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

Short Sword walked behind Maru and Mu, and Raven opened the cockpit and stepped onto the rope to land on the ground.

"you are?"

Seib looked at the black-haired youth who had voluntarily stepped out of MS.

"My name is Raven, nice to meet you."

Raven confidently stepped forward to shake hands with Seib, his light steps breaking the tense atmosphere.

"You're the 'Skyfire Raven'? I didn't expect you to be so young."

"'Skyfire Raven'? Are you talking about me? I don't remember giving myself such a cringey nickname."

Raven's expression suddenly turned strange, while Seib took out his phone and showed Raven the latest official report from the coalition forces.

The headline, in bold, read: "Skyfire Raven - The Combine Ace Who Single-handedly Destroyed 30 Mobile Suits and 3 Battleships."

The report was accompanied by a series of screenshots showing a mobile suit equipped with an IWSP backpack shooting down several Zeon units in space. However, unlike Raven's memory, the mobile suit in the picture had changed from a Dagger to the more eye-catching Strike.

"I'm not piloting a Strike, and I don't have that many kills."

"So this whole report is fake?"

Saib was somewhat surprised; it seemed he lacked sufficient understanding of the coalition's propaganda tactics.

"Not really. Although I didn't shoot down 30 mobile suits and 3 warships in the Strike, I and the Dagger did manage to shoot down 18 enemy aircraft."

The air suddenly went silent for a second.

How many?

Seib's tone suddenly rose.

Several guerrillas standing nearby widened their eyes and secretly moved forward a few steps, trying to confirm whether they had misheard.

They needed to meticulously plan and calculate repeatedly to destroy a Baku, and if they were unlucky, they would pay a heavy price. Yet this young man achieved a result that left their entire organization far behind.

Now, Seib was truly convinced that the Archangel possessed enough power to help them defeat the Desert Tiger.

Just as he was feeling relieved about his decision to clear up the misunderstanding, a crisp slap made him turn his head to look.

At the feet of the Strike Gundam, the blonde girl slapped Kira for some unknown reason, and Raven, who also witnessed this scene, involuntarily uttered a sentence.

"This is youth."

Chapter 37 El's New Body

Murrue ultimately decided to trust Dawn Desert. On one hand, the Archangel did need Dawn Desert's cooperation, who was familiar with the local conditions. On the other hand, Murrue trusted Raven's exceptionally accurate intuition.

Since Raven chose to step out of MS and contact Seib, then Seib probably really can be trusted... right?

Regardless, the Archangel, now guided by the Dawn Desert, has docked at one of their hidden bases.

Maru and Bakirulu went to see Seib without stopping to discuss the next operation, while Raven did not go with them. Instead, he stayed in his cabin, citing the need to rest.

As for what Raven is going to do, that is of course—rubber bonding!

As a model kit enthusiast, my biggest dream is, of course, to build a real humanoid robot by hand, and secondly, of course, to build a robot anime girl by hand.

Raven excitedly disassembled the components he had obtained from the Eighth Fleet and assembled them piece by piece.

Hours later, a brand new prototype appeared in Raven's cabin.

This prototype has a girlish figure, with a slender and well-proportioned body that is neither too thin nor too plump. However, the only drawback is that the surface of the prototype does not have artificial skin attached, making it look more like an exquisite doll model than the beautiful girl robot that Raven wanted.

However, there's nothing that can be done about it. Artificial skin isn't military equipment, and even if Halbarton brought a lot of supplies to the Archangel, he couldn't have imagined that anyone would need such a thing.

"Never mind, let's talk about it later."

Raven didn't dwell on the issue for long. For him, the most important thing today wasn't appearance, but fulfilling his promise to El.

Raven carefully transplanted El's mind into this new body and pressed the activation switch located on his chest.

"El, can you see me?"

Raven waved his hand in front of her eyes, his voice carrying a tension he himself was unaware of.

"Raven?"

