Chapter 4

The departure of the silver-haired participant left the people in the room looking at each other in bewilderment. At this moment, the silver-haired participant was no longer a friend to anyone in the room. The continuous tremors still made everyone feel uneasy, especially Cagalli, whose pale face was not enough to describe her current state—a mix of worry, sadness, and disbelief.

"What happened?" Miriallia, who had turned pale, asked as she clung to Tolle.

Noticing that everyone in the room was looking at him, Xiao Ran also came to his senses. He stood up, patted his buttocks, and said with feigned confusion, "Could it be a meteorite impact? Let's go check it out."

Just as he finished speaking, another violent tremor almost knocked everyone off their feet. Not wanting to waste any more time, everyone hurriedly left the guidance room. Upon exiting, they found the entire building, now pitch black due to the power outage, filled with people, all of whom looked puzzled and frightened, hurrying to their desired destinations.

"Let's go outside first," Xiao Ran said, feeling a bit anxious. Although he knew they would eventually be safe, it was natural to feel unaccustomed to being involved in such a major event for the first time.

"Okay," everyone agreed. Sei was the first to open the emergency exit, and the others, seeing the crowded emergency passage, became anxious.

"What happened?" Sei asked a pedestrian who was climbing the stairs.

"This place has been attacked by ZAFT. A few MS units have broken in," the slightly chubby pedestrian said, looking at Xiao Ran and the others. "You should leave here quickly."

The words of the chubby pedestrian left everyone in disbelief. Upon hearing this, Cagalli immediately turned and quickly left.

"Let's go," Xiao Ran pretended not to notice Cagalli's departure, just glancing at the others. After all, as a teacher at the school, he was older than Kira and the others and should take the lead in making decisions.

Tolle and Sei were just about to escort Miriallia into the safety passage when Kira suddenly turned and left, chasing after Cagalli, just as the plot had unfolded. Watching Kira's departing back, Xiao Ran suddenly had the urge to follow, but knowing the plot, he realized that it was a situation he couldn't handle. He quickly pulled the still dazed Kuzzey and followed Sei, Tolle, and Miriallia, soon reaching the surface.

Outside the school building, Miriallia's eyes widened in disbelief as she watched the giant combat mecha wreaking havoc in the city, with red light and debris everywhere. "Gundam, why, why are ZAFT's MS units here?"

"Gundam, is this Gundam?" Xiao Ran stared blankly at the towering mecha in the distance. Unlike watching the anime, the real Gundam, with its steel-like beauty, heavy and powerful mechanical body, directly entered Xiao Ran's heart, making him excited. "This is a mecha, a real mecha! Not just an animation, game, or model, but a real, controllable giant!"

"Teacher, teacher!" Sei called out to Xiao Ran, who was immersed in the romance of steel, grabbing his hand and running with the other three. "This isn't the time to be dazed. We need to leave here quickly!"

"Ah? Sorry, sorry." Xiao Ran was startled and quickly came to his senses.

Hearing the alarm from the satellite, Kuzzey, with a pale face, said softly, "It's already an eight-level alert. We need to get to the escape pod quickly."

"Right, let's go. Everyone, be careful and avoid getting hurt," Xiao Ran nodded. The group started running, and from the beginning, Xiao Ran deliberately lagged behind a few steps, not wanting his presence to alter their direction and miss the Strike Gundam and the Archangel.

Although ZAFT had only sent two Gundams into the satellite, the destruction they caused was terrifying. The counterattacks from the colony's guard forces and the attacks from the Gundams devastated the entire factory and school area, with collapsed buildings, large craters, and explosions everywhere. Xiao Ran didn't want to influence Sei, Tolle, and the others' choices, and even if he did, it was impossible to do so, as there was no clear path ahead. They could only blindly avoid the combat zones.

Even with the confidence in his heart, Xiao Ran was now panting. A flying rock had grazed his face, leaving a faint blood trail, and he had been hit by several rocks while protecting Miriallia, though these injuries were not serious, they had a significant impact on him.

As a result, Miriallia, Tolle, and Sei's good feelings towards Xiao Ran increased, and Kuzzey placed all his hopes on Xiao Ran.

The continuous running, dodging, and helping Miriallia and Kuzzey quickly drained Xiao Ran's energy. Although the gravity in the satellite colony was less than on Earth, making running easier, his untrained body could not keep up with the constant movement.

"How much longer?" Xiao Ran gritted his teeth, wiping the blood from his face and glaring at the two Gundams that had made him run so much. The romantic feeling he had earlier was gone, replaced by fatigue and emptiness. On Earth, the plot moved quickly, and the Gundam appeared in a flash, but when it happened to him, every second felt like an eternity.

"Boom!" After a few more minutes, Xiao Ran and the others had just turned a corner of a building when a factory suddenly exploded, creating a massive blast that sent debris flying everywhere. From the center of the explosion, two uncolored MS units emerged from the smoke.

"My God, they're finally here." Xiao Ran shouted in his heart, feeling relieved and his body re-energized. Seeing the two uncolored units, he knew they were his favorite Gundams, but he had no time to marvel. He only wanted Kira to quickly take action and resolve the situation so he could rest.

The Strike Gundam, emerging from the smoke, almost landed next to Xiao Ran and the others. Sei and the others, terrified, started running in panic, and Xiao Ran, fearing being caught in the unsteady movements of the Gundam, also took a step forward, grabbing the exhausted and frightened Miriallia and pulling her away.

When the Strike Gundam awkwardly dodged an attack from a Gundam, the Aegis Gundam also left the ground, almost simultaneously with the other Gundam. Seeing this, Xiao Ran finally felt relieved.

What happened next was just like the plot, with no changes due to Xiao Ran's presence. The Strike Gundam, after punching away a Gundam, paused for less than a minute, and its movements transformed from those of a drunk person to those of a fighter. With a running start and a glide, it easily defeated the ZAFT Gundam.

Remembering that the Gundam would self-destruct, Xiao Ran pulled Miriallia and the others, who were trying to leave in the chaos, and hid behind a building. The loud explosion made Xiao Ran's ears ring, and the strong wind blew cars off the road, accompanied by the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground.

In just a few minutes, the Strike Gundam stood before Xiao Ran and the others. When the familiar face appeared, everyone except Xiao Ran was stunned.

"Kira!?" The group shouted in disbelief.

...

After the battle, chaos and devastation reigned. The sight of the destruction made Xiao Ran and the others truly feel a sense of desolation, different from what they had seen on TV or in the news. Only those who had experienced it could truly feel the deep sorrow.

Miriallia, Tolle, and the others, looking at Kira, who stood in front of the MS cockpit with a blank expression, also felt lost. They couldn't help but ask themselves, what had happened, and why had it come to this?

"Bang!" Under the quiet sky, a gunshot echoed. Xiao Ran, feeling the burning pain on his cheek and the blood flowing down, looked in disbelief at the place less than fifty meters away, where six almost fully armed people, both men and women, stood. Their only common point was their tattered clothes and various injuries.

The alarm continued to sound, and the result was that the three major living areas of the colony were almost empty, making the satellite seem desolate and quiet.