Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ran rushed to prepare Fleet 25 for the mission to Gallo 4 while learning how the other factions’ objectives could lead to a three-way battle. After twenty hours, he inspected the Lightning Aegis’s rushed upgrades and climbed into its cockpit.

• Xiao Ran and Brigadier General Perry coordinated the deployment, and Xiao Ran used a medical First Aid Robot to treat his injuries.
• President Glass detained several suspicious participants, while more than a dozen others volunteered for the Gallo 4 mission and received replacement machines or missile launchers from Xiao Ran.
• Xiao Ran learned that the Galaxy Faction had been ordered to destroy Gallo 4 and the Vajra Faction had been ordered to retrieve Sheryl Nome and Lanka Lee, while his own faction had to stop both groups and protect Fleet 25.
• Angelo explained that LAI had added two thermonuclear engines, charging devices, and Micro Missile launchers to Xiao Ran’s Lightning Aegis.
• Xiao Ran thanked Angelo, told him to repair the wrecked VF-27, and climbed into the Lightning Aegis’s cockpit.

After the fleet reached Gallia 4, Xiao Ran prepared to handle the standoff with the advance fleet peacefully while investigating the region. Meanwhile, Roger and Lucy directed the other participants to gather intelligence and privately suspected Xiao Ran, and Xiao Ran received an unopened storage device from another ship.

• Xiao Ran slept beside Sheryl during the journey through the Jump Channel, while participants aboard a transport ship debated how to complete Main Mission Two.
• Roger dismissed a plan to seize Command Authority, and Lucy urged the participants to learn the fleet's objectives and reveal the Dimension Devourer if necessary.
• After the others left, Roger and Lucy discussed forming a team and suspected that Xiao Ran was the pilot of the black Variable Fighter that had rescued them.
• The fleet arrived at Gallia 4, where Brigadier General Perry reported a standoff between the advance fleet and the Geradi.
• Xiao Ran ordered reconnaissance of the surrounding region and proposed sending the songstress to the advance fleet in hopes of resolving the standoff peacefully.
• An adjutant delivered Xiao Ran an unopened storage device from another ship, and Xiao Ran accepted it without letting anyone view its contents.

Xiao Ran investigated the Participants’ recording, then led an armed escort to Gallo 4 to address the rebel-held advance fleet base. The chapter ended as Sheryl and Lanka prepared to sing while rebels aimed their weapons at the arriving fighters.

• Xiao Ran watched and destroyed the recording, realizing that Roger had suspected something was wrong with him and deciding to keep a closer eye on Roger and Lucy.
• Xiao Ran ordered Moses to wear the monitoring receiver, then arranged protection for Sheryl and Lanka and instructed the fleet to search for the 117th Survey Group’s MACROSS-class Battleship.
• Xiao Ran briefed the pilots that they were to protect the songstresses and retake the occupied armory, but not attack before receiving his orders.
• Xiao Ran, Moses, Brera, Michel, and the Unified Army pilots descended to Gallo 4, leaving the other fighter groups to circle the frontline base.
• Xiao Ran ordered Michel and Moses to activate their sound booster pods and urged Sheryl and Lanka to begin singing as rebels aimed weapons at their fighters.

Sheryl and Lanka’s singing ended a Geradi rebellion, but a space-jump reaction and violent planetary tremors forced Xiao Ran to order an evacuation. The fleet left the forward base, and Xiao Ran urged the singers to use their songs to seek understanding with the approaching bugs.

• Sheryl sang to the Geradi as Moses and Michel brought their fighters down, and Lanka overcame her fear to sing alongside her.
• The singers’ voices captivated the Geradi and disrupted the Rebel Army leader’s plan, but he charged at Xiao Ran, who shot him dead.
• Xiao Ran hid the Geradi’s body as Sheryl and Lanka landed, and the rebellion subsided while the soldiers cheered their songs.
• Luca reported a space-jump reaction and intense planetary tremors, so Xiao Ran ordered everyone to evacuate the forward base and return to the battleships.
• Moses and Michel escorted Sheryl and Lanka toward the fleet as the Geradi boarded their warships, and Xiao Ran followed them into space.
• Xiao Ran told Sheryl and Lanka not to fear the bugs and urged them to use their songs to show that humans and bugs could understand one another.

