Inside Klein Mansion, Xiao Ran, Lacus, Tinia, Katia, and Melua sat quietly in the heavily guarded garden, watching the live battle broadcast on television.
The battle on television was fierce and tense. Both sides traded attacks, and from time to time, ZAFT mobile suits or Earth Force mobile armors and warships were destroyed. After the initial missile strike, ZAFT's swift counterattack had already deprived the Earth Force of any chance to launch another saturation attack. The forces of both sides had become completely entangled, turning the conflict into a brutal melee.
Although there was nothing wrong with this kind of battle in terms of overall situation and tactics, in Xiao Ran's eyes, it was nothing more than amateurs pecking at each other, utterly devoid of any real skill or technical advantage. One side relied on superior numbers, while the other relied on more advanced weaponry. In terms of losses, the Earth Force had indeed suffered far more than ZAFT, and the television broadcast made ZAFT appear quite formidable.
But from Xiao Ran's higher vantage point, there was nothing in this battle worth learning from or using as a reference. Even so, he watched the images on television with great interest.
Among the Earth Force units appearing on screen were not only the weapons Xiao Ran knew from the SEED World. Aside from the Earth Force's trashy Moebius mobile armors, the chaotic world had also brought in several other types of mobile armor—or rather, things that looked like mobile armors but were somewhat larger, more like ultra-small combat ships. They were the Nadesico's Grasshoppers.
Xiao Ran watched with considerable interest, while Lacus kept staring silently at the television. Neither of them spoke, but the three girls who had spent several pleasant days with Lacus could no longer sit still. Katia kept