Chapter 25: Free Bird
The train arrives in Cairo. The Gjallarhorn troops and members of the corporation disembark from the train and begin unloading the Mobile Suits. The Mobile Suits are towed on trucks to the hangars next to the railway. Julieta exits the train pushing Manfred's wheelchair. Illmari, Sephora and Richtoffen follow behind them. Manfred is looking at the amulet Sephora gave him, and hangs it around his neck. Julieta takes them to the Gjallarhorn barracks. Along the way, they see Gjallarhorn personnel observing Manfred and speaking in hushed tones.
Mechanic 1: Is that the pilot who took down the Black Ogre of Harare?
Mechanic 2: Seems so, though he looks very weak.
Manfred just gives them a blank stare and takes out the console from a backpack to start playing on it. Manfred looks at the screen, and begins to remember his time at university. Manfred is with his mom at the Monterrey Institute of Technology.
Akira: Manfred, remember if you need anything call us.
Manfred: Mom, I'm a grown up now
Akira: Of course not, you're only 18 years old. I hope you make friends and meet a girl.
Manfred: See you mom
Akira: Take care Manfred
Manfred enters the university and checks his phone to see which classroom is his first class. He walks through the hallways of a building. It's building three. Manfred goes up the stairs and enters room 304, sits down and a classmate looks at his watch. The classmate approaches Manfred and asks:
Classmate: Is that a Trinity Legends watch?
Manfred: Yes
Classmate: Where did you get it?
Manfred: In Texas, I think. You play video games too?
Classmate: Yes, I like platform games. Your shirt is really cool
Manfred: Thanks
Classmate: It's the Harlequin carrying Donald McMurdo.
Manfred: Yes, my mom bought it for me
Classmate: What's your name?
Manfred: Manfred Horikoshi, you?
Classmate: I'm Mick Avalon.
Manfred is playing on the console in his wheelchair and lets out a slight smile. Illmari notices and smiles. Sephora sees it and says:
Sephora: See, smiling isn't so hard sometimes. Why did you smile?
Manfred: I remembered something nice.
Julieta: I see.
Dukovak is with Yamazin in his office. Yamazin finishes drawing sketches of what would be the Ygdrasil logo. Dukovak worriedly watches the news as an armed conflict has broken out in southern Africa. The news shows videos of Gjallarhorn Mobile Suits and Mobile Workers repressing the armed uprising in Harare. One can see how one of the Harare headquarters is being attacked by African rebels. The rebels are armed with AK-type rifles and Molotov cocktails, which are thrown at the headquarters premises. A Reginlaze approaches to deter the rebels, but they ignore it, throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Mobile Suit. It doesn't even flinch and opens fire on the rebels, massacring them. The reporter, meanwhile, is behind a barricade at the headquarters narrating what happened. Dukovak turns off the television and says to Yamazin:
Dukovak: Do you think this was Manfred's doing?
Yamazin: I don't think so, Manfred is smart enough to ask you before doing something like that
Dukovak: Yes, but the fact that the rebels have so much determination leaves a lot to think about.
Yamazin: If that were the case, we would have already seen Salomon attacking enemy Reginlazes on the news.
Dukovak: You're right, besides Manfred couldn't pilot in his current state.
Yamazin: Stop thinking about it, look I finished making several sketches for the company logo. Which one do you like?
Yamazin puts three sketches on Dukovak's desk. Dukovak looks at them and says:
Dukovak: I like the middle one
Yamazin: I see, that will be the logo then.
After this, Dukovak turns on his computer and gets to work. Yamazin observes how Dukovak is focused on his work and remembers the days when Dukovak worked with her at Gjallarhorn. Yamazin is in the Gjallarhorn hangar monitoring the installation of new weapons on Gjallarhorn Mobile Suits. When Dukovak approaches her with his tablet and says:
Dukovak: I've already worked with the data you gave me. The problem you have with the actuator response has to do with the gain the control system has.
Yamazin: What do you mean?
Dukovak: The ratio by which the voltage supplied to the actuators increases
Yamazin: Could you be more specific?