Xiao Ran returned to the fleet as the Galaxy Fleet and Bug Warships converged on Gallo 4, turning the battle into a three-way fight. After Sheryl and Lanka began singing to reach the bugs, Xiao Ran flew Lightning Aegis into the fiercest fighting and prepared a wide missile attack.

• Xiao Ran escaped Gallo 4 and returned to the New MACROSS-class Battleship, where Brigadier General Perry reported heavy fighting with Galaxy Fleet and the approaching Bug Warships.
• Xiao Ran ordered the fleet to withdraw its fighters when the bugs arrived and to broadcast beneath Sheryl and Lanka's song, while the fleet's main force used Space Jump to retreat elsewhere.
• Xiao Ran urged Sheryl and Lanka to use their song to convince the bugs that the fleet had come to help them, then left for the battlefield.
• Sheryl and Lanka began singing as the Bug Warships entered the combat zone, and the bugs attacked Galaxy Fleet while the three factions fought one another.
• Xiao Ran destroyed enemy fighters and bugs with Lightning Aegis, dodged a barrage of missiles, and used Quick Lock to expose its missile launchers in the center of the battle.

Xiao Ran fought through the Hostile Faction fleet, discovering that destroying its battleships also destroyed Dimension Devourers and advanced Main Mission Two. After Lightning Aegis took heavy damage and he repaired it with an Atomic Repair Robot, he warned his fleet that every enemy battleship carried a Dimension Devourer and urged them to keep the enemy away from Gallo 4.

• Xiao Ran used three volleys of Micro Missiles and close-range attacks to destroy enemy fighters and bugs while Sheryl and Lanka's singing strengthened the Fleet Faction participants.
• Xiao Ran told Skull Squadron to protect Sheryl and Lanka, then charged into the Galaxy Fleet cluster to support the advancing participants.
• Xiao Ran destroyed an enemy battleship with Lightning Aegis's Siren cannon and learned that 14 Dimension Devourers remained.
• Xiao Ran pierced and destroyed a transport ship, then realized that destroying enemy battleships reduced the Dimension Devourer count.
• Xiao Ran destroyed another battleship but suffered severe damage from missile attacks, so he used an Atomic Repair Robot to restore Lightning Aegis.
• Xiao Ran returned toward his fleet and warned the New MACROSS-class Battleship that every enemy battleship carried a Dimension Devourer and the enemy must be kept away from Gallo 4.

Xiao Ran coordinated the defense against the Galaxy Fleet, and Sheryl and Lanka’s song made the bugs stop attacking and join the fight. The united forces launched a devastating assault on the Galaxy Fleet, with their combined beams surging toward it.

• Xiao Ran learned that Dimension Devourers were aboard the Galaxy Fleet’s ships and warned Brigadier General Perry that the fleet had to be stopped before it reached Gallo 4.
• Xiao Ran ordered Perry to fire the Reaction Missiles, focus the available forces on the Galaxy Fleet, and broadcast messages to the bugs while Sheryl and Lanka continued singing.
• Sheryl and Lanka began singing AIMO together, and the bugs stopped attacking the human forces.
• Xiao Ran ordered the fighters to redirect their fire toward the Galaxy Fleet as the bugs gathered and joined the attack.
• Sheryl and Lanka pointed toward the Galaxy Fleet, and the bugs and human ships fired beams at it together.

Xiao Ran’s fleet destroyed the Galaxy Fleet, but the Dimension Devourers erased the battlefield and left two hostile units unaccounted for. New participants arrived with the bugs, and Xiao Ran discovered their missions aligned with his faction’s, leading him to propose an alliance.

