Cradle Planet

Cradle Planet (ゆりかごの星 Yurikago no Hoshi^?) is a novel by Ichiro Ohkouchi. It serves as a bridge between Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury PROLOGUE and Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury. It is also the basis for the lyrics of "The Blessing" by YOASOBI, which is the latter's opening theme.

Synopsis[]

The story is told from the perspective of the XVX-016 Gundam Aerial as she watches Suletta Mercury grow in the lead-up to the events of the show.

Plot[]

In the Mercury orbital base, PebiColombo 23, life is harsh and deadly, with solar flares regularly causing equipment malfunction. During one such blackout a six year old Suletta visits Gundam Aerial, scared of the emergency lights. Entering Aerial's cockpit, Suletta distracts herself by playing shooting games with Aerial, in which only her mother had a higher score in. Aerial notes that she only comes and does this when her mom is busy with work.

One day, a nine year old Suletta visits Aerial crying, having being bullied by one of the old men from Mercury. Aerial notes that Suletta and their mother escaped to Mercury, but were not exactly welcomed, with many old people wishing to throw them out. Sad, Suletta asked Aerial about Earth, prompting Aerial to show her the media library, with Suletta taking the opportunity to watch her favourite anime. Aerial thinks that all those pieces of media she has, all set on the Earth Sphere, allow Suletta to forget about Mercury.

After watching an episode of her favourite anime, Suletta whispers to herself "If you run you gain one, but if you move forward, you gain two". Aerial recalls how Suletta learned those words: once when she was younger, Suletta was scared of an injection, but her mom taught her that expression. She explained that the "one" gained from running would be the lack of pain, but the "two" gained from moving forward being not getting sick, being seen as amazing by the people of Mercury, and even that the shots would no longer be painful in the future. Since that day, Suletta uses those words to calm her fears, almost as a spell. Aerial notes that those words probably work the same for their mom, as a spell to calm her fears.

An emergency alarm rings, a mobile craft used in mining has gone missing. An eleven year old Suletta climbs into Aerial's cockpit; an accident at Chao Meng-Fu Mining Base has occurred and they must rescue the mining Mobile Craft whose signal has disappeared. Aerial notes that they've saved the lives of people in Mercury countless times, and calls themselves the best team in Mercury. Thanks to their help the people there have treated them less harshly. Urged by Melissa Peluda, work controller and wife of the missing Mobile Craft pilot, Aerial and Suletta rush to the last known position of the pilot. Aerial notes that the pilot, Ergo Peluda, is the leader of the people that still treat Suletta harshly, especially since their mother was promoted, with him becoming her subordinate.

Suletta reassures Melissa that they will rescue Ergo, with Aerial thinking that Suletta is a good girl. Suletta and Aerial arrive at the accident site, avoiding the sun's powerful rays — which Aerial notes will even cause her trouble if exposed for extended periods of time, and find Ergo within a cave in. Noting that the Mobile Craft cannot be salvaged, Suletta uses her beam saber to expertly cut the man out of the Craft, lowering the output to avoid hurting the man, with Aerial musing about Suletta's precision, comparing it to that of a skilled surgeon. Retrieving the man, Aerial shields him from the deadly rays of the sun while quickly returning to base, with Suletta using their beam rifle to blast shortcuts back in order to arrive at Chao Meng-Fu base before Ergo's oxygen runs out. Ergo for his part, continued complaining and screaming the whole way through.

On reaching back to base, Suletta is greeted by her mom, appearing on a large screen, telling her how proud she is of her, smiling. Aerial notes that she herself feels good when their mom smiles, as if she met her expectations. Their mom tells Suletta that she will celebrate Suletta's birthday twice over, to compensate for missing her last birthday. This was the last time Suletta celebrated her birthday with her mom.

Suletta is now 15 and, thanks to her mother's work, she rarely sees her any more. Suletta asks Aerial what school is like, but Aerial cannot answer. Suletta notes that she'd like to go to school, wondering if it would be similar to how they were depicted in those comic books she'd read. Aerial notes that those are fictional and outdated besides. Suletta is lonely because she does not have anyone her age in Mercury. Aerial thinks that they can't go to the Earth Sphere, since their mom has been branded as a Witch, and if anyone found out that she was a Gundam she'd be destroyed, but promises that even if she doesn't go to school or have friends she'd always be with her. Suletta confides in Aerial that if she ever goes to school, they'd go together.

A 16 year old Suletta sleeps, having tired herself out talking to her mom, who visited for the first time in a while. At that time, their mother visits Aerial in the hangar, telling her about an opportunity, with Asticassia School of Technology having mobile suit duels, and the winner of them winning Delling Rembran's only daughter's hand in marriage. Delling Rembran, Aerial notes, was the man that branded them as Witches and hunted them down. Their mother continues, saying that they will go to that school and Aerial will act as Suletta's sword in their scheme for revenge. Aerial begs and pleads to her mom to not involve Suletta, that Aerial and her can do it on their own, but she is not heard.

The next day, an excited Suletta visits Aerial and tells her that she will go to school, as arranged by their mother, for the benefit of bettering Mercury. Aerial wants to tell her about their mother's plans but cannot go against her, since she is also her mother. However Suletta's excitement suddenly turns to anxiety; as she has only ever been in Mercury and never had human friends or had to study, she begins to doubt her capability and fears that she would fail school and cause more problems for her mother. Aerial silently encourages this, hoping to have her avoid being her mother's tool, urging her to run away. As if she heard her, Suletta declares that "if you run, you gain one, but if you move forward, you gain two", noting that she'll gain more than two if she goes to school, learning, gaining friends, dating, and more. Impressed by Suletta's growth, Aerial agrees that it's better to look what there is to gain, even if the circumstances behind it are due to their mother's machinations.

Suletta promises that they'll be fine together, to which Aerial agrees, since they're family. Aerial blinks her screen twice to indicate her assent.

Stats[]

Characters[]

Name	Page	Notes
Suletta Mercury	1
Aerial	1
Prospera Mercury	2
Ergo Peluda	3
Melissa Peluda	3
Delling Rembran	5	Mentioned only
Delling's daughter	5	Mentioned only

Mechanics[]

Name	Page
XVX-016 Gundam Aerial	1
Mobile Craft	3

Factions[]

Name	Page	Notes
Benerit Group	5	Mentioned only

Locations[]

Name	Page	Notes
Mercury	1
PebiColombo 23	1
Earth	2	Mentioned only
Chao Meng-Fu Mining Base	3
Asticassia School of Technology	5	Mentioned only

Technology[]

Name	Page
GUND-ARM	1
Mobile Suit	1
Beam Weaponry	3

Terminology[]

Name	Page
Witch	4

Notes & Trivia[]

The story gives Suletta Mercury's age as 16 at its latest point, while "Cursed Mobile Suit" gives her age as 17.
PebiColombo 23 is likely a reference to BepiColombo, a space mission carried out by the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and ESA (European Space Agency) with the aim of studying Mercury.

External Links[]

Read on official website (Japanese)
Read on official website (English)

This article is part of Project: G-Witch

Please read the linked project page before editing this article.

Project Leader: User:Masked Man 89