It was precisely because of Xiao Ran that the group of four had failed their rookie mission and fallen slightly behind some of the other newcomers. The units they received had also been ZAFT Mook Units, and crucially, all of them had been designed for atmospheric use. They had finally earned enough rewards during their second mission, but only by risking their lives. After spending all their savings to build four units, they ran into Xiao Ran again during their third mission, and even suffered losses to their machines. Half of their hard work from the second mission had gone to waste.
The rewards they had earned had barely been enough to get their units sorted out, let alone enhance themselves. Whenever Harvey thought about what they had gone through during that time, he felt like crying. But now, they did not even have a chance for revenge—and never would. Harvey had started looking at Xiao Ran with resentful eyes.
That said, Eshe and the other three were not the only rookie participants Xiao Ran had screwed over when he entered Gundam SEED. Back then, Xiao Ran had fabricated a lie about Enhanced Human modifications, and to make it believable, he had even dragged himself into it. Even Xiao Ran did not know exactly how many rookies he had tricked.
"Heh heh." At this point, Xiao Ran could only laugh awkwardly. But to untie the knot in the four of their hearts—and to keep them from figuring out the truth after giving it some thought, becoming even more depressed and thinking he was someone who did not dare take responsibility—Xiao Ran spoke again after a few awkward laughs, his tone equally awkward.
"About that... during your first rookie mission, you initially chose to join the Earth Force, and then something