Dukovak: Your engineers ignored how a PID control system behaves. It would be good if we increased the initial gain to 0.9 instead of leaving it at 0.4
Yamazin: I understand you now, you want to reach the reference faster
Dukovak: That's right, I also took the liberty of running simulations and with that gain there wouldn't be so much overshoot
Yamazin: I see and it only took you a day to solve this
Dukovak: Three hours, I didn't see you all day today. I talked to Jean Paul to find you. Is this some kind of test?
Yamazin: No, I really hadn't thought that the engineering team couldn't do something as basic as this.
Dukovak: I see, what's my next task.
Yamazin: Come with me Dukovak, you're going to work more closely with me.
Dukovak: Alright
Dukovak follows Yamazin and they arrive at an empty cockpit with a cable. Dukovak inspects the cabin and notices that there is a cable in it that comes
out of the pilot's seat.
Dukovak: What exactly do you want me to help you with?
Yamazin: I need you to help me create a fast control interface
Dukovak: What is this cable for?
Yamazin: It's an Alaya-Vijnana interface cable. The fastest pilot-machine interface system that exists. The Gundams could originally only operate with
that interface system.
Dukovak: Why don't they implant it in their pilots?
Yamazin: It's considered taboo within Gjallarhorn
Dukovak: I see
Yamazin: Although we still have some test pilots who have it. Your task will be to help me develop an interface system that rivals the Alaya-Vijnana.
Dukovak: When do we start?
Yamazin: Right now if possible
Dukovak: Let's get to work
Yamazin continues to observe Dukovak in his office while he works on his computer. Yamazin leaves there to get some fresh air and says
Yamazin: "Dukovak There are things that haven't changed in you since you left Gjallarhorn"
Mick is repairing a tablet when Yamazin approaches him:
Yamazin: What are you doing Mick?
Mick: Repairing and modifying this tablet. I like to modify the devices I use
Yamazin: And what are you going to modify in this Tablet?
Mick: The screen, I want one that has more brightness, I'm also going to install a more powerful RAM.
Yamazin: What do you want to do that for?
Mick: To see if I can play video games on it and read some visual novels.
Yamazin: I see, you also had a Takemura P3SA
Mick: Yes
Yamazin: How did you get it?
Mick: Manfred gave it to me, do you know anything about him? We haven't heard from the Mobile Suit squadron for days.
Yamazin: I know the same as you, that he was injured and was recovering in a hospital in Harare
Mick: I see.
Mick looks at his console and remembers the good times with Manfred. Mick is in programming class. Manfred sits next to him. The class begins and both are paying attention. Both take notes in their notebooks. Suddenly Manfred rests his head on his hand. The class continues normally, after a few minutes he falls asleep and Mick snaps his fingers at Manfred without getting a response from him.
Mick: No way. Manfred!
Manfred wakes up in a discreet way and says
Manfred: What happened
Mick: You fell asleep, man
Manfred: I was recharging energy
Mick: You overdid it, man
Manfred: Did the teacher notice?
Mick: No, when we leave let's go eat something. So you're not so sleepy anymore.
Manfred: Okay
Mick is in the corporation's Mobile Suit hangar and says:
Mick: Damn Manfred, you really overdid it.
Yamazin: What happened, you got lost for a moment
Mick: I was remembering something
Yamazin: I see, Kudelia is supposed to mediate a call between the corporation and Gjallarhorn to find out what happened to the team in Harare.
Mick: Let me know if you get updates about Manfred.
Yamazin: I will.
Yamazin goes to the office and sits at Dukovak's desk. There she makes a call with Rustal Elion.
Rustal is in his office calmly receiving reports from high-ranking officers about the situation in the southern African continent.
Officer: The situation in Harare is tense. Although we managed to retake important parts of the city The rebels control the outskirts of the city.
Rustal: I suppose they did it in cooperation with the armed forces of the African Union.
Officer: Yes, with the military that remained loyal to the African Union. It is estimated that 30% of the forces in the region deserted to the rebel side.
Rustal: What about Mrs. Juris, did she manage to flee Harare?
Officer: Yes sir, she took several Mobile Suits with her as ordered. Although she also took the members of the corporation out of the city. They are
currently in Cairo
Rustal: It's good that she took the members of the corporation that way we could increase cooperation with said organization.
Officer: What use could we give to the corporation
Rustal: We can delegate missions that are too dangerous and high-risk for our personnel, after all they demonstrated their worth in Operation Free
Bird.
