Chapter 119: GN-Drive
Setsuna·F·Seiei couldn't remember what his name was. He only vaguely remembered that he had led a very miserable life and was later rescued by Britannia, but all memories related to his name were very vague.
His earliest clear memory is that he was selected to join some training program of Britannia, and what followed was study, struggle, and endless killing. During such days, he was allowed access to the outside world, yet the outside world was no better, with war and death everywhere.
"Your lives are a microcosm of the world, I'm just tearing away the lies to present it to you in a straightforward way." Emperor Charles said to them all, "Those who want answers try to live, and I will give you the answers you want."
He drained himself of all his potential and struggled to hold on for the answer that His Majesty had promised, and this was his only conviction to hold on to himself in such a brutal struggle. By the time he came back to his senses, he had become one of the few people still alive, and he was finally granted an audience with Emperor Charles.
"Why is the world so twisted, why do humans hurt each other, you want to know the answer, very well, I will give you the answer." Charles said as such, "It's because everyone is lying, the world is made up of lies, that's why there is malice, that's why there is war."
"Lying people can't understand each other." He understood, and followed up, "Then is there a path for people to understand each other in the world?"
"Of course there is." His Majesty looked him straight in the eyes and his voice was full of ambition, "That is exactly what I am going to do, to create a world where there are no lies and where all people understand each other. Will you join me?"
At that moment, he found the goal he was pursuing, the meaning of his fight, the self-worth that he could achieve even if he could do nothing but fight and kill.
"I do." He replied without hesitation.
"From now on, I give you the name Setsuna·F·Seiei and make you the second Knight of the Knights of the Britannia Round Table." Charles led him to an MS, "Join me and use it to turn the world into what it should be."
The MS was more than familiar to Setsuna, as it was the top priority of the training program. He also showed extraordinary talent in MS driving, and quickly evolved from a rookie to a powerhouse, even defeating an ACE in a graduation test, who was said to be a Knight of the Round Table, ranked seventh.
However, the MS in front of him was different. The moment he saw it, a picture suddenly appeared in Setsuna's mind. The background of the image is the breathtakingly beautiful sunset, and the young one under the sunset is looking up at some white…
"Look at me." Emperor Charles issued a command without mercy, and Setsuna subconsciously turned his head …
Nowadays, he only remembers the emperor saying something inspiring to him, but he can't recall the exact content. But it doesn't matter, because whenever he sees his MS, he feels close, nostalgic, and warm.
The best feature of his Gundam00 is the GN-Drive on the shoulder. According to Emperor Char, GN means Glittering Newtype, glittering NT. The reactor when operating will produce light particles, providing the MS with extraordinary power.
"The glow of this particle is the light of the human soul, and the GN-drive is the power of mutual understanding." Emperor Charles told him as such, "To create a world of mutual understanding with the power of mutual understanding is to get the right result in the right way."
He had also asked why there was only one GN-drive, and the design on the other shoulder of Gundam00 could clearly be seen to have left a place for a second GN-drive.
"Because it is difficult to understand each other even among NTs." Emperor Charles gave him such an answer that he didn't understand.
Right now was his first official mission, this time, it was only a tentative attack, the ultimate goal was to retake Britannia territory and expel Londo Bell.
The years of training and killings let him become strong enough to face a veteran ACE, but it's still a little too difficult to face two ACEs at the same time. Even with the advantage of the MS performance, he began to feel more and more strained, it will only be a matter of time for him to be defeated.
Setsuna made a decisive decision and used that system in his first attack, "TRANS-AM!"
The GN-drive on Gundam00's shoulder burst out a dazzling light particle, at first, it was a mild green; as the concentration increased gradually, it turned into a bright red, and even the MS itself was dyed red, just like the scene when Ade was pushing the satellite.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Setsuna recognized that the voice was the pilot of the red MS on the opposite side, who repeatedly shouted certain words of unknown meaning.
