohibiting corporal punishment, certain parts of military education, etc. Of course none of it actually makes a difference since nobody will find out."
"That can't be! They can't cover up this place's existence!"
"From the beginning this whole place has been full of contradictions. The Federation military academy is for people over the age of 18, but they've gotten desperate since most of their soldiers died in the war."
"That's garbage!"
Elysia spat out. Her venomous words were directed at all the adults in power who cared only for the appearance of the old status quo.
"My father's the same way... it's terrible." she said with her molars clenched. She watched Asuna's back from afar. She walked down a row of stores in what looked like a shopping center. She looked rather small to Elysia.
The stores were full of things like T-Shirts, swimsuits, soft drink vending machines with a variety of drinks of vibrant colors and even an ice cream stand. To Asuna, all of these things were new and rare. Sure things like this existed in the Principality of Zeon, where she grew up, but they were rare and she had to go the nicer central districts of the colony. Space colonies were large, with ten million people living in just one cylindrical structures six kilometers in diameter and thirty kilometers in length. Each colony had its own administrative, residential and industrial areas.
The commercial district by the port was always busy. During the military regime it was always bustling, but to Asuna, who was in her early teens, it was by no means something familiar to her. Asuna always considered other places close, like the university, where her parents worked in the research lab, or the public school she attended and the small crepe shop next to it. Asuna would always get her favorite, a crepe made with vanilla ice cream.
When she first enrolled, everything was a new experience for her. She never imagined that there would be anything like this in a military school when she decided to enroll. Asuna was told that the Montreal Campus was a military school. Her homeroom teacher, a woman who always wore jeans, had told her so, as did the fat principal who only showed up at the opening ceremony. Asuna had wanted to go to art school, but she was enrolled in the Montreal academy, which was nothing short of a tragedy for the people of a defeated nation. Asuna was given no choice in the matter. She had to enroll here and separate from her mother, or she and her mother would have become homeless.
"You don't really think you could wear that!"
Asuna jumped at the sudden voice behind her and turned around. It was her friend Emiru. Asuna sighed in relief as she saw the round face of her friend Emiru Voigtlander, her best friend at the school, but Emiru ignored her and pointed at her chest.
"It'd never work, you have really small breasts!"
Emiru said in an exaggerated feminine annotation and a distinctive somewhat doll-like manner. She wore thin framed glasses, with her hair styled in what could be described as an extended bob cut framing her face. The freckles on her face stood out against her pale skin and when combined with her lips made for a face with many charming features. Asuna pouted at her.
"Shut up! I'm already feeling down, you don't have to make things worse."
"I don't know how I could make things worse for you when you have breasts like that."
"It's not about breasts!"
Asuna snorted and left the shop. As she walked away her face was stained with a look showing a heavy sulk.
Emiru, who was just a little shorter than Asuna, walked behind her.
"Well with eight matches and eight losses, I suppose there's no use getting depressed."
"And on top of that, my next vacation got cancelled too"
Asuna sighed. She put her hands behind her head and glanced at Emiru. Emiru glanced back, looking at her through the clear lenses of her glasses.
"Vacation? You don't have a boyfriend, why would you need a vacation?"
"No, Emiru, I don't have one."
"That's fine, you have me Asuna!"
Emiru gestured by clasping her fingers together and holding them against her right cheek in an exaggerated fashion. She tilted her head into her fingers and twisted her hips as if to use this gesture to say she's sorry, but Asuna didn't have the time or patience to deal with such a joke.
"What's the matter? You're so glum I can't even seem to cheer you up."
"I'm going to draw a picture"
Asuna spoke quietly, looking up at the sky without slowing the pace of her walk.
"It's going to be a picture of a bird. It's beautiful, like something out of a fairytale. I never knew anything like this before, because we didn't have anything like it in the colonies."
"Scenery like this?" Emiru asked
"There's mountains, the sky, forest and lakes, and the scenery stretches on forever. The mornings are especially nice. The humidity soaks into the plants and it chills you to your very bones, and then the morning sun rises and it warms everything up! Montreal is so beautiful. When I first landed here, I thought I was so lucky to be in a place like this."
Emiru watched Asuna as she stopped in her tracks and spoke, hanging on every word. Her eyes showed her surprise as she listened to what Asuna said.
"What happened?" Asked Asuna
"I was a bit surprised to hear you say something like that."
"Is that so?"
"Yes" Emiru nodded and started walking again, this time with Asuna following behind her.
"But I don't have much time to draw. Even in the simulator, I lost because all I could think about was the composition of a picture."
"You did?!..."
Emiru exclaimed, sounding genuinely shocked.
"Well never-mind that, I'll buy you some ice cream to cheer you up."
She would say as she turned around and took Asuna's hand. The warmth of her palm felt could almost be seen in exaggerated terms as a sign of friendship. This alone was furthest from anything Asuna knew during her life in the colony.
You could see everything from the instructor's room. If war advanced civilization and technology, then the Montreal academy, which had only been open for two years, was the culmination of the technology cultivated during the One Year War. But it made one wonder what purpose was there to all the technology arranged in such an archaic fashion?
The instructor's room on the third floor of the building was where the most advanced of the school's technology was managed. It could be considered the brain of the school. The room was a large circular room of about 4 meters wide with technology like military base contained on large on fan-shaped desks. Of course the students were forbidden to touch any of the equipment here, only the twelve instructors, all of which were ranked lieutenant Colonel.
During their lunch break, the two instructors were looking at the monitor in the room. The monitor displayed two mobile suits, one of which was on the ground with its back turned to the other, which was standing next to it. Next to it was the data of the two trainees: Elysia Nocton and Asuna Elmarit.
