Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ran used the Mentor’s name to gain entry to Klein Mansion and meet Lacus, claiming he had urgent business with her father and Chairman Sarra. After admitting that the Mentor had sent no message, he faced a roomful of weapons and offered vital intelligence that could affect hundreds of thousands of PLANT Coordinators.

• Xiao Ran arrived at Klein Mansion and told its guards he was an envoy from the Mentor seeking to meet Lacus, Chairman Klein, and Chairman Sarra.
• Lacus allowed Xiao Ran to meet her in the garden, where he noticed the hidden guards and she had them reveal themselves.
• Xiao Ran admitted that the Mentor had not sent him and that he had borrowed the Mentor’s name to secure the meeting.
• The guards aimed their weapons at Xiao Ran and shielded Lacus.
• Xiao Ran argued that he had come as a guest and said he possessed vital intelligence concerning hundreds of thousands of PLANT Coordinators.

Xiao Ran explained why he had approached Lacus and offered to share sensitive information about the Alliance’s attack on PLANT. Lacus read his private message and was left with serious concerns about what it revealed.

• Lacus questioned Xiao Ran’s identity and wondered how he knew about her mentor’s close ties to the Klein family.
• Xiao Ran refused to reveal his identity in front of the guards and said he would communicate privately with Lacus.
• Lacus asked for paper and a pen, and Xiao Ran wrote a message, folded it into a paper crane, and gave it to a guard.
• Lacus unfolded the paper crane away from the others and read that Xiao Ran came from Orb through a cooperative relationship and had learned that the Alliance’s attack on PLANT had other objectives.

Xiao Ran warned Cigel Klein and Patrick Zala that a secret Earth Force unit planned to use nuclear bombs against PLANT, and offered N-Jammers from Orb. He named Junius 7 as the target and hinted that Rau Le Creuset knew more than he had revealed, leaving the leaders to decide whether to trust him.

• Lacus brought Cigel Klein and Patrick Zala to meet Xiao Ran after reconnaissance confirmed containers at the coordinates he had provided.
• Xiao Ran repeated his warning about the Earth Force’s hidden unit and explained that Orb had supplied completed N-Jammers to protect PLANT’s civilians.
• Patrick demanded evidence and threatened Xiao Ran, while Xiao Ran said Orb would remain neutral and would oppose anyone who endangered civilians.
• Cigel agreed to host Xiao Ran under surveillance while verifying his claims with Orb, but Patrick continued to distrust him.
• Xiao Ran identified Junius 7 as the likely nuclear target and warned Patrick that his wife was there.
• Xiao Ran turned to Rau Le Creuset and suggested he would reveal more important intelligence, ending with an apology to Cruze.

Xiao Ran exposed Rau Le Creuset’s identity and plan to destroy the world, turning Patrick against his trusted adviser. Cruze admitted the revelations were true, then questioned how Xiao Ran knew so much about him.

• Xiao Ran told Patrick, Siegel, Lacus, and Cruze that he knew Cruze’s identity and that Cruze had never met him.
• Xiao Ran revealed that Cruze was a rapidly aging clone who planned to use the ZAFT-Alliance war to destroy the world.
• Patrick drew his pistol and ordered Cruze to remove his mask, while Cruze prepared to seize a hostage.
• Lacus played along with Xiao Ran’s joke about Cruze being an “old driver,” easing the tense atmosphere and prompting Patrick to lower his gun.
• Cruze admitted that Xiao Ran’s account was true and asked how Xiao Ran knew his secret identity and plans.

Xiao Ran revealed that he came from another world, where he knew a different Cruze and had seen the fates of Siegel, Patrick, and Lacus. He warned Cruze that he could cure his illness and left the group confronting the possibility that their futures might follow the same path as the other world.

• Cruze questioned Xiao Ran about his confidence, and Xiao Ran said it came from his strength and his knowledge of everyone present.
• Xiao Ran explained that he knew Cruze from another world, where they had fought together, and said that Cruze's illness could be cured.
• Xiao Ran revealed that the other world's Cruze had tried to destroy Earth with Genesis before becoming his trusted deputy.
• Siegel and the others realized Xiao Ran was claiming to have come from another world, and Patrick grew tense when Xiao Ran mentioned the secret Genesis plans.
• Xiao Ran introduced himself as Orb's administrator and described how Siegel, Patrick, and Lacus had died in the other world.
• Cruze wondered whether those events had been their original fate.

Xiao Ran tried to convince the PLANT leaders that he came from another world and wanted to prevent its tragedies from repeating. Cruze believed him and sided with him, while Siegel asked why he had come and Xiao Ran said he hoped to change their fates and find a way home.

