Familiar code, familiar green-to-red light transition—the next second, Reid found himself dumped in the middle of a forest.
No sooner had Reid landed than his Mobile Suit's alarms blared wildly, accompanied by the deafening wail of air raid sirens surrounding him. Before he could even check his location or the system's mission briefing, he looked up to see a sky full of "shooting stars" hurtling toward him.
Taking in the "meteor shower," Reid immediately cursed the system:
"Damn it! A dozen hypersonic cruise missiles at Mach 6.3! This damn system just dropped me right in the heart of the battlefield this time!
And electromagnetic interference... what's the point of such weak jamming? (It was actually a natural solar flare storm.) They should all go train properly in the UC or CE universe!"
Cursing aside, Reid's hands moved swiftly as he immediately launched his Mobile Suit into the air—after all, who in their right mind would just stand there and take a hypersonic cruise missile strike?
However, the moment Reid dodged the first wave of hypersonic missiles and steadied his Mobile Suit midair, the lock-on alarm blared again.
Checking the alert, Reid cursed once more:
"Damn it, now surface-to-air supersonic missiles at Mach 7?! Fired from the ground? These are anti-air missiles! And three at once—they really think highly of me!"
This time, Reid couldn't evade. He hadn't gained enough altitude, and at this range, supersonic missiles were almost as unavoidable as Beam Weapons—detection meant impact.
This was the reality of beyond-visual-range combat with zero interference: enemy missiles locked onto their targets effortlessly with the help of advanced tracking systems, leaving his Mobile Suit's warning alarms useless until it was too late.
Only in the Full Metal Panic universe could warfare play out like this. In other universes, constant interference made long-range missile guidance nearly impossible. Hypersonic missiles were already expensive enough—if they had to rely solely on inertial guidance, their abysmal hit rate beyond visual range would make any nation abandon the concept entirely.
Within visual range? The finance minister would be screaming in your face: "If you're already in visual range, why waste money on hypersonic missiles?! There are cheaper and better ways to kill the enemy! Do you think acceleration doesn't require distance or that missiles grow on trees?!"
Fortunately, the Hermes Zero was entirely armored with Gundarium Alloy from the AC universe. To put it bluntly, even if a dozen or more Tomahawk missiles—renowned for their explosive power—hit it head-on, they wouldn't breach its defenses, let alone these surface-to-air supersonic missiles primarily designed for interception.
Not to mention, Reid also had a Lambda Driver—one operating at a far higher output than any in this world. Combined with his Newtype abilities, which ranked among the strongest, deflecting a few missiles was child's play.
Thus, the three supersonic missiles perfectly demonstrated the principle of "all smoke, no damage."
After blocking the attack, Reid had no intention of sitting around for more missile strikes. He immediately accelerated his Mobile Suit to orbital velocity, rocketing into the sky and instantly escaping all missile lock-on ranges.
Meanwhile, in the Mithril base, the fire control operator reported to Teletha with shock:
"The unknown Arm Slave has disengaged—at incredible speed. It nearly reached orbital velocity in an instant. My god... it's practically an Aerospace Armored Slave."
The fire control operator was astonished, and Teletha, Colonel Mardukas, and Major Garinine, who were listening to the broadcast, also wore expressions of shock.
Colonel Mardukas turned directly to Major Garinine beside him and asked,
"Major Garinine, have you ever heard of a large Arm Slave capable of single-handedly escaping the atmosphere? Judging by how it just tanked those missiles, it's also equipped with a Lambda Driver System."
At this moment, Major Garinine was visibly unsettled. To this question, he could only reply,
"Apologies, I've never heard of such a Mobile Suit either."
Major Garinine's answer was perfectly reasonable, and no one present found it strange. In the end, it was Teletha who spoke up:
"Since the unknown large AS has left, let's not pursue it for now. Continue monitoring the battlefield and maintain missile interception. Ground personnel, retreat to the base immediately—the next wave of hypersonic cruise missiles is incoming!"
While Mithril was reeling from the appearance of the Hermes Zero, members of Amalgam preparing to land on Merida Island from the distant high seas also witnessed the Hermes Zero transforming into a reverse-falling meteor as it left the surveillance zone.
Amalgam, with its deep pockets, immediately deployed a spy satellite to observe the situation from space upon encountering this unexpected large AS.
However, Reid had anticipated this. Though he had spent much time in the Gundam world, he hadn't forgotten how wars were typically fought in the 20th century—after all, he'd done his homework before arriving.
So, Reid had already positioned the Hermes Zero in low Earth orbit. When he spotted satellites heading his way, he didn't care which country they belonged to or whether there'd be collateral damage—he shot them all down.
