The Haro at customs was activated, and from the screen, He Kui could see everything in front of him. Everywhere, broken debris of buildings floated, with massive metal panels twisted and shattered as if torn by great force. Without much hesitation, seeing numerous escape pods, He Kui activated Haro's weak thrust to propel towards Morgenroete's location.
"Hopefully, those old records aren't wrong."
From the information he could find, Morgenroete's approximate location in Heliopolis was known.
But since the colony was in such a state of disrepair and intelligence wasn't always accurate, this Haro didn't have much detection equipment.
"My 300,000..."
With two defense Haros, He Kui quickly arrived at what seemed to be Morgenroete's location.
Here, the battle marks were the most intense.
Entering Morgenroete through a visible gap, since it used tougher materials, the interior remained intact.
And surprisingly, there was still air.
"Judging by the explosion's radiation, it seems to have been an internal detonation."
"Has someone been here?"
After observing for a while, seeing a golden arm crushed under the rubble, He Kui deftly maneuvered Haro further down.
Perhaps not expecting someone to control a Haro to come here, He Kui quickly slid through a ventilation duct that a normal person couldn't pass through, reaching a lower level.
"Gundams? Are these Astrays?"
In a relatively intact warehouse were two mobile suits, one red and one blue. Compared to the Gundams He Kui remembered, these were slender, with most of their frames exposed, appearing fragile.
These must be the Gundams Orb left behind.
Quickly connecting to the still-active computer inside the Blue Astray's cockpit, He Kui began copying the system. At that moment, a loud rumble came from the floor above where he had just descended.
"The air is thin, but it's manageable."
"Don't be scared, Shuri. Come on, treasure hunt with me."
Listening to the faint male voice from the ventilation duct, He Kui smirked slightly.
Seeing the complex data and technical validation on Astray's auxiliary equipment, even with directional energy communication, this type of communication consumed too much energy and the information was too extensive to be transmitted back quickly.
Forcibly taking it wouldn't work; the Blue Astray didn't have enough power.
All computing power was used for copying, disconnecting transmission, and after copying, automatically initiating stealth mode.
He Kui had no choice but to disconnect from Haro.
He just hoped it wouldn't be intercepted. If successful, he should retrieve all the data the next time he connected to Haro.
If captured, Haro would self-destruct the moment it was forcibly activated.
With that thought, He Kui began organizing the recently received data.
The scale system's underwater propulsion, similar to their desert battleship Lesseps' vibration propulsion, plus an anti-submarine torpedo gun.
Not impressive, but usable.
At least it wasn't some ramshackle junk.
"Let's check again in an hour."
Just as he thought, Shi He knocked on the radar room's door.
"Time to eat."
"Okay."
Responding, He Kui stretched before standing and heading to the canteen with Shi He.
"Why the serious face? Experiment not going well?"
Shi He asked worriedly, eating fresh meat from Earth's special supply.
"Not really."
Returning from the devastated colony to the safety of Boaz, He Kui still felt a bit unsettled.
But with it came a sense of security.
"When will I have my own radar?"
He Kui joked with a sigh.
"Ten billion."
Shi He, though reluctant to dampen He Kui's spirits, replied helplessly.
"No, if it's a small, single-user directional energy radar, it should only cost a billion."
This pleasant experience was just a trial; his freeloading opportunities were limited.
The problem was he had no reason to apply for building a radar.
First, he needed to purchase an asteroid as a base.
After lunch with Shi He, He Kui swiftly reopened communications, now on a ship.
In his own cabin.
"What's wrong?"
A gentle voice from Haro's monitor reached He Kui's ears.
Since Haro was AI-managed in his absence, the girl hadn't noticed anything amiss.
Nor did she realize He Kui was controlling Haro.
Controlling Haro's head to rotate 360 degrees, He Kui saw the familiar girl and the familiar owl behind her.
But unlike before, the girl wore nothing.
Literally nothing, with her hair still wet.
Under her short golden hair, her pretty face was slightly flushed, her petite curves perfectly proportioned.
