Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W: Frozen Teardrop – Shokuzai no Rinbu Chapter 11

Nocturne of Sorrow III part 1

MC File 4 ((part 1))

"--'Who are you?'

--I'm not myself, you see?-- [#1]

'I don't see.'

--Aren't I the same as he?--

'Who are you?'

From the conversation between the Caterpillar and Alice.

MC-0022 NEXT WINTER

I continued fighting. I continued (killing my heart [#2]). Ergo, my heart had long since been empty. I (probably) didn't have any value living as a person. From the past to the future, my existance was [is and will be] pointless. When someone inquired as to who I was, I answered like this: an instrument for fighting, a weapon, something along those lines. I'm afraid I'm nothing more and nothing less than that. Weapons which aren't used have no value. [I am] the same as a rock lying by the wayside. If you take that rock in hand and throw it at your enemy, it becomes a "throwing stone," man's first weapon. The rock had no intention of becoming a weapon, it being a rock and all 483/2/10<. Suddenly, one day, people meaning fight came to the "gentle wilderness" and transformed it into a "battlefield" and rocks like me which were just lying there began to be used as weapons.

There was no refusing.

Code name {Wing Gundam 0}

Model Number XXXG-01W

Code name {Gundam Deathscythe}

Model Number XXXG-01H

Code name {Gundam Sandrock}

Model Number XXXG-01S

Maybe he had too much of something.

I didn't yet know what that something was, what that difference was.

"Is Heero okay like that?"

"His former power haven't yet returned to its previous level as much as he thinks."

Basically, there should be no way Heero Yuy could collapse under one of Catherine's karate chops, he ought to have turned around and retalliated by the time she had taken half a step. Though Duo's getting punched should have sharpened him, he was too off his guard. Locking the medical capsule, Professor W spoke, "Using the 'ZERO system' once or so shouldn't leave him so fatigues......looks like [we? he?] idolized/worshipped the long hibernation 491/3/1-4."

If we sent {Snow White} to the battlefield like this, [he] might self-destruct at the slightest mistake. Of all the pieces [people] under our control, Heero Yuy's (existence) was of the utmost importance. [We/I] wanted him to take care of himself.

Duo's large eyes shone over-bright as he said, "So, there's nothing to stop me from killing Relena Peacecraft?"

"You needn't worry about that......that woman cannot be killed by you." President Relena wasn't that soft of a woman.

The large hover craft in which Prometheus had been loaded headed South from Borealis Ocean and on towards Arcadia. If they continued to take a westerly course, they'd come up on the Elysium Sea where the Furekurafu Islands are [#15]. I had Duo prepare to sally forth and make "Chouxhook 2" surface. Standing on the deck in a black cloak was {Warlock}.

"Warlock, check!" Duo reported when he had finished pre-launch preliminaries. His voice was so energetic it made me wonder just how much energy he really had 429/1/1-2. Professor W delivered the latest news via monitor correspondence.

"Duo-kun [#16], twelve Mars suits have launched from Elysium Island. All of them have pilots......I'm afraid the ones to be intercepting you will be--"

"Naina-neechan [#17] and her {Merciless Fairies}, huh?"

"I believe so."

"Good......as opponents, they're a good match!"

What a brat.

He was grinning like the "Cheshire Cat" from a certain picture book. He didn't panic even when it was twelve against one. There was [something] I had to tell this joke-cracking cut-up [and do so] in no uncertain terms.

"Listen, around here, there is a (tide current) called 'jet current.' It's fast and strong. No matter what, don't even thing about a water battle."

"Warlock, roger!"

"I'm going to start the MSS ((magnetic sandstorm))!"

"Roger!"

"Warlock, take off."

"Hit it!"

Together with a magnetic sandstorm, the black caped mobile suit took off. His departing figure looked like a bat with its jet black wings stretched out.

I made "Chouxhook 2" dive. On the bridge, Professor W was in charge of analyzing the tide of war; Catherine got to work as operator. I was the pilot--I was pretty bored since I switched on the autopilot. I crossed my arms and settled deeply into my chair, just as if I were the captain. Professor W didn't make to sit down. He'd told me before that it was easier to read the military situation standing up. Catherine immediately detected a blip on the enemy detection radar.

