Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (manga) chapter 4: Point of Impact

Two Ecole chapters in one month... Feels strange in a way, but this is how our schedule should be without a big Moonlight Mile re-edit taking up all of our free time. The story actually starts moving forward in this chapter, elaborating on set-up from before and building up to a real good action sequence. Those of you who have been reading the novel may have seen this next story development coming. Those of you who haven't are going to be thrown into the deep end of the pool and forced to learn how to swim.

Thanks again to GIT_LAB and Trafalgarlog for supplying us with the digital raws for this series to supplement our tankoban scans.

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Moonlight Mile chapter 18: Paparazzi Spirits: The First Volume

Nine months after we finished volume 2 of Moonlight Mile, we're beginning Volume 3. In that time span we finished Candy Box Creations, redid Moonlight Mile volumes 1 and 2 and published 3 chapters of Gundam Ecole du Ciel manga and novel each, 5 chapters of Moonlight Mile among other things. Before you think this is insane, there was 2 months between when we originally did chapters 8 and 9, plus 5 months between us originally doing chapters 9 and 10.

I hope we don't have another big wait between new Moonlight Mile like that again, we need to be more consistent in our releases. The manga is coming off hiatus in a month as of me posting this, so it's really been too long since new chapters. If you have not read our redone volumes 1 and 2, I think you should, but this new chapter is going to be the start of a new era of our translation soon running concurrently with the manga's publication. Here's to a bright and prosperous future translating this manga.

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Kochikame: Tokyo Beat Cops Chapter 4: The Get Along Couple?!

More Kochikame! I find it really amusing that the synopsis for this series on Mangadex and all other manga reading websites specifically mention a big part of this series is a "lack of actual police work", when a core part of all the chapters thus far has been police work. Chapter 0 saw them writing incident reports for mistakes made, chapter 1 focused on them going on a beat patrol, chapter 2 was about solving a civil disturbance involving a homeless man, that previous chapter was the only thus far to not have a story involving police work specifically.

In this chapter Ryotsu does a junkai renraku, which is when local police officers in Japan go door to door to gather information on the residents for use in emergency situations. This chapter covers something unique to Japanese police-work, so why does this series have this reputation in the west as a series where no actual police work is done?

I would say ignorance, but there's 2000+ chapters for this thing to devolve into wild over top tomfoolery with no actual police work happening, so we'll just have to wait a couple years into this translation and see. Still crazy to me so far that this this is considered the growing pains era of the series, and we're still 15-20 volumes away from when Akimoto thinks the manga started getting good. I've enjoyed all the chapters so far quite a bit. 

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Nanai the Lonely Woman chapter 2

Well it's been eleven months, I'd say we're do for another. Things did not go how we expected in 2025 and we've been sitting on this translation for about 9 months. No More Cheese Dip tried editing it back in October and got 1 page done before subsequently deciding to put it off until Moonlight Mile volume 2 was redone. Now that we're back to business as usual it's time for another. This time Nanai picks up the fork and tries something she hasn't done in a while.

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Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (novel) chapter 3

 Chapter 3 of Ecole du Ciel has arrived

New major characters are introduced to us and we learn of the school's next big plan. Chandel and Nocton also come to terms with the fact that this school may have them in over their head. The Elysia side of Ecole du Ciel's story heats up in this latest chapter, as things move in a darker direction.

Reading order for this series so far is

Special chapter

Manga chapter 1

Novel chapter 1

Novel chapter 2

Manga chapter 2

Manga chapter 3

Novel chapter 3 (this one)

Chapter 3

Augusta... a vast, untamed land. Greenery met a coastline carved long ago by glaciers. Located in the northeastern part of what was once the United States of America. The area was bathed in the blessed rays of the morning sun earlier than anywhere else in the region making up what was formally the United States. People who lived there would laugh and happily say that time passed slower there than it did in the rest of the Americas. With an atmosphere as chillingly beautiful as the one there, you'd be compelled to say that they're correct.

A humid mist would blow in with the sea breeze and settle onto the grasslands, where the hot sun would beat down on it and make the morning dew evaporate into steam. In the middle of the grasslands stood a building, one with a cold and sterile appearance that looked out of place in among the area's beautiful and picturesque scenery. It was a closed facility with a sleek and modern design, fenced off and accessible only by a gate. The gate had words reading "Augusta Research Institute", though none of the local residents had any idea that it was a privately owned and operated facility. Rumors spread of the place, and mothers often forbade their children from going anywhere near it.

The local people say that on windy days a deep agonized cry resonates from the very depths of the earth and it carries itself on the winds that blew from the institute. An old man said that he once approached the facility at night and it glowed faintly in the darkness, as if haunted like something out of a ghost story.

The laboratory located in the institute had suddenly become noisy. Although no alarms had sounded, guards scurried about with guns resting against their shoulders.

"It's noisy"
Said in a man in a dark blue suit watching from a laboratory window.
He appeared to be in his mid fifties, with brown skin and thick veins visible. He had sharp features and thick grey eyebrows, all of which showcased a strong sense of confidence that also gleamed from his eyes. A white mask covered the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. The mask contained a PVC air filter that looked  akin to the beak of a platypus and hung over his wine-red tie.

