The Deathscythe Gundam repelled the Blitz and was on the verge of escaping the Minovsky Particles' interference range, heading toward the sea. Among the five mobile suits Reid had brought, none were water-adapted. If the Deathscythe made it into the water, only the Mystic Lightning—which primarily relied on physical weaponry—would retain relatively intact combat capabilities.
So Reid abandoned any thought of stealthily ambushing it and instead pushed his thrusters to maximum output, charging straight at the Deathscythe to intercept it.
Reid's charge was clearly detected by the Deathscythe. Duo Maxwell first feigned a few steps forward, then, just as the Mystic Lightning was about to close in from behind, abruptly spun around and swung the massive beam scythe backward in a vicious slash from the left—clearly aiming to land a devastating blow on Reid.
Unfortunately, such tricks were useless against a Newtype. With Duo's killing intent so palpable, how could Reid not be on guard?
During his charge, Reid had already split his greatsword into two single-handed blades. The moment the Deathscythe raised its scythe, Reid maneuvered the blade in his left hand to meet it.
Since the Deathscythe's beam scythe could physically clash with solid weapons, and the Mystic Lightning was charging straight ahead at full speed, even with the Deathscythe's thrusters at maximum, how could a spinning attack compete with a head-on collision? Moreover, the Mystic Lightning's Minovsky Ultracompact Fusion Reactor output wasn't drastically inferior to the Deathscythe's miniature fusion reactor.
The inevitable result was the Deathscythe being knocked sideways to the left, while the Mystic Lightning stabilized itself with a slight rightward spin.
But Duo Maxwell wasn't one to wait for death. Even with his mobile suit down and the initiative completely lost, he still activated the beam dagger embedded in the left arm's Blast Shield and launched it in a spiraling shot toward the Mystic Lightning's frame.
It was worth noting that the Deathscythe was currently in an unassisted firing mode—every attack relied purely on the pilot's instincts. Hitting with such accuracy under these conditions was no small feat.
Yet, this attack was also deflected by Reid's right-hand blade. Simply put, unless Reid wanted to be hit, such a slow, telegraphed attack had no chance of landing.
At this moment, Reid sensed the pilot's death wish emanating from the Deathscythe's cockpit.
In an instant, Reid understood what Duo Maxwell intended to do. Among the five Gundam Wing pilots, aside from Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell, the other three were notorious for caring only about preventing their Gundams from being captured—not about the machines themselves. When cornered, their first instinct was to self-destruct their mobile suits for one final strike.
So, Reid had long prepared a gift for these kinds of situations—the small EMP bombs he had obtained from a ten-pull in the system's equipment pool.
Ever since Reid had been nearly killed by an EMP once, all mobile suits under his command had their EMP shielding maxed out. Unless one of these small EMP bombs detonated inside the cockpit, none of his units would be affected.
Thus, Reid had equipped all five mobile suits with a few of these bombs. They didn't take up much space—they could be stored on the waist or inside the shield.
Without hesitation, Reid pulled out a grenade-like device from his shield and hurled it toward the Deathscythe.
Duo Maxwell saw the movements of the Mystic Lightning, but he had no intention of wasting any more time blocking or defending. Instead, he hurriedly input the password to activate the self-destruct switch.
Then, Duo Maxwell noticed all the electronic devices in the Deathscythe Gundam suddenly smoking, the screens and buttons going dark. The entire machine shut down, the engine stopping, rendering the self-destruct impossible.
Not long after, the cockpit of the Deathscythe Gundam was pried open by Reid, who was piloting his own machine. Compared to the previous two pilots, Duo was in relatively better shape—at least he could still glare viciously at the Mystic Lightning, baring his teeth.
Reid waved his machine's hand dismissively, signaling for the guy to get off his Gundam.
Duo knew there was no point in staying. A single finger from the enemy could crush him.
With his Gundam already captured, Duo had no intention of throwing his life away. Fighting recklessly now would only mean a pointless death and losing any chance of reclaiming the Deathscythe Gundam. So, he obediently jumped out of the cockpit.
Then, Duo watched as his Deathscythe Gundam vanished instantly from the spot, as if it had evaporated into thin air. If not for the indentations on the ground, there would be no trace that a machine had ever been there.
Duo's mind was in chaos. Though he had just witnessed the Sandrock and Heavyarms Gundams disappear, he had assumed it was some kind of trick—after all, three of the enemy machines had demonstrated cloaking abilities.
Skeptical, Duo reached out to feel the empty space in front of him, but of course, his hands found nothing. Finally, he charged forward, wondering if the enemy had simply dragged the Gundam away while cloaked.
Naturally, he found nothing. This shattered Duo's worldview completely. He slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the sky, lost in thought.
