The ambush by the XXXG-01H Heavyarms Gundam proved almost entirely ineffective, as Ange had locked onto both the Heavyarms and Sandrock Gundams the moment they appeared.
To be precise, the Heavyarms' full barrage only had two sets of twelve-tube micro missile pods on each leg and triple-linked guided missile launchers on both shoulders that could effectively reach Reid's position. The rest of its machine guns were purely for show—at its current location and distance, they might scratch a Leo at best, but against other mobile suits, they'd barely chip the paint.
However, all thirty missiles fired by the Heavyarms were obliterated by a thick crimson stream of high-energy plasma (not using Phantasm Particle compression mode, sacrificing range for wider coverage). The machine gun rounds also veered off course as their trajectories warped under the beam's influence, scattering wildly.
Fortunately, the chest-mounted Gatling gun and shield-mounted Gatling cannon were sustained-fire weapons, ensuring the Heavyarms' attack wasn't completely fruitless—it at least shattered most windows and parts of the western facade of New Edwards Base's main building.
After this spectacularly ineffective salvo, Duo Maxwell immediately turned toward the source of the beam attack. What he saw was a massive blue-white "fighter" soaring skyward before transforming into MS Mode midair, then proceeding to pick off shots at him from above.
Duo desperately maneuvered to evade, but Ange wasn't about to let him go. In her eyes, anyone who opened fire without warning was clearly no ally. No need for conversation—she'd beat him into submission first.
Duo found himself in an impossible position. It wasn't that the Heavyarms lacked anti-air capability—in fact, aside from the Wing Gundam's inherent aerial combat abilities, the Heavyarms had the best air defense among them.
The cruel irony was that every weapon currently equipped on his Gundam used physical ammunition. The various Gatling guns could barely reach the high-altitude Immortal Aegis, and any missiles would be shot down by beam fire before covering half the distance.
Unaware that the Immortal Aegis' beam sniper rifle had limited ammunition (knowledge that wouldn't have helped anyway, given the Heavyarms' even stricter limitations—only four full missile salvos before becoming a sitting duck), Duo could only keep dodging.
The other three Gundam pilots froze momentarily, especially Heero. He hadn't anticipated the existence of another transformable Gundam, and its design philosophy clearly differed from his own.
To be precise, all four Meteor Project Gundam pilots sensed similarities between each other's units. But these three newly appeared large mobile suits (excluding the smaller one) clearly belonged to another series.
The key difference was their teamwork—while the four Gundam pilots barely tolerated each other as temporary allies (with two remaining virtual strangers), these newcomers operated as a coordinated unit.
After their initial surprise, the Wing Gundam and Deathscythe Gundam pilots decided to ignore the Heavyarms' predicament—if it wanted to fight, let it fight. As long as it didn't interfere with their mission, they'd continue clearing the Leos before them without offering assistance.
As for the XXXG-01SR Sandrock Gundam, even the heavily armed Heavyarms Gundam with its numerous ranged weapons could only stare helplessly at the Immortal Justice hovering high above. Its machine guns were completely ineffective at this range, and missiles weren't doing much better. What could a ground-bound unit like the Sandrock, which could only rely on jumps for limited aerial engagement, possibly do—leap to its maximum height and try to hurl its Heat Shotel at the enemy?
Thus, Sandrock's pilot, Quatre Raberba Winner, had no choice but to activate his external speakers and shout:
"Please wait! That was all a misunderstanding!!"
Unfortunately, Quatre's voice from the ground couldn't reach the skies, and Ange's assault showed no signs of stopping.
By now, Une and Xia Yufang had fully activated their mobile suits. Reid's voice came through the squad comms:
"Une, Yufang, cloak and search the perimeter for any sign of the Altron Gundam. Move to the designated positions while you're at it—that Gundam's been hiding this whole time, probably watching the show. Yufang, stay hidden and provide artillery support as needed. If you encounter Altron, notify us immediately."
With that, Reid prepared to get serious. His newly built machine deserved a worthy opponent. Let Wing and Deathscythe continue tangling with the Leos—he'd take on the Sandrock himself.
So, the only response Quatre received was a Beam shot from Reid. However, the Sandrock was highly agile, and Quatre had never let his guard down around Reid, especially after two units had vanished into stealth.
Reid's ambush achieved nothing—Sandrock raised its Shield and blocked the shot effortlessly.
