"What a... tragic sight."
The destroyed components of the Flag were laid out one by one in the Hangar. Billy Katagiri and Professor Ralph Eifman looked at the wreckage before them with grim expressions.
"To think the Flag was destroyed to this extent. I wonder what on earth Graham encountered..."
Professor Eifman stepped forward, tracing his fingers along a gash on the wreckage—a molten incision caused by a beam strike.
"It was the Ravens."
Just as the two were preparing to analyze the images newly copied from the cockpit, a voice—slightly weak yet tinged with excitement—sounded from behind them.
There stood Graham Aker, dressed in a hospital gown with bandages wrapped around his head. A needle was still inserted in his left hand, and he leaned on a rolling IV pole with his right, limping toward them.
"Graham! Why are you here?!"
Billy was startled by his friend's current state. "Full-body soft tissue bruising and a mild concussion—the doctor said you need to rest!"
"But... if I don't speak up about this, I'm in no mood to lie in bed."
Graham walked to Billy's side.
"I encountered them—the Ravens squad. Finally... I've caught a glimpse of their tail."
"A Ravens squad?"
Hearing Graham's words, even Professor Eifman, who was still analyzing the Flag's condition, couldn't help but look over.
After all, the Penelope held an immense fascination for them; it was mysterious, elegant, and powerfully destructive.
"Have the combat logs been exported yet?"
"Yes, the logs are out. Do you want to see them now?"
Seeing Graham leaning on his IV stand, Billy could only sigh helplessly and switch on his tablet.
The footage from the Flag's cameras appeared on the screen.
In the recording, several purple beams suddenly erupted from nowhere, streaking toward the Flag.
"Beams? And since when..."
Watching the tumbling perspective on the screen and the sudden appearance of beams they had never seen before, Professor Eifman couldn't help but ask.
What followed was a deep blue ReZEL transforming right in front of the Flag. The two machines clashed—or rather, the ReZEL proceeded to pummel the Flag.
"A machine like this... is also one of the Ravens'?"
Looking at the ReZEL—a design that completely defied his common sense—and the emblem of a raven with burning wings emblazoned upon it, Billy frowned. "But why were they there?"
The battle was short. The video soon concluded with the Flag being shot down by the three ReZEL units.
However, after watching the entire footage, Billy and Professor Eifman fell into silence.
Although the ReZEL looked somewhat bulky for an aerial unit, it was actually incredibly agile. Those sharp-angle turns made them doubt whether a human was even sitting inside.
"What terrifying mobility. To be able to propel a machine like that—it looks like these units are more than a magnitude heavier than the Flag."
After a long silence, Professor Eifman let out a sigh.
For some reason, the footage of those ReZELs was slightly blurred, but they could still see that they didn't have dual-eye monitors like a Gundam. Instead, they possessed a large, visor-like lens similar to the Flag.
"What I'm more concerned about is... why were these machines here?"
While Eifman analyzed the ReZEL's performance, Billy was wondering about their presence in that specific location.
"And, it looks as if the Flag just happened to run right into them..."
"That question is easily answered."
Graham, leaning on his stand, moved to Billy's side. He reached out and slid the video's progress bar.
He wound the video back to the very beginning and pointed toward a specific area in the corner of the frame.
"See that? What's there?"
"Waves?" Billy adjusted his glasses, peering at the spot Graham indicated.
"No... it's a very faint wake, the kind left behind by a vessel moving forward."
At that moment, Professor Eifman carefully examined the small, distinct cluster of whitecaps on the screen and offered his deduction.
"Correct. But is there a ship present in the video right now?"
As Graham's voice trailed off, the room fell into silence once again.
Indeed, the video showed only the wake, but the vessel creating it simply did not exist.
"A ghost ship... No, is it some kind of optical camouflage?"
After hearing Graham's point, Billy considered the possibility, letting out a sharp intake of breath.
"In that case, it must be a camouflage technology at least ten... no, perhaps twenty years ahead of ours."
Professor Eifman's expression grew solemn. "Whatever the case, the optical camouflage we're still developing in the lab would leave some trace at this distance. But this unknown ship..."
"Has no shadow, right?"
At this, Graham grinned with excitement. "We've caught the Ravens' tail."
Without a doubt, catching a glimpse of the mysterious "Ravens" made Graham incredibly exhilarated; after all, he had long desired to cross blades with the Penelope.
But compared to Graham's current excitement, Billy and Professor Eifman remained grave.
"Graham, this doesn't count as a 'tail' at all; it's barely a sighting report."
Billy shook his head, refuting Graham's optimism.
"Tracking a faint wake across the vast ocean is an impossible task."
"Moreover, since they possess such advanced optical camouflage, bypassing our search parameters is all too easy," Professor Eifman added, shaking his head as well.
"So, if we truly want to engage the Ravens, let's stick to the old-fashioned way."
Saying this, Billy pulled up an image related to the AEU. "How about we start our investigation from their objectives? At least the good news is that we now know they have units specialized for aerial combat."
Indeed, rather than searching for microscopic traces on the open sea, waiting for the Penelope to strike its next target was likely the best choice.
But the question now was: who exactly was that target?
"Alright, as for the target investigation, leave that to our people."
Billy gently patted Graham's shoulder.
"Now, the sharing session is over. You need to get back to rest."
Seeing that his goal—the one he had forced himself out of bed for—had been achieved, Graham nodded with satisfaction. He turned around and began limping back toward the infirmary.
However, halfway there, as if remembering something, Graham paused and looked back at Professor Eifman, who was standing by the Flag's wreckage.
"Ah, right..."
"Don't even think about it. Due to the Flag's design, performing a flying kick like the one in the footage is impossible."
Professor Eifman knew exactly what he was going to ask from the first word. "If you force a flying kick, the Flag's legs will snap—not to mention the air-to-ground missiles stored in the leg bays."
"Oh..."
Hearing this, Graham could only scratch his head and let out a sigh before continuing his trek back to the ward.
Graham Aker: Unable to perform a flying kick due to machine design.
................