Gundam: A Gundam Enthusiast's Journey with a Mecha Girl

Seizing the opportunity, the Möbius Zero sped over and launched a salvo at the Aegis using the linear cannon on its nose and the four wired cannons that had been deployed.

"Is the target Aegis's thrusters?"

The instant he was suppressed, Athrun realized what Mu was going to do. Aegis extended the beam saber on its right leg and kicked upwards, forcing back the Strike. At the same time, it used the Ambac maneuver to turn the machine around, hiding the thrusters, and used Aegis's PS armor to withstand the attack of Mobius Zero.

Mu's attack failed, but the shell successfully hit Aegis, causing Aegis's attitude control to briefly go out of control. Kira seized this moment, using the high-thrust nozzles of his unloaded backpack to propel himself forward at full power, and swung his beam saber before Aegis could regain its attitude.

The crimson light blade severed the Holy Shield's right leg in an instant.

Raven had already thoroughly analyzed the characteristics of Aegis's mobile suit for Kira. Aegis was equipped with a beam saber on each of its four limbs. Knowing this, Kira had no intention of lingering with Aegis and simply attacked and left.

However, just as Kira was about to join forces with Mu to launch another attack, he suddenly received a warning from Mu.

"Watch out, Kruse is coming with the rest of the main force."

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The fire rifle and anti-armor shotgun on the back of the short sword were, in the end, temporary additions, and it was within Raven's expectations that they would experience heat dissipation problems during short bursts of firing.

Raven did not panic due to the overheating problem. Instead, he put away his shoulder armor and opened communication with the Montgomery.

"USS Montgomery, can you hear me? Please retreat immediately. The mobile forces of the USS Archangel will cover you until you withdraw from the battlefield."

After a moment of silence, the captain of the USS Montgomery gave his reply.

"Received from USS Montgomery. My ship is about to withdraw. I wish you good luck in battle."

As a soldier, such a helpless retreat in the face of the enemy was undoubtedly shameful. However, although he was unwilling, he could distinguish the priorities and made the decision to retreat decisively.

However, the man in the suit next to him did not possess the composure unique to soldiers like him.

"Wait a minute, what will happen to Frey if we retreat like this? Is Frey, the pilot of the short sword, alright?"

But both Raven and the captain beside George, driven by the atmosphere of the battlefield, ignored George's deep love for his daughter.

"Good luck, Captain."

Raven shut down the communications and watched the USS Montgomery slowly sail away from the war zone, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"That way, George Alsta shouldn't die here. The remaining problem is..."

Suddenly, the alarm blared in the cockpit of the short sword. Before the alarm even sounded, Raven's senses were enveloped by a thick, sticky malice. In an instant, Raven felt as if he was about to drown in a dark, viscous swamp.

"What exactly is causing this sense of oppression?"

Raven mustered his strength and bit his lip until he recovered from the oppressive force. Just then, Mu's communication came through, and Raven learned the source of the malice he had just felt.

"You are, Rau Le Creuset?"

Kruze's overly obvious malice was as conspicuous to Raven as ink spreading on white paper. After El indicated that the shoulder armor had cooled down, Raven raised the breech-loading rifle on his right shoulder again and, with his vague senses, fired a beam of light into the distance.

An ordinary driver would likely be easily shot down by such a long-range sniper shot without warning, but how could an ace like Kruse be shot down so easily?

Just as Raven could clearly sense Kruze, Kruze could also sense Raven's spirit.

Without warning, Higu suddenly accelerated, causing the beam of light from the short sword to graz the fuselage.

"They dodged it?"

Feeling the lingering pressure in his heart hadn't dissipated, Raven knew he had made a mistake. The next moment, a feeling of unease washed over him, and without thinking, he immediately stepped on the pedal to move the machine.

The next moment, a beam of light, somewhat similar to the one fired by the short sword but much thicker, swept past where the short sword had been.

Raven quickly realized that this was the Storm Gundam firing its high-powered fire rifle, which meant that the Storm had pinpointed his location from the previous shot.

