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

Relying on their PS armor, the three Gundams were able to enter the atmosphere alone, so they abandoned their engagement with the Strike Gundam and rushed towards the Archangel.

Kira, who was struggling to dodge and maneuver amidst the three-unit attack just a moment ago, was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. By the time he came to his senses, the enemy aircraft had already broken off contact and were using the surrounding Earth Force ships as obstacles, hindering the Assault's ability to fire and intercept them freely. Kira had no choice but to push the thrust to its maximum, attempting to forcefully intercept them at high speed with his empty backpack.

However, Yzak and Nicol anticipated Kira's actions. After overcoming the last coalition warship's obstruction, Duel and Thunder suddenly turned around and unleashed a barrage of fire at Strike, forcing Kira to spin and dodge. It was this brief delay that allowed Storm Gundam to successfully break through the defenses.

At this moment, the Archangel was unable to move freely in order to ensure that the landing point did not deviate, which became an excellent opportunity for the Storm Gundam.

"Great! Let me sink you, Long Legs!"

The Storm Gundam combined its two weapons into a high-pulse long-range sniper rifle, pointing the muzzle directly at the bridge of the Archangel. Destructive energy gathered at the muzzle; if this shot hit accurately, Diego's kill record would be expanded to include another Archangel.

Halbarton witnessed this from the bridge of the Menelaus, but no matter how close the Menelaus got to the Archangel, it couldn't change the Archangel's fate of being sunk.

As Diego pulled the trigger, a thick, bright yellow beam of light shot out, heading straight for the Archangel's bridge. But the next moment, a badly damaged Nelson-class cruiser blocked the Archangel's path.

"Back then... the Montgomery..."

The massive hull of the USS Montgomery was pierced through by the storm's cannon fire. Just before the Montgomery plunged into the atmosphere and fell into complete silence, Maru saw Colonel Coppman saluting the Earth from the empty bridge.

Diego clicked his tongue in annoyance at having his good time interrupted and immediately piloted the Storm Gundam forward.

This time, he won't let the Archangel escape.

As the Archangel was about to land on Earth, it was at a very low altitude. To ensure his shooting accuracy, Diego risked being captured by Earth's gravity and approached the Archangel to a position very close to it.

But at that moment, Diego was preoccupied with sinking the Archangel and didn't pay any attention to the height of the mech.

The Storm Gundam once again raised its weapon against the Archangel, but the sacrifice of the Montgomery had bought enough time.

Just a second before Diego was about to pull the trigger, railgun shells struck the Storm's fuselage from the void.

This was the barrage fired from the iwsp backpack equipped by the short sword. Although the live ammunition could not penetrate the PS armor's defense, the impact generated by the continuous hits on the body pushed the storm into Earth's gravity.

Diego frantically pulled the control stick repeatedly, but no matter how much he struggled, the Storm's fuselage continued to plummet towards Earth.

"Diego!"

Yzak was distracted by his companion's situation, which created an opportunity for Dagger and Strike.

The short sword used up all the remaining ammunition in the IWSP backpack, pinning the Thunder and Duel units to the spot. Kira seized the opportunity and used a spinning kick to send the Duel into Earth's gravity.

"Oh no, the energy is running out..."

Yzak, who was already caught up in the fight, realized that the Duel Gundam's energy had reached a dangerous level. If this continued, the PS armor would fail before it even broke through the atmosphere, and the Duel Gundam would burn to ashes in the atmosphere.

"It's alright, Xunlei's energy can still hold up."

Nicol realized Yzak's predicament and deliberately plunged into Earth's gravity, slowly approaching the direction of the duel.

“Nicholson? I’m sorry, I was too impulsive.”

Yzak realized that his decision had put his companion in danger. Nicol had no time to respond to Yzak's guilt. He struggled to move the Thunderclap under Duel and used his own machine to protect Duel's cockpit.

"Teacher...should we continue the pursuit?"

Looking at the enemy who had lost the ability to resist, Kira hesitated and asked, ultimately unable to bring himself to kill such an opponent.

"That's enough. The Archangel is about to land. If we keep dragging it on, we'll be pulled down by gravity too."

The increasingly heavy feeling of the machine made Raven lose his will to continue fighting. Hearing what Raven said, Kira felt relieved and quickly followed Dagger onto the deck of the Archangel, and slowly descended with the Archangel.

Chapter 33 Undercurrents

PLANT, home of Klein.

Siegel Klein, looking exhausted, pushed open the door and entered. Lux, startled awake by the sound, rubbed her eyes and mumbled in a sleepy voice:

"Welcome home, Father."

Siegel hung his coat on the coat rack, turned around, and looked at his daughter with an apologetic gaze.

Lux threw herself into her work immediately after returning to PLANT.

She had to give interviews to various reporters, plan upcoming performances, and also find time to catch up on missed lessons.