• Siegel rejected Xiao Ran’s account of his death, and Xiao Ran explained how Lacus and Patrick had contributed to it in the other world.
• Patrick ordered his guards to bring Madam back, while Cruze admitted he believed Xiao Ran and confessed he had planned to take someone hostage.
• Patrick ordered Xiao Ran seized, but Xiao Ran used the blue light in his eyes to restrain Patrick and the guards and take Patrick’s gun.
• Cruze removed the bullets from the gun and stood behind Xiao Ran, explaining that he trusted Xiao Ran’s knowledge of his past and Ray.
• Siegel stopped Patrick from escalating the confrontation and asked Xiao Ran why he had come to their world.
• Xiao Ran said his arrival had been an accident, that he wanted to prevent the other world’s tragedies, and that he hoped to use PLANT, Orb, and other forces to find a way home.

Xiao Ran won cautious cooperation from Siegel and left Patrick doubting him while trying to verify his claims. Siegel and Cruze departed, and Lacus asked Xiao Ran about his abilities and the man in a photograph.

• Patrick took copies of Xiao Ran’s photos and stationed ZAFT soldiers outside Siegel’s home as he left.
• Xiao Ran told Siegel he would provide information about ZAFT’s future mobile suits and warships, and asked for a hangar on the satellite.
• Siegel said he did not fully believe Xiao Ran but respected Lacus’s trust in him, then left with Cruze.
• Cruze agreed to return with more questions, while his position in ZAFT had become untenable.
• Lacus asked Xiao Ran whether he was a Newtype or Innovator and whether the man in the photograph was her future husband.

Xiao Ran answered Lacus’s questions about her and Athrun’s lives in another world, while she weighed how little those futures had to do with her own choices. Lacus then asked him to tell her the story of his past, and Xiao Ran began recounting events involving PLANT, Orb, the Alliance, and the people they knew.

• Lacus asked whether revealing another world’s future might change their lives and whether she and Athrun had been happy there.
• Xiao Ran said the other Lacus and Kira had a good relationship, while Athrun had another lover besides Cagalli, and Lacus said she would treat that world’s events only as a reference.
• Lacus said she wanted Athrun to learn that his future wife was not her but two other girls, then asked whether another Xiao Ran existed in this world.
• Xiao Ran explained that there was no other Xiao Ran who had worked as a teacher in Heliopolis and that he might be a major variable between the worlds.
• Lacus asked Xiao Ran to tell her about his past and the stories of PLANT, Orb, the Alliance, Athrun, and how the Orb Princess and prince met, and he began his account.

Xiao Ran told Lacus about the other SEED world's war and its dangers, and Lacus resolved to prevent the same events from happening in her world. After she left him briefly to investigate Kira, she returned with Cruze, Tinia, Melua, and Katia as the war approached.

• Xiao Ran recounted the other world's events to Lacus, who recognized the dangers of the Librarian Organization and Genesis and said she would warn her father.
• Lacus reflected on the burden of losing her father and said she would not let the other world's tragedies happen again before leaving Xiao Ran alone.
• Lacus privately decided that Kira Yamato needed careful investigation, while Xiao Ran realized her favorability toward him had reached its maximum.
• Lacus returned with Cruze, Tinia, Melua, and Katia, and Cruze told Xiao Ran that Siegel had arranged the two robots.
• Xiao Ran told Cruze to prepare for the coming war and promised Eagle's assistance, then Tinia greeted Lacus excitedly and Lacus welcomed her interest.

Xiao Ran considered the plot, missions, and factions in the world and planned how to prepare for the challenges ahead. He decided to train potential allies and strengthen ties with Orb and PLANT before later dealing with Fury.

• Lacus guided Xiao Ran's three companions through a conversation in the garden to learn more about him.
• Xiao Ran reviewed the world's plot and concluded that his strength let him act independently of it.
• Xiao Ran determined that he needed allies to complete missions involving world suppression and maintaining peace, and he chose Orb as his main partner while keeping PLANT as a reserve.
• Xiao Ran planned to train Tinia, Katia, Melua, and promising pilots such as Kira and Athrun, while seeking an S-class enemy to fulfill another mission.
• Xiao Ran planned to avoid joining the coming PLANT-Alliance war unless PLANT asked for his help, prevent nuclear missiles from striking the colonies, and later bring Fury's strength under his control.

As the Earth Force fleet neared PLANT, Xiao Ran proposed giving Siegel and Patrick advanced MS technology in exchange for delaying its battlefield use and forming a joint special unit. He urged them to dismantle the Earth Force and unite Earth, warning that alien threats made humanity’s internal conflict seem ridiculous.