• Xiao Ran and Brigadier General Perry ordered the fleet to retreat as two Galaxy warships activated Dimension Devourers, which merged into a black hole and erased the Galaxy Fleet.
• Xiao Ran asked Perry about Space Jump signatures, and new Bug Warships and participant machines appeared near the fleet and on Gallo 4’s dark side.
• Xiao Ran accepted a side mission to take Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee to the Vajra Homeworld, then ordered fighters to search Gallo 4 and landing ships to be prepared.
• Xiao Ran approached the newly arrived participants, who asked about his faction, his mission, and Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee.
• Xiao Ran learned that the participants’ mission was to rescue Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee, recognized that their objectives aligned, and concluded that the factions had formed an alliance.

Xiao Ran formed a cooperation agreement with Sterling’s Bug Faction participants, then learned that enemy landing craft had entered Gallia 4. As both factions rushed to find them, Xiao Ran headed toward the battle between Skull Squadron and the Galaxy Faction mecha.

• Sterling agreed to cooperate with Xiao Ran, and Xiao Ran used the false name Alex while sharing what he knew about the Galaxy Faction.
• Xiao Ran returned to the fleet and warned Brigadier General Perry not to trust the Bug Faction participants, while Perry reported that five enemy landing craft had arrived on Gallia 4.
• Xiao Ran learned that Skull Squadron was fighting Turski, Gundam Heavyarms, and other enemy mecha while Luca pursued one landing craft.
• Ozma told Xiao Ran that Luca had located three landing craft, and Xiao Ran passed the coordinates to the Bug Faction participants and the fleet.
• The Bug and Fleet Factions moved to search the marked sites and find the remaining landing craft, while Xiao Ran charged toward Gundam Heavyarms.

Xiao Ran’s Lightning Aegis nearly destroyed Gundam Heavyarms, but its pilot trapped him while Draken and Turski closed in. Michel and the allied forces rescued Xiao Ran, leaving him to consider whether he should form a team with other participants.

• Xiao Ran attacked Gundam Heavyarms with the Lightning Aegis, dodging its missiles and gunfire before striking it with the Siren Phased Array Energy Cannon.
• Xiao Ran’s Beam Sabers failed to cut through Gundam Heavyarms, and an incoming beam tore through its damaged torso as the machines clashed at close range.
• Gundam Heavyarms trapped the Lightning Aegis’s right arm as its pilot escaped, while Draken and Turski targeted Xiao Ran.
• Michel freed Xiao Ran by firing three armor-piercing rounds into Gundam Heavyarms’s trapped elbow, while allied fighters attacked Turski and Draken.
• Xiao Ran kicked away the self-destructing Gundam Heavyarms and retreated, then thanked Michel and wondered whether he needed to form a team.

Xiao Ran helped destroy the Galaxy Faction’s remaining Dimension Devourers and completed Main Mission Two, though the battle left him exhausted. Main Mission Three then tasked him with leading Fleet 25 to the Vajra Homeworld to settle matters with the Vajra.

• After Gundam Heavyarms was destroyed, Xiao Ran joined Ozma and Brera in pressuring Turski as the enemy forces began taking losses.
• The five small landing ships were destroyed, and the Galaxy Faction forces began retreating from the battlefield.
• Xiao Ran spotted a suspicious backpack-equipped GM and destroyed it with Lightning Aegis, but it was not the last Dimension Devourer.
• Four enemy MS raced toward Gallo 4, where fire from the planet destroyed them and eliminated the final Dimension Devourer.
• Xiao Ran received 10,000 Merit Points for completing Main Mission Two and was assigned Main Mission Three, while Sterling joked that a 3,000 Merit Point mission had to be completed.

After the Galaxy Faction was defeated and Main Mission Two was completed, Xiao Ran met with Sterling and the Bug Faction participants to discuss their shared mission. The factions agreed to travel together to the Vajra Homeworld, though Fleet 25 still needed convincing and time to prepare.

• Sheryl and Lanka's singing turned the bugs against the Galaxy Faction, and the Bug Faction participants cooperated with Xiao Ran to destroy the last Dimension Devourer.
• Xiao Ran arranged an unmonitored landing ship for Sterling and the other Bug Faction participants to rest in and meet him.
• Sterling asked Xiao Ran to hand over Sheryl Nome and Lanka Lee, and Xiao Ran clarified that he had never agreed to do so.
• Xiao Ran showed Sterling his missions, confirming that their objectives both required bringing Sheryl and Lanka to the Vajra Homeworld.
• Sterling apologized for suspecting Xiao Ran, and the two agreed to travel to the Vajra Homeworld together after Fleet 25 had time to prepare.

