Facing the Char before him, Bright had far too many things he wanted to ask; the best outcome would be to arrest him and take him to an interrogation room for questioning.
However, with Char holding a remote detonator and no way of knowing if he had truly hidden bombs on the Ra Cailum or elsewhere, Bright did not dare to move.
"It seems we can finally have a proper chat now."
Watching Bright stiffly move his finger from the trigger to the guard, Char smiled.
He extended his index and middle fingers slightly away from the detonator's trigger, yet maintained a posture where he could still trigger it at any moment.
"As a show of good faith, how about we take turns answering one question each?"
As he spoke, Char gave the detonator in his hand a slight shake.
"You go first?"
The scene fell into a bizarre equilibrium. Neither man dared to lower the weapon used to threaten the other, yet neither dared to actually pull the trigger, fearing the other would choose a mutual destruction.
"...What did you mean when you said the Zeon remnants have another Char?"
Confronted with Char's "goodwill," Bright remained silent for a moment before asking the question.
"Literally that. Those Zeon remnants also have a Char."
Recalling Roz Links piloting the Sinanju, Char's smile grew even more brilliant.
"He is a man who calls himself the vessel that inherited the will of Char."
This news was so explosive that Bright's eyes widened in shock.
"Then what about you? What exactly are you?!"
"Didn't we agree on one question each?"
Char shook his head. "Now, it's my turn."
Bright had no idea what question Char would ask next; he could only prepare to adapt on the fly.
Looking at the Bright before him, whose hair was already beginning to gray, Char thought of Hathaway—Bright's son and the current "Mafty."
"Relax, Captain Bright. My question won't put you in a difficult position."
"First question: How do you view the organization known as Mafty?"
"As a member of that organization, shouldn't you know better than anyone?"
Bright felt a sense of strangeness. "Mafty is a group of dangerous elements disrupting the order of the Federation."
The Char standing before him was clearly a member of Mafty, so why ask a question that would elicit a standard Federation military textbook answer?
If he truly wanted to extract intelligence about the Federation, wasn't this topic a waste of their tense, limited time?
"That isn't the answer from your true heart, is it?"
Char let out a cold laugh, clearly dissatisfied with such an official tone.
"I answered your question. It's my turn now, isn't it?"
Bright didn't address Char's remark, instead countering: "Those were the rules of the game you established."
Facing Bright's words, Char did not get angry. His free right hand made a "please" gesture.
"It's the same question: Your existence—what exactly are you?"
Although Char had mentioned that the Zeon remnants had another Char, Bright felt his primary mission was to confirm the origin of the Char standing right in front of him.
"Me...?"
Char gave a couple of hearty laughs. "I am the ghost of Char. Does that answer satisfy you?"
The title "Ghost of Char" was far too ambiguous; it could be interpreted in too many ways.
It could mean a clone implanted with Char's memories, a leader who shared Char's views like Mafty, or—to be more supernatural—it could mean the Char who vanished in the Miracle of Axis had returned to this world.
This was not the answer Bright had hoped to hear, but it was now Char's turn to pose a question.
"If the day comes where you are required to personally execute Mafty, what would your answer be?"
Char had asked a question that was incredibly nuanced given his identity. However, for Bright, or for any current member of the Federation Forces, there was only one standard response.
"I would execute him without hesitation."
Bright slightly adjusted his pistol, ensuring the muzzle was aimed directly at Char's forehead. "Just as I will pull this trigger the moment I find an opening."
"How terrifying."
Despite saying it was terrifying, Char reacted as if he had heard a joke that wasn't particularly funny, casually shrugging his shoulders. "Your turn."
"What exactly is the reason you came here?"
Bright didn't hesitate to begin confirming Char's motives.
Although he still wanted to pin down Char's identity more specifically, now that he knew the general situation, the best course of action was to identify the enemy's objective.
Bright had a nagging feeling that Char's goal wasn't as simple as the "Gundam" he had mentioned earlier.
"I've already told you; our Mafty operation this time is to seize the Gundam."
Char shook his head. "I simply thought that since you were still on Earth, I'd drop by to see you."
"As I thought, your target isn't just the Gundam."
Hearing Char's words, Bright once again rested his finger on the trigger, but then, seemingly remembering the detonator in Char's hand, he moved it back to the trigger guard.