Lux's excellence makes many people forget that she is only a 16-year-old girl. Although Coordinators are generally precocious, it is not the case that she has completed all her studies at the age of 16.

"I'm sorry Lux, I'm sorry to have bothered you. You wouldn't have to work so hard if it weren't for me."

Siegel knew very well that Lux's recent busy schedule and lack of interruption was partly a way of campaigning for his upcoming election.

"I just want to do something for peace, just like my father."

Lux smiled, comforting Siegel. However, when she saw her father's Supreme Council uniform, she suddenly remembered the intelligence Raven had given her.

"Father, what's the result of the information I gave you before?"

“Those things…” Siegel sank into the soft sofa. “I’ve had the agents investigate with all their might, but neither LOGOS nor Kruze’s side can be investigated in a day or two. But, whether it’s the conglomerate that controls the lifeline of the Earth’s economy in the shadows, or Kruze who infiltrated ZAFT with ulterior motives, how exactly did Mr. Raven get his hands on this information?”

Siegel asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know either, but…” Lux shook her head, “Mr. Raven isn’t the type to joke about something like this.”

Lux's assurance piqued Siegel's interest in Raven. He knew that while Lux was always kind to people, she rarely opened her heart to anyone.

Lux had only been on the Archangel for a few days, yet she trusted Raven so much.

"Now that you mention it, I'm also interested in getting to know him."

"Then you will definitely like Mr. Raven, Father. He is surprisingly a simple person."

Lux recalled Raven telling her about his dreams, and a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.

"A simple person? He's a core member of the Combined Forces' MS development program."

Siegel was surprised by Lux's assessment.

In recent days, Siegel has seen a lot of propaganda about Raven from the Earth Federation side, such as "Natural scientists enthusiastically joined the army after witnessing the Coordinators' brutality" and "Young scientists piloted mobile suits they built themselves to resist the Coordinators." The Earth Federation's media propaganda lately is full of this kind of stuff.

Putting aside these reports that are obviously political propaganda, the fact that Raven participated in the Combine's MS development program, no matter what Siegel thinks, cannot be associated with the word "pure".

Lux chuckled twice at Siegel's reaction.

"While I can't be certain, if it's the Mr. Raven I know, his involvement in MS development is probably just about personally building large humanoid machines. After all, there probably isn't another project on Earth that would delve into this area."

"is that so?"

Siegel nodded with some skepticism.

He knew that Lux, despite her young age, possessed a unique sensitivity in understanding others.

'If you have the chance, you must talk to that young man face to face.'

Siegel made this decision in his heart.

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

Meanwhile, Kruse, dressed in a ZAFT white uniform and wearing his signature metal mask, followed Patrick into the Chairman of the Defense Committee's car.

"Kruze, thanks to the combat records you brought back, the people have truly realized the threat that Naturals pose to us."

Kruze was repeatedly defeated by the Archangel. Although Patrick greatly admired his abilities, he was forced by various pressures to sideline his trusted general, keeping him away from the front lines and allowing him to remain in the country under the guise of recuperation.

"It's all what I should do, Your Excellency Chairman. If it weren't for you, someone like me who has suffered repeated defeats would probably have been forced to retire from active service long ago."

"No matter what others say, I know your abilities. Don't worry, you can go back to the front lines after the election."

Patrick had barely finished speaking when his portable terminal beeped to indicate that a message had been received.

"It's a battle report from the low orbit campaign."

Patrick had just picked up the terminal and frowned after flipping through only a few pages.

"The MS force suffered over half its casualties and was forced to retreat. Duel, Storm, and Thunder were recovered by Gibraltar after landing on Earth, while Longlegs landed in North Africa. What on earth is that Diesel guy doing?"

Patrick recalled that Diesel had assembled four Nazca-class and two Lawrence-class ships to attack the Eighth Fleet.

That was a large force of 36 mobile suits, including three Gundams whose combat power far exceeded that of King and Sigurd. Facing the weak Eighth Fleet, not only did they fail to annihilate the enemy, but they were also repelled after suffering more than half of their mobile suits as casualties.

Based on Patrick's past experience, Deesel's forces were more than capable of overwhelming the Eighth Fleet. Even if the two mobile suits on the Archangel joined the battle, they wouldn't be able to turn the tide of the war in the face of such a disparity in troop strength.

"Your Mightiness?"

Seeing Patrick's expression change repeatedly, Kruse couldn't help but ask.

Patrick handed the portable terminal directly to Kruse.

"This is really... It seems that Captain Diesel underestimated the enemy's mobile suits."

Patrick was surprised that Kruze gave the Earth Alliance's mobile suits such a high rating.

"Are the enemy's mobile suits really that difficult to deal with? 36 against 2, even with the Earth Force's mobile suits and anti-aircraft fire from warships, it shouldn't have caused our forces to suffer such heavy losses, right?"