Upon hearing Raven's call, El rotated her eye mechanism, first staring at Raven's figure, then scanning the entire cabin. Afterward, the locking devices of each joint were released in sequence, and El gained complete control of the body.

"This is... what it feels like to have a human body?"

"How does the new body feel? Are there any abnormalities?"

El shook his head.

"Everything's fine, Raven, your skills are still perfect. But may I see what I look like now?"

Faced with El's request, Raven scratched his head awkwardly, but eventually moved the mirror over.

The mirror reflected a silver-gray metallic humanoid figure, devoid of skin and hair, its face consisting only of basic facial features and a pair of red-glowing eyes. From a human aesthetic perspective, this appearance could even be described as "frightening."

"Although the current appearance is a bit rudimentary, I will definitely find a way to add the artificial skin we need once we get to Orb."

If we were to use a house as an analogy, this current physical form is at most a bare shell. However, since the most important issue of whether it exists has been resolved, the appearance issues are not insurmountable.

Raven produced a set of Union female volunteer uniform, along with a pair of black pantyhose, a pair of long gloves, and a silver wig.

"Let's just use this for now."

“I see.” El looked meaningfully at the clothes Raven had given her, put on the wig, picked up the pantyhose, and said in a calm tone that almost made Raven choke on his saliva, “So this is your fetish, Raven.”

"Don't say such weird things!" Raven's tone suddenly rose. "The pantyhose and gloves are meant to cover your bare body, and wasn't the silver hair your own design? How did it become my problem in the end?"

Raven's explanation was righteous and forceful, delivered at a rapid pace.

"Really?" Al sat on the edge of the bed, slowly rolling up the pantyhose from the toes. "Even though you say that, why did Raven keep staring at my legs while I was putting on my socks?"

"Uh... I, I was just observing whether the body was functioning normally, don't overthink it."

Raven quickly turned his head away from those legs, his ears visibly turning red.

"Then I'll take it as true."

El didn't press further. He slowly withdrew his fingers from the inside of the pantyhose he had lifted, letting the elastic fabric slap against the surface of her bare body.

Raven, who had already turned his head away, seemed to have a will of its own as his neck secretly glanced back again.

Under the outline of the pantyhose, the steel body that had just reflected a cold light now exudes a unique feminine charm. The hard mechanical structure is wrapped under a layer of delicate black gauze, bringing a kind of warmth that should not appear on machinery.

"As expected, Raven really likes it."

"Nonsense, mind your own business."

Raven felt that the air conditioner in the room was malfunctioning, and the temperature seemed to be a few degrees higher than he had set.

Raven, who had turned his back, listened to the rustling sounds of clothes being put on and put on. He suddenly realized that the scene was a bit too ambiguous. Although he was human and the other was a robot he had created, she was currently wearing women's clothing and her gender identity was closer to that of a human woman. She was still halfway through getting dressed and looked disheveled...

It seems really bad, doesn't it?

Just as this thought surfaced in Raven's mind...

click!

The door to Raven's dorm room opened, and Mirialia's energetic voice rang out from outside.

"Teacher, dinner is coming up soon. Tonight, the people from Dawn Desert are treating us to Turkish kebabs..."

Miria stood at the door, her face still bearing the bright smile she had when she came to find Raven. Her gaze swept across the room, landing on Raven standing there, and then on the unfamiliar figure sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her.

A woman wearing a United Army volunteer uniform, though her clothes were clearly not properly arranged, with black pantyhose and a bright yellow skirt, and the pink uniform on her top only half-buttoned, looked just like the characters in the comics Thor hid...

"I'm sorry, teacher, I didn't know the door wasn't locked, I didn't see anything!"

Miria seemed to have thought of something, and ran away with a blush on her face.

"Why did it turn out like this! Come back here, it's not what you think!"

Realizing his image was about to crumble, Raven quickly gave chase.

"I'm sorry, teacher, I already have a boyfriend!"

"So that's not it!"

El, who hadn't uttered a sound from beginning to end, fastened the last button on her collar, then tucked her silver hair behind her ear, reached out and put on the mask Raven had prepared for her, covering her unfinished face.

