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

“What are you saying, Elsa? In my eyes, you're still the same person you were back then.”

"Oh, so you're saying I'm no longer good enough for you?"

"Ah, uh, that... that's not what I meant..."

Ignoring Andrew and Elsa's flirtatious banter, Raven looked intently at El, imprinting her image deeply in his mind, and then gave his answer frankly.

"So beautiful, El."

Simple words, yet they stirred up waves of tremors in El's mind. She felt her body temperature rising, and a surge of joy almost became uncontrollable.

"Ah, it's so good to be young."

Andrew looked at El and Raven staring at each other and couldn't help but say something.

"But Elsa, why is that lady still wearing that unsightly mask?"

“Andy, a gentleman with sense of propriety wouldn’t be obsessed with digging into a lady’s secrets.”

Aisha gave Andrew a look that caused the Desert Tiger to falter.

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

Soon after, Raven left Andrew's mansion with Al and met up with Cagalli, who was already getting impatient.

The car started again, carrying a stench of blood and smoke. El was still recalling what Elsa had said to him.

"Wow, that's amazing. I've never seen a humanoid figure with such a high level of completion, even in PLANT. You must be deeply loved by that gentleman."

"Love? But I am not human. Even if I imitate him perfectly, I am probably just a tool. I can become his sharpest sword, his strongest shield, or even play the role of the partner who understands him best, but only humans are qualified to receive human love."

"But as far as I can see, the emotions you've displayed are no different from those of a human. And so what if you're not human? Love is a very broad concept. If you have any doubts, why don't you just go and confirm his thoughts?"

Go directly to confirm Raven's thoughts...

El's red eyes looked at Raven's profile, but the words stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.

"What's up?"

Raven noticed Al's unusual behavior, but Al simply shook his head.

"It's nothing."

That's what she said.

Chapter 43 Rest before the war

"So, this is the reinforcement that the Gibraltar base sent us?"

Andri looked at the several Zaut aircraft being unloaded from the Sho-C with a headache.

The Zaut is an artillery-type mobile suit developed by the Zaft Army for ground combat. Its main armament consists of two shoulder-mounted twin live-fire cannons with long range and high power, but its drawback is poor rapid-fire capability. It is fine for attacking targets such as artillery batteries and battleships, but it is too cumbersome to use against mobile suits.

In addition, Zaut's main means of self-defense are the double-barreled rapid-fire machine gun on his left arm and the heavy assault machine gun in his right arm.

At first glance, Zaut appears to be a powerful mobile suit with ample firepower, but due to its bulky body, it is unable to engage in high-mobility combat like King or Baku. Rather than a mobile suit, it is more like a mobile turret.

"How can this kind of mobile suit fight against the Archangel's mobile suit unit?"

Andrew would prefer Baku or Dean for air combat over Zaut, or even King if all else fails.

Even Andrew, known as the "Desert Tiger," couldn't help but scratch his head at the thought of having to fight Zaut against Dagger and Assault. Recalling the opponent's performance that day, all he could see was Zaut being used by the opponent to get close and then being knocked to the ground and destroyed.

"The Gibraltar side didn't expect us to suffer such heavy losses in such a short time, and they couldn't allocate more machines in time."

Da Costa reported.

"However, as compensation, Gibraltar also sent over the Duel, Storm, and Thunder units that landed on the ground not long ago. The pilots are all elites from the Cruze team, so we can expect them to perform well."

Despite hearing the news of additional reinforcements, Andrew was not happy at all.

Putting aside the fact that he and Cruze are somewhat at odds, although these three Gundams are products of the United Nations' G Project, just like the Strike Gundam on the other side, and the machines themselves have excellent performance, due to the unique environment of the desert, the machines, without special adjustments, simply cannot exert their due combat power in the desert. Moreover, whether those pilots, who have only fought in space, can quickly adapt to the desert environment is also a problem.

'Could it be that the Gibraltar base found taking care of those three young masters too troublesome, so they took this opportunity to dump them here with me?'

Andrei pondered the meaning of this message with a hint of malice, and sighed at his increasingly bleak future.

Meanwhile, as soon as Yitzhak and the other two got off the train, they were immediately hit by a wave of heat.

This was a novel experience they had never had at PLANT before, but it was anything but comfortable.

Not long ago, Yitzhak was marveling at the beauty of the Earth in Gibraltar, but he was caught off guard by the sudden changes in the environment.

'Sand, sand, sand everywhere.'

As Ytzhak complained, his mind suddenly drifted back to his long-lost home in PLANT.

There were no shells flying everywhere, no MS (magic weapons). There was no scorching heat, and of course, no damned sand that had already choked his nose; everything was so comfortable.

However, he quickly dismissed this weak thought and went straight to report to Andrew.

But one question remained unanswered in his mind.

'Why conquer such a barren and uninhabitable place?'

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

El has fully integrated into life on the Archangel, and her room is decorated with all sorts of little items.

However, unlike the interests of normal girls, El's room did not contain various cute plush toys, but rather all kinds of models and model boxes stacked up to half a wall.

Girls like Cagalli and Miria quickly became acquainted with El, and El would often spend his free time with them.

Now, Al stands beside the flight simulator, instructing Cagalli on how to pilot the Sky King in the simulator.

Behind them, Raven, who unexpectedly had a little free time, and Mu, who often came here to slack off, were leaning against the railing, chatting casually.

Raven looked at the Kebap Mu was holding and suddenly asked.

"Which do you prefer, yogurt sauce or chili sauce?"

