Gundam, the Gundam journey of a certain glue guy and his mecha girl.

The cool desert night breeze dispersed the rising steam from his cup. Andrew glanced at his watch; there were still a few minutes until the scheduled time, just enough time for him to enjoy his coffee.

But the Archangel began to move the next moment.

A fighter jet was ejected from one of the Archangel's "legs," and Andrew quickly guessed the Archangel's purpose in launching the fighter jet.

"They've deployed the reconnaissance aircraft, huh? It wouldn't be good if it spotted our setup beforehand. Da Costa, the battle time has been moved up, everyone launch!"

-----------------

The first shot of the battle was fired by a ZAFT fighter jet.

Three helicopters flew almost close to the ground, emerging from behind towering sand dunes.

The Archangel immediately sounded the alarm and quickly entered combat mode. Its anti-aircraft guns forced the fighter helicopters to abandon precise aiming and instead launch missiles from under their wings haphazardly toward the Archangel.

Such a shot would naturally have an extremely low hit rate; the missiles would either be intercepted by anti-aircraft fire or explode on the sand not far from the Archangel.

"Do you need me to come back and help?"

Mu, who had just taken off, saw that the Archangel had entered a state of combat and immediately asked in the communication.

"It's impossible to sink the Archangel with just fighter helicopters. There must be other enemies around. The captain's job is to find him. Don't worry about the Archangel. I've already sent out the Dagger and the Strike."

Despite the surprise attack, Bakiruru remained calm and composed in dealing with the situation. At the same time she gave the order, Dagger and Assault were launched in an emergency using the ejectors on their legs.

Because the iwsp backpack and empty backpack were still under maintenance, the short sword and the assault rifle were deployed in sword and cannon-mounted forms respectively. However, Kira did not use the Ember God Pulse Cannon in the cannon-mounted backpack as his main weapon, but instead carried an additional beam rifle.

"Helicopters? ZAFT uses these to attack us?"

Kira looked at the helicopters flying low with surprise and chased them away with his Vulcan cannon and shoulder-mounted Gatling gun.

"No, our guests have just arrived."

Raven looked in the direction from which the enemy's intent was coming, and saw three beast-type mobile suits suddenly appear from behind the sand dunes, trailing billowing dust.

"As expected of Baku, this thing is much harder to deal with than King in ground warfare."

Baku is a ground combat mobile suit developed by the ZAFT army specifically for ground warfare. Unlike traditional humanoid mobile suits that rely on walking on two legs, it moves by crawling on all fours like a beast.

This design allows Baku to have extremely strong terrain adaptability while also reducing its height and minimizing its hit area.

In addition to crawling on the ground with its four limbs, Baku can also glide at high speed on flat terrain using tracks on its lower legs and thrusters on its back wings.

For example, like this now.

Two Baku aircraft sped towards the Dagger and Strike from the left and right, their speed so great that Kira couldn't even track them. Then, the missiles on the back of the Baku were launched simultaneously, and the smoke from the explosions instantly enveloped the Dagger and Strike.

"Did you get rid of it?"

A Baku driver blurted out, but to his disappointment, the next moment, Dagger and Strike emerged unscathed from the smoke.

Chapter 35 Firepower Investigation (Part 2)

"What a hassle!"

Just like Kira's situation, Baku's superior mobility in high-speed mode made it difficult for Raven to lock onto his target.

[After all, the ground and outer space are different; you can't use attitude control to arbitrarily adjust the direction of the jets.]

Raven's troubles didn't stop there; the soft sand beneath his short sword also prevented him from moving freely.

"Is gravity such a troublesome thing?!"

However, Raven is not without ways to deal with the current situation.

"Al, switch the OS to Plan D for desert terrain. Kira, you too!"

After switching to the sand combat OS, the movements of the Dagger and Assault Rifle are no longer affected by the quicksand, making them appear clumsy. At the same time, this OS can also adjust the thruster output power, keeping the lower leg and rear main thrusters at low power, allowing the Dagger and Assault Rifle to glide close to the ground, thus barely keeping up with Baku's speed.

However, the price of doing so is that the propellant of the machine is consumed at an exponential rate. Raven and Kira must finish the battle quickly before the propellant is completely used up.

The Dagger and the Assault burst out of the smoke from the left and right. Although the Baku pilots were surprised by the change in the two aircraft's movements, they quickly spread out according to the established tactics, forming a triangular formation to surround the Dagger and the Assault in the center.

Missiles and railguns rained down on the two machines in the encirclement from three directions, but Raven and Kira showed no fear.

