Part 5: Mission 2 - Prologue

This update's gonna be covering the prologue to mission 2. Expect the actual fight and conclusion of the mission in a day or two, folks.



Another day, another log entry - coming straight from the Valstork's hallways.
A series of pirate attacks over the past days haven't dampened the Valstork's crew's spirits, and Duo and Quatre are now like part of the family; the only problem worthy of the name is the fact that this trip is free - they're not gonna be able to avoid that 36th bankruptcy if this keeps up.
Duo soon runs into Kazuma and asks what are these notes that he’s scribbling notes - Kazuma explains that his father instructed him to keep a log of the ship’s events.
Kazuma says Bless is a rather sentimental guy and values memories highly, though he doesn't like discussing them verbally for whatever reason.



As for why Kazuma's been saddled with the duty, it seems his dad is seriously absentminded or some such.
They both wonder if that could really be the reason but their brainstorming session is interrupted when Shihomi spots them both and says that they both seem to be shirking their duties; she informs Duo of the Trailer maxim that "Those who don't work, don't eat", and encourages him not to miss the evening's tasty menu.
Since Akane's the cook, Kazuma fears that everything will taste like mayonnaise.
Quatre's already finished his chores and starts helping the two out; Kazuma sighs that Quatre seems to be getting along really well with his sisters and Duo figures it’s thanks to being brought up amongst so many older sisters.

While they clean, Kazuma asks them about their role behind the scenes of the Revolutionary War.
He can smell an adventure from a mile away, and the name "Gundam" is known far and wide.


Duo thinks a second and informs him that theirs is a story unpleasant both in the telling and in the listening.
Wars are like that. Quatre adds that they did nothing more than fight on behalf of the colonies that were being sacrificed for the sake of the Earth.

The new government attributed to Treize Kushrenada is actually the result of much exertion and much spilled blood from many players.
However, even Treize surely never expected the Radam to arrive and disrupt the peace.
In fact, the humans themselves are once again at the brink of war.



Absolute Pacifism is an easy enough ideal to grasp, but living it is another matter, especially where Earth-colony relations are concerned.
Kazuma saw firsthand how that war brought out the worst in people, and figures even most of the space pirates would be leading normal lives right now if not for all the fighting.
Quatre tells him that the war did do some good: even if only briefly, it gave the people a taste of true peace.
And it gave him his cherished group of friends, including the other three Gundam pilots.
Kazuma asks about them but neither Duo nor Quatre know where they went: some are off on other business, and others are missing entirely.



Kazuma figures that Heero that Duo stole the name would be one and Duo says he’s quite an eccentric one - he doubts Kazuma would like him much.
Quatre sees that Duo's fallen idle, and tells him to get back to cleaning like the Sweeper he is.
Kazuma asks but neither of them can tell anything about their secret mission to Earth, so they ask him instead where his dad got this ship from.



Duo knows it's not just a customized Federation vessel from the unusual tech it bears, and wonders if it's some late model Zaft cruiser.
Kazuma would love to answer, but he really doesn't know much himself, beyond that it's on loan from his grandfather and, despite a lot of major modifications, the underlying tech has stayed constant all this time.
An astounded Duo realizes that that must make the ship at least ten years old, and yet still far ahead of current Fed ships.
While Kazuma doesn't know where the tech came from, he sure knows how to use and repair it, plus they have Carret to support them on most technical issues - the fact that they can even use it should make the ship of human origin.



As the Trailers say, "Use anything useful, especially if it's valuable."
This sounds like Black Technology to Duo and Quatre, who are sure the Mithril crew would love to hear about it.
Kazuma continues, saying that despite Carret’s innate understanding of most main systems, the ship’s main components, it’s specs, blueprints and origins seem sealed inside Carret’s Black Box and they’ve no way of accessing it.



In any case, the Valstork's crew never once considered selling the tech to the Feds, preferring to keep it as the means to do their own work.
And of course, certain jealous parties keep trying to steal it to collect the bounty rumored to be hanging on it - making Duo wonder just why Lady Une sent him to this ship in the first place.
Well, if worse comes to worst, the ship's data and all the Family's records are ready to be fired off in an escape pod – there’ll be no trace that they, or their cargo, were even here.
Of course, no posse of Space Pirates is going to cause that much danger.



Quatre says that the real problem isn't pesky space pirates, though, but the Radam lurking on the Orbital Ring.
They're keeping the Earth under siege, and given they're some kind of space monsters, there's no reasoning with them.
Kazuma still can't figure out how they managed to take over the Ring so quickly in the face of fierce resistance, but he is relieved to hear from Quatre that the Federation has a counterattack in the works.
For now, our main worry should be reaching Earth while dodging Radam attack along the way.



Before the Radam get a chance to attack, it’s Akane who jumps them, wishing to inspect their cleaning.
She urges Duo and Kazuma to get back to work before calling Quatre away to help make sure she's got the flavoring right.
Duo sighs that they don’t cut them any slack and Kazuma welcomes him to the past 16 years of his life…



Inside the Blue Earth ship, by the Orbital Ring, D-Boy was just hit squarely in the face by Noal.
D-Boy had fled the battlefield, into their ship, before they were done killing the nearby Radam swarm.



Aki tries to come to his defense, but Noal blames her and the Blue Earth's injuries on D-Boy's failure.
Noal only gets further annoyed that this “Dangerous Boy” doesn’t say anything to justify his actions; he vows to have D-Boy kicked off the Space Knights as soon as this mission is over, and tells him to his face that the only reason he's even on the Space Knights is because he's a Tekkaman - if he can't fight, he's got no business being here.



Aki's pleas get stronger, pointing out that D-Boy is helping them fight the Radam despite having total amnesia.
Noal is unswayed, convinced that D-Boy's only value is assuming the likeness of the Radam monstrous commanders and fighting the Radam.



D-Boy doesn't offer a word of protest, only reiterating that Noal is right and the only reason he is alive is to fight the Radam; Noal doesn’t understand this guy and tells him to get his ass back out there and finish investigating Block 20.