The two had been recommended by Director Symonds, and they themselves knew what they had been recommended for. The matter of Xiao Ran forming an Ace Unit had also spread throughout the Orb Army, so they more or less understood that they had been recommended to join it. Xiao Ran's newly formed Ace Unit was publicly presented as a means to strengthen Orb's elite forces and enhance the combat capability of the entire military. Ever since MS had become the main force in warfare, this was Orb's first unit of this kind. Both ZAFT and the Earth Force had long possessed Ace Units with independent organization, while Orb was only now establishing its first. Its importance was self-evident.
However, Symonds probably had not directly told them that they might be assigned cutting-edge mecha. After all, whether the machines would be given to them still depended on Xiao Ran's decision. It had been wise for Director Symonds not to say too much beforehand. Thus, when Xiao Ran handed each of them a set of documents, Bally and Mayu both froze for a moment before accepting the files with both hands and opening them immediately.
A long time had passed since the previous battle at sea. The Crimson Forbidden captured from the Combined Fleet had long since been repaired, refitted with Orb's systems, and incorporated into the Orb Army's order of battle. It had become Orb's fifth B-class Mecha after Justice, Akatsuki, Savior, and Midnight. As for the Crimson Aegis, which had been reduced to a limbless wreck, and the captured Black Strike, both were still being repaired at Akatsuki Works. Other machines captured during the battle, such as the Blue Duel, Black Blitz, and Green Buster, were likewise sitting in Akatsuki Works' warehouses, yet to be assigned.
The documents in Bally