Officer: Sir, with all due respect, was it your idea to rescue the elements of the corporation?
Rustal: No, Mrs. Juris acted on her own.
Officer: What are we going to do about the situation in southern Africa?
Rustal: We have to act in anticipation to prevent another secession movement.
Officer: Understood sir
Rustal: It is a risk that the deserters are in the rebel ranks because they could train them and make our task of maintaining peace in the region more difficult.
Officer: One more thing, our spies have reports that the African Union found a weapon from the Calamity War
Rustal: Do you have any idea what weapon it is?
Officer: No, but according to reports it may be a large-scale weapon. We rule out the possibility that it is a Mobile Armor.
Rustal: Keep me informed of how the situation evolves, you may go.
Officer: Of course sir.
The officer leaves Rustal's office, when he receives a call from Kudelia Aina Bernstein. Rustal sighs and answers the call
Rustal: Mrs. Bernstein good afternoon, I hope you are well. Operation Free Bird demonstrated that collaboration between the Martian Union and Gjallarhorn is more than possible.
Kudelia: Indeed Mr. Elion, I congratulate your team for the courage shown in fighting the pirate clans.
Rustal: tell me, what is the reason for your call.
Kudelia: One of our collaborators wishes to speak with you. The Horikoshi Defense Corporation.
Rustal: It would be my pleasure to speak with the leader of the corporation, after all without the participation of the corporation, none of this would have been possible.
Kudelia: I'll put you in contact
Rustal: Gladly
Yamazin is sitting when she receives a call from Kudelia. Yamazin answers it and Rustal appears on the office screen.
Rustal: Mrs. Toka it's a pleasure to speak with you again.
Yamazin: The pleasure is mine, Rustal Elion.
Rustal: Mrs. Bernstein told me that you wanted to talk to me, I hope you are looking to collaborate with Gjallarhorn more closely.
Yamazin: Mr. Elion I'm going to be straigthforward with you, we want to know the whereabouts of Manfred Horikoshi. The last update we had is that he was recovering from his injuries in a hospital in Harare.
Rustal: Manfred is in Cairo, my men got him out of there due to the disturbances caused by some secessionist groups in the region.
Yamazin: I see Rustal, thank you very much
Rustal: The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Toka, could I ask you a question
Yamazin: Of course.
Rustal: Why did you leave Gjallarhorn although you were the chief engineer of the research center.
Yamazin: I was tired of following orders, I wanted to be my own boss
Rustal: And you decided to work for one of your subordinates just because of that?
Yamazin: It's a relationship of equals, I don't have to answer to anyone in the corporation. Besides, the pay is higher than what Gjallarhorn offered me.
Rustal: I see, greed also seduced you.
Yamazin: No, I simply stopped believing in Gjallarhorn.
Rustal: why did you stop believing, Yamazin
Yamazin: You know the truth and the consequences of your actions. It's a matter of time before the consequences of your actions catch up with you.
Rustal: Is this a threat
Yamazin: It's the truth, Rustal. I don't want the consequences of your actions to affect me in the least. That's why I left Gjallarhorn.
Rustal: I see. It was a pleasure to have this conversation. I hope to be able to speak with your partners in the near future. And to be able to ensure
greater collaboration between our organizations.
Yamazin: I hope so.
Yamazin hangs up the call and goes to find Dukovak and Mick to give them the good news.
A group of scientists arrive at the excavations where the Mobile Armor is located. The Mobile Armor is being dismantled and several of its parts are being analyzed by a group of engineers. Who connect several computers to the central processing unit of the Mobile Armor. A scientist asks him what he's doing
Scientist: What are you doing? This beast could annihilate entire cities if activated.
Engineer: I know, isn't it great? Seeing the power of this beast
Scientist: Seeing the body of this Mobile Armor is impressive. It's the largest Mobile Armor found to date.
Engineer: What did you come here for, what's your name friend?
Scientist: I'm Roboam Barbosa, nice to meet you.
Engineer: I suppose you're the thermal process engineer, you came here to start up the Mobile Armor. didnt you
Roboam: That's correct, take me to the Mobile Armor's laser cannon
Engineer: Of course sir.
