Chapter 10: the Desert Tiger
Mwu in SkyGrasper 1, Kira in the Aile Strike, and the other Gundams launched to meet the ZAFT forces head on.
"There doesn't seem like there'd be much for us to do aside from destroy incoming attacks…" Trowa admitted as they began destroying the helicopters that were coming at the Archangel.
"Did he send everything he had at us in that last attack?" Quatre asked in disbelief.
"Hmph! Is that what passes for an infamous soldier in this place? It's a disgrace!" Wufei snapped angrily.
"Go on Kira, we got the ship. You should be able to handle those mobile suits easily." Duo said boredly.
"Why doesn't he just use that rifle?" Kira asked in annoyance as the Wing Zero set aside the twin buster rifle.
"Because it's too powerful… I'd end up killing those rebels too." Heero explained calmly as the Wing Zero destroyed several helicopters with one swing of its beam sabre.
Kira scowled at Heero's calm demeanour.
"Holy shit she moves fast…" Duo commented as he noticed Cagalli in one of the jeeps that the rebels were using.
"I just hope she doesn't get herself killed. She reminds me of another highly spirited girl…" Duo rolled his eyes at Trowa's hint.
"Just keep the artillery away from the ship; we'll handle anything that gets past the kid." Heero said coolly as the Wing Zero fired its head-mounted machine guns, taking out a few missiles that had gotten past the Heavyarms' attacks.
Because of it's inability to fight unless the enemies got close, the Sandrock stood on the Archangel and observed the Strike's fighting pattern. He frowned as he switched over to their private line. "Is it me or does Kira seem to have two completely different fighting styles?" He asked in concern.
"You've noticed it too, huh?" Wufei asked as the flamethrowers finished off the last of the aerial units.
"He's a good fighter normally, but when he's backed into a corner he seems to become as skilled and resourceful as we are." Trowa said casually as the Heavyarms took its time in selecting targets in order to conserve on ammunition. He had managed to secure some compatible ammunition from the crew just in case his own ran out, but he didn't want to waste what the Heavyarms had left from the previous battle.
"I'd hate to admit it, but if he had a few more years' experience on him, he'd be one hell of an opponent." Heero said casually as they watched the Strike took out the mobile suits that the Desert Tiger had brought with him.
Suddenly, the Archangel lurched, causing the pilots to curse in annoyance as one of the ships appeared from behind the Archangel.
"Well, it looks as though this Desert Tiger guy really does have some tricks up his sleeve." Wufei admitted, unable to hide the impressed tone in his voice as the Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell headed for the rear of the ship to help protect it.
Duo cursed as the Deathscythe Hell was forced to fold one of its wings to act like a shield as an unexpected barrage of missiles attacked.
"Well, well… it looks as though he does have some reinforcements." Heero said idly as the Wing Zero lunged towards a group of incoming BuCUEs.
"Sorry Archangel, we have to take care of these guys, will you be able to handle your own?" Quatre asked worriedly.
"We'll be fine, don't worry." Murrue replied as the Archangel's hangar opened to release the second SkyGrasper.
"Who the hell?" Duo asked in confusion.
"It's me. I'll help Lieutenant La Flaga; you guys go get those BuCUEs." Cagalli answered, causing the older pilots to shake their heads.
"She's going to get herself killed that way." Wufei growled in annoyance.
"Thanks for your concern, but I can handle myself." Cagalli snapped with a strong hint of sarcasm at Wufei.
Switching back to their private channel, the Gundams abandoned their places on the Archangel and joined the Wing Zero in the battle against the BuCUEs.
"There aren't many of them." Trowa admitted warily.
"Here, save your ammunition." Quatre said as the Sandrock tossed the Heavyarms one of its Heat Shotels.
"Thanks, Quatre." Trowa replied as the Heavyarms caught the sickle-like blade just in time to run it through a BuCUE that thought the Heavyarms would be easy pickings.
The Altron grabbed two BuCUEs with its dragon claws and slammed them together. As they sparked from the damage to their systems, the Altron tossed them towards a third BuCUE. Before it could dodge, the other two exploded, destroying all three.
"Hey guys, it looks as though the Desert Tiger himself has appeared." Duo observed as the Deathscythe Hell sliced a BuCUE in half.
The others took note of the LaGOWE as it ran circles around the Strike.
"Duo, you've got the fastest Gundam, go give him a hand. And make it a surprise."
Duo grinned at Heero's instructions. "Fine by me!" He said before the Deathscythe Hell vanished.
Before any of the BuCUEs could note the absence of one of their attackers, the other Gundams fell in hard on them, making sure that staying alive was their only concern.
Kira gritted his teeth as the LaGOWE was putting heavy pressure on him. He really didn't want to be in this situation, but since he had been forced into it, he was trying his hardest to disable the four-legged mobile suit without harming the pilot inside. He frowned in annoyance as the Strike's communication system gave off three quick sounds of radio static. "What the heck? Please don't be malfunctioning…" He muttered worriedly as the LaGOWE pounced, aiming at him.
Before the Strike could deflect the blow, the LaGOWE was suddenly thrown, rolling over once before recovering, the head scanning for whatever it was that had attacked.
Kira rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had been imagining the strange rippling that he had seen following the impact.
Suddenly, the Deathscythe Hell materialized from behind the LaGOWE, its scythe raised over its head for only a moment before swinging down towards the wolf-like mobile suit.
