"We have several months worth of food, water, and air but not enough to last until we expect resupply or rescue. So we need to acquire more. Preliminary scans indicate that the planet probably has breathable air and clearly has water so our main limit is going to be food."
"We need to either find existing food sources or create new ones. We don't have any farming equipment, but should be able to improvise. This is where I expect people to volunteer ideas from the equipment they've been using."
Amuro get ups and leads him to the break room. He hasn't exactly thought things through, but plans to ask him some of the same questions Friedrich had as a warm up to the really hard ones and has a vague idea of using the red Zaku as a transition.
The break room is mostly empty to begin with and clears out completely when Amuro and Char show up.
Amuro goes over to the model boxes and starts pulling stuff out until he get the red Zaku and puts it on the table. He pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts and see if Char is going to ask any questions.
“My old Zaku command type... It’s not badly done. It’s nice and all but you brought me here to show me a toy?”
Char was confused as to what Amuro wanted, why he brought him here.
"One of the Zeons we left behind on Pluto made this. He had some questions for you, and since he's not here I'm going to ask them instead."
"Why did you do... everything really. Why did you fight for Zeon to begin with and why did you kill the Zabi's when you did? Why did you..." He was going to ask why Char got Lalah involved but isn't quite ready to go there. Also its not something Friedrich even remotely asked about. "Just why."
Char locks the door to the room before answering. Then takes off his mask.
“I suppose you, my greatest foe, deserve to know.
My name is Casval Rem Deikun, son of Zeon Deikun the beloved prime minister of side 3. The Zabi family poisoned my father and twisted his ideology of Spacenoid independence into a call for war and Spacenoid supremacy, riling the people up into the coup that lead to Side 3 becoming the Principality of Zeon. Using my fathers name for their twisted abomination of what he would have wanted.
I escaped to earth as a little boy to avoid being used as a tool or assassinated myself, and swore I would kill them all. Once I was old enough I adopted the identity of a spacer drifter named Char Aznable and joined the Zeon war college until the war broke out, and then rose through the ranks of the Zeon army. Waiting for a chance to kill them.
Sorry for using you as a tool to kill Garma, but it was the perfect opportunity.”
Char may or may not have had the dramatic reveal speech mostly prepared beforehand. In case anyone found out.
He doesn’t mention he wasn't alone when he escaped to earth, his sisters identity is not his secret to share, and she obviously had a thing for the boy. He wouldn't sabotage her chances with Amuro, even if he still resented Amuro for killing Lalah.
Char is treated to the flattest "What" he has heard in his life.
Amuro doesn't know what he was expecting but that could not have been less on his radar if it was hiding behind every I-field in the solar system.
"Wait thats so crazy it actually makes sense. But do you have any proof, and why did you have to bring Lalah into the war. Also why do you look like Sayla?"
“I uhhh... suppose a DNA test would show proof I am the son of Zeon Deikun. I cannot imagine his DNA wouldn’t be on record.” And there was enough of his father in his face that a look at a photo would be convincing enough, he wore the mask for a reason.
“And Zeon Deikun had two children who fled to earth. Anything else about Sayla Isn’t my story to tell.” Fuck, Amuro could tell just from their faces, sorry Artesia.
“And Lalah... I found her in a brothel in india, I could tell immediately there was a newtype nearby she was that strong. She started travelling with me and I handed her off to the Flanagan newtype institute before I was sent to spy on the Federation mobile suit program. When we met again she was even stronger, almost too sensitive to whatever it is newtypes are sensing for her to handle. I was distracted from my revenge by the potential she showed as a next step for humanity. Perhaps my fathers beliefs influenced me in that, I became obsessed with the idea of humanity reaching that next step.
Then Kycelia found out who I was and I agreed to keep serving Zeon as long as they kept pushing forward research of newtypes, I put aside my revenge for that goal that was so clear in my mind. Lalah was grateful to me for rescuing her and wanted to help me fight and show the Zeons the power of newtypes so they would continue the research.
And well... you were there for what happened next, Lalah died, I wanted revenge on you, then Sayla reminded me of my original motivations at A Baoa Qu and I left to go kill Kycelia. Then the war ends and nothing much happens till my men get called in to this superweapon.” He's had a lot of months to think over what happened and put all the pieces together. He doesn't know what took him over back then, he was so convinced about newtypes that he set aside his revenge for them, and now it seems a hollow goal.