The short sword is not equipped with a high-precision sensor like the Storm, which is specifically designed for long-range shooting. It is at a disadvantage in long-range firefights. If Raven wants to use his senses to pinpoint the opponent's position as before, he would need to concentrate intensely. However, with his position already exposed, it is obviously unrealistic to do so.

Realizing this, Raven chose to close the distance, and Kruze, noticing the movement of the short sword, smiled.

“Nicholm, you go help Aslan deal with the assault. Yzak and Diego cover me against the short sword. King’s troops go deal with that MA.”

He quickly assigned tasks to his subordinates, and ZAFT's mobile suit forces then dispersed, dividing and surrounding the Archangel's units.

"Tch, so now it's our turn to be caught in the crossfire?"

Mu felt the pressure increase instantly, sweating profusely as he maneuvered Mobius Zero through King's barrage of bullets, unable to spare a hand to support the Assault.

Kira's advantage was completely wiped out by the addition of Lightning Bolt. He was struggling against the combined attacks of Lightning Bolt and Aegis. However, thanks to the excellent mobility of his empty backpack, he was able to barely hold on against the combined attacks of Lightning Bolt and Aegis.

Raven's situation was even worse.

Storm flipped the assembled weapons in his hand and aimed the anti-armor shotgun at the short sword.

During his previous encounter with the dagger, Diego discovered that this weapon had an excellent suppressive effect on the dagger, and that it did not require precise aiming; simply pointing in the general direction was enough to perfectly restrict the dagger's movements.

Storm seized the opportunity before Xigu and Duel could get close to the short sword and fired a shot first.

The wide-range shotgun barrage forced Raven to raise his shield. The electromagnetically accelerated projectiles instantly dented and riddled the short sword's shield, and the impact from the shield caused the short sword to pause in its movements.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shigu and Duel quickly approached the short sword.

Shigu's equipment remains the same three-piece set: heavy assault machine gun, Gatling gun shield, and heavy slashing sword. However, the duel that reappeared on the battlefield was completely different.

A new armor was fitted onto the Duel's somewhat flimsy fuselage, and Raven knew at a glance what kind of new equipment it was.

"The Shroud Armor, it really has been built. Tsk, I must ask those guys at ZAFT Design Bureau for royalties when I get the chance."

In the original timeline, the Shroud Armor was an additional piece of equipment created by ZAFT engineers for the Duel Gundam to enhance its defense and firepower. It added a railgun and a five-tube missile launcher to the shoulder of the mobile suit to increase its firepower. In order to prevent the Duel Gundam's mobility from decreasing due to the additional equipment, a large thruster was also added to its back.

In his previous life, Raven was very fond of this full-armor design, so when he was drawing up the design for the duel, he also designed the Shroud Armor.

"Isn't this a case of shooting oneself in the foot?"

Although Raven was complaining, his hands didn't stop moving at all. On the shoulders of the short sword, two weapons from the Storm Gundam were raised again.

"I have shotguns here too!"

While it can't combine two weapons to fire in high-power mode like the Blitz Gundam, the distance between the short sword and the duel and the shigu makes the use of high power irrelevant.

Raven opened fire decisively, and the Short Sword's anti-armor shotgun sprayed countless bullets at Duel and Shigu. However, neither Kruze nor Yzak were easy opponents. The two machines dodged the shotgun fire from the left and right and came to surround the Short Sword.

However, Xigu and Duel's actions were exactly what Raven wanted. As soon as the two machines separated to the left and right, Raven immediately stepped on the pedal, and the short sword turned into a blue streak of light, rushing straight towards Duel.

Kruze reacted quickly, immediately turning his aircraft around and biting the side of the short sword, his machine gun spitting fire at it continuously.

But Raven was prepared. The short sword's thrusters were running at full power, and the blue machine instantly performed an acute-angle maneuver on the Z-axis. This kind of maneuver, which is usually only used by novices, surprised Kruze at this moment.

Shigu's machine gun bullets couldn't keep up with the short sword's movements at all, but the price was that Raven was now experiencing several times more g-force than usual.

Even though Raven was wearing a standard suit with anti-G capabilities, his body was still gradually approaching its limit, and his surroundings were gradually being stained red. However, before Raven's body reached its limit, the opportunity he was seeking was handed to him by Duel.