"My lungs were damaged whilst travelling between Earth and the moon. Though I've seen about trachea implants..." 
The masked man said, noticing the gazes of the other two men in the room. His voice was muffled by his mask, causing the filter valve to vibrate and displace his tie, briefly revealing the plate on his chest. The plate read "Klaus Nocton".

Klaus was led by soldiers into a brightly colored room that was tastefully furnished, albeit a bit bleak in atmosphere. Light beamed from the large glass window he was at, with the light from the ceiling was a result of the indirect lighting from the window.

There were two people in the room with him; one was a young officer, standing nervously by the door with his hands behind his back. Probably still in his early twenties. He was a similar age to Klaus's own son if he was here today. The other was a very lithe man sitting a desk who never made eye contact with Klaus. Even though he was inside, he wore the cap of his military uniform, pulled down over his eyes as he sat unmoving.

It wasn't just the hat, but the uniform he wore was slightly different than that of a standard Federation military officer's uniform like the one worn by the other soldier. It was a unique more militant design with a black color-base that exuded intimidation and dignity. The insignia on his shoulder showed that he clearly belonged to another unit than the other soldiers guarding the institute.

"Well then... I hope you feel well."
The man wearing the rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel curled his thin lips into a smile.
"More importantly president Nocton, you said there was something you wanted to ask me?"

Klaus felt a chill creep up his spine as he looked at the lieutenant colonel. He'd met many soldiers in his time, but none had eyes as cold as this man's. Klaus tried to deny his thoughts as they crept into uncomfortable possibilities surrounding this man. There was no warmth to be found anywhere in this man, only the coldness Klaus could feel from him.

"Our company is providing two types of mobile suits to École, but our engineers have been complaining about there being too many black boxes in the system." Klaus said frankly "They can't work on the mobile suits with these restrictions. I'm asking that you at least remove the seal on A." he demanded.

The two mobile suits were indeed manufactured by Klaus' company: Nocton Ceramics. However. Nocton was a company that had previously only manufactured exterior parts, so there was no way they'd be able to fully create an operating system for them. Thusly the GM Canard and the GM Cannes were a joint collaboration between Nocton and the Earth Federation military's engineers. This was made possible because Nocton manufactured them in house and paid for development costs, meaning Klaus was paying to have his company's name attached to the mobile suits.

"Please, commander Toru."
Klaus said as he leaned in, his voice muffled by the filter on his mask. The commander slowly raised his head upon hearing his name called. The first time he looked at Klaus since they sat down. Toru Uslant was the man sitting before Klaus now.

"Each aspect of the knowledge gained from operations is only to go to the respective departments that were already agreed upon. That was the deal... Is there a problem?"

"Last year was fine... after all it was the first year our mobile suits were rolled out. But now that a year has passed, we need to reflect on the design and figure out ways for the mechanics to tune them up, or to learn from in preparation for our next design. I'd appreciate it if you would consider our engineers who have to work on the mobile suits on site. They ca-"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested." Toru interrupted sharply, with a cold spark showing in his eyes. "Or would you like me to speak to the engineers myself?"

"My apologies colonel Toru..."
Klaus looked away, as if this wasn't the first time a discussion with Toru had gone this way. Toru nodded in response, with his cold eyes once again hidden behind his hat. Klaus would be lying if he said he wasn't relieved to not have to look at them.

"The goal of 'École' is not to further develop your technology, it serves a much greater purpose than you know. A weapons maker should act as a weapons maker and make what they're ordered to."

"I understand..." said Klaus, and as if on que at the end of his sentence, a knock echoed throughout the room. Klaus could feel the tension and his nervousness was visible in the exposed half of his face.

"Who's there!?"

"It's been reported that we've caught an intruder! A subordinate of colonel Betts from the 2nd airborne division, who's here from Amman base participating in an inspection tour."

"An intruder?"

As if in response to Klaus' puzzled expression, the door swung open with a slam. A short man with sagging cheeks hurried into the room. He appeared to be in his mid fifties and wore a similar uniform to the one the young officer in the room was wearing.

"Toru, what are you doing!?"

Colonel Betts then began rambling to Toru at the desk.

"I've just received word that one of my men was detained by your soldiers. What crime could he have committed!? If the circumstances surrounding his arrest aren't severe, you certainly won't be able to get away with this!"

"Do I even need a reason?"
Toru's thin lips curled upwards in a smile as he began darkly chuckling.

"What's so funny!?"
"There are many secrets here at the Augusta laboratory. We can't let anyone act on their own initiative here. That's what I mean."
"That's what-"

Betts was fuming, but when Toru stood up, he got intimidated by the man's dark presence and took steps backwards. He wasn't particularly tall, no more than one-hundred-eighty centimeters, but in the room's low lighting he had an eerily long shadow cast over Betts. It stretched out long over Betts, giving the look as if it was looking down upon him from the ceiling.

"Wa-What is it!?"

"You said he was your man Colonel Betts. So I think it is safe to assume he was exploring our facility on your orders."

"Ba-"
Bett's words never even got to leave his mouth. He was cut off by the dry sound of a gunshot echoing throughout the room. The young officer standing in front of the door raised raised his pistol from his waist to his chest, as gun smoke wafted through the air. Toru took in the change of color and atmosphere to the room with a satisfied smile.

"Now then, allow me to explain the future of 'École'." Toru said calmly as he sat down again. His shadow disappeared without a trace and all Klaus could hear was the sound of gunfire in the background.