Amuro is much more familiar with the face of his almost girlfriend than even well known historical figures, also his guess was like 50% newtype intuition.
"Ok that. Um. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit then talk to Sayla."
After a much shorter amount of time than it would have taken him to get up, Sayla goes to Amuro's room.
"I should probably tell you some things about Char if he hasn't already."
"He told me that Zeon was his father and that his whole life has been a convoluted revenge plot except for a bit where he got obsessed with newtypes. He didn't want to tell me you're his brother but he took his mask off so I got suspicious. I think he thought I'd recognize the family resemblance with his father but not you even though I see you every day and barely remember Zeon Deikun from my textbook."
In fairness to Char even most feddies would be more familiar with Zeon Deikun than Amuro, 'too busy reading technical manuals to notice an evacuation alarm', Ray, and Char spent the recent portion of his life in a country literally named after the guy.
"Ok. I'll be around when you're ready. Maybe don't tell the rest of the crew. Bright knows because it was relevant to the mission and I needed to explain were I got the gold. That was a gift from Char he wanted me to use it to run away from the war. But no one else knows."
"Oh that explains that then. Wait you mean its Char's fault Kai could afford those glasses?!?"
"I really need some time to think."
Amuro is not going to be truly ok anytime soon, for example before the heat death of the universe, but will rebound to basically functional before the reach the planet.
The rest of the crew is still a little bit nervous about having their arch-nemesis walking about on board, but are starting to get pretty excited about the new planet. It is sinking in that they are making history, in a way that doesn't involve massive explosions for once. Also, while being cut off from "home" isn't great most of them don't actually have a home to go back to. Side 7 is toast and even the rest of the Sol system isn't looking that great after the One Year War.
During the trip towards the planet, the comm relay that the White Base left by the alien FTL relay forwards a transmission that came from a probe that came through from the other side. News from Pluto has finally arrived.
Jacinda writes that she is sure they are all still alive and that everyone on Pluto is fine, they have more than enough supplies in the Pluto base and even more that were salvaged from the blown up ships. Though most of the food that survived the ships was the boring emergency nutrient paste.
They managed to get the relay pointed away from earth but havent been able to fix the issue of it causing objects to have too much mass coming out. Jacinda also figured out the the relays have a dedicated communications system, so you dont have to shoot lasers or radio through the FTL system while it's activated to communicate, though that is still possible. The other method seems to use another unknown system that isnt the normal FTL system, that is supposedly instant if she is reading the glyphs correctly. She sends an image of a point on the relay where it picks up light, and relays the light level it is getting to the other side in real time. So just pointing laser comms at that point should work, since Job John set up a comms relay near that point to read the light flashes that got sent through. If she doesn't get a reply using the system she showed them, she will assume they can't get it to work and already has comm relays hoping to pick up comms sent via the FTL system, and to respond she will send probes through like this time.
The Pluto team has contacted the Federation and the Federation says it will be at least 10 months before supplies from the Jupiter fleet can get there, and it will take 14 months for the Federation technicians and further supplies and personnel to be organized and travel to Pluto.
The communication ends with Jacinda writing that Job says hi, and Friedrich was bummed to not be able to meet the famous Red Comet.
Everyone will say hi back to John Job. The crew is small enough that everyone at least kinda knows him.
Bright will be boring and responsible and give an update on all of the actual information they've gathered including attaching pictures and scans. He'll also forward their farming plans and ask if they can be reviewed by people with any idea how agriculture works.
He doesn't say anything about there not being a name for the planet yet because he's still working on ideas and doesn't want anyone to pre-empt him after being reminded that that is still something that needs to be worked out.
Amuro will use Sayla as a go between to strongly hint to Char that it would be really nice if he were to respond to his figurative fanmail from Friedrich.
She isn't thrilled by the prospect, but agrees with the sentiment and kinda likes having an excuse to talk to her brother while still avoiding the everything.
Char isn’t a federation soldier, and thus has no duties on board during the trip, and space travel without something to do is incomparably dull. So when he sees his sister show up his mood is brightened considerably.
He has been trying to speak alone with her this whole trip and it seemed like she was avoiding him, but surely that was just a coincidence. She must just have been busy with her duties or something surely. Artesia had always been such a good child who always wanted to follow her brother around, she wouldn't ignore him.