Emotional Mikazuki angst Fluff! Featuring Mina! :)

The sound of silence was something that Mikazuki was very much a fan of… but with that being said, in this one very moment, he realized that sometimes, silence was not always golden.

In his five years of being here, Mikazuki had always known Mina to be a bubbly, light-hearted and very much well meaning young woman, something that has never changed even through their many years of training. Nearly every single time he's seen her, Mika has seen her with a smile on her face, always eager to make others happy in any way, shape or form.

Now, however, the young woman wasn't smiling. She wasn't even looking him directly in the eye either, with her gaze focused solely on the hand that she was bandaging up with amateurish yet still commendable skill, and though the pilot could very easily wave this off as her focusing solely on his injury and not him specifically, he knew that this was not the case.

Deep down, he knew that she was upset with him, and for whatever reason, it hurt to acknowledge this.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was hurting right now. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain that came with his injured hands and dislocated wrist hit him in full, and though he didn't wish to show it, whenever Mina would use a gauze to wipe the blood from his injuries, he would flinch a little, something that the young woman would pointedly try to ignore to the best of her abilities.

Several minutes prior, after Mina had calmed down from seeing Mikazuki's injuries, she had forced him to take a seat in the only corner of the room that wasn't littered with broken training dummies as she moved to find a first-aid kit to patch him up with. It took her a while, but she eventually returned, and once she did, she wasted no time in patching his injuries up.

For all it was worth, Mina's medical abilities were, as stated prior, amateurish but still commendable. She was able to relocate Mikazuki's dislocated wrist with a simple tug of his hand, something that surprised Augus more so than actually hurt him, and her smaller hands allowed her to weave the bandages around the pilot's ten fingers with very little issue, and though she did use a bit too much disinfectant at certain points (Mika wasn't sure if this was intentional or not as it did hurt quite a bit when she did that), she didn't do anything to worsen the pilot's injuries overall.

Once his final pinky finger had been bandaged up, Mikazuki felt himself nodding in appreciation towards Mina's work as he moved to pull his hand away from her, though much to his surprise and mild chagrin, when he tried to pull his hand away, rather than allowing him to do so, Carolina tightened her grip around it. Not to the point where it would aggravate his injuries, but just enough to keep it from being retracted from her, eliciting a somewhat confused look from Augus all the while.

"Mina?" muttered Mikazuki, with him sounding somewhat confused at first, though before he could say much else, he felt something… wet dropping onto his bandaged hand. Curiously, the young pilot turned his attention towards the aforementioned appendage, only to raise his brows, if only by a little, when he saw that it was a teardrop. Not even a second later… several more drops followed it, and it didn't take long for him to realize that his friend was crying onto his bandaged hand.

"Why… why did you… hurt yourself like this, Mika…?" asked Mina, with her failing to keep her voice even as it cracked on several occasions, not helped by her current emotional state as she ran her thumb along the bandages atop the pilot's knuckles. She knew that, beneath those bandages, were the injuries that Augus had willingly subjected himself to… but for what purpose? That was what she needed to know…

For his part, Mikazuki had the decency to at least look remorseful as he averted his gaze and slouched his shoulders in a somewhat remorseful manner. In truth, now that he was thinking straight again, the pilot had to admit that what he had done to himself was… stupid, to say the least. In the moment, it had just felt… nice, to lash out at something to take his mind off his failures as both a soldier and a friend… but now, seeing just how sad it had made Mina feel, he found himself regretting his actions as he did his best to put his thoughts into words.

"... I don't know, Mina," admitted Mikazuki, with him lying through his teeth as he looked away from his friend. He was quick to realize that this was the wrong answer to give, however, when Mina's grip on his bandaged hand strengthened tenfold, prompting his lips to twitch as he turned back towards her… only to blink when he saw her glaring right at him in anger.

The look in her eyes was unlike anything Mikazuki had seen from her before. She was no doubt already angry at him, even before she had stopped him from destroying his hands any further, but now, all that anger was being put on display for him to bear witness to, and for all it was worth, it was enough to make Mika recoil in surprise as he stared his friend straight in the eye, with his subdued gaze clashing rather harshly with her teary, anger-filled eyes.

