"Attack from above!" The moment an unidentified Death Vanguard soldier aimed his gun at the Hermes Zero and Qubeley, both Reid and Haman—two top-tier Newtypes—simultaneously sensed the hostility.
What followed was a reflexive action, their movements almost synchronized as they immediately separated and leaped back toward their Mobile Suits.
Since Reid was right at the Hermes Zero's hatch, he was slightly faster than Haman in boarding his unit.
This Death Vanguard soldier had no idea just how terrifying the beings he had provoked were.
Whether due to poor marksmanship or an intentional attempt at intimidation, his first shot from the XM-02 Denan Ge missed completely, landing beside the Hermes Zero and Qubeley.
He never got a chance to fire a second shot.
Seeing the missed shot, Reid immediately manipulated the Hermes Zero to fire an electromagnetic cannon amplified by the Lambda Driver.
With the protection and amplification of Lambda Driver energy, the Denan Ge's feeble beam shield was instantly shredded, along with its left arm and half of its Mobile Suit.
Thus, this courageous soldier who dared provoke two major bosses promptly lived up to his squad's name—Death Vanguard.
To be fair, if his teammates learned the truth, they'd probably make him die all over again in hell.
Reid's destruction of one Denan Ge naturally attracted other Death Vanguard soldiers in the vicinity. Within ten seconds, three more Denan Ge units and four XM-01 Denan Zon units arrived overhead.
As these Death Vanguard Mobile Suits entered the area, the conspicuous white Qubeley naturally became their primary target.
Then, all seven units were pierced by beams fired from below through their defensive blind spots.
Reid could clearly see that Haman's Qubeley also possessed a Lambda Driver field. She used this field to physically manipulate the Qubeley's funnels, allowing them to scatter and fire within five meters of the Mobile Suit despite the Colony Satellite's gravitational environment.
Moreover, the funnels seemed more powerful—or their beams more concentrated—likely another effect of the Lambda Driver.
Even through their respective cockpits, Haman could sense Reid's surprise. For her own reasons, she casually remarked, "Surprised? While Amelias's capabilities are limited and she can't create Mobile Suits beyond her comprehension—even with complementary technologies from different worlds—she can directly produce factories. Those of us granted Mobile Suits only need to understand modifications to retrofit them through these factories. You know Teletha is with us now—that girl's a genius in every sense. Are you really surprised she added a Lambda Driver to my unit?"
Hearing that Teletha handled the modifications, Reid was no longer surprised.
Although Teletha's Whispered ability specialized in submarine construction, that didn't mean she completely lacked understanding of Lambda Drives.
Especially now that she piloted the Fallen Angel—even if she couldn't build them from scratch, she could have Amelias summon multiple Hell Kings and transplant their Lambda Drive units onto other Mobile Suits.
Besides, while Chang Wufei couldn't build Gundams, he certainly knew how to maintain and modify them.
It should be noted that among the five members of the AC Universe's Meteor Project, aside from Quatre, none of the others had logistical support teams behind them. They had to handle the maintenance and resupply of their Mobile Suits themselves, so Chang Wufei certainly had no issue working as a mechanic.
Additionally, Haman herself had participated in the development of the Qubeley and Psycommu System on Axis (as depicted in the manga Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Define), so she was capable of assisting Teletha in developing an OS compatible with the Lambda Driver.
After Haman finished speaking and saw that Reid hadn't responded, she paid him no further mind. She activated her Mobile Suit and flew directly to the low-gravity region along the central axis of the Colony Satellite.
She knew her own situation well—the Lambda Driver installed on the Qubeley was, as Reid had guessed, salvaged from other Mobile Suits equipped with Lambda Drives in the Full Metal Panic universe.
As a result, it was not fully compatible, and controlling the Funnels placed an immense mental strain on Haman.
If she needed to concentrate further to form a shield for defense, she would have to disable the physical interference with the Funnels; otherwise, Reid would surely detect her mental exhaustion.
Thus, Haman had to quickly relocate her Mobile Suit to the low-gravity area where she could effectively deploy the Funnels, or this weakness would be exposed after just a few engagements.
Fortunately, Reid didn't notice Haman's intentions, as he only sensed the overwhelming rage burning within her at that moment.
However, this time, her fury wasn't directed at him but at the Death Vanguard, who had interrupted their conversation.
By the time Reid piloted his Mobile Suit to join her near the central axis, she was already cutting through enemies with unstoppable force.
Although the Qubeley's output was still at the level of a Zeta-era Minovsky Reactor, the Death Vanguard pilots had never encountered Funnel weapons.
Around UC 0100, Funnels had been phased out due to the widespread deployment of I-Fields on Mobile Suits that had not yet been miniaturized.
