Upon Reid's command, Ange and Noin immediately piloted their Mobile Suits, flanking him left and right. Ange remarked,
"Finally, it's almost over. We've been drifting in space for a month, constantly on guard against that vixen. When we get back, I'm going shopping, treating myself to a feast, and taking a couple days off."
Reid tactfully ignored the jab about the "vixen"—some topics were better left untouched. Instead, he replied,
"Fine, we'll take a break once we're back. Though Une will have to shoulder a bit more work."
(The three were using a private comm channel. Inside her Aries, Une sneezed inexplicably.)
Noin simply smiled at Reid and Ange's lazy talk, knowing full well that even if they slacked off, they'd still be confined to the Star Palace Colony Satellite. If Une really wanted to track them down, she could do so in minutes.
The lighthearted moment didn't last long. Soon, Xia Yulan sortied in the NT-X Gundam.
Following the plan, Reid led Ange and Noin straight toward the frontlines of Gryps II.
His target was clear: the PMX-003 The·O, currently locked in combat with the Qubeley.
The PMX-003 The·O was the fourth Mobile Suit Paptimus Scirocco had built aboard the Jupiteris-class ship, developed as his personal unit. He had even pretentiously appended "The·O" to its name, supposedly symbolizing "the will of God." To the outside world, however, such embellishments were irrelevant and never included in official designations.
That said, the The·O itself was a capable machine. Paptimus Scirocco had taken a brute-force approach to its design: when defense was lacking, he piled on armor; when thrust was insufficient, he added more thrusters; when firepower fell short, he crammed in more weapons. The result was a 28.4-meter-tall, 86.3-ton behemoth of a Mobile Suit.
Aesthetics aside, the unit did manage to combine heavy armor, high mobility, and overwhelming firepower—at least on paper.
Of course, as everyone knows, machines that try to excel at everything often end up mediocre in all aspects.
The The·O was no exception. Its heavy armor left no room for a shield, forcing Scirocco to resort to the most extravagant solution: coating the entire frame in expensive anti-beam coating. (Only someone with a Factory Module to drastically cut costs, like the protagonist, could afford such extravagance.)
The The·O's massive size meant its surface area was far greater than standard Mobile Suits, making the anti-beam coating three times more costly to apply.
As for its so-called high mobility, it only excelled in straight-line acceleration. To balance the hulking frame, Scirocco packed it with lateral thrusters, but its sidestepping agility remained sluggish.
Finally, the "overwhelming firepower" was achieved by boosting weapon output, which came at the cost of the The·O's beam rifle having a slower firing rate than standard models. While its beams were thicker and more intimidating in power, their practicality was debatable.
Even its beam saber was oversized, branded as an "Explosive Beam Saber." Compared to ordinary beam sabers, it had an edge against anti-beam shields and boasted a longer blade—but that was about it.
However, Paptimus Scirocco's own Newtype abilities were not weak, and The-O was equipped with a Bio-Sensor independently developed by the Jupiter Fleet.
This Bio-Sensor could quickly detect the enemy's "Psycho-Wave"—commonly referred to as "pressure"—allowing the Mobile Suit to react in advance, compensating for its short lateral evasion distance.
At the same time, dodging attacks with minimal movement gave the impression of facing a master.
Of course, this Bio-Sensor, specialized in detecting "pressure," directly led to its overload and shutdown when confronted with the Zeta Gundam channeling the souls of all Newtypes on the battlefield. It was a system with severe flaws, far less refined than the Bio-Sensor developed by Anaheim Electronics for the Zeta Gundam.
By the time Reid and his two companions arrived on the battlefield, Haman and her Qubeley were gradually losing ground. The main reason was that Paptimus Scirocco had begun adapting to the Funnel attacks and successfully destroyed many of them with his Beam Rifle. With fewer and fewer Funnels remaining, the Qubeley was losing its primary means of offense.
Fortunately, just as Paptimus Scirocco was pushing the Qubeley into a corner with The-O, preparing to exploit his high-speed thrust for close combat, he suddenly sensed three sharp killing intents from behind.
Not daring to hesitate, Paptimus Scirocco adjusted The-O's charge angle, making a sharp 90-degree turn into a downward dive.
Two high-energy sniper Beams narrowly missed The-O's head, sending chills down Paptimus Scirocco's spine.
But the sense of danger hadn't ended. Paptimus Scirocco could feel a powerful, murderous presence rapidly closing in from behind.
So, he maneuvered The-O into a 180-degree spin on the spot, drawing an Explosive Beam Saber with its left hand to block the enemy's heavy sword strike.
