Mikazuki, who was shooting down incoming missiles and shells on the Archangel, noticed that the enemy's helicopters seemed to be constantly luring him.
"...Perfect."
After reloading the smoothbore cannon, Mikazuki jumped off the Archangel, landed steadily on the desert, and walked across the desert terrain as if on normal ground, thanks to the Alaya-Vijnana System of Barbatos.
Unlike Kira, who needed to rapidly adjust Strike's ground settings while fighting.
Andrew put down his cup, picked up binoculars to look at Barbatos, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"Hey, hey, seriously? A regular Mobile Suit, no matter how skilled the pilot, couldn't master the environment's impact on the unit so quickly, could it? That Wolf unit feels as effortless as walking down the street."
Barbatos raised the barrel of its smoothbore cannon, pulled the trigger at the night sky, and a shell exploded between two helicopters, the residual flames instantly destroying both combat helicopters.
Then he saw the artillery emplacements. Strike, which had been cornered by the BuCUE, suddenly become fluid in its movements, escaping the terrain-induced predicament.
Mikazuki then stopped paying attention to him, instead swinging his katana backwards.
A BuCUE that charged out from behind a sand dune was cut in half by Barbatos with a single stroke, exploding with a loud boom.
This location was exactly where Orga had said the five hidden BuCUE were, and Andrew exclaimed:
"Oh, it reacted without even looking at that distance? Its reaction speed is indeed as terrifying as the intelligence said."
"DaCosta, inform all units fighting the Wolf not to get too close to it. The intel says the Wolf's most terrifying aspect is close combat. Use missiles and beam weapons to wear it down."
"Yes, sir!"
"Alright, Wolf, let's see what you do... facing the attack-flash cover of four BuCUE."
A hint of anticipation curved Andrew's lips, his binoculars glued to his eyes.
Mikazuki, who had just swung an empty blade, noticed that the distance between him and the fast-moving dogs in the desert was widening.
Orga said with interest:
"A long-range attrition battle? It seems their commander isn't a simple character either."
"It's all the same, just crush seven or eight of them!"
The smoothbore cannon fired at the sand below, sending sand flying and enveloping the surroundings in a hazy yellow.
The vision of one of the BuCUE pilots was obscured. As he lowered his head to look at the radar, a pair of green eyes appeared in the dust in front of him.
"So fast!"
He didn't even have time to scream before the katana pierced his BuCUE's head and entered the cockpit in its chest.
When the dust settled, Andrew saw the Wolf holding a katana that had pierced a BuCUE through his binoculars, his pupils constricting slightly.
"Unbelievably high mobility, truly as the intel said. But is the pilot inside really alright with that speed?"
His adjutant DaCosta put down his binoculars, also staring in shock at Barbatos, who pulled out the katana and pursued another BuCUE at an incredibly fast speed.
"Indeed, let alone Naturals, even the most outstanding Coordinators among us couldn't withstand that kind of pressure."
"No wonder Creuset Team kept \'accidentally\' running into him. That speed, reaction, and skill... he's definitely a monster. But... it's a pity, our initial target wasn't you, Wolf."
"Strike's energy must be running low, just as expected."
Saying this, Andrew revealed a knowing smile, looking at the data on his tablet. Everything was within his plan.
In reality, these five BuCUE were simply to delay Barbatos. Andrew's main objective was to eliminate Strike.
Kira looked at his almost depleted energy, a bead of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Did I use the pulse cannon too much?... Damn it."
The artillery fire from the other two BuCUE continuously poured onto Strike. Kira could no longer fire Agni (the ultra-high pulse cannon mentioned above, fixed on Strike's left arm). If he fired one more shot, Strike's Phase Shift Armor would deactivate due to insufficient energy.
On the other side, the Archangel was dealing with artillery fire attacking from over 20 kilometers away and annoying helicopters in the sky, completely unable to assist him.
Mikazuki couldn't care less about him. To him, whether Kira lived or died didn't make much difference. You say Kira helped him at first? Well, he didn't know how many times he had helped Kira.
Let's just say, during the atmospheric re-entry to Earth, the Archangel's original emergency landing site wasn't here at all, but within the territory of the land forces.
It was only because Mikazuki said he wanted to save Kira that Murrue took action, severely deviating from their original planned landing zone, and thus encountered the Desert Tiger. So, based on that alone, Mikazuki felt he owed Kira nothing. His relationship with Kira was merely that of ordinary friends.
This sortie was also Kira's own initiative. Since he decided to go out and fight, he should be prepared to die in battle. Is there anything wrong with that?
Besides, it wasn't that he didn't want to save him, but that he couldn't break away. There were still three BuCUE circling him.
Just as Strike was in dire straits, a convoy appeared in the distance, and shells blasted from the armored vehicles' cannons.
Boom, boom!
They forced back the BuCUE surrounding Strike. DaCosta, having received news from the bridge, turned to Andrew and said:
"Captain, it's those people from Dawn Desert."
"Hmm... do they want to save the Earth Alliance's Mobile Suit?"
Andrew stroked his chin, observing the gradually changing battle situation ahead...
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