"Bullshit… we both know that's bullshit, Mika… so I'm going to ask again… why did you hurt yourself?" rebutted Mina, with the anger being very much apparent in her words as her grip on Augus' hand tightened by a bit, prompting the pilot's fingers to twitch under the pressure. Great… Mina had caught onto his lie almost as easily as Oruo catching his tongue in between his teeth, and judging by her tone of voice, she wasn't willing to accept another lie…

By all means, Mikazuki, despite the young woman's glare, did seem adamant about lying either way, with him not wanting to bother Mina with his own personal issues. Carolina already had enough problems with what she had gone through during the expedition, and to make someone as soft hearted as her worry about his own problems? Well, that was something that Mika wasn't willing to let happen.

With that being said, however, Augus did take note of an odd glint in Carolina's eyes as he maintained eye contact with her. Buried beneath all that anger… all that displeasure at him having hurt himself in such a way… was no small amount of genuine worry, worry that would not settle until she had gotten an answer out of him, one that was not a lie. Mikazuki wasn't the best when it came to things involving emotions, but he knew enough to know that constantly lying to someone who was genuinely worried would only lead to more issues in the future… and with that in mind, Mikazuki, in spite of his selfish desires, reluctantly did as Carolina demanded and told her the truth.

"I did it… because I was angry," admitted Mikazuki halfheartedly as he exhaled sharply through his nostrils. For her part, Mina was, somewhat rightfully, confused at what he meant by that, so much so that her angry facade dropped for a moment as she nonverbally signalled for him to explain himself, and he did so without pause. "I failed a lot yesterday, and I don't like to fail. And I don't like it when people I like get hurt. A lot of people I like got hurt yesterday…"

As he concluded, Mikazuki's bandaged fingers subconsciously wrapped themselves around Mina's hands, and at that, the anger that once existed on her face bled away, making room for a light blush as she stared at her best friend in silence. Mika, on the other hand, simply continued to speak as he exhaled softly to recollect himself, with the memories of his failure having returned to taunt him, however briefly, upon his mention of the.

"There was a Titan. An Abnormal Titan. I… was supposed to capture it," stated Mikazuki, with him frowning just a bit deeper with each and every word. Mina, for her part, found herself raising a brow at the mention of a Titan, one that was so important for some reason that Mika and Barbatos had been tasked to track it down… though within seconds, something in her mind seemed to click into place as she widened them in realization.

'He couldn't mean…?' thought Mina in shock as she stared at her friend, who simply continued without pause.

"I didn't capture it… Barbatos… I was too slow. I wasn't good enough to capture it. I wasn't even good enough to kill it," continued Mikazuki flatly as he averted his gaze away from Mina, who raised a brow at what he had said. She didn't know that the pilot was not the one that had dealt the apparent finishing blow to the Female Titan, and considering her suspicions on who the Titan's host was, it was probably for the best. "But it would've been fine. I don't really care about capturing or killing it anyways.

"I did care about keeping you and Nac safe, though. And because I was too slow, I failed."

Opening her mouth to comment on that strange thought, Mina found herself ready to rebuke Mikazuki's comments, though before she could do so, she found herself being cut off by the pilot himself, who didn't seem keen on letting her get a word in, be it intentional or not, as he simply continued to speak without giving her a chance to do so.

"I kept telling myself that I'd keep you and Nac safe before we joined the Trainee Corps. I promised mum that I would, and I did my best to make sure that nothing bad happened to either of you," stated Mikazuki coldly, though that coldness was directed more towards himself than Mina as he kept his gaze averted from her. All the while, his grip on the young woman's hands tightened a little, just enough to be noticeable, though not enough to aggravate his injuries or cause her any pain. "And I failed.

"Mika, you didn't-"

"I did."

The sudden cut-off from Mikazuki was more than enough to make Mina flinch as she recoiled away from the pilot, whose frown noticeably intensified as he sighed to himself. It wasn't his usual, exasperated sigh, however. It sounded much more… defeated, or even resigned, for the lack of a better word, something that was not exactly fitting for the usually confident Mikazuki Augus to sound like.

The look in the pilot's eyes was also rather jarring. Gone were the bright blue orbs of confidence that Augus was so well known for. His sharp and analytical gaze was buried at this point, having been replaced by bitter expression, one that really didn't suit the young man whatsoever as he twitched his fingers a little.

