第六章「サザビー」1
CHAPTER.06 – SAZABI (1)

“Wait for me, Captain, I’m on my way.”

Stealing away from the lab under the Mehmet team’s watch, Arlette escaped to the outer wall of Axis, and walked towards a small garage hidden in the rocks. Parked there, she found several petite mobile suits – built for mobilizing on the outer walls. Most of them had been blown out into space due to the shock from the fissure of Axis, but a few appeared to still be in good shape.

Arlette climbed into one, and quickly activated it.

The petite mobile suit leaped and soared over the cliff faces.

Arlette activated the navigation system inside the suit, and verified her current position.

Her objective was to reach the location where the damaged Sazabi suit had been abandoned when Axis was destroyed. The location that was tracked from the signal sent to the Rewloola at the time shouldn’t be too far from here.

“Captain…”

After pinpointing her directions, Arlette accelerated the petit mobile suit.

×　×　×

Meanwhile…

In the skies above where the Mastema transport ships lay moored, Danton’s R-Jarja and Walter’s Byarlant Isolde continued to do battle. A flash of light splits the pitch-black darkness.

“I’m going to have fun with you, white one!”

The flashes emitting from Isolde’s mega particle gun screamed towards Danton’s R-Jarja unit.

“…ngh!”

Barely dodging the blast, Danton ran his finger quickly to the trigger of his control stick. Weapons selected. From the R-Jarja’s shoulder armor missile pod, 6 missiles launched in unison.

“Hmph… How clever!”

Without so much as a flinch, the Isolde fired back with 2 oscillating beam sabers in each hand. In a sweeping motion, the Isolde cut down the approaching missiles. And then, in a sudden acceleration of speed – as if to swat away the explosive flames, it charged upon the R-Jarja.

“What!?”

The saber thrust grazed the R-Jarja’s shoulder, scorching its armor.

“Such unbelievable speed…”

A cold sweat began to trickle down Danton’s forehead.

The Byarlant Isolde was primarily a customized version of the RX-160 Byarlant – which was developed to be used on land – now specialized for space battle. The fusion reactor jet engines which made flight within the atmosphere possible for the mobile suits were modified for use in the vacuum of space, and now demonstrated their perfected and massive output.

Walter was particularly adept at using their propulsive power to launch a spring attack strategy. On the other hand, Danton’s R-Jarja unit was a mobile suit specialized for close combat developed by the knights on Axis. It must be said that it was ill-suited against an opponent who could maneuver at high speeds.

“So I guess this is the worst possible matchup for me… oh boy.”

Even while cursing his luck, Danton never once lost sight of the enemy standing before him. He found himself unconsciously squeezing the grips. The sensation unexpectedly brought back a long-ago memory for Danton…

×　×　×

At the time of the One Year War…

As a young mobile suit pilot, Danton was expected to have a bright future. His grades at the military academy were excellent – even among his fellow cadets, and his mobile suit operational skills were overwhelmingly great. He could freely operate the manipulators of his mobile suit, was able to quickly master any number of weaponry, and could run across any unstable terrain without difficulty or losing his balance.

He was often praised – that his mobile suit moved so effortlessly, as if it were a flesh and blood human. To be truthful, the new age mobile suits had evolved from industrial use mobile workers, and were able to conduct rather complicated, human-level movements. However, as it turns out, only a small handful of ace-level pilots – such as Char Aznable, were able to operate these suits to their full capacity in real combat situations.

At the time, Danton already showed glimpses of the potential to achieve such heights as a cadet.

However…

In the end, Danton would never realize much success as a mobile suit pilot. The reason for his failure was quite simple.

He did not like war.

Of course, there are very few people who enjoy killing others. And Danton himself would encounter many situations in which he would have to pull the trigger against his enemies in order to save himself or his comrades. But still, Danton never experienced such a life in long enough quantities to ever become used to waging war.

After finishing a battle that had produced immense casualties on both sides, Danton decided to resign from his duties as a mobile suit pilot. He loved operating the mobile suit itself. When he operated such an enormous humanoid machine structured on complicated mechanisms, it was as if his very soul could drive the equipment.

