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

The earth is crumbling, the sky is being torn apart, and the traces of human life here are being swept into the vacuum, turning into cosmic debris.

The so-called end of the world is probably nothing more than this.

Is this what war is all about?

The scene before Raven was far more horrific than anything he had seen in documentaries; it was something he had never experienced before, having always lived in an ivory tower.

This reminded Raven of where the war began.

A year ago, Plant's agricultural colony satellite Junius 7 was destroyed by Blue Cosmosists using a nuclear bomb.

Today, the ZAFT forces, who have experienced the pain firsthand, have destroyed the Heliopolis space colony, and those who were once victims have now become the perpetrators.

And what will happen if this continues to happen again and again?

'No, no! Help me!'

"mom!"

Raven's breathing quickened, and he seemed to hear the last cries of the victims before they died.

[Raven!]

Al's voice brought Raven back to reality.

[Raven, what's wrong?]

Al's electronic voice was filled with concern. In order not to worry her, Raven suppressed his discomfort and forced a smile.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."

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

A moment later, Raven landed his Dagger and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head and saw Kira's Strike returning to the Archangel. However, Kira's hands were holding a refuge pod that had escaped from Heliopolis. The flashing red lights on the pod indicated that it was a malfunctioning refuge pod.

Kira walked out of the cockpit with a gloomy face, and Raven could understand his feelings.

Even though Raven only lived in Heliopolis for a few months, he was somewhat depressed after witnessing the destruction of Heliopolis, let alone Kira, who had lived there for several years.

The door to the refugee pod was quickly pried open by Kira and the maintenance crew, and the refugees poured out. One of them, a young red-haired girl, caught Kira's eye.

Raven recognized the red-haired girl; she was Frey Alstar, Kira's classmate, just like Miriam and the others.

Raven looked at Kira's face, a few teardrops glistening in his helmet. For him at that moment, being able to confirm that the people he knew were still alive was perhaps the best way to relieve the pressure.

"This is Captain Maru Ramias. Please proceed to the operations room immediately, Mr. Raven."

Although Raven would rather rest for a while, he knew that something important must be happening when he heard the summons, so he had no choice but to pull himself together and head towards the war room.

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

"What happened, Captain?"

Raven pushed open the door to the war room.

Apart from Raven, who had just arrived, only Maru, Bakiruru, and Mu remained in the conference room.

Seeing the Archangel's decision-makers all together in one room, Raven roughly understood what Maru wanted to discuss with him.

After gesturing for Raven to sit down, Maru got straight to the point.

"Regarding the next steps of this ship, I would like to take your opinions into consideration."

The collapse of Heliopolis filled the entire space with the debris of the colony, temporarily rendering the radars of both sides ineffective. The Archangel took this opportunity to break contact with the ZAFT forces. To avoid revealing its location, the Archangel is currently in a state of inertial navigation.

But where the Archangel should go next is still undecided for Maru, who was hastily appointed as captain.

"Given the current situation, I believe that going to the Artemis Fortress where our allies are stationed is the most reasonable option."

Bakiruru proposed her own solution.

"This is the nearest Allied outpost to our ship. At our speed, we can reach it before we run out of supplies."

Bakirulu's suggestion was undoubtedly reasonable, but Raven, who knew the original storyline and was also familiar with the internal situation of the Alliance, frowned and raised his objection.

"Wait a minute, I remember the garrison at Artemis Fortress is part of the Eurasian Federation. They might not necessarily consider us allies. Besides, the Eurasian Federation is extremely envious of the results of Project G, so they might have some ulterior motives towards us."

Raven's words are true. The Earth Alliance is a military force composed of the armies of multiple countries. The members of the Archangel are all members of the Atlantic Federation, while the Artemis Fortress is a military base belonging to the Eurasian Federation.

While Project G is ostensibly a mobile suit development program of the Earth Alliance, it is actually driven internally by the Atlantic Federation. For the currently disadvantaged Eurasian Federation, the Archangel, carrying Project G data, is undoubtedly a highly desirable asset, whether for direct use or as leverage in negotiations with the Atlantic Federation.

Raven remembered that in the original work, that's exactly what the garrison of Artemis Fortress did.