He wasn't out and out crying, Mina highly doubted that he could even do that at this point, but considering how emotionless he tended to be, this was probably as close to crying as it would get for him…

"I wasn't fast enough…"

"Mika…"

"If I had been faster… if I had been better…"

"Mika."

"I… I failed them."

"Mika…!"

"I failed everyone that died on the expedition…"

"Mikazuki…!"

"... I failed Nac…"

"Mikazuki!"

"... I failed you…"

"MIKAZUKI AUGUS!"

It took Mina screaming out the pilot's full name to forcefully snap him out of his trance, and as an extra precaution on her part… Carolina gave him an actual slap on the left side of his face to make sure that he snapped out of his self deprecating tone of voice. Having not been expecting it whatsoever, Mikazuki's head ended up snapping to the right as he widened his eyes in shock

"...?!" no words managed to escape Mikazuki's lips as he felt his heart falling a little. His gaze darkened quite a bit as he turned back towards Mina, who flinched a tiny bit under his gaze as she realized what she had just done, though before long, the pilot realized that, aside from the somewhat worried look she currently had on her, the young woman… didn't seem to be angry with him.

Rather, she seemed… worried for him, something that caught him severely off guard as he stared at her in confusion… and vice versa, the grey eyed young woman stared right back at him with a lot more determination than he's ever seen prior burning in her irises. Her mind raced as she silently wondered how she could possibly put her thoughts into words.

She could tell that Mikazuki was hurting, mentally if not physically, and though she knew that he was a tough sonova gun, she also knew that in his current vulnerable mental state, just one wrong word on her part could potentially hurt him further than he already was. She needed to choose her words carefully… and after a great deal of thought, she began speaking. Slow, but not so slow that she could come off as condescending.

Mikazuki was not a child, after all. He was hurting, and the last thing he needed was for his best friend to talk down to him like a kid.

"Mika… I… I-I know that you're strong. You're practically the strongest person on this… planet, after all? And with Barbatos, you're capable of so many things that not many of us can even dream of accomplishing…" stated Mina, with her sounding almost… affectionate towards the pilot as she spoke to him. Her tone of voice was enough to make him feel… strange as he looked away from her awkwardly, though he eventually glanced back at her when he felt her resting the flat of her hand against his shoulder, and as it did so, she offered both his hand and shoulder a gentle squeeze as she continued. "But even you have limits… and you need to learn to accept that.

"You've got a good heart, but perhaps sometimes you just… worry too much. Nac and I can handle ourselves just fine, with or without you, Mika. You don't have to beat yourself up over us getting into trouble, or us getting hurt… or anything, really, because we're more than capable of fending for ourselves."

"But…" muttered Mikazuki not long after Mina had finished speaking, with him sounding more reluctant to argue back to Carolina at that point, though before he could say a thing, the young woman shushed him as she continued to speak.

"Mika, we all knew that we'd be in serious danger the moment we signed up to be Survey Corps. If we were scared of being hurt or, god forbid, killed in action… then we wouldn't have joined in the first place. You followed us into the Trainee Corps knowing that, so put a bit more faith in our capabilities and stop worrying about me and Nac so much…" scolded Mina, with her pouting just a bit as she spoke. Mikazuki really wanted to argue against her words, but even so… he found himself wondering about what she said as his mind wandered off to parts unknown.

Was he really being too overprotective of them? Sure, he wished to keep them safe, but even so, now that he thought about it, perhaps he was being a bit too fussy over their wellbeing. He wasn't really to blame for such a thing, though, as Mina and Nac were essentially the last bits of family that he would ever have in this god forsaken world, discluding Ms Carolina and (possibly) Annie of course, and if he were to lose even one of them due to his shortcomings… well, even he didn't know what would happen at that point.

He just knew that it wouldn't be pretty.

Despite this, however, now that he was thinking about his overprotectiveness with his friends… the pilot began to wonder if him acting in such a way came off as disrespectful to them. He knew that they were capable fighters ('average', in Keith's dictionary, essentially meant that they were above average when compared to most other soldiers thanks to the guy's harsher training regiment), especially when paired with one another, so for him to be fretting about them to such a degree… well, it almost felt as though he were looking down on their abilities, be it intentional or not, and now that he had acknowledged this, the pilot felt… upset at himself as his frown deepened a little more than usual.