The LaGOWE sped away just in time, forcing the blade to slice through nothing but air.
Kira heard a few curses from his communication system.
"Kid, can you try and help me pin him?" Duo asked as the Deathscythe Hell chased after the LaGOWE with its blade slightly ahead as though it hoped to slice through it from behind.
"Why are you helping me?" Kira asked warily.
"Because we don't wanna see you dead. Hell, it was Heero who wanted me to come help you in the first place." Duo's reply caught Kira off guard, enabling the LaGOWE's attacks from the beam cannons on its back to hit home.
"Hey, hey! What did we tell you about keeping your focus? I'm here to help you out, not bail you out!" Duo snapped in annoyance as the Deathscythe Hell managed to get close enough to destroy one of the cannons before it slipped away again.
"S-sorry!" Kira said as he quickly regained focus and rejoined the fight against the LaGOWE.
"My power's running low!" Kira said worriedly after he took a hit from the LaGOWE that was attacking the Strike while dodging the Deathscythe Hell.
"Hang in there, kid. I'm starting to think that thing ain't piloted by just one person. It'd be impossible for it to do what it's doing otherwise." Duo growled in frustration.
"A little update from us over here, we're going to help Mwu. The girl's been shot down and apparently two of those stolen suits are with that other ship. They look like they're retreating though, so we'll probably just keep an eye on that retreat." Quatre said.
"Thanks for the heads up." Duo said before turning his attention back to the Strike.
"Since you don't seem to have much power left, I'll herd him towards you. My Gundam's faster than yours, but this damn mobile suit has better mobility than either of us. You'll have to be the one to finish him off."
Before Kira could protest, the Deathscythe Hell began doing exactly what its pilot had said he would do, blocking any attempts at getting far enough away to fire its remaining beam cannon.
Kira tried to reason with Andrew, but as the power ran out on his suit, he had no choice but to stab its regular knife into the LaGOWE's head.
The LaGOWE exploded as the Deathscythe Hell escorted the Strike away from the scene.
The Archangel wasn't moving for some time as they had to repair the damage to the ship and collect the damaged SkyGrasper, so the Deathscythe Hell stopped the Strike and Duo asked Kira to leave the cockpit so they could talk.
The other four Gundams joined them as they stood near the Archangel. Kira was finding it hard to fight back the tears as he stood with the older pilots. "Does it get any easier?" He asked.
The others glanced at each other. Duo, Trowa and Quatre shook their heads. "If it does, then get as far away from fighting as you can." Quatre said grimly.
"It only becomes easier to ignore the pain, that's all. Even those of us who've been fighting since we could hold a gun know it's impossible not to feel something for the people you kill." Trowa admitted.
To Kira's surprise, Heero nodded in agreement with Trowa.
"The amount of blood on our hands ain't coming off no matter what we would try to do to try and wash it off now." Duo said with a half-hearted shrug.
"The only thing you can do is hope the war ends before the body count you've racked up becomes too high." Wufei said coolly.
"But I-!" Kira began before Heero raised a hand to silence him.
"What's done is done. All you can do is praise his skill in battle, and then move on. There will be more to come before the war ends, and you can't grieve for every person you kill." Heero's icy tone made Kira want to punch him again, until Quatre spoke.
"I hate saying this, but Heero's right. For pilots who are as skilled as Mr. Waltfeld was, all you can do is praise his skills, and then get ready for the next battlefield. You will face a lot more opponents; some of them will be more skilled than he was, unless you run away from the battle."
"I can't-!"
"Then you'll take our advice. We've been doing this for a long time; admittedly some of us have been on a field of battle for longer than you've been alive. If you want to continue to fight to protect your friends, and keep your sanity, you'll learn to take the advice of those who've been fighting longer than you have." Trowa said sternly.
Kira dropped his gaze to avoid looking at their grim expressions. After a few moments of silence, he nodded before sullenly returning to the Strike. As the Strike left, the others sighed.
"Man, I hate doing the whole 'tough love' approach." Duo grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension that had settled there.
"We had to do it though. I just hope he takes the advice to heart. It'll be hard, but it'll keep him from doing anything stupid." Quatre said as he folded his arms across his chest.
Trowa shook his head. "Deciding to counter that Flay girl's influence this way may backfire on us."
"At least he doesn't suspect that's what we're doing. Plus, the advice we gave him is correct: all you can do is ignore the pain of what you've done until all the battles are fought. What you decide to do after that is completely up to you." Wufei admitted.
The others nodded in agreement before returning to their Gundams. They may have defeated the Desert Tiger, but the forces that had retreated were still out there, and could regroup and attack before they could get out to the ocean…
Author's Note: They're finally moving out of Africa. Yay! What will happen next? I'm not telling, and veteran readers please keep quiet. ;)
Anyone who wants to argue about the Deathscythe Hell being the fastest of the Gundams needs to compare their stats carefully. It is faster than the Wing Zero by ten points when compared to a Leo's stats (For those who don't know, a Leo is 100 points on all of its stats). And anyone wanting to argue about the LaGOWE's better mobility had better read this carefully: with two pilots, the LaGOWE has better mobility because single piloted suits need to worry about their weapon and mobility functions, whereas the two piloted LaGOWE has one person to worry about each of those things, increasing reaction time significantly. There's my explanantion. *bows* If you don't like it, oh well. It's the best handwave I could come up with.