Two days had passed since the terrifying encounter in the Italian valley. The burning wreckage of the Neptune Kingdom's vanguard had been secured by the Neo-Verdia Alliance, but the atmosphere remained thick with tension.
Deep within the wreckage of the giant Mobile Armor Titan, the rescue crews from the White Ark had successfully pried open the cockpit to retrieve Princess Starsha. She was physically unhurt, but the same could not be said for the Garuda Base flagship. The heavy battleship had crashed brutally into the valley floor. King Sergeth Colombus and his core bridge crew had survived, but they were pulled out with severe, life-threatening injuries.
Right now, a temporary medical tents area had been set up near the crash site. Inside one of the tents, a young girl's voice shattered the quiet morning.
"Father! No! Let me go! I have to see him!" Starsha screamed, her eyes wide with terror as she watched the medics rush past her with a blood-stained stretcher. Her royal composure was completely gone, replaced by the raw, helpless panic of a child about to lose her only family. "You monsters! What did you do to him?! Let me go!"
"Your Highness, please! You need to calm down!" a nurse shouted, desperately trying to hold the thrashing princess back as another medic prepared a sedative.
Due to her severe mental breakdown and unstable condition, the guards were forced to move Starsha into a heavily secured isolation room inside the transport ship to prevent her from hurting herself.
Watching from the shadows of the corridor, Agnes Arbequs leaned against the cold metal wall, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her blue hair fell over her face, shadowing her eyes. She looked at the door where Starsha's screams were slowly fading out.
"It's like looking into a mirror, isn't it?"
Agnes turned her head to see Tasya walking up beside her. Agnes let out a quiet, hollow sigh. "Yeah. I know exactly what she's feeling right now. The confusion, the terror, the sudden realization that the world your parents built for you is just a fragile lie. I hated her when she was shooting at us... but seeing her like this? I just feel sorry for her."
Tasya placed a gentle hand on Agnes's shoulder. "You survived it, Agnes. She will too. But right now, the world outside isn't waiting for her to heal."
Meanwhile, back in the central district of Neo-Verdia, a completely different kind of tension was brewing.
The morning sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the clean glass windows of a trendy outdoor cafe. At a small corner table, Zaki sat rigidly in his chair, wearing a casual dark shirt. Sitting right across from him was Aurora. She looked completely refreshed, her long hair blowing slightly in the breeze, her vibrant purple eyes locked onto Zaki with a happy, brilliant smile.
Zaki had kept his promise. This was their official date.
"You look so stiff, Zaki," Aurora giggled, taking a small sip from her iced latte. "Are you secretly wishing you were back in the simulator pod instead of sitting here with me?"
Zaki immediately blushed, his eyes darting to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck. "No! It's not that. I'm glad you're feeling better, Aurora. Seriously. It's just... I'm not really used to this kind of stuff. Walking around the city without a pilot suit feels kinda weird now."
Aurora's expression softened, her eyes full of genuine warmth. She reached across the table, her fingers lightly brushing against Zaki's hand. "Thank you for keeping your promise, Zaki. When I was stuck in that dark room, feeling like my head was going to explode from that neural jammer, the only thing that kept me grounded was the thought of coming here with you. You're my anchor, remember?"
Zaki felt his face heating up even more, but a gentle, matching smile finally broke through his deadpan expression. "Yeah. I remember. Just don't push yourself like that again, okay? I don't care how strong the enemy is, we do it together."
"It's a deal," Aurora beamed, her heart fluttering as she clinked her glass against his.
At the exact same time, on a shopping street just a few blocks away, Maki was experiencing her own version of a panic attack.
She was being dragged down the sidewalk by Gills, the sharp-eyed Student Council President, and his energetic little sister, Anette. Maki was wearing a simple denim skirt and a hoodie, looking completely overwhelmed by the sheer enthusiasm of the siblings.
"Come on, Maki! Hurry up! Mom's boutique is just around the corner!" Anette cheered, pulling Maki's left arm while Gills held her right.
"Wait, wait! Gills, seriously, let go for a second!" Maki pleaded, her cheeks flushing pink as she looked at Gills. Without his school uniform, wearing a casual jacket with his sleeves rolled up, he looked incredibly handsome, and his bare, intense eyes were entirely fixed on her. "Why did you drag me to a high-end fashion boutique anyway? I'm perfectly fine with my current clothes!"
Gills let out a rare, soft chuckle, his grip on her hand remaining firm but gentle. "Relax, Maki. You've been looking super stressed out since the last battle. I told my mom about you, and she insisted on meeting you. She owns the Treyman Fashion House, and she wants to personally style an outfit to cheer you up."
Maki froze in her tracks, her brain instantly going into overdrive. Wait... he told his mom about me?! And now she wants to personally style me?!
