She tried to struggle and found his muscles still locked. Looking to the other side, she saw his right hand still pressing the trigger, not released.
After failing again to move free, Cagalli shifted enough to free her right hand and clumsily held his, which was still in a fighting grip.
He was shaking, she realized, from fear. She herself had felt fear at the edge of death, and for the first time understood that death treated everyone the same. Yet Siegfried's instinctive actions helped her calm down faster, letting her notice his abnormal state so quickly.
"It's over, that MS left, it's fine now, it's fine." Remembering how she had been comforted as a child, Cagalli forced herself to recall those moments once called weak. She gently patted the back of his hand, her voice unexpectedly soft.
With a long breath, she felt the body behind her finally relax. As they came back to themselves, they noticed the awkward closeness of their posture, his left arm around her shoulder and her right hand holding his. Even if one simple-minded girl did not fully grasp the meaning, they still sprang apart as if shocked.
"Um…" both said at once.
"Thanks…" both said at once.
After speaking in unison twice, Siegfried decided the atmosphere could not be left like this. He glanced around and fixed his eyes on Haro.
"Haro, check the damage."
"Haro Haro, right-side thruster damaged, right hand hit causing feedback line failure, temporarily unusable. Shooting weapons ammo zero. Also, your heart rate is very fast."
"Shut up, just tell me the machine status."
"Haro shutting up, someone is embarrassed."
Once out of danger, the shared sharp-tongued mode of Haro and Siegfried immediately returned.
Unable to kick Haro in the cockpit like before, Siegfried accepted how bad the MS condition was. The fight with Rau had wasted time, and if they met the other heavy-armed units again, there would be no point in fighting at all.
After retrieving and re-mounting the Heavy Slash Blade, the GINN withdrew from the area at full speed. The Archangel was hard to miss, and it did not take long for Siegfried to spot the white hull on the ground, urgently unloading supplies.
"Listen, we cover each other in a bit. You do not want them to know your real identity either, right?" While Haro searched for the Archangel's channel, Siegfried gave Cagalli a quick lesson to avoid any dangerous instincts.
He quickly realized his words had no effect. Since the battle, Cagalli had been lost in thought.
"Hey, did you hear me?" With Haro already able to connect, Siegfried shook the distracted girl.
"Ah, what did you say?"
"I said we cooperate. You do not expose me, I do not expose you. We are locals who got lucky and found this GINN. Got it?"
"Will they believe that? We… here…"
"Do not worry about belief. For that Alliance force, things are already at their worst. They do not have time to dig into details, and no one saw the fight with Xigu. It will be fine."
Before Cagalli could reply, Siegfried opened communication with the Archangel. On the screen appeared the captain who had just taken her first step into legend, Murrue Ramius.
"State your identity and purpose," she said, the Archangel's side on full alert. Even without hostile actions, she could not relax.
"We are Orb civilians, Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevi. We boarded this unclaimed MS while fleeing. All nearby shelters are full, so we ask for temporary refuge."
After habitually making up names, Siegfried realized no one was there to respond to this specific lie, since Hilde was gone.
Strange, why did he say those unlucky names, he thought. Seeing the golden hair in front of him, he dismissed it as instinct.
"Docking permitted, but you must disarm, and the cockpit must remain open." After a short wait, Murrue had likely reached agreement with Mu and Natarle, accepting the strange GINN under conditions.
After setting aside the Heavy Slash Blade, Siegfried opened the cockpit hatch and walked into the Ganaku of the Archangel. To avoid misunderstandings, he had already warned Cagalli not to do anything extreme, even if this warship had blown up her home satellite. He stressed that no matter what, she had to stay calm.
He had not expected that right after helping Cagalli down from the GINN, a squad of armed soldiers would surround them. Standing behind the soldiers was the highly recognizable model first officer, Natarle and Badgiruel. The atmosphere turned tense in an instant.
"Please explain how the bullet holes on this unit got there," the officer said. "According to our information, the Strike Gundam only used the Armor Piercer and did not score hits with the Vulcan Gun. So the matter of piloting an MS in combat requires further explanation from both of you."
Before Siegfried could come up with an excuse and switch into bluffing mode, Cagalli skipped the thinking part entirely. Having just survived life and death, the girl charged toward the group of Alliance soldiers in agitation. Fortunately, Siegfried had expected this and yanked her back, though he could not cover her mouth in time.
"You people from the Atlantic Federation destroyed the satellite, and now you want to finish us off too?"
Siegfried glanced at the gray Strike Gundam nearby and silently complained that if her father had not helped develop the Gundam, Heliopolis would not look like this. Thinking of how Cagalli had tried to comfort herself earlier, he clenched his right hand and decided to pretend he had heard nothing.
"For everything that happened in Heliopolis, I express deep regret on behalf of the Atlantic government," the officer replied. "But this is wartime, so we ask for your cooperation with our investigation. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise what?" Cagalli shot back. "Shoot us on the spot, or throw us off the ship to fend for ourselves?"
Seeing the situation about to get worse, Siegfried pulled Cagalli behind him. "Please understand the anger of two ordinary people whose home was destroyed. As outsiders, we are not demanding an apology, and we are not interested in whatever secrets exist between Orb and your side. As for the combat traces, I was the one piloting the GINN. When the explosions started, Louise and I were inside the Dawn Society. Oh right, I am a student of Orb Industrial University. This is my ID card."
To avoid misunderstanding, Siegfried slowly took out his electronic ID card with one hand and handed it over. While the soldiers checked it, he continued recounting the story outline he had organized just seconds earlier.