"How Embarrassing."
Muttered one of the men looking at the monitor, who's hand was occupied stroking his goatee. He appeared to be in his mid 30s, with his body clad in a pristine new instructor uniform. The rough and gnarled fingers and his thickly calloused hands extending from the cuffs of his sleeves clearly showed that he was a soldier.
"It's far too dangerous for us to let her keep training like this, don't you agree?"
Yahagi Franziback, the instructor with the goatee on his chin, said to Forma Gardner, the instructor sitting next him.
"Asuna Elmarit huh?..." Forma asked, leaning back in his chair as far as it would allow.
If Yahagi was a self-proclaimed soldier, Forma was a corporate sales-man. He made the fake smile he wore somehow look natural.
"It's not really that dangerous, right? They'll get used to it."
"I'm not talking about skills! I'm talking about the kind character that lets a person laugh off such a miserable defeat! Mobile suits aren't toys!"
"I know what you're saying" Forma said whilst scratching his head.
"How about this girl here?"
As Forma spoke he pointed his pen at another mobile suit, which had stopped mid-movement in the paused video, now resembling a marionette held in place.
"Elysia Nocton... oh, that's quite the achievement"
Forma said holding a physical card in his hand as opposed to checking on the monitor. The card contained Elysia's battle records, statistics such as accuracy, her habits and even her past schooling and job history.
"She's good, but she does have a habit of grandstanding though."
Yahagi tapped the control panel and a picture of Elysia displayed on the 30 inch monitor. Her eyes on the flat screen monitor reflected back at him, and made it appear as though she was looking down on the two instructors.
"Daughter of the president of Nocton Cermaics? She's a proper lady, what kind of person is she to come to our school?"
"Who cares?"
shrugged Forma in response to Yahagi's harsh and dismissive attitude.
"I don't think it's that bad, just imagine what would happen if she was chosen as a candidate"
The smug look on Forma's face was sickening. The wrinkles on Yahagi's brows were a clear sign of his disgust.
"I don't know what the brass thinks they want, but if it's simply about who is the best pilot, there's a good chance Elysia will be chosen."
Yahagi was an honest man, and he spoke his honest opinion. Elysia Nocton had good instincts, that was something Yahagi, a survivor of the war as a mobile suit pilot, could feel going off of his own instincts and experience.
Such an accurate judgement of Elysia's reflexes and skills proves she was undoubtedly special, though even the people in the school's administration didn't know if she possess the qualifications to be a candidate. The demands were just too vague. Trainees with good instincts and would report to orders that would never be given in the normal military.
"Things are naturally going to get complicated when private citizens get involved in a running a mobile suit training school." Yahagai spat out those words with a disdain, but Forma just laughed.
"Well that can't be helped. There's still a lot of cleaning up to do in the aftermath of the war, and the federation army is slowly descending into poverty. Nocton Ceramics provided us with tons of mobile suits, so if the daughter of their president became a candidate, who knows what kind of interference would come into play."
"I'll leave that kind of thing to the higher-ups. The people who call this place "Ecole" are probably better at political maneuvering than I am."
Once Yahagi finished talking, he turned his attention back to the main monitor where the picture of Elysia was displayed. It was as if she was smiling with just her eyes.
"École huh? What a joke..."
His final words muttered reached no-ones ears and they quietly sank into the depths of his heart.
Elysia Nocton looked up at the evergreens of Montreal. The gentle breeze dance across the bench on the sunshine, and that sunshine was filtered through the green leaves on the trees, drawing intricate patterns on the ground. The only thing that was missing to complete this perfect scene was the sweet scent of scones. Elyisia bathed her whole body in the sunlight, enjoying the tranquility of a moment as she recalled her old boarding school.
The bench she saw two girls attending the same school: Asuna Elmarit and Emiru Voightlander. They were a lot more lively than her old classmates, but Elysia didn't hold that against them. Though, in truth, Elysia didn't have any interest in Asuna or Emiru.
"Didn't Asuna have special mobile suit training before?"
"I thought people who were born in the colonies were naturally better mobile suit pilots, but I guess that doesn't apply to you."
Emiru exclaimed, sounding genuinely shocked.
"Well never-mind that, I'll buy you some ice cream to cheer you up."
She would say as she turned around and took Asuna's hand. The warmth of her palm felt could almost be seen in exaggerated terms as a sign of friendship. This alone was furthest from anything Asuna knew during her life in the colony.
You could see everything from the instructor's room. If war advanced civilization and technology, then the Montreal academy, which had only been open for two years, was the culmination of the technology cultivated during the One Year War. But it made one wonder what purpose was there to all the technology arranged in such an archaic fashion?
The instructor's room on the third floor of the building was where the most advanced of the school's technology was managed. It could be considered the brain of the school. The room was a large circular room of about 4 meters wide with technology like military base contained on large on fan-shaped desks. Of course the students were forbidden to touch any of the equipment here, only the twelve instructors, all of which were ranked lieutenant Colonel.
During their lunch break, the two instructors were looking at the monitor in the room. The monitor displayed two mobile suits, one of which was on the ground with its back turned to the other, which was standing next to it. Next to it was the data of the two trainees: Elysia Nocton and Asuna Elmarit.
"How Embarrassing."
Muttered one of the men looking at the monitor, who's hand was occupied stroking his goatee. He appeared to be in his mid 30s, with his body clad in a pristine new instructor uniform. The rough and gnarled fingers and his thickly calloused hands extending from the cuffs of his sleeves clearly showed that he was a soldier.
"It's far too dangerous for us to let her keep training like this, don't you agree?"