“I think it would be better to head directly toward lunar orbit. Commodore Halbarton’s fleet is operating there, and he won’t abandon us.”

Brigadier General Halbarton was the most important driving force behind Project G, and Raven joined the Project G team because of Brigadier General Halbarton's invitation.

Raven's analysis made Maru fall into deep thought.

Although Raven was not a military officer, Maru knew that the internal discord he mentioned within the Allied Forces was indeed true, and his analysis forced Maru to consider the possible actions that Artemis Fortress might take.

Ultimately, Murrue decided to follow Raven's suggestion and head towards the lunar orbit.

At the same time, Maru was also somewhat surprised. Originally, she only wanted to learn about the situation of MS when she approached Raven. She did not expect that Raven, who had previously only focused on his own project, would make such a suggestion.

"However, in that case, the ship's supplies wouldn't be enough to support such a long voyage."

Bakirulu, who had a general understanding of the Archangel's situation, frowned. Indeed, due to the hasty departure, the Archangel's supplies were quite limited, and now that Heliopolis was destroyed, there was nowhere to replenish them even if they wanted to.

"Things will work themselves out; there's always a way. But before that, we need to figure out how to shake off Kruse's pursuit."

Raven crossed his arms and frowned as he spoke.

"I do have some thoughts on this issue."

Mu, who was standing to the side, raised his hand.

"I propose that we take advantage of the current chaos and launch a surprise attack on the ZAFT forces!"

Chapter 7 Pre-Battle Preparations

The Archangel is currently facing the Kruze squadron, which consists of one Nazca-class warship and one Lauracia-class warship.

As an older type of warship, the Lauracia-class, despite its ample firepower, was slow and could not keep up with the Archangel at full speed.

The Nazca-class ships are different. These warships, designed specifically for high speeds, have a higher speed than the Archangel. Even if the Archangel chooses to turn on its engines and run away at full speed, the Nazca-class warships can easily catch up with it.

Therefore, Mu proposed taking advantage of the current radar malfunction on both sides to launch a preemptive strike. The Archangel and two mobile suits would serve as bait, drawing the ZAFT mobile suit forces forward, while Mu, piloting an inconspicuous Möbius Zero amidst the wreckage, would approach the poorly defended ZAFT warship. Even if they couldn't sink the enemy ship outright, damaging the Nazca-class's engines would buy the Archangel valuable time.

Although this plan is indeed very risky, even if the Archangel does not take the initiative to attack, the ZAFT forces on the other side will not give up easily.

The ZAFT forces are not attacking now because the Archangel has shut down its engines and evaded ZAFT radar detection by hiding itself in the wreckage of Heliopolis.

But given Kruze's abilities, it's only a matter of time before he finds the Archangel in the wreckage.

In that case, it would be better to use the wreckage as cover and seize the opportunity to speed up the Nazca-class ships, giving the Archangel a chance to escape.

Mu's proposal was quickly approved by Maru, and after understanding Mu's intentions, Raven had new ideas for refurbishing the Möbius Zero.

"Using the Möbius Zero to deal with warships might not be enough in terms of firepower. I do have a temporary modification plan, though. Give me a little time, and I can equip the Möbius Zero with sufficient anti-ship firepower."

"But is there enough time to start the modifications now? The enemy won't wait for us to finish our preparations before taking action."

The most important aspect of Mu's proposed battle plan was to catch the ZAFT forces off guard before they could fully grasp the current chaotic situation. Given Kruze's capabilities, he could quickly ascertain the situation and proactively pursue them.

Therefore, the Archangel doesn't have much time left.

"Don't worry, Captain Frada. It's just a simple temporary modification, it won't take much longer than repairing the Mobius Zero. Captain, may I get permission?"

"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Raven."

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

Two hours later, at the hangar.

Mu twitched his eye as he looked at the new parts that had appeared on the Möbius Zero's fuselage.

The original location where the wire-mounted gun barrel was installed on the Möbius Zero has now been replaced by four simple T-shaped pylons, at the ends of which three anti-ship missiles are mounted.

Thus, the Möbius Zero acquired the formidable firepower to launch twelve anti-ship missiles in a single salvo.

"How is it, Captain?"

Raven, covered in engine oil, crawled out of the underground of the Mobius Zero and couldn't help but laugh when he saw Mu's speechless expression.