The ones ambushing Paptimus Scirocco were naturally Reid and his two companions. With the combat prowess of Mystic Lightning, Immortal Aegis, and Wing Gundam, cutting through the battlefield between the Titans and Neo Zeon was effortless.
Any Titans Mobile Suit foolish enough to stand in their way didn't even require Reid to act—his two capable partners would shoot them down instantly.
Had it not been for The-O's Bio-Sensor—which would later prove fatal to Paptimus Scirocco—still functioning properly at this point, The-O's heavy armor and anti-Beam capabilities might have prevented it from being outright destroyed. Still, it would have emerged with at least two gaping holes before engaging Mystic Lightning, and its thrusters would undoubtedly have been crippled.
But a dodge was a dodge. Facing Reid's heavy sword strike from behind, Paptimus Scirocco successfully parried it with The-O.
The-O was no Byarlant with its slender arms—its limbs were nearly as thick as Mystic Lightning's legs. Even if its engine output couldn't match an Ultra-Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor, holding its ground wasn't an issue.
Moreover, The-O was designed for four-armed combat. Hidden behind its massive skirt armor was a pair of small, foldable mechanical arms that could flip out to form two additional hands.
Thus, Paptimus Scirocco planned to use these extra arms to give Reid a nasty surprise.
Suddenly, a hand flipped out from beneath The-O's right skirt armor, gripping another Explosive Beam Saber—and thrust straight toward Mystic Lightning's cockpit.
For someone unaware of this beforehand, such a surprise attack during a blade clash would indeed be difficult to counter. After all, both sides were fully intent on killing, leaving no room to predict such an ambush based on murderous intent alone.
But Reid was the type who played with cheats. He knew the design of The-O inside out—how could he not be prepared for those two "sneaky hands"?
So when Mystic Lightning was locked in a blade struggle with The-O, Reid hadn't even pushed the thrusters to their limit, keeping them ready to shut off at any moment.
The instant The-O's hidden arms shot out, Reid immediately cut the thrusters, using The-O's own force to execute a near-impossible backflip for a Mobile Suit. He followed up instantly with a horizontal slash.
However, Paptimus Scirocco reacted just as swiftly. As Mystic Lightning flipped back, he maneuvered The-O into a rapid retreat, causing Reid's slash to miss.
But Reid wasn't fighting Paptimus Scirocco one-on-one.
Earlier, the close-quarters combat between the two Mobile Suits had made it difficult for the others to support without risking friendly fire. Now that Paptimus Scirocco had put distance between them, The-O was immediately met with two high-energy Beam shots, while Funnels from the Qubeley rained down from above.
Fortunately for him, many of the Qubeley's Funnels had already been shot down, leaving the Beam fire sparse. Paptimus Scirocco chose to rely on The-O's armor to tank the hits—previous battles had shown that the Qubeley's Funnels needed to strike the same spot at least three times to breach the anti-beam coating and thick armor.
As for the two high-energy Beams, The-O, still in the midst of its hasty retreat, couldn't dodge. Paptimus Scirocco gambled, using the two Explosive Beam Sabers to slash through the incoming Beams.
In the end, he succeeded. The Explosive Beam Sabers cleaved through the high-energy sniper shots, and The-O withstood the Qubeley's Funnel barrage.
But The-O's massive frame still suffered grazes on both arms from the split Beams, and its shoulder armor was left pockmarked.
However, the assault from Reid's team of four ended there. Ange, Noin, and Haman were ambushed—six cluster missiles and eight large Anti-ship Missiles streaked in from their flank and rear.
Though both Immortal Aegis and Wing Gundam were equipped with Phase Shift Armor, Ange and Noin clearly had no interest in experiencing a 3D washing machine tumble firsthand.
Haman also declared that her Qubeley couldn't withstand large Anti-ship Missiles.
So the three women turned to evade, using their Mobile Suits' close-defense weapons to detonate the missiles one by one.
Meanwhile, the instigators—Sarah Zabiarov in the Bolinoak Sammahn and Reccoa Londe in the Palace Athena—took up positions on either side, shielding The-O.
At that moment, Reid received a transmission from the Black Tri-Stars. Gaia apologized,
"Sorry, boss. We couldn't keep those two women in check. They suddenly rushed toward your position like their lives depended on it, leaving their backs wide open. But our attacks were blocked by the Zeta Gundam and Gundam MK-II, and some small fighter kept harassing us. Oh, and that remaining blue Mobile Suit ran off—no idea where it's hiding now."