Upon realizing that the short sword was hurtling straight toward him, Yzak immediately stepped back, simultaneously putting away his beam rifle and drawing his beam saber.

He still vividly remembered being ambushed by the sword-wielding short sword last time, but putting away the beam rifle did not mean that the duel had lost its ranged attack means.

The shoulder-mounted railgun and five-tube missiles were fired simultaneously, intending to block the short sword's attack route.

But the next moment, he regretted his decision.

With a slight tilt of his body, he narrowly avoided the railgun's projectile. Before it was fully charged, the anti-armor shotgun on his shoulder opened fire.

Although the power of this shot was insufficient to penetrate the MS's armor due to its incomplete charging, it easily detonated the missile fired by Duel. Five fireworks exploded instantly between Duel and Dagger, and the smoke from the explosion instantly obscured Dagger's fuselage.

Yzak sensed something was wrong and instinctively used his shield to protect the cockpit. His action was correct, as a beam of light shot out from the smoke and struck the shield of the duel.

But before the impact of the beam hitting the Duel's shield could dissipate, the Dagger's body instantly emerged from the smoke. The MS's mechanical feet stepped onto the Duel's shield, suppressing the Duel's movements. At the same time, the Dagger's Vulcan cannon fired, riddling the railgun on the Duel's shoulder with holes. Then, using the impact of the railgun's explosion, the Dagger kicked the Duel away with its legs.

'Is that guy even human? How can one person perform so many delicate movements at once?'

Having witnessed firsthand how the duel was completely suppressed by Dagger's series of moves, Diego couldn't help but wonder: even the best Coordinator pilots couldn't simultaneously maintain precise control over fire control, maneuverability, and close combat, but Dagger's actions were far beyond his imagination.

What Diego didn't know was that Raven wasn't the only pilot of the short sword; this series of precise operations was the result of Raven and El working together.

But despite his lament, he couldn't remain indifferent to the crisis that had befallen Yitzhak.

Storm fired several beams of light, driving the short sword away from the duel, but this support shot also made the short sword target him.

Diego felt a chill run down his spine. The oppressive aura emanating from the short sword made him unconsciously swallow, and the scene of almost being knocked down by the short sword last time came to mind.

However, the next moment, the silver-white Shigu entangled the short sword.

Author's message

P.S.: I felt this chapter was a bit difficult to break up, so I decided to combine it into one chapter and post it here. I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Chapter 20 Archangel Assault

"Tsk, what a hassle."

Raven's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he frantically maneuvered the short sword, trying to fend off Shigu's fierce attacks.

Looking at the performance of the mobile suit alone, the Dagger is undoubtedly superior to the Sigma. After all, apart from the armor and some electronic equipment, the Dagger almost completely inherits the design of the Strike Gundam, and the parts used are also the same high-specification parts as the Strike Gundam.

But Raven had to admit that Kruse was the enemy who had put the most pressure on him so far, even though the other was piloting the Sigh, which was inferior in performance to the Dagger.

The malice belonging to Kruze seemed to permeate the entire universe, constantly oppressing Raven's spirit, while the shadow of the machine transformed into a silver-white streak, drawing smooth and elegant trajectories in the dark space of space. The heavy assault machine gun and the Gatling gun shield kept firing alternately, and bullets seemed to be attacking the short sword from all directions, forcing the short sword to keep moving and not to be careless for a moment.

Raven had to focus all his energy on dodging Xigu's attacks. With El's help, he was able to keep up with Xigu's movements with his short sword. The three weapons on the machine took turns firing, and he engaged in a high-speed offensive and defensive battle with Xigu.

The shadows of the Xigu and the short sword intertwined, and the beams of light and bullets fired by the machine guns turned the entire space into an extremely dangerous space. A machine that was besieging the Mobius Zero was unfortunately caught in the middle and its battery pack was detonated by a stray bullet. In the intense flash of the explosion, it turned into cosmic dust.