Reid couldn't care less about Duo Maxwell's state of mind. The battle in the sky had already concluded.
The Immortal Aegis held a significant advantage against the Wing Gundam, which lacked its Buster Beam Rifle. Moreover, Ange's piloting skills far surpassed Heero's.
Reid estimated that if Heero were to be recruited now, his combat rating would barely qualify as an Ace. Only after mastering the Zero System would he have the qualifications to be promoted to Master.
So, while holding back and trying to preserve the Wing Gundam's integrity, Ange had prolonged the fight.
In the end, the Wing Gundam was still struck down by the Immortal Aegis' Offensive Shield Ram, crashing directly onto the central runway of New Edwards Base.
Without needing Reid's orders, Une immediately activated the Mirage Colloid System and moved in.
Meanwhile, Reid and Ange deliberately distracted Heero—one descending slowly from above, the other approaching on foot.
Heero knew that in its current state, the Wing Gundam stood no chance against the blue-and-white machine in the sky, let alone against two opponents at once. After scrambling to his feet, he kept his guard up against Reid and the descending threat while backing toward the Altron Gundam, hoping that two Gundams together might break through the blockade.
Then, just like the Deathscythe Gundam, his machine's systems suddenly sparked and smoked before shutting down completely, the screens going black.
A few minutes later, when Reid pried open the Wing Gundam's cockpit, he found that Heero had physically yanked out the self-destruct switch wire—a last-ditch effort—ready to blow it up regardless.
Unfortunately, a Gundam's self-destruct function was, in principle, still an engine detonation, utilizing the miniature fusion reactor to destroy the machine. (Don't ask why the Wing Gundam's actual self-destruct only incinerated the interior while leaving most of the exterior intact. It couldn't be that the Wing Gundam was deliberately designed with self-destruct bombs inside, could it?)
So now, with the Wing Gundam refusing to explode, Heero had no way to manually crush the Gundam to prevent enemy capture.
Seeing Heero's stubbornness, Reid couldn't be bothered to argue. He simply grabbed the Wing Gundam and shook Heero out onto the ground. After all, this guy had survived being blasted from ten meters up and landing headfirst—a mere three-to-five-meter drop would probably just have him rolling over and standing right back up.
After reclaiming the Wing Gundam, Chang Wufei, piloting the Altron Gundam, was stunned. How had he suddenly found himself isolated and outmatched in just a few minutes?
The battle between the Altron Gundam and the NT-X Gundam was a classic case of a warrior fighting a hunter. And thanks to the NT-X's rocket propulsion system, this warrior was nowhere near as fast as the hunter, lacking any instant gap-closing charge ability.
Thus, the Altron Gundam was constantly being kited by the NT-X—unable to catch up, yet also unable to escape. Trying to tank a Heavy Particle Beam Cannon shot while fleeing would be suicidal, so all Chang Wufei could do was stall.
By the time the Mystic Lightning, Immortal Aegis, and Blitz Gundam—coordinating with the NT-X—had surrounded the Altron Gundam, Chang Wufei, unlike Heero and Duo, didn't even consider self-destructing. Instead, he broadcasted openly:
"Who's in charge here? Dare to face me in a duel!"
Reid knew he was trying to find an opening through single combat, but Reid had never fought with honor. He replied plainly:
"Fine. The four of us will duel you."
With that, Reid maneuvered the Mystic Lightning, merging its twin blades back into a greatsword, and charged ahead, slashing straight at the Altron Gundam.
Faced with the Mystic Lightning's sudden assault, Chang Wufei knew he was surrounded with no room to dodge. His only option was to engage the incoming Mobile Suit in close combat, forcing the other units to hold fire for fear of friendly damage.
So Chang Wufei blocked the Mystic Lightning's Heat Greatsword with his Beam Lance and began a contest of strength.
Unfortunately, while this Beam Lance was custom-made—harder than the machine itself—the greatsword's ultra-high-temperature blade defied reason. Within seconds of their clash, the contact point glowed red-hot, on the verge of melting through.
Worse, the Altron Gundam couldn't even push the Mystic Lightning away, because the NT-X behind it fired a shot that melted the Altron's feet clean off.
Xia Yulan knew Reid wanted the Altron Gundam preserved at least 70% intact, and targeting the feet minimized collateral damage, so she fired without hesitation.
With its feet gone, the Altron Gundam had no leverage left to resist the Mystic Lightning's strength. Relying solely on thrusters, it couldn't even maintain its posture.
Thus, the Altron Gundam was slammed hard into the ground—Reid had swiftly turned the greatsword's blade flat at the last moment. Otherwise, the Altron would've been split in two.
Chang Wufei knew the fight was over. But instead of self-destructing, he opened the cockpit and raised his hands in surrender.
