After the laboratory in the Slettara Mountains of the Faroe Islands was destroyed, Shinn's nameless squad had essentially completed their mission.
The assault on the laboratory had been so effortless that during the retreat, the squad members began chatting casually. Barry Howe complained to Shinn in frustration:
"Birdie, if you ever casually hand me a tactical nuclear bomb-level explosive again, I'll punch you the moment we disembark from our Mobile Suits. I thought you were trying to get me killed."
Shinn didn't quite understand, asking naively:
"Huh? Why would you think that? The documents we received clearly stated that the bomb wouldn't detonate unless actively triggered."
Barry Howe was left speechless by Shinn's response and could only retort:
"A nuclear bomb doesn't just explode randomly either, but try carrying one across a battlefield and see how that feels."
Shinn imagined himself carrying a nuclear bomb through a battlefield and instantly felt chills run down his spine. He quickly changed the subject:
"Haha, but nothing happened anyway. This mission went pretty smoothly. We'll be back with the regular forces soon - we should celebrate."
This was Shinn's premature celebration, something many veterans consider bad luck.
Because just when you think nothing will go wrong, something always does.
So just as Shinn opened his metaphorical champagne, Neil's warning came through the squad comms:
"All units alert! Three Gundams approaching from the south! Based on silhouettes, they appear to be successor models of Strike, Duel, and Buster!"
Before the other squad members could joke about Shinn's celebration summoning boss-level enemies, Verde Buster's missiles were already upon them.
The Verde Buster's pilot, Sams Koza, was no ordinary pilot from some third-rate port defense unit. His missile volley was expertly calculated, anticipating the nameless squad's retreat route.
The nameless squad now had only two options: either intercept the missiles while retreating, or scatter and evade in S-patterns.
Whichever they chose, they'd have to slow down. The Assault GM Dominion couldn't fly nor hover above ground - it could only advance through large bounding leaps. Any need to fire weapons or change direction would require deceleration.
Once they slowed, the Noir Strike, Azure Duel, and Verde Buster would undoubtedly intercept the five machines before they could reach the sea.
Sams Koza's attack was an open trap - the nameless squad had no choice but to intercept the missiles. Evasion alone was too risky. While the Assault GM Dominion's Lunatitanium armor offered top-tier defense for its era, direct hits from 220mm missiles would still cause damage.
If the outer armor sustained critical damage, there would be no hope of escaping underwater - the water pressure would crush the Mobile Suits instantly.
Although the nameless squad slowed to intercept the missiles, the Noir Strike, Azure Duel, and Verde Buster couldn't capitalize by charging forward either.
Neil wasn't just watching from above as a sentinel - the Jet Black Hunter had already locked onto the Verde Buster when it fired its missiles.
Just as the three enemy machines prepared to charge, a sniper beam descended from the sky, striking the Verde Buster's left shoulder.
However, all three machines - Noir Strike, Azure Duel, and Verde Buster - were now equipped with Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors, giving them ample energy reserves.
So the red VPS armor on the shoulders of the Verde Buster had stronger beam defense than expected.
If this sniper beam from the Jet Black Hunter had hit a mobile suit without VPS armor, it would have pierced straight through the left shoulder and out the other side, completely penetrating the unit.
But when it struck the Verde Buster Gundam, the red Phase Shift Armor mitigated the damage, only completely destroying the mobile suit's left arm and causing significant damage to the torso, without triggering an explosion.
However, at this point the Verde Buster Gundam was at least moderately damaged, bordering on heavy damage, making continued combat impractical. The mobile suit itself, having been hit mid-charge, was sent tumbling across the ground like a rolling gourd.
Fortunately, Sams Koza had teammates.
Seeing this, Moody Holcroft, pilot of the Azure Duel Gundam, immediately rushed in front of the Verde Buster Gundam, raising his Anti-Beam Shield high to block potential follow-up shots from the sniper in the sky.
Meanwhile, Sven Cal Bayan, pilot of the Noir Strike Gundam, chose to ascend directly into the air, intending to protect their units by attacking the sniper.
Under normal circumstances, Sven and Moody's choices would have been sound, but this was exactly what Neil had anticipated.
It's important to understand that Neil's purpose in sniping at the Noir Strike, Azure Duel, and Verde Buster was merely to prevent them from intercepting the five retreating Assault GM Dominions, not to eliminate them.
So Neil didn't fire another shot after that. When the Noir Strike Gundam ascended, it couldn't locate the Jet Black Hunter Gundam that had activated its Obscurant Umbrella System.
On the ground, the Azure Duel and Verde Buster didn't dare move recklessly without knowing the sniper's position, because who knew from what angle the next sniper beam might come.
