Facing the five utterly unaesthetic Mobile Suits before him, Reid commented that the designs developed by the Actaeon Company and Azrael Consortium felt like the design department was slacking off while simultaneously taking revenge on society.
So Reid directly spoke in the squad comms:
"Yufang, Yulan, leave those three bizarre-looking Mobile Suits to you two. Activate the Psycho-link system and finish this quickly. After you're done, go support the troops at the Moon Base. I'll handle the remaining two giant starfish."
Reid's arrangement played to their specialties. When the Azure Gundam Calamity, Ochre Steal Gundam, and Crimson Forbidden Gundam operated together, they could activate a coordinated combat system called "Trio" through the artificial intelligence "80" installed in the units.
This system effectively enhanced the coordination between the three machines, but in reality, this level of coordination wasn't just inferior to the truly telepathic Psycho-link system—even the Black Tri-Stars would probably exclaim, "This counts as coordination?"
Actually, having the Xia sisters activate the Psycho-link system to fight these three Mobile Suits was overkill. Reid's main purpose was to have the Xia sisters support the Moon Base Mobile Suit troops who had charged in with him.
They were desperately holding back various MS and MA from the Daedalus Base to prevent them from pinching Reid from both front and rear. The mass-produced GM Astrays from the Moon Base, being pure cannon fodder, were being depleted extremely quickly in this intensity of warfare.
They were only managing to hold on thanks to the specially modified mass-produced GM Astrays from the Gran Chaos, which Reid had outfitted with electromagnetic armor serving as shields.
Reid didn't want the Moon Base garrison forces to suffer heavy losses before Silver Lightning arrived, hence his order for the Xia sisters to activate the Psycho-link system for support.
The two Xia sisters continued to follow Reid's commands unconditionally. As the connection voices "Connective Xia Yulan" and "Acception" sounded,
The Blade Angel Gundam and NT-X2 Gundam began their armor purge.
Thanks to the implementation of the Psycho-Frame and continuous updates to the Psycommu System version, the power amplification of the current Psycho-link system far surpassed what it had been during the Orb era.
Moreover, Elvira Hill had added some flair—after activating the psychic power system, the Blade Angel Gundam and NT-X2 Gundam each manifested cloaks behind them, formed from highly concentrated GN Particles and Minovsky Particles respectively—one green, the other purplish-red.
Seeing these cloaks immediately reminded Reid of a report from Elvira Hill about six months prior.
He recalled that the report mentioned how after activating the Psycho-link system, due to the geometric increase in the pilots' psychic power amplified by various psychic-related systems, both GN Particles and Minovsky Particles would erupt on a large scale.
Since the Blade Angel Gundam and NT-X2 Gundam used two conflicting types of particles, Elvira Hill proposed designing a Particle Binding System to contain the particle eruptions caused by psychic outbursts within a certain range, preventing continuous explosions from the collision of the two particle types.
Reid wasn't particularly concerned about the Psycho-link system itself, as too few people could use it without conducting large-scale human experiments or special training. So when he saw it was a reasonable request, he simply approved it. He never bothered to check what exactly Elvira Hill had ended up binding.
Now, Elvira Hill's solution became clear—the high-density particle cloaks behind the Blade Angel Gundam and the NT-X2 Gundam were the answer.
Frankly, Reid didn't know the practical utility of these cloaks, but they were undeniably cool.
Moreover, with the cloaks deployed, the two mobile suits transformed into mere blurs on camera feeds.
The Azure Gundam Calamity, Ochre Steal Gundam, and Crimson Forbidden Gundam were utterly unlucky. Their Enhanced Person pilots had received orders to shoot down the Joyeuse Gundam.
So, the moment the Joyeuse Gundam approached, all three mobile suits opened fire without hesitation.
The Azure Gundam Calamity unleashed four "Quake" 125mm high-energy long-range beams and two "Siren Beast" 580mm multi-phase energy beams.
The Crimson Forbidden Gundam and Ochre Steal Gundam were slightly less aggressive, firing only guided "Vulture" plasma cannons and 100mm "Wrath" energy cannons.
But all their beams were blocked by a flash of blue light.
Under Xia Yulan's control, the Blade Angel Gundam positioned itself directly in front of the Joyeuse Gundam. Its cloak, saturated with high-density GN Particles, generated an ultra-strong GN Field. With a flick controlled by the Lambda Driver, the beams struck the cloak and were deflected by the GN Field. The deflected beams collided with each other, creating a flashbang-like effect.
Since the Atlantic Federation had only recently acquired PLANT-certified Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors, they hadn't developed weapons based on Mega Particles compressed from Minovsky Particles.
The Atlantic Federation primarily used Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors to convert energy into electricity, sticking to their original electrically driven weapons to save on R&D costs and time. Thus, these beams didn't trigger additional particle explosions upon contact with GN Particles.
Simultaneously with the beam deflection, the Azure Gundam Calamity was instantly destroyed by a magenta glow.
The NT-X2 Gundam, with its Psycho-link system activated and armor shed, already had exponentially increased speed. With its two rear Rocket Bits boosting it further, its linear velocity outpaced the Atlantic Federation's targeting systems.