Chang Wufei was a child of the Dragon Clan from the abandoned Colony Satellite A0206, where he learned the wisdom of "where there's life, there's hope." Compared to other Gundam pilots, he possessed more strategic thinking.
This didn't necessarily mean he was smarter or exceptionally gifted, but rather that Wufei understood the value of questioning and compromise.
Unlike the other Gundam pilots, who immediately rushed to destroy the OZ leadership at New Edwards Base without a second thought, Wufei took the time to gather intelligence on his way. Through internal communications within the United Earth Sphere Alliance, he confirmed that the mission was a setup—a trap meant to exploit them. In fact, he was the one who originally reminded the other four Gundam pilots that they were all allies.
Of course, those who think too much often take convoluted paths. Reid remembered that Wufei had been psychologically broken by Treize Khushrenada twice.
The first time nearly crushed his spirit; the second directly led to his betrayal in the subsequent movie.
So when Reid saw Wufei surrender, he wasn't surprised. Activating the external speakers, he said:
"Step out of your mobile suit, and you're free to go. We don't take prisoners."
Wufei, however, was eager to know who had defeated him. Hoping to gather information, he asked:
"Can you at least tell me your name or your organization's codename? I don't want to lose without knowing why."
Amused by the request, Reid replied with deliberate mischief:
"Sure. My name is Rau Le Creuset. Remember it, loser. Our organization is called Celestial Being."
With that, Reid struck the Altron Gundam, knocking Wufei to the ground before confiscating the mobile suit.
Afterward, Reid contacted his squad over comms:
"Une, we can stay in this world for three days, and the first one isn't even half over yet. Returning now would be a waste. Do you have any safehouses here that can store mobile suits?"
Une thought for a moment before answering:
"There are places, but the 'me' of this world also knows about them, so they're not 100% secure. Still, it's unlikely she'll have time to track us down. From what I recall, during this period, I was too busy suppressing remnants of the United Earth Sphere Alliance to even sleep more than a few hours.
"Besides, Marshal Noventa and the pacifist faction officials haven't been killed by the Gundam pilots yet. Right now, the 'me' of this world and Treize Khushrenada are probably racking their brains over how to deal with them."
Reid considered this before asking:
"Une, if I wanted to take advantage of the chaos to grab something else before leaving, would it be better for these doves to live or die?"
Une answered instantly:
"Oh, they're much more useful dead. The more chaotic the world gets, the easier it is for us to move unnoticed. If they survive and leave this base, OZ's rebellion will be swiftly crushed. The only reason the remnants of the United Earth Sphere Alliance were defeated and absorbed by OZ in the first place was because they lost their leadership.
"Moreover, many of the pacifists' former supporters only switched their allegiance to OZ because all the prominent doves were wiped out, leaving Treize Khushrenada as their sole option."
"So with these pacifists dead, OZ will need at least several months to suppress the Earth Sphere Unified Forces across various nations, and numerous guerrilla forces will emerge fighting for the independence of countries annexed by the Earth Sphere Unified Alliance. The world will descend into complete chaos for quite some time."
Reid nodded upon hearing this and asked again,
"Une, you must still have a way to contact Treize Khushrenada. Reach out to him and tell him to evacuate the main building with whoever he needs within ten minutes. We're going to level it shortly."
Une didn't deny that she still had means to contact Treize Khushrenada and immediately began operating the systems in the Blitz Gundam. Soon, a message was sent to Treize's personal mobile terminal.
It was worth noting that the entire New Edwards Base was now enveloped in high-density Minovsky Particles. The Earth Sphere Unified Alliance's communications had long been severed—only Reid's five mobile suits could still transmit signals externally.
Five minutes later, Treize Khushrenada, this world's Lady Une, and the previously escaped General Septum boarded Treize's private shuttle right in front of the five of them and took off without delay.
Following this, Reid gave the order. The Mystic Lightning, Immortal Aegis, Blitz, and NT-X unleashed their full firepower, instantly reducing the main building to rubble. To ensure no survivors, Reid even exchanged a large quantity of high explosives from the system, blasting out a massive crater to guarantee that no one—even those hiding in the basement—could possibly survive.
Reid felt no sympathy for these characters who were originally destined to die. He was merely guiding them back to their fates for his own benefit. After all, saving them would yield no advantages.
In truth, the only reason Reid spared Treize Khushrenada and this world's Lady Une was out of consideration for Une herself (their deaths would only plunge the world into greater chaos). Watching her former self and the ideals she once believed in perish would have been too cruel.
Once everything was done, Reid and the others, led by Une, located an intact large transport in the hangar and relocated all five mobile suits to Une's private safehouse.