Gundam00 will get a great increase in performance in this mode. Setsuna was confident to end the battle before exiting TRANS-AM. But strangely enough, the red MS somehow also glowed, and its speed seemed to have tripled for some unknown reason. The other side suddenly stuck to him like a mad dog, and the battle became a stalemate once again.
As time passed, Gundam00 was unable to gain the upper hand in front of Sinanju, whose performance had inexplicably increased. The action of the two machines was so fast that even the Zeta Gundam on the sidelines could not intervene.
"TRANS-AM's time is coming up." He looked at the timer on the screen and decisively called for friendly forces before the MS's performance dropped drastically, "Setsuna·F·Seiei, retreating now."
Gundam00 switched the sword blade into the shotgun mode, and the close-in shooting forced Sinanju to pull away. Taking this chance, Gundam00 immediately turned back and flew away. Under the TRANS-AM mode, Gundam00 had unparalleled straight-line speed, and Sinanju was far behind after a while.
This tentative attack by Britannia came to an end with Setsuna's retreat.
The light particles on the battlefield gradually dissipated, Sinanju also gradually dimmed down, and Char, who had finally recovered his senses from his berserk state, was panting heavily in the cockpit. His face was bruised, his head hurting like it was about to explode, and his body completely sweating through. He looked over to where Lingus and Delta+ had been, and that place was empty.
"Captain Aker, clean up the battlefield, and leave the back to Bright." After saying this, Char passed out.
…
Ade opened his eyes in the hospital bed and the first thing he saw was Momoka who was watching him with a worried look.
"Ade-san, you're awake!" The maid lady cried out in surprise, "You've been sleeping all day, we're on Londo Bell's boat now, I'll call the doctor!"
"No need, I'm feeling pretty good about myself." He waved to Momoka and sat up with her assistance, then turned his head to the one in the next bed, "Yo, you're lying down too, what a coincidence."
Char was slumped in the hospital bed, and was furious to see him awake, "Lingus, what do you mean by letting this little girl knock you out? That's on the battlefield, do you want to die?!"
"First, I have confidence in Momoka's level, she will protect me. Second, that Delta+ was probably driven by C.C. I was on the verge of a rampage, and it was the best choice to keep the relationship from breaking up."
"Nonsense." Char was annoyed, "Give me a reason that makes sense."
"Delta+ is a TITANS model, but you said you've never seen it here, so I judged it as an up-and-coming MS of the Black Knights." Ade explained, "Except for Kallen, Lelouch doesn't have other decent ACEs, then where did this ACE come? As I said before, C.C. is very likely hiding in the Black Knights, plus the other side gave up resistance after seeing the Unicorn Gundam. In that case, I judge the odds are that C.C. came to meet Lelouch's retreat, so it's worth the risk."
"Even so, this plan was planned by you, and how can you risk your life when there is a possibility of failure?" Char looked at him with hatred, "Which is more important, all of humanity or your woman?"
"Of course, my woman is more important." Ade replied expressionlessly, "If it weren't for C.C., the destruction of humanity would be none of my business."
"Lingus!" Char pulled the IV out of his hand, struggling to get out of bed, "You need correction more than Kamille!"
"You can't beat Momoka."
Char sat back down and put the IV back in for himself.
The two men stalled for a while, until Amuro and Bright opened the door and came in. Amuro had arrived at Londo Bell only a few hours earlier, and Ade spotted the other as soon as he woke up and said hello and chatted a bit. After arguing with Char, he asked Amuro to bring Bright along.
"Amuro, Captain Bright." Ade nodded to them in greeting, and the two greeted him back, "Without further ado, let me explain to you what's going on with that Gundam's glow."
"Do you want to take a break first?" Bright said kindly, "You just woke up, let the doctor take a look at you first, right?"
"For you, the next battle will start any minute, there's no time to rest." Ade declined, "This is very important, everything else will be discussed later."
Bright nodded in understanding and sat down side by side with Amuro.
"I've seen the visuals on the way." Amuro looked to Ade, "That light particle looks a lot like when we were pushing away Junius 7."
"Not very similar." Ade shook his head, "They are the same thing."
