Part 110: Mission 33 (Space Route) - Prologue

Voting’s now closed and the results are quite clear:

• Refuse to join - 14
  
• Join Neo-Warter – 6

You asked for more Astray goodness, so let’s get to it:





Information merchant Luchini has called Gai Murakumo over to give him a hot tip - for free!
Gai is rather skeptical that he's doing this out of the goodness of his heart, but Luchini warns that his fellow pilot, Lowe, has attracted a very fearsome predator: one that only Gai, out of all the Serpent Tail, might be able to elude.
When Gai asks, once more, why he’s telling him this for free, Luchini claims that all the checking into Lowe's background he's been doing lately have made him sympathetic to his cause.
However, Gai suspects Luchini is more interested in whoever is actually after him instead.



Luchini is well-known for his love of manipulating others through his doctored information - a trick that hasn't worked on the predator by the looks of things.
Instead, Gai figures Luchini wants to get the Red Frame and Blue Frame mecha together, to make them a bigger target and force open battle.
If we win, Luchini at least would find enjoyment in seeing us dance at his whims and, if we lose, Luchini would be rid of Gai who oftenly intrudes upon his business – he does admit that he finds Gai to be, most of the times, unpleasant...of course, the feeling is mutual.
Either way, Luchini thinks Gai should get to it and make his choice – he quickly leaves, leaving Gai to wonder about this cunning information broker.



After turning down the GGG's offer, Kazuma expects to continue Trailer activities for some time.
He figures the best way to capitalize on all the things he's learned is to ensure he's 100% committed to the upcoming battle; to a spaceman, just surviving is a battle in its own right, so he's decided to go join Lowe and help salvage junk.



Lowe and Kisato are inspecting the the Valstork’s huge hold and find it well suited to the task; Lowe wonders if the family wouldn’t want a partnership with the Junk Guild and, when Kazuma falls silent, Lowe says he was joking – both he and Kisato know that they’re Trailers’ through and through, not Junkmen.
That actually sparks a question from Kazuma: why a skilled pilot like Lowe decided to work as a Junkman? He could make a whole lot more money if he worked for a big corporation like Nergal.
Lowe's not sure himself: he loves mecha, freedom, and space itself... and all the interesting stuff that crosses his path; at the very least, Lowe can't imagine anything more interesting to do with his time.



Now, Akane wants to know about the job at hand, so Kisato gets to it: the latest round of hostilities between Earth and Plant, known as the "Low-Earth Orbit War", has produced loads of space junk from the destruction of Halliburton's 8th Federation Fleet - though the famed Archangel wasn't among the carnage. It has returned to the Earth, while its onetime hostage Lacus Klein is back with the Zaft.
Horis heard a rumor that it was Kira who returned her, still vying for her safety, more interested in protecting an innocent girl than playing along with the Federation's power plays simply due to the fact that she’s Siegel Klein’s daughter.
Lowe likes that, wishing that wars would only be fought between those who like fighting.



Kazuma has started to wonder what his crew could do to help improve the war...
Either way, Akane thinks the Archangel itself is quite impressive for living through the 8th Fleet's demolition, though that may be less because of its inherent sturdiness and more because the fleet sacrificed themselves to let the prototype craft reach Earth.
Mihiro wonders why the Feds wanted a new battleship despite having access to Nergal and the Nadesico, and Horis notes that Nergal has hardly been cooperative with the Feds thus far (including their little stunt that let Wärter escape with it during the Lizard War).



Even if the Feds did mass-produce the ship and somehow win the war with the Zaft, peace on Earth would still be a long way off...
One other tidbit from the Archangel's flight is that the Strike was capable of independent atmospheric reentry - a massive leap forward for mobile suits, who usually need to use a shuttle to do that.
Horis explains it with an analogy: what the Strike is as amazing as Akane dancing a waltz while wearing an evening dress; Kisato doesn’t understand, so Horis tries a new approaching using Akane’s tiny breasts as example but, of course, he gets interrupted by a “Stupid Horis!”
He claims to be fooling around but she angrily leaves the room; either way, the reason why the Strike was able to do it is due to the prototype Phase Shift Armor that’s equipped in all 5 Gundams.



Kisato wonders if the Red Frame could be outfitted with PS armor too, but Lowe guesses the power demands would be too much even if they could master the technology.
Horis is impressed at his correct insight and Lowe says that his years fighting in space have taught him that every last armament, even a beam saber or rifle, must be used sparingly.
The real question is how to create a weapon with the destructive output of beam weapons but with the low power consumption of ammo-based weapons...



Things get interrupted as we’ve arrived at the battle site and the Professor cautions that we're not likely the only interested junkmen in the area.
So, we ought to get ready to launch in case things go sour.