Charming and infinitely beautiful.
Sadly, her clear eyes were slightly swollen, as if she'd been crying.
"What's wrong?"
He Kui typed, setting Haro's voice to a mechanical tone.
If this was a regular warship, his signal shouldn't be easily detected.
He didn't dare gamble on the Archangel, as he wasn't sure about its radar strength.
But regular radar had been tested; transmitting small amounts of information wouldn't be detected.
Of course, transmitting data was impossible.
"It's Little Hawk who found you. We're almost back to Orb. Do you have your owner's information? I'll return you."
Cagalli spoke gently, starkly different from their last meeting, not to mention her current openness.
"Owner..."
Controlling Haro to roll near Cagalli's bare feet, He Kui felt a bit shameless, but following Cagalli was the best option.
After all, he couldn't find the 'owner.'
He couldn't exactly ask Cagalli to send him back to PLANT.
Given her previous demeanor, it was unrealistic.
"Is that so? Did your owner die?"
Cagalli spoke mournfully, crouching down.
With Cagalli's movement, her slightly protruding snow-white bottom and rising chest formed a more perfect S-shape, youthful energy intertwining with feminine charm, causing one to blush.
Dead. Though he wanted to say something,
He Kui could only continue typing.
"No more."
"Then how about staying with me? I have company, and..."
Cagalli glanced at the owl on the table.
And if not for her father's MS production, her 'owner' wouldn't have died.
He Kui suspected the girl's unspoken words.
Though exploiting her guilt wasn't ideal,
the data inside was crucial.
"Okay."
He Kui looked wistfully at the owl, for if not for its sudden surveillance, he wouldn't be in this situation.
Though its internals had been replaced, perhaps due to laziness, the owl's base system seemed unchanged.
That's why it quickly detected the Haro from the same source.
According to stealth mode, it should have left automatically and hidden in a corner.
Unbeknownst to He Kui, after he left, another battle occurred, further tearing Morgenroete apart, exposing his Haro.
Now, he worried about another matter.
If Cagalli learned this Haro was under his control, would she come after him with a Gundam?
Yes... Better if Cagalli never found out.
Just as He Kui made up his mind, Cagalli continued.
"I'm Cagalli. What's your name?"
"Round Ball."
"Round Ball."
Cagalli smirked at the name.
"Your owner had a terrible naming sense."
"Ball?"
"Can I call you Little Ball?"
Isn't that just like Round Ball!? Why call it terrible!?
"Little Ball, what was Father thinking! Why make those weapons?"
Before He Kui could respond, Cagalli picked up Little Ball, about the size of three Haros, and sat on the bed, her face a mix of anger, melancholy, and disappointment.
"Weapons?"
He was just a Haro; he knew nothing.
And he really wanted to remind her she wasn't dressed. Though Haro lacked tactile feedback, He Kui could see it slightly indenting Cagalli's skin.
"Forget it, you wouldn't know. I'll confront Father when I return!"
"Oh, Little Ball might need a check-up."
"Check-up, no."
He Kui's monitor looked up from Cagalli's snow-white belly.
Seeing Cagalli's puzzled expression.
"Why?"
"Self-destruct."
"So your owner set you to self-destruct if opened?"
"Ball."
He Kui clenched his fists nervously,
unsure of Cagalli's decision.
"Alright, but you have to listen to me."
Cagalli mistook Haro for a small Morgenroete employee robot.
Deemed non-threatening.
"Ball."
No check-up was good.
Relieved, He Kui granted most of Haro's permissions to the girl before him. Unless his command overrode it, Haro and the two inactive defense Haros would treat Cagalli as their owner.
"We're almost at Orb."
"Ball."
Approaching Earth, he'd have to forcefully disconnect.
Seeing Earth's neutron interference intensify, He Kui cut the communication.
Earth...
After Lacus, he was to head to Gibraltar for radar testing. If successful, the protective layer made of Mirage Colloid might resist neutron interference with radar signals, giving him a chance to retrieve the data.
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