Watching the three boys drive away below, Andrew leaned against the window, sipping his second cup of freshly brewed coffee. Aisha came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
"You're quite focused on that boy. Is there something special about him?"
"It's not that he's special; it's that he's terrifying," Andrew replied. "That Mikazuki Augus..."
"Terrifying?" Aisha was taken aback. She looked at her lover in confusion, only to see a wry smile playing on Andy's lips.
"Yes, terrifying. A cold, detached personality paired with near-insane piloting skills and a physical constitution even more robust than a Coordinator's... He's like an untamable lone wolf. The code name Rau Le Creuset gave him certainly fits. If possible, I'd really rather not face him on the battlefield."
Aisha gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's rare. To think the famous Desert Tiger would actually be afraid of a child."
Andrew's wry smile deepened. "If you saw him fight with your own eyes, you'd feel the same way."
"Then I'm certainly looking forward to it."
"Indeed. The day we meet again on the battlefield shouldn't be too far off..." Andrew gazed out at the distant horizon with a pensive look in his eyes.
Mikazuki, Kira, and Cagalli returned to the designated rendezvous point to regroup with Natarle and the others. When the vehicle pulled up in front of them, Natarle's team stood frozen for a moment, staring blankly as the three climbed out.
The driver Andrew had sent to deliver them gave Mikazuki a quick nod. "I'll be heading back now."
"Yeah, thanks," Mikazuki replied.
Only after the car had disappeared from sight did Natarle snap out of it. "Mikazuki Augus! Where have you been? You're nearly two hours late!"
"Ah, we went to the Tiger's house," Mikazuki said plainly.
"The Tiger's house?" Ledonir was the first to process the information. He looked at Cagalli, who was still wearing a dress, and cried out in disbelief, "Cagalli, you... wait, you weren't taken by the Tiger, were you?"
Cagalli furrowed her brows and remained silent, but Ledonir, knowing her temperament well, realized his guess was correct.
They returned to the Desert Dawn camp.
Murrue, Sahib Ashman, Mu, and the rest were waiting for them. Murrue's heart finally settled when she saw Mikazuki step off the transport. She rushed forward. "Mika, is it true you went to see Andrew Waltfeld? Did anything happen?"
"No, we're fine. He even treated us to some coffee." Mikazuki patted his clothes down and pulled out a date, popping it into his mouth while Murrue watched him in silent exasperation.
Two days passed. The supplies purchased from the arms dealer arrived in full, signaling the start of the final preparations for the Lesseps' campaign to break through the African desert.
On the other side, Andrew's flagship, the Lesseps, also left the city. He welcomed two guests that would be very familiar to the crew of the Archangel.
Yzak Joule's Duel Gundam and Dearka Elsman's Buster Gundam were brought aboard. These two Gundams had fairly good luck; they had managed to avoid destruction and, with the help of friendly forces after breaking through the atmosphere, had reached the ZAFT base in Gibraltar.
As Yzak and Dearka stepped onto the deck of the Lesseps, the sudden desert sandstorm stung their eyes. It was clear they had little experience in desert environments.
Though Andrew didn't have much of an opinion on these two members of the Le Creuset Team, he maintained a polite facade. After all, they were allies.
As the three exchanged pleasantries, Andrew's adjutant, DaCosta, walked over. "The Archangel and the resistance forces have begun their move."
Andrew thought of the boy on that ship and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Is that so? It seems the Archangel is planning to break out of here now. So... where will they go? The old Al-Batiah factory. If I were their commander, that's exactly where I'd head."
Dearka asked curiously, "Why?"
Andrew smiled and took a map from DaCosta, spreading it out over the warship's alloy armor.
"Look. If they want to reach the Alaska base, there are only a few possible routes. The most realistic and viable path is just one: passing through my territory, crossing the Red Sea, and moving from the Indian Ocean into the Pacific. So, how do they get past me? Their best bet is to break through at the old Al-Batiah factory, which is the point furthest from my headquarters."
Dearka realized the logic. "I see..."
Andrew didn't waste any more time. He turned to DaCosta. "Send word to Henry Carter and Petrie's units. We move out."
"Yes, sir!"
As the Desert Tiger mobilized, the Archangel sped forward under the cover of a group of armored vehicles. To a Mobile Suit, however, these armored escorts were worth next to nothing.
In the Archangel's mess hall, Mikazuki sat with Mu and Kira, three kebabs laid out in front of him.
Mu took a final bite of his own kebab and gave a glowing thumbs up. "Oh man, this is actually pretty good! I want another one."
Kira smiled weakly. "The Major still wants more?"
"Of course! I've only had one, and Mikazuki's already polished off three!"
Chomp, chomp.
Mikazuki kept his head down, focused entirely on his kebabs, ignoring Mu. He looked up at Kira's barely touched tray. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Ah, yeah, I'm eating."
Mikazuki took another bite of his wrap and said flatly, "Eat more. If the fighting starts later, you'll be hungry on the battlefield."
"Is that so..." Kira murmured.
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