Noticing his apparent reluctance to argue, Mina, who was still staring up at her cru- best friend, gently nudged his stomach with her elbow, causing him to turn back towards her with a raised brow. When he did, the young woman tilted her head, with her expecting some sort of a response all the while, and though he seemed reluctant to give one, more so out of some misplaced sense of pride than any form of disrespect against his pal, his respect for Mina eventually won out, and he spoke his mind without a second thought.

"... I'm sorry, Mina," muttered Mikazuki after a few moments of silence, with him looking somewhat sheepish as he spoke. At first, the aforementioned young woman thought that he was apologising for not being able to protect her and Nac once more, prompting her to lower her brows in annoyance at first, though before she could say anything about that, he continued to speak. "I… should have put more faith in you and Nac…"

"... oh…" muttered an incredulous Mina after a few moments of silence, with her comment being more than enough to catch Mikazuki off guard as he raised a brow at her, though not long after, she smiled and twirled some of her hair around in her left index finger in a rather awkward manner before explaining herself. "S-Sorry… I just… wasn't expecting you to actually agree with me…"

"Hmph…" huffed Mikazuki, amused at what she had just said as he nodded. Though arguments and debates were rare between their friend group, Mika himself would rarely ever join in on them, but on the off chance where he did, it was usually Augus' side that won the debate. Hearing him so easily concede in… anything, really, must've caught Mina off guard in more ways than one. "You were right, though. I didn't put too much faith in you or Nac."

The somewhat hurt expression that came onto Mina's face was to be expected at that point, and for all it was worth, seeing it did make Augus' heart clench quite a bit. Despite this, however, he didn't pause his words for too long as he gently tightened his fingers around Carolina's hand, grasping it tightly enough to make her snap out of her thoughts and turn back to face her friend, who was offering her a subdued smile all the while.

"Five years ago, I lost everything and everyone I cared about in an instant," muttered Mikazuki, with his voice causing Mina to turn her attention upwards and stare at her friend with raised brows. She knew quite a bit about his history at this point, though outside of his birthplace and bits of his occupation that were revealed to her months prior, she knew very little about Augus' actual life prior to coming here, so the prospect of learning more was appealing to her. "The only thing that I have now from my old life is Barbatos… and he's not going to last much longer without any maintenance…"

A mental gasp rang through Mina's head as she realized that one of humanity's strongest assets could potentially be destroyed so quickly, not because of the Titans, but because of something as simple as age and disrepair. But then again, at the end of the day, the Gundam was just a machine, and without repairs, a machine could only do so much…

"Before I met you, Nac, mum and Annie… I didn't know what to live for. I didn't have any goals, and aspirations… anyone to rely on when things became bad. I was all alone," continued Mikazuki, with him allowing himself to express himself fully to Mina, just this once, as he stroked one of the younger woman's hands with his thumb. Carolina found herself enjoying that sensation quite a bit as she blushed a fair bit at the contact… though it was balanced out by the sadness that slowly began to well up in her chest as she listened to Mika speak. "And then you found me, and you offered me your hand. I thought that you'd forget about me after you did that, but you didn't. You didn't just offer me your friendship. You gave me a home, you gave me a family…

"You gave me a new reason to live."

And at that point, Mina felt herself melting from the inside out as she widened her eyes at the pilot's words. Their meeting five years ago had been largely forgotten by Carolina at this point, more so because of the chaos that occurred in the past half decade than actual malicious intent… but even so, it was very apparent to her that Mikazuki had not forgotten it whatsoever.

It was ludicrous to consider it now, but in truth, she never did expect for their initial acquaintanceship to blossom into something as intense as the friendship that they currently had, and for all intents and purposes, she didn't exactly mind it. Likewise, she never did expect her simple actions on that day to have such an unexpected butterfly effect on Augus.

Back then, her offering him her friendship and, subsequently, a place to call home was nothing more than an act of kindness and pity on her part… but to him, it must've meant the world, maybe more, as her actions reignited the pilot's will to continue living in spite of his circumstances…

As Mina processed his words, however slowly, Mikazuki found his other hand hovering up to push some of her bangs behind her ear, snapping her out of her thoughts and causing her face to heat up all the while. The pink tinge her cheeks took on was not missed by the pilot, as the corners of his lips twitched a little in amusement at the sight, though he deigned not to comment on it as he retracted his hand.