The engineer takes Roboam to the laser cannon segment of the Mobile Armor once there, Roboam says:
Roboam: It's going to take weeks to repair it. First we have to repair the Mobile Armor's power source and develop a system that stops the Mobile Armor if something gets out of control.
The engineer upon hearing this orders his colleagues to gather. He stands on a box and begins to speak.
Engineer: Alright guys our friend Roboam needs us to make a schematic of the circuits and power source of this Mobile Armor.
Roboam talks to the engineer and says
Roboam: I forgot to tell you that Mobile Suit entry is totally prohibited we don't want to activate the Mobile Armor by mistake.
Engineer: Understood sir.
Roboam: Alright let's get to work. By the way, what is your name
Engineer: call me Erickson
Roboam and the team of engineers begin to gut the Mobile Armor to make a schematic of the circuits. They use diamond-tipped saws to cut between the pieces. There comes a time when they begin to use a blowtorch to cut the deformed metal of that beast.
Weeks pass, trucks come and go to refurbish the Mobile Armor. Meanwhile, Manfred regains his ability to walk and starts going out with Illmari, Sephora, Julieta and Richtoffen to tour the streets of Cairo. They take photos with camels, the pyramids and other Egyptian temples. They go to a café and Richtoffen tries something called shisha. Manfred, although still melancholic inside, begins to smile again. One day Julieta has a call with Rustal:
Julieta: Mr. Elion how are you
Rustal: Well, I'm calling you because I have new orders for you.
Julieta: What are the orders sir
Rustal: Don't leave the hangar much. We believe the African Union has a Mobile Armor in its possession.
Julieta: Do we have information about this
Rustal: No, that's why your Reginlaze will arrive at the hangar in a few days.
Julieta: I understand the gravity of the matter
Rustal: One more thing, I hope you can convince Manfred to pilot again. In the worst case scenario, we're going to need all the help available.
Julieta: Understood sir.
Seeing Rustal's orders, Julieta, Manfred, Illmari, Sephora and Richtoffen begin to spend more time at the Cairo base. There they spend time playing video games when everyone is together. Manfred teaches Sephora and Illmari how to cook. Julieta joins the cooking lessons. And Richtoffen buys a shisha that he installs in his room. When Manfred spends time with Richtoffen they only talk about trivial topics.
Manfred: And how is "that"
Richtoffen: What do you mean?
Manfred: You know that. What you do with the guys you like.
Richtoffen: I don't know, I've never done it. You're the first person I've liked.
Manfred: Really?
Richtoffen: Yes, what about you. Do you do it with them?
Manfred: What do you mean
Richtoffen: You know what I mean. Don't evade my question
Manfred: Look... I haven't reached that point in the relationship yet
Illmari and Sephora enter Richtoffen's room where he and Manfred are smoking shisha.
Sephora: Manfred did you by any chance say the word "relationship"
Manfred: Look, I can explain, you are very affectionate with me so I assumed we are in a relationship
Illmari: It's obvious that we are in a relationship, in fact we didn't do "That" with you because we were waiting for you to realize that you were in a relationship.
Manfred: Wow.
Sephora: Richtoffen can we steal Manfred for a moment?
Richtoffen: Go ahead, good luck with that Manfred.
Manfred walks with Illmari and Sephora until they reach the hangar there they talk to Manfred.
Illmari: Sephora and I are worried about you
Manfred: Why?
Illmari: You're not the same since what happened in the Millennium Tower
Manfred smiling says:
Manfred: Of course I'm the same.
Sephora: We've noticed that you're more melancholic than usual
Manfred: Of course not, I'm smiling more than usual
Illmari: Of course you are, you only smile when you're with us.
Sephora: Manfred if you need to feel better don't hesitate to talk to us
Manfred is downcast and says
Manfred: I didn't forget what I did in the Millennium Tower. I still haven't redeemed my sin.
Illmari: And that's normal, in fact, it shows us that you're not a psychopath.
Sephora: When the time comes for you to redeem yourself, we know you will.
Manfred hugs the girls and tells them:
Manfred: Thanks for everything.
Sephora: You don't have to thank us. Do you want to go to sleep?
