After receiving Mu's report, Murrue decided to send Kira to assist the advance team. She couldn't bear to stand by and watch people die. At the same time, she instructed Mu and the others to maintain their current position while she dispatched the remaining vehicles to deliver more water and medical supplies.
"Strike, you are cleared for launch."
"Understood." Kira, who had been waiting in the cockpit, finally received the launch order. He still hadn't figured out the meaning behind the battles, nor had he solidified his resolve. But time waited for no one—what he needed to do now was fight. He had to fight!
"APU activated, catapult connected… Strike, equipped with Aile Striker… Aile Striker, in position… All systems normal, runway clear. Strike, cleared for launch!"
"Kira Yamato, Strike, launching!"
Propelled by the catapult, the Strike Gundam launched from the deck of the Archangel. In midair, the Aile Striker unfolded, and the Phase Shift Armor activated. Kira pressed the pedal to the floor, accelerating rapidly toward the Desert Dawn's location.
...
"It's started."
Lyle parked the car in a safe spot, and the two of them observed the battle through binoculars.
"Battle" might have been too generous a term—it was more like a massacre.
The 75mm armor-piercing rounds barely scratched the BuCUE's armor, only causing minor damage if they hit vulnerable joints.
Meanwhile, the BuCUE could destroy vehicles and kill people with a single touch. And if the BuCUE got serious…
"They're serious now. How brutal."
At first, it had been more of a game, with both sides exchanging blows. But now that the BuCUE had switched to full combat mode, it wiped out more than half of Desert Dawn's armed jeeps in the blink of an eye—without even firing a shot.
The BuCUE simply used its treads to glide and crush the convoy from behind. There was no dodging, no escaping.
"Hey, are we really not going to intervene? Cagalli's in serious danger."
When Lyle saw the BuCUE targeting Cagalli's vehicle, he couldn't stay calm anymore. No matter how much he disliked her, he couldn't just let her die—she was still the princess of Orb. If she died, how would Yang Hui explain it to Uzumi? Would their plans be jeopardized?
"No need. He's here."
Lyle noticed that Yang Hui's gaze was no longer fixed on the battlefield but on the distant sky.
A black dot rapidly expanded in their vision—the Strike Gundam, wings spread, approached at high speed. Still airborne, it fired its rifle, forcing the BuCUE to retreat before it could deliver the final blow to Cagalli.
With the Strike Gundam's arrival, Desert Dawn's surviving members were few and far between. Now that the distractions were gone, the real target had appeared—and the BuCUE units were ready to get serious.
"Huh? The Strike's here."
"Correct. But the enemy's objective has also been achieved."
"What do you mean? Was the Strike always the Desert Tiger's real target?"
"Heh. Did you really think Andrew Waltfeld attacked the town without harming anyone just for revenge?"
Andrew Waltfeld—the man known as the Desert Tiger—would never waste effort burning down a town over something as petty as revenge.
Revenge was just a pretense. The real goal was to flush out their prey. Andrew Waltfeld's calculations were simple: rather than searching for a needle in a desert, it was better to provoke their thirst for vengeance and lure the target into the open.
He analyzed that the Archangel had ultimately left with members of Desert Dawn. Their tracks had remained undetected because they must have merged forces. As long as they located Desert Dawn's base, the positions of both the Archangel and the Strike Gundam would naturally be revealed.
While he'd considered the possibility that the Archangel and Strike might not assist Desert Dawn, it didn't matter. Taking this opportunity to eliminate those irritating rats would leave the Archangel without support. Without assistance, they'd inevitably grow anxious to move. Once the Archangel made its move, it couldn't possibly escape his notice.
This was a brilliant strategy that killed two birds with one stone.
"Tsk tsk, you tacticians all have such dirty minds," Lyle complained.
"Ha, why don't you say that to Sumeragi's face?"
"Do I look stupid?"
Lyle rolled his eyes. Telling you would be 99.9% safe, but telling Ms. Huang?
Heh, whether Ms. Huang would punish me or not, I don't know—but you definitely would!
"Alright, let's keep watching the show."
...
With the Strike Gundam joining the battle, the situation underwent a dramatic shift.
At first, the Strike's hit rate was abysmally low due to thermal convection interference in the desert. But who was Kira? Programming mid-battle wasn't new to him. He immediately adjusted the auxiliary systems, and then...
"Zing—"
A green beam finally found its mark, piercing through the gap between the BuCUE's body and its back-mounted missile launcher, relieving the BuCUE of its heavy burden.
"What!?"
"Well now, that's impressive." The sudden improvement in Strike's accuracy naturally caught Andrew Waltfeld's attention, just like how its movement programs had quickly adapted to desert terrain in their previous encounter. "Different equipment from last time, and that beam targeting... he must've recalibrated it on the spot using thermal convection parameters, right?"
They say strong warriors rarely find worthy opponents yet yearn for them. Andrew Waltfeld was exactly that type of man. Seeing the Strike Gundam's dazzling performance reignited the flames that had previously died down.
"Kirkwood!"
"Sir!"
"I'm taking over the BuCUE."
"Huh? Captain, what are you saying?"
Just as the previously immobilized BuCUE regained mobility and was preparing to rejoin the fight, Kirkwood received Andrew Waltfeld's order to switch pilots.