Yahagi Franziback, the instructor with the goatee on his chin, said to Forma Gardner, the instructor sitting next him.
"Asuna Elmarit huh?..." Forma asked, leaning back in his chair as far as it would allow.
If Yahagi was a self-proclaimed soldier, Forma was a corporate sales-man. He made the fake smile he wore somehow look natural.
"It's not really that dangerous, right? They'll get used to it."
"I'm not talking about skills! I'm talking about the kind character that lets a person laugh off such a miserable defeat! Mobile suits aren't toys!"
"I know what you're saying" Forma said whilst scratching his head.
"How about this girl here?"
As Forma spoke he pointed his pen at another mobile suit, which had stopped mid-movement in the paused video, now resembling a marionette held in place.
"Elysia Nocton... oh, that's quite the achievement"
Forma said holding a physical card in his hand as opposed to checking on the monitor. The card contained Elysia's battle records, statistics such as accuracy, her habits and even her past schooling and job history.
"She's good, but she does have a habit of grandstanding though."
Yahagi tapped the control panel and a picture of Elysia displayed on the 30 inch monitor. Her eyes on the flat screen monitor reflected back at him, and made it appear as though she was looking down on the two instructors.
"Daughter of the president of Nocton Cermaics? She's a proper lady, what kind of person is she to come to our school?"
"Who cares?"
shrugged Forma in response to Yahagi's harsh and dismissive attitude.
"I don't think it's that bad, just imagine what would happen if she was chosen as a candidate"
The smug look on Forma's face was sickening. The wrinkles on Yahagi's brows were a clear sign of his disgust.
"I don't know what the brass thinks they want, but if it's simply about who is the best pilot, there's a good chance Elysia will be chosen."
Yahagi was an honest man, and he spoke his honest opinion. Elysia Nocton had good instincts, that was something Yahagi, a survivor of the war as a mobile suit pilot, could feel going off of his own instincts and experience.
Such an accurate judgement of Elysia's reflexes and skills proves she was undoubtedly special, though even the people in the school's administration didn't know if she possess the qualifications to be a candidate. The demands were just too vague. Trainees with good instincts and would report to orders that would never be given in the normal military.
"Things are naturally going to get complicated when private citizens get involved in a running a mobile suit training school." Yahagai spat out those words with a disdain, but Forma just laughed.
"Well that can't be helped. There's still a lot of cleaning up to do in the aftermath of the war, and the federation army is slowly descending into poverty. Nocton Ceramics provided us with tons of mobile suits, so if the daughter of their president became a candidate, who knows what kind of interference would come into play."
"I'll leave that kind of thing to the higher-ups. The people who call this place "Ecole" are probably better at political maneuvering than I am."
Once Yahagi finished talking, he turned his attention back to the main monitor where the picture of Elysia was displayed. It was as if she was smiling with just her eyes.
"École huh? What a joke..."
His final words muttered reached no-ones ears and they quietly sank into the depths of his heart.
Elysia Nocton looked up at the evergreens of Montreal. The gentle breeze dance across the bench on the sunshine, and that sunshine was filtered through the green leaves on the trees, drawing intricate patterns on the ground. The only thing that was missing to complete this perfect scene was the sweet scent of scones. Elyisia bathed her whole body in the sunlight, enjoying the tranquility of a moment as she recalled her old boarding school.
The bench she saw two girls attending the same school: Asuna Elmarit and Emiru Voightlander. They were a lot more lively than her old classmates, but Elysia didn't hold that against them. Though, in truth, Elysia didn't have any interest in Asuna or Emiru.
"Didn't Asuna have special mobile suit training before?"
"I thought people who were born in the colonies were naturally better mobile suit pilots, but I guess that doesn't apply to you."
Emiru pursed her lips in response to Elysia's words.
"Piloting mobile suits is a little different between Zeon and the Federation. I know Asuna can get the hang of it if she tries, we'll just have to wait and see"
Emiru said, beaming with pride and puffing her chest out like she was Auna's guardian.
"Zeon? I see, so Asuna, you are from Zeon."
Elysia muttered to herself in confirmation. It was well known in the Montreal campus that Asuna was from Zeon, the instigator in the war. When she was enrolled a week after the others, it caused quite a stir. It was no surprise really, everyone civilian and military alike lost something in that war with Zeon.
"I'm not part of Zeon anymore!"
Asuna said firmly. There was no sadness in her eyes as she rejected her homeland, but rather some kind of determined light, like hatred or some similar emotion. Ahh, now it made sense. This girl had been through a lot, Elysia could feel it, however both those feelings and friendship were completely different things. Elyisia was not sitting on the same bench as Asuna for a reason like friendship, but rather she was only here by chance due to the somewhat forceful guidance of Chandel Tadashi. Asuna and Emiru seemed to sense this from her.
Asuna respectfully used honorific-language when talking to Elysia, which made their conversations somewhat awkward. The tense atmosphere was then broken up by sudden rumble. A shadow fell on the bench where they were sitting.
"That's..." Emiru, who raised her voice in response, fixed her gaze on a far off spot above Elysia's head. "There's no head..."
Elysia turned her head in response to Emiru's words, and what stood before them was a humanoid weapon, a mobile suit. Asuna had a puzzled expression on her face, probably because as Emiru pointed out, the mobile suit had no head.
"That's a TGM-79C, it's a mobile suit used for practical training in a real vehicle. If the head is just going to get broken by a student during training, why have it in the first place? It's just for decoration, all you really need from it is the camera anyways."
