[Hathaway's Flash] Vol.02 Ch.05

Chapter.05
Mark of Oenbelli

　The Xi Gundam spotted the retreating Gustav Karls.

　"Sorry for this, but..."

　Hathaway aimed at the legs, focusing on the verniers of the Gustav Karls, and fired his beam rifle.

　Sniping without triggering a fusion reactor explosion is difficult enough when you are actively trying to avoid it, but at this time, Hathaway was capable of it.

　Damage to the verniers that control attitude was damning for a mobile suit under gravity.

　A Gustav Karl toppled, the suit cartwheeling to the right, rolling into a dry creek, as its shoulder slammed against the sloping surface.

　Even though the computer controlling the remaining verniers continued to operate, the system converting the circulation of exhaust fumes could not work faster than the electrical signals running through the computer.

　The Messer following behind would likely finish off the one that fell into the dry creek.

　Mobile suit pilots weren't one to resist if their suits stopped operating, even if their weapons were seized. They're simply concerned for their own survival.

　"What?! Are they running away?"

　From the silhouette of the ruins of the town of Oenbelli, as if cutting through the shadows, a shadow of an aircraft taking off could be seen.

　Close in, or snipe from a distance? The IFF computer hesitated to identify it as a Kessaria, the Federation army's equivalent of a Base Jabber.

　"?"

　In the meantime, the Gundam drew even closer.

　There was no attack from the enemy shadow.

　"What's going on?"

　Then, the shadow split into two. The computer again had trouble identifying the two, as both shadows were caught by the camera, with only a slight offset from each other.

　"!!"

　Hathaway fired his beam rifle, landing a direct hit on one of them in front, and the Gundam vaulted over the resulting explosion.

　The light from the explosion turned from red to white, sending a whirlwind of black smoke billowing up around it. However, he saw another Kessaria flying low, hugging the ground.

　"!!"

　Hathaway thought he could capture the Kessaria. There was no sign of any enemy mobile suits around it.

　"!!"

　Hathaway signaled the following mobile suits to secure the perimeter around the Gundam and then dropped toward the Kessaria.

　Boom!

　The missile launcher on one side of the Kessaria's bridge was destroyed with one kick to its launch port.

　From the roof of the building on which it fell, it slid down sideways to a room on the floor below before coming to a halt.

　Debris from the exploded Kessaria continued to rain down, and above the black smoke, the friendly Galcezons and Messers glinted in the evening sky.

　The debris from the Kesaria made a dry clattering sound as it pelted and plinked off the Gundam's armor.

　Hathaway pointed the muzzle of his beam rifle towards the Kessaria's bridge.

　"All hands, throw down your weapons, and come out!"

　Hathaway broadcasted his order over the external loudspeaker.

　The building behind the Gundam appeared to have been set on fire by the debris from the fallen Kessaria.

　"But there's no foothold," a Federation officer shouted, peeking out of the Kessaria's hatch.

　"Just use a rope!"

　Their panicked reaction annoyed Hathaway. They had to have an escape rope at least, and he had to make sure they were unarmed by having them use the rope.

　"Emeralda! Harla, Hein! Put out the fires!"

　On Hathaway's order, three Messers descended, the remaining three advancing forward.

　"We're going after the Oenbelli forces!" said Gawman, his voice managing to come in over the noise caused by interference from Minovsky particles.

　"Please do!"

　Not once did Hathaway's eyes stray from the hatch of the Kessaria in front of him.

　Three officer-like shadows climbed several meters down a rope ladder, and after them, two pilot crew members took to the ladder.

　"Don't move! Any sign of movement, and I'll incinerate you with my beam rifle! Although, after what you've done here, I don't think anyone would protest if I did!"

　Hathaway shouted, opened the cockpit hatch, and leaned out, but the hot air from behind his suit was wafting towards the front, startling Hathaway by just how hot it was.

　"!?"

　Inwardly, he could understand why the enemy officers were frightened, but he ignored them and instead took a rope and handcuffs out from a compartment in the thick hatch and tossed it close to them.

　"Take this rope and tie everyone's hands behind their backs. The last one of you remaining, use those cuffs and lock yourself to some nearby fixture!" 

　"Please, no, not this close to the fire!"

　The highest-ranking officer waved his hands in a pleading gesture.

　"You have permission to move to the other side of the road... That's far enough! Stop there!"

　Hathaway brandished his gun as a threat, pegging their actions.

　Several times, sparks of fire whirled toward them.

　Hathaway watched as the fire-fighting work behind subsided, then sent a Galcezon down to secure the prisoners.

　He then jumped the Gundam to the outskirts of Oenbelli and descended onto the scene of devastation that the cameras had captured.

　"This was entirely one-sided, wasn't it..."

　It was impossible to tell just how many corpses were piled up on that wasteland.

　The Kimberley Unit had only been here for a few days.

　Seeing how corpses could be spread out like this in such a short time, it was not difficult to imagine the nature of the battle that had taken place.