"One suit has broken off from the {Merciless Fairies}......it's taking a course to make contact with Duo."

The image of the main monitor was still filled with snow. And on the radar was a digital image from the hacked weather satellite, doctored [#18] by ZERO. 

Beside us, Professor W murmured, "They're able to completely read the movements of the sandstorm."

"I may have overestimated him a bit."

"Maybe you did. In this situation, there's a part for Naina Peacecraft."

"I checked the discrepancies of the enemy. It's the 'Queen of Hearts'!"

Just as Professor W had predicted.

"From the perspective of Duo-kun's character, he wouldn't do a thing like hide himself in a sandstorm."

"Yeah, he'd probably come flying out in happy, high spirits."

"You're both right. Just now, Warlock has flown out of the MSS!" [Catherine said.]

The image feed on the main monitor switched from the sandstorm. In its place appeared the image of the Queen and Warlock encountering each other.

"Hey, you doing okay, Naina-neechan!" Warlock's flashing scythe was swung down. That was firmly caught by the Queen of Hearts' beam sword. Compared to a beam saber, [her beam sword] had higher output and more size.

"Yes! It's been a while, Duo!" Crackling sparks of light gushed out around the area. The place they had landed upon was a small volcanic island in the Furekurafu Archipelago. With [something] to spare, Warlock threw off the beam sword and fell back far enough to allow his beam scythe to move in an arc.

"I came by to take care of some small business."

The Queen of Hearts raised the shield in her hand to eye level and stood constantly at the ready.

"Why, the storm's cleared, isn't the weather nice?"

[Warlock] was probably a distance far enough to evade attacks by the skin of his teeth.

"I've brought lunch with me!"

The best method for competing with a beam scythe is, after first evading the first swing, to enter the internal circumference of the arc and before the second swing can be paid out, rain sword blows down upon [the scythe bearer]. Naina seemed to be calculating that very thing.

"Nice, that!" Duo attacked instantly. In synch with [his attack], the Queen of Hearts retreated at high speed and dodged the beam scythe's first swing.

"I brought sandwiches." Niana shot/fired her burners to the max and speedily dove inside the swing-arc. "Shall we eat together?" The Queen of Hearts stuck her beam sword straight out in front. A section of the black hooded cape was torn. However, only a shadow of Duo's Warlock remained and he dodged the hit from the beam sword.

"Sandwiches, you say?" There was value in that agile evasion. Moreover, the chain of actions taken from behind the Queen of Hearts was appropriately advanced. He utilized the auto-balancers skillfully. It was a speed that would make an ordinary pilot lose consciousness.

"You don't mean....?" [Duo said.] Although he'd circled round to [her] back, he went to the trouble of speaking before heaving the beam scythe. There was an explosion, but it was the Queen's shield which was destroyed.

"I made them myself! The kind that Sister Hilde taught me to make!" The Queen of Hearts jumped and bore the attack. Warlock followed, leaping into the sky. Mars gravity, having only one third the pull of Earth's, allowed both suits to leap wonderfully high.

"For real?"

"Have I ever lied?"

The Queen released the built-in attack vulcan [cannon/#19]. The damage from even a direct hit was small, but more than enough to [allow her to get] the slip.

"Of course, there's tomato." Pushing the moment [ALT: Taking advantage of the moment], she once again swung the beam sword. "Mustard and mayonnaise!" She put the out-thrust sword's power to the max, extended it spearlike, and paid out continuous, sharp 'stabs.' Naina's pilot skills weren't half bad. She displayed straight up close-quarters combat that was enough to surpass Warlock's specialty of circular close-quarters attacking. Despite being a customized Mars suit, in man-to-man combat, there was no way it could fight equally against Warlock. But when I imagined her piloting Prometheus, a chill ran down my spine. Of course, Duo, who evaded every hit from the Queen's chain of attack, had accomplished a (fighting power) of a high standard. Just--

"Damn, I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse and chase the rider! [#20]"

[The fight would be amazing/#21] if it weren't for all the chitter-chatter. Listening to their voices alone and one would think they were really on a picnic.

"I have the chicken and ham you like, too."

"You really went all out, huh?"

No--

"It's not my birthday today."

