| Mochifumi Nango | |
| Fictional Character | |
| "La Différence" Set in the Future | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | Japan |
| Date of Birth: | 21st century |
| Date of Death: | 21st century |
| Cause of Death: | Killed when his crawler fell into a sulphur pit |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
Ensign Mochifumi Nango was involved in the Japanese attack on Io. He commanded one of two Lunar crawlers which set out in pursuit of Renée Messier and Alec Hall, survivors of the attack. The other crawler commander and the overall mission commander was Sublieutenant Mitsuo Onishi.
During the pursuit, Io entered Jupiter's shadow causing an eclipse of the sun. The darkness did not slow the pursuit as Luna had two weeks of darkness in every four. In fact, the Europeans' spotlights made them easier to follow and their inexperience of true darkness slower too. As the Japanese closed to visual range, Nango saw the Europeans' crawler was helplessly running in circles. Clearly the missile attack had damaged their steering.
Nango received orders from Onishi to close in for the kill. As they did so, Nango was puzzled why the crawler tracks ended abruptly before they reached the crawler position. He radioed an inquiry to Onishi and received a dismissive reply which implicitly questioned his courage and sense. Nango was stung and so advanced as aggressively as Onishi with his crawler pulling up beside Onishi's.
As they reached the clear area, the surface cracked and collapsed with both crawlers plunging into the liquid sulphur just under the surface. Both crawlers and their occupants were destroyed.
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