"Some things can only be understood through direct confrontation. Switch now!"
"Uh... yes, sir."
...
"You're sure he's a rookie without formal training?" Lyle asked Yang Hui with a strange expression, watching as the Strike Gundam single-handedly suppressed two desert-specialized BuCUE's—behavior that didn't seem rookie-like at all. Moreover, the sudden improvement in accuracy had also caught Lyle's attention.
"Yep, impressive, isn't he?" Yang Hui teased in response.
"Tch, what kind of monsters are these?" Lyle grumbled.
Kira's piloting skills were decent, but only decent. Reaching this level without precious training was indeed remarkable.
But what truly shocked Lyle wasn't Kira's piloting—it was his on-the-fly recalibration of auxiliary systems based on thermal convection parameters.
How much time had passed? He completed the recalibration mid-battle? Sorry, but I couldn't do that.
"Otherwise, why would he be called the Ultimate Coordinator?" Yang Hui chuckled. Kira had made significant progress. Due to his influence, the Archangel had avoided many battles, and Kira had only participated in three actual combat missions so far.
Originally, Yang Hui had thought Kira's abilities might lag behind, but surprisingly, they were almost on par with the original storyline!
"Hmm? Did they switch pilots?" Yang Hui alerted Lyle.
"Switch pilots?" Lyle shifted his gaze toward Andrew Waltfeld's position and saw him replace the original pilot, boarding the BuCUE himself. "Seriously? Are people in this world always this bold? One modifies the OS on the spot, and another switches pilots mid-battle?"
"There's a lot you don't know yet," Yang Hui replied.
To be fair, it wasn't Lyle's fault. Compared to the Gundam 00 world, the Gundam SEED world had far more outrageous maneuvers—dropping massive space debris on Earth, using allies as bait to blow up bases, firing gamma rays directly at the planet, stealing each other's mobile suits, and so on. Those were just the major ones. The minor ones were countless too, like Kira and Andrew Waltfeld's current actions, or Dearka defecting for love, Athrun switching sides for his best friend, or the endless romantic entanglements among couples. The list went on!
In the Gundam 00 world, the only one with similarly flashy moves was probably Graham. And if you thought about it…
Well, there was also the son stabbing his father, Setsuna revealing his identity in an instant, lovers reuniting on the battlefield, and people abandoning their bodies to become data ghosts… Seems like there were quite a few absurdities there too! (╯°□°)╯
"You… didn't factor this into your calculations too, did you? Wanted to see the Desert Tiger's skills firsthand?" Lyle suddenly realized, raising an eyebrow.
"Guess?" Yang Hui smirked.
The answer was obvious. Anime portrayals could only serve as references. Andrew Waltfeld wasn't just an excellent commander—he was also one of ZAFT Forces' ace pilots. Since he might become an ally in the future, Yang Hui naturally wanted to see his abilities for himself.
Sure enough, after the switch, the tide of battle began to shift.
...
One BuCUE lunged into the air, attempting to knock the Strike Gundam to the ground, but it collided squarely with the Strike's shield, which was forcefully swung.
"Clang—!"
Sparks flew as the BuCUE lost balance midair. Before it could even land, the muzzle of a Beam Rifle locked onto it.
"Damn it!"
The barrel gleamed, the scythe of death poised to strike—but salvation arrived at the last moment, pulling Death's hand away.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…"
A volley of missiles followed, forcing the Strike Gundam back to the ground.
The BuCUE, which had been moments from destruction, landed safely and quickly retreated to regroup with its unit.
"Form a delta formation—now!"
"Captain?" x2
With their leader taking the field, the two BuCUE pilots immediately rallied. With him leading, they were invincible!
"Let's go!"
"Roger!" x2
The three BuCUE's converged, forming an inverted delta formation as they skidded toward the Strike Gundam at high speed. Two of them grazed past, disrupting the Strike's balance, while the third slammed straight into it, sending the Gundam stumbling.
"Beep beep beep…"
Before he could steady himself, a missile already filled the entire screen.
"Boom~!"
Thanks to the defensive capabilities of the Phase Shift Armor, the Strike Gundam remained unharmed, but it couldn't endure attacks indefinitely. Kira quickly leaped to evade the two missiles that followed.
However, a BuCUE jumped up alongside it.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the red mono-eye before him, Kira instinctively pulled the trigger, unleashing a storm of metal from the CIWS Array Vulcan Cannons on the Strike's head.
Unfortunately, the panicked attack was meaningless—it failed to hit the BuCUE, and the Strike was kicked back to the ground by the BuCUE's leg.
Yet, the Strike didn't fall. Just before hitting the ground, flames erupted from its back, allowing it to regain balance and glide just above the surface.
Andrew Waltfeld wouldn't let this opportunity slip. He launched a barrage of missiles, once again enveloping the Strike in explosions.
After landing, the Strike regrouped with two allied mobile suits.
"Even with conventional warheads, 76 hits will disable your Phase Shift Armor. At the same time, your rifle will lose power. What will you do next, miraculous Earth Forces pilot?"
For the first time in a while, a cruel yet exhilarated smile spread across Andrew Waltfeld's face.