Kruze returned the terminal, recalling the performance of the Dagger and the Assault Rifle on the battlefield, and replied.

"The performance of Earth Force mobile suits is indeed excellent. That mass-produced machine called Dagger completely surpasses the performance of all our mobile suits, including the most advanced one in active service, the Shigu. Moreover, the pilot of Dagger is also excellent. Unlike the Strike, which is piloted by a Coordinator, the pilot of Dagger seems to be a Natural. Even I find the combination of him and Dagger quite troublesome."

"I never expected that someone like you, a Nebula Badge holder, would rate it as 'tricky'..."

Patrick's brow furrowed even deeper.

"However, I think you don't need to be too anxious. People as skilled at piloting mobile suits as the pilot of the Short Sword are definitely a minority in the Earth Forces. He alone is not enough to turn the tide of the war. Since Longlegs is in North Africa, let the local Andrew Felt team deal with him. Your most important task now is to win the election. Only by controlling both the Supreme Council and the Defense Committee can you truly control the fate of us Coordinators. At that time, whether it's deploying new mobile suits or launching large-scale military operations, it will all be up to you."

"You're right, you're absolutely right."

The smell of tobacco filled the car, and in a corner unseen by Patrick, a strange smile hung beneath Kruse's mask, which reflected a cold glint in the eye.

Chapter 34 Firepower Reconnaissance (Part 1)

North Africa, in the Libyan desert.

The Archangel, having landed on the ground, concealed its pristine white hull in a depression surrounded by several sand dunes.

This place is sparsely populated. The pitch-black night sky that can be seen from the city is actually full of stars from here. The Archangel's sleek hull reflects the starlight, creating a unique beauty in this desolate desert.

But the people on the bridge of the Archangel had long lost the will to appreciate its beauty.

"Is the radar still not working?"

Bakiruru, who was on duty on the bridge, asked with a frown.

"Yes, the environment on Earth is not like that in space; there are far too many interfering factors. In addition, the radio waves emitted by the neutron jammer reduce the radar's detection range to less than half of what it used to be."

'This is bad.'

Baki Lulu tried her best not to show her worry.

The Archangel is currently in enemy-occupied territory, lacking any relevant intelligence and unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain. Its radar is almost completely disabled, leaving it in complete darkness. Furthermore, the local guerrillas who were supposed to come to its aid have yet to appear, further worsening Bakirulu's mood.

At that moment, the bridge door opened, and Raven walked in, yawning and wearing his newly issued captain's uniform.

"Good evening, Lieutenant Bakiruru, how's the situation?"

Seeing Raven's nonchalant attitude, Baki Lulu was about to reprimand him, but then she remembered that he was now her superior. She swallowed back what she was about to say and changed her tone.

“I’m very sorry, the ship’s radar is not working, we have no idea what’s going on, and the guerrillas we were supposed to meet up with haven’t shown up either…” Bakiru stared at the military uniform draped over her shoulders, and finally couldn’t help but say, “Also, please, Captain, observe military discipline and wear your uniform properly. As your superior, you should set a good example for your soldiers.”

Raven was taken aback at first, then remembered that he was already a captain in the Allied Forces, and the "commander" that Bakirulu had mentioned was him. Although the experience of being treated as a superior by her was novel, it still made Raven feel very uncomfortable.

Raven quickly put on his military uniform and said.

"Just call me Raven, Lieutenant. My captain rank is just a political show put on by some people and doesn't count."

“That won’t do. No matter what, Captain Lei’s rank is directly appointed by the Allied Forces Headquarters. I cannot be disrespectful to you as his superior.”

Faced with Baki Lulu, who was the very embodiment of a professional soldier, Raven couldn't say anything more and had to stop the conversation. He moved to the radar operator's seat and looked at the display panel.

There was nothing to see there except for noise, but Raven quickly offered his advice.

“We can have Mu fly the Sky King equipped with the Lightning Backpack for a while. The Lightning Backpack has high-performance sensors, and its reconnaissance efficiency is no less than that of a reconnaissance aircraft. It can see the surrounding situation at a glance.”

Baki Lulu remembered the performance data of the Lightning Backpack and realized that it was indeed a good idea.

"Okay, I'll get the maintenance team ready right away."

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

Behind a sand dune, Andrew Butterfield was crouching atop the dune, holding binoculars and observing the Archangel in the distance.

"That's the legendary Archangel. I see, it really does have two long legs."

"Captain, Baku is ready to attack."

Lieutenant Da Costa came up from behind the dunes with a cup of coffee and handed it to Andrew.

"That's pretty fast, that's really good."

Andrew took a sip of the scalding liquid in his cup, it was unclear whether he was praising his subordinate's competence or complimenting the taste of the coffee.