Boarding the Archangel

"Ding. Forced mission complete: Help Mwu Lamias fend off the enemy's next wave of attacks, and ensure the safety of Kira Yamato, Toll Gurney, Miriallia Haw, Sai Argyle, and Kazui Bassk."

"Mission reward: To be calculated together upon completion of subsequent side missions."

"Subsequent side mission activated: Ensure that the Earth Force warship successfully escapes the pursuit of ZAFT warships within the Heliopolis area. Reward for mission success: D-Class General Mecha Piloting Skill. Accept mission? Accept/Decline."

"If the subsequent mission is declined, the reward for Side Mission One will be changed to 300 Merit Points."

Which was more valuable, 300 Merit Points or a skill? Without a second thought, Xiao Ran chose to accept. Besides, it was the D-Class General Mecha Piloting Skill he needed most. The rewards for completing the subsequent mission could be considered exceptionally generous.

"Accept."

After confirming the mission in his mind, Xiao Ran raised his head. By then, Mwu had already called for Kira to use the Strike Gundam to carry everyone onto its massive steel hands. They were just waiting for the clearly distracted Xiao Ran to climb aboard.

Coming back to his senses, Xiao Ran smiled awkwardly at everyone and hurried up as well. Once he had steadied himself, the Strike Gundam made a boosted leap and landed securely in the Archangel's launch bay. Xiao Ran only felt two light tremors throughout the entire process, which showed just how outstanding Kira's talent truly was.

The moment everyone stepped onto the deck of the launch bay, they saw a group of people in Earth Force military uniforms hurrying toward them. From afar, they heard a woman call out, "Captain Lamias!"

The voice that should have been cool and sharp instead sounded somewhat fragile as it reached Xiao Ran's ears, making him turn his head slightly. What he saw was a young woman with neat short hair, looking tall beneath her military uniform. She was Second Lieutenant Bargyll.

Mwu turned around at once, her tone somewhat excited. "Second Lieutenant Bargyll."

Second Lieutenant Bargyll ran up to Mwu and stood straight before saluting her. "Captain Lamias, thank goodness you're all right."

Mwu returned the salute, a faint smile appearing on her face. "I didn't expect you to bring the Archangel out."

Bargyll was about to say something when the suddenly opening cockpit hatch of the Strike Gundam caught her attention. Then she saw Kira Yamato, who still looked like a child, slowly descending from it. She was greatly startled.

One of the maintenance crewmen widened his eyes. "Hey, hey, what's going on? Isn't he just a kid? Why was he sitting up there?"

"Captain Lamias, who are they?" The voice that should have been cool and sharp instead sounded somewhat fragile as it reached Xiao Ran's ears, making him turn his head slightly and study the tall young woman in military uniform more closely. Xiao Ran could clearly see that Bargyll's eyes were somewhat red, with a trace of sorrow lingering on her face.

Mwu hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Kira with troubled eyes, as though she did not know whether she should tell the truth. Yet after Xiao Ran's soft snort, she still shook her head at Bargyll. A trace of delight remained in her eyes. "They are civilians from Heliopolis. They pose no threat to us."

"Well, this really is quite surprising." Mu La Frada, dressed in a combat spacesuit, appeared before the group as well and took the lead in introducing himself.

Mu first asked Mwu about permission to board the ship. After learning that all the Archangel's principal officers had died in battle, Mwu became the Acting Captain. Then, just as in the original plot, the talkative Mu pointed out Kira's identity. The instant they heard the word "Coordinators," the Archangel's guards immediately raised their guns and aimed them at Xiao Ran's group.

Xiao Ran stepped in front of everyone at once and looked towards Mwu questioningly. He knew that she would never order them shot. He was clearly taking advantage of his familiarity with the plot to earn goodwill, but his eyes seemed to be asking Mwu, What do you mean by this?

Mwu lowered her head and sighed softly. The struggle between duty and conscience finally led her to wave at the guards. "Lower your weapons. This is neutral territory. It is perfectly normal for there to be Coordinators unwilling to get involved in the war."

The guards looked at one another before gradually lowering their weapons. Still, words spoken by Mwu were orders they had no choice but to obey. After exchanging glances, they finally put down their guns.

"Oh dear, I'm really sorry. I almost caused a major disturbance." Mu scratched his head and laughed at himself. "I saw the pilots of those machines on my way here. During simulation practice, they could barely even walk straight... Honestly... Heh heh."

