The three fleets of the Earth Alliance were completely routed.
To be precise, not a single ship from the three fleets managed to escape. After their vessels were sunk, the Mobile Suit units saw mass desertion and surrender.
Reid still adhered to international law and did not pursue these fleeing second-line troops. After this defeat, their morale was utterly shattered, and they would likely tremble at the mere sight of New Misurugi Kingdom forces in the future, even before any fighting began.
As for those who voluntarily discarded their weapons and backpacks to surrender, Reid did not exterminate them.
He only required them to exit their cockpits in their pilot suits and had an Antietam-class freighter—previously used to transport Mobile Dolls, though now nearly all of them were lost—collect these prisoners.
These prisoners would subsequently be housed in the New Misurugi Kingdom's lunar base prison, where they would be provided with food and drink.
They essentially served as a protective talisman for the New Misurugi Kingdom's lunar base. With so many prisoners held there, the Earth Alliance would have to think twice before launching a full-scale assault, considering the potential impact on the morale of their rank-and-file soldiers.
It was well-known that the New Misurugi Kingdom's lunar base was equipped with the Cyclops System underground. Moreover, the base wasn't located in a strategic stronghold, and the New Misurugi Kingdom wasn't on the brink of collapse—it was merely one base putting up a stubborn resistance.
If the Earth Alliance were to launch a forceful attack, it would essentially be forcing the New Misurugi Kingdom to execute the prisoners, which would undoubtedly demoralize their own lower-ranking soldiers.
As for the prisoners themselves, in order to survive, they might even volunteer to fight for the New Misurugi Kingdom.
This was no joke. Reid, having originated from the Eurasian Federation, was well aware of the mindset of its lower-ranking soldiers. Many of them had joined the military simply to make a living, having nowhere else to go.
Despite two years of recovery, the Eurasian Federation still hadn't fully resolved its internal chaos. Perhaps they never intended to, as the main source of their military manpower came from the impoverished in these turbulent regions.
And these impoverished individuals could hardly be expected to hold much loyalty toward the Eurasian Federation. In fact, they might even hope that by fighting for the New Misurugi Kingdom, they could eventually obtain New Misurugi Kingdom citizenship.
Therefore, Reid only stationed three or four Mobile Dolls to guard these prisoners. Anyone attempting to escape would be instantly vaporized by the Mobile Dolls' Head Vulcan Guns.
After that, Reid began cleaning up the battlefield. The surrendered soldiers' Mobile Suits still had their uses. They were all loaded onto other Antietam-class freighters to be transported back to the lunar base. There, they would be dismantled on-site, with many reusable parts salvaged. The rest would be melted down in the lunar base's small-scale factory to produce replacement components for the base.
Once this was done, Reid ordered the personnel from the New Misurugi Kingdom's lunar base and the L3 support units to return to base.
According to intelligence intercepted by Hoshino Ruri from the captured Mobile Suits, another elite Earth Alliance fleet was on its way.
If it was just one fleet, Reid felt that the remaining Mobile Dolls on the Gran Chaos and the Silver Lightning would be sufficient.
Moreover, after this battle, Reid planned to withdraw. Continuous combat was mentally exhausting, and the destruction of three miscellaneous fleets and one elite fleet would be enough to make the Earth Alliance's lunar base grieve for some time.
The Earth Alliance's lunar base still had numerous fleets. With the limited forces Reid had on the Moon, he couldn't possibly defeat them all. He wasn't a superhuman and would eventually be worn down by attrition.
So next, Reid chose to lie in ambush and wait at his ease.
The Gran Chaos and Silver Lightning directly went invisible at the edge of this battlefield.
The newly arrived fleet would definitely encounter those deserters—after all, without the mothership, the Windam's battery capacity wouldn't last until they reached the Earth Alliance's lunar base on the other side of the moon.
The fleeing MS pilots, unless they wanted to be stranded and die on the moon, had no choice but to rendezvous with the follow-up support fleet.
That meant this fleet would inevitably come to this battlefield to assess the situation—and that was their opportunity.
Thus, the Gran Chaos and Silver Lightning found a flat, exposed high ground with no cover and settled in. The former activated the Obscurant Umbrella System, while the latter engaged GN Particle stealth.
Although they were waiting at their ease, Reid and the others certainly couldn't leave their Mobile Suits. The ship remained at first combat readiness, and when the time came, Reid would definitely be the first to launch an assault.
To keep his mind from completely relaxing, Reid started chatting.
At this moment, Reid's only chat partners were Flay and Nein, since the Xia sisters and Hoshino Ruri were too emotionally stable—they would mostly just listen to Reid and rarely give feedback.
