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

However, even with basic equipment, the short sword L would theoretically still have the upper hand when facing King, who is only equipped with live ammunition.

But how it actually turns out needs to be tested in real-world scenarios.

Drop drop!

The alarm suddenly sounded, pulling Lieutenant Rand back to reality. He saw the muzzle of an enemy warship flash in the distance, and his heart skipped a beat. Before his brain could make a judgment, his body had already begun to act. Muscle memory made him pull the control stick instantly, causing the short sword L to perform a pre-recorded emergency evasion maneuver.

The Rand machine executed an unexpectedly smooth dodge maneuver, and the enemy ship's gunfire didn't even graz the edge of the Rand machine.

Not to mention outsiders, even Rand himself thought that the dodge was really beautiful, and it was not like the move made by a newbie who had only been using MS for less than two weeks.

Lieutenant Rand once again marveled at the skill of the short sword he had encountered that day. It was said that the preset actions recorded in the short sword L were all developed based on the combat data of that short sword.

"Lieutenant, the enemy is here!"

The voices of his subordinates spurred Rand to focus, and the combat support program instantly marked the location and model of the enemy aircraft it had captured.

Rand glanced at it and saw that there were a total of 10 Kings and 2 Shigus.

The number of milliseconds is exactly the same.

But Rand dared not relax at all. All the enemy pilots were Coordinators, and they had been piloting mobile suits for far longer than the enemy pilots. But Rand recalled the blue streak he had seen that day and mustered his courage.

"Attention everyone! Maintain combat formation! Don't be afraid, we have the advantage in terms of machine performance!"

The other squad's two gun-mounted Dagger Ls opened fire first, and the fierce bombardment disrupted the ZAFT's MS formation. Rand seized the opportunity and led his squad straight into the enemy lines.

The ZAFT forces, engaging in their first large-scale MS war with the Allied Forces, were clearly unprepared. They spread out in formations designed to counter MA, but reality soon taught them a lesson.

A King used a heavy assault rifle to spray bullets at the incoming Dagger L, but the bullets only left a few craters on the shield that Dagger L was standing in front of.

King's pilot quickly realized that the frontal shooting was not very effective, so he used two fancy maneuvers to dodge the Dagger L's fire and then moved to the side and rear of the Dagger L.

But before he could pull the trigger, a beam of light from another direction pierced through his machine.

After losing three Kings, ZAFT realized their mistake and began to move closer together on their own, providing cover for each other, without waiting for orders. Meanwhile, the two Shigu took the initiative to advance, attempting to disrupt the Combine's formation.

Only the elite of the ZAFT army were qualified to drive the XIG, and Rand was certainly aware of this.

Because the RAND was equipped with an empty backpack, it was mistaken for the commander aircraft by the pilot of a XIK. Following the principle of capturing the leader first, a XIK aggressively attacked the RAND.

"Lieutenant, we're here to support you!"

The two wingmen also noticed the enemy aircraft's movements and were about to go forward to provide support when they were driven back by a hail of gunfire from King from other directions.

Seeing that his wingman was unable to come forward to provide support, Rand suddenly felt a desire to retreat. The memory of being ravaged by MS that day resurfaced, but that blue streak of light flashed past Rand's eyes once again.

"If he escapes from here, when will I ever catch up with him!"

Rand aimed at the shadow of the machine gun and pulled the trigger hard.

Chapter 51 Short Sword L's First Battle (Part 2)

With a move far more elaborate than the Short Sword L, Shigu narrowly dodged Rand's shot. The green beam grazed Shigu's fuselage, and Shigu's pilot began his counterattack while dodging.

The heavy assault rifles unleashed a torrent of 76mm armor-piercing rounds at the RAND aircraft.

The sudden shift in the balance of power caught Rand off guard, but the mech's combat assistance program automatically pulled the shield in front of him, protecting Rand from the deadly projectiles.

Although the first attack failed, the pilot of the Xigu lived up to his reputation as an elite. Taking advantage of the moment when the Lander pulled up its shield, the Xigu's thrusters did not decrease in power. He raised the attack shield on his left hand and used the Gatling gun mounted on it to continuously suppress the Lander's firepower. His right arm slung the heavy assault rifle behind his waist and drew the heavy slashing sword worn on his side.

A muffled sound kept rising in the cockpit of the Dagger L, and even Land's heartbeat quickened. Land, who was defending with his shield, did not notice the enemy's movements. He only felt a violent impact coming from the shield of his machine. Xigu rushed in front of Land's machine and kicked the shield of Land's machine away.

Higna's single eye, flashing red light, almost filled the entire screen of Rand, while the heavy slashing sword gripped tightly in his right arm was about to fall in the next moment, ready to cut Rand in two.