"I'm just… scared. Scared of losing you, Nac and Annie. If even one of you dies on my watch, I… I don't think I could forgive myself," continued Mikazuki, with him staring down at Mina's hands clasping onto his own. With a small, somewhat melancholic smile, he moved to hold both of her hands in his bandaged appendages, and thereafter, he squeezed them gently, almost protectively, as he looked his best friend dead in the eye. "You all mean too much to me… and I… I don't want any of you to get hurt…"

"Mika…" muttered Mina, with her eyes widened quite a bit as she did her best to maintain eye contact with her best friend… her crush, though it was rather difficult, all things considered. The young pilot's gaze was intense, not in the same way as when he was in combat or training mind you, but rather, in a more protective way. Carolina knew that he loved his friends rather intensely, but she never expected his protective nature to be this passionate. Just the look in his eyes told her that, if he had to, he'd move the world itself just to make sure that she, Nac and Annie had the chance to live another day.

And considering just how powerful he really was… it was very likely that he could do just that.

Thereafter, Mikazuki's name trailed off in Mina's mouth as she looked away from the pilot, with her flustered state stopping her from saying anything else as she did her best to recompose herself. Honestly speaking, were it not for her current exhaustion, Carolina reckoned that she would've been tripping over her own words due to the close proximity between herself and Augus, though as things were now, her mind was just a bit too fatigued to allow her to do that.

Likewise, now that Mikazuki's injuries were patched up, and now that the issue between the two 104th graduates had been resolved, Mina felt the adrenaline that she was riding off of fading rather quickly, and thereafter, her fatigue hit her at full force as her shoulders sagged a little in exhaustion. Mika raised his brows in amusement as her eyelids sagged down as well, and likewise, she yawned into her palm, which Augus was kind enough to release to allow her to do so, before rubbing her eye with the back of her hand.

"You're tired," stated Mikazuki, with him sounding just a tad amused as he spoke, to which Mina pouted, seeming a little insulted by that insinuation all the while.

"I'm no…" Mina's rebuttal was quickly cut off when she yawned rather intensely, prompting her to raise her hand up to cover her mouth before her breath could reach Mikazuki. For his part, Augus didn't seem to mind it as he barely even flinched, though as for Carolina, she felt her head lolling to one side as she struggled to keep herself awake.

Not bothering to wait for a response, Mikazuki huffed to himself and shook his head, with him finding some amusement in Mina's antics all the while. The young woman was never really one to concede defeat, not even against Mika himself, though it was rather obvious to him that she was losing her battle against her fatigue, and with a tiny smile present on his face, the young man released her hands from his and moved to carry her back to the medical ward…

… or at least he would've, were it not for Mina, rather abruptly, tilting forwards and falling flat onto Mikazuki's chest. Augus raised his brows in mild amusement as he felt her cheek squish itself against his chest, though he didn't think about it all that much as he huffed and moved to remove her from him… only to pause when he felt her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

"...?!" this was… unprecedented, to say the least, and at first, Mikazuki did make an attempt to pry Mina's arms from his body, though he didn't get far before the girl began to shift a little in her sleep. Augus' hand hovered just barely over her wrist when he saw her nuzzling her face a little deeper into his chest in a somewhat affectionate manner, something that, admittedly, made the pilot's heart thump a bit more intensely as his jaw dropped just a tiny bit in surprise.

Though this was… not particularly comfortable for Mikazuki, the pilot couldn't exactly bring himself to remove Mina from his person. She just seemed so… peaceful as she clung onto him, and though her posture was less than ideal, Mika reckoned that it could've been worse, and with a sigh, he resigned himself to his fate as he shook his head and patted Mina's head in a somewhat affectionate manner.

'... you really are something else, Mina Carolina…'

Nac… was worried.

After waking up, he had realized that Mina was missing, and upon realizing this, he wasted no time in darting out of the medical ward and moving to look for his friend. Much to his chagrin, however, he was unable to find any of them in spite of his best efforts, and with each passing second, his worry only grew more intense.

Thankfully enough, however before the young man could panic too intensely, he found himself being approached by a senior soldier. It took him less than a second to recognise her as Lynne, an Elite that was part of Mike's team, and upon confirming his identity, Lynne wasted no time in gesturing for Nac to follow her.

