Inside the Federation Navy guest house on the Moon, the three men sat around a dinner table.
While Bright and Kenneth maintained a harmonious atmosphere discussing the future direction of the Federation, Hathaway seemed like a child who couldn't find an opening in the conversation.
He stared at the flower arrangement on the table, occasionally glancing at the two older men out of the corner of his eye.
This was Hathaway's method of concealment. Sometimes, the more you say, the more mistakes you make; it was better to remain quiet and maintain the persona of the "obedient son" in Bright's presence.
The only question now was whether Kenneth would see through the mask...
"Ah, my mistake. It's the day Captain Bright and Hathaway finally reunite, and I've gone and gotten carried away," Kenneth said, scratching his head awkwardly after chatting with Bright for a while.
He had noticed Hathaway remaining silent, seemingly engrossed in observing the flowers.
"Hathaway, you're undergoing training to be a Botanical Inspection Officer, right?"
Kenneth recalled the information he had seen on his terminal and spoke casually. "That's quite an important position."
Truthfully, after meeting Bright, Kenneth had planned to bring a gift from the Captain to Hathaway once he descended to Earth, so he had looked up Hathaway's files.
He hadn't expected the young man to show up on the Moon himself.
"Yes... Although the rate of Earth's environmental deterioration has slowed slightly, there are still no signs of actual improvement," Hathaway replied. He understood that once the topic moved to his professional field, he could no longer hide behind silence. "Earth's ecological situation... it cannot be reversed simply through botanical reforestation alone."
"Yes, that is the very significance of expanding space colonies," Bright added, following his son's lead. "Reduce the human population on Earth as much as possible, maintain it within a stable range, and simultaneously use various means to improve the ecology... that's what I heard during recent talks with colleagues."
"But no matter what... humanity can no longer all live on Earth."
Hearing his father's words, Hathaway shook his head.
"I didn't expect you to be thinking so far ahead, Hathaway..."
Kenneth raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Hathaway would voice such a perspective.
Just as Kenneth was about to share his own views on the topic, a flicker of professional habit caught up with him. He instinctively glanced at Hathaway's hands.
The faint calluses visible between the fingers caught his attention.
Those calluses looked familiar... he felt as though he had seen that specific pattern somewhere else, but he couldn't quite place it at that moment.
"Speaking of which... you have calluses on your hands, Hathaway."
Kenneth smiled, not overthinking it yet. "Are those from gripping tools while cultivating plants?"
'As expected, this man is dangerous.'
Hathaway's pupils contracted slightly, but he fought to keep his expression neutral. After a split second of deliberation, he decided to throw up a smokescreen.
"No. They're from practicing with a handgun at the firing range."
The atmosphere at the table turned awkward in an instant.
"Ah, haha... well, that's understandable," Kenneth said, letting out a forced laugh to cut through the tension. "After all, a Botanical Inspection Officer is still a Federation official, which technically puts you in Mafty's crosshairs. Learning some self-defense is only natural. But... the project I'm overseeing has already touched down on Earth. Mafty will be wiped out soon, and you'll be safe then."
"In fact, I don't practice shooting for self-defense."
Hathaway realized how to reframe the origin of those calluses on the fly. "It's part of my psychological therapy."
"Psychological therapy...?" Kenneth blinked, caught off guard.
"Yes. During Char's Rebellion, Hathaway piloted an MS and shot down the person he loved," Bright explained to Kenneth, his voice heavy. "You can imagine it, can't you? The feeling of killing your own 'white moonlight' just as your first love was blooming..."
A perfect assist; Hathaway couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.
While it was painful to have Bright tear open his old wounds again, it was worth it as long as he could successfully brush off a dangerous man like Kenneth.
"Uh... I can probably imagine it."
Kenneth couldn't keep laughing anymore. Now, it was Kenneth's brain that was racing, searching for a more lighthearted topic to shift to.
Even though Kenneth felt those kinds of calluses didn't seem like the sort one would get from practicing with a gun, Hathaway wasn't exactly a suspect he was interrogating in an interview room right now. Naturally, he pushed that trivial doubt aside.
At this moment, Kenneth desperately wanted to give himself a hard slap across the face.
'I'm such a bastard!' Kenneth thought to himself.
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Dinner for the three men didn't take much time.
When Hathaway mentioned that he "wanted to go take a look at the lunar colony," Bright handed him the keys to the jeep without hesitation.
After realizing he had reopened Hathaway's scars, Kenneth was in no mood to visit the bars at the lunar colony and went straight back to his room at the guest house to rest.
As for Bright, he returned to the base. Even though he had taken leave, he still had to go back to the Ra Cailum to check the maintenance logs and prepare some gifts for Chemin and Nanami for Hathaway to take back.
'Handwritten letters are probably still the best way to show one's feelings' Bright thought as he walked through the corridor, heading toward the Ra Cailum.
Speaking of which, since Kai Shiden had gone to investigate "Amuro," but Sayla and Fraw hadn't received the news yet, should he contact them first?
