Although Aeolia Schenberg's failsafe mechanism within the Original Solar Furnace was activated by a fluke this time, his recording was, at this moment, more significant in helping the Celestial Beings rediscover their reason to fight.
Previously, when facing the Wodom Pod units, the members of Celestial Beings all believed they were merely pawns to facilitate the formation of the Earth Alliance. Now that the goal was achieved, it was time for them to fail and exit the stage.
Of course, for the Celestial Beings, especially the frontline units, a simple "failure and exit" basically meant death. Except for Alleluia, who might survive due to his research value as a Super-Soldier, the others, if captured, would likely be sacrificed (executed) before the entire world as terrorists.
But now, Aeolia Schenberg had explicitly entrusted hope and power to the Original Furnace pilots, proving that the Gundam pilots of Celestial Beings were not pawns in his original plan, but rather an insurance policy.
In the eyes of the Celestial Beings, if they had now become pawns in the plan, combined with the fact that Veda's ultimate authority had been breached, it must have been a traitor who had deliberately altered it.
Thus, Tieria, who was already feeling guilty about Lockon's serious injuries, was instantly filled with anger and vigor, resurrected on the spot. The others also regained their confidence to fight.
As for the injured Lockon, he was in relatively good spirits. This time, his eyes weren't injured, but his entire body was embedded with fragments from the exploded cockpit, and his internal organs had suffered varying degrees of damage.
After emergency treatment, some of the larger fragments had been removed, and the internal bleeding was temporarily resolved. However, the smaller fragments and the subsequent regeneration of the extensive wounds would take at least a day or two to fix.
So, much like in the original story, Lockon chose an emergency treatment plan that would simply heal the surface wounds to stop the bleeding. He stated that as long as he survived this battle, such injuries could be repaired with a bit more time. But if the Celestial Beings were defeated here, he wouldn't survive even if he stayed in a Medical Pod.
As for secretly retreating to the rear in a small transport ship, Lockon himself rejected the idea. It would require allocating one of their already short-handed personnel to pilot the ship, which raised the question of whether they could even continue the fight.
No one could refute Lockon's words, so in the end, they could only let him have his way.
Therefore, the Celestial Beings also prepared to go all out. By equipping the Assault Container onto the Ptolemy, they gave the ship, which originally only had transport capabilities, some fire support and counter-attack ability.
The Kyrios's MA Mode was also fitted with a high-powered Beam Cannon component.
At the same time, to allow the moderately damaged Dynames to exert sufficient combat power, after the Mobile Suit itself underwent emergency repairs, the GN Armor Type-D was prepared as a reinforcement component. The large attachment would reduce the maneuvering burden on the pilot, preventing Lockon's superficially healed wounds from physically bursting open mid-battle. (It's difficult to perform exaggerated movements with such a large piece of equipment, so the G-force burden is naturally reduced.)
On Earth's side, Setsuna didn't just leave Nena Trinity behind. He and Lasse Aeon found a safe place for her.
It was clearly mentioned in the show that the Assault Container could carry Exia directly out of the atmosphere (Episode 23). If Setsuna and Lasse Aeon hadn't been delayed, there was no reason for them to be so much later than the Human Reform League's Wodom Pod units that they had to use the Trans-Am System to catch up to the battlefield mid-way.
Therefore, the process not depicted in the original story was most likely that Setsuna and Lasse Aeon spent some time finding Wang Liu Mei (the only capable supporter they knew on Earth at the moment) and asked her to take care of Nena Trinity (which is why Nena Trinity was working for Wang Liu Mei at the beginning of the second season).
When they found Wang Liu Mei, they learned from her that all of Earth's Wodom Pods had gone to space, which led to the communication report to the Ptolemy later in the original story. (Setsuna had no intelligence-gathering capabilities; he couldn't have known the movements of the Human Reform League's Mobile Suits. This further supports the idea that he must have gone to find Wang Liu Mei, or at least contacted her.)
While the Ptolemy's crew was desperately modifying the ship and adding armaments to the Mobile Suits, inside Veda's main body, Ribbons was re-entering Veda with extreme caution.
Alejandro stood by, watching Ribbons with a nervous expression. Fearing that Aeolia Schenberg might have another trick up his sleeve and could hear his voice, he lowered his voice as much as possible and said, "Ribbons, how is it? Can you modify Veda's authority again now?"
