第六章「サザビー」2
CHAPTER.06 – SAZABI (2)

When the One-Year War finally came to a close, and Char changed his name to Quattro and joined the A.E.U.G., Arlette chose to follow him without a moment’s hesitation.

“What about you, Danton, what will you do?”

As was often the case, Danton sounded less than pleased as he answered Arlette.

“If I don’t go with you, just who do you think is going to test out the mobile suits you calibrate?”

At that time, his place was already with Arlette, and even after Axis was destroyed and Char disappeared, their relationship would never change.

That day.

As he headed out into combat, Char had put his hand on Danton’s shoulder and spoke, “Protect Arlette.”

×　×　×

“…!!”

The impact shook his craft, and snapped Danton back to reality. The Isolde had latched on to the variable shield on the R-Jarja’s left shoulder with its right-hand claw.

“Dammit…”

“I’ve got you now, white one!”, Walter shouted.

The barrel of the Isolde’s left arm turned towards the R-Jarja.

If he were to sustain a direct hit from the mega particle cannon at this close range, Danton, in the cockpit, would surely be vaporized.

“Dammit!”

With a split-second decision, Danton extended his beam rifle. The R-Jarja’s beam rifle was a bayonet-type, with a short beam saber attached to the tip. It’s not that powerful, but if I strike at this close range…

“!!”

Noticing, Walter pulled the trigger on the mega particle cannon. Just as the burning particles erupted from the muzzle, the R-Jarja’s saber split the barrel open.

The exploding particles missed their mark, blowing away the R-Jarja’s variable shield that the Isolde had had in its grasp.

“Gaahhh!!!”

Freed from the Isolde’s grip, with its left hand, the R-Jarja drew the beam saber from its hip and slashed at the Isolde underhanded.

“Bastard!”

Firing its rear thrusters at full power, the Isolde distanced itself from the R-Jarja.

“…”

“…”

The two mobile suits, each having lost an arm, one with the variable shield, the other with the mega particle cannon, again readied their remaining weapons and faced each other.

“Ahh… now I see why my brother had some trouble with you.” Walter purred from the cockpit of the Isolde, enjoying himself. “To think I’d be able to fight someone like you in this of all places… I’m glad!”

Danton, however, had conflicted feelings. Of course, it was not a good feeling to fight against someone, but on the other hand, really piloting the mobile suit, and pushing it to the limits of its capabilities, was somewhat satisfying.

“What a paradox…” with a wry smile, Danton whispered to himself.

Yes, a paradox.

The Danton who hated war, and the Danton who loved the weapons, mobile suits. Similarly, Danton still felt no affection for Char, but simultaneously felt indebted to him for having been given a place to be.

“I’m just filled with paradoxes…”

From deep within his own heart, Char’s final words returned to Danton.

“Protect Arlette…”

Why me…? I’m just a test pilot… Why would the Captain… Why would Char say such a thing…?

As he passed though the many lights sparkling in the black of space, Danton continued to seek answers from his own heart.

×　×　×

And then… Making her away along the Axis outer wall in the mini MS, Arlette eventually noticed something shining on the rock wall in front of her.

“…!!”

Unable to control her quickening pulse, Arlette moved swiftly towards the light. After passing over several boulders, the view suddenly opened up before her.

“There it is.”

Within Arlette’s gaze lay a massive crimson object. The large body was covered in various scratches, its sprawled-out limbs devoid of any power. The embodiment of Char Aznable, who had fought as the banner of Neo Zeon.

The MSN-04 Sazabi.

Having fulfilled its role, the giant lay quiet.

“Sazabi…”

Exiting the small mobile, Arlette walked, step by step, towards Sazabi. Below the, now darkened, mono-eye, the hatch on the head portion was open wide, revealing only darkness behind it. The cockpit block which had been there was already gone. Under the light from Arlette’s pressure suit, the exposed frame shone back dimly. Approaching the fuselage, Arlette gently ran her fingers over the surface.

“I’ve come back… Captain…

The sound of Arlette’s whispered voice instantly melted away into the surrounding darkness. There was no longer anyone there to respond to her words. For a moment, Arlette tightly closed her eyes. She had known there would be nothing there.

Char’s cockpit block had, along with the ν Gundam, supported the plummeting Axis as it fell, never to be seen again.

However, even so…

Walking forward, Arlette crawled inside. Inside the head portion, covered by the crushed frame, pieces of broken parts lay scattered about. The battle between Sazabi and the ν Gundam was said to have culminated in hand-to-hand combat, both combatants attempting to destroy each other’s manipulators. It was understandable that the interior would be in such a horrible state.

In fact, it was impressive that the escape pod equipment had managed to perform so well. Arlette bent over and picked up a small piece that lay by her feet. With its distinct shine, the piece was definitely a fragment of the psychoframe. If Arlette were to take it back with her, Mehmet would surely jump with joy.

But that wasn’t why she was there.

As though weaving through the wreckage, Arlette made her way to the very back of the head. There, the joint portion that connected the cockpit block to Sazabi’s main body was exposed. Taking the terminal from her pressure suit, Arlette connected it to the joint.

Fundamentally, for confidentiality, a mobile suit’s fuselage data was kept in the main computer of the cockpit block, which also served as the escape pod. There was little chance of any data remaining within the main body’s sub-computer. Nevertheless, if there was anything, anything at all, related to Char still there… If there was even the slightest way to see what he was thinking and what he was feeling at that time, Arlette wanted to know.

“That’s why. That’s why I’m here.”

As if praying, Arlette began to access Sazabi. To find the past that had slipped through her fingers on that day.