First Battle

The sudden force of the catapult launch pinned Xiao Ran against the back of his seat, but with a physical constitution two to three times that of an ordinary human, he adjusted his posture in an instant. Watching the ejection tunnel blur past on the monitor, just as he neared the end, Xiao Ran gently pushed with his hand. His left hand, with the exception of his thumb, pressed the buttons on the control stick one by one. He stomped his foot down, and the six thrusters of his Flight Pack simultaneously spewed flames, allowing the Ginn to reach maximum speed by the time the ejection was complete.

"Ding, Unit 678 has acquired their first Mecha. Mecha Model: Ginn; Mecha Class: D+. Would you like to complete a Side Mission of the same class to convert the Mecha into a personalized Mecha: Yes/No."

"Ding, New Faction Side Mission triggered: Rescue the vanguard fleet of the Earth Forces' Eighth Fleet. Mission completion will be determined by the number of surviving vanguard fleet remnants at the end of the battle. Completion will affect the final rewards. If the vanguard fleet's losses exceed ninety percent, the mission will be judged as failed. There is no penalty for mission failure. Accept: Yes/No."

The voices that appeared in Xiao Ran's mind did not affect his emotions. The Ginn's shoulder shield was raised in front, and as soon as it exited the Archangel, it executed a climbing maneuver to rapidly ascend. It then quickly began observing its surroundings.

The Archangel and the Naska-class warship were engaged in fierce combat, with missiles and energy beams filling the space between the two warships as they flew everywhere. The Strike Gundam had already charged into the chaotic battlefield further ahead between the vanguard fleet and ZAFT forces, and was being entangled by the Aegis, only able to weakly assist the vanguard fleet.

In front of the Archangel, a yellow Moebius Zero was also engaging two Ginns. Relying on its agile maneuverability and the surprise element of its wire-guided pods, it was fighting a spirited battle. It could be said that the Archangel alone was tying up one-third of ZAFT forces' combat power and holding its own. However, the entire vanguard fleet of seven warships plus over thirty MA units were unable to contend with the remaining two-thirds of ZAFT's fighting strength. This clearly showed how incompetent the Earth Forces were.

While the Ginn had not yet joined the battle, Xiao Ran's mind raced. In less than ten seconds, he had considered both prompts: "The personalized Mecha mission can be abandoned. The last Main Mission hasn't even appeared yet, and I might get a better unit later. There's no need for me to waste time on this. As for the Side Mission, I can accept it. With Lacus on the Archangel, at the very least, the mission can be completed, meaning this reward is free. As for Frey's father, if he survives, it will be his good fortune, but it looks doubtful."

Xiao Ran glanced at the vanguard fleet's flagship on the monitor, which was being heavily targeted by ZAFT forces. It was the only Nelson-class ship among the seven warships. Currently, it was being closely watched by a Loorasia-class ship and two Ginns. Other Ginns would also occasionally fire a burst of rounds towards the Nelson-class, causing Xiao Ran to shiver: "It's better not to court death."

"Lieutenant Xiao Ran, what are you doing! Why aren't you joining the battle yet!" Bargyll's angry voice suddenly blared over the communication channel, causing Xiao Ran to give a sheepish laugh. "It's Lieutenant Bargyll, you know I need to get familiar with the newly modified unit. Otherwise, I'd just be throwing myself into danger."

"Hmph." Bargyll only snorted after hearing Xiao Ran's explanation, somewhat acknowledging his statement. Her voice softened slightly. "Go help Captain Mu take down the Ginns, and then quickly go support Kira."

"Received." Xiao Ran nodded and ended the communication. After rejecting the personalized Mecha mission, he accepted the Side Mission to support the vanguard fleet. As soon as he accepted it, a percentage number appeared in the corner of Xiao Ran's eye: 87%. Before Xiao Ran could react, this number plummeted by another 10% along with a flash of light on the cockpit monitor.

"Damn it!" Xiao Ran turned his head and saw that the flash of light was from a destroyed Earth Forces warship. Only six remaining Earth Forces warships were left. "Do they have to be so fragile!"

Xiao Ran snorted, his eyes sharpened, and he focused on piloting the colorful Lightning Ginn towards the area where the Moebius Zero was fighting.

The Lightning Ginn, moving at a speed similar to an MA, became a streak of light in space as it flew towards the Moebius Zero. Under the high-speed charge, the Lightning Ginn's Beam Rifle continuously fired at a Ginn. His left hand reached back, and a beam saber instantly extended. In just over ten seconds, it had charged into the center of the battle between the Moebius Zero and the two Ginns.

As it passed between the two Ginns, the Lightning Ginn's left arm swung forward, unexpectedly severing the legs of one of the Ginns, which exploded in a ball of fire in space.

The Moebius Zero took this opportunity to launch four wire-guided pods, firing simultaneously at the Ginn whose legs had been severed by the Lightning Ginn from above, below, left, and right. That Ginn only had time to activate its thrusters before it was completely reduced to fragments.

"Well done!"

"Thanks for the compliment." Xiao Ran heard Mu's voice through the communicator, and could only give a wry smile before pulling the controls, causing the Lightning Ginn to draw a large arc in space before re-aligning with the remaining Ginn and charging again.

"The unit you're piloting isn't an MA, is it?" Mu's voice, filled with confusion, reached Xiao Ran.