Reid recalled that the AC universe still had anti-Beam materials. The EW version of Sandrock even had an anti-Beam cloak. But today's Sandrock, at the very least, lacked that feature. It had no choice but to rely on its Shield to tank Beam damage.
Similarly, the Gundarium Alloy of the AC universe—recognized throughout Gundam history as the true namesake of "Gundam"—had some inherent resistance to Beam weaponry. This was somewhat akin to the Phase Shift Armor's Beam resistance on Mobile Suits: present, but minimal. A slightly higher output, and it would melt.
Case in point: the current Sandrock, lacking any anti-Beam coating, had only blocked two standard Beam shots from Reid before its Shield bore two fresh craters.
Meanwhile, the Heavyarms Gundam, suppressed by Ange all this time, had its Gatling Shield pockmarked with damage. A few more direct hits, and the Gatling guns beneath would be compromised.
But now that Reid had attacked, Quatre abandoned any hope of communication. The pilots of the Meteor Project were all fanatics in their own way—a trait the five doctors had unanimously sought in their recruits.
So Sandrock stopped talking and charged straight at the Mystic Lightning.
Seeing his opponent still eager for a reckless brawl, Reid promptly activated the Mirage Colloid System and vanished into thin air.
Sandrock, now without a target, halted its charge, gripping its Heat Shotel warily. Getting ambushed mid-assault on OZ would be disastrous.
Meanwhile, Duo Maxwell, piloting the beleaguered Heavyarms, noticed his teammate in trouble. Even while dodging, he managed to speak over their private comms:
"Quatre, defend."
Without hesitation, Quatre had Sandrock curl into a defensive stance.
Then, in an almost acrobatic maneuver, Duo used Heavyarms to evade while simultaneously unleashing a barrage from its chest-mounted Gatling cannons—firing indiscriminately around Sandrock's position, heedless of his ally's proximity.
This wasn't Duo Maxwell disregarding allied fire coverage—he knew the Sandrock Gundam's armor could easily shrug off mere Gatling cannon fire.
The machine gun barrage was meant to flush out the few cloaked mobile suits. As long as they weren't ethereal ghosts without physical form, any hits would provoke a reaction.
Duo guessed right. The Blitz and Hell King, already distant, were irrelevant for now, but Reid was indeed planning to ambush using the Mirage Colloid System.
Among the five Gundams of the Meteor Project, Sandrock boasted the thickest armor. Even a direct Beam Rifle shot from Reid's current weapon would require multiple hits to breach it. Thus, Reid opted for a Heat Sword ambush, aiming for a backstab.
However, Heavyarms Gundam's sweeping fire successfully exposed the lurking Mystic Lightning. While the Gatling rounds couldn't damage it, the bullets sparking off its Phase Shift Armor and partially disrupting the Mirage Colloid revealed its position.
Tolle reacted instantly. Upon confirming the enemy's location, he swung his Heat Shotel toward the anomaly.
Reid keenly sensed the killing intent from Sandrock's pilot. Without hesitation, he deactivated the Mirage Colloid System and parried the Heat Shotel with his own Heat Sword, then ignited his thrusters to send Sandrock flying.
Tolle had no choice. Reid's Heat Sword was reinforced by a powerful Lambda Driver. Even if its material wasn't as durable as Gundarium Alloy, it wouldn't shatter in a direct clash.
But the old problem remained: all five Meteor Project Gundams were too light. Compared to Gundams from other worlds, their impact resistance was far inferior. Sandrock wasn't accustomed to using thrusters for melee strikes, and no matter how sturdy a machine was, colliding head-on with an opponent over twice its weight would send it flying.
Reid, ever relentless in pressing his advantage, immediately switched to a one-handed grip with his right hand and hurled a Beam Boomerang from his left hip as Sandrock tumbled away.
Tolle had no idea what this new weapon was, but with his machine unstable, he could only raise his Shield to block.
The Beam Boomerang's output, however, was beyond what Gundarium Alloy could withstand. Sandrock's Shield was cleaved in half, the slash even damaging the arm beneath. Sparks erupted from its left limb.
Clearly, Sandrock's left arm was now combat-ineffective. Reid was on the verge of victory.
