Another Sortie

(This is the first chapter of the day; there will be a second chapter tonight. I've been so busy these past two days with a mountain of trivial matters. I wonder if it's because the holidays are approaching.)

"You're finally back, you rascal," Xiao Ran said, patting Kira's shoulder with a look of relief. "I knew you wouldn't abandon us and leave."

Kira clenched his fists and placed them on his chest. "Everyone is staying on the ship. I can't just leave them. I want to protect everyone too."

"Alright, then we'll protect them together," Xiao Ran chuckled. He turned to Mu and said, "Mu, your MA isn't suitable for fighting in this situation. Kira and I will sortie together."

"Your Ginn doesn't have the capability to operate within low orbit either," Mu said, sounding a bit taken aback by Xiao Ran's words.

"I'll just 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," Xiao Ran stated. He then picked up the helmet placed beside him and was the first to walk out of the standby room.

When Xiao Ran had settled into the Lightning Ginn and connected to the bridge's communications, Mwu on the bridge saw the communication terminal and showed a surprised expression. "Why are you in the Ginn? Weren't you supposed to pilot the Strike Gundam? Your Lightning Ginn can't withstand Earth's gravity. If you get pulled down by Earth's gravity, you'll die!"

"Kira is back, so he'll be piloting the Strike Gundam naturally," Xiao Ran said with a slight smile as he looked at Mwu's image on the screen. "It's fine for me to pilot the Lightning Ginn. I won't leave the Archangel after sortieing. Prepare the Strike Gundam's beam rifle for me."

"I understand," Mwu said. She understood Xiao Ran's intentions very easily after hearing his words. She gave Xiao Ran a worried glance before disconnecting the communication.

"After this battle, I probably won't be able to pilot a Mobile Suit for a long time. The Lightning Ginn has absolutely no capability to fight within the atmosphere. If we fight in the atmosphere, the unit will really fall apart," Xiao Ran murmured, touching the Lightning Ginn's control panel. He took a deep breath and pressed the start button. Instantly, the screens and lights in the cockpit lit up one after another. Xiao Ran also pressed the communication button and shouted, "Miriallia!"

"Received," Miriallia's voice echoed simultaneously within the Ginn and the entire hangar. "Sortie system activated, auxiliary transport system initiated, movement commencing, beam rifle weapon preparation."

Following Miriallia's voice, the Lightning Ginn was transported to the launch platform at the catapult port. After a slight vibration, the Lightning Ginn nimbly grabbed the beam rifle extending from the side of the catapult port, crouched slightly, and held the beam rifle upright in front of it.

"System ready, lines OK, Lightning Ginn is ready to sortie," Miriallia said. After finishing, she added, "Teacher, be careful."

"Received," Xiao Ran replied from the cockpit. On his screen, Miriallia's image waved gently. Then, he lightly stepped on the foot pedals and pushed the control sticks on both sides. "Lightning Ginn, sortie!"

As the Lightning Ginn was catapulted out, even though Xiao Ran was prepared, he was still pressed into the chair by the immense inertia. It took a second before he recovered. The Lightning Ginn, flying out from the Archangel, didn't immediately engage its maximum thrust. It circled around in front of the Archangel before landing on top of the Gottfried cannon on the Archangel. It then pulled a cable connector from a small gap in the protective armor and directly attached it to the beam rifle.

As he raised the green beam rifle, the targeting equipment in the cockpit popped out and appeared before Xiao Ran. Seeing the chaotic battlefield on the screen, Xiao Ran let out a soft gasp.

Although he had expected that the MA, which excelled in numbers, would not be a match for the MS, Xiao Ran hadn't anticipated that, apart from the four Gundams, most of ZAFT's mobile suits could freely weave through the MA combat cluster, piercing the MA cluster's firepower defenses like needles. Meanwhile, ZAFT's warships had turned far away, completely outside the MA's firing range.

A rapid approach warning sound suddenly blared in the cockpit. When Xiao Ran focused, he narrowed his eyes slightly. The Duel Gundam and the Buster Gundam had broken away from the main force and were rapidly approaching the Archangel, bypassing the center of the battle. Watching the two fast-moving units constantly performing various maneuvers, Xiao Ran began to aim and fire at them.

The two Gundams, which had been happily approaching the Archangel, were suddenly blocked by several consecutive red electromagnetic pulse beams. The attack frequency, averaging less than once every three seconds, put immense pressure on both the Duel and Buster, preventing them from being distracted in the slightest. They dodged with all their might the attacks from the Lightning Ginn, which was connected to the Archangel's energy supply and possessed an infinite firepower buff.

Facing the flashing red beams, Yzak could do nothing but curse "bastard cheater" in his heart. However, as a red-uniformed elite of ZAFT, his combat proficiency was naturally not bad. He quickly separated from the Buster Gundam and rapidly approached the Archangel from two different directions. This way, Xiao Ran, piloting the Lightning Ginn, could only deal with one at a time and wouldn't be able to handle the other approaching unit.

However, Yzak and Dearka's calculations were mistaken. After the two units advanced separately, Xiao Ran basically completely ignored the Duel Gundam, letting it approach the Archangel. Even towards the Buster Gundam, Xiao Ran only attacked occasionally, focusing more of his attention on the chaotic battlefield of MA and MS in the distance.

Just as the Duel and Buster Gundams approached the Archangel, a streak of light flew out from the Archangel's catapult port and headed towards the Duel Gundam. The sudden appearance of the Strike Gundam once again interrupted the attack frequency of the Duel and Buster. The Buster Gundam stopped from a distance, providing support to the Duel Gundam, which had already engaged in close combat with the Strike Gundam.

"Destroyed friendly unit with no rank, deducted 500 Merit Points."

"Destroyed enemy unit of D-rank, gained 500 Merit Points."

Listening to the two consecutive voices in his mind, Xiao Ran's face darkened. Just before, Xiao Ran had been controlling the Lightning Ginn to aim at a Ginn that had advanced too far. Unexpectedly, just as he fired, a Moebius appeared in the attack path and was directly pierced by the red beam, turning into space debris. Of course, the Ginn that Xiao Ran had aimed at also met the same fate as that MA.

Although the destroyed friendly unit was a unit with no rank, it still resulted in a deduction of 500 Merit Points, which was essentially a double penalty. With the deduction and gain, Xiao Ran, who had destroyed two units, made no progress, which was why his expression was not good.

Xiao Ran, already somewhat displeased, suddenly heard Bargyll's voice: "Major Xiao Ran! What are you doing!"

"Can you blame me for this!" Xiao Ran retorted loudly. "Who knew it would suddenly appear in my attack trajectory? So annoying!"

Mwu's voice then sounded: "Stop arguing. Major Xiao Ran, please be more careful with your next attack."

"I'll try to be careful," Xiao Ran replied sullenly.

After hanging up the communication, although Xiao Ran was displeased with the unexpected incident, he didn't hold back from attacking because of it. He resentfully fired a few shots at the Buster Gundam in the distance, giving it a good scare, and then turned the cannon's muzzle towards the area with the most ZAFT MS, which was also the area with the most MA.

Just as both sides were engaged in a fierce battle, a major change occurred on the flagship of the Eighth Fleet. A battle initiated by four individuals also unfolded within the Eighth Fleet.