Ribbons's expression was grim. After a few minutes of silence, his face instantly relaxed, and he said, "Fortunately, the authority I modified before hasn't been rolled back. Veda has automatically modified a large number of external interfaces to re-monitor the world, so it didn't roll back my previous operations. This actually makes it easier for me to hack into the seventh level of authority. The SDP did me a favor by tripping a seventh-level firewall trap. As long as I'm careful to bypass the seventh-level firewall and modify the authority, Veda will still be ours."
Hearing the good news, Alejandro also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "As soon as possible. Just modifying the interfaces doesn't guarantee the SDP won't attack again. We must gain complete control of Veda as quickly as possible and make the script proceed as we want."
Ribbons could only nod at Alejandro's words and then began to continue modifying Veda's authority.
At the same time, Reid had already returned to the Gran Chaos with Throne Angel Unit 1, the Xia sisters, and Belfgang (who had been following Setsuna and had now regrouped).
Reid knew that what followed was the final tranquility before the storm.
The United Nations' Wodom Pod forces needed to assemble and travel.
The Ptolemy was making preparations for the final battle.
Setsuna was still finding shelter for the object of his first kiss.
Ribbons was severely delayed in obtaining full authority over Veda and was now desperately "working overtime."
Therefore, upon returning to the ship, Reid immediately ordered all combat personnel, including Captain Hoshino Ruri, to rest for four hours, leaving only the native crew to monitor the Ptolemy.
However, this period of calm was longer than Reid had imagined. A full six hours passed before the Gran Chaos observed four Virginia-class ships heading towards a resource satellite at Lagrange 1 to completely annihilate the Celestial Beings. (Since there were more Wodom Pods than in the original story, three ships were not enough to carry them all.)
However, it was clear that the Ptolemy's side had not made the thorough preparations they had envisioned. Otherwise, the best choice for the weaker side to win would have been for the Ptolemy to flee and engage the Wodom Pod units in a mobile battle.
Unfortunately, Sumeragi had no choice. Even if the Ptolemy hadn't completed all its preparations, it could only retreat and have Kyrios and Virtue fight a defensive battle using the asteroid belt.
The reason Dynames was not deployed here was that Sumeragi considered that although Lockon looked healthy and was even running around the ship giving psychological counseling to others, he was actually just putting on a brave face. His battered body simply couldn't sustain a prolonged battle.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Dynames could not be deployed. For this reason, Tieria even changed the password to Lockon's room, trapping him inside.
However, how could two Gundams possibly hold back over 30 Wodom Pods, which also included the Throne Zwei?
The battle was similar to the original story. Even with Kyrios's new equipment and Virtue bringing two GN Rocket Cannons for increased firepower, it was just a drop in the bucket.
(A brief description of the battle process is in the author's notes.)
Fortunately, after the Dynames GN Armor Type-D entered the battlefield, it tore through the battlefield with its Mobile Suit's firepower and a massive number of GN Missiles comparable to the METEOR unit.
Then, disregarding whether his body could withstand it, he immediately activated the Trans-Am System and headed straight for the four motherships in the rear. (Otherwise, there would be no reason for the Wodom Pods to be left so far behind.)
The Wodom Pod forces also temporarily retreated, giving up their attack on the Ptolemy. (Because the amount of GN Particles in a Wodom Pod was not enough to fly from Lagrange 1 back to Earth. If the motherships were destroyed, the Wodom Pods here might not even be able to fly back to the nearest base.)
Reid had actually already switched to the Gundam Artemis and was observing from the edge of the battlefield with Blade Angel and the NT-X2 Gundam, watching the scenes from the original story unfold.
By the time the Dynames GN Armor Type-D finished its Trans-Am dash and arrived in front of the four Virginia-class ships, the surface wounds on Lockon's body had already reopened and were seeping blood. There were even signs of his internal bleeding recurring.
However, Lockon couldn't be bothered with that now. He directly fired two shots and destroyed two Virginia-class ships.
But that was the end of it. Sachez's Throne Zwei had been slacking off in the rear. He found ganging up on the Gundams boring, but now there was a chance for a one-on-one duel.
So, Sachez became excited again, piloting the Throne Zwei straight towards the Dynames GN Armor Type-D.
