Chapter 208: From Bright's Perspective
"Yes, there does appear to be a warship under construction in the port area of the Noah."
Inside the captain's office of the White Base, Amuro was reporting to Bright on what he had seen and heard over the past few days.
Although most of it was just zoning blueprints for residential areas, it still provided a basic understanding of Blue Noah's internal layout.
"I see… Good work, Amuro. And thank Miss Beltorchika as well."
Bright sat in his captain's chair, with the emblems of the Earth Federation Forces and AEUG mounted on the wall behind him.
But then, as he spoke, Bright — now a married man — gave Amuro a once-over.
"Speaking of Miss Beltorchika, why did she end up joining the Titans?"
Amuro blinked, as if caught off guard by Bright's sudden shift in topic to Beltorchika.
But he quickly gave an answer.
"She didn't go into much detail, but it seems she volunteered for military school, performed excellently there, and was subsequently recruited by the Titans through a top-performer selection program."
"I see… So that's Jamaican's doing."
Bright immediately grasped the reasoning behind it and came up with his own hypothesis.
No wonder a noncommissioned officer like Beltorchika was placed in the same batch as commissioned pilot officers.
If Bright's guess was right, the Titans were probably planning to use Beltorchika as a publicity figure to promote their so-called "equal treatment of space colonists."
"Amuro, does she need our help to leave the Titans?"
If it had been someone else, maybe someone who genuinely wanted to work with the Titans, Bright wouldn't have intervened.
But from the few times he'd met her, Bright had keenly sensed that Beltorchika wasn't cut out for military life — let alone the Titans, a group that embodied the military's most violent tendencies.
Her decision to enroll in the military academy must have been to get closer to Eli.
Thinking back to their reunion at the port, where Beltorchika unreservedly praised Eli, Bright began to seriously consider offering her a helping hand.
"I already asked her… but it seems Beltorchika has her own plans."
If even Bright, who had only met her a few times, could see it, of course Amuro could as well.
Just yesterday, while wandering around inside Blue Noah again with Beltorchika's help, Amuro had offered to take her away.
From Amuro's point of view, she had clearly been tempted.
But the feeling passed quickly, and she turned him down.
"Beltorchika has always been a woman of action. If I'm not mistaken, she's noticed the growing conflict between AEUG and the Titans."
"So she wants to stay in the Titans… and help us — help Eli — from within?"
Bright understood Beltorchika's intentions.
"This is reckless. Does she have any idea what kind of place the Titans are?"
Bright was genuinely upset at her decision — it was far too impulsive.
Most people didn't really know the truth about the Titans. At most, they assumed the Titans were just an extreme military unit with special authority.
But Bright, who had gone from outsider to direct participant in the conflict between the two groups, understood the real problem with the Titans better than anyone.
They were becoming exclusionary, arrogant, and utterly devoted to violence as their solution for everything.
But that wasn't the real issue. The Federation military had always had units like that.
The true danger lay in the ideology behind the Titans.
The Federation Parliament had granted them far too much power, with a very clear intent: to create a private army under their control.
Through the Titans, the Parliament could extend its reach into space while staying comfortably on Earth, enjoying privileged lives. Any dissidents in space would be crushed by the Titans, until only those willing to serve Earth remained in the bureaucracy.
Yes, what the Titans stood for wasn't the "Earth sanctity" doctrine or some extreme push to strengthen the Federation.
It was simply about preserving Earth's privileged status and high standard of living. Backed by Parliament, they had grown into what they were now.
In such a situation, if the Titans were planning to use Beltorchika as a promotional tool, then that meant she would inevitably be viewed with hostility by space colonists.
And even then, the Titans wouldn't truly accept her. To them, she was just a useful tool.
"Try persuading her one more time. We depart in three hours."
After much thought in his seat, Bright finally made the call, even if it meant risking the Titans' wrath.
To his surprise, Amuro shook his head and refused.
"Beltorchika may still be inexperienced, but she's shown that she's willing to take responsibility for her own choices. It's dangerous, yes… but I want to let her try."
Amuro thought back to the past few days — the little gestures of closeness Beltorchika had shared with him, like hugging and leaning on him — all to mislead the Titans' spies lurking in the shadows.
Both Amuro and Beltorchika knew that doing so would only make the Titans even more suspicious and possessive of her.
But she had done it anyway. She had made her choice to stay with the Titans.
"Rather than forcibly dragging her out, I think it's better if we focus on keeping her safe."
Looking at Amuro's expression, Bright's stance finally softened.
"I'll talk to Monsha. Ask him to keep an eye out for her. But in the end, he's still just a lieutenant — Beltorchika will have to be ready to protect herself too."
"Yes, sir."
As for Monsha — he may be a Titan, but he was undoubtedly a good man.
"All right. Go make preparations for departure."
Bright waved Amuro off.
Then, he began tapping his fingers on the desk.
Even if it's misguided, at least the Titans act based on ideology.
By contrast, AEUG was still moving in accordance with General Revil's original vision.
There was nothing inherently wrong with that — Bright was a soldier, too.
But that vision… was already outdated.
Now that General Jamitov had stepped back from AEUG's affairs, Eli had naturally become its de facto leader.
But unlike during the One Year War, Eli now seemed shackled — never once had he made his ideals public.
What was he hesitating about?
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