In her mind, a frantic, screaming inner voice started looping: Oh my god, oh my god! This is literally the 'introducing the girlfriend to the mother-in-law' scenario! We aren't even dating! Why am I meeting his mom?! Is this a trap?!
"Maki? Your face is completely red," Gills noted, leaning in slightly with a worried expression. "Do you have a fever?"
"No! I'm completely fine! Let's just go before I lose my mind!" Maki squeaked, hiding her face in her hands as Anette laughed and dragged them into the luxurious storefront.
On the other side of the central plaza, tucked away in a quiet, dimly lit traditional cafe, Tasya sat completely alone. She had left Agnes at the base to get some fresh air, but her mind was far from peaceful. She stared blankly into her cup of sweet green matcha, swirling the green liquid with a plastic straw.
What am I supposed to do if Dr. Lena comes back? Tasya thought, her chest tightening with fear. Next time, she won't just try to disable my Gundam. She'll use everything she has to drag me back to Armen Itsuki's lab. Am I strong enough to pull the trigger against my own mother?
"Excuse me? Miss? Is this seat taken?"
Tasya blinked, snapped out of her dark thoughts. She looked up to see a young man standing by her table. He looked to be around her age, with neatly combed short black hair, clean-cut clothes, and a pair of modern glasses. In his hands, he was tightly clutching a thick, specialized technical magazine about Mobile Suit engineering.
Tasya simply nodded flatly. "No. Go ahead."
"Thank you so much!" the young man said, quickly sliding into the chair across from her. He placed the magazine on the table, and Tasya caught the title: Next-Gen Autonomous Drone Systems.
The guy stared at her face for a solid five seconds before his eyes went wide behind his lenses. "Wait... oh my god. You're... you're Tasya, right? The support pilot for the White Ghost?! The one who controls the Lavender Gundam?!"
Tasya almost choked on her matcha. She quickly raised a finger to her lips, looking around the cafe nervously. "Hey! Keep your voice down! Do you want to get me mobbed?!"
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" the guy whispered frantically, leaning forward over the table, his face full of pure fanboy excitement. "My name is Aoki Nakayama! I am a massive, massive fan of your work! The way you deployed those Missile Funnels in the last defense operation to cover the White Gundam's flank? It was absolute genius! The kinetic calculation was flawless!"
Tasya stared at him, her defensive posture slowly melting into a flat, amused smirk. "Wow. You really are a nerd, aren't you? Most people just look at the White Ghost. Nobody really pays attention to the support units."
"Are you kidding?! The Lavender Gundam is a masterpiece of balance!" Aoki said, his eyes shining. Then, he paused, his analytical mind catching the faint dark circles under her eyes and the tight set of her jaw. "Hey... sorry if I'm being intrusive, but you look like you're carrying the weight of the entire planet on your shoulders. Is everything okay post battle?"
Tasya looked down at her matcha, a bitter smile forming on her lips. For some reason, because this guy was a complete stranger who didn't know her real dark past, she felt a sudden urge to just vent.
"What would you do... if the person you're supposed to fight out there... is your own family?" Tasya whispered quietly. "What if they're the one who built the monsters you're trying to destroy, and they look at you like you're just a piece of property?"
Aoki's energetic demeanor instantly vanished, replaced by a deep, serious look of empathy. He looked at the magazine in his hands, then back at her. "I... I don't know the full story, Tasya. And I won't pretend I understand what it's like to fight in the sky. But I do know what it's like to be treated like property by your parents."
Tasya raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah," Aoki sighed, leaning back. "My family owns Nakayama Tech Corporation. We're incredibly wealthy. My parents want me to sit in a boardroom, sign papers, and manage the family funds. But my dream? I want to build Mobile Suits. I want to touch the metal, program the OS, and design something that can actually protect people. They told me my dream was a waste of time, a childish hobby. They completely locked me out of the development labs."
He looked directly into Tasya's eyes, his expression full of a sudden, fierce resolve. "If your family is trying to use their creations to bring tyranny and despair to this world, then you have every right to fight back. You're not their property. You're the pilot of the Lavender Gundam. And if you need someone to help you carry that burden... let me join you. Let me be part of your group. I can help with the maintenance, the data analysis, anything! I just want to help you protect your peace."
Looking at Aoki's incredibly earnest, slightly clumsy but utterly sincere face, Tasya couldn't help it anymore. A loud, genuine laugh escaped her lips, the heavy shadow over her heart completely shattering.
"You really are something else, Aoki," Tasya smiled, wiping a tiny tear of laughter from her eye. She stood up from the table, grabbing her bag. "Alright, Mr. Corporate Heir. If you really want to touch a real Gundam so badly, follow me. I'll introduce you to the White Ark."
Aoki's jaw dropped. "Wait... seriously?! You're taking me to the secret base?!"