In fact, Lockon's current situation was much more dangerous than in the original story.
In the original, although he was blind in his right eye, his body as a whole could still handle combat.
But at this moment, the bleeding all over his body, plus the internal bleeding, had already slowed his reactions considerably. Coupled with the after-effects of Trans-Am, the external GN Armor Type-D of the Dynames was destroyed by the Throne Zwei with surprising ease.
However, the moment he saw the Throne Zwei appear, his hatred for Sachez caused a massive adrenaline rush.
At this moment, he could no longer feel the pain in his body. The Dynames charged towards the Throne Zwei for a duel.
Since Lockon wasn't blind this time, once the adrenaline temporarily blocked out the pain, his firing accuracy skyrocketed.
Moreover, as the pilot with the highest technical skill among the Celestial Beings' Gundam pilots in the first season, the MS piloting skills he unleashed in this situation were in no way inferior to Sachez's.
Every time the Throne Zwei tried to close in for melee combat, it was forced back by the Dynames's beams.
When it attacked with its GN Fangs, Lockon, relying on his superb shooting ability, shot them all down like clay pigeons.
Sachez was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this sniper-type Gundam to be so accurate.
Having lost its GN Fangs, how could the Throne Zwei's arm cannon, which was of the same specification as a GN Handgun, compete in a shootout with the Dynames's Sniper Rifle?
It was only because the Dynames was still in its weakened state after using the Trans-Am System that the particle count of its sniper beams was insufficient. It could still maintain its power at close range, but its power would decrease significantly at a distance. That was why the Throne Zwei wasn't destroyed or lost a limb after being hit once or twice.
Moreover, after his GN Fangs were destroyed, Sachez decisively abandoned the base component on his waist, using it to block the two most fatal sniper beams while creating distance.
So, the Throne Zwei ran, and the Gundam Dynames chased. Sachez managed to lure Lockon from the vicinity of the motherships into an asteroid belt that was unfavorable for sniping.
In truth, if Lockon's body were still in normal condition, he would never have chased directly into a place like an asteroid belt. After all, if he just turned back to attack the motherships, the Throne Zwei would have no choice but to come out and fight before the Wodom Pods returned.
However, Lockon knew his body was experiencing a final burst of energy. If he turned to attack the motherships and that burst of energy faded, it was entirely possible he would fall unconscious or even die on the spot.
Thus, Lockon unhesitatingly piloted his Mobile Suit into the asteroid belt where a sniper rifle was at a disadvantage, preferring to fight the melee-oriented Throne Zwei in close combat with his sniper-type Dynames rather than turn back.
However, Lockon's determination could not change the fact that the Dynames was now in unfavorable terrain.
The dense asteroids in the belt gave the Throne Zwei plenty of places to hide. Not long after entering, the Dynames was ambushed by the Throne Zwei.
The Throne Zwei lay in silent wait for the searching Dynames to approach, then charged out from the Dynames's right rear, bringing its sword down in an overhead slash.
Lockon's reaction was swift. He immediately drew the GN Beam Saber with his right hand to block.
Moreover, Lockon knew that the Dynames couldn't possibly be stronger than the specialized melee unit Throne Zwei in terms of arm strength. (The original story was completely illogical, making it seem as if the Throne Zwei was in a weakened state after Trans-Am. The Throne Zwei's destructive Greatsword had the ability to be instantaneously weighted down with high-density GN Particles, while the Dynames's ordinary GN Sword was not qualified for a sustained sword lock. And he blocked a two-handed heavy sword with one hand. This had nothing to do with skill anymore; it was purely a contest of the Mobile Suits' arm strength.)
Therefore, as Lockon drew his sword, he also drew his GN Handgun with his left hand. While his right hand could still hold on, he dodged and fired three consecutive shots at the Throne Zwei's body.
To be honest, this move almost shot down the Throne Zwei. It was only because the Dynames was in a weakened state and the Throne Zwei's GN Field could still weaken the power of the GN Handgun. The Throne Zwei only had a few pieces of its chest armor destroyed.
At the same time, just like when it had cut down the Throne Drei, the Throne Zwei sliced off the Dynames's entire right arm, along with its right hip and right leg.
At that moment, the Dynames's cockpit exploded again due to the damage to its lower right side, adding injury upon injury to Lockon.
