Chapter 25

galacticarmor2 Alt- We might do that later.

R reyes- That is very saddening to hear. You have my sympathy.

Robo Reader 21- Maybe. Maybe they should.

Right before I start this chapter, can anyone tell me if bodies of water can actually move? Because in the episode involved this chapter had the salt lake, the plot device for the episode, move from its original location to another. Is that actually a thing that can happen? I'm going to write that it doesn't, but if it actually does, I'll probably go back and rewrite the parts concerning the lake's location.

Update- Because Robo Reader is great.


Bright


"That is something we really don't need right now." Said Bright after Master Chief told him about Amuro and what he's going through right now. "Him suffering from Combat fatigue, and a serious one at that is something that we really don't need right now. Not only is he our best pilot, but he's the only one that can bring even a fraction of the Gundam's capabilities on our enemies. Not to mention none of our other pilots know how to handle the Gundam."

"They never piloted the Gundam?" Asked Master Chief as he looked at Bright pace around the bridge, worry clear in his stance.

"Yes." Said Bright as he continued to pace around. "They can pilot it, yes, but it'll be their first time piloting it and it may end up getting them killed. The Gundam has similar controls to the Guntank and Guncannon, but the difference between it and those two may be enough to get them killed."

"Understood." Said Master Chief. "Then perhaps we could have them trained in its usage soon. Amuro will be temporarily incapacitated for a while now."

"*Sighs* It'll be a stop measure, but it's our best course." Said Bright as he stopped pacing before looking at their chef. "Right now, though, we have another situation to deal with. Our salt shortage. If we don't deal with that situation, we'll be in trouble in the long term. Fortunately, we have a solution for that. Marker, are you certain of its location?"

"Yes sir." Said Marker before bringing up a ground-floor map showcasing a nearby lake. "This here is Rob Lake. According to our map, it's composed entirely of salt water."

"Really?" Asked Tamura as he looked at the ground map with hope. "That's wonderful news! Now we won't have to worry about a salt shortage?"

"It's that critical of a situation?" Asked Master Chief as he looked at the chef, who just nodded. He knew they were having a salt shortage, but he didn't know it was this bad that they needed to solve it now.

"Not only that, but we're also running low on water as well." Said Tamura, recalling just how little water they had when he did his last inventory check. "We can survive a bit without salt, but without water, we're as good as dead out here unless we get a resupply soon."

"I see." Said Master Chief, seeing how critical the situation was. He then looked at the two operators. "Is there anything else we know about this lake and is it anywhere near known Zeon bases or outposts?"

"According to our intel, it's nowhere near any known Zeon bases." Said Marker. "Though it's several weeks old, I don't think the Zeons would care about a salt lake too much to place a patrol near it."

"What about the lake itself? Any additional information about it? Is it still there and not used up by the Zeons or the local humans in the area?" Asked Master Chief, causing Oscar to speak up.

"It's still there. The map is old, but it's not too old that it's unreliable." Said Oscar as he explained his own findings of the lake. "Unless the Zeons themselves drained it dry, it should still be there when we get there."

"Even if it's been dried up, we have to risk it. Much as I want to rely on Matilda and her supply corps, we can't. Not while we're behind enemy lines." Said Bright as he crossed his arms, thinking about this situation. Eventually, he spoke. "With luck, the lake will still be there and we won't have to face the Zeons while we're approaching the lake. Same with extracting the salt and water. With luck, we won't have to face any Zeons at all."

"That's so unlike you to be so optimistic Bright." Said Mirai with a small smile. Master Chief, however, wasn't so optimistic.

"Even still, I recommend having everyone on standby." Said Master Chief. "We're still in enemy territory. All it takes is one patrol to find us and we're in serious trouble."

"Of course." Said Bright as he looked at Master Chief. "I'll have our pilots be on standby and our gunners as well. For now, though, we're making a slight detour to the lake." With that, Bright ordered the crew to make a slight detour to the lake. As the bridge crew did what they were told, Master Chief thought about Lilith and Fernando and how they were dealing with Amuro. PTSD was something that required professional help and they didn't have anyone on the ship that held the necessary training to help Amuro with his PTSD. Crossing his arms, Chief wondered what to make of their situation and how to further deal with it.