"Something special since it's been so long."

If they were being so talkative in the midst of a fierce battle, the (level of value) might increase all the more [if they didn't talk at all]. Both suits touched down again on the volcanic island, still facing each other. Without waiting for a lead, Warlock was the first to shoot out.

"Alright......I surrender already."

Duo carried out an attack of words and estranged violent speed 493/3/4-5<.

"So, isn't there some place quite to lay out the sheet? [#22]" Naina was the same, but she had undoubtedly finished reading the rhythm of Warlock's attack. [She?] effectively, without waste, avoided him 494/1/2. And it was unlikely they'd throw any unexpected punches.

"I'm cool with anywhere......if I can eat!"

"I don't like this rocky terrain." The Queen of Hearts whose beam sword had been perfectly straight so far instantly changed to an arc (motion) and made [the sword] synchronized with the beam scythe's movement. When Warlock drew the arc of a figure 8, the sword retaliated with an infinitely symbol.

"Didn't we eat on junk piles when we were at the orphanage?"

"Taking off on your own when it was time for prayers, right?"

The Queen of Hearts focused her power at the point where the two circles met. No sooner had that happened then Warlock's beam scythe was (unfortunately) shot way off in the distance.

"Remember how Sister Hilde was so angry afterwards?"

I couldn't see his face in the cockpit, but I could tell from his voice that he was still smiling like the Cheshire Cat. From beneath the black cloak, Warlock withdrew a second beam scythe. There was no way Naina could not have been surprised by that, but--

"Sister's stranglehold." She sounded like she was snickering at the memory.

"Man, that hurt for real!" The attack started up again. The Queen fought back.

"Have you seen her since then?"

"Nah, I've had to babysit Father Crapswell this whole time."

The circular tracks both of them were cutting steadily/rapidly picked up speed.

"Oh, speaking of which, what is Father doing? Is he working like he should? Is he doing okay?"

"He's so happy, he could die!"

"Ah ha ha ha, that's what I thought!"

When their [weapons'] velocity reached its peak, one hit from the Queen sent Warlock's second scythe flying. If this were a fight between swordsmen who didn't use cheap tricks, Naina's Queen had overpowered Duo's Warlock.

"Do you remember that one Christmas?"

The Queen's beam sword appeared to be still jabbed into Warlock. That, however, was an afterimage.

"The one with the weird cosplay [#22.5], right!"

Warlock had instantly moved dozens of meters to the rear. There laid both of his beam scythes.

"That was funny, wasn't it?"

"Just thinking about it makes me [laugh so hard] my stomach hurts."

Warlock picked up [a scythe] in each hand, and showed he was going to fight two-scythe style. This time, he drew a double-track figure 8.

"No, that's......jsut because you're hungry."

If it was me, I think I would have used that move from the very start, but [Duo] may have wanted to take a trump card. Warlock approached the Queen as he swayed trickily to the left and right. There wasn't space to [break into] the two-scythe circular movements. There was a fine time difference between the inner and outer (circumferences), making it difficult to get the rhythm. If she carelessly jumped inside those moving circles, she'd probably get ripped to pieces without being able to so much as parry. Nevertheless, the Queen boldly came attacking. It was a 'thrust' fast unlike any other before. Evenso, the two beam scythes crossed in an instant and completely caught the beam sword between them. This time, it was the beam sword that was thrown way off in the distance.

"Argh! I'm hungry! Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!"

"Well, why don't you seriously surrender?" Surprisingly, the Queen of Hearts took a bazooka from off her shoulder and set its sights on Warlock. If she fired from that distance, [Duo] could not use his (alter ego/otherself) or be mistaken for the afterimage [resultant] from (anomalous movement).

"Okay! Time out!" Duo contacted us via commlink. That guy was unbelievable. By that commlink, the location of 'Chouxhook 2' would be made known.

"Doktor T, this is Warlock!"

Catherine yelled her response at the radar screen, "At least eleven suits are fast approaching this submersible aircraft carrier!"

"Duo, did I not tell you not to do anything funny?"

Professor W laughed innocently.

"I've confirmed the two closest crafts! Ace of Spades! Jack of Spades!"

