Personnel Reassignments

Uzmi spoke in the loudest voice he could muster. Then, he made a gesture no one had expected.

He bowed deeply, lowering his noble head—the symbol of Orb's national sovereignty—before Murrue, Mu, and Natarle, three soldiers from a foreign land.

The entire study fell deathly silent.

Faced with this elder's trust and plea, Murrue's breath caught.

She exchanged glances with Mu and Natarle behind her. The usual teasing look was gone from Mu's eyes, replaced by a rare seriousness.

Natarle's eyes flickered rapidly as she weighed the advantages, disadvantages, and consequences of accepting this request with the logic of a pure soldier.

But in the end, the three of them met each other's eyes and reached a silent consensus.

Murrue stepped forward and solemnly gave Uzmi their answer.

—The fact that Murrue Ramius, Mu La Flaga, and Natarle Badgiruel were standing here now was the best proof of the answer they had given.

"Bzz..."

The sound of the image shutting down pulled Murrue's thoughts back to reality.

She focused her gaze once more on the auxiliary screen of the control panel, where more detailed specifications for the Kusanagi scrolled past.

Her mind raced as she integrated the data with the performance models of the Archangel and Dominion already in her head.

From now on, the Kusanagi and Dominion would fight side by side on the front lines, while the Archangel, as the flagship, had to be capable of coordinating all three warships.

As for the Dominion, the second Archangel-class vessel, she could grasp every detail without even looking at the data. The Kusanagi was another matter entirely.

As Murrue scanned line after line of cold figures, tactical simulations had already begun unfolding in her mind.

"Details like tactics can wait until we reach the Heavenly Pillar," Kisaka's voice interrupted her