"As expected, just like the report said—fragment rockets."
Andrew gripped the controls, preparing to fire.
"Aisha, dodge this barrage! LaGOWE's armor isn't strong enough."
"Understood! Get ready, Andy!"
Aisha pulled the joystick hard; LaGOWE's thrusters spat out thick flames, distancing the mobile suit from the fragment coverage just in time.
"Now's the moment!"
Andrew seized the timing and pressed the trigger on the controls.
The twin high-energy beam cannons on LaGOWE's back charged instantly and fired two beams toward Jesta.
Jesta didn't dodge the beams, instead continuing its approach toward LaGOWE.
The upper-left mechanical arm on Jesta's high-mobility backpack extended, adjusting the angle so the shield precisely blocked the incoming beam aimed at Jesta. Once the block was complete, the shield retracted.
"Using the mechanical arm to control the shield?"
Seeing the attack blocked, Andrew didn't waste a second. He switched to a precise sniping method, continuously firing to find the next opening.
"What a tenacious opponent."
"Andy, the Cub is closing in! It's time for close combat!"
Aisha tightened her grip on the joystick as Jesta approached relentlessly.
LaGOWE's head-mounted beam sabers extended to the sides, and its lower leg treads spun rapidly.
With Aisha pressing the throttle, LaGOWE's thrusters operated at full power, lunging toward Jesta.
"Perfect chance!"
Roz saw LaGOWE's lunge. Jesta swung its left arm; the beam saber on the forearm flipped out and was gripped in hand. The left-side shield on the high-mobility backpack adjusted its angle and locked in advance.
As LaGOWE's beam saber neared Jesta's shield, its thrusters ignited, and the mobile suit suddenly spun midair.
Roz realized LaGOWE's intent: to rotate around the shield and slice Jesta's arm with the beam saber.
"Not a chance!"
Roz pressed the pedal. Jesta's thrusters activated, moving rapidly to open distance and forming a ninety-degree angle with LaGOWE.
LaGOWE's rotating beam saber grazed Jesta's shield. Jesta swung the beam saber, precisely cutting off LaGOWE's left rear leg.
"Ugh…"
Seeing LaGOWE's left rear leg go offline, Aisha gritted her teeth and kept the machine running.
Andrew seized the opportunity. With the high-energy beam cannon aimed at Jesta, he pressed the trigger. Beams shot out toward Jesta's cockpit.
The mechanical arm on the right-upper side of the high-mobility backpack unlocked, quickly moved the shield in front of Jesta, and locked it again. Jesta's shield once more blocked LaGOWE's fire solidly.
"Keep your distance, wait for the next opportunity!"
Seeing the attack miss this time, Andrew abandoned further firing attempts.
LaGOWE adjusted its posture just before hitting the ground, landing steadily.
With Aisha's operation, LaGOWE—now with only three legs—still maintained its original speed and agility thanks to thruster assistance.
LaGOWE traced a wide arc, kicking up sand with the specially inclined treads, forming a visual obstruction in front of Jesta.
Roz wasn't distracted. On the full-cockpit UI, LaGOWE's position was already marked with an inverted triangle.
Fragment rockets pierced through the sand curtain, exploding directly in front of LaGOWE.
Even with Aisha's superb piloting skills, after dodging most fragments, LaGOWE's structure had to endure the remaining hits.
The twin high-energy beam cannons and left wing went offline. The twin beam cannon, battered by fragment fire, even started smoking.
Just as Roz was about to fire another round at LaGOWE, a sharp, needle-like pain shot through his head, prompting him to instinctively press the pedal.
Jesta's posture thrusters activated rapidly, dodging two beams that came from behind.
"Beams?!"
Roz froze for a moment as he saw the two beams coming without any trajectory adjustments.
"Cub! You bastard!"
Then a powerful, slightly manic voice rang out across the desert.
Suddenly, Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam had launched from the Lesseps, their thrusters operating frantically as they flew toward Jesta.
"Duel and Buster? They've chased us all the way here?!"
Roz pressed a few buttons on the control stick.
The mechanical arm on Jesta quickly adjusted the shield's direction, firing two fragment rockets at each approaching mobile suit.
"Die!"
Yzak shouted. Duel Gundam raised its left shield while retracting the beam rifle with its right hand to grab the beam saber behind.
Meanwhile, Dearka hid Buster Gundam's cannon behind and used Buster's PS armor to absorb the two fragment rockets.
It had to be said—Dearka seemed to have improved considerably. Under this heavy impact, he didn't let out the kind of beastly howl from before.
Yzak might have looked mad, but his combat logic remained clear. He had no intention of fighting Jesta in the desert with an unadjusted Duel Gundam.
As for the beam rifle, to be honest, its trajectory earlier was originally aimed at Jesta's right side, intending to force it closer to LaGOWE for a pincer attack. But the result had deviated too much, so he abandoned it.
Better to rely on the beam saber.
Thinking this, Duel Gundam closed in on Jesta.
Seeing the beam saber drawn and swinging toward the mechanical arm, Roz furrowed his brow.
The mechanical arm quickly dropped, releasing the shield. Jesta caught it, completing the docking, and the now-empty mechanical arm returned the falling beam saber handle to the left forearm storage.
Jesta extended its left hand, precisely thrusting the tip of the shield against Duel Gundam's shield, slightly altering its propulsion vector.
Then, with a swing of Jesta's left hand, the shield struck Duel Gundam's left side, knocking it directly onto the desert sand.
"Yzak!"
Dearka, in Buster Gundam, was frantic. He pushed the cannon barrel directly against Jesta's side.
