"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The 450mm electromagnetic railguns and 400mm missile launchers fired continuously.
Attacks came from the GOUFs gliding low across the desert surface, their bodies nearly scraping the sand.
An endless barrage streamed toward the pure-white Archangel.
Viewed from high above, the scene resembled a natural desert hunt - a lion pride led by their king hunting a massive buffalo.
The GOUFs advanced in coordinated attacks, attempting to sink the Archangel right here.
And seated comfortably in his orange custom Lag unit, Balthلد was the king presiding over it all!
"Is this the Archangel that defeated the Creuset team?"
In the ZAFT ground command vehicle, Mister Tiger's adjutant Martin spoke with a smile.
He casually glanced at the two figures standing behind him, particularly the masked Nicol who was completely covered up.
With the battle going so well, he couldn't resist taking a subtle jab at them.
Since the battle began, the Archangel had been constantly retreating, only occasionally returning fire with a few missiles without any effective countermeasures.
If not for the Archangel's exceptionally thick armor, Martin believed victory would have been easily achieved long ago.
"No, something's very wrong."
However, Nicol and Athrun standing on the bridge of the ground command vehicle behind Martin held different opinions.
Having faced the Archangel multiple times before, they wouldn't simply assume that this battleship led by Wang Hu - so formidable in space - had become weak upon entering the Earth Sphere.
Stepping forward, Nicol stared at the display screens hanging on the bridge, particularly one showing the topography of the surrounding basin.
After carefully examining it, he suddenly detected something unusual.
"What's that area?" Nicol pointed to a spot on the map marked as an abandoned factory district.
"Where?" Martin approached to look. "A processing plant invested in by the East Asian Alliance before the war."
"It was abandoned soon after we captured this continent. We've already searched it and confirmed it's empty."
"Is there a problem, Mr. Nicol?"
Unable to see any issue, Martin looked puzzled at Nicol.
"Notify Commander Balthلد! There's a trap over there!"
Yes! Yes!
Nicol instantly understood. No wonder the Archangel had only been retreating since the battle began without mounting effective counterattacks.
Even the three Mobile Suits from the Archangel hadn't appeared yet!
They were trying to lure their forces into a pre-arranged trap!
Suddenly, excruciating pain shot through Nicol's entire body - agony searing through the connection points between his mechanical limbs and body where he shouldn't feel any pain.
The untreated burns covering his body transported Nicol back to that moment -
The self-destruction of the Eurasian Federation's Artemis Fortress!
"What's wrong?" Martin was first startled by Nicol's sudden shout, but when he turned to ask about the trap,
He saw Nicol shuddering as he recalled that hellish experience, his hands constantly rubbing his body.
What's happening?
Cornered and uncertain, Martin stared at Athrun, who had rushed over to hold Nicol, trying to figure out what had happened through eye contact.
Naturally, Balthلد, who was pursuing the Archangel, had no idea what was happening inside the land battleship's bridge.
Due to Nicol's sudden discomfort, even though he had reminded Martin to contact the Desert Tiger again, Martin was caught off guard by the unexpected situation and forgot.
However, Balthلد, known as the Desert Tiger, was different from the original timeline.
Stationed at the rear, he had already sensed the scent of a scheme.
After all, in the original timeline, without the backing of the Eighth Fleet for Murrue and the others, the Archangel could truly be described as a panicked mouse.
But now, not only was Halberton, the big boss of the Eighth Fleet, still alive, but Wang Hu, renowned for his reputation, was also on board.
If Balthلد still failed to take this seriously, or if Wang Hu continued to judge him based on past impressions, it would be an underestimation of both Balthلد and Wang Hu's own capabilities.
"All units, be careful not to enter this area."
In the dual-seat cockpit of the Lag, Balthلد smiled as he stared at the terrain map in front of him and issued orders to the GOUFs pursuing the Archangel.
"Andy?" Aisha, seated in front and responsible for shooting duties, asked. "What's going on?"
"Take a look." Balthلد, convinced he had seen through Wang Hu's scheme and spurred by the presence of the woman he loved, felt a man's instinctive urge to show off.
"Oh." Hearing this, Aisha focused on the area her man had specifically pointed out on the terrain map.
In a basin surrounded by sand dunes, a patch of Gobi ground had been artificially cleared. Abandoned factory buildings, orderly but unused for some time, stood quietly there.
Due to the long absence of human activity in the factory area, dust from the surrounding sand dunes had already begun to erode the site.
"Factory buildings invested in by the East Asian Alliance before the war, if I'm not mistaken," Balthلد explained with a light laugh.
"I've looked into Wang Hu's usual tactics. There are rumors in the Eurasian Federation's Artemis that he was behind the self-destruction of that fortress."
"Judging by the Archangel's escape route this time, Wang Hu is likely replicating the Artemis Fortress tactic again."
"For instance, when we pursue the Archangel into the factory area, Wang Hu might detonate bombs pre-planted there and send us all sky-high."
"Oh, I see." After listening to her lover's explanation, Aisha smiled, her eyes curving like a beautiful fox's.
She praised, "But Wang Hu's scheme was still seen through by you, wasn't it?"
"Indeed." Balthلد smiled. "The real battle is about to begin. Now that I've seen through his tricks, Wang Hu should be making his move."
As the two conversed in the Lag, the GOUFs, having received Balthلد's instructions, deliberately avoided the factory area while tightly pursuing the Archangel.
Making a wide arc, the GOUFs bypassed the factory area and continued chasing the Archangel along the hills outside.