Reid could guess what had happened.
No doubt Sarah Zabiarov and Reccoa Londe had seen Paptimus Scirocco on the brink of being overwhelmed and rushed to his aid, throwing caution to the wind.
And that Katz Kobayashi piloting the G-Defenser was surely thinking about blocking beams for Reccoa Londe again. Reid didn't know whether to call him pure-hearted or just a simp.
Either way, Kamille couldn't just watch Katz Kobayashi die like that, so she had no choice but to step in and help him fend off the Black Tri-Stars. With Kamille joining the fight, Emma Sheen, piloting the Gundam MK-II, naturally wouldn't just stand by. The three of them managed to hold off Gaia and his two companions.
As for Yazan Gable, he had probably wanted to bail out long ago—his teammates were just too useless.
So Reid didn't press the attack on Gaia's trio either. They'd be lucky just to survive against Kamille, given how these Gundam protagonists go berserk without any regard for reason. Instead, Reid pulled Haman into the comms and said:
"Haman, return to the ship first to resupply and replenish your Funnels. Gaia, you three escort her.
Once resupply is complete, lead the troops straight to the Argama and seize control of the Colony Laser. Leave this place to me."
Haman actually wanted to fight alongside Reid at that moment, but he anticipated her thoughts before she could even speak, adding:
"Haman, I'm not trying to steal your prey. The Argama still has Char over there—you're the only one who can handle him. Besides, you're the leader of Neo Zeon."
Reid's meaning was clear: it was only right for Haman, as Neo Zeon's leader, to command the main forces. If he kept taking charge, wouldn't she worry about him usurping her authority? As for Char, that was just an excuse.
Understanding this, Haman relaxed considerably. It proved Reid truly had no intention of seizing power. Besides, she did want to settle things with Char once and for all, so she didn't refuse. Instead, she simply replied:
"Reid, be careful. I'll be waiting for your return."
Without waiting for his response, Haman turned her Qubeley around and left.
Ange, seeing Haman so blatantly flirt with Reid right in front of her, was speechless. Just what did this domineering woman see in him? She'd make Reid change whatever it was later.
Sensing Ange's anger building again, Reid quickly moved past the topic. Seeing the Gundam Team approaching now that the Black Tri-Stars had disengaged, he wanted to avoid another nine-way brawl that would inevitably turn into a six-on-three due to their overwhelming advantage. So he broadcasted a full-channel challenge to Scirocco:
"Paptimus Scirocco, since we've both brought our 'families' onto the battlefield, how about we fight as family units? Conveniently, we're both one man with two women.
Oh, and Kamille—are you really siding with the Titans now?"
Scirocco was left speechless by Reid's words. Fight as family units? With those two women by his side—especially the one in the blue-white Mobile Suit—could Reid even handle her?
He had just sensed the sheer intensity of her psyche, like a furious dragon. Not someone to mess with. Definitely not.
He knew exactly what Sarah Zabiarov and Reccoa Londe were capable of—after all, he'd been… intimately acquainted with them.
Against the blue-white Mobile Suit's pilot, whose mental waves were practically manifesting as a dragon, the two of them would be lucky to last ten minutes in a two-on-one. And that wasn't even considering the other pilot, who was no slouch either, while their own Mobile Suits were inferior.
But before Scirocco could figure out how to refuse Reid's challenge and make his escape, Katz Kobayashi completely lost it, shouting:
"Don't talk nonsense, Sarah isn't Scirocco's woman!!"
Reid couldn't help but pity Katz Kobayashi as he listened to his words. Although it wasn't explicitly stated in the original work, there were plenty of hints that Sarah Zabiarov had long been thoroughly consumed by Paptimus Scirocco. This Katz Kobayashi was just a hopeless simp who couldn't face reality.
Kamille could only awkwardly try to cover for Katz Kobayashi while answering Mr. Reid's earlier question:
"Mr. Reid, I'm not helping the Titans. I just don't want any more of my comrades to die. And why are you helping Haman? You must know her ambitions are the root cause of this war, right?"
Listening to Kamille, Reid could only sigh—this kid still didn't understand the true nature of war in the Universal Century.
If one had to pinpoint the reason for the endless conflict, the rotten Earth Federation's long-standing oppression of space colonists was the rotten root, while Anaheim Electronics—AEUG's backer—and the major MS manufacturers were the driving forces behind the war. As for the AEUG, Titans, and Neo Zeon, they were essentially just powerful chess pieces in the grand scheme.
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