For Sven, Moody, and Sams, guarding the Faroe Islands wasn't part of their assigned mission. Being shot down here would feel particularly unjust.
So all three of them adopted a wait-and-see approach, preparing to respond to changes by remaining unchanged, willing to let the laboratory-destroying enemies escape.
Unfortunately, while Sven, Moody, and Sams were holding back, one person wasn't.
While Neil was sniping at the Noir Strike, Azure Duel, and Verde Buster, Canard Pars had already boarded the Hyperion G and set out.
Canard Pars had extensive combat experience, and the enemies were clearly equipped with diving gear, obviously planning to escape by sea.
With mobile suits already pursuing on the island, there was no need for him to continue the chase from land.
So Canard Pars piloted the Hyperion G to fly directly along the coastline, cutting off the enemies' retreat route.
You might ask how a land-based mobile suit like the Hyperion G could fly over the sea?
Canard Pars would say the machine is dead but the pilot is alive.
This Hyperion G was no longer equipped with its original parameters. Powered by a Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactor, the number of Photon Wave Barrier emitters hadn't been reduced from two to one, but had actually increased from two to four.
The reason for this was to counter increasingly powerful beam cannons and ensure the Hyperion G maintained its invincible defense. It also freed up the twin "Boast" beam cannons that couldn't be used while the shield was deployed.
And now, Canard Pars was using the physically interactive Photon Wave Barrier as a surfboard.
With the Photon Wave Barrier activated and thrusters at maximum, the Hyperion G could skip across the sea surface like a stone, and at astonishing speed.
Thus, the Hyperion G managed to arrive far south of the Faroe Islands well ahead of the five Assault GM Dominions by taking a detour, then directly scaled the cliff to block the retreat route of the five mobile suits.
It could be said that the Hyperion G's flanking maneuver was extremely lethal to Shinn and the others.
The Assault GM Dominions had no effective countermeasures even against the Hyperion Gundam from the previous war, let alone this enhanced version.
All weapons wielded by this nameless squad proved ineffective against the Hyperion G's Photon Wave Barrier.
The only silver lining was that the Photon Wave Barrier wasn't novel technology for the New Misurugi Kingdom. Anyone with proper training knew that when facing a Lightwave Shield without specialized anti-shield weapons, one must target the Photon Wave Barrier generator exposed on the shield - an area smaller than five square centimeters.
But knowing the theory was one thing; executing it in practice was entirely another.
Seeing such a mobile suit appear below, Neil from the sky had no choice but to descend personally to engage it.
As a member of Reid's interdimensional expedition team, Neil knew there were three ways to counter the Photon Wave Barrier: specialized weapons, targeting the generator, or using Lambda Driver-enhanced attacks.
However, Neil felt particularly uncomfortable operating the Lambda Driver. He shared the same problem as the early Sagara Sousuke - always feeling the Lambda Driver was unreliable and unable to trust it completely.
Fortunately, Reid's Psycommu System could directly channel the pilot's psychic power to supply the Lambda Driver, ensuring its minimal operation. Otherwise, Neil's Lambda Driver might have been intermittently functional too.
Under these circumstances, one couldn't expect Neil to use the Lambda Driver for significantly enhancing beam weapon power or rocket penetration.
What Neil could manage was using the Lambda Driver to augment his Beam Saber during close combat to penetrate the Photon Wave Barrier.
Therefore, to deal with the Hyperion G, Neil had to descend for close-quarters combat.
He directly announced in the squad comms:
"I'll handle this Gundam. You all keep running."
After speaking, he drew his Beam Saber, activated the Lambda Driver enhancement, and dropped from the sky, slashing directly at the Hyperion G.
As the Jet Black Hunter Gundam descended for close combat, it naturally had to deactivate its Obscurant Umbrella System. Thus, the Noir Strike maintaining aerial surveillance immediately detected the Jet Black Hunter Gundam's presence.
Moreover, Swen recognized the large rifle on the Jet Black Hunter's back, confirming this was the mobile suit responsible for the earlier sniper shot.
Now that the sniper had voluntarily exposed itself, Swen and Moody had no reason to hold back.
Just then, Samus also piloted the Verde Buster to stand up. Swen immediately commanded in the team comms:
"Samus, return to base for repairs first. Moody, the sniper's revealed. We need to support our ally."
After speaking, Swen dove directly in his Noir Strike Gundam toward the five Assault GM Dominions attempting to bypass the Hyperion G.
Swen made this choice for good reason - he knew perfectly well how absurdly powerful the Photon Wave Barrier's defense was. The enemy mobile suit's objective was clearly to pin down the Hyperion G.
