Lightning Ginn, Launch!

When Xiao Ran rushed to the bridge, all he could see were flashes of light coming through the Archangel's bridge windows, and all he could hear were the alarms and targeting sounds from the bridge. Squinting slightly, Xiao Ran pushed his hands back and landed lightly beside Mwu, who was sitting in the captain's seat.

Even though he knew what was happening, Xiao Ran pretended not to know anything and asked in surprise, "What happened?"

"The vanguard fleet has been attacked." Mwu, who had been hesitant, suddenly looked up, her eyes looking at Xiao Ran with confusion. "We received a message telling us to retreat, but..."

Bargyll clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, reminding her, "Captain! We're running out of time, please make a decision quickly!"

Looking at Mwu's confused eyes, Xiao Ran was also slightly taken aback. He had never expected that Mwu, who had always appeared so strong, would show such an expression at this moment. She was completely unlike the Mwu he knew, making him want to cherish her.

"Captain, one enemy ship has begun to turn and advance. It's confirmed as a Naser-class, distance 300, advancing towards this ship!"

The radar controller's words made Xiao Ran pause slightly. He turned and looked down at the control room below, shouting, "What's the enemy-to-friendly force ratio?"

In response to Xiao Ran's question, the radar controller answered loudly without any hesitation, "Enemy Naser-class 1, Loorasia-class 2, Ginn 9, and Aegis. Our Nelson-class 1, Drake-class 6, MA36, no, 34."

"Are you kidding me?! How can there be so many ZAFT mobile suits here!?"

Hearing the radar controller's answer, Xiao Ran was startled. Three ZAFT warships already represented a considerable combat force. Ten mobile suits and three warships were enough for a fleet battle, with a high chance of victory if elite members were present. Moreover, in the anime, a single Naser-class warship had wiped out the entire vanguard fleet. Now, with the numbers tripled, the Archangel and the completely useless vanguard fleet were no match for them.

"Damn it, it's always like this. The difficulty has increased so much, and it's completely different from the plot. Facing an enemy configuration like this, it's no wonder Mwu looks so confused. If it were me, I wouldn't know whether to rescue my comrades or abandon them and flee. Damn it, this game is so hard to play." Xiao Ran thought to himself, his heart starting to pound. If he supported Mwu to go and provide support, Xiao Ran seriously doubted if he could preserve himself intact in such a battle. Fortunately, Xiao Ran still had something that could ensure his safety, and the Archangel had a final trump card.

"We can't just run away the first time! At least before descending to Earth, the plot must not be changed no matter what!" Clenching his fists, Xiao Ran gritted his teeth and turned to look at Mwu. "Even if we turn back now, we can't escape the pursuit of the Naser-class, which is also a high-speed battleship. Let's go. If it's really impossible, I have a way to protect the Archangel's safety."

Listening to Xiao Ran's calm and firm words, Mwu's confused eyes slowly regained their luster. After giving Xiao Ran a deep look, she loudly ordered, "All hands to battle stations, Archangel will proceed to support the vanguard fleet. Lieutenant Bargyll will decide the timing for MS and MA deployment."

After Mwu finished speaking, Xiao Ran directly pressed the communication button next to Mwu. "Sergeant Maddox, can the mobile suits sortie?"

In the hangar, Sergeant Maddox looked at the Ginn, which was only missing the flight pack to be fully welded, and sighed helplessly. "Not yet. We'll do our best to finish it in the shortest possible time."

"Understood." Xiao Ran took a deep breath and broke the communication, cursing inwardly, "If you guys hadn't been so slow before, would we be in this situation? Damn it."

Shaking his head to suppress his dissatisfaction, Xiao Ran tried his best to remain calm and gave Mwu a nonchalant smile. "I'll sortie too. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Okay, be careful." Xiao Ran, who had already flown back towards the bridge door, heard Mwu's faint reply and felt a warmth in his heart. Accompanied by Bargyll's urgent commands, Xiao Ran entered the elevator.

"Clintus (space anti-air missile) loaded 7-12, 19-24, Hammer (anti-ship missile) loaded 1-6, 13-18, anti-beam mines ready, Variante activated, Vulcan Cannon activated, deploy Strike Gundam and Moebius Zero."

The moment the elevator door closed, Xiao Ran's vision suddenly went black, his heart pounding like a drum in his ears. He felt dizzy and disoriented, dragging his numb feet, he didn't even know how he got to the hangar in a daze.

"Xiao Ran." His shoulder suddenly felt a heavy weight, and the sensation made Xiao Ran flinch instinctively. He stiffly turned his head and stared at the person for a few seconds before gasping for breath as if suffocating. He gave a wry smile, "Sergeant Maddox, you really scared me."

Sergeant Maddox gently tapped Xiao Ran's chest. "Kid, are you alright? You looked really pale just now."

"Me? Heh, I'm fine." Xiao Ran shook his head and asked, "How's the unit?"

Sergeant Maddox chuckled and patted Xiao Ran's shoulder again. "It'll be done soon. Ginn has been modified to its highest speed as you requested. Its speed can be about three times that of a normal Ginn, but remember, speed doesn't equal maneuverability."

"I understand that." Xiao Ran nodded and looked at the Ginn, which was about to complete its modification.

The head of the unit was the same as a normal Ginn, even the color. Both arms, as mentioned before, had Gundam hands and Ginn arms. The only slight difference was the beam shield already connected to the left shoulder. On the right shoulder, Xiao Ran didn't expect Sergeant Maddox to have installed the green shoulder part of the Gatling Gun Equipment.