Elysia was visiting the mobile suit hanger as usual, but then she got surprised twice. The first thing that surprised her was a GM Canard, which was normally used for practical training, stripped of its armor plating, completely naked. The second thing that surprised her was Chandel sitting in the cockpit with an uncharacteristically serious face. Both of these were things that Elysia had never seen before.

"How dare you, saying something so rude with that face."

The floor of the cockpit was covered in cables connected for quick adjustments. Chandel sat there, with his eyes glued to the portable monitor as he spoke. His long flowing mane of silver hair, which he was quite proud of, was tied in a ponytail to keep it out of his hair as he worked. Elysia, as usual sat on the edge of the cockpit hatch. 

"I mean, you don't normally have a set job here do you?"

"I said that because you're getting in the way."

"It's not good to blame others."

"You..."

Chandel sighed deeply and raised his head. His forehead was stained with machine oil, and the creases on his chin were bleeding from numerous small cuts. They must have been from when he crawled deeper into the linear seating of the cockpit. Elysia silently handed him a handkerchief, made of soft gauze and smelling faintly of soap.

"Oh dear..."

As Chandel grabbed the handkerchief with his rough hands, the white color turned to brown quickly. It was further dirtied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Is something wrong? You look confused."

"It's nothing. None of your business anyways,"

"None of my business? I highly doubt it's that irrelevant."

Annoyed by Chandel's words, Elysia slid into the narrow space of the cockpit and softly retorted back.

"The students are the ones who have to pilot these mobile suits. As a student, this has everything to do with me."

"So you can tell what's happening just by looking at this?"

Chandel blushed a little and turned the portable monitor to face Elysia. His cheeks had turned a light shade of red, probably owed to the scent inside the cockpit changing to a much more feminine and youthful scent overpowering the stench of sweat and machine oil.

"This is..."

"How about that... You actually know something about this?"

"Excuse me!... Isn't it a little strange? There's two control units connected to the system."

Chandel looked at Elysia with a little surprise at her words. Their cheeks were so close they were almost touching as they both gazed at the same screen.

"You understand very well."

"We learned the basic structure of mobile suits in class."

"I see... So as you can see here, the circuit is put together in an unusual way. The manual said that because it's built for training, they sacrificed maneuverability for safety."

"No, that's not it either."
Elysia said, almost as if in ignorance of Chandel's words.

All parts of a mobile suit have their own independent control mechanisms. You can think of it like the head, arms and legs each having their own independent brain, with the cockpit allowing you to control each independent brain. Accessing the computer connected to the control unit allows a pilot to control all of the mobile suit's complex movements. 

Of course, in theory, there is no problem having two control units. If one is used as the main system unit and one is used as a sub system unit, you can expect faster processing. However, this was merely a matter of hardware efficiency. Managing two units simultaneously would put a greater strain on the software, which would call into question the stability of the mobile suit in response to the straining and complex software.

Even so, if the two control units did operate simultaneously, it wouldn't make sense to chain to the same system. You'd want to have them connected to parallels circuits to reduce strain on the software. Though it would be foolish to treat the sub system as a spare unit and not operate both at the same time. A single unit control board connected directly to the could adequately perform the job of managing things like spare breaking and spare thrust. There was only one possible use for it Elysia thought about what it was and spoke.

"So the two systems only start up simultaneously under certain conditions?"

"No... I actually don't know..."

"I don't understand."

"Well you're right. There's no documents and we don't have permission to look into its inner workings. I guess it's classified as a military secret."

"So that's it..."

Elysia's expression clouded over with disappointment. She understood the military's reasons, but it'd be awful if she got injured because they had to keep the mobile suit's unusual workings a secret. Chandel noticed the change in Elysia's expression and cleared his throat loudly. 

"I understand what you're trying to say, and you're right. Students like you are the ones who have to pilot these things, but if you can't understand how it works, you may not be able to understand how to effectively use it. It's completely a black box."

"Black Box..."
Elysia repeated Chandel's words... That was all she could do. The thought of entrusting her life to something so mysterious was just eerie to her.

"Don't worry about it."

Chandel said as he rested his head on top of Elysia's. The stench of oil and the warmth of his sweaty palms soon began to reach Elysia.

"It's like I told you before, it denies all access. Maybe this second unit is just spare."

"A spare? Why would this unit need a spare?"

"Well you s-"

Right as Chandel spoke, a loud metal clang could be heard coming from the feet of the mobile suit.

Elysia and Chandel looked down at the feet using the omnidirectional monitor, where they saw someone in a trainee's uniform. They looked up curiously at the mobile suit, which was clearly under maintenance. The two chuckled softly.

"It's probably a spare in case a student breaks the driving device, for example..."

"Like Asuna?"

Elysia said with a laugh at Chandel's lie. The sound of soft whisper-like chuckling echoed throughout the cockpit. Elysia felt relieved as the sense of minor anxiety she felt earlier was gone.





Asuna held the notebook close to her chest as she asked Chandel to explain to her the basic structure of a mobile suit. Elysia had told her that if she had any questions about the mobile suits at the school she should ask Chandel. Chandel had a complicated expression on his face. Elysia knew better than anyone that Chandel wasn't proactive in interacting with others, but Asuna's begging was really sincere and desperate. Elysia knew he wasn't he kind of man who'd disrespect her. A smile appeared on her face unconsciously as she watched the scene unfolding before her.

