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

"What about the predicted impact point?"

"Right ahead of the enemy ships' path... is a minefield!"

As soon as Thor finished speaking, a series of earth-shattering explosions suddenly erupted in the distant sands. Huge fireballs rose one after another, and the immense power of the naval cannons detonated the minefield that Dawn Desert had laid in advance, completely extinguishing the Archangel's side's wishful thinking of an easy victory.

"As expected of the Desert Tiger, such simple tricks are completely ineffective."

Maru admired Andrew's wisdom, but she was no longer the technical officer who had just entered the battlefield. She wouldn't be swayed by this matter, and from the very beginning, Maru had no intention of betting everything on the minefield.

"All ships, prepare for air-to-air, anti-ship, and anti-MS combat. All mobile units, prepare for sortie!"

At this moment, the battle has just begun.

ZAFT forces deployed fighter helicopters and Baku units as their vanguard, while the Archangel's forces countered with Daggers and Sky Kings, while Kira's Assault team did not join the fray.

Because the assault had a more important mission.

The greatest threat to the Archangel was not ZAFT's Baku, but the land-based warships. Although the Archangel's firepower was superior to any of the enemy's land-based warships, it would be at a disadvantage if it were to fight three land-based warships at the same time.

Therefore, the Assault Rifle did not advance with the Dagger to engage the enemy's mobile suit forces. Instead, it chose to use the large sensors on the Lightning Pack to calibrate the Archangel's firepower, thereby improving the Archangel's long-range firing accuracy and maximizing its firepower advantage.

The Lightning Backpack's detection capabilities allow for sniping operations at a range of tens of thousands of kilometers in space, while on the ground, due to the curvature of the Earth, its detection capabilities are reduced to a range of hundreds of kilometers.

Although this is not the data that can be achieved in actual combat, it is enough for the Archangel to launch a preemptive strike before entering the enemy's firing range.

The assault ship activated its dorsal thrusters and reached the Archangel's central deck, where it connected to the Archangel's fire control system via contact lines and began sharing data.

Long-distance wireless communication becomes extremely unstable due to the influence of neutron jammers. Furthermore, once in combat, both sides will inevitably engage in electronic signal jamming, further reducing communication efficiency.

By connecting the wires, information exchange can be achieved without delay or loss.

"What about exchanging data with an assault?"

"Baki Lulu, who is in charge of CIC, asked loudly."

"Everything is normal, it has already begun!"

Baki Lulu nodded decisively and then gave the order.

"Barriant, begin loading. Target: enemy Petrie-class land cruiser. Conduct first test firing!"

Since beam weapons would be severely affected in the dusty and heat-convection-filled ground environment, Bakirulu prioritized the use of the Bariant Linear Cannon, which uses live ammunition, as the primary means of attack in the first round of strikes.

Two shells roared through the air and disappeared into the sand on either side of the Petrie, which was sailing ahead of the Resips.

"First wave of firing, two shots nearly missed, failing to hit the target!"

"Trajectory correction!"

The large sensors on the Lightning backpack transmitted the impact points of the shells back to the Archangel's fire control computer, and Bariant quickly began to correct the errors based on the transmitted data.

Soon, the second wave of firing began.

The target was still the Petrie. Although one shell missed its target again, another successfully hit the Petrie's bow.

Chapter 45 The Final Battle in the Desert (2)

"The Petrie has been powered on. Our ship has been shelled by the enemy, the bow is damaged, and the speed has decreased. However, the damage control is underway, and the situation will not have a major impact on the battle!"

Andrew frowned at his subordinate's report.

Although Andrew had anticipated being suppressed by enemy fire from the beginning, he did not expect that the enemy could achieve accurate hits at this distance.

Bumping

The thought flashed through Andrew's mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

He wasn't that foolish; the enemy was clearly using some new equipment he didn't know about to guide the Archangel's fire.

Andrew recalled the sniper attack he had encountered before the retreat.

However, now is clearly not the time to delve into the other side's methods.

"Fleet, continue advancing. Firing is permitted. The enemy ship is about to enter the Henry Carter's ambush zone; we must draw their attention. Hold on a little longer, victory is imminent!"

Andrew's orders were quickly relayed, stabilizing the slightly wavering morale of the ZAFT soldiers.

Although unforeseen circumstances arose, as long as the Desert Tiger remains, victory will surely belong to ZAFT.

The next moment, the ZAFT fleet launched its counterattack.

The main guns of the Resips and Petrie began to fire back, while the Zaut, positioned on the decks of both ships, also joined the barrage.

The shells rained down, their impact far exceeding that of the two Bariant linear guns on the Archangel, but their accuracy was far inferior to that of the Archangel.