With a quick dodge, the short sword dodged the railgun fired from its side and rear, while simultaneously firing the Vulcan cannon on its head, intercepting all the missiles flying towards it.

Kira was even more direct. The Strike Gundam, thanks to its PS armor, took the brunt of two missiles that hit it. With a quick aim, he pulled the trigger of his beam rifle, and two emerald green beams struck a Baku.

Baku's high-speed mode is not without its flaws. The extremely high speeds gained through its tracks and thrusters prevent Baku from turning as nimbly as a humanoid mobile suit.

Kira's shot successfully blocked the Baku's path of advance, forcing it to pause its movements. Raven seized this opportunity precisely and fired a rocket anchor at the Baku.

"If it's a contest of strength, the short sword won't lose!"

Baku, caught by the rocket anchor, fired rockets at the short sword while increasing the thruster's power in an attempt to break free of the rocket anchor's grip, but the short sword's output was far superior.

The short sword flashed to the side, dodging the missile fired from Baku. At the same time, both arms gripped the rocket anchor cable and unleashed full power, dragging the Baku to the ground.

Unable to stand up on his own after falling to his side on the sand, Baku drew his short sword from the beam saber at his waist, and the thruster power surged instantly, closing in on Baku in the next moment.

"If you don't want to die, don't move!"

Raven ripped the unfortunate Baku plane to pieces with a few sword strikes, cutting off the missile pod, limbs, and head, leaving only the lone central torso.

"That's how you get a source of intelligence."

Seeing Raven's actions, Kira immediately followed suit, leaping high into the air with his beam rifle pointed directly at another Baku.

Another three-round burst, three beams of light accurately hit the Baku, which was moving at high speed. The head, left front leg, and right hind leg were hit one after another. The Baku immediately went out of control and rolled several times on the sand before completely losing its ability to move.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, the remaining Baku decisively chose to withdraw from the battlefield, its back-mounted railgun constantly turning back to fire, attempting to stop the pursuit of the Dagger and the Assault.

However, the railgun was immediately destroyed by a powerful beam rifle. The next moment, a boomerang-shaped beam thrown from a short sword swept past Baku, severing all four of its limbs.

-----------------

"Hey, just how incredible were those two? Three Baku helicopters were shot down without even scratching their paint."

Andrew stared at the almost one-sided battle and couldn't help but gasp. Although he had prepared himself for the high probability of casualties during this reconnaissance mission, he never expected that in just a few minutes, all three Baku aircraft piloted by veterans would be destroyed.

"Looks like we've met our match..."

Andrew lowered his binoculars. He had originally intended to probe the Archangel's strengths and weaknesses, but his attempt backfired, and all three pilots were captured. It was possible that the enemy would find out everything about his side.

The once bustling battlefield suddenly fell silent, but Andrew quickly sensed something amiss in the silence.

"Wait a minute, why haven't the Resbus's shells arrived? Da Costa..."

He was just about to call his adjutant to ask about the situation on the warship when the red-haired adjutant rushed over in a panic to report.

"Captain, the Lessabush has been attacked by enemy fighters. All three main guns are destroyed and cannot be used for support fire."

Even an optimistic person like Andrew couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration.

"What a complete defeat. Now, I have no right to laugh at Kruze."

-----------------

The Dawn Desert convoy arrived belatedly after the battle had ended.

Under the rising sun, the lingering smoke of battle told the story of the fierce fighting that had just taken place. What surprised the guerrillas most were the three Baku wreckage planes still belching black smoke.

Many of them had witnessed how these beast-type mobile suits had routed the well-equipped Union forces.

Although they had tried to destroy these mobile suits, almost all of their attempts ended in failure, and the few successes they achieved were all at great cost.

The Archangel's two mobile suits shot down three of their troublesome mobile suits in just a few minutes.

Saib, the leader of the resistance organization "Dawn Desert," surveyed the ravaged battlefield, secretly assessing the Archangel's combat capabilities.

'It seems the brigadier general was right; this warship does indeed possess the capability to confront the ZAFT forces head-on.'

Seib views ZAFT as an aggressor, but that does not mean he supports the Earth Union.

Zaft was an aggressor, but was the Eurasian Federation, as a colonizer, necessarily good?

At least Seyb thought that it would be best if ZAFT and the Coalition forces were to perish together.

However, if the Archangel could help them drive away the Desert Tiger, he would not object to joining forces with the Archangel, just as he had agreed to take care of the Lion of Orb's daughter in order to obtain Orb's material aid.

