"Is it okay for me to know this?" He Kui asked with a chuckle.
"Only asking now?" Cagalli shot him an exasperated look before continuing, "It's nothing serious, just a standard mass-produced backpack. You've already studied our Gundams, haven't you?"
"That wasn't my doing. You should take it up with Creuset," He Kui quickly raised his hands in defense, meeting Cagalli's reproachful gaze.
Destroying an entire Colony Satellite was indeed excessive. Although the Atlantic Federation had also taken out one of theirs, the casualties there had been minimal.
"Hmph," Cagalli let out a light snort and then continued, "By the way, Snake Tail recently contacted us. They said the former deputy captain of the Archangel is coming over."
They were familiar with Bargirrle. After all, she had visited Orb before the parting of ways in Alaska. Cagalli even remembered her from their earlier encounters in the Dawn Desert, where Bargirrle had taken care of the children there.
"Did they say who's bringing her over?" He Kui asked.
"Apparently, it's Aegis," Cagalli replied.
"You should know Aegis too, right? You hired them last time," Cagalli added, still unaware of the implications of He Kui's question, perhaps because she was too close to see it clearly.
"Yes, Bargirrle isn't an enemy," He Kui agreed.
"Have you informed the Archangel about this?" He Kui inquired.
"Not yet," Cagalli admitted.
"You're not planning to return her, are you?" He Kui asked.
"Of course not! It's just that the Sahak twins want to observe her a bit longer," Cagalli immediately retorted. Bargirrle was a good person, and Cagalli had no intention of handing her over.
"Those two again," He Kui rubbed his temples in front of the screen. Sahak was likely trying to gather intelligence first, but letting them act recklessly was too dangerous.
What if Bargirrle voluntarily asked to be handed over?
"Bargirrle knows Kira and the others. It's too risky to let Sahak mess around," He Kui pointed out.
If they returned Bargirrle without informing the Archangel, it could easily lead to a fallout. Kira was currently in charge of developing new Mobile Suits, and Sahak was unlikely to burn bridges, but what if they did?
"Hmm, I think Sahak is probably trying to confirm Bargirrle's value," He Kui mused, frowning.
"But if they get their hands on any information, it won't be good. Plus, it'll be hard to explain to Kira," he added.
"So, you're suggesting we should go and check it out?" Cagalli asked.
"Exactly. Aren't you curious, Cagalli? How did she get here?" He Kui prompted.
"Well, I suppose," Cagalli conceded, not pressing further on why He Kui was so insistent.
After all, Bargirrle was her brother's friend and a good person. Her tactical skills were strong, and having her around would indeed benefit Orb.
Seeing Cagalli nod, He Kui breathed a sigh of relief.
The two of them then left the room and headed to the underground testing site within the Dawn Organization.
"Cagalli, Xiao Liu," Erica greeted them with a nod as they entered the room.
"What took you so long?" she asked.
"We got held up by something. Has it started yet?" Cagalli asked, her eyes widening as she looked at the M1 Astray standing inside.
At this moment, the M1 Astray had been equipped with a flight backpack similar to the Strike's, which looked almost identical to the mass-produced backpacks of the Dagger series.
Meanwhile, He Kui was also observing the Mobile Suit behind the thick glass.
As long as it worked well, that was all that mattered. The Atlantic Federation couldn't charge them for patent fees anyway, since the Strike's backpack was originally developed by them.
In fact, it was quite slow for them to have only just developed it now, and especially for it to have been developed on Kira's side. Perhaps their original research wasn't focused on this.
The Akatsuki should also be here by now, though it's unclear if they're researching that thing.
If there's anything that poses the greatest threat to Orb, it would undoubtedly be the Akatsuki. Its armor is practically immune to all beam attacks, and its defensive capabilities are astonishingly high.
"We can start anytime."
Kira smiled at Cagalli before turning his gaze to Erica.
"Then let's begin."
With the command given, the three female pilots inside began performing various maneuvers. One of them was the same girl who had assisted them in capturing Seiran.
This was all too familiar to He Kui—it was just basic performance testing, something he had done countless times back home.
Meanwhile, Erica, who had been observing Xiao Liu, frowned slightly.
Not a single mistake, not a single deviation, not a single error in the content—all was as it should be!
One of the reasons she had made such a big show of this test was to follow Sahak's orders and observe He Kui's reaction. However, he remained tightly guarded, and she couldn't discern anything. Moreover, if Xiao Liu really was a robot, as she and Uzumi had speculated, then there was no way she could observe anything.
The only thing she could ascertain at the moment was that Xiao Liu was very calm.
It seemed as though he wasn't the least bit surprised that they had developed such equipment.
"Xiao Liu, your fine control skills are quite impressive. What do you think of this technology?"
"It's already mature in the Atlantic Federation."
Hearing Xiao Liu's words, Erica's lips twitched, and a hint of awkwardness appeared on her face.
Of course, they knew that. The Atlantic Federation's Raider Mobile Suits were already everywhere.
It was indeed quite slow for them to have only just developed an empty backpack now.
In reality, however, this backpack had been completed shortly after the Orb Defense War.
It had been quite some time since then, and the reason they were only unveiling it now was twofold: to announce it to the world and to probe Xiao Liu's situation.
Behind the scenes, they were almost finished developing a transformable fighter.
Naturally, Erica wouldn't share this with He Kui, so she simply nodded.
"It is a bit slow."
"Xiao Liu, would you be interested in assisting us with development?"
"But I'm still young, Sister Erica."
"That's alright, I can teach you."
"But Xiao Liu really is still young."
Cagalli frowned slightly upon hearing this.
"It's fine. Her craftsmanship is flawless."
Erica said, turning to Kira.
"Right, Kira?"
"Yes."
Kira nodded in agreement.
"Can I go once a week? I still want to stay by Cagalli's side."
He Kui asked, curious about their intentions.
"Of course, that's no problem."
Erica quickly agreed.
It was just a test, after all. Once a week was perfect. Meeting every day would only hinder their work.
Amidst the mutual probing of their thoughts, the tests inside were completed without any surprises.
"The limit test will be tomorrow, and the location is in the outer sea area."
"Would Miss Cagalli and Xiao Liu like to come and watch?"
Erica asked with a smile.
"No, I have work tomorrow."
"Cagalli has really grown up."
Hearing Cagalli's reply, a hint of contentment appeared on Erica's face.
It was clear that Erica also had deep feelings for Cagalli.
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