On the back of the Ginn, the flight pack that originally looked like two chicken wings had been completely replaced with something similar to the Strike Gundam's flight pack. It was similar because this pack was modified from the Strike Gundam's flight pack. The difference was that the parts extending to both sides of the Gundam's head had been cut off, the gliding wings were half as narrow and half as short, and the position was slightly further back. However, compared to the original, the modified gliding wings seemed much thicker. Two of the longest lower parts of the fixed wings extending from the two thrusters below the backpack had also been cut off to avoid affecting the Ginn's range of motion. The beam saber's position had also been moved from the shoulder to the rear skirt armor.

What surprised Xiao Ran even more was that Sergeant Maddox had actually disassembled the two turbo thrusters from the Ginn's chicken wings and fixed them onto the backpack's gliding wings, giving the flight pack two additional thrusters. It was no wonder the original gliding wings were cut and thickened.

Six large thrusters, which was equivalent to three original Ginn flight packs, not to mention the small thruster ports on the back of each leg. If they were to accelerate at full speed, they would be comparable to a Strike Gundam equipped with an aerial combat pack. However, the mixture of black, red, and green colors looked really unsightly.

Seeing Xiao Ran's surprised expression, Sergeant Maddox laughed heartily. "Not bad, right? However, due to the tools and equipment on the Archangel and our technical limitations, only the speed has been improved. If you make any exaggerated movements, the joints might break due to excessive force, so you need to be careful."

Just as Xiao Ran was about to speak, a huge sound erupted from the Archangel, and the hangar began to shake violently. In the already zero-gravity hangar, loose tools and equipment scattered everywhere, and Xiao Ran was thrown against the hangar wall.

Sergeant Maddox was also thrown to the other side by the shaking. He braced himself against the wall and shouted at Xiao Ran anxiously, "No time to waste, hurry up and change!"

Xiao Ran nodded, enduring the pain in his back, and sprinted towards the standby room. In less than three minutes, he changed into a blue pilot suit, grabbed his helmet, and floated out hurriedly, heading straight for the Ginn's cockpit.

As he moved, Xiao Ran saw that almost all the maintenance crew were gathered around the flight pack and the Ginn's interface. Some of them, bleeding from head injuries caused by the previous vibration, couldn't even bother to care and were still rushing to complete the final tasks. Seeing this scene, Xiao Ran couldn't help but clench his fists.

As he approached the Ginn's cockpit, Sergeant Maddox, who had been waiting there, grabbed Xiao Ran and pushed him into the cockpit. "No time! I've already set up the modified system connection, but the right shoulder equipment isn't set up yet, so don't use it recklessly. Hurry up and start the unit, connect the backpack and power!"

"Understood." Xiao Ran nodded heavily. The moment he touched the chair, he activated the unit. The originally dark cockpit began to emit beeping sounds. Along with these sounds, the displays on both sides and in front also turned on. The quantum computer completed the unit startup in seconds, and the display system showed a prompt for component changes.

Seeing this prompt, Xiao Ran, who should have been completely clueless, instinctively pulled out the keyboard and started typing furiously based on his memory:

"Component system change, 120MM Vulcan Cannon on shoulder, 350MM Rocket Cannon linked, parameter settings OK."

"Weapon settings changed, main weapon 57MM High-Energy Beam Rifle, secondary weapon, Beam Saber, right shoulder weapon component, change complete, parameter settings OK, power distribution settings OK, system link OK."

"Backpack changed, High-output Strike Backpack, parameter adjustment three stages OK, power distribution settings complete, system link OK."

"Weapon retrieval action parameters, unit parameters... Damn it, there's no time to fine-tune all of this! Skip original parameters, skip, skip!"

Xiao Ran felt the vibrations of the Archangel getting stronger and more frequent. Using his fastest speed, he went through everything he could understand and modify, which took about five minutes. After finally finishing everything, Xiao Ran looked up and shouted outside the cockpit, "Sergeant Maddox!"

"It's ready!" Sergeant Maddox replied loudly, "Remember, the beam shield cannot withstand solid ammunition!"

"I know!" Xiao Ran shouted back, then pressed the communication button to connect to the Archangel's bridge. "I'm ready here. We can deploy now."

"Teacher, please wait a moment." Miriallia's slightly flustered voice reached Xiao Ran's ears. Xiao Ran couldn't help but add, "Miriallia, calm down, it'll be fine. Trust your teacher."

"Okay." Miriallia responded softly, and then her voice echoed throughout the hangar. "Auxiliary transport system activated, movement commencing. Ginn, prepare for deployment."

"Move aside quickly!" As Miriallia's voice sounded in the hangar, Sergeant Maddox quickly shouted at his subordinates. Xiao Ran saw through the screen in front of him that the dozen or so people who had been gathered together scattered instantly. Feeling the Ginn beneath him vibrate slightly, Xiao Ran quickly closed the Ginn's cockpit door and put on his helmet. The confined space gave Xiao Ran a sense of oppression.

"Ejection slot linked, system normal, beam rifle configured, circuit clear, Ginn deploying. Teacher, please be careful."

"Received, Miriallia. The unit has been modified, so calling it Ginn isn't too bad either." Xiao Ran smiled slightly at Miriallia on the communication screen in the upper right corner. He pushed the controls with both arms, and the Ginn bent down. "Lightning Ginn, Xiao Ran, deploying!"