Unfortunately, they were delayed on the way to repair the broken-down vehicle, and it was during this time that the Archangel was attacked.

'This is going to be troublesome...'

Saib looked at the man and woman, who appeared to be two majors who had come out to greet him, and the ambush soldiers hidden around him, and thought with a headache.

Chapter 36 Who is Tianhuo Duya?

"Those are guerrillas operating locally."

On the bridge of the Archangel, Maru and Bakiruru were observing the late-arriving convoy through the porthole.

"Captain, if I may be so bold, these guerrillas are not to be trusted. Not only did they fail to rendezvous with the ship at the scheduled time, but the ZAFT forces also attacked the ship before they arrived."

Bakiruru continues to play her part, offering advice to Maru.

“What you say makes sense, but without the cooperation of these locals, we would be stuck here and unable to make any progress. We are fighting alone now, and we have to rely on these guerrillas for both supplies and intelligence.”

After saying that, Maru turned around, straightened her collar, put on her military cap, and walked into the elevator behind the bridge.

"Whether they are friend or foe, we have to make contact and see what they have to say. Lieutenant, this is your responsibility."

Before Bakiru could reply, Maru left the bridge.

Maru's decisiveness caught Bakiruru off guard. Looking at the elevator doors that were now completely closed, Bakiruru thought to herself that Maru was becoming more and more decisive.

Although it's unclear whether Maru's change is good or bad, as her adjutant, Bakiruru can only do her best to cooperate with Maru's actions.

Bakiru picked up the microphone and directed her efforts to ensure Maru's safety.

-----------------

"Fellow citizens of the Dawn Desert, I am Major Maru Lamias, commander of the 13th Independent Unit of the Earth Alliance."

As Maru spoke, she surveyed the stench of the Dawn Desert.

Although they cannot be compared to ZAFT, the weapons these men possess are quite sophisticated by guerrilla standards.

Aside from the brand-new rifles and rocket launchers, Maru also spotted several desert jeeps equipped with multi-barrel anti-tank missile launchers.

These are standard military supplies. Although it cannot be ruled out that the guerrillas picked up equipment abandoned by the retreating regular army, judging from the condition of the equipment, these vehicles have obviously been well maintained.

This is an expense that a guerrilla force cannot afford.

Are guerrilla fighters all this rich these days?

Maru's gaze continued to sweep across the crowd, then settled on two people who were clearly not locals.

One of them was a burly man with dark skin crisscrossed with old scars, looking like a seasoned veteran who had fought for years in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

Standing next to him was a fair-skinned blonde girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She stood out from the group of weathered guerrilla fighters, looking like a young lady who had come to experience life in the guerrilla camp.

'What kind of combination is this? It can't really be a rich heiress and her muscular bodyguard, can it?'

Just as Maru was lost in thought, a middle-aged man stepped out from the guerrilla ranks.

"Hello Major Ramias, I am Seyib, the leader of the Dawn Desert."

Saib stepped forward, spoke carefully chosen words, and bowed his head to apologize.

"Due to mechanical failure, my convoy was unable to rendezvous with your unit as scheduled, resulting in your unit being attacked by ZAFT forces. I extend my sincere apologies to your unit for this!"

Seib is not someone who values ​​his honor too much. If he could gain the support of the Archangel's powerful combat force simply by bowing his head, he would do it without hesitation.

However, not everyone understood his intention.

“Seib, you don’t need to bow down to these Earth Forces. Even without the Archangel, we can still drive ZAFT away!”

The blonde girl quickly lost her temper. She shook off the big man's hand that was trying to stop her and said with a flushed face.

The scene froze for a moment, but Seib raised his hand to stop her, showing no sign of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, she's still a young person, please don't take it to heart."

The girl was still unconvinced after being stopped. She stomped her foot hard, turned around and ran to the side to sulk. Seyib ignored her and glanced at the places where ambushes were hidden. He sighed inwardly.

He needs the power of the Archangel now. If he can't clear up the misunderstandings and lower his guard, this cooperation might have to end.

This is not what he imagined.

“I swear on my life that the ZAFT attack and our lateness were just an unfortunate misunderstanding. We will cooperate with your operations as previously agreed. We have no reason to be hostile. How about we both put our guns away?”

After saying that, he threw his sidearm on the ground and gestured to his men to put their guns away as well.

Maru didn't reply, still pondering whether Seib was trustworthy, but Raven's voice rang out from behind her.

“Captain, I don’t think Mr. Seyib is lying.”