After the war between Earth and ZAFT broke out, although the social environments of both sides remained relatively stable, the overall atmosphere was quite oppressive because everything had to make way for the war effort.
Under this immense pressure, people desperately needed a way to soothe their souls. The entertainment industry entered a stage of rapid development, and various literary and artistic works began to emerge one after another.
The VTubers played by the Haros were also beneficiaries of this "Renaissance."
And now, those "sand sculpture" viewers who spent every day raving in front of their computers and communication devices in the livestream rooms felt, for the first time, that war was actually so close to them.
Because when they woke up, they discovered that their "Oshi" was preparing to pilot an MS and head into "Verdun."
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In that very 2D-styled livestream room, the black-haired Mecha Girl avatar in the bottom right corner was busy with something. Despite the title saying "Come in and chat," she didn't say a single word, letting the bullet comments refresh constantly in the room.
Perhaps this was what she—or rather, the Haros—intended: there was no need for others to narrate their actions. Instead, they would let people see their movements directly, allowing them to think and judge for themselves.
But at the very least, Roz's words just now had made the guys in the livestream room feel a sense of determination—the resolve to give everything for a cause.
The black-haired Mecha Girl, piloting a Jesta Cannon, stood atop a modified sub-flight system.
She took a brief moment of spare time to glance at the livestream's bullet comments.
"Wife, wife, are you really going to war?! Nooo, I still want to watch your streams..."—This was someone reluctant to see the black-haired Mecha Girl graduate.
"By the way, all the VTubers from the agency 'Knights of the Phantasmal Beast' posted graduation notices today. Is there some kind of connection..."—This was someone analyzing the current situation.
"What? No!! Why? My life as a DD is over!!"—This was someone starting to lose it because all the Haro VTubers they followed had graduated at once.
"MS, ehehe... Mecha Girl, ehehe... slurp, it's double the happiness..."—This was someone suffering a sudden bout of "illness" and starting to lick their communicator screen.
However, since they were behind a screen, it didn't really affect anything, so the black-haired Mecha Girl ignored it.
But as if remembering something, she enlarged a portion of the Jesta Cannon in the top left corner, revealing a section of armor engraved with the stage name she used as a VTuber.
"...Wait, the streamer's name is actually on that armor piece?! Doesn't that mean all our previous donations were spent on that armor?"
"Not just that, it looks like there are names of other VTubers from the 'Knights of the Phantasmal Beast' too... Is it an 'Itasha' style mobile suit?! I'm satisfied."
"You monster! What are you satisfied about?!"
"I beg of you, please release a model kit of this version, I'll do anything (holding out wallet)."
"Wait, in a group of units with tactical liveries, isn't this unit a bit too flashy? Streamer, maybe don't go, you'll die!"
"No! Streamer, don't come to Gryps! I don't want to fight you!"
"That Earth Alliance guy who just passed by! Don't let me see you hit the streamer, or I, a ZAFT elite pilot, will definitely give you what's coming to you!"
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Amidst a crowd of viewers raving over the VTuber signatures on the Jesta Cannon's armor, a few sober voices were mixed in—along with some Earth Alliance and ZAFT personnel who were stealing a moment of leisure in the middle of the Gryps battlefield.
"...Combat is unavoidable."
Finally, the black-haired Mecha Girl avatar spoke. It wasn't the persona she used in past streams, but a calm tone, as if she had long expected this day to come.
"I am grateful to everyone. In my short life, filled with confusion and pain, we gathered here and found some joy to comfort our hearts."
Recalling everything from the livestream room in her brief past, the black-haired Mecha Girl smiled.
"But I think, if I run away today, then what happens later? What kind of twisted shape will all of you be forced into by this world?"
"I have already endured the pain of being twisted like that. I refuse to let it happen again, so I choose to fight. This isn't out of obedience to Big Brother Roz's ideas, but a decision made by my own will."
The black-haired Mecha Girl adjusted the Jesta Cannon's camera view, looking at the hands tightly gripping the weapons, covered in various VTuber signatures.
"The cost of building this machine was given by everyone... you have been fighting alongside us all along."
"In this battle, perhaps not just our VTuber careers, but even our lives will 'graduate'... but we are all prepared."
The Hangar indicator lights flickered on. The ship had reached combat range. Everyone was running about, and the Jesta standing on its sub-flight system was raised to the catapult deck by the elevator.
In the distance, Gryps and GENESIS stood facing each other from afar, with a brutal battlefield of crisscrossing beam fire between them.
"So, please watch our battle. Think for yourselves, judge for yourselves, and plant the seeds of peace in the soil. We believe that these seeds will sprout in the future."
The Jesta slightly raised its head, its red visor glowing with a bright light as it bent its knees.
"Bridget, I'm heading out first!"
Over the comms came the voice of another female Haro piloting a Jesta.
"Veronica, Juliet 2, launching!"
On another catapult track, a Jesta standing on a sub-flight system flew out first.
Glancing briefly at the bullet comments, the black-haired Mecha Girl avatar known as Bridget refocused her attention on piloting the Jesta.
At this moment, the livestream comments were flooding with things like: "Holy sh*t, I'm fired up!"
"It's over! I woke up and my Oshi is going to fight at Gryps!"
"With such sophisticated vocabulary, you definitely didn't just graduate middle or high school—you're not a VTuber at all! Speak! Where did you hide the streamer?!"
The more tense and heavy the situation, the more the people in the livestream room would crack jokes, as if trying to dilute the weight of it all, allowing everyone to face the heavy reality with a heartless laugh.
The black-haired Mecha Girl Bridget's gaze turned serious... though given the current state of her physical body, "gaze" was a bit of a stretch.
"Unicorn Guard, Bridget, Juliet 1, launching!"
With the activation of the sub-flight system's thrusters, the platform—with its performance limits fully unlocked—carried the Jesta Cannon toward the battlefield.
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At this moment, within the ranks of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, a small group of people watched the video on their communicators with complicated expressions. On screen, the Unicorn and Jesta Cannon were making a powerful declaration of their intervention in the battlefield.
The fact that "the money to build the Jesta" came from the donations they had given while watching VTubers, and the simple reality of "waking up to find my Oshi intends to shoot at me"—who could possibly take that?
However, the seeds of peace... can they really sprout in the future?
In this moment, they began to feel lost. It was precisely because of Roz's speech and the innermost feelings Bridget revealed in the livestream that they began to reflect.
Such abundant emotion, such a resolute ideal, such... a peaceful future that makes one hopeful.
What exactly are we fighting for? When will this Moebius loop of constant conflict finally end?
With heavy expressions, they put on their gear. Perhaps these answers could only be found on this battlefield, and the price might be their lives...
But maybe, dying on the same battlefield as the VTuber they liked wouldn't be so bad?
With these thoughts, they walked toward their respective units.
The seeds of peace, at the very moment they began to think, were inadvertently planted by them.
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