"These four pylons are jettisonable. When the time comes, the captain only needs to approach the enemy ship, launch missiles like an old-fashioned torpedo bomber, and then jettison the pylons and return. This hit-and-run tactic should be very simple for the captain, right?"

"Ah... um, a hit-and-run tactic? No problem."

Mu Gang recovered from the shock of his car's transformation and looked at Raven in front of him with a somewhat strange expression.

Mu never expected that Raven, as a developer of Project G, would come up with such a rudimentary and crude modification plan.

However, Mu had to admit that Raven's modification plan did indeed solve the problem of the Möbius Zero's insufficient anti-ship firepower very well. If all twelve anti-ship missiles could hit their targets, even if they couldn't sink the enemy ship, they would be enough to severely damage it, buying the Archangel time to escape.

This is the modified form of Möbius Type-0...

Mu couldn't help but take a second look at Raven, confirming that the other's skin wasn't green.

"The missile is laser-guided, but if the captain can successfully sneak close to the enemy warship, firing it like a rocket shouldn't be a problem. Oh, by the way, the linear cannon in the nose, the maintenance crew and I have fixed it for you. If you have any other questions, just tell the maintenance crew. It's almost time, I need to prepare for sortie."

Raven patted Mu on the shoulder and floated towards the locker room.

Mu scratched his head at the drastically changed Mobius Zero before he realized what was happening.

Huh? Squadron? That guy still wants to pilot a mobile suit into battle?

Mu remembered that Raven hadn't rested since returning to the ship. First, he piloted a mobile suit in combat, then he went to a meeting after returning to the ship, then he spent two hours repairing the Möbius Zero in the hangar, and now he was preparing to continue fighting.

Is this even human? Even a Coordinator should be exhausted after doing so much work, right?

"You'll get used to it, Captain."

"That's what the maintenance chief, Maddock, said from the side."

"When we were in the G project team, Mr. Raven's energy was also frightening. Many technical difficulties were overcome on schedule thanks to Mr. Raven's tireless overtime work. Without him, the project progress might have been much slower."

Mu watched Raven's retreating figure disappear into the locker room, and a new impression of Raven formed in his mind.

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

"Mr. Raven."

Kira stared in surprise as Raven pushed open the locker room door and walked in.

"Teacher, are you sure you're okay not to take a break? I remember you've been busy all day."

"Don't worry, I've been through this kind of chaotic situation countless times."

Raven forced a slightly stiff smile, telling Kira not to worry.

However, Raven no longer felt the excitement he had when he first boarded the MS. The battlefield was not a legend of heroes' bravery, but a slaughterhouse that took lives. Raven understood this from his own experience.

His body instinctively resisted the cramped cockpit of the MS, but Raven ultimately did not choose to quit.

There are only two people on the Archangel who can pilot mobile suits. If I don't do it, am I supposed to watch a 16-year-old child go to the battlefield alone?

Raven isn't that shameless.

"But you, are you really sure you want to continue piloting the Strike?"

Raven didn't want Kira to notice his fatigue, so he quickly changed the subject.

“I can’t leave you to face the ZAFT army alone, can I? Besides, Thor and the others are still on the ship, and I have to protect them.”

Kira's straightforward gaze invigorated Raven. He took a deep breath, suppressed the fatigue surging through his body, and threw a fist at Kira.

“Then we’re no longer teacher and student, but comrades-in-arms. I’m entrusting my back to you, Kira.”

Chapter 8 Fierce Battle in the Debris Zone

ZAFT forces, Nazca-class warship, Vesalius bridge.

"Has the radar not been restored yet?"

Captain Artis issued his fifth inquiry of the day, but the radar operator's response still disappointed him.

The wreckage of colony satellites filling the entire space rendered radar detection largely ineffective, and Artis tapped the armrest of the captain's seat with some frustration.

At this very moment, the "Long-Legged" ship that stores data from the Earth Military's MS program might have already escaped amidst the chaos.

"Don't be impatient, Artis."

Standing beside the holographic sand table displaying the map of the universe, Kruze spoke slowly and deliberately.

"However, if the radar remains in this state, Longlegs might really escape."

After hearing Artis's speculation, Kruze shook his head.