History, it seemed, had come full circle. Twenty years later, a new generation of MS Pilots had no experience facing Funnel-type weapons.
Moreover, with the miniaturization of Mobile Suits, mass-produced units were lucky to even have Beam Shields—hoping for I-Fields was asking too much.
As a result, these Death Vanguard pilots were no different from the Earth Federation pilots who first encountered Funnels in UC 0079. They could only focus on the Funnel they spotted, raise their shields in defense, and then get blasted through from the flanks or rear by another Funnel.
By this point, many had recognized the Qubeley.
Haman had briefly ruled the Earth Sphere's Colony Satellite cluster in UC 0088, and less than forty years had passed since then. Figures like Maziar Rhona, the head of the Rona family (founders of the Space Babylon), might have even caught a distant glimpse of Haman during his earlier days as Maziar Buch, a scrap dealer.
(The European noble surname "Rona" was purchased by the Buch conglomerate. Their so-called vision of establishing a nation centered around space aristocracy was a facade—this family was never truly noble.)
Furthermore, Roy Jung, the curator of the Border Colony No. 4 War Museum, who styled himself as General Roy, might actually be a veteran who retired after the dissolution of Neo Zeon.
The war museum he operated displayed various Mobile Suits from the One Year War period (merely empty shells with internal electronics removed). The only functional unit was one of the protagonist Mobile Suits recognized by the system - the F50D Guntank R-44, a land-based variable Mobile Suit prototype reverse-engineered from the Guntank by Anaheim Electronics in UC 0100.
At this moment, Roy Jung had already accomplished the feat of firing with a decades-old, unmaintained Mobile Suit (this unit had served for several years before being retired due to universal disdain) that immediately suffered a barrel explosion.
However, enemy units around the museum suddenly gathered at high altitude. Raising his binoculars, he murmured:
"How is this possible? That's a Qubeley? Could Supreme Commander Haman still be alive?"
Actually, the Death Vanguard had the same question. After the Qubeley's combat footage was transmitted back, the mere name Haman Karn was enough to shock Carozzo Rhona of the Death Vanguard.
However, Carozzo Rhona didn't believe Haman was still alive. He thought Neo Zeon remnants were hiding the outdated Qubeley in Border 4, and now an unknown Newtype had boarded it.
Therefore, Carozzo Rhona immediately ordered the complete elimination of the Qubeley. In aristocratic circles regarding noble bloodlines, the Zabi family was undoubtedly far superior to the Rona family, and much more suited to the title of Space Nobility.
It was only because Mineva Lao Zabi had completely disappeared that Maziar Rhona dared to emerge and establish an empire dominated by space nobility.
Unfortunately, Carozzo Rhona severely underestimated Haman's capabilities, especially since Reid wasn't going to stand by and watch her get surrounded this time.
When Death Vanguard Mobile Suits swarmed from all directions, Reid immediately intervened.
To be honest, the various small Mobile Suits of the Death Vanguard possessed considerable mobility, with even the weakest Denan Zon capable of instantaneous acceleration up to 4G.
But such mobility meant nothing before the Hermes Zero. AC Universe technology once again demonstrated its unique numerical advantages. (The UC Universe wouldn't surpass AC Universe in speed metrics until Minovsky thrusters were implemented.)
Thus, Death Vanguard pilots often only saw a blue flash before their Mobile Suits either gained a new hole, were sliced in half, or they found themselves reporting to the Reaper the next second.
From other Mobile Suits' perspectives, after the Hermes Zero charged into their formation, their comrades stood frozen like dumb deer, completely defenseless against the slaughter.
Haman noted that she was beginning to regain the sense of security from fighting alongside Reid.
However, Reid's apology had been interrupted earlier, so she needed to quickly eliminate the current enemies to let him continue apologizing.
As for Reid, he had actually completed the mission of shooting down the protagonist Mobile Suit and could return now.
Speaking of which, Dorell Rona was just unlucky. His Berga Dallas was mixed among the other Berga Dallas units invading Border 4 Colony Satellite.
Without any Newtype talent, he registered no differently from ordinary soldiers in Reid's perception.
Thus, he was genuinely treated as cannon fodder by Reid. Only after shooting him down did Reid learn from the system notification that he had just eliminated Dorell Rona inside a Berga Dallas.
It's a pity that Reid's objective in this battle wasn't actually these two protagonist Mobile Suits, so he chose not to return.
Anyway, the system granted three days of stay time, so Reid wasn't in a hurry to leave.
However, Dorell Rona, being an adopted son of the Rona family, had his death in combat drive the surrounding troops into a frenzied assault on the Hermes Zero.
