Black Reaper

"Pardon me, Sir? Isn't our group called Everette Corporation?" Arnold asked Edward as he was unsure about his question.

"Everette Corporation will be our name in civilized space but we will need another name for our darker side, we can't use the same name or people will easily connect us together," he explained.

Ed saw that the man was hesitating as he didn't think it was appropriate for him to name their group, "You don't need to be afraid, you can tell me your opinion since I asked you about it," he told Arnold.

He nodded in understanding and stayed silent for a few seconds to think up a good name before he finally opened his mouth.

"If I may Sir, why don't we use Undying Reaper as our group name?" he suggested, "Pirates usually have such an overbearing name as a show of strength and it's quite a good match with your Mecha, Sir," he explained.

"To be honest, that name sounds nice but I don't agree with it, that name basically broadcasts our trump card to everyone, it would be better if we leak as little information as possible," Ed disagreed.

Arnold realized his mistakes. Information could be of vital importance in a fight, If only the Star Chaser knew about Holocaust C-2's existence and its ability, then they would not be beaten by a single melee mecha.

Using Undying Reaper as a name would be similar to putting a sign to warn people about a trap that they had prepared.

"Then how about Black Reaper, it sounds way more mysterious and elegant at the same time," he suggested again.

"That's a good name, we will use it then." Ed found the name fitting for his taste.

The C-2 looked like a black reaper that took souls from the battlefield with its giant scythe, people would see it as a reaper in a mecha form.

"From now on we will call ourselves as Black Reapers, you tell the others about it, I don't want them to leak about Everette Corporation to anyone. If we are forced to change the name for our future corporation name because of it, then I won't be reluctant to punish them," he instructed the man.

"Yes, Sir. I will make sure everyone has their mouth zipped tight," he replied before leaving the workroom.

Ed was left alone in the room as he read another report from Alpha-Charlie, "Altea, Can we repair the destroyed mecha and upgrade our existing mecha?" he asked as indeed Alpha-Charlie was lacking in mecha to defend it.

"We would need an engineer to plan out the repair plan and upgrade plan, our worker bot would not be able to do it without instruction," Altea's voice replied to him.

"In the end, we need an engineer, huh?" He muttered to himself.

"Altea, tell Leon to come to my room in five minutes," he instructed the AI.

"I have sent the message to his communication device, He is already on the way," It reported.

In five minutes, Leona reached his workroom, She came in with a new set of clothes. They covered her body shape better, but people would still be able to recognize that she was a girl because of her soft features.

"You called me, Sir?" She asked with the lowest tone she could, but it still sounded like a girl no matter what.

"Take a seat first, Boy. I have something important to tell you," he signed her to sit.

Ed was still playing to her scheme on purpose by indicating that he thought she was a man rather than a woman. He made it as if he saw her as a kid on top of it.

She obediently followed his command and sat in front of him. She did not talk and waited for him to explain what he wanted.

"You must have seen our circumstances, we only have three serviceable mechas in our possession. The other mecha was in pieces and our mechanic and worker bot would not be able to fix them," he explained.

"Yes, Sir. They might look good on the outside but their internal was in a mess as if they had been forced out of a spaceship in the middle of an FTL jump," she agreed.

"That was quite accurate, but I didn't ask you to come here to be a detective. Do you think you can use them to build a serviceable Mecha?" He asked her.

"I don't know, Sir. While I'm quite confident with my ability but these mechas were made from alien tech, so I'm not sure. I might need weeks, maybe months, to understand the technology before I could repair them," she told him.

"I want you to try, and give me the result as soon as possible, Altea will give you the necessary information and blueprint of the alien tech, you can access them anytime as long as you give me a result," he told her.

They were in dire need of mecha to protect the ship; it was not the time for him to be stingy and doubt the girl.

"Yes, Sir. I will try my best," she answered.

"That's good. I have another thing I want you to do as well. I'm in possession of a good laser tech, but it was designed for handguns, so I want you to adapt them for an upgrade plan for our current mecha. You can access the data with Altea's help and it will help you with difficult calculations," he told her.

She nodded at him as she understood it was not wise if she asked too many things about the tech, as such technology was usually guarded very tightly by their owner.

"I expect a result as soon as possible, but I want you to prioritize recovering at least one mecha, do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir!" she replied.

"Good, you may leave now," he showed her out as he did not want to press her too much because his mission required her to expose herself without him forcing her.

She left without a word, but he could guess she was thinking of a way to use the trust he gave her for her revenge plan.

"I guess, I will need to wait from the first day of the next month to make some progress in this mission," he thought to himself.

Once the girl left the room and he was sure she could not hear him, Ed called the AI, "Altea, keep an eye on him, I want a detailed report, and don't let him hack into our system without my permission." He instructed.

"Understood, Captain," It replied.

He plans to control what she knows, if possible he will let her know only what he wants her to know.

Ed pulled out a mental list of what he needed to finish that. He almost went through all things that needed to be addressed. The only thing he needed to address was who was going to pilot the new mecha. He had two new mecha, but he has not assigned anyone to pilot them yet.

There were three candidates he could choose from. The first one was Aya, from what she said she seems to be a mecha pilot on top of being an heir of the terror family. It was common for nobility to be trained in piloting a Mecha, as it was the strongest weapon they could possess.

The second candidate was the pilot in training that he met before. He did not know how good he was but considering he was already on a journey with Star Chaser then he should be competent enough to be deployed in a mecha.

The last candidate was Arnold, the previous vice-captain of Star Chaser and his current advisor. He was a mecha pilot as well, but his strong suit was in leadership rather than piloting itself.

"Hmm... I would rather that Aya doesn't need to fight, but she seems to want to help. On top of it we also short on a mecha pilot," he thought to himself.

"If I choose the other two, then Alpha-Charlie would be leaderless and it might bite us back if an emergency happens," he considered.

"It would be better if Arnold or I stay in Alpha-Charlie to take charge," he lamented.

In the end, he decided that Arnold and the pilot in training would be piloting the Red Falcons while he piloted the C-2, and if needed, Aya would replace him to pilot the alien Melee Mecha.

After consulting with Altea, it seems to agree that this configuration was good enough, Ed did not need to always be in the ship since it could help him convey his command to the crew.

"With this decided, I will need to meet them and see how good they are in piloting," he decided as he wanted to see how good was his crew's combat power.

He would not be able to make an optimal plan if he didn't know his own people's strength.

"As wise people said, If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." He recited an old saying.