Elysia said as she touched her hair. Saying it loud it didn't sound right to call it a real vehicle, even though it was a mobile suit. She probably called it that because it was a training vehicle maintained by the same staff as the rest of the vehicles such as tanks. Elysia couldn't help but get the impression that mechanics sensibilities were very outdated. Thinking about that she suddenly remembered Chandel.
"Yeah... this is what Chandel was waiting for."
"Did you say something?" Emiru asked in response to Elysia's muttering.
"No, it was nothing."
"You're knowledgeable on mobile suits"
"Well, Yeah..." Elysia replied in vague terms, crossing her arms over her chest and brushing them up against her hair.
"That mobile suit is made by my father's company."
As Elysia said that, all hint of emotion left her face as her calm gaze focused squarely on the mobile suit.
"My father's company makes exterior parts used in mobile suit and space ship production. While they aren't his specialty, his company spearheaded the development and creation of that headless model, GM Canard, as well as the two seater unit GM Cannes."
"Oh, so that maintenance officer must have been someone from your father's company"
Emiru spoke in such a bright and cheerful voice as if she understood. Elysia immediately turned around to face her.
"That person? You mean Chandel?"
"I heard a while ago from my instructor, that someone from the manufacturer was coming. If so, I would like to have the chance to ask him about the mobile suit's structure."
"You better not do that!"
Elysia uncrossed her arms and gave a wry smile.
"Because that man is rude, blunt and nosey. You'd only be wasting your time."
With Elysia's left hand on her hip and her right arm outstretched, Asuna and Emiru watched her with wide eyes.
"Wha-What's wrong?"
"Nothing... We just didn't know you could make a face like that."
"Eh?!"
Elysia exclaimed as her cheeks turned to a bright red. She wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from people.
"It's surprising... but I'm jealous."
Elysia looked a little angry as she approached Asuna, wondering if Asuna really just said that.
"Jealous!? What could you be jealous of?"
"Because... you two seem to get along so well."
Asuna's expression was gentle, and it was obvious that she was thinking about someone. However Elysia's own feelings were complicated, and as if by instinct she touched her hands to the feather ornaments in her hair.
"There's nothing special between me and Chandel, we've just known each-other for a long time."
"But..." Asuna was continuing to press her, but then Elysia smiled spoke.
"If you two really want to know about the structure of the school's mobile suits, you can just ask me. I already asked Chandel all about it."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! We're friends right?"
And with those words she left Asuna and Emiru. A shadow fell over her face as she turned her back to the sunlight and the headless GM Canard's unshakable form towered over her in the sky. Two days later, Asuna Elmarit would be banned from using the simulator.
Looking down from the podium that was about a meter high, you could easily see the faces of all 30 trainees. You could say they were all pretty young. All of them with only a few exceptions were around 16 years old. To Yahagi, who was in his mid 30s, it was only natural all of them would seem like children to him. This was on his mind as he looked at the large arch shaped entrance to the school building. The weather was nice, and there was no wind, but he still wasn't used to leading people. Yahagi, who was originally from the military's R&D department, had a pretty weak sense of hierarchy compared to most soldiers.
"Techniques aren't taught. They're stolen."
When Yahagi was a new recruit, a veteran solider lectured him about what it means to be a veteran soldier, despite the two rank difference between them. He had no intention of saying anything like that to the trainees, as he believed it was up to them to shape who they were and what kind of soldier they'd be.
Yahagi shot glances to the left and right, where two towers rose in the place where the white dome shaped simulators normally were. There were two mobile suits housed inside each towers, with one on each side. The simulator used by the trainees was placed on top of a special elevator that carried the mobile suits out from the underground hanger. Even deeper underground, below the hanger, was where the the database for the simulator was kept.
"From this day forward, you will begin with practical training."
Yahagi's words, even without a microphone or loud speaker to amplify it, echoed through the walls of the school building. Asuna Elmarit was notably missing among the group of trainees listening to his speech. According to Yahagi those who don't improve themselves shouldn't move forward, and Asuna had yet to improve.
"It should go without saying that practical training is very different from the simulation training you've had up to this point. There's always a undercurrent of danger when you're piloting a mobile suit and all it takes is just one moment of carelessness to get yourself killed. You're not soldiers yet, just trainees, and if you go to the battlefield in this state, you'll be treated as such. But!..."
Yahagi took a step forward with his right foot, the toe of his shoe hanging off the edge of the platform.
"I have no doubt that you all will make for excellent soldiers. You've used the simulator 3 times as much as the average soldier who enlisted during the One Year War. You have much to be proud of, but don't let yourself get conceited!"
Yahagai shouted that last part at the top of his lungs. There was nothing more terrifying then self-conceit, especially in young people like them with an elitist mentality. Their over confidence was probably going to make most of them accident prone.
"Everyone..."
Yahagi suddenly stopped and the sound of silence permeated for the next several seconds. Then the murmurs of the students began to take its place. One person could clearly be heard saying "Yahagi is talking such nonsnese", but who was it?
"Who was just talking?"
Yahagi said in a low tone that echoed throughout the room with a ripple like effect.
"I heard what you were whispering amongst yourselves!"
With Yahagi's yell the room fell silent, as if somebody dropped a tombstone. It was so quiet you could even hear the breathing of each individual student. Of course the person who insulted Yahagi didn't reveal themselves, but they were probably regretting what they said.
"Will the student who was was talking... Please step forward."
Yahagi jumped off the podium and onto the ground below. If no-one came forward. he thought it necessary to punish everyone. This was not a game, especially with the training the students were going to be doing. If you got even a little careless while piloting a mobile suit, the results could be fatal.
"Someone step forward!"