If they let those five Assault GM Dominions escape now, this stealth-capable unit would certainly disappear too. That would mean after all this effort, they'd have let all enemies escape.
As the Jet Black Hunter Gundam dove downward, Swen continuously unleashed firepower from the Twin MAU-M3E4 Type Linear Cannons and two M8F-SB1 Type "Shorty" Short Beam Rifles toward the direction where the five Assault GM Dominions were attempting to retreat.
Shinn and his four companions had no other choice. Without the support of specialized backpacks, the Assault GM Dominions' speed was simply inadequate. Facing the attacks of the Jet Black Hunter Gundam, blocking head-on was impractical, so they could only maneuver around the line of fire.
However, this delay allowed the Jet Black Hunter Gundam to block the path of the five Assault GM Dominions, while the Azure Duel Gundam successfully closed in from the flank.
On Neil's side, he couldn't afford to worry about Shinn's situation now. Even though the Photon Wave Barrier was barely stronger than ordinary armor plating against the Lambda Driver, Canard Pars himself was not someone who couldn't fight without a shield.
Although the Hyperion G was inferior in performance to the Jet Black Hunter Gundam, Neil found it extremely difficult to secure a victory through close combat—at least not in a short amount of time.
Ignoring the Hyperion G was also not an option. Against the Hyperion G, the Assault GM Dominions could barely even struggle.
In contrast, facing the Jet Black Hunter Gundam and the Azure Duel Gundam, the five Mobile Suits could at least mount an effective counterattack and weren't completely unable to penetrate their defenses.
Thus, trapped from both front and rear with no support from their leader, the five members of the unnamed squad decided to stop running and focus on repelling the Gundams in front of them first.
Although the Assault GM Dominions had numerical superiority, the performance gap between the two sides' Mobile Suits was vast, making teamwork essential.
Shinn and Barry Howe, who possessed Shields, immediately drew their Beam Sabers and positioned themselves in front of the Azure Duel Gundam and the Jet Black Hunter Gundam, respectively.
In a one-on-one situation, both the Azure Duel Gundam and the Jet Black Hunter Gundam could leverage their high mobility to circle around the Assault GM Dominions, exploiting their inferior agility.
However, just as the Azure Duel Gundam and the Jet Black Hunter Gundam attempted to flank the enemy units and bypass their Shields to attack the rear, a Beam from each side forced them to retreat.
The attacks came from Xiaoqiang and Ghost, who had accurately predicted the two Gundams' movements and fired preemptive shots.
Naturally, the Azure Duel Gundam and the Jet Black Hunter Gundam would not take Beam hits head-on.
The Azure Duel Gundam swiftly turned left, using the Shield on its right shoulder to block the Beam, while simultaneously drawing a Beam Saber with its left hand to clash with the Beam Saber of Shinn's Assault GM Dominion.
After blocking the Assault GM Dominion's Beam Saber, Mu did not engage in a contest of strength. Instead, he immediately leaped back, continuously firing at Shinn's Assault GM Dominion with the M443 Type "Scorpion" Mobile Railgun mounted inside the shoulder Shield. At the same time, he retracted the Beam Saber in his left hand and drew the M7G2 Type Storable Beam Gun, relentlessly firing at Xiaoqiang's unit, which had just attacked him.
Faced with the Azure Duel Gundam's assault, Xiaoqiang's unit quickly took cover behind Shinn's Mobile Suit, while Shinn raised his Shield to block the relatively low-powered Mobile Railgun and Storable Beam Gun fire.
Meanwhile, on the Jet Black Hunter Gundam's side, after being forced back by a sniper shot from Ghost, Swen was about to counterattack when he saw one of the enemy units aiming a Beam Machine Gun directly at him.
Due to the emergency deployment, the Noir Strike was not equipped with a special backpack, so it had no shield at all (in fact, this Mobile Suit only has a shield when equipped with the Sword Strike backpack).
Facing the Beam Machine Gun, the Noir Strike Gundam could only evade.
However, its powerful mobility ensured that the Noir Strike Gundam would never be suppressed by a single Beam Machine Gun. After dodging a series of beam attacks, Swen quickly used the Mobile Suit's armaments to counter-suppress the enemy.
The Noir Strike Gundam dared not block beams, and the Assault GM Dominion was even more reluctant.
Without an Anti-Beam Shield, even beams fired from a short beam rifle could not be directly blocked.
Moreover, the Noir Strike Gundam's short beam rifle had an exceptionally fast firing rate, supplemented by two Linear Cannons to bolster its firepower. Ghost and Soap were soon forced to take cover behind Barry Howe's Mobile Suit.
(End of Chapter)