• The Earth Force ignored Siegel’s attempts to communicate while Patrick prepared PLANT for battle, and Lacus broadcast songs to comfort its people.
• Xiao Ran met Siegel and Patrick in the Klein Mansion glasshouse as the Earth Force fleet approached the front lines.
• Xiao Ran offered PLANT advanced MS, reactor, weapon, armor, and warship technology, on the condition that it stay off the battlefield for at least a year; Patrick objected, but Xiao Ran argued that PLANT should preserve its long-term advantage.
• Xiao Ran proposed creating a special unit of PLANT, Orb, and personally recruited members, whom he would train before returning them to PLANT.
• Xiao Ran proposed that PLANT and Orb lead a new unified government after the Earth Force’s dismantling, with Lacus as PLANT’s chairwoman, Siegel as the government’s first leader, and Patrick overseeing military strength.
• Xiao Ran revealed that he had become Great President of a unified government in another world and warned Siegel and Patrick that alien civilizations threatened Earth, making humanity’s internal conflict seem ridiculous.

Xiao Ran explained the alien threats and the history of his world, then argued that PLANT, Orb, and he needed a year to build trust and strength before overthrowing the Alliance. He offered to seize every Alliance military base and headquarters in three days if Siegel and Patrick could guarantee PLANT would work with Orb to take over the world afterward.

• Siegel asked whether the alien threats in Xiao Ran’s world included the gigantic flower-like motherships, and Xiao Ran said they did not.
• Xiao Ran told Siegel and Patrick that an alien race was hidden inside the Moon and had watched their war with the Alliance.
• Xiao Ran described how his world united against the Alliance, encountered alien life, and eventually entered an era of cosmic expansion.
• Xiao Ran said he wanted PLANT, Orb, and himself to spend a year building trust, strengthening their forces, and training Super Aces before confronting the Alliance.
• Siegel questioned Xiao Ran’s motives, and Xiao Ran said he wanted to prevent the deaths and oppression he had witnessed in his world.
• Xiao Ran offered to seize every Alliance military base and headquarters in three days if Siegel and Patrick promised PLANT would cooperate with Orb after the Alliance fell.

Xiao Ran convinced Siegel and Patrick of his power and offered PLANT and Orb advanced mecha technology in exchange for their cooperation. Patrick accepted Xiao Ran’s conditions and entrusted him with the coming battle against the Earth Force.

• Xiao Ran described his A-class strength and claimed he could destroy PLANT’s forces and satellites within an hour, but said he would hold back for now.
• Xiao Ran offered PLANT and Orb next-generation mecha technology, including B-class mass-production designs, custom A-class mecha, and Genesis technology.
• Siegel asked Patrick about Genesis, and Patrick agreed to share its information with him rather than keep secrets between them.
• Xiao Ran gave Siegel a data storage device and named Athrun, Nicol, Yzak, Dearka, Heine Westenfluss, Lunamaria Hawke, Shia Haneffs, and Meyrin Hawke as people who must join his group.
• Patrick agreed to Xiao Ran’s conditions, including cooperation with Orb and a unified government after the Earth Force was dismantled, while Siegel left the coming battle in Xiao Ran’s hands.

As war between the Earth Force and ZAFT approached, Patrick and Siegel arranged covert preparations based on Xiao Ran’s information while Patrick sent Cruze to the front. The Earth Force launched a massive attack on PLANT’s defensive line, and ZAFT immediately counterattacked.

• Patrick told Siegel to forget the engagement, arrange a secret mission to Orb, prepare to manufacture new machines, and select personnel for Xiao Ran’s special unit.
• Patrick assigned Cruze to the front lines, hoping the danger would spur Xiao Ran to intervene, but Xiao Ran said he would defend PLANT regardless.
• Xiao Ran decided to keep the Flying Eagle in the rear to guard against Earth Force special operations and nuclear attacks, while withholding the Giant Whale to avoid revealing too much of his strength.
• The Earth Force began the battle by firing tens of thousands of missiles and warship beams at ZAFT’s defensive forces and the Colony Satellites behind them.
• ZAFT launched its mobile suits to intercept the missiles and counterattacked the Earth Force fleet, plunging both sides into intense fighting.

Xiao Ran refused Tinia’s pleas to join the battle, explaining that PLANT had to defend itself despite the help he had already provided. After the Earth Force and ZAFT fought for a day and night, Lacus brought him urgent news that the Earth Force planned a nuclear strike and PLANT leaders were considering retaliation.

• Tinia urged Xiao Ran to use his strength to end the battle, but he said PLANT had to take responsibility for its own choices.
• Lacus supported Xiao Ran’s decision and reminded Tinia that he had already provided PLANT with N-Jammers, technology, and Flying Eagle’s protection.
• The Earth Force and ZAFT continued fighting for a day and night while Xiao Ran stayed out of the battle and Giant Whale guarded the satellite.
• Lacus told Xiao Ran that a reconnaissance team had found the Earth Force’s nuclear strike team and that ZAFT officials were considering a nuclear counterattack.

