Chapter 89: SEED – The Price of Growth 3
The BuCUE immediately turned and charged after Sahib Ashman. Only then did Cagalli Yula Athha react, fleeing for her life with her bodyguards to escape the BuCUE's attack range.
Just as the BuCUE was about to overtake Sahib Ashman, Kira Yamato arrived at the scene piloting the Strike Gundam.
He fired his beam rifle at the BuCUEs, but after several shots, he realized his aim kept going wide.
He quickly discovered that the desert's heat convection was interfering with normal targeting, requiring parameter adjustments to the beam rifle.
Fortunately, having already gone through tuning for artillery equipment before, Kira quickly finished the OS adjustments.
He resumed his attack on the BuCUEs, and with a single shot, neatly blasted off one BuCUE's missile-launching equipment.
At the same time, he easily dodged the attacks from the other BuCUEs.
Meanwhile, Cagalli Yula Athha rushed to her companion, who lay on the ground barely clinging to life. Saddened, she cried out:
"Afmid, hang on! Afmid!"
Her friend forced out his final breath and tried to speak to Cagalli: "I… to… you…" But before he could finish, his life slipped away.
Cagalli wept, calling his name over and over, "Afmid!" But he would never wake again…
At that moment, on the ZAFT side, the Desert Tiger—Andrew Waltfeld—ordered one of the BuCUE pilots to vacate his machine. He would personally take on the Strike Gundam.
The four BuCUEs quickly formed up and launched a joint assault on the Strike Gundam.
Kira Yamato was being toyed with, missiles occasionally landing hits on the Strike's armor.
Andrew Waltfeld even managed to kick the Strike Gundam squarely once.
Then Andrew's wild voice boomed out from his BuCUE:
"Even with normal shells, after 76 direct hits, your Phase Shift armor will fail! And your beam rifle's energy will run dry! What then, oh wondrous pilot?"
His BuCUE unleashed a storm of missiles at the Strike Gundam.
At this point, Tolle Koenig arrived in his Skygrasper fighter. Spotting the mighty BuCUE, he instantly knew that Andrew Waltfeld himself was piloting it.
He couldn't risk killing the Desert Tiger outright, but he still had to help Kira.
So he gave up on using the anti-ship beam cannon and instead targeted the BuCUE's wing binders, firing two missiles in hopes of driving it back.
Andrew noticed the Skygrasper and the incoming missiles. With just a small burst of speed, the sand he kicked up became a natural barrier, blocking the missile strike.
But thanks to this, Kira Yamato caught a breather. This was when he awakened his SEED mode—his movements in the Strike Gundam changed completely.
Facing the oncoming missiles, he stood still for a moment, then suddenly accelerated backward. The missiles collided with each other mid-air, erupting in an explosion.
He then charged at the BuCUEs head-on.
Just as he was about to close in, the Strike Gundam flung its shield, slamming it into one BuCUE and sending it crashing to the ground.
Next, he rushed another BuCUE, raising his beam saber in his left hand and slashing down.
Whether Kira held back or the pilot reacted quickly, the BuCUE spun just in time. The saber only sheared off its wing binder, sparing it from destruction.
Meanwhile, Tolle Koenig circled overhead in the Skygrasper, firing bursts from his beam cannons to harass the BuCUEs.
When he spotted one BuCUE trying to ambush the Strike from behind, he seized the moment and fired the anti-ship cannon into a sand dune.
The blast sent up a blinding wall of sand, spoiling the BuCUE's attack and even intercepting several missiles.
But Andrew Waltfeld was relentless. He pressed the frontal assault with more missiles.
Inspired by Tolle, Kira performed a somersault, using his thrusters to kick up a sand screen of his own, shielding against the barrage.
If Tolle had heard Kira's thoughts, he would have said: "No way—that was me copying you. I saw it in the anime before, that's how I knew the trick! And the Desert Tiger just did it too, that's why it came to mind!"
Using the smoke from an explosion as cover, Kira flew the Strike Gundam low, hugging the ground, lying in wait for the BuCUEs.
Sure enough, one impatient BuCUE leapt through the haze, only to be blasted mid-air by the Strike's beam rifle, exploding like fireworks in the sky.
Another BuCUE came charging recklessly, but its effort was wasted. It only grazed past Kira before the Strike sliced off one of its legs, forcing it into a panicked retreat.
But Tolle Koenig saw through everything. That crippled BuCUE had to be Andrew Waltfeld's—only he would deliberately sacrifice a leg to stage a tactical withdrawal.
With the ZAFT forces retreating, Tolle landed his Skygrasper beside the Strike.
Kira descended from the cockpit on a cable.
The first thing he did after removing his helmet was coldly rebuke the Desert Dawn resistance fighters:
"Do you want to die? Throwing your lives away on the ground like this—it's meaningless!"
Cagalli Yula Athha, furious, charged at Kira, intent on lashing out at him.
Tolle knew that in the original story Kira slapped her. Honestly, he wanted to slap her himself!
This "Cagalli No-Brains Yula Trouble-Magnet" was infuriating. He usually wouldn't raise a hand against a woman, but this tiger girl was the exception.
Always dragging others into danger, yet she herself somehow survived every time—while those around her paid the price. He really wanted to slap her to vent his anger!
How could he pass up such a once-in-a-lifetime chance?
Before he knew it, Tolle stepped forward, blocking her path. With his left hand, he firmly seized her arm.
Cagalli Yula Athha struggled desperately, trying to break free from his grip, but she couldn't escape.
"Let go of me, you bastard!"
"Miss, calm down. Kira is absolutely right. Your sacrifice here would mean nothing. If Kira hadn't shown up, you wouldn't even have taken down a single BuCUE."
Tolle ignored her demand, while the Desert Dawn members glared at him as though they wanted to devour him alive.
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