(Today's first chapter. There'll be a second one tonight. I've been terribly busy these past two days, with a whole pile of trivial matters. Maybe it's because the holidays are coming up.)
"You brat, you're finally back." Xiao Ran patted Kira on the shoulder and said with a gratified expression, "I knew you wouldn't abandon us and leave."
Kira clenched a fist against his chest. "Everyone's staying on the ship. I can't just leave like this. I want to protect everyone too."
"Then we'll protect them together." Xiao Ran chuckled and turned to Mu. "Mu, your MA isn't suited for fighting under these conditions. Kira and I will sortie."
"Your Ginn can't operate within low orbit either." Mu was somewhat taken aback by Xiao Ran's words.
"I'll use the Strike Gundam's Gatling Gun Equipment to fire from the ship. At the very least, we can't let the enemy get close to the Archangel." With that, Xiao Ran picked up the helmet beside him and took the lead out of the standby room.
Once Xiao Ran boarded the Lightning Ginn and connected to the bridge communications, Mwu, who saw him on the comm terminal from the bridge, looked equally surprised. "Why are you in the Ginn? Weren't you supposed to pilot the Strike Gundam? Your Lightning Ginn can't withstand Earth's gravity at all. If Earth's gravity drags you down, you'll die!"
"Kira is back, so naturally he'll pilot the Strike Gundam." Xiao Ran smiled faintly at Mwu's image on the screen. "It'll be fine if I pilot the Lightning Ginn. I won't leave the Archangel after sortieing. Prepare the Strike Gundam's pulse cannon for me."
"I understand." Mwu immediately grasped Xiao Ran's intentions. She gave him a worried look before cutting the transmission.
After this battle, I probably won't be able to pilot an MS for a long time. Xiao Ran ran a hand over the Lightning Ginn's controls. The Lightning Ginn has no atmospheric combat capability at all. If it fights in the atmosphere, the machine really will come apart. He drew a deep breath and pressed the activation button. In an instant, the cockpit screens and lights came on one after another. Xiao Ran pressed the comm button and shouted, "Miriallia!"
"Received." Miriallia's voice rang out simultaneously inside the Ginn and throughout the entire hangar. "Launch System activated. Auxiliary transport system activated. Movement commencing. Pulse cannon weapon ready."
Accompanied by Miriallia's voice, the Lightning Ginn was transported onto the launch platform at the catapult bay. After a slight tremor, it nimbly grabbed the pulse cannon extending from one side of the catapult bay, crouched slightly, and held the cannon upright before itself.
"System preparations complete. Circuits OK. Lightning Ginn may sortie." After finishing, Miriallia added, "Teacher, be careful."
"Received." Xiao Ran lightly waved at Miriallia's image on the cockpit screen, then gently placed both feet on the pedals and pushed the control sticks on either side forward. "Lightning Ginn, launching!"
The moment the Lightning Ginn was catapulted out, even though Xiao Ran had prepared himself, the immense inertia still pressed him into his seat. He recovered a second later. Rather than immediately engaging maximum thrust after flying out of the Archangel, the Lightning Ginn circled in front of the ship before landing atop the Gottfried cannon. It pulled a cable connector from a small gap in the protective armor and connected it directly to the pulse cannon.
The instant he raised the green pulse cannon, the shooting sight apparatus in the cockpit extended before Xiao Ran's eyes. At the sight of the chaotic battlefield on-screen, he drew in a quiet breath.
He had long expected that MAs, which relied on sheer numbers, would be no match for MSs. But Xiao Ran had not expected that, aside from the four Gundams, most of ZAFT's machines would be able to weave freely through the MA battle formations. Like needles, they pierced through the MAs' defensive fire, while ZAFT's warships had already turned far away, completely beyond the MAs' firing range.
A rapid-approach warning suddenly sounded in the cockpit. When Xiao Ran focused his gaze, his eyes narrowed slightly. The Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam had actually broken away from the main force, bypassing the center of the battle and racing straight toward the Archangel. Watching the two machines move at high speed while constantly performing evasive maneuvers, Xiao Ran began taking aim and firing at them.
The two Gundams had been happily approaching the Archangel when several consecutive red electromagnetic pulse beams suddenly blocked their path. The attack frequency, averaging less than one shot every three seconds, instantly multiplied the pressure on the Duel and Buster Gundams. Neither dared lose focus for even a moment as they desperately evaded the Lightning Ginn's attacks—connected to the Archangel's power supply and blessed with unlimited firepower.
Faced with the flashing red beams, Yzak could do nothing but curse about that bastard cheating. Still, as one of ZAFT's elite Red Coats, his combat instincts were naturally excellent. He quickly split from the Buster Gundam and approached the Archangel rapidly from two different directions. This meant Xiao Ran, piloting the Lightning Ginn, could only deal with one side and had no time to attend to the other approaching machine.
But Yzak and Dearka had miscalculated. Once the two machines split up, Xiao Ran practically ignored the Duel Gundam entirely, allowing it to approach the Archangel. Even toward the Buster Gundam, Xiao Ran only attacked from time to time. Most of his attention was focused instead on the chaotic battlefield of MAs and MSs in the distance.
Just as the Duel and Buster Gundams closed in on the Archangel, a streak of light shot from the Archangel's catapult bay toward the Duel Gundam. The Strike Gundam's sudden appearance once again disrupted the attack rhythm of the Duel and Buster Gundams. The Buster Gundam even stopped from afar and began supporting the Duel Gundam, which had already engaged the Strike Gundam in close combat.
"Destroyed an unranked unit of your own faction. 500 Merit Points deducted."
"Destroyed a D-class mecha of the Hostile Faction. 500 Merit Points obtained."
Hearing the two consecutive voices in his mind, Xiao Ran's face immediately darkened. Earlier, he had controlled the Lightning Ginn and taken aim at an overly aggressive Ginn. Yet just as he fired, a Moebius had unexpectedly appeared in the line of attack and been pierced through by the red beam, turning directly into space junk. Naturally, the Ginn Xiao Ran had targeted followed that MA into destruction.
Although the friendly machine he had destroyed had been unranked, 500 Merit Points had still been deducted. It was effectively a double penalty—one loss and one gain, and despite destroying two machines, Xiao Ran had made no progress at all. No wonder his expression looked so bad.
Already irritated, Xiao Ran suddenly heard Bargyll's voice. "Major Xiao Ran! What are you doing?!"
"Can you blame me?!" Xiao Ran shouted back irritably. "Who knew it would suddenly appear in my line of fire? This is so damn annoying!"
Mwu's voice also sounded at that moment. "Stop arguing, both of you. Major Xiao Ran, please be more careful during your next attack."
"I'll try to be careful." Xiao Ran replied sullenly.
Although Xiao Ran was annoyed by the accident after cutting the transmission, he did not let it make him too hesitant to attack. He fired several spiteful shots at the distant Buster Gundam, thoroughly giving it a scare before turning the cannon toward the area with the most ZAFT MSs—naturally, also the area with the most MAs.
Just as both sides were locked in fierce battle, a major upheaval also occurred aboard the Eighth Fleet's flagship. A battle sparked by four people had likewise begun within the Eighth Fleet.