Rescue

When Xiao Ran piloted the Skygrasper to the town he had visited during the day, the entire town was unrecognizable. Gone was the prosperity and liveliness of daytime. Various houses were engulfed in flames, and the countless small stalls lining the streets had long since been reduced to rubble. From the sky, the entire town appeared as a fiery mountain rising from the desert, as breathtaking as a wall of flame blocking the path ahead.

However, none of the people present were like the disciples of Sun Wukong. Their feelings upon seeing this fiery mountain, which had once been a town, were entirely different from his. The people of the Dawn Desert felt only anger and sorrow. Their homes were destroyed, and the desire for revenge had consumed all their thoughts. Those in the Resistance, riding in their vehicles, gripped their weapons tightly, their faces etched with anxiety and worry, though the fire in their eyes was not to be underestimated.

Seeing the approaching headlights stop before a crowd clearly illuminated by the firelight, Xiao Ran also slowly landed his Skygrasper. At this moment, the Strike Gundam arrived alongside the convoy. Mu, piloting another Skygrasper, had already landed his aircraft and reported the situation to the Archangel. He then stood aside with an unreadable expression, using the candy he had brought to amuse several crying children.

"As expected of someone of Uncle's generation, to carry such things with him." Xiao Ran saw Mu's actions, shrugged, and pulled out a large bag from the back seat of his Skygrasper. When he placed the bag on the ground and opened it, even more children, along with mothers holding their children, surged towards him.

The bag contained more candy than Mu had produced. Almost all the sweets, chocolates, and biscuits from the Archangel's supplies had been requested by Xiao Ran from the logistics personnel before his departure. The quantity wasn't excessive, but it was enough to fill a large bag.

Then, under Mu's astonished gaze, Xiao Ran began distributing the contents of the bag to the children one by one. Mu looked at the single piece of candy left in his hand, then at Xiao Ran's large bag, and a thought similar to Xiao Ran's earlier one arose: "Truly Uncle's generation. More prepared than I am. As expected of someone who was a teacher."

When the people of the Dawn Desert found their relatives among the refugees who had fled the town, they paid no attention to the fact that a small town in the desert, comparable to a city, had been burned with barely anyone injured, not even a single casualty. Such a situation, almost impossible in a battle, was too insignificant to them amidst the anger over the destruction of their homes. After confirming their family members were safe and spending a brief affectionate moment with them, several members of the Dawn Desert Resistance began to clamor, urging more people to get into their vehicles and pursue ZAFT for revenge.

Calm individuals tried to reason with them, but the flames of anger had consumed all their reason. More than two-thirds of the Resistance members took up their weapons and boarded their vehicles. Perhaps their confidence stemmed from eliminating several ZAFT GOUFs in the previous day's ambush. Soon, the Dawn Desert convoy departed.

"Is it really wise to chase after them like this?" Mu walked up to Xiao Ran and asked with a sigh.

Xiao Ran shook his head, glancing at the still-burning town in the distance, feeling the heat radiating from it. He continued to hand out snacks to the children reaching out to him, saying leisurely, "Haven't you noticed that besides their sorrow for their homeland, these refugees aren't seriously injured?"

"Hmm?" Mu finally realized. If it were a surprise attack by ZAFT, there wouldn't be so many refugees here, especially so many children and women.

Soon, after questioning the refugees, Mu immediately ran back to his Skygrasper and used its communicator to ask Kira to follow the departed Dawn Desert. He then instructed the already departing Archangel to speed up its arrival and said to Xiao Ran, "Before attacking, ZAFT broadcasted a message to the city, giving these people ample time to evacuate. It should be a trap. I need to go check it out."

"Go ahead. Although I can pilot a Skygrasper, I'm not confident I can fly it as well as you," Xiao Ran waved at Mu and continued his work. Mu glanced at Xiao Ran, shrugged, got into his Skygrasper, and quickly took off, creating a gust of wind, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

While waiting for the Archangel, Luo also appeared. Xiao Ran wasn't too surprised. After Luo had hastily driven away the Archangel's vehicle, Xiao Ran was certain Luo would eventually come here. This guy was a soft-hearted person who couldn't stand to see death. Otherwise, in the original story, he wouldn't have saved the Desert Tiger Andy without knowing him, sent him back to PLANT, made him a prosthetic limb, and rescued Kira from the Strike Gundam destroyed by Athrun, carrying the nearly exhausted Kira to safety.

Accompanying Luo were two other people, a man and a woman: his companion Liam Jafield and Yamakiburi Juri, who had always harbored feelings for Luo. The three of them arrived in a large truck, even bringing some supplies they had somehow acquired. Although the quantity wasn't large, in Xiao Ran's opinion, it was probably almost everything they had.

The Archangel slowly approached and stopped near the crowd. A group of soldiers, led by Bargyll, disembarked from the Archangel, bringing out a large portion of the supplies. Even with the Archangel's recent complete resupply from the Eighth Fleet, they couldn't help the refugees of an entire town much. They could only ensure that the refugees wouldn't go hungry for the time being.

Until the sun appeared, the people from the Archangel and Luo and his companions were very busy, distributing water and food to those who hadn't received anything, bandaging the wounded, and assisting the town's doctors and the Archangel's doctors in examining the children. Although they hadn't slept all night, almost everyone present felt no sleepiness.

When the sunlight once again illuminated the land, Mu's Skygrasper landed again. Seeing Mu's somber expression, Xiao Ran could roughly guess what had happened. The Dawn Desert people must have been ambushed or attacked by ZAFT forces, and many had likely died.

Xiao Ran shook his head slightly. Such events couldn't be prevented just because he knew about them. The mindset of the Dawn Desert people couldn't be swayed by a few words. That's why Xiao Ran had remained indifferent from the beginning, having no intention of helping. He was simply doing his own thing here because he knew speaking would be in vain, and going there wouldn't help. It was better to amuse the crying children here.

"He came too?" Mu saw the busy Luo. Seeing Luo helping others with a sincere smile, Mu suddenly felt that Luo wasn't quite like the "scavenger merchants" he had in mind. "I can't imagine those scavenger merchants who value profit so much having such compassion. Instead of picking through the city, they're here helping others."

"Are there no good people among scavenger merchants?" Xiao Ran smiled and said, "They didn't just come to help; they also brought some things, like tents and food. It's not a small amount when you tally it up."

"That's rare," Mu commented.

"The situation isn't good, is it?" Xiao Ran suddenly asked.

Knowing what Xiao Ran was asking about, Mu remained silent and nodded slightly. "Some people died."

"As expected. Now it's time to lick our wounds," Xiao Ran said, yawning, and waved at Mu. "I'll say hello to a friend and then go rest. You guys are fine, but I haven't slept properly for the past two days. Even iron bodies can't take it."

After greeting Luo and confirming that Luo would be making improvements to the Strike Gundam, Xiao Ran yawned and returned to his quarters, thinking, "An enhanced Strike, will it give Kira a bit more leeway? I'm looking forward to it."