The Lightning Backpack immediately detected the ZAFT fleet's movements, and upon receiving the report, Bakirulu calmly directed the ships to change course, causing all of ZAFT's shells to miss. The Archangel's counterattack followed immediately, and the Petrie instantly gained two more wounds on its hull.

"Tch, they're completely suppressed. Da Costa, what's the situation with the forwards?"

"Just received a report that the fighter helicopter unit has been intercepted by enemy fighters and suffered heavy losses, and is withdrawing from the battlefield. Baku is currently engaged in combat with enemy mobile suits, and the situation is unfavorable!"

The series of bad news left Andrew scratching his head.

"Why are we losing both the artillery battle and the mobile suit battle? There's nothing we can do, Da Costa!"

Andrew summoned his adjutant.

"I'm entrusting Resips' command to you. I'm going to drive Laco to the front lines."

"Captain?"

Upon hearing Andrew's decision, Da Costa rushed forward and quickly stopped Andrew.

"Please wait a moment. You are the commander of this battle. You must stay behind to oversee the overall situation!"

What kind of logic is it for the commander-in-chief to suddenly run to the front lines during a battle? And what if something happens to Andrew on the front lines? Should the battle continue?

But Andrew also had his reasons.

"The Longlegs are just a little bit away from reaching the ambush position. Now, besides me, who else can stop that mobile suit?"

Da Costa looked back and saw that of the five Bakus that had fought the Dagger, three were missing. At this rate, the Dagger would be able to break through to the Resips alone before the Henry Carter could launch its attack.

"May you achieve great success in your martial arts!"

Da Costa could only step aside and watch Andrew's figure disappear into the distance.

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

The short sword, which had already reached the front line, was dodging the ZAFT army's barrage of bullets with dazzling agility.

While the iwsp backpack grants the dagger the ability to fly, it also makes it an easy target.

However, the barrage fired by the five Baku aircraft was far from being completely impenetrable.

Raven pushed the short sword to its limits, seizing the opportune moment to whiz through the artillery fire. Immediately afterward, with El's assistance, the beam rifle and various firearms on his backpack locked onto three scattered targets.

The next moment, a barrage of fire, composed of beams of light and cannonballs, tore the three Baku planes to pieces before they even reached the four enemy aircraft.

However, the other two Bakus were not intimidated by their teammate's failure. Instead, they seized the opportunity when the Dagger was descending and flying close to the ground, and pounced on the Dagger from one side to the other.

Baku, who was in the lead, lowered the muzzle of his cannon and locked the short sword in place with the railgun, trying to force it to make an evasive maneuver and expose an opening.

The Baku behind it revealed the light blade on its mouth, leaped high, and prepared to cut the short sword in half at the waist.

The beam blade at his mouth was a modification kit sent by the Gibraltar base, which also gave Baku melee capabilities.

But Raven's reaction speed exceeded their expectations.

The two cannons on Dagger's shoulder fired rapidly, hitting the railgun turret of the Baku in front of him and rendering it immobile. Immediately afterward, Dagger took advantage of the situation and stomped heavily on the back of the Baku. He then spun around in mid-air, and his left shield, propelled by inertia, slammed into the head of the leaping Baku.

The Baku's fuselage tilted as it was struck, and the beam blade at its mouth left a dark scratch on the shield. Taking advantage of the moment when the Baku lost control of its posture, the short sword fired its beam rifle at point-blank range, turning the charging Baku into scrap metal.

Raven let out a long breath in the cockpit, but before he could fully relax, a feeling of unease prompted him to raise his shield in front of him.

Two streams of emerald green particles struck the shield, evaporating the reflective layer on its surface and leaving two charred marks.

"I knew this guy wouldn't be taken care of so easily."

"Andy, you're the commander now, so don't get too carried away. Da Costa will be very tired."

The voices of a man and a woman came through the communication channel.

An orange-red aircraft that looked somewhat similar to Baku emerged from the cabin door of the Restesus, plunged into the desert, and headed straight for the Dagger.

"That voice...is it Andrew Barthesfield and Miss Elsa?"

El was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Aisha, who had acted so gently that day, would also be on the battlefield.

"The Desert Tiger has come in person. How have you been, Mr. Andrew?"

Raven was much calmer than El.

"Is El in that machine too? That makes it a fair two-on-two, so we can't afford to lose."

"Hey, you were the one who told me not to get carried away, but now you're the one who's getting fired up, what kind of nonsense is that?"

Unlike the relaxed conversation over the phone, Laco's offensive was quite aggressive.