So Reid opened a private chat with Flay and asked concernedly:
"Flay, how does it really feel piloting the Silver Lightning? Do you feel very tired? Is there anything that needs improvement?"
Seeing that Reid had opened a private chat, Flay immediately began seducing him, saying in a coquettish tone:
"Committee Chairman~, piloting the Silver Lightning is still a bit tiring. The cockpit seat isn't very comfortable either, especially my shoulders—they're really sore now. How about after we return to the ship, I come rest in your room? As for improvements... let's discuss that pri~vate~ly~"
Hearing this, Reid immediately broke out in a cold sweat—Nein was right behind him, and Flay should know that.
So Reid could only awkwardly remind her:
"Flay, Nein can hear all communications in my Mobile Suit."
As soon as Reid said this, a certain leaky little jacket promptly retorted:
"So someone finds me in the way here? Should I get out of the Mobile Suit first?"
Reid thought to himself, would you getting out even help? Your main consciousness in the 99 System is currently residing in this Mobile Suit—you'd know if there was even a rustle in this unit from several kilometers away.
But just as Reid was wondering how to plug the leaks in this little jacket behind him, Flay directly solved the problem by saying:
"Nein isn't an outsider anyway, no need to worry. Besides, I know she's actually been inquiring about..."
Before Flay could finish, Nein immediately interrupted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shrilly exclaiming:
"Stop! Don't say anymore, Sister Flay! Sister Ange said we don't need to guard against you, so do as you please."
Hearing this, Reid immediately realized that Nein probably had something she didn't want him to know, but Flay was aware of it.
Although what Nein didn't want to tell him usually wasn't anything major—just some private matters of a young girl—for instance, Reid knew Nein seemed to be looking for ways to change her figure because all her little friends were starting to grow taller and develop, and now only Vivian was shorter than her.
However, the system-produced [Perfect Bionic Android] had their height and figure fixed from the start. In any case, after two years, none of the native-born residents had shown any changes in their figures.
So Reid didn't dwell too much on Nein's little secret, merely sighing inwardly: it takes a villain to control a villain.
Reid was usually quite indulgent toward Nein, only occasionally exploiting her labor.
Nein bore the burden without complaint, but her sharp tongue left Reid often speechless in the face of her precise sarcasm, at most retaliating by pinching her cheek.
However, this troublemaker wasn't about to let Reid off the hook now. Flay switched to a mature, sultry tone and said,
"So, Committee Chairman, what's the verdict? This was Silver Lightning's first real combat, right? I've got plenty of insights to share."
At that moment, Reid just wanted to ask where Flay had picked up all these tricks—was she planning to switch careers to voice acting? Still, he had to admit the skill could add some spice to their private exchanges.
But Reid had his dignity to uphold. Though Nein had quieted down verbally, he didn't need telepathy to feel her scornful gaze burning into the back of his head.
And so, Reid could only reply,
"Flay, the debrief can wait until we're in the conference room. No need to come to my quarters. I'll hear you out after the battle ends."
Hearing this, Flay on the other end seemed to have an epiphany, exclaiming as if she'd just grasped some profound truth,
"Ah, I see! The office works too. I'll change into a nicer pair of black stockings later."
Black stockings? What was this girl thinking? Trying to test a superior's resolve with that?
But feeling an even more disdainful glare from behind him, Reid decided to drop the subject. Discussing black stockings was clearly inappropriate in front of Nein, especially since she always wore various styles herself. If he provoked her too much, she might just kick him from behind.
Just as Reid was searching for a way to end the conversation, an excuse arrived. Two reconnaissance Mobile Suits from the Earth Alliance's second support fleet had appeared within Gran Chaos's detection range, and Hoshino Ruri immediately relayed the intel to everyone.
With the enemy's arrival, Reid instantly turned serious and said curtly,
"Alright, the big fish are coming. Maintain radio silence for now."
Seeing Reid shift into combat mode, Flay naturally stopped her teasing. She was now eager to wrap things up and return to the ship. From their earlier exchange, she sensed Reid was somewhat tempted—she needed to strike while the iron was hot.
Reid had been abstaining to maintain peak combat readiness, and once the lunar battle concluded, it would be her perfect opportunity.
If the Xia sisters got to him first, Reid would become more level-headed, leaving no opening for her.
After all, chances to go on missions alone with Reid were rare for Flay.
Thus, under Flay's glare that seemed to say, "Get lost and make way for the main fleet," the two clearly reconnaissance-oriented Air Combat Backpack Windams circled the battlefield twice before flying off.