After destroying seven satellites in a row, Reid noticed no more were approaching. He figured he'd likely wiped out most of Amalgam's satellites in this orbit. Unless they were fools, they wouldn't send more spy satellites now.
With that, Reid piloted the Mobile Suit back toward the surface. He hadn't lingered in geostationary orbit, and by now, the suit had already left the airspace above Merida Island.
Reid estimated that Merida Island had already been pummeled by several waves of hypersonic missiles, and Mithril's anti-air defenses were probably nearly depleted. Amalgam, preparing to land, likely wouldn't launch more missiles.
Sure enough, shortly after descending, Reid saw Mithril's Super Harrier fighters engaging Amalgam's jets—the battle had entered its second phase.
At the same time, three massive 40-meter-tall AS units, the Behemoths, surfaced. They raised their colossal 460mm-caliber cannons and began bombarding Merida Island.
These three Behemoths were Reid's targets. From low orbit, he'd already assessed them—each was worth 50 Merit Points, the same as the Apsalus III.
With the factionless bonus doubling that, each would net him 100 Merit Points. Destroying all three would give him enough for three ten-summon rolls.
So Reid didn't waste time. Though the system granted him a three-day stay, he just wanted to clear this "dungeon," rest for a day, and then move on to the next.
Thus, he aimed straight for the dogfighting fighter jets.
After all, clearing the minions before the boss was basic strategy. These fighters were nothing like those in the Gundam world—once their missiles were spent, they were useless.
If Amalgam saw the Hermes Zero effortlessly crushing the Behemoths, they might call their headquarters and request nuclear support—and that would be a real problem.
Reid wouldn't dare claim he could withstand a nuclear strike with Lambda Driver like late-stage Sagara Sousuke, since Reid always felt that version of Sousuke was in some divine intervention state—the legendary "if the author says you can tank it, you can tank it" mode.
So, the Mithril and Amalgam fighters still engaged in their "Ace Combat" dogfight in the air were effortlessly blown apart by the Hermes Zero, which was essentially running on god mode.
Unlike missiles, these fighters couldn't reach speeds exceeding Mach 3, leaving them no chance to escape before exploding into fireballs.
After clearing the skies of both factions' forces, Reid dove straight toward the three [Behemoths] below.
With the Hermes Zero making such a commotion in the air, the three [Behemoths] on the ocean surface had naturally noticed it long ago.
But Amalgam clearly hadn't equipped the Behemoths with weapons designed to counter high-speed aerial units—their massive 460mm-caliber cannons stood no chance of hitting the Hermes Zero.
The missiles in their back-mounted launchers weren't high-speed either, mostly just high-explosive suppression types. The shoulder-mounted small-caliber guns suffered the same issue, utterly incapable of tracking such an agile target.
At this point, the only weapon the [Behemoths] could effectively retaliate with was the 30mm anti-aircraft autocannon mounted on their heads.
But against the Hermes Zero, that thing couldn't even qualify as tickling—especially since Reid could also use the Lambda Driver.
Moreover, as a Newtype, Reid could visually perceive the coverage range of the [Behemoths'] Lambda Driver shields. Due to needing the Lambda Driver to support their massive frames, the Behemoths couldn't deploy their shields across their entire bodies. For the hyper-mobile Hermes Zero, it was trivial to bypass the shields and strike.
So, Reid decided to have some fun—after all, the [Behemoths] held no value to him. Might as well blow them all up.
The Hermes Zero charged head-on at the nearest [Behemoth], performing a flashy Z-shaped maneuver mid-rush to dodge its shoulder cannon fire, then activated the Lambda Driver to tank the 30mm autocannon rounds before plunging its Beam Saber straight into the machine's head.
The [Behemoth]'s cockpit was located in its head, and its pilots were drug-enhanced living CPUs—no match for Reid's mental fortitude. The Lambda Driver shield protecting the [Behemoth] was pierced effortlessly by the Lambda-infused energy coating the Hermes Zero's Beam Saber.
Once stripped of Lambda protection, no amount of thick alloy armor could withstand a Beam Saber. Even the notoriously weak "CE lighter" Beam Sabers could punch clean through, let alone the Hermes Zero's AC-universe tech version.
With its head impaled, the [Behemoth] instantly lost Lambda support, causing its waist to snap and the machine to collapse on the spot.
Without even glancing back, Reid immediately targeted the second Behemoth. This time, he didn't bother with a frontal assault—instead, he feinted to trick the pilot into shifting the Lambda shield to the front of the head, then in the blink of an eye, maneuvered behind it and fired a Lambda-enhanced Electromagnetic Rifle round into the back of its skull. The second Behemoth similarly crumpled and fell.
As for the final Behemoth, Reid simply activated the Destroyer Beam Cannon mounted on his back and unleashed a blast taller than the [Behemoth] itself.