Lako used its beast-like limbs to leap and land on the sand, dodging the barrage of fire from the various weapons on the IWSP backpack with unconventional maneuvering, while the twin beam cannons on its back fired continuously under Aisha's control.

Despite firing at high speed, the beam cannon was surprisingly accurate, forcing Raven to focus on dodging while leaving weapon control entirely to El.

Laco successfully restrained the Dagger, and the two machines rained bullets at each other on the sand. Just then, behind the Archangel, the Henry Carter lifted its camouflage.

Countless grains of sand flowed down the towering hull as the USS Henry Carter, carrying Duel, Storm, and Thunder Gundam, joined the increasingly chaotic battle.

Chapter 46 The Final Battle in the Desert (3)

Because the use of positron cannons in the atmosphere would cause serious environmental pollution, Maru did not agree to use the Lohengrin positron cannon in this battle. However, by sharing data with the large sensors in the Lightning Backpack, the accuracy of the shelling was greatly improved. The Archangel suppressed the two land battleships, the Restes and Petrie, with its single ship firepower.

In order to get rid of the situation of being outnumbered by two enemies this morning, Bakiruru chose to focus her main firepower on the more vulnerable land cruiser Petrie.

The Gothfield twin beam cannon and the Bariant linear cannon fired alternately, constantly creating wounds on the hull of the Petrie. Meanwhile, the anti-aircraft turrets on the hull and the Zaut on the deck were also targeted one by one by Kira with his long-barreled railgun.

After the Petrie's anti-aircraft firepower was reduced to a certain extent, Mu's Sky King took advantage of the situation to break through the barrage and used the Flame God Pulse Cannon mounted on its fuselage to deliver the final blow to the Petrie.

A thick, red and white beam of light pierced the armor of the Petrie, penetrating the engine room of the land cruiser and bringing the steel behemoth to an instant. After a violent explosion, the Petrie fell completely silent, its hull billowing black smoke as it lay motionless in the middle of the sandy sea.

But before the Archangel could celebrate its victory, a sand dune collapsed to its side and rear, and another land cruiser tore off its camouflage net, broke through the sand sea, and aimed its main guns at the Archangel's engines.

"Fire from all gun emplacements at once, to avenge the Petrie!"

At that moment, all the weapons on the USS Henry Carter roared in unison. Main guns, missiles, and even anti-aircraft guns joined the bombardment of the Archangel, while the Duel, Storm, and Thunder units aboard the ship also participated in the attack.

"The enemy ship has emerged from the sand dunes and is located to the side and rear of our ship at a very close distance!"

Thor reported loudly and nervously, and then a tremor swept across the bridge of the Archangel, almost causing Maru, who was sitting in the captain's seat, to fall to the ground.

"Multiple hits on the port side, power output down by 40 percent, and still dropping! Thrust is insufficient to maintain altitude, the hull is losing lift, we're going to crash!"

"calm down!"

Maru's voice stopped the fear spreading through the bridge. She grabbed the armrests on either side of the seat to steady herself and then shouted the order.

"All ships, prepare for an emergency landing! Neumann, control the engine output and the landing attitude, don't let the Archangel crash to the ground!"

"We've been trying our best, Captain!"

Helmsman Neumann was sweating profusely as he struggled to control the Archangel's flight attitude. Meanwhile, Kira, on the center deck, spotted the Henry Carter.

The long-barreled railgun in his hand quickly switched fire, but with its firepower, it could not sink the Henry Carter in a short time, and the mobile suits that were already rushing towards them were more dangerous than the enemy warships.

"The equipment for Duel and Storm is too heavy; it makes it impossible to move properly in the sand. The vanguard is in your hands, Nicol!"

"Ok!"

Under the cover of fire from Duel and Storm, Thunderbolt unleashed its thrusters at full power, charging toward the descending Archangel.

Although the Thunder's firepower is somewhat weak against battleship-class targets, the three high-velocity armor-piercing shells mounted on the attack shields can render a battleship combat-incapable if they hit a critical part such as the bridge.

"Archangel, I need to change my equipment. The Lightning backpack can't handle those mobile suits."

Kira used his long-barreled railgun to hold off the enemy while calling for the Archangel.

However, even Bakirulu could not satisfy his demands in a short time.

In the atmosphere, it is impossible to use ejectors to quickly deliver backpack components to an attack like in space, and the Sky King II aircraft, which can be used to deliver equipment, currently has no pilot.

However, the next moment, the Archangel's sortie channel was opened, and the Sky Overlord II took off with an empty pack.

"Who flew that Sky Tyrant?"

"It's Cagalli!"

The communication from the hangar surprised Bakiru, but she was pretty used to the unexpected situations that would occasionally occur on the Archangel.

'Now, is that the only person we can trust?'