Gundam, the Gundam journey of a certain glue guy and his mecha girl.

Miria turned her gaze and secretly glanced at Frey, only to find that Frey wasn't as excited as she had imagined. Instead, Frey picked up a glass of orange juice and walked towards Lux.

Here, your drink.

"Thank you, Miss Frey."

Lux initially looked surprised, but quickly broke into her usual smile. She reached out and took the water glass from Frey's hands.

"Hmph, I just don't want to become someone who doesn't keep their promises, don't overthink it."

Frey blushed slightly, and her voice suddenly softened as she whispered something in Lux's ear.

"I was wrong about what happened before, I'm sorry."

Before Lacus could react, Frey walked straight to Kira's side and whispered the same thing.

"Kira, I'm sorry for offending you in many ways before."

After saying that, she quickly walked out of the cafeteria.

"This is truly an unexpected surprise! Is that young lady really such a reasonable person?"

Mu nudged Raven's waist with his arm and turned to look at Raven's profile.

"Why don't you seem surprised at all? Did you do it?"

Mu asked in a low voice.

Who knows?

Raven didn't want to say it outright, but just shrugged noncommittally, though a slight smile still appeared on his lips.

Chapter 23 Pursuit

ZAFT forces, Vesalius.

When Cruze arrived at the bridge, it was still a small, dilapidated structure.

The last defeat had a huge impact on them. They mobilized their entire army, only to be overturned by the enemy with inferior forces. In addition, the Gamov was sunk.

However, Kruze did not give up the mission of pursuing the Archangel. Instead, he followed the Archangel from a distance, providing friendly forces with the Archangel's location while preparing to make his move at the opportune moment.

"Captain, you've arrived."

When Artis, who was on duty on the bridge, saw Kruze arrive, he immediately stood up and saluted.

"Artis, what important information are you talking about?"

"That's right, according to intelligence from friendly forces..."

Artis handed a document to Kruze.

This is intelligence from friendly forces monitoring Earth forces on the lunar surface. The main force of the Eighth Fleet has left the lunar base and is approaching the Archangel. The two sides are expected to rendezvous in a few hours.

This news also unusually caused Cruze to become anxious.

Although he didn't care about merit like ordinary soldiers, his current image as an outstanding young officer was just a disguise to gain Patrick's trust.

But the previous crushing defeat had already damaged his image. If he returned home empty-handed with no results, even if Patrick trusted him before, he would not entrust him with important tasks in the future.

'We need to achieve some results, at least to save face.'

Kruze pondered for a moment, rubbing his chin, and then asked Artis.

"How are the drivers doing?"

"It must be because of the impact of the last defeat that they have been training hard recently. If they are to launch an attack, at least their morale will not be a problem."

On paper, the Cruze squadron still holds the upper hand. The four G-class mobile suits and the Sigurd, which form the main fighting force, are intact, while the enemy's combat power is limited to two mobile suits, the Assault and the Dagger, and one Mobius Zero. The Archangel is ineffective in mobile suit combat, and the half-destroyed Montgomery poses no threat whatsoever.

Kruze pondered for a while, stroking his chin, and finally decided to launch one more attack before the Archangel rendezvoused with the Eighth Fleet.

“Very good. We can’t just stand by and watch the Archangel join up with the main force of the Earth Army. Now, let them take some time to adjust their status. In two hours, I will personally lead the team to attack.”

"Yes, I will pass the word immediately."

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

The bridge door of the Archangel was suddenly opened, and the ship's officers on duty on the bridge came out.

Since his fierce battle with Kruze, Raven's sense of malice has become increasingly acute, and the intense malice emanating from Kruze is getting closer and closer to the Archangel.

"Captain Maru, be careful, the Cruze is coming."

"Kruze? They suffered such heavy losses last time, they shouldn't be launching another attack anytime soon. The radar on the ship isn't responding either. We'll let you know if anything happens, so don't worry too much, Mr. Raven."

Maru didn't take Raven's warning to heart. After all, Raven was a technician, not a professional soldier like Buggy. She just assumed that Raven was under too much pressure and was too stressed lately.

"No, I can feel that intense malice. It's coming! It's coming for us!"

As soon as Raven finished speaking, Lei Dabing, who was standing next to him, shouted nervously.

"Radar detected an enemy Nazca-class destroyer accelerating toward us. At this speed, it is expected to make contact with us in ten minutes!"

"what!"

Maru stood up from the captain's seat in surprise, then looked at Raven in astonishment.

How did he know?

But Maru quickly put this issue aside, as there were more pressing matters at hand.

Because the Archangel was accompanied by the partially damaged USS Montgomery, it did not sail at full speed to match the speed of the Montgomery, making it easy for high-speed ships like the Nazca-class to catch up.

However, Maru was very clear that the Archangel was no longer capable of the combat power it had when it rescued the Montgomery. The only ones that could be deployed now were Kira's Assault Rifle. The Mobius Zero was completely unrepairable due to a lack of spare parts, and the Dagger was also unusable because its maintenance was not yet complete.

If that Nazca-class ship really is a Creeper ship, as Raven claims, then its current combat power is simply insufficient to contend with the enemy.

'We only had one hour left of sailing to rendezvous with the Eighth Fleet, why now of all times?'

At that moment, the communications of the USS Montgomery were connected to the channel of the USS Archangel, and the face of Captain Coppman, the captain of the USS Montgomery, appeared on the screen.

"Captain Maru, you should also be aware of the enemy's movements, right? The ZAFT forces will catch up with us soon, and at this rate, we won't be able to escape."