Unfortunately, by this point, the Death Vanguard invading Border 4 had been reduced to single-digit Mobile Suits, posing no threat at all.
After all were shot down, the battle at Border 4 should have ended—but it didn't.
Reid had seriously underestimated the sheer stupidity of the Earth Federation. Just as he and Haman finished off the Death Vanguard and were about to find a place to hide their Mobile Suits and resume their conversation, two Jegans flew up and used their Mobile Suit speakers to broadcast a message from a ground officer:
"You two Mobile Suits in the sky, immediately state your affiliation! Pilots, exit your Mobile Suits at once. In light of your defense of the Colony Satellite, I will be lenient regarding your unauthorized Mobile Suit operation!"
Reid considered this officer's actions utterly idiotic.
If the initial attack by the Death Vanguard soldier could be excused as ignorance, this Earth Federation officer was simply asking for death.
Haman had never held any fondness for the Earth Federation to begin with. In the parallel timeline influenced by Reid, after conquering the Earth sphere, she had seen firsthand how corrupt the Earth Federation truly was.
So, Haman's response was to use the Qubeley's wrist-mounted small Mega Particle Cannon to blast the Jegan that had issued the warning out of the sky.
Reid didn't hold back either. Since he was an unaffiliated intruder, he simply took out the other Jegan with a single shot.
With that done, Reid proactively locked onto the Earth Federation Forces below and began annihilation operations.
Seeing Reid help her attack the Earth Federation, Haman felt the resentment in her heart lessen significantly. She quickly joined in, beginning to ravage the Earth Federation troops.
The Earth Federation defenders at Border 4 were truly suffering in silence.
They had just escaped the tiger's den, only to be thrown into the dragon's lair by their own foolish superior. In an instant, they were utterly annihilated—wiped out even faster than the Death Vanguard, and this was despite Reid and Haman needing time to locate their Mobile Suits.
Thus, Border 4 descended into complete anarchy.
After Reid and Haman found a secluded small forest to land in, Haman took the initiative to say:
"Reid, I want to explore this Colony Satellite. Accompany me."
Reid didn't intend to refuse, but looking at the massive Qubeley before them, he could only reply:
"Exploring is fine, but how do you plan to hide such a large Mobile Suit? You probably don't have a stealth system installed, right?"
To Reid's question, Haman responded with unusual nonchalance:
"Why hide it? I'll join you in your cockpit later. You can just shoot down this Qubeley. After all, as long as I have a Mobile Suit, you'll keep your guard up high against me. And this time, I just want to have a proper date."
Hearing this, Reid was momentarily at a loss for words. From his Newtype perception, Haman wasn't lying.
But as seasoned Newtypes, both Reid and Haman possessed techniques to conceal their thoughts, preventing other Newtypes from reading their minds.
The Haman that Reid understood was definitely not some love-struck fool. Even if she wanted a date today, there had to be an ulterior motive.
However, Reid didn't know what Haman's goal was, so he decided to play it by ear. In any case, there was still plenty of time—without her Mobile Suit, how could Haman possibly cause any trouble in front of him? After all, she had even discarded her gun. Moreover, he didn't sense anything about her that could pose a threat to him.
(It was an ability all Newtypes possessed—a sixth sense that allowed them to perceive things. Char had once used it to locate a nuclear warhead.
Of course, this ability had significant flaws. For instance, if a robot handed a Newtype a cephalosporin pill and a glass of baijiu, the Newtype wouldn't trigger a sense of danger if they were unaware that cephalosporin shouldn't be taken with alcohol, as neither of these items were high-threat entities.)
Thus, Reid once again maneuvered his Mobile Suit to press against the Qubeley, and the two opened their cockpits once more.
Without any hesitation, Haman leaped directly into the Hermes Zero's cockpit. Sensing that Reid still harbored some suspicion toward her, she leaned her head close to his ear, opened her helmet, and whispered warmly:
"Reid, do you want to search me? If it's you, feel free to search as you like."
At that moment, Reid felt a shiver run through his entire body. Haman's New Human Ability inherently included a component that could seduce the opposite sex, somewhat similar to Paptimus Scirocco's ability.
So, Reid found Haman incredibly alluring at that moment. Fortunately, his strong mental fortitude kept him from losing his rationality.
However, his wariness toward Haman had diminished significantly. Reid gently pushed her away and said, "Stop messing around. I need to close the cockpit."
Haman wasn't in a hurry, thinking to herself that Reid wouldn't escape her grasp today. She quietly stepped back but casually picked up the chocolate and Sumeragi that Reid had prepared.
Meanwhile, Reid paid no attention to Haman's actions and unceremoniously fired a shot, blowing up the Qubeley and reducing it to a stream of red code.
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