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

"What are you saying, Elsa? In my eyes, you'll always be the same person you were back then."

"So, does that mean 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 in his mind, and then gave his answer frankly.

"So beautiful, El."

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

Ah, youth is truly wonderful.

Andrew looked at Al 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 good manners wouldn't be so obsessed with digging into a lady's secrets."

Aisha gave Andrew a look that made the Desert Tiger give up.

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

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

The car started again, taking everyone back to the Archangel, but El was still recalling what Aisha had told him.

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

"Love? But I am not human. No matter how well I imitate him, I am probably just a tool. I can be 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 vast 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 happened?"

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

"nothing."

She said that.

Chapter 43 Rest before the war

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

Andri looked at the Zaut aircraft being unloaded from the transport plane with a headache.

The Zaut is a ZAFT mobile suit developed for ground combat. Its main armament consists of two shoulder-mounted twin-barreled live-fire cannons with long range and high power. However, its disadvantage is poor rapid-fire capability. It is fine for attacking targets such as artillery emplacements and warships, but it is too cumbersome to use against other 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 is a powerful mobile suit with abundant firepower, but due to its bulky body, it is unable to engage in high-mobility combat like King or Baku. It is more like a mobile turret than a mobile suit.

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

Andrew would prefer Baku or Dean for air combat over Zaut, or at the very least King.

Even Andrew, known as the "Desert Tiger," couldn't help but scratch his head at the thought of using Zaut to fight 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 being destroyed on one side.

"Gibraltar 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 Kruze team, so we can expect good results from them."

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

Putting aside the fact that he and Kruze don't get along, these three Gundams, although they are all products of the Alliance's G Project like the Strike Gundam on the other side, and their own performance is excellent, are unable to exert their due combat power in the desert without special adjustments due to the unique environment of the desert. Moreover, it is also a problem whether the pilots who have only fought in space can quickly adapt to the desert environment.

'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, with a hint of malice in his interpretation, sighed at his increasingly bleak future.

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

This was a novel experience they had never had in 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 in his heart, one question remained unanswered.

'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 objects.

However, unlike the interests of normal girls, El's room is not filled with cute plush toys, but with 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, El stands next to the flight simulator, instructing Cagalli on how to pilot the Sky Overlord using 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 a question.

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

"I'd still go with yogurt sauce."

Mu showed Raven the milky white sauce inside the tortilla.

"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 bites, glanced at El's back, hooked his arm around Raven's shoulder, gave him a mischievous 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 do anything about it."

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

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 spoke.

"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 ineffective; he had already exposed his sexually repressed side to Raven.

"I advise you to stop thinking about some robot girl and instead figure out which one you really like, the captain or the vice-captain?"

Mu immediately covered Raven's mouth.

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

Raven looked at him with amusement.

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

"This is not fear, but the instinct of a prey facing a predator!"

"Like a mouse encountering a cat?"

Mu was about to say something more when his radar, as 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."

Bakiruru appeared 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!"

Bakiruru sighed helplessly as she watched the two suddenly display mobility comparable to that of an airborne backpacker.

"How old are you, yet you act 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 it obvious, and secretly thought 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 was the Dawn Desert convoy.

Led by Seib himself, they followed behind the Archangel, burning with rage and seeking 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 hurried to the bridge of the land-based warship Resips and shouted.

"Which way is the long-legged creature heading?"

Andrew's answer came once again from his capable adjutant, Da Costa.

"It's about the mine! Based on Longlegs' current speed, it's estimated that Longlegs will arrive at the mine in three hours."

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

"This is a challenge to me."

Andrew squinted, pondering the significance of the Archangel's actions.

“If I don’t deploy my main force, the mine will be taken over by the enemy, and even if we take it back later, 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, worthy of his reputation as the "Desert Tiger," figured out the Archangel's plot in just a few seconds.

"Isn't this just making things worse by sticking to one idea?" Da Costa scratched his head, looking troubled. "Captain, are we just going to abandon the Archangel?"

"How is that possible!"

Andrew responded irritably.

"If we just stand by and watch the mines fall, we'll be facing a military court the next day. Tsk, you've got some tricks up your sleeve, Archangel."

Because the Archangel faction held the initiative, Andrew had no choice but to act according to their 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's side 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 effectiveness 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.

"There's no other way. 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-based warships have appeared: one Lesseps-class and one Petrie-class!"

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

"Enemy warships have opened fire!"

"what!"

Baki Lulu quickly asked.