The Ace and Jack of Spades, hm. We'd been dealth some pretty hight cards. This is 'Blackjack' after all. As for their mobility, those two were the best among the {Merciless Fairies}. I had a bad feeling about that.

"Oi, Doktor T, answer me!"

"What?"

"We wanna make a ceasefire......"

"No," I flat out refused.

Catherine continued, "I've confirmed the next wave of four suits! Eight of Hearts, Eight of Diamonds, Eight of Spades, Eight of Clovers!"

"Four of a kind......" When I muttered that, Professor W immediately negated it.

"That's the Eight Enders from Daifugou [#23]......they might be trying to effect a Revolution."

Daifugou? I didn't know that card game.

"Revolution is where the highest cards turn into the lowest. In this scenario, it probably means the Joker will become the weakest."

I sighed.

"I'm interested in the design [on the] Joker card."

"Huh......?"

"Is the design a 'warlock'? [#24]"

"......"

"Or is it a 'clown'?"

After Professor W thought about it a bit, he slowly said, "I'm sure it's both of them."

To Be Continued..

#1 - This line is repeated because, in the raw text, the English appears first followed by the Japanese translation. Funnily enough, apparently Japanese people know enough English to not require this repetition for the Caterpillar's "Who are you?". Also, apologize for the crazy punctuation. There are single and double quotes all over the place in this opening passage.

#2 - very literal translation, but I might also use "I continued to smother my emotions."

#3 - This is another love-hate word. It's totally natural in Japanese to exclaim, "Oh, nostalgic!" but in English, it just sounds stupid. Maybe I should just give in and use "back in the day" or some such similar phrase.

#4 - near as I can tell, this is supposed to be Trois Rivieres Rum which, according tohttp://www.specialitybrands.com/Trois-Rivieres-Rum.htm that site, actually IS a fermented beverage. However, I wonder if something cane be "fresh" and "fermented" at the same time... Also interesting: Trois is part of the name.

#5 - Unlike single MALT, which apparently uses exclusively malted barley, single CASK means the contents of the bottle of the finished product all came from the same barrel and typically applies bourbon, but sometimes is used for rye/malt whiskeys, too.

#5.5 - Despite the way it sounds, they apparently go for spirits a day or two or whatever AFTER Quatre first sees Trowa's act. The only way I can explain this is: Quatre's seen Trowa's act but Trowa didn't notice Quatre. Eh.

#6 - Literally, this says "Me, too!" or "Me, neither!" but this grammatical form cannot be used with Trowa's statement that he's not using the name "Trowa Barton" because Quatre was never Trowa, so I changed it.

#7 - I have no idea why the raw text flip flops between using double Japanese quotes and double greater-than/less-than signs for denominating Gundam names, but it does. And glaringly so here, since the two styles are right next to each other.

#8 - my canon is rusty, but I have the impression Operation Meteor started with the original 5 pilots descending to earth in their gundams, notably Heero in Wing. During the actual series, we see Quatre making Wing 0 and after Heero's already flown Wing, gets to use WIng 0...but that might be wrong.

#9 - haaa, 唯一点 is what's written, but I can figure out what it is beyond the sum of its parts. Which is not often a very good indication of meaning.

#10 - Well, the written word is "Princess Aurora" but the furigana (which is a superscript used to inform the reader USUALLY of how to read kanji that are either outside the usual vocabulary and/or being used with atypical readings, but it's also used as a standard practice in manga and the like targeted at an audience that may not know all the kanji being used.) says "Heero Yuy." Usually, I defer to the furigana but not here because I think it's interesting Heero's got this new code name.

#11 - place holder footnote. I can't find anything for ショーフック２ online, but I believe it's French because the "2" is furigana-ed with "deaux". The only "shou" I know of, however, are choux al a creme for "cream puff" and a handful of vegetable names. Neither of which seem apropos for a submersible ship.

#12 - yeah, i think this part sounds dumb, too. I must not be getting the right feeling, because it sure as shit sounds like Catherine's got issues about beating the stuffing out of Duo because he's not in training (although Doktor T says Fat Max was doing Duo's training...) and then has a bloodlust filled gazed. But there it is, and there you are.