"I don't know what's so funny." Emile's eyes could be seen leering at Elysia from behind the lenses of her glasses.
"Your highness can act as high and mighty as she wants, but Asuna's desperate! At least show her a little consideration."

"I know... You're the one who's always with Asuna."

"Well yeah, I can't just leave her alone!"

Emile's spoke as if Asuna wasn't there and like she was somebody else's problem. Emile turned back to face Asuna and Elysia turned to face her too. Asuna was sitting on the edge of the Canard's foot with Chandel, both peering at the screen of the portable monitor. It was the same monitor Elyisa was looking at moments ago. It was probably displaying an image detailing a standard federation mobile suit. Chandel wore a strange expression that appeared almost pained.

"Asuna's surprisingly enthusiastic." said Elysia, letting her true thoughts out freely. "Whenever I see her, I just get this feeling telling me that I need to work hard too."

"That's surprising, even you of all people think that way." Emile said in surprise, as such a statement from Elysia stood in stark contrast to Emile's image of her. With a wry smile on her face Elysia turned to Emile.

"All of us started from the same place. I admire her dedication."

"But wouldn't that mean you're looking down on Asuna?" Emile said directly. Though there was no real sense of prying in her words, implying she just thought Elysia did so naturally.

"I don't think you understand yet just how amazing that girl is, but... if you let your guard down around her, she can be scary."

Emile's eyes, hidden behind her glasses, stared intently at Elysia. They were surprisingly sharp, and Elysia met their gaze head on.

"I can tell that you really think highly of Asuna."

"Well, we're friends after all."
Upon saying that, Emile turned her gaze back to Asuna. When Elysia looked at Emile, it appeared as though she was looking at something far off in the distance, not at Asuna, but something far behind her.

Elysia turned her head to the ceiling, which was designed to accommodate mobile suits. They were so high that she almost forgot they were underground. Looking at the Halogen lamps on the ceiling felt more like looking at constellations than lights.

"Are you really friends?"
The words left Elysia's lips softly as she muttered it, escaping into the air and towards the vastness of the hanger's ceiling. An image of herself as a child came to mind. Her brother Leonid and Chandel were always by her side, together making it through the muggy summer days in Dhaka.

"What happened?
Emile suddenly called out. But Elysia just stared at the ceiling silently in thought. She next narrowed her eyes and looked at Elysia with a natural smile across her lips.

"It's nothing...
Elysia looked to Asuna with an honest feeling in her heart as she said this. Asuna's cute and cherubic face was contrasted by two thick lines of oil staining her cheek.



A flower of light bloomed in a universe of darkness. The computer generated points of light of a whirlpool of flame looked undeniably like a flower. Swirling petals of flame danced across the battlefield. It was a beautiful sight, so beautiful it may even be considered frightening. If this was a real battlefield, each time Elysia bloomed, a life would disappear one by one in the light. Life was light, it flickered in the darkness only to disappear again. 

A poet may have phrased it that way, but Elysia, who prided herself as a realist, didn't have a vocabulary flowery enough to do so. Once a life is gone nothing remains of that person, nothing except the time they spent with others and the memories they left behind in those people.

"If I could just disappear like that, it wouldn't be so bad." Elysia thought to herself. "I don't have any true friends. Nobody would be left to remember me and I'd never be resurrected." For a moment Elysia could swear she saw the figures of Asuna and Emile in the cold vacuum of space.

Suddenly the screen went dark, or perhaps brighter? The cold emptiness of space was replaced with the hot grey surface of earth. The blank all around monitor gave the pilot an oppressive feeling, giving the impression that the temperature inside the cockpit had risen despite it being an airtight space. Elysia gulped as she heard the faint hiss of gas leaving echoing through the cockpit. The smell of gas filled the cockpit as the doors opened. No matter how many times she smelt it, she could never get used to it.

Soon a rectangular crack opened in front of her and the stench of gas became fainter. Soon a flood of natural light overwhelmed the cockpit and the cheers of trainees praising her was all that could be heard. Every voice spoke in praise of Elysia.

She got off the linear seat and stepped onto the cockpit hatch. The 50 centimeter gap and slight change of elevation temporarily shook her sense of balance, but as she left the dome shaped simulator and got on solid ground her sense of stability soon returned to her. that sense of security became a weight pressing down on her shoulders.

She stepped outside and looked over the roof of the domed structure, which was actually similar in height to her. On the big viewing screen she could see a mass production mobile suit belonging to the Federation forces, engulfed in flames. It was a replay of Elysia's simulated battle. The mobile suit on screen was designated as the RGM-79. Five years ago, just before the end of the war it was deployed in large numbers as an overwhelming force against Zeon in the final offensive in space. It's simple form  made it highly versatile, and the sleek design promised maneuverability. The RGM-79 was the template used in the creation of Nocton's GM Canard and GM Cannes.

"Just as expected"
A bright voice coming from behind Elysia made her turn around, her golden locks cascading down her shoulders and back as she did.

"Asuna?"
Elysia looked down from the steps of the simulator to see Asuna Elmarit standing there with her eyes almost glowing. She held her head up high to meet Elysia's gaze, though the look on her face was almost like a puppy dog.