"Furthermore, if your true goal is the Gundam, shouldn't you be off robbing Anaheim instead?"
Faced with Bright's counter-question, Char did not answer. Instead, he flashed a subtle smile.
"It's my turn now."
Char cut off Bright's line of questioning and posed his next inquiry: "Suppose Amuro were to reappear. What would you do?"
"Why are you asking that?"
Hearing this question that had suddenly veered so far off-track, Bright's brow furrowed even deeper.
"One question, one answer."
Char shook his head. "I am following the rules of the game; I expect Captain Bright to do the same."
"After all, it isn't time to flip the table yet, is it?"
Confronted with such an abrupt question from Char, Bright found himself unable to produce an answer for a long moment.
He was asking himself the same question: If the "Amuro" who recently appeared—the one he knew about—really was the man himself, how exactly would he face him?
"...I would go and bring him back."
After a moment of thought, Bright voiced his inner conviction. "For everyone he loves, and everyone who loves him."
Hearing Bright's words, Char briefly recalled the book he had read by that fellow "Kai Shiden" and speculated on what might happen next.
In other words, would all of Amuro's various romantic debts come looking for him when the time came?
Good heavens, he truly couldn't wait to see that day.
"Next, it's my—"
Bright looked at the subtly smiling Char, gritted his teeth, and asked what he truly wanted to know: "That person who was chasing after you back at Oenbelli—do you know who it was?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Char spread his right hand, speaking with total certainty. "That was Amuro. You're already using your own methods to confirm it, aren't you?"
Char's words caused Bright's eyes to widen.
Was that black-haired figure truly Amuro?
No—the Char before him was still an enemy. Any intelligence leaked by an enemy had to be analyzed with a critical eye.
Char paid no mind to the brainstorm happening in Bright's head; instead, he noticed something else.
From the corridor, the faint sound of dense, chaotic footsteps echoed.
Had the surveillance been fixed?
Had they caught a glimpse of him and Bright in a standoff?
Whatever the case, this was the final question.
"If Amuro were to stand firmly in opposition to the current Federation, what would you do?"
This question, much like Axis falling toward Earth, gave Bright a massive shock.
"What exactly are you trying to say!"
Bright could no longer endure it; his finger moved directly onto the trigger.
His mind was in a complete mess. Faced with this question from Char, he couldn't come up with any answer at all.
But Char didn't actually intend for Bright to provide an answer; after all, sometimes no answer is the best answer.
Bang, bang, bang...
A burst of dense gunfire rang out. A group of Federation Marines appeared at the corner behind Bright, aiming at Char and pulling their triggers.
"It seems we'll meet again if fate allows, Captain Bright."
Char waved his free left hand. Smoke and flash grenades with pulled pins dropped to the ground with a crisp clatter. "I look forward to the answer to that last question."
Immediately after, Bright saw Char pull the trigger on the detonator without hesitation.
Thick smoke began to fill the corridor, and the burst from the flashbang robbed Bright and the Marines of their vision.
Bright instinctively dropped to the floor to avoid the line of fire coming from behind him.
As the ringing in his ears and the blinding white light gradually faded, Bright noticed the activated detonator lying before him.
He instinctively gasped—but being in the middle of the smoke screen, this massive lungful of smoke sent him into a fit of uncontrollable coughing.
Pop, pop, pop...
The sound of things detonating rang out, causing Bright's heart to leap into his throat.
Four figures rushed into the smoke.
Two Marines shielded Bright, firing continuously toward where Char had originally been, while the other two grabbed Bright by the shoulders and jogged him out of the smoke-filled area.
Once Bright was clear of the smoke, he finally saw the true source of those "explosions."
They were signal flares. They were being fired and bursting incessantly across the docks of the Ra Cailum and the nearby warships. The entire docking bay looked as lively as a New Year's celebration.
However, since this was an indoor environment, setting off flares like this threw the docks into total chaos.
Maintenance crews were rushing around with fire extinguishers toward the various colored flares that had been launched, trying to put them out.
So, had he really been bluffed by these so-called "bombs"?
As he was being evacuated, Bright looked at the scene outside the window. For a moment, he felt a profound sense of unreality.
....................