SRW Alpha 1 stage 9 intermission plot dump

Location: DC Japan

Leona: Captain Bright.
Bright: Yes?
Leona: Are you sure you're okay with me handing the Hückebein over to the DC?
Bright: I'll have to be. Your original assignment was to deliver it to DC Japan, remember? As temporary as our arrangement was, it was a good unit to have, and it'll hurt to lose. Honestly, I'd also like you to think over the offer you made to assist the AEUG.
Leona: Wait, what?
Bright: Revenge is something that can easily destroy you. Think it over and draw your own conclusion about what it is you fight for.
Leona: ...Yes, sir.
Bright: Just remember one thing—We could always use your help, with or without the Hückebein.
Leona: Captain Bright...
Bright: I've got docking procedures to handle. You'll have to meet with Dr. Shirakawa alone.
Leona: Yes, sir.
Leona: (Why were Tasuku and I assigned to pilot that transport? Why did it get attacked? Was it a setup? I have to find out.)

(Transition to office)

Shu: Welcome to my office. Leona Garstein, I presume?
Leona: That's right.
Shu: I'm Shu Shirakawa, the man in charge of DC Japan. I also serve as an observer for Project SRX, a joint anti-alien weapons development project being advanced by Mao, the DC, and the EFF Far East Branch.
Leona: Project SRX?
Shu: That's the name of the project that developed the Hückebein Mk-II you've been using. Dr. Hamill here is a member of it.
Kirk: Kirk Hamill. I'm with Mao, and I've been dispatched to the Far East Branch. I'm a lead designer for the Hückebein and R-Series.
Leona: I've heard your name back at Mao. You built the Gespenst, the first Personal Trooper.
Kirk: That's right.
Shu: Well, it's a bit behind schedule, but we've received the Hückebein Mk-II. I took the liberty of running checks on it before our meeting. It's produced some highly valuable data, I must say.
Leona: I wouldn't take any of the credit for that, personally. It was all the machine. By the way, I was intended to be the Mk-II's pilot from the start, wasn't I?
Shu: ...
Kirk: (Heh, I shouldn't be surprised she figured it out.)
Leona: Tasuku and I were sent into that transport blind and attacked by the Titans. Was that all a setup on your part?
Kirk: Are you suggesting I'd send the Titans after your transport? I'm not mad enough to willingly give the Titans my handcrafted machine.
Leona: Then why was my brainwave pattern data in the Mk-II's databanks?
Kirk: That was purely a safety precaution. It carries the same significance as dummy data, nothing more.
Leona: You expect me to believe that? It's painfully obvious it was set up in order for me to pilot it.
Kirk: As for not sending an escort with it, we wanted to keep knowledge of the Hückebein well away from any outsiders.
Shu: Yes, it was all simply a string of highly unfortunate coincidences.
Leona: Was my surviving this long also a coincidence?
Shu: No, that was your aptitude. You never would have been able to pilot the Hückebein otherwise.
Leona: What aptitude is this?
Kirk: Let's just say it's something akin to Newtypes.
Leona: Newtypes? Are you talking about the Newtypes espoused by Zeon Deikun?
Kirk: ...Leona, no offense, but I have no interest whatsoever in that space adaptation-based human reformation theory. All I require is the superior predictive abilities demonstrated by Newtype pilots. You'd need a Newtype's aptitude, otherwise you could never control that dangerous Vanishing Trooper.
Leona: Are you saying I'm a Newtype, then?
Kirk: No, actually. It's possible you've got something far greater than that.
Leona: ...
Shu: ...As you're aware, the first Hückebein triggered a runaway reaction with its drive. Its successor, the Mk-II, is a prototype for mass production which swaps out the drive for a more conventional fusion reactor model. Your model, however, is specially loaded with a Gravicon System that utilizes EOT and controls gravity. I wouldn't call the Gravicon System entirely safe either, per se...
Leona: Why did you develop a PT like that, if it was a disaster waiting to happen?
Kirk: Did you miss the part where Dr. Shirakawa said "anti-alien"?
Leona: ...
Shu: If we want to fight on equal footing against the aliens that sent the giant battleship ASS-1 to our planet, we need superior weaponry. After all... There's no better way to reach a common understanding across civilizations than through combat.
Leona: (What is with this guy? There's something about him, I can't quite put my finger on it...)
Shu: Is something wrong? I assure you, I am no enemy of yours.
Leona: (Did he just read my mind?)
Shu: (Not for now, anyway.)
Kirk: Anyway, I have an offer for you.
Leona: ...I'm listening.
Kirk: You're welcome to keep using the Hückebein if you want. The AEUG could use the extra firepower, right?
Leona: I can't just take it out behind Mao's back.
Kirk: I'll handle Mao.
Leona: So I'm a guinea pig now?
Kirk: Sure, if that's what you want to go with.
Leona: (Wow, not even trying to make excuses, huh.)
Shu: You're also welcome to decline the offer, but we would have to take appropriate measures if you did.
Leona: ...
Leona: (Deal with the circumstances I'm in, think it over, and draw my own conclusion, huh...)
Leona: Fine. I'll keep the Hückebein. That's my job now anyway, right? I don't get a say in the matter.
Shu: ...A wise decision. We'll leave the Hückebein Mk-II in your hands, then.