　Due to the tropical climate, most of the bodies had already decomposed. The stench wafted up to the cockpit, dozens of meters above the ground.

　Hathaway scanned once with his searchlight and then turned it off.

　He had only caught a glimpse and could not see anything skeletal or dismembered, but he could make out the wriggling shadows of a few dingoes.

　"Is this something that a human would do..."

　Oenbelli was a small mining town with a population of less than a thousand. This meant that most of the corpses belonged to outsiders.

　"The people who banded together and called themselves Mafty may have had it coming, but to purge them like this is unusual..."

　He couldn't help but feel that everything was just downright crazy.

　At that moment, Hathaway had no thoughts as to the legitimacy of his actions.

　Faced with this horrendous reality, the actions of Hathaway and his people in trying to stop the Federation Forces who committed such acts felt perfectly justified. 

　"!?"

　The speakers slanted down in front of his rang, and Hathaway reached for the mike. 

　"They went too far. We're a few buildings north of the ones that caught fire."

　Emeralda Zubin's voice dripped with fury.

　"Yeah... I've seen something terrible myself."

　Hathaway jumped into the Gundam without bothering to close the hatch as he settled back into his cockpit seat. 

　He simply wanted to use the force of the jump to flush out the stench of death welling up in the cockpit.

　He jumped over a building where the smoke refused to dissipate.

　A flashlight shone from the second floor of the three-story building to the left of the two Messers. It appeared to be a rental building with offices for the ore and uranium mining businesses.

　"Over here!"

　Rod Hein waved his flashlight from the balcony on the second floor. The right half of the first floor appeared to be a supermarket, with rows of extinguished neon lights.

　"Where's all the food from the grocery store?"

　"It's all gone."

　Hathaway descended to the second-floor balcony by rope.

　"What about the basement?"

　"It looks like it's filled with containers, but most of them are empty."

　"What's going on? Where's Emeralda?"

　"There were prisoners that the Kimberley Unit captured. It looks like they were using this building as a base."

　Rod walked across one of the offices and into the hallway, shining his flashlight under Hathaway's feet. Hathaway turned on the flashlight he was holding.

　"There's a terrible smell, isn't it?"

　Rod's eyebrows were knit closely, but Hathaway couldn't feel anything, so he shook his head lightly.

　"That so? It's horrible. It smells like rotten meat."

　Rod's face wrinkled up in disgust.

　"Yeah... I saw a crazy number of corpses. I think my nose is going nuts."

　"I had no idea."

　Rod quickly regained his composure but in a stiff voice… 

　"Look!"

　He pointed his flashlight to the room on the right. Several bodies were illuminated by the light.

　"It looks like they were tortured pretty badly."

　"Looks like it..."

　Hathaway saw that the body of a man with his back turned had a wire wrapped around his backhanded wrist. His fingertips looked flattened, and he found out the reason immediately upon closer inspection.

　His fingernails were gone.

　"Is Hathaway here?"

　A flashlight shone in the hallway ahead, and the shadows of Emeralda and Harla Morley appeared.

　"Here!"

　As Hathaway answered, the light from his flashlight that he shook in response lighted up the nude form of a man hanging in another room.

　It was probably no illusion that his whole body seemed to have been burned black, but he did not have the courage to look again.

　"It looks like there is someone who is still hanging on farther inside."

　"Really?"

　As Hathaway answered, Harla came out from the illuminated room ahead.

　"I'll go get some water."

　Satisfied with Harla's action, Hathaway then pointed his flashlight at Emeralda, who came out of the room after Harla.

　"Can they speak?"

　"Dunno.."

　Emeralda stood in front of Hathaway as if trying to block his way. Hathaway glanced over her shoulder into the bright room.

　"Is it a woman?"

　"Yeah... She's been treated horribly. If we are careless, she might end up killing herself. Though that might be for the better."

　Emeralda gripped Rod's arm and shook her head, telling him not to go into the lit room.

　"But, once she gets herself together, she'll kill herself, won't she? Are we just going to allow that?"

　Rod complained about Emeralda's judgment.

　"Hold on now. She isn't capable of that. She doesn't have the strength."

　"What's her condition?"

　"Harla, fill them in, please."

　As Harla returned with a canteen, Emeralda took it from her hand and returned to the room.

　"This floor was mostly occupied by private military forces. That means it's where the prisoners taken by the Oenbelli forces were held. The only survivor is the woman in the room Emeralda just went to. The rest are dead. Some of them have been dead for only a few days."

　Hathaway went over to one of the offices along the side facing the road as he listened to Harla's report.

　"Where were the bastards?"

　"On the top floor. You can get into the Gustav Karls' cockpit from there."

　"Ah. That makes sense. These offices by the roadside aren't suited for confinement either," said Hathaway, as he ran his light through the office, which was still in its usual state.

　"Bring the Federation prisoners here."

　Hathaway said, aware of his insinuating remark. That was the least he had to do, he thought.

　"I hate to do it, but..."

　Hathaway hated his emotional response, but he could not suppress it.