Chapter 19: Burning Night Sky

At the campfire party, Li Boyong continued to deal with Natarle Badgiruel's lecture.

On the other side, Sai Argyle and Kira Yamato staged a big drama of tearing each other apart because of Flay Allster.

Originally, Sai had stayed on the Archangel because Flay had volunteered for the military. As a result, Flay, out of a desire for revenge, turned and fell into Kira's arms, and because she was annoyed by Sai, she directly clarified it when both Kira and Sai were present.

Originally, Cagalli Yula Athha also wanted to chat with Kira about his experiences after leaving Heliopolis, as she was curious why Kira, a civilian student from Orb whom she had met once, would become a pilot for the Alliance's newest MS.

As a result, she was completely confused by this drama.

Just as she was hiding in a corner, unable to advance or retreat, the distant sky was suddenly dyed red by rising flames.

Li Boyong naturally also saw the sky dyed red by the flames. After a brief moment of shock, he realized that there seemed to be such a scene.

He remembered that it should be the Desert Tiger, out of revenge, burning down the town where the resistance army lived.

Because it had been a long time since he watched SEED, and this segment wasn't an important plot point, he had ignored it.

"What... what happened?"

Natarle Badgiruel, who was in the middle of lecturing, also stopped her incessant chatter.

Soon, the entire resistance camp was in an uproar.

"Damn it, it's in the direction of Tashu."

"Was it attacked?"

"My mother is still in a hospital bed; we must go back immediately!"

From the fragmented words of those desert people, Natarle Badgiruel guessed the general situation.

The resistance town had been attacked.

Soon, an armed convoy set off toward the direction from which the flames came.

The Archangel side also recalled all members who were at the resistance base. After the Captain and Mula Flaga discussed it, they decided to send two Sky Graspers to help check the situation, while First Officer Natarle Badgiruel followed with the convoy in case of need.

The Strike, just in case, was left on the Archangel, and Kira Yamato, as the pilot, stood by directly inside the Strike.

Soon, Li Boyong and Mula Flaga flew toward Tashu in two Sky Graspers.

Arriving before the resistance convoy, they circled around the town and found many survivors on a sand dune nearby.

Mula Flaga circled in the air in the Sky Grasper, looking at the dense crowd below, and sighed with some emotion: "It seems the Desert Tiger showed mercy; quite a lot of the civilians are safe and sound."

Li Boyong took the opportunity to complain: "Yeah, a general who can show such consideration for civilians in war is rare, much better than those lunatics from Blue Cosmos."

Regarding this point, he had a good impression of the Desert Tiger; if it were a ZAFT commander holding the superiority of a Coordinator, they might not necessarily care about the life or death of these civilians who supported the resistance.

"I have the same feeling." Mula Flaga chuckled, but his tone carried a hint of advice: "However, after returning to Alaska, it's better not to express such opinions in public places, otherwise it's easy to get into trouble with the Military Police, as there are many lunatics from Blue Cosmos in there."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Li Boyong honestly accepted Mula Flaga's well-intentioned advice. If he really reached Alaska, he would indeed need to pay attention to this point.

"Alright, the resistance people are here, let's go down too."

"Understood."

The two Sky Graspers landed slowly, and the resistance convoy also arrived at the scene, followed by the Archangel's convoy.

The scene was noisy. The resistance leader named Saibu began to understand the situation. ZAFT had issued a warning in advance before burning the town, so the residents living in the town did not suffer any major casualties, and some only had individual falls and burns.

Mula Flaga, who had a glib tongue, expressed a sentiment that the Desert Tiger was very benevolent. Li Boyong couldn't even pull him back, so he had to silently move away from him and walk to Natarle Badgiruel's side.

Then Mula Flaga naturally became the target of public criticism, harvesting a large number of angry and hostile gazes.

He also saw Li Boyong in the crowd. You brat, you actually left me alone, even though I gave you such well-intentioned advice just now.

Li Boyong turned his head directly and pretended not to know him. You insisted on courting death yourself; I'm also very helpless.

Out of the alliance stance, Natarle Badgiruel began to let the military doctors help treat the wounded and distributed some emergency food and water.

Unfortunately, the small amount of supplies that came with the convoy seemed to be a drop in the bucket. Natarle Badgiruel even took out the emergency high-calorie food she was carrying and gave it to a crying child, only to be surrounded by more hungry children.

Seeing this, Li Boyong went to the Sky Grasper, took out some emergency food, and distributed it to the children, finally relieving Natarle Badgiruel.

"Second Lieutenant, although I am grateful for your help..."

Natarle Badgiruel saw Li Boyong take out an excessive amount of emergency food from the cockpit and habitually wanted to lecture him that this might affect his vision during combat.

But thinking that this guy had helped her out twice today anyway, she held it back.

"Hehe, you're welcome. I anticipated some situations, so I brought some extra."

Li Boyong explained casually, as if he hadn't noticed anything.

Natarle Badgiruel nodded, seemingly accepting this explanation. Li Boyong secretly made a V sign behind her back.

While the Archangel was helping to comfort the wounded, women, and children, the resistance army was arguing.

The town was burned down, and the food and ammunition did not escape the disaster. A portion of the resistance army was very emotional, not even listening to the leader Saibu, and directly drove armed vehicles to pursue the Desert Tiger's troops.

Saibu, the leader, had quite a bit of mettle. Not wanting to watch his subordinates go to their deaths, he simply took the remaining subordinates and chased after them.

He hoped to persuade those people on the road if possible; if not, having more combat power would also increase the chances of getting out safely.

The Archangel side also noticed the situation of the resistance army.

"Hey, using this kind of equipment to pursue BuCUEs will lead to total annihilation." Natarle Badgiruel was very surprised by this suicidal behavior and subconsciously cast her gaze toward Li Boyong on the side.

Perhaps in her heart, Li Boyong could now be considered a reliable person.

Li Boyong shrugged and asked back: "Hot-headed, even their own leader can't stop them, and we can't play any role. The question now is, do we follow to rescue them?"

Seeing Natarle Badgiruel hesitate, Li Boyong added: "After the Desert Tiger attacked here, he shouldn't have the ability to attack the camp again, so the Archangel side is temporarily safe. We can have the Strike come over to help, and Mu and I will pursue from here, minimizing the casualties of the resistance army before the Strike arrives."

Natarle Badgiruel showed a troubled expression, but after thinking for a moment, she connected to the Archangel's communication and proposed the suggestion of supporting the resistance army to Captain Murrue Ramius.

Murrue agreed to this plan and dispatched the Strike from the Archangel side.

And on this side, Mula Flaga and Li Boyong also boarded the Sky Graspers. ===== CHAPTER 20 =====