"Oh, so you're watching? I thought you were auditing today."
After saying that Elysia seemed to think for a moment and realized her words had come across as a little bit spiteful.
"I'm sorry if that bothered you. I just thought you were doing basic training today."

"Well, that was my intention, yes." 

Asuna's expression shifted and her eyes darkened. Elysia's words had grown deliberately mean, but it wasn't from any place of genuine disdain. She harbored no hatred towards Asuna, she just wasn't used to seeing her here. Two weeks had passed since Asuna was banned from using the simulator and she could understand why she was banned.

The danger in practical training was much higher than that of a simulation, which is why Asuna probably needed more training in the simulation than anybody else at the academy. Elysia still couldn't shake the question of why Asuna was even banned in the first place. Never the less, Asuna still devoted herself to physical training and improving her reflexes, as per her instructions. Perhaps this blind obedience to questionable rules and orders bothered Elysia deep down.

"Asuna Elmarit!" Called a voice that sounded more like a scolding than a proper call for attention.

Everybody turned to look at the source of the loud voice: Yahagi Franziback, standing in front of the large monitor displaying the replay of the last duel. His left hand rested firmly on his hip, while he held a file firmly in his right. He stared at Asuna intently with the sharp eyes of a lion.

"Asuna Elmarit, I know you've been working hard, but the only thing that matters on the battlefield are results. Show me the fruits of your efforts!"
The crowd around the simulators began whispering and murmuring to themselves as if holding back an uproar.
"Shin Barnack! You'll be her opponent!"



At the same time two aircraft landed at the runway that also doubled as the Montreal campus' runway.
Although they were military vehicles, they didn't give off a hostile impression. It looked like container with wings, having a form factor that appeared almost feminine in a way, with the craft looking like something akin to a mother bird holding her chicks. The craft was a one year war era vessel known as the Medea. It measured 45 meters in length and 67.70 meters in width. The container section of the craft was large enough to hold a mobile suit, probably two.

"Well, something Incredible has come along."
Muttered Forma next to Chandel. The two of them were standing at the base of the watch-tower like control tower, which had a habit of reflecting the sunlight. He narrowed his eyes at the aircraft and spoke.
"Chandel do you know what's in there?"

"I heard it was a Guntank and a full set of mobile suit equipment."
Chandel recalled what he heard from the principal yesterday. They were going to be used as targets in live fire training, which was supposed to begin tomorrow.

"Last year we put a jacket sensor on a Canard and used that as the target.

"So we're using a Guntank this year?

"The Canard is much more maneuverable, but we don't have enough pilots to use it in these exercises. It's much easier to use a Guntank. This one is a special autopilot model supplied to us by the Augusta Institute."
Forma spoke proudly as he spoke of the Guntank.

The Guntank, as the name implied, was a mobile suit that consisted of an upper body resting upon caterpillar treads. Its official model number was RX-75. It was a support weapon created in the war that ended five years ago. The machine they were given, was one unique model modified in Augusta.

"Speaking of Augusta, I believe our president is there now."
Chandel spoke, as if he had just remembered something had not intended to forget about. Forma looked to him with a puzzled expression, and noticing the change in Forma's face, Chandel gave him a forced smile.
"Is there something wrong?"

"You seem to know the president's schedule very well considering you're just a simple engineer."

"A mere engineer?" Chandel said in great laughter. Forma got a sense that he was being teased and an unusual bitter smile reached his cheeks.

"By all means, keep teasing me."

"Pardon me, I meant no offense. I may be just a simple engineer, but before that I was a close friend and servant of the Nocton family."

"Is that so?"

Forma leaned forward as Chandel confessed. He really liked hearing these kinds of stories. Chandel turned his gaze to the Medea. He couldn't see the cargo inside, but he could see an antennae.

"Our home town of Dhaka, in Bangladesh. It's a place with a strong sense of consciousness surrounding ethnicity and culture. The Federation always stood by that a war never occurred under them, not until the war with Zeon broke out. But to me and many other people there... that was never true. Ever since I was a child, I've never known a day without gunfire."

Chandel looked out over the blue sky.

"That's why everybody there was desperate to survive, I know I certainly didn't live a life that was worthy of any kind of praise. The Federation blamed everything wrong in the world, all the violence and war, on the principality of Zeon and those living in space, but I know that's not true... Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to criticize the Federation or anything like that."

"I understand."
Forma nodded deeply. His eyes showed a rare instance of understanding from the man, revealing that he too had a similar past. Seeing this Chandel's heart felt a little lighter and he continued.

"I owe a debt of gratitude to the Noctons. They saved me from a life of hardship. They hired me and even sent me to college."

"Did the people of that family usually go to such lengths for others?"

"No... It only happened because I was good friends with Elysia's older brother: Leonid Nocton. We were really close... You know, he was a good man. Shouldn't have died."

Chandel looked and saw the container open, with the Guntank descending from inside. It had two long canon barrels sticking out of its stocky body.

"He was a Guntank pilot, a mass production model just like that one. He was a gunner, so he sat at the seat at the top. I heard the head got blown off and he died instantly. Seeing one of those gives me mixed feelings."

"What about his sister, Elysia?"

"I don't know... I didn't tell her at the time. How could I? She was only a child."