Fortunately, the impact caused Lockon to spit a mouthful of blood into his helmet, but at least he didn't pass out immediately.
Meanwhile, Sachez, terrified by the Dynames's three point-blank handgun shots, instantly pulled away. The Dynames's Sniper Rifle was gone along with its right shoulder, so the only threat left was that handgun.
This time, Sachez truly felt like he had walked the line of life and death again. The Throne Zwei's cockpit was located above the GN Drive. Of those three shots just now, thankfully the opponent's Mobile Suit was unstable and they hit three different places. If even two shots had hit the same spot, he would have been finished.
However, looking at the Dynames's current state, Sachez felt the opponent had no ability to fight back. So, using his Greatsword as a Shield to protect the damaged armor on his body, he charged forward to deliver the final blow to the Dynames.
At this point, Lockon could only raise the GN Handgun in his left hand in a desperate struggle, with basically no possibility of a comeback.
But at this moment, Reid directly opened a chat room using his high-level psychic communication ability via GN Particles.
Lockon felt as if he was having auditory and visual hallucinations due to his near-death weakness. Reid's voice echoed in his mind.
"Join me. Obey me. I will help you kill Sachez in return, and I will let you live. Refuse, and die with regret."
At this moment, Lockon had no energy to analyze whether it was real or fake. He responded directly, "Reid, are you a demon? But I don't care if you are. If you want my soul, take it. Help me kill Sachez! He alone is unforgivable!"
With that, the recruitment was complete.
Meanwhile, just as Sachez was about to cut down the Dynames with his sword, a semi-transparent barrier suddenly appeared on its surface, directly deflecting the slashing Greatsword. This was, of course, the Gundam Artemis's remote Photon Wave Barrier.
Even on the verge of death, Lockon would not miss such an opportunity. He fired the GN Handgun repeatedly, hitting a piece of armor below the Throne Zwei's GN Drive that had been damaged earlier, causing the Throne Zwei to explode from the middle.
At this moment, Reid spoke to him one-way again, his voice directly in Lockon's mind, "Leave the cockpit."
Lockon smiled faintly. Using his last bit of strength, he opened the cockpit and said to Haro, "Haro, take the Mobile Suit back to the Ptolemy. I'm going to fulfill my promise."
With that, Lockon jumped out of the Mobile Suit. Then, the cloaked Blade Angel, which had been approaching stealthily, used its Lambda Driver to pull Lockon into its hand.
From the Dynames's perspective, it was as if Lockon had vanished into thin air.
(This chapter originally had a long summary of the battle from the original story. I felt it was a bit of a word filler, so I cut it and threw it into the author's notes. However, the author's notes can only hold 500 characters, so a small part is missing, which can't be helped.)
In particular, the frequency of the Virtue's GN Field had already been exposed, and the Throne Zwei, taking advantage of the fact that physical weapons could easily penetrate a GN Field, directly broke through the shield and destroyed two of the Virtue's field generators.
This directly caused the strength of the Virtue's GN Field to drop to a level only slightly stronger than that of Exia and Kyrios. Against the Wodom Pods' beams, it could only weaken them, not be immune.
As for Kyrios, not long after the battle began, he was targeted by Soma Peries and Sergei. With the headache debuff applied, Alleluia's combat effectiveness instantly dropped by seventy percent, leaving him only able to take a beating.
The only good news for Kyrios and Virtue was probably that Sachez was not interested in ganging up on them. After destroying the Virtue's GN Field generators, he retreated to the rear. Otherwise, Virtue might not have even been able to activate its Trans-Am System later.
However, as both Kyrios and Virtue fell into crisis, the savior, the Dynames GN Armor Type-D, finally sortied.
According to Lockon, how could a single lock possibly hold him? (In reality, he most likely had his Haro pick the lock.)
After the Dynames sortied, as if on cue, Virtue and Kyrios activated their Trans-Am Systems almost simultaneously.
Virtue directly used its map-clearing GN Rocket Cannon to sweep away the forces besieging it, incidentally allowing Patrick to exit the stage in the same w
ay as in the series, by having his Mobile Suit's head knocked off by an exploding meteor.
As for Kyrios, relying on the Trans-Am System and his second personality, Hallelujah, to shield him from the brainwave interference (which is very metaphysical), he defeated Soma.
(End of Chapter)