The Leo S launching alone to block his path was, in Reid's eyes, nothing more than a desperate last stand.
In truth, Ross Lantrow thought the same. Having witnessed the previous battles, he knew the performance gap between his Leo S and the enemy Mobile Suit was immense.
However, Ross Lantrow was one of the rare soldiers who genuinely upheld the spirit of chivalry.
Facing a formidable foe, he was willing to lead the charge himself, buying time for his subordinates to arrange their formation—just for the slimmest chance of repelling the enemy through coordinated attacks between Mobile Suits and ships.
Thus, the moment he ejected from the Granshaow, Ross Lantrow immediately drew his Beam Musket, disregarding the erratic lock-on and firing purely on instinct.
Surprisingly, that instinctive shot didn't miss. However, Reid wasn't particularly concerned about the Beam Musket's attack—its power wasn't much stronger than a standard Leo's Beam Rifle, just styled like an old musket.
So, Reid drew his Beam Saber and, relying on his Newtype precognition, performed a flashy maneuver—slicing the Beam midair.
What Reid didn't expect was that his time-saving, showy move would lead Ross Lantrow to believe the pilot of the unknown MS was a martial artist. Legends spoke of swordsmen cutting bullets—now, in the age of Mobile Suits, one who could cut Beams must be a master.
Thus, Ross Lantrow drew his Beam Duel Saber (which resembled more of a rapier, though its Beam was thick and high-output) and muttered to himself:
"A duel between a knight and a warrior—perfect! Come! One-on-one combat!"
With that, Ross Lantrow sent his Leo S into a desperate thrust toward the Hermes Zero, which hadn't slowed in the slightest.
Seeing the Leo S charge recklessly without any defense, Reid decisively decided he wanted no part in this fencing match. He detached the backpack and brought the Mobile Suit to an abrupt halt.
Ross Lantrow, fully focused on the Hermes Zero, was momentarily stunned when the enemy suit suddenly separated from its backpack. But by then, he couldn't stop his attack.
Since the Hermes Zero's main thrusters were on the flight pack, detaching it instantly boosted the backpack's speed by a third, no longer weighed down by the main body.
Ross Lantrow reacted quickly—realizing he had aimed at the enemy's main body, the separation meant his thrust would miss, and he'd instead be rammed by that strange backpack. Worse, the backpack had a conical Ramming Horn, and given that it was clearly made of Gundarium Alloy, his Leo S wouldn't survive the impact.
At the last moment, Ross Lantrow tilted his Leo S backward, narrowly avoiding the collision.
However, in his desperate evasion, he failed to notice that the Hermes Zero's main body—now stationary—had already raised its rifle in a sniper stance under Reid's control.
Reid activated the Lambda Driver at full power and fired a devastating Electromagnetic Bullet, piercing straight through the Leo S's cockpit.
With the deed done, Reid couldn't help but mutter:
"Who still does knightly duels these days? Times have changed, old man… Wait, hasn't that phrase been outdated for centuries?"
Ross Lantrow couldn't hear Reid's sarcastic remark that could have brought him back to life; Leo S had already exploded, and he could basically announce that there was nothing left of him.
Reid wouldn't dwell on the death of an enemy. After the Hermes Zero reattached its flight pack, it continued charging towards the Granshaow.
At this moment, only eleven Space Camouflage Leos remained to resist, with one extra unit being Boon Brooks, who had forcibly crawled out of the medical bay to engage with a spare machine from the ship.
However, piloting the Leo N, Boon Brooks was instantly taken down by Reid; an ordinary Space Camouflage Teo could hardly create a miracle.
Although the soldiers of Price's squad were very brave, they still managed to form a defensive formation through tacit understanding despite the poor communication, intending to drive away the Hermes Zero with the firepower of the Granshaow itself.
However, the performance gap between the mobile suits was too great. Reid, aiming to capture the Granshaow, did not use the Destroyer Beam Cannon, but even the Electromagnetic Rifle enhanced by the Lambda Driver was enough to deal with these Leos.
The small round shields of the Leos were utterly ineffective against the enhanced Electromagnetic Rifle rounds, and they couldn't dodge Reid's predictions. A few minutes later, all eleven mobile suits, including the one piloted by Boon Brooks, were destroyed.