Chandel fell silent as he said that. He had mixed feelings about Elysia training against the same machine used by her brother during the war. Sentimentally speaking, it was almost like the Guntank would be watching over Elysia. Chandel could never imagine the clunky machine passing by him and Forma's field of vision as a replacement for Leonid. As strange as it may seem, there are some truths in this reality that you cannot run from, only face head on.

Forma stared intently at the Guntank, as it was likely going to be an important tool for him as an instructor going forward. From here on out it was going to be up to the instructors and students. All Chandel could do was maintain the machine they had been given and keep it in perfect shape. He told himself this to calm the complicated stir of emotions swelling within him.

"Do you remember?" Forma spoke, his eyes fixed on the Guntank.

"Remember what?"

"Our little talk that we had the other day in the instructor's office. We talked about Elyssia needing a trigger of some kind."

Chandel understood, he remembered that conversation very well. Forma had indeed said they'd need a trigger of some kind for Elysia.

"I hope this training will be stimulating enough to be that trigger."

Chandel's cheeks gave away that he was smiling just a little. It'd be great if Elysia could start her path to growth just like that. Forma was also smiling, bowing his head a little as he did, almost as if he was pondering something.

"She'll do fine. My superiors have high expectations of her."

There was a look of surprise on Forma's face as he looked at Chandel, it was like the bright eyes of a young man who believed in the future. The darkness lurking deep within the brightness was surely an illusion on Chandel's part. Suddenly, Forma extended his hand and offered a handshake.

"Let's be friends, for Elysia's sake..."

Chandel looked down contemplatively at Forma's outstretched hand. It was the instinct Chandel Tadarshi had developed from growing up in such a dark place that made him hesitate to consider shaking the outstretched hand.





On the large monitor two mobile suits could be seen fighting. Shin's mobile suit moved with great agility and focus, reflective of the pilot's personality. He skillfully handled his gun, and he avoided his opponents attacks with great footwork. He made the most of his mobile suit's slender frame throughout the entire duel.

In contrast, Asuna's mobile suit was extremely sluggish. She had chosen not to use a GM, but a different mobile suit entirely. It resembled an old-fashioned diving suit, especially with the head, which had two tubes extending from the front. It had heavy armor and a machinegun with a drum magazine. It's thick elephant-like legs shook the ground beneath it with every step.

The trainees looked at the green mobile suit on the display monitor with contemplated expressions. Some of them looked at it with expressions of hatred, which Elysia had thought was only natural. The mobile suit Asuna was piloting was a Zaku, formally the main weapon of Zeon's military. More specifically a Zaku II ground-type. But why a Zaku? That was a natural question some asked. True, Zakus were programmed into the simulator, but the data input was so they could be used as targets, not mobile suits for trainees to pilot.

Unless the situation was dire, they would never teach you how to pilot a Zaku. Even if you knew how to pilot a Zaku, it wouldn't be fair to use it against a GM, especially the much newer GM type C like what Shin was using, unless the GM was at a reasonable disadvantage. Yet Asuna chose to pilot a Zaku at a crucial moment deciding if she would be able to train again. It begged the question of why she chose it... Elysia figured that it wasn't worth pondering, only Asuna would know why, but she determined that Asuna must have had her reasons for choosing the Zaku. Elysia could understand Asuna's feelings though.

When Elysia was attending prep-school, her family were kettle manufacturers. They had just succeeded in developing a revolutionary new heat resistant material, but they had yet to begin diversifying their business, especially in a way that would allow them to join the ranks of other prestigious companies. This made Elysia force various handicaps upon herself, so others would be forced to not look down on her.

For Elysia, challenges like riding the untamable horse were just another part of every day life. Despite being thrown off countless times, Elysia would always get back back up and try again. She'd continue to try and try again every day, until one day she did something everybody found difficult. She threw the reigns and bridle off of the horse herself. She tried to ride the horse relying on her own sense of balance to keep her on the horse, gripping the saddle with her legs. The horse kept trying to throw her off, but Elysia found new ways to stay on until she could not be shaken off. The other students praised Elysia for this and she was finally able to smile around them with satisfaction.

Elysia knew working with such handicaps were necessary for the people of Japan, which is why it made sense to Elysia that Asuna chose a Zaku.

"She's so agile in that antique mobile suit..."
Elysia whispered to herself. Indeed. the Zaku, while clunky, managed to move quite well with Asuna controlling it. If the GM was using acrobatic movements, the Zaku was using martial arts movements, dodging the GM's attacks by a hair's breadth. When the GM jumped in the air, the Zaku would dodge underneath. When the GM aimed its rifle, the Zaku would move a half-step from the targeted area.

"Tsk tsk! Pretty clever!"
Shin could be heard saying from the monitor's speaker. At the same time a loud crackling sound erupted and the screen of the monitor went completely white.
"What?"

Elysia instinctively leaned forward. Asuna's Zaku fired a spray of bullets at the ground, kicking up dirt and sand. The Zaku jumped and its shadow could be seen over the GM's head. The Zaku landed and tried tackling the GM from the side, but the GM crossed its arms and braced itself for impact, tanking the move without faltering. The GM threw a punch at the Zaku's head, but the left arm of of the Zaku knocked it out of the way. In an instant the two mobile suits separated as the GM pulled back.