Colonel Koppman's solemn expression made Maru understand what he was about to say.

"This ship will remain stationary and do its best to buy you time to rejoin the main force. Later, I will have Undersecretary George transfer to your side in a small boat. After that, the Archangel will retreat at full speed, making sure to bring back the data from Project G. Do you understand?"

"But, but..."

Maru wanted to say something, but Colonel Coppman forcibly interrupted her.

“This is an order, Captain Lamias, please obey.”

"Wait a minute!"

Just as Colonel Copman was about to cut off the communication, Raven interrupted.

"Don't blame me for being blunt, but the half-crippled Montgomery is no longer combat capable. Even if you stay, you won't buy us much time."

Colonel Coppman fell silent, knowing that Raven was telling the truth. The previous battle was still fresh in his mind; a few Kings could easily take down 12 Möbius missiles plus two Drake-class frigates. Now, the half-crippled Montgomery might not even be able to buy them time.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Raven smiled, knowing this was the best time to put Lux back, and shared his thoughts.

"Actually, when our ship was passing through the Junius 7 wreck zone, we unexpectedly took in Sigir Klein's daughter, Lacus Klein. We can use the return of Lacus Klein as a pretext to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement with the ZAFT forces."

Colonel Copman was about to question why Lacus was on the Archangel, but the urgent situation did not allow him to dwell on such details.

"What if the other party changes their mind?"

“I’ve already checked with the maintenance crew. The Dagger’s repairs will be completed in 30 minutes. We can postpone the return ceremony until 30 minutes later. If they turn against us, I will cover the Archangel’s evacuation with the Assault. We just need to hold them off for a little longer, and we can rendezvous with the main force of the Eighth Fleet.”

Chapter 24 Return

Thirty minutes later, the Archangel's hangar.

"Check one last time, Miss Klein, is everything alright?"

Lux, dressed in a spacesuit, had her long pink hair pulled back and tied up, revealing her fair neck. She picked up the pink Hello Kitty, a bag of clothes hanging from her arm, and turned around to answer.

"That's all. I don't have many personal belongings. Besides clothes, this child is all I have."

Lux paused, her gaze towards Raven devoid of any pretense.

"Um, Mr. Raven, thank you."

When Lux thanked him earnestly, Raven simply shrugged casually.

"After all, I promised to take you back, and I'm a person who values ​​promises. Besides, I didn't really do anything; I just proposed a solution that everyone could accept based on the situation."

Although Raven appeared calm and collected on the surface, Lux knew that returning her to PLANT would not be a simple matter.

The daughter of the current president of PLANT is undoubtedly an extremely important political bargaining chip. Bringing her to the upper echelons of the Earth Federation could bring countless benefits, but Raven did not do so.

"Oh, right."

Raven handed the item in his hand to Lux, which had a similar appearance to the one Lux had seen at the victory celebration.

"This is... Miss El?"

To be precise, it's a copy of my body; Raven calls it a 'soldier ant'.

Al, who was perched on Raven's shoulder, explained.

"Consider it a farewell gift. I had a lot of leftover parts when I was making the body of El, so I just made this. It includes a simple pet AI."

Lux placed the soldier ant on the floor, and the little guy scurried over on his four metal legs, affectionately rubbing against Lux's legs.

"So cute~"

Lux let out a heartfelt exclamation, squatted down, and gently touched the soldier ant's square head with her finger.

Seeing the girl's smile, Raven's mood improved as well.

“Also, this little guy can be used as a portable hard drive.” Raven bent down, picked up the soldier ant, and pulled out what looked at first glance as a decoration’s tail. “This is the data cable; as long as you have the corresponding device, you can access the files inside.”

Raven winked meaningfully at Lux, who nodded knowingly.

"I understand, I will make good use of this feature."

“Mr. Raven, Ms. Klein, the assault is ready and can depart at any time.”

Kira floated over from the other side of the hangar, but his face showed an unconcealable hesitation and conflict.

"Is it really alright for me to take Miss Klein?"

"Why not? I specifically asked Aslan to pick you up so you could take this opportunity to meet your friends. Why are you backing out now?"

"Teacher, aren't you afraid that I'll just follow Aslan and go to ZAFT?"

But after hearing this, Raven simply smiled nonchalantly and patted Kira on the shoulder.

“If you think that’s better, then it’s fine to go with him. Besides, I know you won’t do that.”

Kira could sense that Raven's words contained no hint of probing.

“Teacher…” Raven’s trust made Kira’s voice tremble. “I will come back.”

After watching Kira board the Strike, Raven was about to turn around and leave, not wanting to disturb the Strike's preparations for deployment. But as soon as he turned around, he heard Lacus's voice.

"Please wait a moment."

The pink-haired girl stood in front of the assault cabin door and gave Raven a bright smile.

"Mr. Raven, may I call you Lux? That's what my friends call me."

Raven looked at her and smiled in response.

"Of course, Lux, have a safe trip."

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

As the assault approached the designated space zone, Kira was able to visually locate the dark blue Vesalius in front of him.

Although Kira was no longer the civilian boy who had just entered the battlefield and had gradually become familiar with the atmosphere of the battlefield, he still couldn't help but feel nervous.

The meeting with Aslan is about to take place, not through the gunfire and sword light of the battlefield, but face to face with Aslan directly.

Is Mr. Kira nervous?

The perceptive Lacus sensed Kira's chaotic thoughts and her clear voice came through the communicator built into his helmet.

Kira nodded slightly, memories of his best friend flashing before his eyes.

"After all, I used to be very good friends with Aslan."

"It's clear that Mr. Kira values ​​this relationship very much."