"This unit has speed faster than an MA, but it's not as sturdy as the Strike Gundam!" Xiao Ran replied somewhat helplessly. "And it's not a single unit like an MA, and the frame hasn't been reinforced. I'm afraid it'll fall apart."

With its thrusters at full power in space, Xiao Ran's Lightning Ginn indeed possessed a speed exceeding D-class, even reaching C+-class Mecha speeds. However, despite this speed, the Ginn, apart from having some of the Strike Gundam's weapons added for increased firepower, had no improvements in performance, maneuverability, reaction speed, energy output, or armor. Especially its structural integrity, which appeared fragile at such speeds.

"It shouldn't be, ZAFT's stuff is very good quality..." Mu's voice sounded hesitant, but he continued firing at the Ginn it was entangled with.

"I'll test it when it's safe," Xiao Ran said, then disconnected the communication. He piloted the Lightning Ginn like a nimble viper, closing in on the enemy with a curved trajectory.

Facing the attacks of the Moebius Zero and the Lightning Ginn, especially since both were high-speed units, the Ginn wisely chose to retreat. However, the Lightning Ginn had no intention of letting it go. Its Beam Rifle fired six or seven consecutive beams, each narrowly missing the Ginn as its movements changed.

Seeing that his attacks were useless, Xiao Ran let out a soft snort. "Run, can you escape? Let me show you what 'red comet, three times the speed' means! No, colorful comet, three times the speed."

With that, Xiao Ran pushed the control stick all the way forward, and his feet stomped down on the pedals. Under Xiao Ran's control, the six thrusters on the Flight Pack, the thrusters on the soles of his feet, and the two small exhaust ports on his legs all erupted with intense white light. In that instant, the Lightning Ginn's speed increased even further, approaching the fleeing Ginn with incredible velocity.

Even though the Ginn ahead had its thrusters at full power, it still couldn't escape the Lightning Ginn's pursuit. A white streak of light, carrying a pink glow, streaked across, and a burst of fireworks erupted along the path of this streak of light.

"Ding, Enemy Faction D-class Mecha destroyed. Acquired 500 Merit Points."

Listening to the prompt in his mind, Xiao Ran sneered, "Daring to turn its back to an unknown enemy on the battlefield? Asking for death."

After his smile faded, Xiao Ran didn't stop. He piloted the Lightning Ginn towards the most chaotic part of the battlefield. "Mu, I'll leave the rest to you!"

It took less than thirty seconds for the Lightning Ginn to charge to the edge of the battlefield. Its stream-like speed shocked everyone in this expanse of space. On radar and monitors, everyone could clearly see that it was a Ginn, but how could a Ginn possess such speed?

Never mind whether the Ginn's structural integrity could support such speed, just the fact that the Ginn pilot's body could withstand such speed, resist the immense G-forces, and still operate without error was already incredible.

If it were a Gundam, or a never-before-seen new model, such speed would only elicit surprise. But the fact that a unit with such speed was a Ginn made it unbelievable. Many people in this star system were very familiar with the Ginn's unit parameters, especially ZAFT. They were the most astonished. They knew very well that the Ginn's decompression system could not support a pilot operating at such speeds, and the decompression system was closely related to the Mecha's frame, making modifications almost impossible. That's why they found the Lightning Ginn so unbelievable.

Unless this unit wasn't a Ginn at all, or it was a Gundam disguised as a Ginn, but was that possible?

The Lightning Ginn was like a brilliant shooting star that shot into the hearts of everyone in this starry sky. But no one could have imagined that Xiao Ran was not from this world at all. His physical fitness alone was three times that of an ordinary person, so the physical burden was not a problem for him. As for operating the Mecha normally at such speeds, it was entirely due to his skill, which was even more unscientific than that of a Gundam. As long as it was a D-class unit, he, Xiao Ran, could pilot it normally through the D-Class General Mecha Piloting Skill.

If the Lightning Ginn accidentally became a C-class, Xiao Ran wouldn't dare to push it to full speed because he couldn't fully control it. Just like piloting the Strike, he could only exert eighty percent of its performance, and he was prone to making operational errors.

Although the Lightning Ginn, charging into the battlefield, gave the ZAFT forces a strong shock, its actual effectiveness was minimal. Its shooting accuracy was not high, and it couldn't perform basic maneuvers like a V-turn. It could only weave back and forth in the battlefield, relying on its speed advantage to shoot and force back enemies.

With every weave through the battlefield, Xiao Ran felt like he was dancing with death. Countless bullets whizzed past him, and there were even stray rounds from friendly fire, making his scalp tingle. After three weaves, Xiao Ran finally seized an opportunity and destroyed a Ginn as it was destroying a warship, earning another 500 Merit Points.

Xiao Ran dared not let the Mecha's speed slow down. Once it slowed down, with his D-class grunt pilot skills, he would be no match for the ZAFT Ginns, which had a numerical advantage. Moreover, there was an Aegis Gundam lurking nearby. Once, while Xiao Ran was weaving through, he got particularly close to the Strike Gundam. Who would have thought that the Aegis Gundam would abandon its entanglement with the Strike and charge directly at the Lightning Ginn? If the Strike Gundam hadn't reacted quickly and blocked in front, Xiao Ran might have gloriously retreated by now.