"Yes sir!"
came a voice from the left in a very clear tone. There was no doubt the voice, which sounded dignified yet beautiful, belonged to a boy. That voice's owner, a handsome boy stepped forward to face Yahagi, making a sound almost like kicking sand as he walked. The boy's thin eye brows and smooth facial features reminded Yahagi of an oriental buddha statue. Yahagi faced the boy with a harsh glare.
"Shin Barnack. Was it you?"
Yahagi's voice displayed a calm and collected tone, but Yahagi seriously doubted Shin was the student who said that. Shin transferred from the naval academy, and was one of the only students in the school to actually have an existing military record and background. Would someone who actually knows military etiquette really say something like that about his instructor? He was probably protecting someone, if Shin felt the need to risk himself for a fellow trainee, than that would be an admirable mentality and Yahagi felt he could excuse this. Shin confronted Yahagi head on without even saying a word. He took a deep breath through his nose and then spoke.
"Stand with your feet shoulder with a apart! Arms behind your back! Grit your teeth!"
There was the dull sound of bone hitting bone as Yahagi disciplined Shin. His upper body swung like a pendulum for a moment as he was struck hard, but his feet were planted firmly in place at the length Yahagi requested.
"Thank you very much sir..."
"Your voice is weak!"
"Thank you very much sir!"
Yahagi watched with satisfaction as Shin yelled back. If punishing Shin would create tension among the trainees, then he thought reminding them of military discipline would be a good alternative. However the cold gaze shot his way as he left seemed to stick in his mind. Elysia Nocton, the girl's eyes saw right through his actions, and she watched Shin's actions with a cold glare. Yahagi remembered that Forma had referred to her as a "young lady", and he could see why.
A giant walked right in front of Elysia and the others, making the ground tremble beneath them. It was a mobile suit for training purposes: TGM-79C, also known as the GM Canard. It was a plain machine, designed to teach trainees the basics of movement on board a real mobile suit, but the headless form, the thick torso and shoulders made it seem rather intimidating. The cockpit in the torso is of course the latest model, equipped with a panoramic monitor.
"Once you get in, it controls like the simulator right?"
It was Shin who quietly whispered that. Without even thinking about it, he was standing next to Elysia. Normally discipline was strict during training, but unless ordered otherwise, trainees usually waited wherever they wanted.
"Even in a real mobile suit, the view from the cockpit is just a a screen, showing you mechanical composition reconstructing what's actually outside. The shaking might be more violent though. You said your name was Shin. Why did you ask me that?"
Elysia asked coldly. There was no doubt that two were classmates, but they weren't close enough to talk to each other in a familiar manner.
"Why? Your dad made it, right? Asuna said so."
Hearing Shin's words Elysia understood. If they were her friends, than this familiarity would make sense. Even the air around him was somewhat similar.
"So? Why are you asking!?"
Shin looked at Elysia with a puzzled expression as she repeated herself in a rougher tone of voice.
"Does that mean you don't know much about it yourself?"
"...That's not it."
Elysia said as she turned to Shin, as if she was fed up with him already. Shin was holding a wet towel to his left cheek, and smiling in a way Elysia found difficult to understand, the reason for the swelling.
"Your cheek."
"Hm? Oh, it's just swollen. It hurts a little."
Shin said this teasingly, but with a small hint of embarrassment. As he spoke, the smile never seemed to leave his eyes.
"Why did you protect him?"
As Elysia said this, her gaze shifted to the boy right in front of her. She knew Shin wasn't the one who insulted Yahagi, it was the boy with the short curly hair standing right in front of her: Kelly Signit.
"Did you think it was cool? He brought what he was going to get upon himself!"
"Well, I wouldn't say it was cool. I actually think it was pretty uncool."
"Sticking your neck out like that... I don't like it..."
"...Thanks for the input."
With Shin's face painted with a stern look, he turned his gaze to Kelly. At Kelly's feet, Forma Gardner was shouting instructions into a handheld microphone. Forma was the assistant instructor in Elysia's group. At the Montreal school, with 30 students in total and 5 classes. The classes were never called classes, but rather groups. Elysia and her classmates were in the second group. Group wasn't even the correct name, but an abbreviation of official nomenclature, which was the "Montreal School's Third Term Second Cadet Group".
Yahagi Franizback was the head instructor of group 2. He also had assistance from group 1 instructor Lina Sao and Group 4 head instructor Forma Gardner. While they were here, groups 1 and 4 were receiving academic lectures from active military personnel.
"Five laps left!"
Forma screamed. As if in response, the Canard's foot made the ground rumble and a thick cloud of dust rose up. The trainees instinctively covered their faces.
"Kelly! You idiot!"
"If you do that again, I'll tell everyone your secret!"
There was a chorus of yelling and laughter. It seemed Kelly was piloting the Canard, but the sand was doing a good job of masking who was saying what. Elysia looked at the back of the Canard with a displeased expression. Shin was sitting there smiling, his cheek swollen from disciplining earlier.
"I like this kind of thing too."
He whispered to himself as he faced forward.
"The tension from earlier wasn't bad, but I like getting the chance to laugh with my friends. I don't have to try and look cool or do anything like that. Who knows, in the future it might be me who needs a comrade to protect me."
"Solidarity?"
Elysia asked, doing her best to not let the sand get in her mouth.
"It's okay, I transferred to here from the naval academy, I got used to getting beaten up while I was there. If they even notice you're uniform isn't perfect, like if your hat is bent, that's a kick in the stomach."
"Is that normal?"
"Yeah, we're going to become soldiers after all."
Shin fell quiet after that. Kelly's GM Canard sank into the training grounds. The wind from the training grounds brushed against Elysia's cheek as she stared at the back of the Canard. The wind from the reactor exhaust was still warm.