Manfred: Yes
Illmari: Alright
Manfred and the girls go to a bed to sleep. The next day, Julieta's Mobile Suit arrives. Manfred leaves his hangar to see Julieta's Mobile Suit. Julieta is standing at the door. He asks her:
Manfred: What is that
Julieta: My Mobile Suit, a modified Reginlaze. I hope I don't have to use it
Manfred: Why did they bring it Julieta?
Julieta: The African Union may make a huge mistake and we may have to fix it. I hope you help me Manfred.
Manfred: If that helps me amend my mistakes I'll do it.
Julieta: I hope that's the case.
Manfred: My people are asking if they can leave the base now, they've been without rotations for a while.
Julieta: We still can't.
Night falls in Cairo. In the weeks that passed, Roboam's team was in charge of repairing the Mobile Armor and putting it in optimal operational conditions. One night the African Union soldiers were patrolling the excavation. When the head of one is shot down by a sniper shot. The African Union soldiers begin to return fire. Suddenly some Mobile Suits and Mobile Workers approach the excavation at full speed. The African Union soldiers decide to use anti-tank missiles. Roboam hears the shooting and seeing that the rebels were using Mobile Suits says:
Roboam: To hell with it
Roboam starts a truck and flees the excavation towards Cairo. The rebel Mobile Suits begin to approach the excavation quickly. And they reach its edges. Once there the rebels discuss:
Pilot 1: What do we do with this weapon
Pilot 2: We have to destroy it
Pilot 3: Don't you think we should ask for artillery fire to do it.
Pilot 2: We can't waste valuable resources to destroy an artifact that we can destroy.
Pilot 1: Well we've already decided what to do. Charge
The three Mobile Suits go down to destroy the Mobile Armor. But it detects the Ahab waves and activates. When activated It makes a whirlwind of earth and pulls out spikes from all segments of its tail. The pilots try to kill the creature, but it quickly dispatches them one by one. After killing the pilots, the beast lets out a beam into the sky. It begins to walk quickly upwards to get out of the excavation. Erickson calls the African Union headquarters
Erickson: The beast has awakened. I repeat the beast has awakened
General: We're going to send Mobile Suit teams to contain the threat. Don't worry Erickson. You'll get out of there alive.
Erickson: It's too late for me. NO PLEASE NO NOOOOOO.
The beast tears Erickson's body apart. And it heads towards the Nile. The beast begins to destroy several nearby cities and heads towards Cairo. In Cairo alarms begin to sound and soldiers begin to evacuate people to bunkers distributed throughout the city.
Julieta goes to wake up Manfred and Manfred says:
Manfred: Another evacuation drill?
Julieta: Get up, it's the opportunity to amend your mistakes.
Manfred: Do I have to pilot Salomon?
Julieta: You already know the answer.
Manfred: Alright, time to work
Julieta: That's the attitude.
Julieta gathers all the pilots in a room and informs them that a Mobile Armor has been awakened. This room has a screen showing the schematics of the Mobile Armor
Julieta: Gentlemen we face a threat superior to the Mars incident
Pilot: Greater than that of the white devil?
Julieta: Yes, we're talking about a Mobile Armor that is the largest recorded. It is estimated to be the size of a 200 meter battleship.
Pilot: We're talking about a suicide mission
Julieta: Yes, you will enter in case Richtoffen, Illmari, Manfred and I cannot end the threat.
Pilot: What if we fail
Julieta: A satellite bombardment of Dainsleif will be made. And let's hope that one of the munitions destroys the central processing unit.
Julieta points out on the schematics where the central processing unit is located.
Julieta: The African Union was responsible enough to share the schematics of the Mobile Armor with us. The point I pointed out is where the Central
Processing Unit is located. That's where we need to attack. Questions?
All: No.
The pilots go to their Mobile Suits and these leave Cairo to face the Mobile Armor. The Gjallarhorn and corporation Mobile Suits surround the Mobile Armor. It begins to fire spikes in all directions dispatching several Mobile Suits in the process. The Mobile Suits of Illmari, Sephora, Manfred and Julieta dodge the spikes and continue advancing. Tentacles begin to come out of the Mobile Armor's column. These attack all the Mobile Suits. Julieta and Manfred have no problem dodging the tentacles. Richtoffen on his other hand is reached by one of the stingers that damage his right shoulder pad. After this Richtoffen tries to go to the central processing unit to end the Mobile Armor once and for all. Richtoffen's extremities are destroyed in seconds by the Mobile Armor's stingers.