"Ma'am, if I may, is this in any way in relation to Mina?" asked Nac worriedly, to which Lynne simply turned back to wink at her junior, something that made him flinch a little as he didn't like what that entailed. He felt a chill going up his spine as he allowed the Elite to lead him onwards, and before long, they found themselves inside the training barracks, where, surprisingly enough, the rest of Squad Mike was gathered at.

"Who's the shrimp?" asked Henning almost immediately after he caught sight of Nac, who flinched at his words, though in response to that, Nanaba elbowed him in the ribs, shutting him right up as Lynne rolled her eyes and led Tias into a separate room in the training barracks. The tall young man remained mostly silent as he allowed her to do so, and as soon as they entered the room, they were greeted by Mike, Gelgar and Tomas, who were all staring at something.

Or more specifically, two other people that were sitting on the ground with their backs resting against a wall.

The room itself was littered with destroyed training dummies, with one specific metal dummy looking close to being uprooted from the ground, standing at the center of the room. However, in spite of the mess the place was currently in, Nac's eyes did not register any of this as they instinctively darted to the two aforementioned people present in the area.

'Mina! And… Mika…?!'

That thought was more or less the only one that managed to shoot its way through the young man's skull as he saw the two aforementioned junior soldiers sitting on the ground in front of him and the present members of Squad Mike. Mikazuki was sitting on the ground with his head tilted off to one side whilst Mina sat atop his lap in an awkward yet still comfortable manner, with her leaning into Augus' chest whilst the pilot kept one arm wrapped around her body to keep her in place. Nac took notice of how their hands (Mika's in particular were bandaged for some strange reason) were resting atop one another, something that was admittedly rather adorable, and how Mikazuki's Tekkadan jacket was draped around their bodies as a makeshift blanket for the two.

"... w-wha…?" blurted out Nac as he did his best to process what he was seeing, only for Gelgar to cut him off as he grinned at his junior.

"Keith called us over to tell us about these two being in here. Honestly, we were kinda worried about that little brat after we couldn't find him yesterday, so imagine our surprise when we saw that he was with his little girlfriend over there!" laughed the pompadour haired man as he jerked his thumb over at Mika and Mina's resting forms, both of whom seemed unwilling to wake as the latter simply curled further up against the former, who did not shy away from her all the while.

"Girlfriend…?" muttered Nac, who was still unable to fully process what he was seeing as he stared at Gelgar incredulously, eliciting a grin form him as Lynne, Mike and Tomas chuckled on his behalf.

"Hell yeah, who else would willingly get that close to a brat like Mikazuki, eh?" asked Gelgar with a smug grin on his face, and though Nac seemed willing to argue that point… he found himself dropping it as he rubbed his chin and eyed his sleeping friends once more.

And before long, he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah… you've got a point there."

Mikazuki is a difficult character to write, admittedly. But damn, is he fun. Hope you guys enjoyed these somewhat OOC chapters ;)

Touhoufanatic: nope. She's still alive.

BanzEye: simply put, no. She's still alive. And as for the Elites... hehehe...

Guest223: well contextually Erwin did have faith in Mika. Perhaps too much faith...

Kannn: well I'm glad that you enjoyed what I did there! Mikazuki is a rather complex character, but he isn't emotionless, and as such, I wanted to show that in the previous chapter

Dead344156: I'm also glad that you enjoyed the interpretation of Mikazuki in this story! And regarding Titanfall... probably not. At least not now. There's enough stuff clogging my schedule at the moment.

Guest: here's the next chapter!

Guest 2 and 3: well no it's not wrong to want that... and does this count as an indirect proposal? Probably not...

KidGoku15: I'm glad it did! And regarding the AOT 2 game, I have it and I've referenced it a few times in this story, but I haven't seen

Have a good one-

"Brigadier General."

Turning to face Isurugi, McGillis found himself smiling once more as he watched his friend salute him, and with a mild nod of his head, he put him at ease, prompting him to lower his arm to his side and speak his mind.

"I mean to report something of note to you," continued Isurugi, with him holding onto a notepad as he spoke. The blonde General remained silent as Camice spoke, with him wishing to know of what he was here to report on in the first place all the while. "According to the head researchers behind the warp drive, there seems to be a chance of… time disruption when making use of it."

"Time disruption?" echoed McGillis, surprised, eliciting a nod from Isurugi.