In the end, Reid took out all the turrets of the Granshaow, raised his gun towards the bridge, and used Laser Communication to address the people inside.
"Everyone on the Granshaow, listen up. You can survive if you abandon the ship now. If you continue to resist, you will all die."
At this moment, the highest-ranking officer on the Granshaow was Elisha Walker, a subordinate of Ross Lantrow. She harbored feelings for Ross Lantrow, so she asked with unusual hatred, "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"
Reid didn't recognize the female voice, as it was normal for there to be female soldiers on a warship. In the space age, ships composed entirely of men were a minority.
Therefore, Reid showed no mercy and replied again, "Don't ask unnecessary questions. Now tell me, do you want to live or die? If you answer incorrectly or don't respond within 30 seconds, I'll assume you want to die."
Reid never joked about such matters. He wanted to capture the Granshaow, but if the people on the ship were still thinking of resisting, then sinking a ship that didn't involve his mission was just as well.
Elisha Walker actually didn't dare to gamble on this mysterious pilot who hadn't even given his name, because from the previous battle, she could tell that he was a decisive person.
Moreover, the Granshaow might just be a pawn to him, which is why he would let them abandon ship; anyone who dared to refuse would be shot down.
Thus, Elisha Walker ultimately decided to take a gamble, as it was the lives of the entire crew at stake. She couldn't let her own stubbornness cause them to lose their chance of survival.
So, Elisha Walker gritted her teeth and said, "Understood, we will abandon the ship."
Seeing the cooperation from the other side, Reid wouldn't really go for total annihilation. He said, "A wise choice. You have fifteen minutes to abandon the ship. Don't say you won't have enough time; being alive is already a blessing."
At this point, Elisha Walker was too tired to negotiate for a few more minutes. If the other side got angry, one shot could end it all.
So, the bridge crew quickly evacuated. Within fifteen minutes, four escape pods launched from the Granshaow, seemingly a full retreat.
However, Reid's Newtype senses detected that there were still people aboard the ship. He guessed Elisha Walker was unwilling to give up and wanted to surprise him when he boarded.
So Reid decided to cheat—activating the Lambda Driver to shatter the bridge's space-grade glass. Carrying a data retrieval device and wearing his pilot suit, he leaped straight through the window into the bridge.
The data on the Granshaow wasn't extensive, taking less than ten minutes to fully download.
By then, the ambushers were probably still wondering why there was no movement from outside.
But Reid, having achieved his goal, naturally wouldn't go easy on those who tried to ambush him.
After returning to the Hermes Zero's cockpit with his spoils, Reid flew a short distance away before turning and firing a single shot, blowing up the Granshaow's bridge.
The entire warship, in true Gundam tradition, erupted in a chain of explosions before becoming a heap of space junk.
As for the escape pods that had already put some distance between them, Reid didn't bother pursuing. Without a second glance, he flew into the nearest asteroid belt and warped back.
This return trip also went smoothly.
Still, to be safe, Reid lingered in the Factory Module for half a day before leaving.
Since this battle had gone well, Reid decided not to rush into completing the third G Invasion campaign the next day. Knowing that Chang Wufei was the "unlucky one" in the AC universe, Reid felt he should give him a little surprise.
Teletha, after all, was a soft white-haired girl—if he dared to be too harsh, some unseen higher powers might intervene.
So Reid wisely concluded that soft girls should be coaxed, while rough guys like Wufei could handle more brutal methods.
Still, he needed to plan the specifics. There was no urgency to finish the campaign within a day or two.
After sorting out his next steps, Reid checked his rewards: 170 Merit Points and a decent amount of G-Coins.
The skill drops were decent too—both the Gemini Gundam's pilot and the Stardust Trinity had dropped useful skills.
The five skills were:
-
PX System Adapter
(Awakening +60, ineffective without an Awakening gauge)
-
Tranquility
-
Stardust Trinity
(Increased aggression when emotions run high)
-
Iron Wall
(Enhanced shield durability when defending)
-
Reflexes Lv2
(Slightly boosts reaction speed based on base Reflex stat—10% ratio, max +60)
Reid had already decided: Stardust Trinity, Iron Wall, and Reflexes Lv2 would be distributed among the Black Tri-Stars as needed. PX System Adapter would go to Ange, while Tranquility would be saved for later.