With the detection equipment available to the Windams, there was no way they could spot the stealth-equipped Gran Chaos or Silver Lightning.
But elites were elites after all—this Earth Alliance fleet didn't recklessly charge into the battlefield just because their scouts found nothing.
Shortly after the reconnaissance units departed, a force led by four Zamza-zahs, accompanied by sixty to seventy Windams, bypassed the battlefield and headed straight for the New Misurugi Kingdom's lunar rear base, engaging its defenders.
The size of this force made it clear they weren't actually aiming to capture the base. The fleet commander likely just wanted to confirm whether the New Misurugi Kingdom's fleet had retreated to the lunar rear base.
Sure enough, when the ships inside the base coordinated with Mobile Suits to take off for defense, this unit retreated quite decisively, heading directly toward the direction of Daedalus Base.
Clearly, this unit also had the mission of confirming the status of Daedalus Base.
However, since it was confirmed that the New Misurugi Kingdom's fleet had returned to the far side of the moon base, the support fleet deployed in a defensive formation and advanced into the battlefield, subsequently launching Mobile Suit units to carefully search the area.
They needed to confirm whether there were any surviving soldiers in need of rescue on the battlefield, as the previous reconnaissance Mobile Suits had only conducted a cursory inspection, and the second unit hadn't lingered.
As for whether this fleet found any survivors trapped in the wreckage of Mobile Suits, Reid didn't know, but they successfully ran right into the firing line of the Gran Chaos and Silver Lightning.
With such a perfect opportunity, a direct ambush was the way to go.
When the distance was about right, following Reid's command, the Gran Chaos's Shipboard Buster Beam Cannon and the Silver Lightning's Super Positron Cannon fired simultaneously.
By the time this Earth Alliance fleet sounded the high-energy radiation alert, it was already too late.
Two beams swept across the entire fleet.
The Gran Chaos's Shipboard Buster Beam Cannon, being thick and powerful, targeted the Mobile Suit units.
The Silver Lightning's Super Positron Cannon beam was relatively slender, so it swept directly across the fleet.
Both beams achieved significant results. The fleet's Mobile Suits, having just been deployed and not yet dispersed, were instantly wiped out by the Gran Chaos's Shipboard Buster Beam Cannon, which also incidentally destroyed three or four Drake-class Missile Frigates.
Meanwhile, the Silver Lightning's Positron Cannon blasted a row of escorting Nelson-class Battleships.
This directly exposed several Agamemnon-class ships, which served as the fleet's core and had been modified to carry additional Mobile Suits.
Reid certainly wasn't going to hold back. He led the Xia sisters straight toward the Agamemnon-class ships at the center of the fleet.
The commander of this fleet actually reacted quite quickly. Realizing they were ambushed, he knew that stopping the fleet to deploy Mobile Suit units now would be suicidal.
So he ordered all ships to accelerate at full speed, but to keep the Mobile Suit catapult channels open, allowing Mobile Suits to be launched illegally while the ships were at high speed.
Launching Mobile Suits during high-speed ship maneuvers is a deadly affair. If the ejected Mobile Suits couldn't accelerate and turn immediately, they could easily be crashed into by the high-speed battleships behind them. Those unlucky enough might even be sent right back where they came from, colliding passionately with the next Mobile Suit being launched from the same catapult.
However, the fleet commander's order was correct under the circumstances. If they relied solely on the battleships to escape, they would inevitably be shot down from behind by Mobile Suits, since beams travel much faster than battleships. Even if the enemy's aim was poor, multiple shots would eventually find their mark.
Moreover, the Gran Chaos is famously fast—none of the battleships here could outrun it.
Therefore, the Mobile Suit units had to sortie for the fleet to have any chance of escape.
Unfortunately, this fleet commander was facing Reid.
Reid is now an all-around warrior, and shooting has always been one of his stronger attributes.
So while the fleet's decision to escape at high speed would normally be correct, facing him made it fatal.
With the battleships' backs exposed to him, Reid naturally didn't hesitate to target their thrusters directly.
With the battleship's main thrusters destroyed, there was naturally no possibility of escape. The handful of Mobile Suits deployed were hardly enough for Reid to slice apart like flying swords with his GN Buster Sword.
Adding to this, Silver Lightning soon arrived on the scene, and the entire fleet was ambushed and completely annihilated by Reid.
After the battle, Reid had Silver Lightning docked beneath the Gran Chaos and promptly left the Moon without further ado.
After continuous combat, Reid was both exhausted and hungry, needing to return to the ship for proper food, drink, and rest.
(End of Chapter)