Just as he prepared to deliver the final blow with a Lambda Driver strike to the cockpit—ensuring Tolle wouldn't resort to a self-destruct in desperation—a sudden surge of killing intent erupted behind him. Simultaneously, Xia Yulan's voice crackled over squad comms:
"Master, the fifth Gundam has appeared! It's charging toward you!"
Reid knew Xia Yulan might buy him a moment to fend off the Altron Gundam. Seizing the opportunity, he dashed toward Sandrock, deflecting its right-handed Heat Shotel with another swing, then closed in. The Mystic Lightning's hand pressed against the cockpit, activating the Lambda Driver to deliver a high-frequency vibration attack directly to the pilot inside.
All Duo heard over comms was Tolle's agonized scream before Sandrock powered down like a puppet with its strings cut, collapsing lifelessly.
Reid didn't hold back either, forcibly prying open Sandrock Gundam's cockpit. Using the Lambda Driver, he severed the pilot's safety harness with a swift motion, then slapped Tolle out of the mobile suit before promptly recovering the unit.
Reid could sense Tolle wasn't dead—his mental signature remained active, merely stunned. He couldn't help but marvel once more at how absurdly tough Gundam Wing pilots were before dismissing the thought.
Meanwhile, Altron Gundam, which had been attempting to ambush Reid, was now forced into evasive maneuvers by NT-X's heavy particle cannon. It was clear these Gundams relied entirely on superior specs to bully Leos, as their designs weren't optimized for special operations at all.
Both Sandrock and Altron found themselves in the same predicament—when faced with long-range threats capable of seriously damaging them, they could only dodge, as their own armaments couldn't reach the enemy quickly enough.
Zhang Wufei, Altron's pilot, immediately opened a public channel to address Wing Gundam and Deathscythe Gundam, who had been spectating all this while:
"How much longer are you two going to stand there watching? Haven't you realized these strange MS are our enemies? You've been tricked by OZ! Everyone attending this conference are pacifists from the United Earth Sphere Alliance—they wanted to use you to eliminate their opposition. Tune into the Alliance's comm channels and listen for yourselves!"
"And these mobile suits are here to hunt you down! I just saw that unit that destroyed the building hand something to Treize Khushrenada!!"
The moment Zhang Wufei finished speaking, Wing Gundam's pilot Yuer and Deathscythe's pilot Duo Maxwell immediately accessed the Alliance's communication channels. The channels were flooded with repeated orders to protect Supreme Commander Noventa Marshal—a renowned dove in the Earth Sphere Unified Alliance (the absurdity of having a pacifist military marshal advocating dialogue over conflict wasn't lost on them).
Convinced by Zhang Wufei's words—and thoroughly unsettled by Reid's inexplicable disappearance trick with one of the Gundams—Heero and Duo's killing intent toward Reid skyrocketed.
Seeing all players now present, Reid checked in through squad comms: "All targets accounted for. Yulan, move into position. Une, are you ready? We're initiating Minovsky Particle dispersal now."
Une, currently piloting Blitz with its Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor, responded immediately: "Locked and loaded. Ready to move on your mark."
"Good," Reid ordered. "Ange, descend slightly. All four units begin Minovsky Particle dispersal. Time to teach this world's Gundams that stacking raw specs isn't everything—they should've invested in some abnormal status resistance."
As he spoke, Reid's Mystic Lightning spearheaded the operation, flooding the area with visible green particles. Xia Yulan's NT-X advanced from the north while Une's Blitz—having long taken position west—flanked Heavyarms Gundam from behind. Together with Immortal Aegis hovering above, all four units simultaneously saturated the battlefield with the luminous particles.
Wing, Deathscythe, Altron, and Heavyarms found their systems crippled almost simultaneously by the Minovsky interference. Targeting and lock-on systems failed completely, with HUD icons scattering randomly. All communications collapsed—even attempts to contact nearby Gundams yielded nothing but static.
No choice, the AC universe is one of the rare Gundam worlds without any special particle interference. The mobile suits here have higher baseline specs compared to other worlds. Even the most basic Leo grunt units are equipped with rifles with a minimum caliber of 80mm—no other universe gives its mooks this kind of firepower.
On the flip side, AC universe mobile suits, never tempered by various interference particles, perform poorly in anti-jamming capabilities. They can only handle standard radar wave interference. When faced with something like Minovsky Particles, their targeting systems instantly go haywire.