"Yes. They state that, despite it being a relatively low chance of happening, there is still the risk of the convoy being displaced in time, should an accident occur," stated Isurugi direly as he held his notepad up to eye level. "The researchers have not confirmed how far ahead or, potentially, how far back we could jump, should an incident occur, but they have estimated the time jump to be anywhere between five seconds… to a few centuries."

"... I see. This is indeed dire. I presume that the latter amount is the worst case scenario?" inquired McGillis, eliciting a nod from Isurugi all the while.

"Indeed. They speculate that there's a less than 2% chance of such a thing occurring, but it's still a greater than zero chance, and as such, I thought it best to bring it to your attention," confirmed Isurugi, who smiled a little as his Brigadier General's shoulders slacked in relief. "The same applies to going backwards in time, as they believe that there is a less than 0.5% chance of such a thing happening. But even so… it is still a greater than zero chance, and as such, it would be best to let you know as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Isurugi. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?" asked McGillis, to which his subordinate nodded.

"Yes, one last thing, Brigadier General. The researchers also brought up how the likelihood of the convoy warping to the specified point in space with 100% accuracy to be… rather unlikely. There will more than likely be some time displacement upon their arrival," responded Isurugi. "The estimated time displacement is approximately two weeks at most."

"I presume that the amount was cut down after multiple overhauls?" inquired the blonde, to which his subordinate nodded.

"Yes. It was the best the engineers and researchers could do in such short notice, especially as the test date is no less than a week away," confirmed Isurugi, eliciting a nod from McGillis all the while.

"I see. Excellent work, Isurugi. Do not forget that I am counting on you to ensure the success of this mission. Do not let me down."

"Understood, Brigadier General."

With that last exchange, Isurugi bowed and left the general area, leaving McGillis to his own contraptions as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Humming to himself, the blonde pondered on what Camice had told him… about how the warp drives could feasibly cause time displacements.

It was a bit of a stretch… but could… other Gundams potentially have fallen victim to this time displacement issue as well? It was a rather slim chance, but even so…

Beep beep beep

A chance was still a chance…

Beep beep beep

No matter how slim…

Beep beep beep

And McGillis Fareed, for as much of a realist as he was, was willing to take a chance or two to ensure his goal would come into fruition.