Xiao Ran reviewed the rewards from the mission, including his Merit Points, mecha blueprints, skill progress, and treasure chests, while comparing his success with the Fleet Faction participants’ meager results. Roger grew suspicious of Xiao Ran’s authority, and Xiao Ran later woke beside Sheryl, who demanded an explanation before he kissed her.

• Xiao Ran returned to the New MACROSS-class Battleship and reviewed his rewards, including over 74,000 Merit Points, a VF-25, VF-27 blueprints, and mission treasure chests.
• Xiao Ran saw that the other Fleet Faction participants had earned low completion scores and relatively small rewards, while he had received 77 completion points.
• Roger wondered how a participant could command an entire faction and decided to question the fleet commander about Xiao Ran’s status.
• Xiao Ran went to Sheryl’s quarters, fell asleep beside her, and woke to find her asking why he had entered and held her.
• Xiao Ran claimed his command authority let him go wherever he wished, then kissed Sheryl.

Xiao Ran assessed the fleet’s losses, arranged a meeting with members of Galaxy’s Investigation Team, and traveled to Gallo 4 to inspect the ruined MACROSS-class Battleship. On its bridge, he decided to use Scrap Dealer on the ship and learned that recycling it could remove recovered parts without making the whole warship disappear.

• Xiao Ran received the casualty and damage report, ordered care for the wounded, and promised compensation for the fallen.
• Xiao Ran approved a limited meeting with Galaxy’s Investigation Team while ordering that his identity remain secret.
• After learning Investigation Team 117’s MACROSS-class Battleship had been found on Gallo 4, Xiao Ran decided to try recycling it with Scrap Dealer.
• Xiao Ran traveled to Gallo 4 with an armed escort and searched the damaged ship alongside its investigators.
• Xiao Ran reached the bridge, activated Scrap Dealer, and received a prompt asking whether he would spend 20,000 Merit Points to recycle the warship.

Xiao Ran salvaged a Small Thermonuclear Engine Matrix and a MACROSS Cannon from the wrecked battleship and decided to sell the cannon. Meanwhile, Roger was brought aboard the New MACROSS-class Battleship for a meeting and waited under guard until a masked person arrived.

• Xiao Ran activated Scrap Dealer and recovered 39 Part Fragments, a Small Thermonuclear Engine Matrix, and a MACROSS Cannon.
• Xiao Ran decided to keep the energy matrix and sell the cannon, then returned to the New MACROSS-class Battleship and arranged a meeting.
• Roger waited aboard a Fleet Faction landing ship until soldiers told him the general had accepted his meeting request.
• Roger underwent searches and scans aboard the MACROSS-class Battleship before being escorted to a guarded conference room.
• After Roger waited for an hour, a man and a woman in military uniforms entered the room, followed by a masked person.

Roger briefed Xiao Ran on a conspiracy within the Galaxy Fleet and tried to identify whether he was a Participant, but Prometheus’s restrictions exposed the test and cost both men Merit Points. The meeting ended with Xiao Ran concealing his identity and explaining to Moses why he kept his mission secret.

• Roger told Xiao Ran that infiltrators tied to the Galaxy Fleet’s administrative department had conducted misleading investigations and were researching captured bugs on the main island.
• Roger described a star map pointing to a habitable planet and suspected the organization had deliberately drawn the bugs toward the fleet to pursue control over them.
• Xiao Ran said the bug homeworld was already under consideration and that the bugs had offered humanity room to live under special conditions.
• Roger tried to mention Prometheus, but a warning deducted five hundred Merit Points from him and two thousand from Xiao Ran, forcing Roger to change his warning.
• Xiao Ran left with Roger’s warning, then told Moses that Roger had been testing his identity and that investigation team members concealed their missions from one another.

Xiao Ran received evidence confirming Lanka and Brera’s family ties and Sheryl’s connection to Mao, but Sheryl fell ill from a possible V-type bacteria outbreak. He brought Lanka and Brera to the medical department, where the photograph overwhelmed Lanka and Xiao Ran warned Brera not to harm his sister.