"You can do it!"
Elysia exclaimed as the Zaku kicked off of the ground at the same time. Aiming for the spot where the GM was going to land and rushing forward with a tackle, however the Zaku failed and was now crawling around in an unsightly manner. Shin had activated the verniers at the last second, delaying his landing time and ruining Asuna's plan. The GM took aim at the Zaku with a beam sword overhead, and it swung down to deliver a finishing blow.

Just as everyone thought it was over, the Zaku grabbed the GM by one of the exhaust ducts on the GM's chest. The view on the monitor spun around as the Zaku used the momentum and weight of the GM as leverage to throw it. In Judo terms, what Asuna did was a Tomoe-Nage throw. It was a Judo technique that Kelly had rather roughly taught Asuna one day, while Elysia stood there and watched. Surprisingly Asuna had mastered the technique, and she performed it in of all things an old Zaku.

The crowd erupted into cheers at Asuna's unexpected victory. Some jeers were mixed in, sure, but most of the people there recognized Asuna's well earned victory, and Elysia was no exception. She welcomed Asuna with a smile in her face as she stepped out of the simulator. 

"It looks like you've become quite adept as a pilot."
After saying this Elysia began to question her own words. Asuna is from Zeon, but it's hard to image that she could have learned to pilot a Zaku at her age... So how? Elysia couldn't think of an answer to that small little question, so she turned to Asuna, who just got out of the simulator. Asuna was smiling shyly, with her friend Emile holding her by the shoulders.





As Elysia came out of the showers she noticed the lights in the judo room where the match was the other day. Zaku's Tomoe-Nage. Put into words it sounded more like a spectacle than a battle. If Asuna was in the Judo room, Elysia would like to ask her why she did the tomoe-nage. Knowing Asuna, she'd probably give an answer akin to 'I don't know' or 'I just did it in the spur of the moment, but that's fine. There are some things you can only learn by hearing it straight from the horse's mouth.

Elysia walked past the shower room and the training and to the room with the word "judo" over the entrance. She slide open the shoji door and stepped inside. The room smelt of dust from the pounding of the tatami mats.

"I wonder who that could be..."

A boy was practicing his ukemi technique in the room. The boy had light colored wavy hair, and a slender body, not something you'd call muscular. Strangely enough, the lack of a judo uniform only made him appear stronger despite his suitably slender frame. He looked up in response to Elysia's words, and her cheeks flushed red when she saw it was Kelly.

"What!? It's you..."

Kelly said bluntly, his breathing labored from training. He glanced at the clock on the wall and Elysia's eyes were drawn to the same spot. It was twelve minutes past nineteen. The old analogue clock on the wall told Kelly and Elysia that it was evening, they probably wouldn't be able to make it for dinner.

"Do you always do this?"

Elysia was about to step inside the judo hall. She had put on some sandals when she got out of the shower, but the soles of her feet were still damp. Would it be okay to step onto the tatami mats like this? She ultimately decided not to. She closed the shoji door behind her and leaned against the locker next to it.

"I take it you saw Asuna's tomoe-naga and suddenly decided to get practicing."

"No way!"

Kelly turned his back to Elysia as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He bent his legs and sat upright, staring at a hanging scroll on the wall. It was in a sumi-e style illustration depicting two carp fighting against a flowing stream of water.

"It's just my daily routine. My rival isn't Asuna."

Kelly's voice took on a self deprecating tone as he spoke. Elysia couldn't see his expression from where she was standing, but she could easily imagine that sarcastic smile curling his lips. Elysia remained silent though, she knew Kelly viewed her as his rival, even if he was too proudful to say so around so.

"I can't even begin to understand Asuna at all." Kelly said quietly. "In today's simulator battle, she ran away at first right? I initially thought it was because she was a spacenoid."

"What do you mean?"

"So Asuna naturally braces herself for falling. You could also say that she struggles to put her thoughts into action under gravity. If you think this is just a characteristic of spacenoids, it makes sense... right?"

Kelly turned around as he said that. He placed both fists on the Tatami mat and used them as a fulcrum to spin himself around. Elysia recognized this as an Asian technique and Kelly appeared quite used to it. It seems his statement about practicing judo daily wasn't entirely a lie.

"But she threw Shin with a Judo technique. Judo moves aren't about strength, but using the strength and weight of your own opponent against them. If you don't, you could never pull off a throw like that."

Elysia was silent as Kelly pointed out the obvious. She didn't know if spacenoids were what Kelly said they were, but having spent a lot of time looking at the artificial sky in the simulator, she felt almost like she could understand what it was like for them. Even if she explained the sunset and how the colors could change in the blink of an eye, people who only grew up looking at an artificial sky wouldn't really be able to understand. That's probably what Kelly was trying to say. Even if you had everything on a subject explained to you, acquiring a true understanding was a different matter entirely.

"I just don't understand at all."
Kelly muttered softly, with a dark shadow akin to something like fear visible in his eyes.





Klaus Nocton had arranged for a passenger plane, as he had a personal dislike for the seating in military vehicles. Klaus figured that the trip from Augusta to Quebec would have been fine, but he couldn't stand to make the trip in a military plane, with all the stuffy air. He'd rather be treated like a first class passenger on a poor airliner than subject himself to the stifling prison-like atmosphere of a military plane.