Beep beep bee-

AUTOMATED RESPONSE ACTIVATED

UNIT ASW-G-08, GUNDAM BARBATOS, RECEIVING DATA INPUT

INBOUND DISTRESS SIGNAL

LOCATION; BEYOND THE CONFINES OF DISTRICT: SHIGANSHINA

DISTRESS SIGNAL SENDER; UNKNOWN

SCANNING

SCANNING

SCANNING

…

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DISTRESS SIGNAL SENDER: Ą̴̛̛͈͓̼͕͈̣̫̝͓̤̮̱̝̯̫̞͚̭̱̯͖̼̯͂́͂̽͋̏̂͌̓̋̆̍̏̋̑̄̋̏͐͗́̂̎̎͋͐̅̓̕͘̚̕̕͜͝͝͠͝͝ͅŞ̸̡̨̢̛̺̟̩̱̩̹͙͎̹̭̙̘̯̩̪̻̤̞̩͚̜̪̝̲̼̲̬̥̬̣̭̭̖̩̦̻̟̻͔̹͕̗͎̂̄̋̍̉͂̔̈̓͐̅͗̓̀̋͑̎̄̽̇̍̔̿̆̽̏͑͌͆́͋͗͋͋̒͆̿͛̊̑̿̃̚͘̕̕͜͝͝͠Ẁ̸̡̨̞̻͙̱͋͋̀̔̉̌̅̾̓̊̔͌̒̿̎̇̽͌̓̓͒̇̍͂͝-̸̢̡̡͉̻̫͖̤̪͓̖͇̲̲̦̱̥̯̱͙̫̜͎̟̼̞̮̦̊̒̈͗̎̎̂́͗̿̊͊͂̎̊͒͗̏̓́͐̓͂͗̓̈́͛̏͑̇͛̄̾͗̏̓̃̈́̋̔̚̕͘̕͝͠͝G̷̢̨̪̻͑̀̊͊͛̏̇͗̽͆̐̉̌̋̈́̉̈́́̅͗̑̒̉͑̑̓̀̄̈́̕͠͝-̴̧̧͇̙̪̮͖̜̲̠̻͓͈̟̙̖͉̗̳̫͔̗̍́͠6̶̨̨̢̡̧̢̧̣̣͖͍͙͙̲̥̤̬̻͚͈̥̘͍̲̬͕̺̬͙̘͓̠͉͈̼͎̋̑̄͂̿̔̚͘͜͜͜ͅ4̶̛̛͈̺̠̀̂̍̌̚̚͝͝ ̷̨̡̡̣̼͚̱͍̘̬̼̝̦̝͙̳̹͔͍̬̦͔̰̱͓̮̤̭̦̫͙̬̹̤̳̦͉̤̲̇̊̿̔̄́͂̈́̀̔̈́̐͑̌͒̋͗̈́͊̓̔̈́̓̓̀̃̎̎͋͂̎̓͛̽̀̽̊͑͘̕͘͜͜͠͝͝ͅͅG̵̛̊͌̃̓̋̄͊̄̄̈́̐̔̔̏̔̑͒̀͗̐̅̃̐̋̅̓̕͘͜͝͝͠͝͝Ú̸̢̧̧͈̖̰̱͍̬̞̫̩̤̟͍̮͔͍͕̺̮̳̦̲͖̘̺̰̩̙̘̣̥̙̼͓͉̠̹̲̟̼̈́̾̽͌̉̌̓̓̿͒̽͊̇͆̀̀̽͛͑̓͒̒̄̔̚̕͜͜͜͜͜͝Ņ̶̨̡̖͎̣̝̠͉̠͈̞̤̀͒̈̏̀̅̂̽̆̍̎̏̑͗̓̓̈́̏̅̋̀̉̅͆̈͘Ḑ̶̡̢̧̨̨̧̛̛̞̠͎̪̘̙̹̘͕͚̙͎͍̺̬̤̥̩̭̣͇͎̙̱̟͍̱͇̮̆̑̐̋̀̒̅̒̅̔̍͜Á̶̢̛̳̱̭͉͕̺̤̮͉͍̥̣͊̾̄͆̑̆͌̇́̑̎̋̀̏́̔̀̏̈́̓̓̈́̋̑̏̎̈́̕͘͘͝͝͠M̴̡̛͎̯̲͎͓͎̞͖̳̻̝̦̻̻̣͖͙͉͉͐̀̿̈́̌̐̾́͂̇͂̎̐̾̕̚͘͜͝ͅͅ ̷̡̛̙̳̗̖͍̥̩̺̗̞̯̞̗͉͉͙̳̞̼͙̺̜̭̳͖͕̣͍͎̫̽̑͂͆̒̃̔̽̂͒͑̌̿͂̄̔̃́̈́̓̀̎̆̿͒̆͊̽̎̈́̃̔̚͘̚̚͘̕͝͠͝F̶̳͖̝͇͓̤̳͇̖͒͌̉̇̌̐̈́̂̋̃̈́̾̃͂̏̿̉͌̈́̃͋͋̽͒̓̈̄͆͑͌́̐̈́̚L̸̨̢̡̛̛͕̺̠̜͎̪̤͉̠̤͔̘̪͔͚͓͓̤͚̠̝͎͚͓̔͂͂͋̈́̋̅̋̓̀̓̄̔́̋̎̅̑͛͋̑͋̀̈́̈̐̏̇͒̓̒̀̐̏̃̿̌̏̓̀̀͘͘͘̕͜͠͠͝Ȁ̷̡̧̛͖̰̼̬̝͙͓̺̻͖̠͎̼̟͇̹̯̥̺̼̻̺̩̺̣̬̪̮͉̥͇͙͉̯̳̬̦̜̪̘͒͗͂͊͊͐͆̔̓͋͝Ư̴͈̬͕̥͍̌̉̔́͂̓̊͊̆͒̓̅̅͑̀͊͛̄͑̽͋̐͊͂̅́̋̏͐́̔̓̃͛̿̎́̃͘̚͠R̷̡̨̨̢̧̢̯̫͇͙̦̦̬̖̪̼̼̖̟͖̼̹͖̗̩̜̠̺̼̟͓̞̙̣̻̰̲̃̓̈̐͋̋̕͠ͅͅO̸̧̡̲̦̱̖̭̦͓̻̱̩̲̟͕̝͎̝͉͉̽̍̀̊͜͜͜Ṣ̶̡̢̦̖̤̮̠͍͚͚̤̜͖̮̟̜̥̣̑