From the view inside the cockpit, the campus didn't look like a school, it appeared more like a company research lab. This may have been because the building was all white, or because of the unorthodox design, which made an extensive use of curves which did not give off the use the rigidity that many would associate with the term "school".
Elysia remembered that the research center her father opened up in New Dehli had a similar atmosphere. It was probably around the time that she was accepted into that British prep school located in Dahka, when her older brother picked her up and took her to visit the research center. The fact that were so many British prep schools in Dahka, the city where she grew up was probably owed to the fact that Bangladesh was a British colony in ancient times and the two continued to maintain a close relationship. She remembered her mother saying that her family had British ancestry back in the day.
It was during the first space war, known now as the One Year War, where Elysia's father made his fortune. He became involved in the war when he used his skills and knowledge to contribute to the making and design of the materials used in the creation of the Federation's mobile suits. In other words, Elysia and her family were upstarts. Because of this, she didn't have any good memories from her time in prep school or public school. For example, horseback riding was a compulsory subject to the upperclassmen in her prep school. Only half the students in her class could even ride a horse with any level of proficiency, but it was expected of higher class families to have their own horse.
Elysia didn't have one, so for her younger self, having to get used to a horse was a huge handicap, and she endured the humiliation that came with learning. It took a month before she could finally calm down the frightened horse enough for it to listen to her. The others in her class laughed at her struggles behind her back, and Elysia could never forgive them.
She was an unnatural talent by the time she graduated from prep school. She was the best horseback rider in school. Elysia was infamous for being able to ride the most untamable horse at the school, a fiery red hoarse with a wild temperament matching its color. The most important thing she learned at prep school was to have a clearly defined and distant goal, and an image for how you wish to achieve that goal. That last part was important, because if you couldn't visualize your goal and how to achieve it, visualizing your goal would become the goal itself.
Elysia doubted Shin's words and thought there was something off about them. She could never imagine a situation where she would need someone to protect her. The "comrades" that Shin spoke of and the "friends" that Chandel spoke of, seemed like the furthest thing from Elysia's mind.
Elysia realized that when Chandel called her a "friend" that he was referring to her brother, who died in the war. Chandel used to be a thug in the town, and the only person he had any emotional connection to was her brother. She always hung around her brother, and knew he always cherished Chandel, and never treated him with pity or sympathy. Elysia's brother liked to use the term "justice". He always told Elysia that there are right and wrong in this world, and the biggest difference between the two was that doing right usually came with hardship. He sensed something right in Chandel and told Elysia that it wasn't a law or teaching, but that he had a righteous and healthy spirit.
Elysia sat in the cockpit of her mobile suit. When she pressed down on the pedal, a slow vibration moved to the seat of her cockpit and the Canard took a big step forward. Shin had said "we're going to become soldiers". She didn't choose this path to avenge her brother, but to prove her brother's righteousness. It would be horrible if her brother was crushed by his own beliefs and lost. She wanted to prove to herself that he only died because he chose to stick to what he believed in until the very end. To protect her brother's honor, she was going to succeed using her brother's methods.
With a sense of determination her hands squeezed the grips of the Canard. The silhouette of the school could be seen on the omnidirectional monitor, and beyond that laid the forests comprising another large portion of the training grounds. Suddenly the school grounds in the shadow of the main building came into view, she saw lone figure running. Typically only one group at a time took part in practical training. This was due to a number of factors, but the main ones being space restrictions and the number of instructors required to assist. The other groups were probably taking courses on campus or classes on tactical theory, so it was strange to see anybody outside Elysia's group on the ground right now at all.
Elysia wondered what as going on, and tapped her fingers on the console. The sub-window of the spherical monitor showed a close up, which showed a close up of a sweaty, short girl with hair curled at the bottom. Elysia felt like she'd seen this girl before.
"Asuna..."
Elysia called Asuna's name out loud. Then, she turned away and moved forward, she didn't look back at Asuna. She continued moving forward, ahead was a special light only she could see, promising her a new landscape lying before her.
Asuna Elmarit already knew that the mobile suit on the other side of the school was a training mobile suit called a GM Canard. It was equipped with anti-tipping mechanisms and a full compliment of sensors to measure the pilots athletic abilities. This mobile suit was primarily used for early-stage training, such as learning the basics of walking. If things had gone well, Asuna would have been piloting a Canard by now. But things turned out differently, and now she was running alone on the school grounds.
The Canard shook the ground with its every step and the wind blew. The aluminum weather vein, rusted from exposure, spun around with a clatter while a military flag from the same tall pole swayed gently. The design depicted on the flag was a ship's anchor with a star in front of it, which was the emblem of the Earth Federation military. Asuna's home country fought the army that bore that very flag, and lost. Asuna, alone, looked up to the flag.
"Why am in a place like this?"
She murmured as she stopped in front of the pole. When she touched the pole, a cool and crisp sensation radiated through her palm. Asuna looked at her reflection, with the weather vein acting like a mirror reflecting the image of her in the wetsuit-like athletic gear back at her. Embroidered on the small of her chest was the school emblem, a design depicting a sword and some birds. Asuna gently touched the emblem embroidered onto her clothes.
Her time in the colonies wasn't fun at all. In fact, it seemed like she had more painful memories than happy ones. It wasn't because they were at war, but because Asuna's father had high expectations of her and her talent. Her mother respected her father as an academic, so much so that it got to the point where she grew insensitive to her own daughter's feelings. Between the two of them, their daily life was far from the image of a happy and warm family.
