Rescue

When Xiao Ran piloted the Skygrasper to the town they had visited during the day, the entire place had become completely unrecognizable. None of its daytime prosperity or liveliness remained. Buildings burned fiercely, while the countless small stalls along the streets had long since been reduced to rubbish. From the sky, the whole town looked like a towering sea of red flames rising from the desert, as shocking as a flaming mountain blocking the way ahead.

But no one present was Sun Wukong and his disciples. Seeing this flaming mountain that had once been a city stirred emotions entirely different from Sun Wukong's. All the people of Dawn Desert felt was anger and sorrow. With their home destroyed, thoughts of revenge consumed their minds. The Resistance members in the vehicles gripped their weapons tightly, their faces filled with anxiety and worry, while the fury in their eyes was impossible to ignore.

When he saw the speeding vehicles stop before a crowd clearly visible in the firelight, Xiao Ran slowly brought the Skygrasper down. By then, the Strike Gundam and the convoy had arrived as well. Mu, who had been piloting the other Skygrasper, had already landed his fighter and relayed the situation to the Archangel at once. Then, with an indescribable expression, he stood off to the side and used the candy on him to coax several children who were crying their hearts out.

"Just what you'd expect from an uncle. You actually carry this stuff around with you." Seeing what Mu was doing, Xiao Ran shrugged and pulled a large bag from the Skygrasper's back seat. The moment he set it on the ground and opened it, even more children—and mothers carrying children—crowded around him.

The bag contained far more candy than Mu had brought out. Before setting off, Xiao Ran had obtained candies, chocolate, biscuits, and all sorts of similar things from the Archangel's logistics staff. There was not an enormous amount, but it was enough to fill a bag.

Then, under Mu's astonished gaze, Xiao Ran handed out the contents of the bag to the children one by one. Mu looked at the single remaining candy in his hand, then at Xiao Ran's huge bag, and suddenly had the same thought Xiao Ran had earlier. "Now that's uncle-level. He's better prepared than I am. No wonder he used to be a teacher."

After the people of Dawn Desert found their own relatives among the refugees who had fled from the town, they failed to notice that, although a desert town comparable to a city had been burned down, almost no one had been injured, and there had not even been any deaths. Such an almost impossible outcome in a battle was too insignificant beside the fury of the Dawn Desert people over their destroyed home. Once they confirmed their families were safe and spent some time affectionately reunited with them, several Dawn Desert Resistance members began shouting, urging more people to get into the vehicles and pursue ZAFT for revenge.

The calmer people tried to talk them down, but rage had burned away all their reason. More than two-thirds of the Resistance picked up their weapons and boarded the vehicles. Perhaps the previous day's ambush, which had destroyed several ZAFT BuCUEs, had filled them with confidence. Before long, Dawn Desert's convoy set off.

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

Xiao Ran shook his head. He glanced from afar at the still-burning town, the heat from it seeming to rush toward them, while continuously handing snacks to the children reaching out to him. "Didn't you notice? Other than grieving for their home, these refugees barely suffered any injuries."

"Hm?" Mu only then realized it. If ZAFT had launched a sudden attack, there definitely would not have been so many refugees here, much less so many children and women.

After quickly asking the refugees about what had happened, Mu immediately rushed back into the Skygrasper. Using its communicator, he told Kira to catch up with Dawn Desert, who had already left. Then he instructed the Archangel, which had already set out, to hurry over. After that, he told Xiao Ran, "Before attacking, ZAFT broadcast an announcement to the city and gave these people plenty of time to evacuate. It should be a trap. I have to take a look."

"Go ahead. I may be able to pilot the Skygrasper, but I don't have the confidence to fly it as well as you." Xiao Ran waved Mu off and continued working. After glancing at Xiao Ran, Mu shrugged, climbed into the Skygrasper, and soon kicked up a fierce gust as he shot into the sky, vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

While waiting for the Archangel, Luo unexpectedly appeared as well. Xiao Ran was not too surprised. After Luo had hurriedly driven away in a vehicle belonging to the Archangel, Xiao Ran had already known that Luo would eventually come here. The guy was a hopeless do-gooder who could not stand seeing death. Otherwise, in the original story, he would not have rescued Desert Tiger Andy and sent him back to PLANT despite not knowing him, made Andy a prosthetic limb, and saved Kira from the Strike Gundam after Athrun had destroyed it, carrying Kira until he was nearly exhausted before bringing him somewhere safe.

Two others arrived with Luo, one man and one woman. They were his companions, Liam Jafield and Yamakiburi Juri, who had always been in love with Luo. The three of them arrived in a large truck and had even brought some supplies from who knew where. Though there was not much, Xiao Ran felt that it might have been nearly everything they possessed.

The Archangel slowly approached and stopped near the crowd. A group of soldiers, led by Bargyll, emerged from the Archangel and unloaded a large portion of its supplies. With refugees from an entire town, even though the Archangel had just received a full resupply from the Eighth Fleet, it could not help them much. At most, it could ensure that they would not go hungry for the time being.

Until the sun rose, the people from the Archangel and Luo's group remained busy. They distributed water and food to those who had received nothing, helped the injured dress their wounds, and assisted the town's doctors and the Archangel's doctors in examining the children. Though everyone had gone the entire night without sleep, almost no one there felt sleepy.

When sunlight once again shone upon the earth, Mu's Skygrasper landed as well. Seeing the heavy expression on Mu's face, Xiao Ran could roughly guess what had happened. The people of Dawn Desert must have fallen into a ZAFT ambush or attack, and quite a few had died.

Xiao Ran shook his head slightly. It was not as though knowing this would have allowed him to stop it. The mindset of the Dawn Desert people was not something a few words could dispel. That was why Xiao Ran had remained indifferent from the beginning, with no intention of going to help. He had simply stayed here and done his own work, because he knew talking would be useless and going would not help either. It was better to stay here and entertain the crying children.

"He came too?" Mu spotted the busy Luo. Seeing Luo helping others with such a sincere smile, Mu suddenly felt that Luo did not seem like the worthless junk dealers he had imagined. "I never thought those junk dealers who value profit so highly could have such compassion. Instead of scavenging the city for valuables, they're here helping people."

"Does being a junk dealer mean you can't be a good person?" Xiao Ran smiled. "They didn't just come to help. They also brought things—tents, food, and the like. Altogether, that isn't a small amount."

"That really is rare," Mu said.

"The situation wasn't good, was it?" Xiao Ran suddenly asked.

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

"Just as expected. Now comes the time to lick their wounds." Xiao Ran yawned and waved at Mu. "I'll say hello to my friend, then go get some rest. You lot are fine, but I've barely slept these past two days. Even someone made of steel couldn't keep going."

After greeting Luo and confirming that Luo would modify the Strike Gundam, Xiao Ran returned to his quarters with a yawn. With an upgraded Strike, will Kira have a little more leeway? I can't wait to see.