Meanwhile

Ramba Ral

Gallop land battleship


"Lieutenant Ral, we just received a report from M'Quve's forces." Said Clamp as he notified Ramba Ral of a message he just received from M'Quve's forces in the region.

"Really now?" Asked Ramba Ral as he spoke to Clamp via the Gallop battleship's intercom while he and Hamon were sitting in the observation deck of the battleship, keeping an eye out for their quarry, the Trojan Horse. "What does the report say?"

"They're saying they spotted the Trojan Horse. They're diverting their course from the nearest Zeon base to their position. They're giving us their predicted course now." Said Clamp.

"Excellent." Said Ramba Ral upon hearing this. "Tell M'Quve he has my thanks for delivering us this important piece of information. Also, notify Cozun and Acous to ready for battle. Once we receive the predicted course of the Trojan Horse, have the Gallop head straight for it immediately." With that, he ended the call and turned to his lover. "Well, Hamon, it seems we hit a stroke of luck. With a little bit more luck, we'll be able to catch the Trojan Horse by surprise and avenge Garma Zabi. Then there's the possibility of us capturing the Trojan Horse for the Zabis. Even Dozle will not be averse to us acquiring the technologies found in the Trojan Horse, especially if we can use it to end the war quicker."

"Yes, dear." Said Hamon with a smile before frowning. "However, I'm a bit concerned with relying on M'Quve. He's not only a snake, but he's a snake loyal to Kycilia and her alone. He'll do anything to please her."

"Hm. Yes. I heard the stories about him." Said Ramba Ral as he clasped his hands in thought. "M'Quve is, for all intents and purposes, an intellectual and politician. He doesn't have much battlefield experience as I would like, but many of us didn't when the war started. Plus, we have no choice but to trust him, Hamon. Kycilia is now in charge of our Earth forces now that Garma is dead so we have no choice but to trust that M'Quve won't betray us. Though I think that is unfounded Hamon, Kycilia wants the Trojan Horse dead, preferably captured, just as much as Dozle. She knows the danger it has towards our forces once it links up with the main Federation forces so we should expect M'Quve's cooperation when it comes to the Trojan Horse at least. Still, I'm entrusting you to keep an eye out for deceit Hamon. Pays to be prepared, right?" Hamon just smiled before nodding.

"Just be careful, dear." Said Hamon. "People like M'Quve are the kind you need to watch out for at all times."

"On that, we can agree completely on." Said Ramba Ral as he closed his eyes.


Later

White Base


"This can't be." Said Tamura with shock as he looked at the lake that was supposed to be their salvation. Instead of seeing salt water, they saw only a dry lake bed that looked like it used to contain water but not anymore. Bright, stunned at what they found, asked if this was the location. When they confirmed that it was, Bright asked if there was any information that can explain what they say.

"I'll look into it now." Said Marker as he looked up the lake in their database. When he did he found some interesting information. "Yeah, it's an old lake. A lake that moves every five hundred years."

"What!?" Said Mirai upon hearing this. "It moves!? How old is our map?"

"Has to be very old. There haven't been any satellites to make maps since the war broke out." Said Marker. Upon hearing that, Tamura knelt down to his knees in despair.

"Just for some salt. Just for some salt, I made White Base steer away from its course. Idiot! The Zeons must have spotted us by now." Said Tamura. Upon seeing Tamura on the ground, Mirai tried to comfort him when suddenly Marker yelled out.

"Sir, we have an enemy contact!" Yelled Marker as Oscar raised the alarms. Upon hearing that, Bright turned to face Marker.

"What exactly is it? Zakus!?" Yelled out Bright as he tried to get a read on what exactly was coming towards them.

"It appears to be one entity, sir." Said Marker as he kept an eye on their radar. That declaration caught the attention of everyone, including Sayla.

"One hostile?" Asked Bright as he heard this. "What exactly is it?" He was so focused on Marker and the absurdity of one hostile that he didn't notice Sayla leaving her post and heading somewhere.