"At this range, it won't miss!"
Clearly, Dearka hadn't had time to adjust the suit's data, so he compensated with this high-risk, close-range shot.
As Dearka pressed the trigger, Jesta released the right hand holding the electromagnetic rocket launcher and caught the shield released by the mechanical arm. Another shield strike hit Buster Gundam's cannon barrel.
The fired beam deviated, scattering across the desert, creating several craters and melting patches of sand.
The right-lower mechanical arm of the high-mobility backpack caught the released rocket launcher, while the left-lower arm deployed the beam rifle mounted on the backpack.
Jesta turned, thrusters operating, distancing itself from Buster and Duel as they returned to normal posture. Then, like a boxer, Jesta raised both hands, shields blocking the head-mounted Vulcan fire from Duel Gundam.
"Hah… don't skimp on power, Dearka. Our suits haven't been adjusted; the feet will sink in otherwise."
Yzak, having just adjusted Duel Gundam's posture, watched Jesta holding shields in both hands warily.
"I know, but that Cub is so hard to deal with."
Dearka was silently suffering. Buster Gundam wasn't a melee-focused suit, and its mobility was average. Now, having to use thrusters frequently made the controls feel awkward.
"Hah… hah…"
Inside Jesta's cockpit, Roz, after a series of close-quarters maneuvers, was breathing heavily, gripping the controls tightly.
Even with the prototype NTD system activated, the recent battle had still put immense pressure on Roz.
"Caution, Roz. Jesta isn't Schuzrum-Galluss; the frame is approaching fatigue threshold."
At this moment, the Haro also reminded Roz.
"Hah… got it. Let's go, Round Two."
Roz pressed the trigger and stepped on the pedal.
The mechanical arms at Jesta's waist began operating, firing the beam rifle and electromagnetic rocket launcher continuously.
Between the streams of fragment rockets and beams, the high-mobility backpack at Jesta's back activated, blasting thick flames, and the suit charged toward Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam.
"Watch out, he's coming!"
Yzak maneuvered Duel Gundam, raising its left shield to block the incoming beams and fragment rockets from the mechanical arm, while gripping the beam saber in his right hand, planning to pierce Jesta.
Jesta extended its left arm, striking the beam saber-wielding forearm of Duel Gundam, then spun around, crashing the right-hand shield into Duel Gundam's body in an Iron Mountain Slam-like motion.
Before Duel Gundam could fall, Jesta's posture thrusters activated. Raising its right leg, it performed a spinning side kick to Buster Gundam's waist, knocking it away.
At this point, the two waist-mounted weapons on Jesta could only fire at other ZAFT mobile suits due to the angles.
As Jesta just set down its right leg and adjusted posture, the long-awaited LaGOWE acted.
LaGOWE leapt toward Jesta's back again, thrusters at full power, attempting to split Jesta in two at the waist.
Warned by the intense neural pain in his brain, Roz quickly spun Jesta around. The left-hand shield struck LaGOWE on the head, disabling LaGOWE's beam saber immediately.
Then, the right-hand shield jabbed at LaGOWE's waist, firing a fragment rocket.
For some reason, Roz instinctively tilted the fragment rocket slightly toward LaGOWE's rear.
With the explosion, LaGOWE was split in two and fell to the ground.
"…Hah… is it over?"
Watching the now immobile suit, which was still issuing repeated alerts, Andrew smiled.
"Andy."
Aisha stood up from the front seat, turned around, and extended her hand toward Andrew.
"Aisha."
Andrew stood from his seat and returned a warm embrace.
Immediately afterward, another explosion occurred…
-----------------------------------
"Hah… hah…"
Roz glanced at the warning Haro had displayed on the screen again, then maneuvered Jesta to launch the fragment rockets from the shield toward the struggling Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam in the sand. This time, the fragment rockets successfully destroyed their weapons.
The shield was handed back to the two upper mechanical arms, and Jesta grabbed the now-empty beam rifle and electromagnetic rocket launcher.
The mechanical arms that had released the weapons activated again, loading the last magazine into the electromagnetic rocket launcher.
"Murrue… Desert Tiger is down."
Roz glanced at LaGOWE's wreckage and activated the comms.
"…Well done, Roz. The Lesseps is now being abandoned. We succeeded."
Murrue's voice reported the current situation through the communicator.
Without being restrained, Kira's shooting skills proved remarkable. Each shot from the airborne Strike Gundam could destroy an enemy unit's limbs without damaging other parts.
Roz raised Jesta's right hand and fired two fragment rockets at the helicopters above. The rockets struck the helicopters, creating massive fireballs.
"…Return to the ship. We're about to break through their defenses."
Murrue's voice sounded again over the comms.
"Understood. Returning to the ship."
Roz piloted Jesta to dodge the supporting fire from a ZuOOT unit, having to put distance between himself and the prone Duel Gundam and Buster Gundam.
For some reason, the two had stopped moving—likely stunned by the shock.
Roz fired one fragment rocket at each of the two Gundams with active PS armor, and another at the ZuOOT unit that had fired earlier, before piloting Jesta out of the area.
After such intense combat, not only were the weapons running low, but Jesta's power was also in a dangerous state. Roz had no intention of being stranded there.
-----------------------------------
Once the Archangel left the area, everything fell silent.
A group of people in ZAFT uniforms drove jeeps across the battlefield.
DaCosta sprinted to LaGOWE's wreckage and peered into the cockpit breach.
His pupils first constricted, then, after careful observation, he seemed to exhale in relief.
"Bring a few people! Quickly!"
He shouted loudly, waving to the soldiers below.
"There's someone still alive here!"
.......................