However, the empty backpack equipped on the Land machine saved Land's life. Land instinctively stepped on the pedal, making the empty backpack run at full power, and pounced into Shigu's arms before Shigu's heavy slash could fall. Then the powerful thrust of the empty backpack forced the Land machine to push Shigu away and create distance again.

Rand was panting heavily, his back covered in cold sweat.

He survived, albeit thanks to the machine's performance, but he still managed to avoid certain death.

Rand knew that such a tactic could only be used once, and ZAFT's elite pilots would not give him a second chance.

Although caught off guard by the performance of the RAND machine, Xigu quickly adjusted his posture. RAND used its automatic lock-on to retaliate against Xigu with a beam rifle, but all the beams fired were dodged by the opponent.

Shigu's movements were as elegant as ever, spinning its body in a continuous, dance-like maneuver, brushing past the beam of the Land machine, while simultaneously firing all the remaining ammunition in its attack shield toward the Land machine.

Rand had no better option than to continue holding the shield, but this time, he didn't just passively defend. He estimated the time in his mind, and just as Xigu came in front of Rand again, wanting to kick the shield away once more, Rand took the initiative to let go of the equipment held by his hands.

Xigu's flying kick easily knocked away Land's shield, but the next moment Land used its free hands to draw two beam swords from its waist and slashed out, leaving an X-shaped wound on Xigu's chest and body.

The next moment, the silver-white Cyclops exploded into a dazzling burst of sparks in front of Rand.

Rand gasped for breath, and it took him a while to finally calm down as he watched the wreckage of the Higu float past his machine.

'This way, we're at least a little closer to that stream of light...'

As Rand thought this, a smile appeared on his lips that he himself did not even realize.

In the few minutes that Rand and Sigur fought for their lives, the skirmish gradually came to an end.

Another Higu that broke into the formation was shot down by the Dagger L piloted by Major Bobran. The remaining Kings were eliminated one by one by the swarming Dagger Ls, while two gun-mounted Dagger Ls began bombarding the ZAFT warships.

Combined with the artillery fire from the Eighth Fleet warships behind them, the two Nazca-class ships belonging to the ZAFT forces were quickly reduced from warships to space junk.

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

"Sir, the battle is over. Our forces, at the cost of 5 mobile suits, have completely annihilated the enemy forces. This is a complete victory for our fleet!"

Colonel Hopman, who had previously been at odds with Halbarton, changed his attitude, straightened his back, and loudly reported the final result of the battle.

However, this is not his fault. With this victory, Halbarton has completely solidified his position in the United Space Forces.

All those doubts and idle gossip will disappear completely after today's clean and decisive victory.

Halbarton first pushed forward Project G despite pressure from various parties, and later brought the design of the short sword L and the corresponding Natural Man OS to the United Space Forces.

With today's victory, there is simply no other general in the United Space Forces who has achieved the same level of merit as Halbarton.

With today's victory, the Short Sword L's position as the main mass-produced weapon in the Joint Space Forces is now unshakeable. Halbarton will now be in charge of the future large-scale production of the Short Sword L.

This gave Halbarton the opportunity to cultivate his own power within the Space Forces and eliminate the influence of Blue Cosmos.

This was Halbarton's long-cherished wish, and Halbarton himself would never forget who gave him the opportunity to realize his dream.

Raven, this talented young man.

Halbarton initially thought the young man's knowledge was useful, so he assigned him to the G Project team. Little did he know that Raven would eventually give him such a significant gift.

The straightforward gaze Halbarton had seen that day resurfaced in his memory, causing a smile to unconsciously creep onto his lips.

'To live up to your trust, I still need to work much harder.'

Such a thought flashed through Halbarton's mind.

However, Halbarton did not allow himself to linger in the joy of victory and the nostalgia of the past for too long; he did not forget the purpose of leading the Eighth Fleet to Earth's orbit.

"Enough with the unnecessary words, quickly recall the MS forces. Also, have you made contact with the Archangel's location?"

Halbarton raised his hand, interrupting his subordinate's enthusiastic report, and his voice returned to its usual calm and steady tone.

"We've made contact, Your Excellency."

"Then proceed with the planned deployment and drop the supplies." Halbarton nodded, then added.

"Also, don't forget to send them the coordinates."

Halbarton never forgot the Archangel, which was fighting alone on the surface. After hearing the news that the Archangel had defeated the Desert Tiger single-handedly, Halbarton took the opportunity of conducting a practical test of the Dagger L to send supplies to the Archangel.

Halbarton's mood improved as he watched the supply ship drop the airdrop pods onto the ground.

I hope you like the surprise I sent.

Chapter 52 The Debate (Part 1)

A month has passed since the battle that defeated the Desert Tiger. The Archangel is now floating on the surface of the western Pacific Ocean, surrounded by the wreckage of ZAFT mobile suits that have just been destroyed.