If there was no joy or comfort at home, how was Asuna going to find these things at school? You could say it was the times that helped her avoid getting bullied. Wartime was a different story, as bullying was very present there, but the targets of it were different than those who were bullied during peace time. A very notable example of this was one girl in Asuna's class, who's father was a member of the anti-war movement and as a result she was subjected to insidious bullying by her classmates. Asuna never took part in bullying her, but she never made any effort to defend her either. She knew doing either would have drawn attention to her, when her goal was to be as inconspicuous as possible.
All she wanted was to be happy and comfortable with where she was in school. Asuna's behavior meant she was never the subject of any bullying herself, but it also meant she never had any friends to keep her company during break time or after school with anything more than trivial conversations. Asuna built a wall around herself, in return the people around Asuna built walls around her.
Though thinking about this, Asuna knew she had changed since she came to Montreal. She had made a friend in Emiru and was able to set small attainable goals for herself in her every day life. Rather than let her poor grades hold everyone back, she wanted to learn logistical skills, so that way she could still be use of to everyone by providing support from the rear. Asuna herself thought that this was a strong sign of her own personal growth.
Yahagi Franziback had banned Asuna from participating in training. His words echoed in Asuna's mind "Someone who can't even grasp the basics of mobile suit combat has no need for further training!" Sure, Asuna could see what he meant and even agreed with it, she didn't know why it was just her. So she started her own training, and thought this was the best way forward, but first she had to catch up with everyone. Asuna was able to forgive her uselessness when she got here, but now she didn't want to be the same useless person she was before.
Asuna had trained herself with a strong determination, and now here she was looking up at a GM Canard. In a way, she had to climb up to that level, that height. She couldn't just look at everyone form below, she had to spend time with them looking from the same perspective. Or so she thought.
Suddenly her eyes seemed to meet the Canard's. She had a vague recollection of where the main camera was and grew a vague suspicion that she was being watched. "Who was on board?" Asuna asked herself in her mind. Of course there was no answer, and she continued to star up at the Canard in silence. The Canard turned its back to Asuna and disappeared into the training grounds in the forest. It must have taken less than fifteen seconds, but still, Asuna felt a strange sense of satisfaction. The Canard was definitely waiting for her, or her at least that's how it felt to Asuna as she stood there on the school grounds.
When the training was done, the GM Canard was placed in front of the school to dissipate heat after its extensive operating time. The sun was setting and a blanket of stars twinkling from the east began taking its place in the sky. Chandel, who was making fine adjustments to the omni-directional monitor of the mobile suit, stopped what he was doing and switched it to live feed mode. The image, which had not been composited with computer graphics, was currently misaligned and distorted in places. Despite this, Chandel saw the beauty that could only be achieved through live action.
The maintenance crew scurried along busily like ants at the Canard's feet. There was a mountain of maintenance work to be done in the storage, and the space was too cramped for them to do it there.
"Chandel, is there any change to the hydraulic pressure gauge for the cylinder in the right arm?"
Detailed instructions one after the other echoed form the speaker and throughout the cockpit. He responded to the requests by tapping the sole of the Canard. When he looked up he saw the white walls of the Montreal campus dyed in the burning crimson glow of the sunset contrasting the purple sky. There was a certain divine mysticism to it that reminded him of the beauty of all the mosques in his home town of Dhaka.
"This is the true face of École..."
"École?"
Chandel heard what he said echoed back to him, and he directed his gaze down to the foot of the mobile suit. He didn't need to enlarge the image to tell who it was that had taken the work crew's intercom, the voice alone was enough to tell him who was looking up at the cockpit.
"Elysia, you should stop this."
"It's fine, you were just admiring the view, right?"
"You're getting in the way of the other crew members."
"Then put me up there with you."
When Chandel heard Elysia's selfish words he held his head in hands. He knew she wasn't saying this because she was childish and spoiled, she wasn't the kind of girl who enjoyed making adults feel uncomfortable. If he had to guess, she might be making herself appear intentionally vulnerable in front of someone she had known since childhood. No, that couldn't be it... Even if she was cunning and calculated, she still felt embarrassment like anyone else. Chandel operated the console and lowered the wires.
"Check in with instructor Yahagi, if he says it's okay, then you can come up"
Chandel spoke bluntly into the microphone. Boarding advanced equipment like a mobile suit without permission was grounds for severe punishment. Furthermore, he thought there was no way that a girl like Elysia with a spotless record would do something problematic like boarding a GM Canard while it was under maintenance. Chandel could imagine the frustrated look on her face and the sigh she'd light out, which gave him a half-hearted smirk.
Unfortunately, Chandel's bliss was only fleeting. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the wires sliding up. It wasn't difficult to imagine what kind of weight was at the end of those taught wires. Oh dear... Chandel stepped out of the cockpit and leaned over to look at the end of the wire.
"Are you kidding me?"
He muttered in disgust when he saw Elysia at the end of the wire. She was trying desperately to get the wire out of his reach as she clenched her lips. She tried to stay calm as she looked at Chandel, her cheeks twitching slightly.
"I only came because I was told to."
As Elysia spoke she removed her left foot from the wire foothold and opened the cockpit hatch. She tried to step forward, but as she did, her center of gravity shifted and she started spinning around.
"Huh?"
"Idiot! Use your hands first! Grab the hook on the ceiling!"
"I know that!"
He clung to the wire and Elysia extended her right hand desperately, desperately trying to grab the hook in front of her.
"Okay, just pull your leg out of the foothold and... that's it."
Elysia's body suddenly tumbled into the cockpit, but Chandel caught her.
"Are you stupid!? That was so reckless!"
"I could come in, there's nothing wrong with that."
Elysia stated casually.
"Besides, I can't imagine you'd tell the instructor Chandel, that'd be the worst thing you possibly could do to me."