The Azure Gundam Calamity was bisected at the waist by the NT-X2 Gundam almost the instant its alarms sounded.
After finishing the job, the NT-X2 Gundam charged straight into the main Mobile Suit forces at Daedalus Base.
Xia Yufang reckoned her sister could easily handle the remaining two mobile suits, so she paid them no mind.
Now enveloped in a visible I-Field due to her psychic outburst, the NT-X2 Gundam had its G-forces neutralized by the I-Field. Xia Yufang decided to push the speed to its absolute limit. Reid had only allowed one minute of Psycho-link system operation, and she intended to wreak as much havoc as possible within that time.
(Similar to this scenario: A Qubeley, lacking an I-Field, withstood ZZ's overloaded head cannon—which burst at the muzzle—with only external armor damage.)
Xia Yufang's judgment was spot-on. Seeing their comrade instantly eliminated, the pilots of the Crimson Forbidden Gundam and Ochre Steal Gundam sought revenge. Compounded by their AI "80" erroneously judging the forward enemy as destroyed upon impact, they foolishly turned their mobile suits to pursue the NT-X2 Gundam.
Xia Yulan naturally wouldn't let slip the opportunity presented by their act of turning their backs directly toward the Blade Angel Gundam.
Before the flash effects of the beam-blocking cloak had even faded, Xia Yulan immediately maneuvered the Blade Angel Gundam to draw two GN Plasma High-Frequency Blades, leaving a blue afterimage as it charged toward the two Mobile Suits.
Although the Blade Angel Gundam's straight-line dash couldn't match the NT-X2 Gundam with its acceleration and additional thrusters, at this moment it was completely comparable to a state with the Trans-Am System activated.
Truth be told, if not for fearing the Mobile Suit itself couldn't withstand it, Xia Yulan would have loved to test what would happen if both the Psycho-link system and Trans-Am System were activated simultaneously.
But for now, activating just the Psycho-link system was sufficient.
The pilots of the Crimson Forbidden Gundam and Ochre Steal Gundam, upon hearing their Mobile Suits' alarms, immediately turned around and raised their weapons, intending to give the approaching enemy a surprise.
However, the two pilots discovered that by the time their Mobile Suits had barely turned around, the enemy was already in their faces.
When humans are extremely tense, they might perceive time as slowing down, but their own bodies feel even slower, while their Mobile Suits move at a snail's pace.
This was exactly how the two Enhanced Person pilots inside the Crimson Forbidden Gundam and Ochre Steal Gundam felt.
The Ochre Steal Gundam barely managed to raise its defensive shield cannon, but the shield cannon might as well have been paper when it met the GN Plasma High-Frequency Blade. The TPS Armor couldn't save it now either, as the high-energy plasma combined with full-coverage GN Particles could completely ignore Phase Shift Armor.
Thus, the Ochre Steal Gundam immediately followed in the footsteps of the Azure Gundam Calamity, cleanly sliced in half.
Fortunately, the Ochre Steal Gundam's sacrifice wasn't entirely in vain—the brief delay it created was enough for the Crimson Forbidden Gundam to swing its twin-bladed "Evil Dragon" heavy executioner's sickle toward the Blade Angel Gundam.
However, the Blade Angel Gundam's current mobility speed was faster than the Crimson Forbidden Gundam's sickle-swinging speed.
The twin-bladed "Evil Dragon" heavy executioner's sickle only struck an afterimage, and then the Crimson Forbidden Gundam was pierced through the cockpit from behind by the Blade Angel Gundam's GN Plasma High-Frequency Blade as it spun around.
After completing this, the Blade Angel Gundam instantly burst into maximum speed, heading to support comrades at the lunar base according to Reid's orders. She was already behind her sister; if she didn't go now, there might not even be scraps left to claim.
The Blade Angel Gundam's instant annihilation of the Crimson Forbidden Gundam and Ochre Steal Gundam happened in a flash. The two Mobile Suits only exploded after it had already left, perfectly embodying the trope of experts never looking back at explosions.
Meanwhile, Reid's Joyeuse Gundam had just made contact with two Peggrandes.
The dissipation of the mental presences from the three pilots of the Azure Gundam Calamity, Ochre Steal Gundam, and Crimson Forbidden Gundam essentially told Reid that the Xia sisters had already eliminated them instantly.
Reid wasn't surprised by this in the least, but sensing the numb, pained, and chaotic mental states of the six pilots in the two MAs before him, Reid also prepared to quickly grant these six individuals release.
In fact, as the Joyeuse Gundam approached, the two Peggrandes each deployed the three Dragoon components from the upper halves of their Mobile Suits.
Each Dragoon component of the Peggrande was equipped with two large beam cannons, one small beam cannon, and two regular beam guns. Combined with the large beam cannons on the lower halves of both machines, their firepower was truly nothing to scoff at.
However, this counterfeit artificial high-altitude combat capability attempting to engage Reid—a genuine Newtype—in floating weapon combat was like challenging Guan Yu to a duel with a stage prop blade, demonstrating sheer overestimation of one's abilities.