"How could …" Amuro looked incredulous, "According to Char, that Gundam's pilot wasn't even an NT, could such a miracle be man-made of?"
"I'll start it from the beginning." Ade cleared his throat, "The communication between NTs is carried by a certain kind of particle, which is capable of carrying information and energy. The particles stimulated by the consciousness of the NT will glow to present a high-energy state, and when the concentration of particles is large to a certain extent, the light will become visible to the naked eye. Unicorn, Sinanju, and the lights when pushing the satellite, are all due to this."
"Wait, when pushing the satellite, those MSs that lost power were wrapped in light particles and pushed away. Can that also be because of this?" Char was the first to react to what Ade said, "NT's strong consciousness fluctuations can charge this kind of particles?"
"Then wouldn't NT be a battery?" Amuro recognized something too.
"Yeah, a farmable battery." Ade nodded, "I'm still trying to figure out the source of energy, but in general, as long as the captive base of humans is large enough, there is always a certain number of NTs born in proportion, and then they can be stimulated to produce high-energy light particles every day. This is much more environmentally friendly than nuclear energy and Chulip crystal."
"In that glowing reactor…" Amuro only felt a chill down his back, followed by an uncontrollable surge of anger to his chest.
"From this personal experience, if my guess is correct, they are the souls of NTs inside." Ade clenched his fist, "I don't know how it was technically done, but the sound I heard at the end was coming from inside that Gundam, the cry of being squeezed as parts day and night, worse than death."
"How can someone be so heartless as to make such a thing!" Amuro gritted his teeth and hammered his thigh, "Such a thing that tramples on the human mind… is unforgivable … unforgivable!"
"So NTs are not allowed to participate in any future battles related to that Gundam." Bright showed his calm quality as a commander and immediately understood the reason why Ade called him over, "Then Amuro can't go, that Gundam can only be dealt with by Aker and Mu."
"That Gundam is excellent, and it's hard to defeat it with Londo Bell's battle power if Amuro can't go." Ade volunteered, "I still have two Gundams at home, Captain Bright, I'll have them sent over as soon as possible."
"Dr. Lingus!" Bright excitedly rushed to Ade's sickbay to hold his hand with a joyful smile on his face, "You'll always be us Londo Bell's best friend!"
Amuro broke away from the emotion he had just felt and looked at his own poor, crazy captain, feeling both amused and annoyed.
"How is the situation now?" Ade pulled his hand out awkwardly, "All I know is that Britannia declared war, and then what?"
"Oh, and then, well." Bright sat back, "Britannia is now fighting on two fronts, with the main force basically on the Atlantic side, against Scirocco and TITANS. The Japanese side is under Cornelia's command, all of them are stationed forces, with no reinforcements."
"A two-front war… Charles is so fanatically confident in himself, he really thinks he can level the world with NT-drive?" Ade then asked, "What's the Federation's attitude?"
"The Federation is sober and doesn't want to fight on two fronts, with its main force pouncing on the Pacific." Bright showed a bitter smile, "Confederation army headquarters ordered that Londo Bell is solely responsible for retaking Japan."
"No time for you guys, do what you want to do with yourself." Ade tried to translate the meaning of this order for him, "It's not bad, right? You can use this reason to ask for money and people and MSs, and no one blames you for running if you can't beat them."
"We have done fake fights for too long, it's time for the real thing." Bright sighed with emotion.
As he was talking, Momoka gently pulled Ade's hand. Ade followed her line of sight and found Char giving him a covert wink, so he smoothly pulled him into the mind space chat room.
"With the Celestial Being scheduled to appear on our script, that makes four powers in Japan." Char said to him, "In order to make the future more manageable, we need to simplify the situation."
"Talk more clearly."
"I've modified the script here, and I need your Celestial Being to cooperate." Char glanced at Ade in confidence, "How about this and this… so that Londo Bell can complete their mission, Celestial Being can make a smooth debut, Lelouch will be driven out of the game, and most importantly, you can snatch your woman back."
"… deal."
