By the time Xiao Ran hurried to the bridge, all he could see were flashes streaming past the Archangel's bridge windows. All he could hear were wave after wave of alarms and target-lock warnings. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Xiao Ran pushed off with both hands and drifted lightly down beside Mwu, who sat in the captain's chair.
Though he knew exactly what had happened, Xiao Ran still put on an ignorant expression and asked in astonishment, "What happened?"
"The advance fleet has come under attack." Mwu, whose face had been full of hesitation, suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were somewhat lost as she looked at Xiao Ran. "They sent word for us to retreat, but..."
Bargyll clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she urged, "Captain! There's no time. Please make a decision quickly!"
Seeing the confusion in Mwu's eyes, Xiao Ran froze slightly as well. He had never imagined that Mwu, who had always seemed incomparably strong, would show such an expression now. She was completely unlike the Mwu Xiao Ran knew, making him unable to resist wanting to cherish her.
"Captain, one enemy vessel has begun advancing after turning. Confirmed as a Naser-class. Distance 300, heading toward this ship!"
The words of the Radar Control officer made Xiao Ran pause. He turned and lowered his head toward the control room below, calling out, "Compare enemy and friendly combat strength."
The Radar Control officer answered Xiao Ran's question without the slightest hesitation. "Enemy forces: one Naser-class, two Loorasia-class, nine Ginns, and the Aegis. Friendly forces: one Nelson-class, six Drake-class, thirty-six MAs—no, thirty-four."
"You've got to be kidding! How could there be so many ZAFT forces here!?"
Xiao Ran was startled by the Radar Control officer's answer. Three ZAFT warships already constituted a formidable fighting force. Ten MSs and three warships were enough to fight a fleet battle, and with elite personnel, the chances of victory would still be high. What was more, in the anime, just one Naser-class had wiped out the entire advance fleet. Now their numbers had tripled. The current Archangel and those utterly useless advance-fleet ships were simply no match for them.
Damn it, it's always like this. The difficulty has gone up so much that it's completely different from the plot. Faced with enemies like this, no wonder Mwu looks so lost. If it were me, I wouldn't know whether to rescue my comrades or abandon them and run. Damn, this game is hard. Xiao Ran thought, and his heart began to pound. If he supported Mwu in going to reinforce them, he seriously doubted whether he could come through such a battle unscathed. Fortunately, Xiao Ran still had something that could ensure their safety, and the Archangel also had one final trump card.
"We can't run away the very first time! At the very least, the plot can't change before we descend to Earth!" Clenching his fists, Xiao Ran gritted his teeth and turned to Mwu. "Even if we turn around now, we can't escape pursuit by the equally fast Naser-class. Let's go. If things truly get bad, I have a way to protect the Archangel."
Hearing Xiao Ran's calm yet resolute words, the light gradually returned to Mwu's lost eyes. After giving him a deep look, she loudly ordered, "All hands, first combat readiness. Archangel, proceed to support the advance fleet. Lieutenant Bargyll will determine the launch timing for the MSs and MAs."
After Mwu finished speaking, Xiao Ran immediately pressed the communications button beside her. "Sergeant Maddox, can the MS sortie?"
In the hangar, Sergeant Maddox looked at the Ginn, whose Flight Pack only needed to be fully welded in place, and sighed helplessly. "Not yet. We'll hurry and finish it as soon as possible."
"Understood." Xiao Ran took a deep breath and cut the communication, cursing inwardly. Would we have ended up in this situation if you hadn't been dragging your feet before? Damn it.
Shaking his head to suppress his dissatisfaction, Xiao Ran tried his best to remain calm. He gave Mwu a deliberately casual smile. "I'll sortie too. Don't worry, there won't be a problem."
"Mm, be careful." Xiao Ran, who had already floated swiftly toward the bridge door again, heard Mwu's faint response and felt a trace of warmth in his heart. Accompanied by Bargyll's urgent orders, he entered the elevator.
"Clintus anti-air missiles, load 7 through 12 and 19 through 24. Hammer anti-ship missiles, load 1 through 6 and 13 through 18. Prepare anti-beam depth charges. Activate Variante. Activate Vulcan Cannons. Have the Strike Gundam and Moebius Zero sortie."
The instant the elevator doors closed, Xiao Ran suddenly felt darkness fall before his eyes. His heart pounded like drums beside his ears, his head spun, and his mind went blank. With numb legs dragging beneath him, he did not even know how he had stumbled into the hangar.
"Xiao Ran." A heavy weight suddenly landed on his shoulder. The sensation made Xiao Ran shudder reflexively. He stiffly turned his head and stared straight at the other man for several seconds before gasping for air as though he had been suffocating. With a bitter smile, he said, "Sergeant Maddox, you really scared me."
Sergeant Maddox lightly tapped Xiao Ran's chest. "Kid, are you all right? Your complexion looked terrible just now."
"Me? Heh, I'm fine." Xiao Ran shook his head and asked, "How's the machine?"
Sergeant Maddox laughed and patted Xiao Ran's shoulder again. "It'll be finished soon. We modified the Ginn's speed to the maximum extent according to your request. It can probably reach three times the speed of an ordinary Ginn, but remember, speed does not equal maneuverability."
"I understand that." Xiao Ran nodded and looked toward the Ginn, whose modifications were nearly complete.
The machine's head was identical to an ordinary Ginn's, even in color. As previously stated, its two arms had Gundam hands and Ginn forearms. The only slight difference was the Beam Shield already attached to its left shoulder. As for the right shoulder, Xiao Ran had not expected Sergeant Maddox to install the green shoulder component from the Gatling Gun Equipment.