He was always interested in mechanical devices as a child, and for someone who liked nothing better than to tinker with machinery, this was a joy that could not be surpassed.
And that was why he could no longer bear a life whereby he was compelled to murder others using these mobile suits.

And then…

During his visit to the military office in order to conduct his discharge procedures, Danton finally met him.

Char Aznable.

The name was so prominent as to reach even the ears of Danton – who had no ambitions for advancing his career. The masked man, who achieved the rank of Captain at such an extraordinarily young age. There were many dark rumors swirling about the background of his success.Char wore a sanguine smile beneath his mask, and his very first words to Danton were thus.

“I have come here to recruit you.”

He learned that Char had his eyes on Danton’s operational skills for some time. But this was not a welcome proposition for Danton. He had already intended to quit the military. So he would not be able to fulfill the Captain’s request…

Hearing Danton’s reply, Char continued speaking.

“Has killing become unpleasant for you?”

“…”

Having been so perceptively analyzed, Danton found himself averting his gaze.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s only natural for any normal person to feel that way.”

So saying, Char smiled with a tinge of self-mockery.

“You have no need to worry. The only thing I want is your operational skills.”

In order to speak further, Char brought Danton to the lounge.
As it turned out, Char wanted to recruit Danton to be his mobile suit test pilot – so that he could determine his own fit and needs.

“Why do you want me? If you’re looking for good mobile suit pilots, there should be plenty of others.

“No, it has to be you.”

So saying, Char smiled faintly.

“Your piloting is similar… to my own style.”

“I’m… similar? To you, Captain?”

“Yes. Your complicated movements and the way you use your weapons… It’s all quite similar.”

“Oh…”

“I believe you are aware, but I am in the position of securing my own specialized mobile suit. Before I use this mobile suit in actual combat, I have another pilot test the unit… But if I allow an incompetent pilot to run these tests, the structure tends to acquire some strange peculiarities. And so…”

Halting his speech, Char gave Danton a look.

“That’s why I need you. Danton Hyleg.”

“…!”

“If you’re only a test pilot, there should be no need to shoot at any enemies, no?”

“Well…”

He felt this to be a deceptive argument.

Even if he himself were not the one to pull the trigger, this wouldn’t change the fact that he was involved in the waging of war. But more than anything else, it was that Danton could not personally feel any favorable disposition towards the man standing before him – Char Aznable.

This man who – in this time of war – would make his living by killing others.
It could certainly be said that his way of life was in complete opposite to that of Danton’s.

However…

He could operate a mobile suit, without firing at others. This proposal had an undeniable appeal to Danton.

“…Please… let me think about it for awhile…”

He left the room with those words, but for Danton, there could be no other choice.
A few days later, Danton contacted Char, and agreed to become his exclusive test pilot.

×　×　×

And so, Danton visited the mobile suit R&D base at Side 6, and there he met his​ future partner and engineer – the young girl Arlette Almage. At first, he found her to be an arrogant little girl.

“I’ve added a thruster to this new unit, so its output has increased by 3%. That will change its maneuverability, so please be careful.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

When it came to conversations between the two, it often came down to impersonal instructions – as friendly as orders from above. Danton was not exactly the friendly type either, so the two of them continued in this awkward manner for awhile. To someone looking in from the outside, they might appear to be at each other’s throats.

But, as they continued to carry on in this manner…

Something changed in Arlette.

For some reason, she began to increasingly tease him, and would even laugh and smile every once in a while.

And her smiles would especially be directed towards Char – a fact that even Danton, who was often teased for being unsociable, could perceive. However, as the distance between them began to shrink, little by little, Danton found himself increasingly having more opportunities to smile and laugh.

Arlette would crack a joke, and Danton would respond bluntly. This banter of theirs – like a friendly brother and sister – would come to be an everyday occurrence at the facility.

The drab mobile suit R&D facility would gradually evolve to become a place of comfort for Danton…