Lacus told Xiao Ran that councilors were pushing for a Nuclear Counterattack despite Siegel and Patrick opposing it. Xiao Ran arranged for Flying Eagle to deal with the Alliance's nuclear attack fleet and waited for Lacus, reflecting on how different this world's Lacus was from the others he had known.

• Lacus told Xiao Ran that council support for a Nuclear Counterattack might overwhelm Siegel's opposition in the council.
• Xiao Ran told Lacus to change clothes and said he would make arrangements to prevent the councilors from acting.
• Xiao Ran contacted the giant whale and ordered it to relay a message to Flying Eagle to deal with the Alliance's nuclear attack fleet without leaving a detectable trail.
• Xiao Ran changed clothes, put on his mask, and went to the hall to wait for Lacus.
• Xiao Ran reflected on the differences between the three Lacuses he had encountered and worried about this world's Lacus growing too close to him.

Xiao Ran arranged for Eagle to destroy the Earth Force’s nuclear strike fleet before it could attack PLANT, while he and Lacus discussed how PLANT should respond without escalating the conflict. The fleet’s destruction was announced publicly as a mysterious self-destruction, and Lacus revealed that she had helped shape the broadcast to prevent hatred from spreading to innocent Naturals.

• Xiao Ran told Lacus that Eagle would secretly destroy the Earth Force’s nuclear fleet and warned that PLANT must never use Nuclear Weapons first.
• Lacus relayed Siegel’s request for Orb to denounce the Earth Force, but Xiao Ran refused to involve Orb yet and urged PLANT to prepare N-Jammers and civilian relief efforts.
• Giant Whale reported that Eagle had cut off communications with GN Particles and destroyed the fleet.
• PLANT’s broadcast showed the enormous explosion and announced that the Earth Force’s Nuclear Weapons had destroyed its own fleet, calling for PLANT to oppose the Earth Force rather than innocent Naturals.
• Lacus admitted that she had arranged the broadcast with her father and Patrick, and Xiao Ran thanked her for protecting ordinary Naturals from blame.

After the Earth Force’s nuclear fleet vanished, ZAFT gained momentum, approved mass production of N-Jammers, and prepared new operations while tensions with the Earth Force persisted. Xiao Ran became a genuine instructor at ZAFT’s Military Academy, where he began overseeing a group of young pilots, including recruits from Orb.

• The Earth Force retreated after the nuclear explosions, while Orb and other Neutral Countries pressured it over the attack and PLANT began producing N-Jammers.
• PLANT analyzed the mobile suit data Xiao Ran had given Patrick and estimated that it would take about three months to build a finished product and begin mass production.
• Xiao Ran started teaching at ZAFT’s Military Academy, where Athrun, Nicol, Yzak, Dearka, Lunamaria, Heine, Shiho, Meyrin, Rusty, and Ray joined his group.
• Siegel sent an envoy to Orb to propose Athrun’s marriage to Cagalli and seek cooperation, but Asaha declined broader cooperation while providing ten young soldiers for Xiao Ran to train.
• After a month of instruction, Xiao Ran’s group improved, and even the least advanced recruits began combat training in the Virtual Machine.

Athrun told his friends that his engagement to Lacus had ended and that his father had arranged an unknown new fiancée for him. The group followed Lacus through the academy and found her at the chief instructor’s quarters, leaving them curious about why she had come.

• Lacus arrived at the Military Academy, and Athrun’s friends teased him about his fiancée.
• Athrun revealed that he and Lacus had broken off their engagement and that his father had arranged another marriage without telling him who his new fiancée was.
• Yzak argued that Athrun was still fortunate compared with people who had no choice in their future partners.
• Rusty wondered why Lacus had come to the academy, and the five friends followed her into the teaching building.
• The group found Lacus’s guards outside the chief instructor’s quarters and speculated about her visit.

Xiao Ran reviewed ZAFT’s plans for deploying N-Jammers, seizing Pantaria, and protecting civilians, then explained to Lacus why he had stayed out of the conflict. He admitted that he was waiting for greater threats to emerge and hoped a powerful opponent would help him break through to true A-Class Pilot status.

• Lacus presented Xiao Ran with ZAFT’s N-Jammer deployment, relief, and energy-station plans and requested his support during the coming operations.
• Xiao Ran reviewed the documents and questioned why ZAFT would not use his strength to crush the Alliance.
• Lacus explained that occupying Alliance territory would fuel resistance and stretch ZAFT’s forces, and said she trusted Xiao Ran’s judgment that greater threats awaited on Earth.
• Xiao Ran confirmed that he was watching for those threats and also hoped to find opponents strong enough to help him achieve a breakthrough.