The Lambda Driver shield of the [Behemoth] couldn't block the Destroyer Beam Cannon's attack at all. This thing was a reinforced product based on the Wing Gundam's Buster Beam Rifle, and it was on par with the Wing Zero's twin-barreled Beam Rifle.
The massive particle beam instantly melted the last [Behemoth] into slag, leaving only the remnants of its feet submerged in the ocean.
The Hermes Zero had effortlessly annihilated three [Behemoths], thoroughly shocking everyone in the Mithril base's command room.
Teletha turned to Colonel Mardukas beside her with an unusually serious expression, her lips twitching as she asked,
"Colonel Mardukas, it seems that unknown large Arm Slave isn't an enemy. Do you think it's still too late for me to go out and apologize for those three anti-air missiles? I don't think our base can withstand that unknown particle cannon attack."
Colonel Mardukas was drenched in cold sweat. He knew full well that their base couldn't withstand such an outrageous bombardment, but he didn't want Teletha to take the risk. He could only reply,
"I'll go out and apologize to that pilot. Let's hope he's a reasonable man..."
At this moment, Colonel Mardukas was genuinely prepared to risk stepping out to meet Reid.
However, Teletha suddenly felt an inexplicable sensation—a voice identical to her own echoed in her mind:
"Tell everyone not to go outside. That Mobile Suit out there won't harm you. Leave this to me."
Teletha had no idea why her own voice had appeared in her head, but her instincts told her that this voice was her—she had to trust it as much as she trusted herself. So, she stopped Colonel Mardukas, suggesting they wait and observe a little longer.
Meanwhile, Reid, having accomplished his objective, prepared to return. After all, this world had an Electronic Camouflage System—his Mobile Suit vanishing on the spot wouldn't be mistaken for some fantasy tale.
But just as he was about to leave, his Mobile Suit's lock-on alarm suddenly blared.
At the same time, Reid sensed something—an overwhelming, spine-chilling psychic presence from his right rear. Instinctively, he maneuvered his machine to evade left.
Yet, no attack came from that direction. When he cautiously turned his Mobile Suit to see what had startled him, his face darkened.
It was an Arm Slave—8.7 meters tall, its configuration resembling a suit of armor more than a humanoid weapon. Its appearance was strikingly similar to the original Fallen Angel, except its frame was silver-gray, with a horn protruding from the right side.
Reid could see the absurdly overpowered Lambda Driver shield enveloping the machine and couldn't help but curse inwardly:
"Damn, I just took out three Behemoths—was it really necessary to send the series' final boss to block me?! That shield's insane… What kind of black tech is this?!"
Of course, complaints aside, Reid quickly analyzed the situation and reached a conclusion.
"Even if I defeat this Fallen Angel, it won't give me any Merit Points. Fighting it now is just a waste of effort—better make a run for it."
But just as he was about to bolt, the enemy suddenly transmitted a message via Laser Communication, freezing Reid in place.
Teletha's voice came through the comms:
"Captain Leid Isaac, Teletha has been looking for you for a long time. Don't disappear on her again, okay?"
The moment Reid heard this, cold sweat broke out on his back. Without replying directly, he pulled up the system interface and muttered—
"System, what's going on? Didn't you say that G Invasion missions enter parallel worlds with no connection between them? Then how do you explain that Teletha over there?"
The system was clearly caught off guard by Reid's question this time—its screen started flashing green. After a long pause, it responded:
"Confirmed relationship between this world and previously recorded world: parallel universe. No errors detected."
Reid frowned deeply upon hearing this. There was no way someone could be impersonating Teletha—even if they could mimic her voice, they wouldn't know his real name. Not to mention they even mentioned the military rank the system had assigned him back then.
So Reid decisively changed his approach and asked directly:
"System, can you confirm whether the Mobile Suit pilot opposite is from this world?"
This question clearly made the system lag again. Then it suddenly flashed red and issued a warning:
"Warning, warning. Corrupted data detected. Target Teletha Testarossa: abnormal individual. Attempting to access data permissions... Access failed...(repeating in loop)"
Seeing the system stuck in an endless loop, Reid worried it might actually crash. He quickly closed the system interface and reopened it, hoping a reboot would fix it.
Fortunately, just like a computer, restarting solved 99% of software issues. At least now, the system stopped its error loop.
But this proved that the Teletha opposite him was indeed problematic—somehow glitching her way here to find him through some unknown bug.
Reid really wanted to complain—it wasn't like he'd done anything to Teletha back then. Was she really so determined to chase him across worlds? It made him look like some heartless scoundrel who'd abandoned her.
If he had to admit any fault, it was just that he'd promised to call her later but stood her up. That was all.
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