With their information channels, Kai's operations would likely be much easier.
At that moment, Bright seemed to think of something, and his footsteps paused.
"Kamille... right, Kamille should be doing better now."
Bright scratched his head. "Forget it, better not tell him yet, or else he'll charge straight over to Mafty's side to look..."
Just as Bright was pondering these topics, he spotted a figure that felt inexplicably familiar.
Wearing a Federation uniform with his left hand thrust into his jacket pocket, the man stood before the corridor glass near the Ra Cailum's dock, gazing at the ship.
"Who are you?"
Bright frowned slightly. "What are you doing standing here?"
By pure coincidence, the spot where this guy was standing was the exact same spot where that "Amuro" had been before, causing Bright to become uncharacteristically wary.
"Ah... I just saw the Federation hero's warship, the Ra Cailum, and couldn't help but be captivated by her appearance. That's all."
It was a very youthful voice, one Bright felt he had heard somewhere before.
"The Ra Cailum is a frequent visitor to this spaceport; it's impossible for a Federation soldier to have never seen her."
Hearing this excuse, Bright suddenly felt a sense of being brushed off. "State your name."
"My name is Damien."
Char turned his head and looked at Bright. "Rank is Captain."
"...There is no one by the name of Damien on my ship."
Seeing that the name Char provided didn't match the roster he had looked over when he first returned to the base, Bright drew his gun.
"Who exactly are you... Char?!"
That was it. Upon seeing Char's appearance, Bright felt his memories assaulting him, and his eyes—which weren't that large to begin with—widened slightly.
When Bright saw Char's face behind the sunglasses and realized that his appearance matched the Char in his memories point-for-point, his eyes widened involuntarily, and his finger rested directly on the trigger.
Was this the Char who had appeared at Oenbelli?
Why was he here?
"Hmph... so the disguise failed, then?"
Char, who in fact had not used a disguise at all, scratched his head with a troubled expression, revealing the left hand that had been tucked in his pocket.
"However, I would advise Colonel Bright not to fire. Otherwise, the bombs I've installed on the Ra Cailum will be detonated."
"Char... you bastard."
Bright frowned, looking at this impossibly young Char standing before him.
"A man who is clearly dead..."
"Why have I been resurrected, right?"
Char smiled and shook his head.
"Although I possess his fragmented memories, I am not him."
Being unable to claim his own identity despite it being his own gave Char a strange sensation.
For a moment, the atmosphere on the scene fell into silence.
"I know there are cameras in the corridor. If you are waiting for reinforcements to capture me, then I'm afraid I must disappoint you."
Char instantly read Bright's mind; he wanted to maintain this standoff until Federation reinforcements arrived.
"I disabled the surveillance in this small section of the corridor a short while ago. It should be under maintenance now; they can't see us."
Indeed, Char had recently taken a wrench from somewhere and smashed the connectors and lenses of those cameras.
The person in charge of the monitoring room was currently directing a team to perform repairs.
"What exactly do you Zeon remnants want?!"
Upon hearing this, Bright gritted his teeth and aimed at Char's head.
"Zeon remnants? No, no, no... they belong to the other Char's team." Hearing Bright's words, Char's smile became even more bold. "As for me... I am a member of Mafty."
The revelations from Char—that "the Zeon remnants have another Char" and "this Char-lookalike is a member of Mafty"—sent massive waves of shock through Bright's heart. Cold sweat began to seep from the palm gripping his gun.
"You're with Mafty?"
Bright forced himself to steady his breathing and asked solemnly, "This is a Federation Naval Base. Under this dragnet, what do you plan to do?!"
"To steal a Gundam, of course."
Char laughed, feeling an inexplicable sense of amusement. "Isn't that a required course for every Gundam pilot? Don't underestimate Mafty's intelligence network!"
"Hmph... then I'm sorry, but it seems your intelligence network isn't fast enough."
Bright aimed at Char's head, as if he might pull the trigger and shoot him dead at any second. "That powerful machine has already arrived on Earth!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Char smiled, but did not say anything further.
At this moment, seeing Char's expression, Bright's brain instinctively went into overdrive as he tried to analyze Char's plan.
Could it be... that this Mafty group's target isn't the Penelope at all, but the Anaheim electronics warehouses?!
When he thought of the Federation's Gundams—even if some were outdated—their symbolic significance alone meant that if Mafty were to steal them...
Bright tightened his grip on the pistol's handle, as if he might pull the trigger at any second.
"I suggest you calm down and lower your pistol. After all..."
Char smiled, his finger also resting on the detonation trigger, standing by at any moment.
Recalling the items he had hidden nearby, Char's smile grew even more radiant.
To Bright's ears, Char's voice sounded like the whisper of a demon.
"Captain Bright, you wouldn't want your Ra Cailum, this Federation Naval Base, and the warships near the Ra Cailum to be blown to smithereens, would you?"
....................