Every cannon position on the Peggrande and their firing sequences were crystal clear within Reid's perception, eliminating any possibility of them hitting him.
Reid simultaneously deployed two GN Buster Swords, instantly accelerating to supersonic speeds. Moving faster than the two Peggrande pilots could react, he cleaved both Peggrande units and their six oversized Dragoon components in half.
Afterward, Reid commanded the two GN Buster Swords like a sword immortal controlling flying blades, driving them straight through the lower cockpits of both Peggrande units.
Given the Peggrande's structural design, its poor mobility was self-evident.
Against two supersonic GN Buster Swords, evasion was impossible.
As for the Mobile Suits' Phase Shift Armor, the yellow hue indicated low voltage, rendering it virtually useless against GN Particle-infused buster swords. The blades pierced through with minimal resistance, as if slicing through slightly thicker pork skin, leveraging their GN Particles and high-frequency vibration properties.
After obliterating these two inhumane Mobile Suits developed by the Azrael Foundation, only a cluster of Daedalus Base's gunboats and missile ships stood between Reid and the Requiem.
Due to the two-year technological explosion centered on Minovsky Particles, even with its substantial resources, the Atlantic Federation couldn't match Reid's cheat-like comprehensive development.
Prioritizing Mobile Suit and Mobile Armor technology left the Atlantic Federation with neither the energy nor funds to advance warship development. In two years, they only produced two Girty Lue-class ships and two Hannibal-class land battleships for the Phantom Pain Unit.
ZAFT faced similar constraints: rebuilding a fleet nearly decimated in the first war meant limited resources for untested new vessels. They only managed to launch the Minerva and the Gondwana within two years. Though follow-up ships for the Minerva-class and Gondwana-class were planned, budget allocation clearly favored Mobile Suit development and Messiah Fortress construction over new warships.
Thus, the Atlantic Federation stationed outdated Nelson-class and Drake-class gunboats and missile ships at Daedalus Base, merely upgrading their beam cannon calibers and performance while increasing missile payloads.
While Nelson-class and Drake-class vessels still had roles in this era as gunboats and missile ships, facing the Joyeuse Gundam was like a huddled herd of goats confronting a tiger—their horns might appear sharp, but they were merely prey awaiting slaughter.
Intent on weakening the Atlantic Federation's lunar military presence, Reid planned to spare none of these warships.
The Joyeuse Gundam's GN Field easily neutralized the anti-aircraft machine guns of the Nelson-class and Drake-class ships.
As for their large beam cannons and missiles, hitting the Joyeuse Gundam with those was like trying to shoot a high-speed swallow with water pistols and BB guns in summer—landing a hit would be a lottery-winning miracle.
Reid, meanwhile, precisely targeted bridges with his GN Sword Rifle, destroying them one shot at a time without fail.
Nevertheless, the Daedalus Base fleet ultimately avoided complete annihilation by Reid alone.
Reid had just wiped out half the fleet when a Positron Beam Cannon shot descended from the sky, sweeping through all the Drake-class battleships in the rear. Immediately after, a rain of missiles fell, precisely striking and destroying several Nelson-class vessels right in front of Reid.
The cannon fire clearly signaled Silver Lightning's arrival. Soon, Flay's voice came through Reid's squad comms:
"Committee Chairman, leave the remaining ships to me. I'll take care of this trash."
Seeing that Flay had cleared all the enemies ahead, the path to Requiem was now open.
Reid decided not to compete with Flay for targets and commanded:
"Alright, it's yours. After finishing off the battleships here, ask Liuli for the location maps of the base's ports and lift platforms. Use the Destroyer Beam Cannon and Positron Cannon to destroy all the ports and lift platforms at this base."
With that, Reid piloted his Mobile Suit straight toward the muzzle of Requiem.
As Reid entered the crater where Requiem was located, he noticed the protective shield over the cannon's muzzle was lowered.
Staring into the dark, gaping muzzle, Reid had no intention of peering inside. If Daedalus Base fired a shot while he was close, he'd be blasted to smithereens instantly.
So, Reid exchanged three Particle Annihilation Bombs from the system, linked them together with a metal cable, and attached them to the back of a GN Buster Sword.
He then controlled two GN Buster Swords to fly directly into Requiem's muzzle.
The Positron Reflection Shield protecting the muzzle shattered as soon as the GN Buster Swords touched it, allowing both swords—along with the three Particle Annihilation Bombs—to enter the barrel.
Once the bombs were inside, Reid activated a ten-second countdown. The sword without bombs then severed the cable attaching the bombs, and both GN Buster Swords flew back out.
Reid mused that he'd thrown firecrackers into all sorts of holes in both his past and current childhoods—mainly rat holes and sewer drains (good kids shouldn't imitate this; throwing firecrackers into sewers is very dangerous)—so he was an absolute expert at it.
This Requiem muzzle was just a bigger hole, so he'd simply throw in a bigger "firecracker."
(End of Chapter)