However, what Reid didn't expect was that while he was in Canberra assigning skills, an urgent message from Mina forced him to immediately depart for Heaven's Base.
There was no helping it—Mina's message was brief:
"The Kusanagi, Archangel, and Eternal have arrived at Heaven's Base. Come at once."
Seeing this, Reid had no choice but to go. After all, the Kusanagi and Eternal's firepower would be crucial for the upcoming battle against Genesis.
Since Mina was already one of their own, Reid didn't bring a large force this time when heading to Heaven's Base. He simply flew over with the Xia sisters in their Mobile Suits - after all, Orb still had twenty of their warships docked there.
The journey went smoothly without any foolish "pirates" appearing to gawk or block their path.
Soon, Reid experienced the orbital elevator of the Cosmic Era universe for the first time.
It must be said that Orb's orbital elevator was quality construction. Even carrying three Mobile Suits, the ascent felt like riding a sightseeing elevator - no noticeable vibrations, reaching the top in just over ten minutes.
However, upon entering Heaven's Base, before they even reached the reception room, they could hear Cagalli shouting at Mina inside:
"Mina! Why would you go with Reid? Orb is your home... I... I still need your guidance too."
Reid noted that Cagalli hadn't matured at all after her experience at Genesis Alpha. He'd thought witnessing those events would have taught her something about the brutality of war.
So after knocking, Reid pushed the door open and said directly:
"Cagalli, did I just hear you trying to poach a member of my cabinet? That's rather unscrupulous of you. Don't forget I fought the Atlantic Federation to help restore Orb."
The moment Cagalli saw Reid, her anger flared. She rushed forward until their faces were almost touching:
"Reid! How dare you say that! Taking advantage of people's misfortune - what kind of man does that? I won't even mention how many women you have, but binding Mina to you by holding Orb's restoration over us? And I've found my father's belongings - including the contract he signed with you! You were already obligated to help restore Orb!"
Reid wiped the spittle from his face with disgust, pushing Cagalli away while reaching for a wet wipe. He retorted:
"Promising Uzumi I'd help restore Orb and recruiting Mina aren't mutually exclusive. Ask Mina herself - our agreement was settled during my first visit to Orb. The deal with Uzumi came later. And I never forced Mina to join by holding Orb's restoration hostage."
This only made Cagalli angrier, looking ready to literally bite Reid.
But Mina anticipated this, quickly restraining her:
"Cagalli, though you haven't officially taken office yet, you're already Orb's representative. Act more maturely."
"And Reid is correct - he didn't use Orb's restoration to coerce me. He simply predicted Orb's destruction during his first visit and tricked me into a wager: if Orb fell and he successfully established a nation on Earth, I would join him."
Mina's explanation left Cagalli speechless, while others present seemed deep in thought.
After all, when the Three Ships Alliance returned, it felt like they'd traveled through time. Though they'd only been away from Earth's affairs for about two weeks (with Lacus' intelligence network focused entirely around PLANT, searching for the weapons of mass destruction Reid mentioned, especially after confirming Genesis Alpha's existence)...
They returned to find Earth awash with shocking news:
The Oceania Union had collapsed. The New Misurugi Republic had seized its territory and renamed itself a kingdom. The New Miserly Kingdom was at war with the Atlantic Federation. And Orb had been liberated after the New Miserly Kingdom drove out the Atlantic Federation.
But from Mina's words just now, Lacus had already guessed some facts—Reid had been planning to attack the Oceania Union since at least March this year. His trip to Orb back then might have truly just been a side mission after gathering intelligence on the Oceania Union.
Thinking carefully, Lacus suddenly found Reid terrifying. It felt as if he had accepted her just to lure Uncle Patrick into declaring war on him.
Because once PLANT declared war, the Oceania Union would inevitably follow suit, giving Reid the perfect justification to attack them—after all, he wouldn't be the one to strike first.
But at this thought, Lacus shook her head and dismissed the speculation. It was too frightening. If Reid had truly calculated this much, wouldn't all the factions in Earth's sphere be dancing in the palm of his hand?
So instead, she took the initiative to speak up.
"Reid, no matter what, congratulations are in order. The New Misurugi Republic has successfully been restored—no, the New Miserly Kingdom has been established. You and Sister Ange have finally returned to Earth like monarchs reclaiming your throne."
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