However, instead of showing surprise or frustration over their trap being discovered...
On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue and the others strangely wore expressions of triumph.
"Just as Wang Hu predicted."
Similar to how Aisha praised her man, Murrue also praised Wang Hu, who had long been lying in ambush outside.
"Hmm." Li Chengzhi nodded in agreement, then turned to the stern-faced Natarle Badgiruel. While concurring with Murrue, he softly addressed the ice-cold beauty.
"You may begin, Lieutenant Badgiruel."
Upon hearing this, the meticulous and pragmatic Natarle cleared her throat.
"All hands, prepare for combat! Signal Captain Wang Hu, the East Asian Army, and our Desert Dawn allies!"
Following the ice-cold beauty Natarle's command, the Archangel—which had been constantly fleeing without ever turning to fight—executed a dramatic 180-degree turn in midair, its beautiful white hull swinging around in the eyes of the pursuing enemies.
Gradually, it positioned its bow to face the GOUFs that had been chasing from behind.
"Hahaha! It's because the Commander saw through their scheme!"
A Coordinator pilot of a GOUF excitedly shouted, then slammed on his brakes and selected a firing position on a sand dune beside the basin.
"After all, they're facing our Commander Balthلد! And this is the desert—the home turf of our Desert Tiger Balthلد team!"
Another Coordinator maneuvered across the sand dunes, firing at the Archangel while echoing his comrade's remarks.
In short, due to the Archangel's turn, the pursuing GOUFs swiftly took evasive maneuvers.
Because Commander Balthلد seemed to have seen through the enemy's scheme, these Coordinator soldiers felt certain of victory in this battle!
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Suddenly, a series of explosions erupted right before the Coordinators' eyes, with violent blasts occurring in the factory area and its surroundings.
"Hahahaha." Seeing the factory area explode, the Coordinators in the GOUFs found it utterly amusing.
"Baka! The Commander already saw through the Naturals' trick. What's the point of blowing up the factory area now?"
"Exactly, exactly! Are the Naturals still refusing to give up?"
Mocking and jeering voices rose and fell in the GOUF pilots' internal communications as they collectively expressed their contempt for the Archangel.
Of course, despite their disdain, these experienced Coordinator soldiers skillfully operated their mobile suits, relentlessly bombarding the ship charging straight toward them.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Watching the Archangel continuously take hits, the Coordinators' faces visibly grew more excited and twisted with glee.
This was even more satisfying than when, under Commander Balthلد's command, they had battled the Eurasian Federation's heavy ground tank forces that once gave them a hard time.
After all, the Archangel before them had defeated the famous Creuset team. If they could shoot it down here with their own hands, wouldn't that indirectly prove their unit was the top force within the ZAFT Forces?
Thus, for the medals and glory seemingly within reach, the Coordinator soldiers focused intensely, attacking the Archangel with all their might.
In their fervor, they failed to notice the gradually dampening sand beneath their mobile suits' feet.
"Something's wrong."
Balthazar waited patiently for a while. Even as the Archangel began turning around to confront his subordinates head-on, Wang Hu's figure still hadn't appeared.
Why hadn't Wang Hu shown up yet?
This deeply concerned the battle-hardened Balthazar!
"Maybe Wang Hu and the others have already left?"
After waiting a bit longer without seeing any sign of Wang Hu's group, and noticing her partner growing increasingly restless behind her, Aisha couldn't help but offer some comforting words.
"Hmm?" Aisha's words made Balthazar pause. That was indeed possible.
They were currently in the desert within the Earth Sphere - if Wang Hu wanted to leave, there was really no need for him to follow the Archangel's movements.
"What a disappointment." The thought that Wang Hu might have already left couldn't hide the disappointment on Balthazar's face.
He had initially thought that Wang Hu, who had proposed such a plan, was someone remarkable. But to abandon his former comrades to serve as bait just to save his own life...
This significantly lowered Wang Hu's standing in Balthazar's estimation.
"And here I was thinking of testing your mettle with my own life," Balthazar shook his head as Mister Tiger prepared to pilot his Lag.
He intended to deliver the final blow to the Archangel, which was currently being overwhelmed by his subordinates.
But just then, when the situation seemed overwhelmingly favorable and the Archangel appeared completely defenseless against the assault,
A sudden change occurred!
"What's happening? The mobile suit is sinking?"
A Coordinator soldier in a GOUF that had been firing enthusiastically suddenly discovered with shock that his machine was tilting sideways.
"Mine too! How can this be?"
Following this soldier's shout, other soldiers around him also noticed something wrong.
Though slightly better off than the first soldier, the subsequent soldier quickly tried to make his machine jump.
However, the normally smooth-operating GOUF now responded sluggishly. After barely managing to jump, it landed in another spot.
"Thump."
A dull sound echoed, and the sand kicked up wasn't as spectacular as usual.
Then the Coordinator soldiers stared wide-eyed at the damp sand around them, falling into endless panic.
"It's quicksand! It's quicksand!"
"Quicksand?" Many Coordinator soldiers panicked. They knew all too well how terrifying quicksand could be in desert regions.
Humans caught in quicksand would quickly be swallowed if not rescued, and the massive steel weapons known as GOUFs were no different.
In fact, the heavy GOUFs would sink even faster than humans.
"Why is there quicksand here?"
Fearing that struggling would only make them sink faster, the GOUFs remained as motionless as insects trapped in resin.
(End of Chapter)