After replying through the internal line that he was on his way, Siegfried did not dare turn back to see the girl's expression. He only left behind a quick "Wait for me to come back," before leaving the small cabin.
When he arrived at Ganaku, Siegfried saw that the battle outside had ended. On the screen, Heliopolis had completely broken apart, and beside the recently returned Strike Gundam was a pile of strange wreckage.
"You are Sai, right? On the first officer's orders, we recovered the remains of a GINN and want you to see what parts can still be used. After all, you are the only one here who has piloted this model," Sergeant Maduk from the maintenance crew explained.
After circling the GINN's remaining upper body, it was clear it had been split diagonally by a physical weapon. The left arm and lower body were gone, and Siegfried asked with some confusion, "There was no explosion. How was that done?"
"Before sortie, following Lieutenant Badgiruel's order, the Assault carried your GINN's Heavy Slash Blade. Maybe the power system was never exposed to high heat," Maduk said, scratching his head. As a small maintenance lead, he only followed orders from the bridge.
Whether his luck was good or bad was hard to say. He had only casually mentioned repairing a GINN, and Badgiruel had seized the opportunity with sharp military sense. It was Kira who suffered, as the requirement had risen from shoot down to capture. Even without later era techniques, Kira had managed to bring back half a GINN with just a Heavy Slash Blade. By coincidence, his own GINN had lost its right arm and thruster, and this wreck happened to have only those parts left.
"Kid, do not go over there yet."
Before Maduk could finish, Siegfried had already leapt onto the GINN. As he prepared to inspect it more closely, he suddenly covered his mouth.
"Ugh." Since morning, Siegfried had only eaten a sandwich, and the food Miri had brought earlier was spilled. Intense activity had already burned it off, which was the only reason he could hold back the surge in his stomach with just a hand.
"I told you, it was not cleaned up yet. Why rush?" Maduk pointed to the cut open cockpit. From Siegfried's angle, there was no clear human shape left inside, but the large stains of dark red mixed with oil told of how brutal the end had been.
"Ugh." Before Siegfried could wipe his mouth, retching sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw Kira climbing down from the Assault. Unlike the usual explosions that ended battles, Kira had never faced such a scene, and after coming over to greet Siegfried, he emptied everything he had eaten.
Watching the two boys crouched on the floor retching, Maduk shook his head and quickly called his crew to clean the cockpit first.
"I am fine, I can handle it, ugh." When Mu arrived at Ganaku after receiving the report, he saw Siegfried forcing himself toward the wreck. The Hawk of Endymion blocked him with a stern expression.
"That is enough, boy. Feeling sick at this sight is basic human conscience. Forcing yourself to accept it only turns you into a heartless war dog."
The small incident in Ganaku Hangar did not change the next course of action for the Archangel. In fact, once he had steadied himself, Siegfried was busy helping the maintenance crew dismantle the shattered GINN, since even regular Alliance soldiers did not want something soaked in blood left in Ganaku Hangar for long. Finishing it early and throwing it out was the sensible choice.
Even though the work itself was unpleasant, Siegfried was good at finding small points of interest in dull places. For example, right now there was a woman throwing herself into Kira's arms, Flay-Alusta. The sight drew his eyes without him noticing.
As a traveler between worlds, no matter how blurred his memory was, the story surrounding Flay was carved deep into him. For Siegfried personally, it was also through a chance encounter with Flay that he confirmed exactly which world he was in. Because of that, his focus drifted for a moment.
"Hey kid, are you jealous?" Noticing the boy beside him spacing out, Marduk joked with the tone of someone experienced. "Careful, your short-tempered little girlfriend might get jealous if she sees you staring."
"Who, you mean Louise?" Surprised by the misunderstanding about his relationship with Cagalli, Siegfried was still distracted enough that thinking about what Flay would do to Kira in the future sent a chill through him. The interruption snapped him back to reality.
"Kid, why do you look so scared when girlfriends come up?"
"Sergeant, we're still at combat alert level one. If we hurry and fix the GINN, that gives everyone more security, doesn't it?" He did not want to get tangled in mistaken relationships, though Cagalli's invitation kept echoing in his mind, asking him to go to Orb together. Shaking his head, he forced those thoughts aside and returned to the work.
Recovered along with the wreckage were a Heavy Particle Cannon with two rounds left and an uncounted amount of machine gun ammunition. Although the cockpit section of the GINN had already been removed and handled, nearly everyone in Ganaku had seen the scene earlier. Because of that, the entire process was kept at a very fast pace.
In Siegfried's memory, he vaguely recalled that the pilot shot down by Kira had some reputation. The GINN had originally been split in two by an Anti-Ship Sword, and the pilot was supposed to have died in the explosion, so he never imagined it would appear before him in such a brutal state. What he did not know was that the owner of that blood had narrowly survived just a few hours earlier because of his own hesitation.
If he had a god's-eye view, the boy would probably sigh at the cruel joke of fate. Twilight Magic Bullet-Miguel, the ZAFT Red Ace, had used his first GINN to push Siegfried into his initial battle, and the second GINN now lay in pieces, providing fuel for Siegfried's growth in a way no one wanted to see. The irony was impossible to notice from where he stood.
Once the Mobius finished repairs, the shipwide broadcast sounded again, announcing enemy contact and ordering all military personnel to their stations. The alert made everyone tense all over again. Conversations stopped as people moved with purpose.
"Kid, can it move yet?"
"Almost. The new thrusters still have some issues." The entire right side of the GINN had just undergone major repairs, and Siegfried carefully checked the feedback from every joint. He could not match Kira's flashy speed, but he had already tuned the OS at the spaceport, and after Haro finished analyzing the unit, it fit his habits even better, so it did not take too long.