The intense back-and-forth between the two machines even made it difficult for Yzak and Diego to keep up. Even if they wanted to cover Kruze, they had to give up because they couldn't keep up with the short sword's movements and were worried about accidentally injuring Shigu.

On this battlefield, they weren't the only ones marveling at the battle between the short sword and Xigu.

"Wow, just how outrageous are those two people?"

Mu, who was struggling to hold on, was stunned for a moment when he saw the fate of the unlucky guy who was caught up in it. However, this made his burden much lighter.

The two Jin En fighters that attacked him were clearly veterans with a lot of combat experience. Their coordination was seamless, giving Mu no chance to retaliate.

But now that one King was no longer suppressing him, Mu had a glimmer of hope. The Mobius Zero activated all its attitude thrusters for reverse thrust and grabbed the back of the King that had been chasing him.

Taking advantage of this precious opportunity, the linear cannon of the Möbius Zero began to fire in rapid succession, successfully damaging King's thrusters before King could turn around.

Having lost most of its thrust, King became incredibly clumsy in an instant, but his well-trained pilot did not panic. The muzzle of his machine gun continued to follow the trajectory of the Möbius Zero.

But by this time, he was already Mu's for the taking.

Mobius Zero overtook King. To launch another attack on King, it would have to enter the most vulnerable maneuver of the MA, the swivel maneuver. King's pilot was aiming for this moment, but he overlooked the special weaponry equipped on Mobius Zero.

"Don't underestimate this Zero!"

Mu had already deployed four wire-controlled cannons, and bullets rained down on King from all directions. The machine gun in King's hand, the nozzles on his legs, and the main monitor on his head were completely destroyed in this barrage. Then, the Mobius Zero completed its rotation, and the linear cannon shells finally hit the weak spot exposed by King's attitude control failure. A linear cannon shell pierced the battery pack in the center of the machine, and King, along with his teammates, turned into cosmic dust.

But before Mu Song could even catch his breath, Duel and Storm, who had noticed that their friendly forces had been shot down, set their sights on him.

A beam of light struck, and before Mu could react, a wire-controlled cannon was destroyed. Mu then had to grimace as he was once again pursued by two mobile suits.

"Captain Murrue, Lieutenant Basiluru, my survival today depends on you two!"

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Archangel, bridge.

"It seems the fighter jets have arrived."

Maru, watching the flashes of light from the battle between the mobile suits in the distance, suppressed her unease and issued the battle orders.

"Archangel, end inertial navigation, start engines, proceed at maximum combat speed, target: ZAFT warship!"

Upon receiving the order, Bakirulu, who was in charge of implementing the tactics, immediately began to mobilize the Archangel's weaponry.

"Missile launch tubes 1 to 4 are loaded with anti-beam detonators; tubes 5 to 12 are loaded with anti-ship missiles. Barriant and Goldfield, deploy! Lohengrin I, begin charging!"

Considering the need to prioritize the power supply to the thrusters, Bakiruru did not use both of the two Rohengen positron cannons, but even using only one Rohengen would be enough to inflict fatal damage on a battleship-sized target.

With the orders given by Murrue and Basiluru, the Archangel quickly entered combat mode. The thrusters at the rear of the ship emitted dazzling flashes, propelling the behemoth forward at high speed. The weapons installed on various parts of the ship unfolded, baring their fangs at the ZAFT forces.

The Archangel's entry attracted almost everyone's attention. Kruse used a feint to create an opening, and took the opportunity to glance at the Archangel's position. He then realized the Archangel's intentions.

"From that angle, is the long-legged ship entering the battlefield with our target our warship?"

Kruze considered retreating to cover his own fleet, but Raven keenly sensed Kruze's intentions and changed his attack on the short sword, actively engaging Xigu.

"Don't think I'll let you go so easily, Kruze!"

"Tsk, I miscalculated. I underestimated him!"

The dagger's fierce attack left Kruze in a dilemma, forcing him to continue focusing his energy on dealing with the dagger and handing over the task of commanding the warship to his adjutant.

While the short sword continued to entangle Shigu, the Archangel quickly approached the two ZAFT warships.

"Enemy ships have entered Lohengrin's maximum firing range!"