Klaus looked out the window and down at the Somes Sounds fjord of Maine, repeating in the same pattern. During his stay in Augusta, a female reporter form a local town magazine visited his hotel room for an interview, she made mention of how extreme the cold can get in the winter. Looking down below it was easy to see what she meant, even if he'd never experienced such a winter himself. The landscape was soon blocked by clouds, and he lowered the blinds to block the glare of the sunlight.

A fat middle-aged woman approached his seat and brought him a trey of food. It smelt terrible, like a lunch bag consisting of cheap and poor quality foods from a super market. The main offender was a lobster, cooked in some kind of a sweet sauce. Klaus instinctively twisted the filter valve on his mask. Even through the PVC filter the smell hit him like a ton of bricks and made him sick to his stomach.

Lobster was supposed to be a local specialty of Augusta, but he felt that it was offensive to serve something so heinous to tourists and visitors. A young soldier had taken him to a local pub where he was served a delicious lobster. The meat was soft and sweet, and Klaus, who lived most of his life in space, had no qualms about it as he did with many other foods of Earth. Though it only made him wonder what abominable piece of food was presented to him, and how it turned out this way. Was this the result of pollution caused by the war that ended five years ago? The thought made made him a feel a deep dark pit in the bottom of his heart swell in helplessness.

Klaus was a second generation space immigrant. He made it to space by taking advantage of the soil the first generation of space immigrants had risked life and limb to cultivate. Even so he felt a sense of duty to the Earth. A duty to not let the earth be polluted any further. Watching interviews on TV, he could tell this was a sentiment shared by many second generation space immigrants. The first generation of immigrants had a sense of victimization, feeling like they were forced into space once the hype surrounding this new frontier had died.. The second generation, especially those close in age to his own daughter, felt as they people have taken living in space for granted.

"Times change, attitudes change." Klaus thought to himself as he returned the trey of lobster untouched. It's best to do what you can to the best of your ability using what you have. Klaus thought to not take action of any kind was a sin in it of itself, even if others denied this as the case. Klaus took out a stack of documents he had put in the pocket of the seat. It was placed in a clear case made of natural materials with the crest of the school on it.
When colonel Toru gave it to him, he said "I can't tell you everything, but I'll give you what little information I can."

Despite being such a classified secret, Klaus was rather causal about carrying it around, as the information was of no great importance to him. The document explained the reason for the Montreal campus' founding and the special curriculum created for it. There were parts where the text was covered in black bars, as if redacted, which probably meant the information was classified. However that was also of little interest of Klaus.

It appeared as though the purpose of the special Montreal Campus was to discover extraordinary pilots and develop their special talents. To achieve this goal, the principal has permission to carry out whatever dangerous training is needed to expose these special talents, even life-threatening exercises.

The way they used the term "human resources" in the document reminded Klaus of the report given to him by Chandel. Chandel said there were several black boxes inside the mobile suits that even the engineers from Nocton, the manufacturer of the mobile suits, were unable to touch. Though looking at the documents, Klaus could understand that these were all characteristics of this special training school. To put it into perspective, the entire Montreal Campus itself was a mess of black boxes.

Klaus was about to put the document back in his seat pocket, when suddenly the signature of Toru Uslant on the cover of the document. The horrifying cold-blooded face of the man he met at Augusta came to mind. He was just a lieutenant colonel, but thanks to the organization he belonged to, an autonomous organization within the Federation army known as the 'Titans', he wielded power beyond someone of his rank.

The Titans were formed a few years ago with the purpose of hunting down Zeon remnants, but Klaus understood them to be essentially a special police force that policed space. If he were to catch their eye and be the subject of their ire, there would be no way to escape them. They'd hunt him down relentlessly like hounds.

Toru told Klaus that this project was being run for a greater purpose, and that was probably true. But if they were going by military logic, then Klaus's company must act according to that logic. Just as Toru had to look out for the lives of many soldiers, Klaus was responsible for the lives of many employees. A soft electronic beep sounded off, and the monitor built in the seat in front of him emitted a faint light. The plane had just entered Quebec, where Montreal was located. Klaus raised the blinds and looked out the window, with the vast blue sea welcoming him through the gaps in the clouds.

Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (manga) chapter 3: Simulator Mock Battle

We present to you the third chapter of Ecole du Ciel. This chapter contains our first proper action scene, setups for future plot developments, a bit of character development for a supporting cast member, and a major callback to the second chapter of the novelization. I hope you've done your reading, because that might come out of the blue if you've only been reading the manga. Both are intended to be read in tandem as two sides to the same story.

Special thanks to GIT_LAB and Trafalgarlog for supplying us the ebook scans to compliment our existing scans.

Reading order for this series so far is

Special chapter

Manga chapter 1

Novel chapter 1

Novel chapter 2

Manga chapter 2

Manga chapter 3 (this one)

Novel chapter 3

You can read this chapter here!

You can download this chapter here!

Kochikame: Tokyo Beat-Cops chapter 3: The Boys of Kameari

First work published since No More Cheese Dip's computer failure and it actually turned out pretty well. Personally I feel like this was the weakest chapter of Kochikame we've done so far, but we're still a long way off from the manga's peak. It's nice to see the chief actually play a role in a story beyond showing up at the end just to punish Ryotsu. Feel free to join our Discord so you can see Hichikarah talk about this chapter and compare it against the existing scanlation.

You can read this chapter online here!

You can download this chapter here!





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