Richtoffen: Shit
Illmari seeing this decides to get Richtoffen out of the danger zone When she is also reached by the Mobile Armor's tentacles. The Mobile Armor knocks down the calf of Illmari's Rodi and her right forearm. Manfred seeing this decides to go to protect Illmari so she can escape with Richtoffen. Manfred achieves this by distracting the Mobile Armor by approaching its tail, wounding it with his Zweihander. The Mobile Armor pays attention to Manfred sending all its stingers, Manfred dodges them successively. After that He decides to cut some stingers before they can rise. Julieta doesn't fall behind and tries to make a frontal attack on the Mobile Armor, but it blocks her attacks. After that the Mobile Armor tries to counterattack with one of its legs. Manfred goes and cuts off the leg. And it falls to the ground. The Mobile Armor deactivates for a moment. Generating interference in Manfred's Mobile Suit. Salomon's monitor shows a message. "Warning, disabling the limiters may lead to permanent sequels. Do you wish to continue?" Manfred presses some buttons and says
Manfred: Yes
Salomon's eyes begin to glow and Salomon begins to move at greater speed. Julieta continues trying to attack the Mobile Armor without success, After this several stingers go to the torso of Julieta's Reginlaze. Manfred pushes the modified Reginlaze saving Julieta from certain death. The Mobile Suit is lying down observing Salomon's fight against the beast. Julieta tries to get up when the stingers hit the right shoulder, the left leg and arm of the modified Reginlaze. Leaving the modified Reginlaze useless and Manfred alone. Seeing that the Mobile Armor planned to give the coup de grace to Julieta's Reginlaze, Manfred damages the beast's tail. After this the beast goes against Manfred again. This time Manfred dodges the Mobile Armor's attacks more quickly. Which range from needle throwing, guided stinger attacks, hits with its legs and arms and legs. The machine seeing that it cannot finish Manfred decides to deploy guided missiles, which Manfred dodges in a superhuman way. As he approaches the Mobile Armor, he gives critical blows to its thorax and tail. After much scuffle Manfred gives a blow that kills the tail and missile system of the Mobile Armor. The speed at which Manfred moves is impressive. But a tentacle impacts against Salomon's left arm. The Salomon Gundam throws away its remaining machete with which it was fighting to take out the Zweihander. Manfred makes a final charge against the Mobile Armor going for the central processing unit. At this point, the Mobile Armor only has stingers to defend itself so it decides to try to attack Manfred from behind before he gives it the coup de grace. Julieta uses the functional arm to distract the Mobile Armor, shooting at the stingers. The stingers go towards Julieta to kill her. But Manfred stabs the central processing unit deactivating the stingers in time. Julieta says:
Julieta: He really fought like that boy from the white Gundam, Is this a chance to amend my mistakes?
Julieta goes towards the Salomon Gundam's cabin to go to Manfred's aid. She climbs up to open Manfred's cabin and finds a bleeding asks him:
Julieta: Manfred are you okay?
Manfred: I managed to redeem myself.
Julieta: Hold on Manfred, don't fall asleep yet
Julieta disconnects Manfred from the Alaya-Vijnana system and he asks her
Manfred: Julieta, do you think I managed to expiate my sins?
Julieta: Yes, you did enough for one day.
Manfred smiles and says:
Manfred: Ha, that's good.
Manfred faints and some Mobile Workers approach the scene, Julieta asks for urgent medical help.
Manfred wakes up in a bed. Sephora sees that Manfred has woken up and calls everyone. Richtoffen, Illmari, and Julieta enter the room.
Illmari: Manfred how are you
Manfred: Fine just that I can't feel my left eye
Julieta: You fell unconscious as soon as your battle with the Mobile Armor ended, you saved millions of say that your left eye isnt working
Sephora: I knew the amulet I gave you would help you wake up.
Richtoffen has a plaster on his right arm, he was slowly towards manfred and speaks with manfred:
richtoffen: My right arm got broken in the battle. Thanks for saving my life
Manfred: Its the least that I could do. Did Illmari got hurt
Richtoffen: No. Please tell me, did you manage to redeem yourself? Did you finally Expiate your sins?
Manfred: Yes