"Well," Started Marker as he tried to cross-reference the entity with all the Zeon vehicles and weaponry in their database. "It's too fast and small to be a Magella tank, but it's too small and slow to be a Gaw attack carrier. Plus it's on the ground too. I think it's a Zeon land battleship, sir."

"And that means it probably has Mobile Suits." Said Bright before looking at Sayla. He was about to give her orders when he saw that her seat was empty. "Where did she go!?" As everyone noticed that Sayla was missing, said the missing girl was heading to the hanger bay, a determined look on her face.


Few minutes later

Master Chief


"How bad is it?" Said Master Chief as he walked down a hallway with Lilith and Fernando in tow. Fernando sighed before replying.

"Very." Said Fernando as he recollected what he saw. A shivering Amuro despite Lilith's and Fraw Bow's attempts to calm him down. A refused to eat and suddenly screamed when the alarms suddenly blared out in his room. An alarm forced both Fernando and Lilith to leave for the hanger bay, eventually going to the hanger bay housing the White Base's Mobile Suits together with Master Chief, who had come to check up on Amuro and them, wanting to see the damage on Amuro's mind for himself. "I mean, what do you expect? He's just a teenager that was forced into being a soldier. That alone is enough to scar the kid mentally. Then bring in the fact that he was about to be eaten by aliens that literally ate children in front of him, and we got a mentally scared teen. And we don't have an expert on PTSD to help treat him. It's a mess Chief. This whole situation with Amuro is a mess unless we get an expert on PTSD to help out. Unless…unless." Fernando then turned to Lilith and asked a question. "You got magic, right? Do you have a spell that can block memories? Like can you actually block Amuro's memories of what he witnessed back on that island?" Upon hearing that question, Lilith pursed her lips before replying.

"Well, yes." Said Lilith after a minute. "It's a branch of magic that is often not talked about, even frowned upon, but it's a type of magic that I know can block or even remove the memories of specific events from a person's mind." Upon hearing that, Fernando stopped walking and looked at Lilith in amazement.

"Really?! That's great!" Said Fernando as he looked at Lilith. "We can just remove the memory of what Amuro experienced on that island and we're all done. Right?"

"Yes and no." Said Lilith, causing Fernando to look at her along with Master Chief. "This type of magic is frowned upon because it not only involves invading one's personal space, but it also removes one's memory of certain events. It's a type of magic that's been banned by my people because of those reasons."

"Why? It sounds like it can really help with stuff like this?" Asked Fernando, causing Lilith to sigh in frustration.

"It's because it can be used for criminal actions and can damage Amuro's psyche even more." Said Lilith, causing Fernando to widen his eyes in surprise. Before she could explain the issues with the mentioned magic, they were suddenly interrupted by a running Hayato, who was struggling to put on his pilot suit fully. Upon seeing this, Master Chief stopped the boy, ordering him to take a deep breath, and asked what's the situation.

"It…It Sayla, sir!" Yelled Hayato after taking a deep breath like Master Chief ordered, his golden visor compelling him to listen. "She took off in the Gundam without orders and she facing against the enemy by herself!" Upon hearing that, Lilith and Fernando widened their eyes in shock.

"What!?" Demanded Lilith as she heard this. "But she isn't trained on piloting that thing. How could she possibly think it's a good idea to pilot it!?"

"I don't know, but I need to get to the hangar and save her before she gets killed!" Yelled Hayato as he struggled to get out of Master Chief's grip. Seeing this, Master Chief let him go and lets him run to the hangar to save his crewmate. As he left, the three adults wondered what to do. It was then that Joy spoke up.

"So, what's the plan, Chief?" Asked Joy as Chief thought of what to do. Soon, however, he thought of a plan.

"Lilith, Fernando. Go back to Amuro. Stay with him in case he needs you both. Lilith, don't use that magic until we inform Bright of its potential consequences. I'm going to the hanger bay." Said Master Chief before taking off for the hanger bay with the Pelican in it.

"What? What are you going to do, big guy?" Asked Fernando as he looked at Chief walking away. The Spartan stopped a moment to hint at what he was going to do.

"To show the Zeons that Mobile Suits don't mean everything." Said Master Chief before taking off, leaving both and Fernando stunned at what he just said.