Not long ago, the Archangel unexpectedly received an encrypted communication from the Eighth Fleet, which told them the coordinates of the landing of the supply crates that the Eighth Fleet had airdropped for them in orbit.

Upon receiving the message, the Archangel immediately headed to the drop site, only to run into a ZAFT patrol that was roaming nearby.

Fortunately, the Archangel is now a battle veteran. Facing the ZAFT patrol, the Archangel repelled them in just a few minutes and successfully recovered the supplies.

Raven hadn't even had time to change out of his pilot suit; he simply strode into the bridge, helmet tucked under one arm.

"Captain Lei, how's it going? What's in the supply crates?"

Maru asked eagerly, looking like a child wondering what was in a gift box.

However, Raven could understand her feelings. Since the Archangel landed on Earth, it had not received any proper supplies or repairs.

The engines damaged in the battle with the Desert Tiger have not been fully repaired, and the Archangel can now only barely maintain low-altitude flight.

The ship's food and drinking water were replenished with the help of Dawn Desert, but the various missiles and shells on the Archangel were beyond their ability to obtain.

Even more critical is the MS's spare parts. After several fierce battles, the parts available for repair and replacement are gradually running out. If there are one or two more fierce battles, the Dagger and the Assault will have to go into battle damaged.

So these days, Maru has been under a lot of pressure.

"Of course they're all good stuff, otherwise I wouldn't have rushed over here so quickly."

Raven handed a list to Maru, which included ammunition and, most importantly, mobile suit parts, thus escaping their current predicament of not knowing where their next meal would come from.

"And there's more than just this in the supply crate."

Raven pulled out a military-grade encrypted hard drive.

"This is?"

Amid Maru's questioning voice, Raven spoke softly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"This is a secret order given to us personally by Brigadier General Halbarton."

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

Twenty minutes later, in the captain's cabin of the Archangel.

"So, we're going to Orb next?"

Mu broke the brief silence in the captain's cabin with his usual nonchalant tone.

"However, the orders issued to us by the Allied Forces Headquarters did not permit us to enter Orb. Orb is a neutral country, and if Allied Forces warships rashly enter the territory of a neutral country without the permission of the headquarters, it could cause a diplomatic dispute."

Bakiru quickly pointed out the problems inherent in this decision.

"It's alright. Lord Halbarton has already reached an agreement with Uzumi, the former representative of Orb. All we need to do next is to sail the Archangel into Orb's territorial waters and put on a show in coordination with Orb's naval exercises."

"Please wait a moment!"

Raven's explanation did not satisfy Baki Lulu.

"You mean the brigadier general bypassed the government and the military and made a secret agreement with foreign dignitaries? That's...that's against regulations! We are soldiers of the coalition forces, not Brigadier General Halbarton's private army! In short, I disagree!"

Bakirulu managed to swallow the word "rebellion" back down, slammed her hand on the table, and took a step forward aggressively, staring directly at Raven.

Indeed, Halbarton's actions, let alone violating military discipline, could easily be considered rebellion, and Bakirulu's opposition was not without reason.

The military is a violent machine that protects the country, and soldiers are just cogs in that machine. They only need to follow the rules and carry out the orders given by their superiors.

This is the philosophy that Bakiruru was instilled with from a young age.

Halbarton's actions, however, completely contradicted this principle.

Raven could understand Bakiruru's thoughts, but given the current situation of the Archangel, going to Orb was unavoidable.

Although the Archangel had just received ammunition and MS spare parts from Halbarton, its engines had not been properly repaired.

From North Africa to the western Pacific, the Archangel maintained its flight with considerable difficulty, and its damaged engines might fail at any time. The Orb Dawn Shipyard was the only place in the vicinity capable of repairing the Archangel.

In addition, if Halbarton wants to completely eradicate the influence of Blue Cosmosism, he will have to fight against LOGOS, the organization behind Blue Cosmosists.

At that point, Orb's support will be very important to Halbarton.

Therefore, regardless of Buggy's attitude, the Archangel will head to Orb, but if possible, Raven still wants to persuade Buggy.

Her tactical command skills were indispensable to the Archangel, and in addition, Raven did not want to part ways with his comrades who had fought alongside him all the way.

'Although it's still a bit early, since Halbarton has given this order, it shouldn't be a problem for me to express his thoughts.'

After a moment's thought, Raven patted Buggy Lulu on the shoulder and said something.

"Don't get so agitated, Lieutenant Bakirulu. Calm down and answer one question for me: what's your opinion on the rampant 'Blue Cosmosism' within the Union Army?"

"Captain Lei, that's not the point of our discussion!"

Raven rubbed his temples in frustration and sighed.

"This is an order from the commander, Lieutenant Bakiruru, please answer my question!"