"I'd say yogurt sauce."

Mu showed Raven the milky white sauce inside the burrito.

"It's a bit surprising that you have the same taste as the Desert Tiger."

"Really? That tiger has pretty good taste. I might be able to become good friends with him."

Mu swallowed the burrito in his hand in two quick bites, glanced at El's back, hooked Raven's shoulder, gave him a wicked smile, and asked in a low voice.

"Hey Raven, could you make me a cute girl robot too?"

However, Raven shrugged and said...

"El's mind is a miracle that has evolved countless times in the sea of ​​data. It cannot be copied at will. Even I, who created her, cannot replicate it."

Raven's lips curled up slightly, and his gaze toward El's retreating figure held a hint of arrogance.

After hearing Raven's words, Mu said somewhat awkwardly.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant, can you create another body like El’s?”

Raven's expression changed, and he immediately said.

"Her body weighs over a hundred kilograms, are you sure?"

Mu coughed awkwardly twice.

"What are you thinking? I just think that a simple, intelligent robot girl would be a great product, like doing housework or working as a sales assistant. Don't overthink it."

However, Mu's attempt to conceal his true feelings was in vain; he had already exposed his repressed sexual side to Raven.

"Instead of worrying about some robot girl, I suggest you think carefully about which one you actually like, the captain or the first officer?"

Mu immediately covered Raven's mouth.

"Don't drag me down with you if you want to die! Captain is one thing, but if Buggyuru hears this, someone could die!"

Raven looked at him with amusement.

"The mighty Falcon of Endymion, afraid of a woman?"

"This isn't fear, it's the prey's instinct when facing a predator!"

"Similar to a mouse encountering a cat?"

Mu was about to say something more when his radar, which was that of the prey, was suddenly activated, and a chill ran down his spine.

"Major Flada, Captain Ray, if you two are free, you can help clean the toilets."

Baki Lulu emerged from behind the two of them with a dark expression.

"I...I suddenly remembered I haven't finished the design drawings yet, I have to go!"

"Uh... well, I remember Kira just asked me to help with the training. I'll be going now, Lieutenant Buggyuru!"

Bakiru sighed helplessly as she watched the two suddenly display maneuverability no less than that of an empty backpacker.

"How old are you, still acting like a child..."

"Isn't it great? The final battle with the Desert Tiger is coming soon. It's better to have time to joke around than to have a long face all the time."

Maru, who appeared from behind Bakiruru, said with a smile, while also looking in the direction where Mu had disappeared.

What choice will the major make?

Maru glanced at Buggyuru's profile without making a sound, secretly thinking to herself.

Chapter 44 The Final Battle in the Desert (1)

"Archangel, lift off!"

Following Maru's orders, the Archangel, which had been anchored at its base in the Dawn Desert for several days, returned to the skies over North Africa.

Accompanying the Archangel on its sortie was a convoy from the Dawn Desert.

Led by Seib himself, they followed behind the Archangel, burning with rage for revenge for their fallen comrades.

In the vast yellow sands of North Africa, a conspicuous target like the Archangel naturally attracted the attention of the ZAFT forces immediately. Amidst the blaring alarms, Andrew rushed to the bridge of the land battleship Recyps and asked loudly.

"Which direction is the long-legged guy heading?"

The answer to Andrew was once again given by his capable adjutant, Da Costa.

"It's about the mine! Based on Longlegs' current speed, he's expected to arrive at the mine in three hours."

The mines in Banadia are the only reason ZAFT can maintain a military presence there, and the Archangel's movements have hit ZAFT's weak spot.

"This is a challenge to me."

Andrew squinted, trying to figure out the meaning behind the Archangel's actions.

“If I don’t deploy my main force, the mine will be taken away by the other side, and even if we manage to retake it, we’ll have to rebuild it. But if I follow their script, I’ll probably just walk into their trap. Come to think of it, we are the outsiders in this desert.”

Andrew, living up to his reputation as the "Desert Tiger," deciphered the image of the Archangel in just a few seconds.

"Isn't this like going from one thing to another and getting stuck at both ends?" Da Costa scratched his head, looking troubled. "Then, Captain, are we just going to abandon the Archangel?"

"How is that possible!"

Andrew responded irritably.

"If we just stand by and watch the mine fall, we'll be court-martialed the next day. Tch, so-called 'defend the enemy when they're about to be attacked,' you've got some skills, Archangel."

Because the Archangel's side held the initiative, Andrew could only act according to the Archangel's side's wishes.

However, compared to the Archangel's strength of one battleship, two mobile suits, and one fighter, Andri's forces seem much more abundant: one Resips-class land battleship, two Petrie-class land cruisers, and more than a dozen mobile suits. No matter how you look at it, ZAFT has the advantage.

Even if you include the scattered soldiers from the Dawn Desert, it's still the same.

However, Andrew also knew that the combat power of the short sword and the assault rifle could not be judged by common sense, but this did not constitute a reason for him to abandon his military duties.

Andrew did have contingency plans for this situation.

"No choice, assemble the entire force and prepare to attack! Da Costa, have the Henry Carter quickly take up its designated position and lie in ambush. Whether we can sink the Archangel depends on it."

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

"ZAFT land battleships have appeared: one Resips-class and one Petrie-class!"

Upon hearing Thor's loud report of the search results, Maru's spirits lifted, and she was about to issue the battle order, but then Thor shouted nervously again.

"Enemy warships, open fire!"

"what!"

"Baki Lulu asked quickly."