"Don't make me change my mind, let's go," Tasya chuckled, walking out of the cafe with a newfound bounce in her step.
Back at the White Ark hangar, the facility was a buzzing hive of industrial activity. The sound of pneumatic drills, sparks from welding torches, and the hum of heavy cranes filled the massive space.
The repairs on the Lavender Gundam were reaching their final stages. Thanks to a brilliant joint collaboration between Gills's father, Prime Minister Spersen Treyman, and Aurora's mother, Mili Anveil, the machine had received a massive upgrade. The right high-frequency claw arm was completely restored, gleaming with fresh silver plating.
"We added a high-output Heat Dagger to the left forearm storage capsule as an auxiliary weapon," Spersen said, pointing at the schematics on his tablet as he walked with Mili. "If she gets locked in close combat, she can deploy it instantly."
"Excellent work, Mr. Treyman," Mili smiled, her eyes shifting to the rear weapon racks. "And the funnel units are no longer shaped like standard tracking missiles. We completely redesigned them into Beam Spread Cannons. Once deployed, they can fire coordinated beam arrays from multiple angles simultaneously, creating a perfect defensive perimeter."
Nearby, the White Gundam, the Sunflower Gundam and the Deep Blue Gundam were hooked up to the main power grids, their energy capacitors buzzing as they were charged to maximum capacity.
Inside the primary laboratory wing, the mood was incredibly tense. Airi Kimeza stood in front of a massive glass cylinder filled with nutrient fluid and data cables. Floating inside was the synthetic body of the android AIRIS. Her skin was perfectly repaired, and the erratic sparks around her neural ports had completely vanished.
Airi's fingers flew across her keyboard, running a comprehensive diagnostic sweep. "The neural lattice is stable. The physical circuits are completely restored. Now... let's check the core data storage. Please, let her memories and personality files be intact..."
Suddenly, the lights inside the laboratory, the hangar, and the entire city of Neo-Verdia violently flickered.
BZZZZZT—!
Every single computer monitor inside the White Ark automatically overrode its current display. Down in the city plaza, the massive advertising screens cut their civilian broadcasts, turning into a wall of sharp, flickering static.
Zaki and Aurora stopped walking down the sidewalk, their eyes widening as they looked up at a giant screen over a skyscraper. Maki, Gills, and Anette rushed out of the fashion boutique, joining the thousands of citizens staring at the sky in confusion. Tasya and Aoki stopped near the mountain path entrance, looking at the emergency signal flashing on Tasya's wrist terminal.
"What's going on?" Zaki muttered, a sudden, terrible pit forming in his stomach.
The static on the screens cleared, revealing a high-definition broadcast studio with a massive, dark backdrop. Sitting at a long circular table were the holographic projections of the King of Mars and the King of Mercury. Their expressions were cold, cruel, and full of absolute triumph.
And standing directly between them, looking straight into the camera lens with her flat, ghostly grey-white eyes, was Ichi.
"Citizens of Earth and the Sovereign Zone of Neo-Verdia," the Mars King's voice boomed through the speakers, echoing through every street and valley with a deafening weight. "For months, you have hidden behind the false salvation of a phantom. You have cheered for a rebel machine you call the 'White Ghost,' believing it to be a symbol of your pathetic resistance against the divine order of the Space Colonies."
The Mercury King leaned forward, a sinister, mocking smirk breaking across his lips. "But every ghost has a human hand pulling the strings. And today, the illusion is completely broken. We have successfully extracted the classified pilot from registry resident from the deepest archives."
"No... wait..." Maki whispered, her hands shaking as she clutched Gills's arm, her vision blurring with a sudden, overwhelming wave of horror. "Don't do it... please..."
Zaki stood completely frozen on the sidewalk, his breath hitching in his throat as the main screen shifted.
"Behold the true faces of your heroes," the Mars King roared.
With a sharp electronic chime, two massive, high-school identification photographs appeared on every single screen across the world. The names were printed below the images in bold, red letters.
ZAKI KIMEZA
MAKI KIMEZA
"The pilots of the White Ghost are not seasoned soldiers or political saviors," the King mocked, while Ichi stared blankly from the screen, her eyes locking onto the camera as if she could see them through the network. "They are just a pair of pathetic, ordinary high school students hiding inside a stolen military project. And we, the unified Space Colonies, will completely hunt them down."
Zaki stared up at his own face broadcasting to the entire world. His eyes went completely hollow, the color completely draining from his skin as the absolute weight of the realization hit him. Their names, their school, their friends, their entire lives—completely exposed to every enemy in the solar system.
Beside the Kings, Ichi's flat voice whispered through the audio feed, her words marking the definitive end of their peaceful days.
"The hunt has officially begun... brother, sister."
To be continued...