Then, she sighed.

"Fool."

Chapter 38 The First Battle with the Tiger (Part 1)

North Africa, Tahir.

This desert settlement was now shrouded in thick smoke and fire.

This is the base of the Dawn Desert resistance, and many families of resistance members live here.

But now, Baku of Zaft is running rampant in the city.

These steel behemoths, like evil gods from ancient mythology, crushed narrow streets with their massive mechanical feet, destroying cities that people had spent countless hours building, turning them into ruins with incredible speed.

Andrew Butterfield stood on a sand dune outside the city, watching the entire destruction of the city.

Attacking unarmed civilians was a despicable act that Andrew would never stoop to, but when he discovered that Dawn Desert had joined forces with the Archangel, he had no choice but to punish Dawn Desert accordingly.

For ZAFT, the resistance movement in Dawn Desert was just a minor skirmish. Apart from the mine, there were no other important strategic resources in the area. As long as Dawn Desert didn't act recklessly and attack the mine in operation, Andrew would just turn a blind eye.

But things are different now. With the Archangel and Dawn Desert united, their combat power already poses a significant threat to the ZAFT forces.

Andrew vividly remembered the combat prowess displayed by the Dagger and the Assault during the previous reconnaissance mission.

Even Andrew wasn't sure how much combat power would be needed to take down the Archangel.

Upon learning that the Archangel had landed on the upper levels of ZAFT in Andrew's defense zone, he was given the order to sink the Archangel at all costs.

It seems the Earth Force's propaganda has made the higher-ups particularly fixated on the Archangel.

'Isn't this exactly what the Earth Alliance wanted?'

But as a soldier, Andrew could only carry out orders from his superiors.

"Ugh, this is such a headache. Have I been having really bad luck lately?"

Andrew muttered something under his breath, picked up his coffee cup, and tried to use the scalding, bitter liquid inside to dispel his weariness.

"Captain, we have burned the supplies stockpiled by the resistance, and the city cleanup is almost finished."

The adjutant, Da Costa, rushed over to report.

"Hmm, you're quite efficient. What's the casualty situation?"

Da Costa was clearly taken aback.

"Huh? We haven't even entered combat, how could we possibly suffer casualties?"

I'm referring to both sides.

"Well... it's inevitable that residents will suffer from falls and burns while fleeing, but other than that, there shouldn't be anything else."

Andrew nodded in satisfaction, downed his coffee in one gulp, and got into the jeep.

With all their supplies and shelter burned to the ground, those who remained would certainly face dire circumstances. The desert nights were bitterly cold, and the daytime sun was scorching and merciless. Without shelter from the wind and rain, their plight was unimaginable.

But it's better than losing your life, right?

Before leaving, Andrew couldn't help but look back at the burning city.

'I'm such a hypocritical jerk.'

Andrew thought to himself in despair.

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

ZAFT forces began their withdrawal from the ruins of Tahir. After three Baku aircraft on a cleanup mission left the city, three more Baku aircraft appeared from another direction and joined Andrew's main force.

These three Baku were prepared by Andrew for the Dagger and the Assault. If the Archangel's mobile suits arrived to rescue the city during its destruction, the Baku would cooperate with the main force in the city to catch the enemy off guard. However, in the end, the enemy did not appear, which made Andrew feel a little disappointed.

Like Kruse, Andrew rose through the ranks from an ordinary MS pilot to captain through his combat achievements. Before becoming a commander, he was an excellent soldier.

While Andrew was lost in thought in the passenger seat of the Jeep, Da Costa suddenly noticed something was wrong.

"That's...it's the resistance! Dawn Desert has caught up!"

Upon hearing Da Costa's shout, Andrew almost instinctively sat up straight, his eyes instantly regaining their sharp light. But when he realized it was the guerrillas from the Dawn Desert, he leaned back in his seat, his shoulders slumped, looking even more listless than before.

"Those fools ultimately chose to die anyway, let Baku drive them away."