On the Ginn's back, the original Flight Pack, which had looked like two chicken wings, had been completely replaced. In its place was something resembling the Strike Gundam's Flight Pack. It was only similar because the pack itself had been modified from the Strike Gundam's Flight Pack. The parts that had originally extended to either side of the Gundam's head had been cut away, the glider wings were half as narrow and half as short, and their placement was slightly farther back. Compared to the original, however, the modified wings appeared much thicker and heavier. Of the two stabilizer fins extending from the thrusters beneath the pack, the two lowest and longest had also been cut off to avoid restricting the Ginn's range of movement. The Beam Swords had been moved from the shoulders to the rear skirt armor.
What left Xiao Ran even more stunned was that Sergeant Maddox had removed the two turbine thrusters that had originally been inside the Ginn's chicken-wing pack and mounted them separately onto the Flight Pack's glider wings. The Flight Pack now had two additional thrusters, which explained why the original wings had been shortened and thickened.
Six large thrusters meant the equivalent of three of the Ginn's original Flight Packs. That did not even include the additional small thruster nozzles behind each leg. At full thrust, it would probably be comparable to a Strike Gundam equipped with the Aile Pack. Still, with black, red, green, and all sorts of other colors mixed together, it looked unbelievably ugly.
Seeing Xiao Ran's astonishment, Sergeant Maddox laughed heartily. "Not bad, right? But limited by the Archangel's tools, equipment, and our technical capabilities, we could only improve its speed. If you make overly exaggerated movements, the joints might break from excessive force, so be careful."
Just as Xiao Ran was about to speak, a tremendous boom erupted from within the Archangel. The hangar began shaking violently. In the already weightless hangar, unsecured tools and equipment scattered in every direction, and Xiao Ran was flung away, crashing heavily into the hangar wall.
Sergeant Maddox was thrown to the other side by the shaking. Bracing himself against the wall, he shouted anxiously at Xiao Ran, "There's no time to waste! Hurry and change!"
Xiao Ran nodded. Enduring the pain in his back, he turned, kicked off hard, and shot toward the waiting room. In less than three minutes, he had changed into a blue pilot suit, emerged in a hurry with his helmet under his arm, and flew straight toward the Ginn's cockpit.
On the way, Xiao Ran saw nearly every member of the maintenance crew gathered around the connection between the Flight Pack and the Ginn. Some had even suffered bloody head wounds from the previous impact, yet they ignored them and hurried to finish the last of the work. Seeing this, Xiao Ran could not help clenching his fists.
As he approached the Ginn's cockpit, Sergeant Maddox, who had been waiting there, reached out and grabbed Xiao Ran, then shoved him directly into the cockpit. "There's no time. I've already handled the system integration for the earlier modifications, but the equipment on the right shoulder hasn't been configured yet, so don't use it recklessly. Hurry and start the machine, connect the pack, and link the power!"
"Understood." Xiao Ran nodded heavily. The instant he touched the seat, he activated the machine. Beeping sounds echoed through the previously pitch-black cockpit, and the displays on both sides and in front of him lit up. Within seconds, the Quantum Computer had fully started the machine, while the display system showed notifications of component changes.
Looking at the notification, Xiao Ran should have understood none of it, yet guided by memories that seemed instinctive within his mind, he pulled out the keyboard without hesitation and began typing rapidly.
"Component system changes: shoulder-mounted 120mm Vulcan Cannon, 350mm rocket launcher linked. Parameters set, OK."
"Weapon settings changed. Primary weapon: 57mm High-Energy Beam Rifle. Secondary weapon: Beam Sword. Right shoulder weapon component modified. Parameters set, OK. Power distribution set, OK. System link, OK."
"Pack changed: high-output Strike Pack. Parameter adjustment, third setting, OK. Power distribution complete. System link, OK."
"Weapon draw action parameters, machine parameters... Damn it, who has time to test these slowly! Skip original parameters, skip, skip!"
As the intervals between the Archangel's tremors grew shorter and their frequency rose, Xiao Ran used his fastest speed to review everything he could understand and modify. Even so, it took nearly five minutes. Once he had finally finished everything, he raised his head and shouted outside the cockpit, "Sergeant Maddox!"
"It's ready!" Sergeant Maddox shouted back. "Remember, the Beam Shield can't block Ballistic Weapons!"
"I know!" Xiao Ran shouted back. Then he pressed the communications button and connected to the Archangel's bridge. "I'm ready here. I can sortie now."
"Teacher, please wait." Miriallia's somewhat panicked voice entered Xiao Ran's ears, and he could not help adding, "Miriallia, stay calm. It'll be fine. Trust your teacher."
"Mm." Miriallia answered softly, then her voice rang throughout the entire hangar. "Auxiliary transport system activated. Movement commencing. Ginn, prepare to sortie."
"Move aside!" As Miriallia's voice rang through the hangar, Sergeant Maddox hurriedly shouted at his subordinates. Through the screen before him, Xiao Ran saw the dozen or so people who had been gathered together scatter at once. Feeling the Ginn beneath him shake lightly, Xiao Ran quickly closed the cockpit hatch and put on his helmet. The cramped space immediately gave him a suffocating feeling.
"Catapult track connected. System normal. Beam rifle equipped. Circuits clear. Ginn, sortie. Teacher, please be careful."
"Roger. Miriallia, now that the machine has been modified, calling it a Ginn doesn't sound too bad anymore." Xiao Ran smiled faintly at Miriallia in the communications window at the upper right. Pushing both control sticks forward, he had the Ginn bend at the waist. "Lightning Ginn, Xiao Ran, sortie!"