With that, he was about to leave. When Bargyll asked in confusion where he was going, Mu merely shrugged and said flippantly, "Where else? Cruze's team is outside. That guy is a real nuisance. Oh dear, oh dear, there's no time to waste here now."

Mu's departure left everyone looking at one another. Xiao Ran took the opportunity to speak. "Miss Lamias, may we leave now?"

"This..." Mwu's face was filled with difficulty. She truly did not want Kira to leave, since she had already witnessed his combat ability. Yet in her heart, she had promised Xiao Ran that she would let them go, and she also did not want a child like Kira to be drawn into war. For a moment, she could not make up her mind.

But Bargyll stared at Xiao Ran and spoke. "You have seen our military secrets. We cannot simply let you leave like this."

Xiao Ran did not become emotional because of Bargyll's words. He merely smiled faintly and stated the facts. "Miss Bargyll, if I heard correctly just now, Miss Lamias is the person in charge of this ship, isn't she?"

"Second Lieutenant Bargyll, stop." Mwu took a deep breath, stepped forward, and placed both hands on Bargyll's shoulders. Then she spoke to Xiao Ran in a gentle tone. "You may leave, but the outside has already been raised to a level-nine alert because of the earlier battle. Even if we let you go, you cannot enter the completely locked Life Pods. And another battle could break out at any time. Leaving you unprotected in the Space Colony would be irresponsible as well."

Mwu looked at everyone with a sincere and gentle expression, and her words were not without reason. The level-nine colony alert had completely sealed every passage leading to the Life Pods, and all the Life Pods had been moved to the launch ports. Once the alert was raised again, every Life Pod could be launched immediately. If Xiao Ran's group left, they would indeed have no safety whatsoever in a colony where battle could erupt at any moment.

Xiao Ran's expression remained as calm as ever, making it impossible for Mwu to read even the slightest hint of his thoughts. However, the others showed varying degrees of hesitation, and that made Mwu breathe a sigh of relief before continuing. "I will certainly keep my promise to you. If you trust me, I will have you leave the ship the moment the alert is lifted."

"Teacher..." Miriallia raised her head and looked at Xiao Ran hesitantly, hoping to receive guidance from him.

The other boys exchanged looks and spoke as well. "Teacher, we'll listen to you."

"Mm..." Hearing them, Xiao Ran pretended to ponder for a moment before finally nodding to Mwu. "Then we'll trouble you, Miss Lamias. Of course, in return, since you are short-handed, I am willing to help with anything within my capabilities. I may not be able to do much, but I believe I can handle manually operating weapons for firing. However, that applies only to me. I cannot let my students enter a dangerous situation again."

Mwu let out a breath. For once, she gave Xiao Ran a faint smile. "Thank you very much."

"I'm doing this for myself as well." Xiao Ran shook his head gently and looked at Mwu. "I believe that after having their MS destroyed twice in a row, if ZAFT attacks again this time, it definitely will not be as easily resolved as before. The first time could be blamed on their arrogance and lack of understanding about the Gundam. The Captain Unit's defeat the second time was purely carelessness. But if they still failed to take it seriously a third time, I doubt this war between the Earth Force and ZAFT would have lasted nearly a year."

"What do you mean?" Mwu was stunned, while Bargyll also looked towards Xiao Ran in confusion.

"By now, no matter how incompetent ZAFT might be, they must have already cracked all the machines you seized and obtained all their data. I think they now have a detailed understanding of the Earth Force's Gundams as well. Coupled with Kira driving back the Enemy Forces twice, they may develop the misconception that the machine they failed to capture must be the strongest one. So this time..."

Xiao Ran suppressed the expression of wanting to laugh, afraid that the twitching of his brows would reveal something. He deliberately turned his head to look at the simulated sky beyond the warship, then said slowly, "If it were me, I would decide victory or defeat in this battle once and for all. I would send every team I could, bring the strongest firepower available, and capture that final machine even if it meant sinking this warship inside the colony. Or else destroy it."

"Impossible. If that happened..." Mwu's first reaction after hearing Xiao Ran's words was disbelief. After all, this was a fragile Space Colony.

"If that happened, then Heliopolis, a colony that has already suffered so much damage, would have no way to withstand the enemy's attack. It might collapse at any moment." Xiao Ran sighed softly, his expression growing heavy as he turned to Kira and the others. "I'm sorry. That was why I wanted to keep you on the warship. If I had realized this from the beginning... I would not have brought you into danger. I'm truly sorry."