#13 - I am aware the population of English speakers who actually address their siblings by their filial relationship is probably quite small (even smaller, perhaps, the ones deign to distinguish elder and younger). However, there IS a blatant politeness connotation in Japanese between calling your sibling by their NAME (which older siblings tend to do for younger ones) and their TITLE (which younger ones tend to do for older ones). More age equates higher status and requires a more "polite" pronoun.

#14 - Er, this might mean "hand eye coordination" but this particular combo of kanji isn't in my dictionaries, and that seems like an odd word to lack.

#15 - I poked around quite a bit on Wiki looking for a likely candidate for this feature of Mars and came up with bupkis XDDD The original Japanese word is フレクラフ諸島

#16 - Again, just another social hierarchy thing going on here, but again, since "kun" and "chan" aren't used often (and Catherine flips her shit if you don't comply with her desires) I figure it's better to leave it in there. JUST in case you don't know, -kun in a diminutive ending typically given to young boys (although, apparently, students male or female may be called "Blahblah-kun." and I've know many parents to call their little boys "Blahblah-chan" because it's "cute.")

#17 - and this is where the need for social hierarchy demarcations and the desire to be familiar clash as "neesan" is polite for older but the "san" is replaced with "chan." No great implications beyond the fact that Duo seems to truly enjoy Naina's company.

#18 - The actual word is one I never quite figured out that is literally "calculation disposal" and this is apparently the main function of the ZERO system. If memory serves correct, all my English references to the ZERO system seem to say that ZERO calculated an infinite number of possible courses of actions and/or recommends the best one to take given a certain situation. In Frozen Teardrop, the system was used to combine two accounts of the same event and give the most truthful account, and in that regard, I suppose "doctor" is an okay way to describe what ZERO is doing here. eh.

#19 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_cannon this gun looks cool, also, Heavyarms has some of these.

#20 - Literally, this is more like "My stomach is murderously empty" but let's be honest: so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the rider is pretty damn awesome.

#21 - Duo's comment about how hungry he is bisects Trowa's sentence and it sound *meh* to me in Japanese, but in English, I didn't think it came out very well (well, hell, the whole conversation between Duo and Naina is constantly breaking up Trowa's narration/vice-versa). So I stuck in that phrase to make it flow better. Literally, it just says "That's how it would be if it weren't for the chitter-chatter."

#22 - Culture note: you may know Japanese penchant for cleanliness: using oshibori to wipe hands clean before eating, removing shoes before entering a house (wiping the wheels of your suitcase before bringing it inside, washing the dog's feet after taking it for a walk), keeping shoes off any sort of seat, etc. This also means it's unusual for Japanese people to actually SIT on the ground. Paved, gravel, grass, whatever it is, they will have some sort of covering upon which to sit (and of course, you take your shoes off before getting ON that covering, too). Most typically, this is not a blanket, but a tarp which the Japanese call "shiito" after the English "sheet." Unlike a tarp, however, they're usually emblazoned with cute characters (Disney is by far the most prevalent and plain old blue sheets are unpopular as those are favored by the homeless) and quite often about a meter square for individual use. It is to this sort of ground covering to which Niana is referring.

#22.5 - Just in case you don't know, "cosplay" is when someone dressed up like a particular character. In the west, I believe the type of dress is exclusively from anime. In Japan, "cosplay" can be any kind of costume (the "cos" of "cosplay" comes from costume) and outside various nerd circles, seems to refer to people who like to role play with costumes for erotic purposes.

#23 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daifugō This is apparently "like" the American game "Asshole" or "President" but Wiki also says it's an American game. Seems pretty involved (especially if you're supposed to play it as a drinking game, but it seems like it's a family game in Japan). What's sort of interesting is that Trowa thinks the move being executed is "Eight Enders" but Quatre thinks it's "Revolution." In the card game, an eight enders move (which really DOES NOT need to have ALL the eights played at once, so perhaps that's what makes Quatre refuse Trowa's idea...funny that Trowa would HAVE an idea if he's unfamiliar with the game, though...) can (does?) end that specific "trick" (I'm not enough of a card player to know what a "trick" is).

#24 - well, I have never heard of a joker card having a warlock on it and a quick wiki image search showed only jokers and/or joker like things, but whatever.

Chapter end