"You idiot! I have a duty to report these things."
"But in your mind that's also a case of telling tales isn't it?"
Elysia said and then turned her back on him. Whatever he or the crew would say, she'd say something different. Maybe it was because growing up she was always around adults rather than kids her age, but she has been really good with words since she was a child. Thinking this with a bitter expression on his face, Chandel looked past Elysia to the same direction she was, and saw that the sun had not disappeared behind the forest.
"It's too bad I missed the sunset, but the breeze feels nice."
Elysia let her long hair flutter in the wind. Against the sky, which had changed to a deeper color than it was before, Elysia's hair showed a subtle gradation. Her pale neck and rounded earlobes were clearly visible, and it was an Elysia different than the one Chandel had known.
"You said "École" earlier, is that the name of this school building?"
Elysia asked, with her back turned to Chandel and her eyes fixed on the pure white walls of the Montreal campus.
"I know it's French, but why is that building called "École"?"
The question brought Chandel back to reality and he let out a deep sigh to release the venom building up inside him. Upon hearing the sigh, Elysia turned around to look at him, assuming he was making fun of her again or belittling her. Chandel didn't even try to clear up the misunderstanding, and instead fixed his gaze past Elysia into the forests of Quebec. He then began to quietly speak.
"It's not the name of the building, it's a secret slang term for the school used by some in the military."
"Like a hidden language?"
Elysia repeated her question, but Chandel continued without paying any attention, shutting the microphone off in that moment.
"Did you know? Back in the old calendar era, Quebec used to be a French colony. Long before we took to space, and the greater powers running the world cared for nothing but expanding their territories. People call this place "École" because of that history. Not in a good way of course."
"The greater powers running the world are still trying to expand their territory... Seems like nothing's changed since then."
Elysia muttered softly. Chandel had similar thoughts himself.
The reasons for starting a war haven't really changed much over the years. The reasons vary from national pride, to economic development, to military matters, but in the end conflicts most often arise from people pursuing their own interests. These people in question are usually cunning and have already calculated the gains and losses before beginning another one.
"Is Nocton Ceramics part of the army?"
Elysia asked with a straight face. What a sharp girl, Chandel thought. Elysia's family owned Nocton ceramics and made a fortune during the last war. Elysia's father worked hard to expand their business even further during the war, even dipping his hands into the production of mobile suits and creating the one he and Elysia were in right now. He truly was the kind of a man who profited from war. So Chandel gave her question a simple answer.
"Yeah... I guess."
He didn't think anything more was necessary. The answer lie GM Canard itself that the two were inside.
"It's none of your concern anyways."
His hand tapped the console while the bundle of cables was still connected.
"Look Elysia"
Chandel said, nudging her and pointing to something. The image on the zoomed in subwindow showed a video of a clumsy girl running and doing her daily routine alone, wearing the school's athletic equipment and sports boots. Her brown hair that curled outwards in the bottom and could be seen swaying and bouncing with each step.
"That's it!"
"That's the video you were watching right? All the data's still here."
Elysia's voice had a slight hint of anger as she stared at the image in the sub window. Chandel knew the name of the girl in the video was Asuna Elmarit, it was Elysia he heard call her that.
"No matter what outsiders may think, the only thing that matters here is how hard you work. I think she understands that better than anyone."
Chandel then paused and remained silent, not bothering to enlarge the image. Elysia was also silently watching the video of Asuna, until she suddenly stopped and looked up, as if she knew Elysia and the others were watching. Elysia and Chandel looked back at Asuna's gaze intently.
"The same thing happened to me too back then... around the same time"
Elysia said quietly.
"Back when we were completely absorbed in chasing my brother. I never thought of it as anything that required effort. if you have a clear goal, you'll never feel any pain or exhaustion. Asuna is... different."
"That's right" Chandel said "It's just as Elysia said."
Elysia repeated the words and stopped the video of Asuna. Chandel seemed to be trembling violently, this was probably due to the vibrations of the linear seat. Elysia was a strong girl, Chandel knew that better than anyone, but he had had determined that if Elysia ever became discouraged, he would be there to support her. He would do this in place of his dearest friend, who was no longer with them.
On the way back to the dormitory, Elysia saw a strange sight. A boy with curly hair was confronting Shin in the almost empty washroom in the back of the school building. The sun had set, it was the time for the students to be back at their dorms and Elysia was no exception. Although there would be no penalty, she wouldn't be able to bathe before curfew. She wondered what they were doing at this time.
The reason why Elysia was interested in the goings on of other people was because she recognized the boy confronting Shin, it was a boy with light wavy and curly hair named Kelly Signit. He was the reason Shin got beaten by Yahagi. Elysia eavesdropped quietly from behind the corner of the hallway. She could hear Kelly's voice.
"I don't want to owe you anything."
"Who cares if you owe me something or anything?"
"That's not a good thing for me!"
Kelly's words were tinged with irritation, as it appeared he didn't want to be protected by Shin. If that was the case why didn't he come forward then and there when Yahagi asked? It could be dismissed as timidity, but to Elysia it was the very definition of cowardice. She had begun to lose interest in the conversation. Then she heard the sounds of fists against flesh, with the violent sounds of blows being exchanged echoing mercilessly as Elysia turned her back to leave. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm sure Shin hit him, or that he made Shin hit him."
It was a mentality that Elysia couldn't understand, it made her feel uncomfortable.
"You get me hit, I get you hit... That's all you need to satisfy yourself. You're not instructor Yahagi after all..."
Elysia whispered to herself softly. She walked back to her room and wiped away the sweat from her training with a damp towel.
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