October 29, 0079 UC

Ramba Ral attacked us again today. He and his men actually got into the ship. The sheer stubbornness of his unit is quite frightening. Amuro destroyed all their mobile suits two days ago and still they attack. And they attack well, too.

We lost quite a few people in the hand to hand battle. We might have lost four more, too, if Ryu hadn't chased after Kai, Hayato, Howard, and Maximillian. The four of them took one of the buggies and left the ship. I'm starting to wonder if it's some kind of fashion or something.

Bright said something astonishing to me today. He slipped it in edge- on, obviously trying to be subtle about it. We were both down in the launch bay, seeing Ryu off as he chased after our newest errant crew members. He was frustrated, understandably so, we all are. Bright confessed to me that he felt a very ill at ease while Amuro wasn't around. He also mentioned that he thought there was something special about me, which was the part he tried to drop in without my noticing, almost as if he had to get it off his chest or something. I was about to ask him what he meant, but he moved on right away on to the main topic, so I decided it would be better to let it go; no need to make things any more complicated around here. He asked me what I thought all this was about and I admitted I didn't know.

He didn't react except to sigh, shaking his head. He left, then, mentioning something about getting some aspirin before returning to the bridge. I'm really beginning to worry about him; I don't think he's been sleeping well.

It wasn't long after that that the Gallop and the Kyuis attacked. Sayla launched in the Gundam and Bright decided to let Amuro out only to fire the aft guns. All of us on the Bridge were focused on Gundam; I think we all wanted to see if Sayla could pilot it as well as Amuro. That was of course broken up when Ral's team boarded White Base. Bright wasted no time in leaving the Bridge to join the battle. The most astonishing thing is that he left me in charge. It's even more astonishing that no one seemed to have a problem with it; Marker, Oscar, Job, everyone was perfectly fine with it. Does that make me second in command? No one ever bothered to define any chain of command. Maybe that's just how it works in the military, I don't know.

It was the most devastating attack we've ever faced. Several people were killed. And Ryu was badly wounded. All of Ramba Ral's men were killed, as was Ral himself. He jumped right out the hole that had been blown in the sub bridge with a grenade, telling us that that was the fate of any true warrior; to die.

Sayla seemed particularly disturbed by watching Ral's death. I don't know what she's so terrified of, but there is definitely something in her heart she's trying to hide from us. Perhaps she's scared to be afraid and scared we'll find out. Maybe it's something else, I just can't tell.

Bright likewise is desperately trying to hide how terrified of this war he is. He's becoming an increasing failure at it, too. We were burying our fallen a little while ago and I spotted him on the upper deck, watching, rather than coming down to join us. I think this attack has hit him hard and doesn't want the others to see that.

He and Amuro managed to work together quite well today, but as soon as the attack was over, they fell back into their familiar pattern of verbal sparring. Amuro's back in the brig now. Not that it makes either one of them happy.

We've begun repairs and maintenance to White Base now. There's a lot to do. I just wish we had enough time to do some on ourselves as well.