(Leona leaves)
(Note: The conversation here branches into gender-neutral third-person references because it's the same for every OC.)

Shu: They're a sharp one.
Kirk: Dr. Kenzo Kobayashi's report wasn't wrong about their aptitude. They caught onto my plot, too. I'd say they're leagues beyond Boosted Humans.
Shu: On that note, I must say you took an exceedingly risky approach.
Kirk: ...
Shu: Leaking intel to the Titans and conducting an activation test behind Mao's back? What were you going to do if the Titans had taken the Hückebein?
Kirk: That was Major Ingram's idea, actually. I just gave him a helping hand.
Shu: ...
Kirk: We took the AEUG into account in our plans, anyway. They got the Mk-II, didn't they?
Shu: That's the kind of accounting that will pull the rug out from under you later.
Kirk: The whole point was to keep the Hückebein Series from getting swept under the rug. Mao HQ on the Moon was set to suspend development on the series, citing Unit 1's runaway reaction.
Shu: One can hardly blame them. The only survivors of that incident were you, Unit 1's test pilot... and him.
Kirk: You can't throw out the baby with the bathwater after one little setback. Is HQ going to just welcome the coming disaster with open arms? Humanity won't have a future if we don't perfect the Hückebein Series and the R-Series.
Shu: How do you plan to address the matter with Mao?
Kirk: The AEUG seriously needs the Mk-II's firepower. Commodore Blex wouldn't let it go that easily. I'm sure he's already in negotiations with Mao to keep it. Besides, CEO Ring wouldn't complain if jurisdiction over the Mk-II transferred from us to the AEUG.
Shu: Yes, it was meant from the start to be a testbed for data acquisition at DC Japan.
Kirk: More to the point, HQ will be glad to wash their hands of it. After all, if it's got any strange tech like the Mk-I did, there's no telling what could happen.
Shu: ...Do you consider me suspicious?
Kirk: Yeah, you and Major Ingram Plissken both. You approached three associates of Project SRX—Me, Robert, and the now-missing Dr. Shot Weapon, and there's still a lot we don't know about you.
Shu: ...
Kirk: I have no idea what you're thinking or where your goals lie.
Shu: My goals are to analyze EOT and ensure the completion of the Project SRX machines.
Kirk: ... (pause) Oh yes, how did the incident in Shandong end up playing out? Interpol reported that there was an excavation of ancient Chinese weapons there?
Shu: Yes, they found two of them. But they were already stolen by the time Interpol arrived on the excavation site.
Kirk: Ohoh. Who took them?
Shu: The secret society called the BF Group.
Kirk: That implies some things about the weapons.
Shu: Yes, they're quite likely to be combat robots. In fact, our own database has traces of hacking from a group I can only assume to be theirs.
Kirk: You're just letting it go?
Shu: I say we let them restore those weapons to a more usable state. If they end up usable, we take them. If not, we destroy them.
Kirk: Yeah, I could see you easily doing either with the Granzon you keep hidden under this building.
Shu: ...