• Investigators delivered documents and photographs to Xiao Ran, including records linking Lanka’s mother to the V-type bacteria and evidence that Brera and Lanka were siblings.
• Xiao Ran found Sheryl feverish, gave her the letter and photographs from her mother, and comforted her as she learned Mao was her grandmother.
• The doctor could not determine the cause of Sheryl’s high fever, so Xiao Ran arranged a thorough examination and suspected the V-type bacteria had become active again.
• Ozma brought Lanka and Brera to Xiao Ran, who showed them the photograph of their mother; Lanka fainted after seeing it.
• Xiao Ran told Brera he had called him to confirm Lanka was his sister and warn him not to hurt her, and Brera nodded that he understood.

Xiao Ran briefed President Glass and the fleet’s officials on how Sheryl and Lanka had stopped the Vajra from attacking humanity and exposed Grey’s role in provoking the conflict. Sheryl remained ill with V bacteria as Xiao Ran argued that the Vajra could become humanity’s lasting allies through songstresses and future human communication with them.

• A doctor told Xiao Ran that Sheryl’s fever came from V bacteria, and the ship’s doctors later developed medicine that temporarily suppressed its growth.
• After waking, Lanka stayed in the ward to care for Sheryl, who remained mostly asleep during the journey back to the 25th Fleet.
• The 25th Fleet welcomed its returning forces, while Sheryl was secretly taken to the central hospital and public recordings of her and Lanka’s singing played across the main island.
• At a conference, an adjutant reported the expedition’s events, including the Vajra protecting humans and turning against the Galaxy Fleet after Sheryl and Lanka sang.
• Xiao Ran told President Glass that Grey and her group remained a threat and argued that the Vajra were peaceful, with songstresses and future human communicators able to ensure lasting peace.

Xiao Ran persuaded President Glass and the fleet leaders to pursue peace with the Bugs, arguing that war could endanger all humanity and that the V Bacteria might enable humans to communicate with them. The meeting approved a trip to the Vajra Homeworld and tests of Xiao Ran’s proposed method, while the chapter ended with Xiao Ran spotting a small green creature in Lanka’s arms at Sheryl’s hospital room.

• Xiao Ran proposed that humans and Bugs could coexist and explained that the V Bacteria might give people the ability to communicate with the Bugs.
• Xiao Ran warned the meeting that the Bugs’ age, numbers, and unrestricted Space Jumps could make an all-out war disastrous for humanity.
• President Glass agreed to send Xiao Ran, Sheryl, and Lanka to the Vajra Homeworld, with S.M.S and Catherine accompanying them, and ordered the fleet to broadcast footage of the Bugs helping humanity.
• Xiao Ran told Ozma that the trip would clarify whether Sheryl could turn the V Bacteria into Symbiotic Bacteria and whether humans could coexist with the Bugs.
• Xiao Ran arrived at Central Hospital with Ozma and saw a small green creature in Lanka’s arms beside Sheryl’s bed.

Xiao Ran revealed that Lanka’s pet Little Ai was a larval Vajra and proposed using Sheryl and Lanka’s songs to build peace with the Vajra and help cure Sheryl’s infection. He then presented Little Ai to President Glass as a way to reduce public resistance to coexistence, while plans began for a visit to the Vajra homeworld.

• Xiao Ran confirmed to Ozma, Sheryl, and Lanka that Little Ai was a larval Vajra, and Little Ai nodded when Lanka asked whether it was one of the creatures humans called bugs.
• Xiao Ran asked Lanka and Sheryl to sing for the Vajra Queen during a planned trip to the Vajra homeworld, and said their voices could also help cure Sheryl’s bacterial infection.
• Xiao Ran proposed filming Sheryl and Lanka with Little Ai and broadcasting the video alongside footage of Vajra fighting with humans to soften public opinion.
• Xiao Ran left Sheryl in Moses’s care and went with Billy to meet President Glass, showing him Little Ai’s picture and explaining that humans and Vajra could live together.