However, these Gundam pilots aren't pushovers either. If targeting is useless, then they'll just turn it off entirely, becoming lock-free masters before charging at the nearest Mystic Lightning.
Reid had no interest in fighting one against four. He decisively took off and activated the Mirage Colloid System, vanishing from sight.
Seeing Mystic Lightning disappear, Duo Maxwell tried to repeat his earlier trick, using machine gun fire to reveal its position.
But this time, Ange wouldn't give him the chance. Her Sniper Rifle fired at full power again, forcing Heavyarms Gundam to evade in the opposite direction of Mystic Lightning's disappearance, preventing any sweeping fire.
With Heavyarms' area attacks unusable, and Altron Gundam's pitifully short-range flamethrower incapable of locating Reid's position, Wing Gundam immediately transformed into MA Mode, preparing to take to the skies and engage Immortal Aegis in aerial combat. Otherwise, letting that unit hover overhead and suppress everyone would make the battle unwinnable.
Meanwhile, Deathscythe Gundam and Altron Gundam broadcasted simultaneously:
"One each." ×2
Without hesitation, Deathscythe Gundam lunged at Blitz Gundam, while Altron Gundam charged straight at NT-X Gundam.
Reid didn't intervene on either side. Blitz Gundam had the Mirage Colloid System—Une just needed to activate it and keep her distance from Deathscythe, relying on ranged attacks to stay out of serious trouble.
As for Altron Gundam's side, facing Xia Yulan, who was proficient with the Lambda Driver, and NT-X Gundam now fully equipped with TPS Armor, Altron's primary weapons were mostly solid ammunition. Only its Beam Trident could deal effective damage, making it impossible for Altron to quickly overpower Xia Yulan.
So Reid went after the easier target—Heavyarms Gundam. Its missiles were nearly depleted, and the remaining Gatling guns and physical blades were things Mystic Lightning could tank. It was time to let Duo experience what it felt like for a Leo to face multiple Gundams.
Truth be told, Duo was genuinely regretting provoking this menace in the first place. When Mystic Lightning reappeared from behind, his targeting system was already useless—he didn't even hear an alarm, only feeling something press against his mobile suit's lower back.
By the time he tried to emergency eject, it was too late. Reid pulled his usual trick—activating the Lambda Driver's shockwave. Duo let out a pained scream and collapsed instantly.
Reid didn't hold back. As per standard procedure, he pried open the cockpit, cut the seatbelt, and dumped the pilot on the ground without a second thought. The skill plunder module only required defeating them, and with two days left in this world, these Gundam pilots—as long as they weren't seriously injured—might just hijack a few Leos to farm skills a second time.
After having the system reclaim Heavyarms Gundam, Reid turned his attention to Deathscythe Gundam. Though Une could hold her own against it for a while, she had the weakest interception capabilities among all of them.
If Deathscythe Gundam wanted to flee, Une piloting the Blitz wouldn't be able to stop it. Moreover, after Heavyarms Gundam's defeat, the other three Gundams clearly had the same intention. However, Wing Gundam without its Buster Beam Rifle stood no chance against Immortal Aegis—it couldn't even escape.
Altron Gundam wasn't foolish enough to expose its back to an enemy capable of ultra-long-range artillery strikes, so both units were fighting while retreating.
But Deathscythe Gundam was clearly preparing to charge recklessly. The Blitz had even revealed itself to engage in close combat to stop it, though their melee capabilities weren't on the same level. Exchanging blows with its Beam Saber against Deathscythe's Beam Scythe put it at a severe disadvantage.
In the AC universe, beam melee weapons could generate a high-energy ionized layer. This layer was so powerful that it allowed beam weapons to maintain their blade form underwater, making them among the rare beam weapons with underwater adaptability. Thus, beam melee weapons in the AC universe could even clash with purely physical metal weapons.
Blitz Gundam's Beam Saber was currently Minovsky Particle-driven, allowing it to parry, but there was still a gap in output efficiency between the two mobile suits. This time, Deathscythe Gundam had activated its thrusters and wouldn't be easily knocked back.
In the end, it was Blitz Gundam that was sent flying. This also damaged Deathscythe's targeting system, and Xia Yufang fired a shot with her Arm Slave Sniper Rifle, amplified by the Lambda Driver's power boost, to support and prevent Deathscythe's pursuit. Otherwise, Blitz Gundam would have undoubtedly lost some parts.
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