The entire valley collapsed, reduced to a field of rubble and debris.
However, Reid didn't believe it would be defeated so easily. His Newtype danger sense kept warning him that the massive entity beneath the rocks hadn't lost its mobility.
Thus, Reid spoke through the squad comms:
"Everyone, don't approach the valley recklessly. Liuli, send two Mobile Dolls to investigate."
Reid's caution proved entirely justified. As an Unmanned Mobile Armor developed with the goal of human extinction, Hashmal's Artificial Intelligence was programmed to execute pre-recorded tactics based on situations - including playing dead to set up ambushes.
Before the two Mobile Dolls approached, the collapsed valley showed no signs of movement, as if Hashmal had been destroyed by the earlier missile barrage.
Iok Kujan, who had been patting himself on the back for supposedly destroying Hashmal with his earlier shot, heard the explosion and thought about piloting his Mobile Suit out to show off again.
But the moment his Reginlaze peeked out, its cockpit was pierced by a glowing red blade, turning this incompetent ally into roasted suckling pig in truth.
As for the two Mobile Dolls, the moment they stepped onto the collapsed valley area, Reid's internal alarms screamed, and he shouted through the squad comms:
"All units descend and retreat!!"
No sooner had Reid spoken than a beam dozens of meters thick shot into the sky with a piercing shriek, instantly vaporizing the two Mobile Dolls.
The beam then continued unabated, sweeping through the air where Reid's squad had been hovering.
Fortunately, Reid's warning came in time, and all Mobile Suits avoided the beam by descending.
However, this was exactly Hashmal's objective. Being land-bound with only a Head Beam Cannon for ranged attacks, the unmanned MA would be helpless against agile aerial units if it couldn't hit them by jumping.
So when all Mobile Suits were forced to lower altitudes, Hashmal's massive form immediately burst forth from the rubble.
Honestly, from a distance, Hashmal's mere 35.2m height hadn't seemed particularly impressive to Reid.
But in close combat, with twice the apparent size and Winged Giant Claws spanning nearly sixty meters, it created the visceral impression of a giant raptor pouncing on its prey.
Moreover, Hashmal moved with an agility that belied its massive frame.
As it leaped, both claws targeted the Ice Phoenix Gundam and Gundam Artemis flying at low altitude in close formation.
Simultaneously, its whip-like Tail Blade stabbed toward the more distant Joyeuse Gundam.
The combination flowed seamlessly - except it had chosen the wrong targets.
Ange, having previously battled the Dragon, was highly experienced in aerial melee combat against giant creatures. No matter how agile Hashmal was, it couldn't match the living Dragon's mobility. With a simple backward drift and altitude gain, she easily evaded the attack.
As for Noin, the moment she activated Gundam Artemis's Floating Lightwave Defense Array, Hashmal bounced off like a person kicking a giant water balloon. While the impact pushed Gundam Artemis back over ten meters, the unmanned MA was also thrown back by the reaction force.
As for the Tail Blade attacking Reid - with his Spatial Awareness, he dodged it effortlessly and maneuvered Joyeuse Gundam to grab the metal cable connecting the tail that transmitted neural signals.
The Joyeuse Gundam seized Hashmal's Tail Blade metal cable and immediately shifted its grip to the blade's tip to prevent Hashmal from using its serpentine-flexible tail for a backstab.
Naturally, Hashmal reacted like a tailed predator whose appendage was grabbed by an untrusted entity—its first instinct was to shake it off.
Unfortunately, the Joyeuse Gundam's strength far exceeded Hashmal's expectations. The grounded Hashmal found itself in a tug-of-war with the airborne Joyeuse Gundam.
However, as a Mobile Armor with solid footing, Hashmal gradually gained the upper hand, slowly retracting the Tail Blade.
Without hesitation, Reid activated the Red Comet skill. The Joyeuse Gundam's thrusters erupted instantly, violently dragging Hashmal until it nearly lifted the MA off the ground.
Hashmal's artificial intelligence wasn't idle either—it leveraged the Gundam's pulling force to leap upward, aiming to pin the Joyeuse Gundam back to the ground.
This was precisely what Reid awaited. He first roared through squad comms:
"Everyone clear the area around my Mobile Suit!"
Then he growled:
"Trans-Am!!"
As Trans-Am engaged, the Joyeuse Gundam instantly flushed crimson with particles.
Since Reid's psychic power vastly surpassed Ange's, and the upgraded Psycommu System enhanced mental control, the GN Particles condensed without dispersing, their hue significantly deeper than standard Trans-Am.
This not only extended Trans-Am's duration but prevented uncontrolled GN Particle diffusion from forming a mental chat room.
Thus, Hashmal likely only registered a red flash in its cameras before the Mobile Suit before it vanished.
Boosted by both Trans-Am and Red Comet, the Joyeuse Gundam became a dynamo of motion.
Mid-pounce, Hashmal abruptly realized it was ascending from the ground.
Reid maneuvered the Joyeuse Gundam to fully lift Hashmal and violently hurl it skyward.
Reinforced by the Lambda Driver's structural stabilization, Reid had no concerns about the Gundam's arm detaching along with Hashmal.
Hashmal became a makeshift meteor hammer, whipped high into the atmosphere while spinning dozens of rotations.
The spinning wasn't intended to disorient Hashmal—as an unmanned unit, it lacked the concept of dizziness. Nor was centrifugal force expected to damage internal components; Hashmal was far too resilient.
Notably, even while rotating, Hashmal retained enough control to fire its Head Beam Cannon, attempting to use the recoil to halt its spin.
Consequently, Reid's meteor hammer maneuver collateralized a crowd of spectators.
Tekkadan and McGillis watched agape as the unknown Mobile Suit treated humanity's legendary doom, the MA, like a plaything—until a beam swept across them.
Had McGillis not already been in his cockpit, and Mikazuki not swiftly maneuvered the Gundam Barbatos Lupus to shield Orga, both would've been vaporized by Hashmal's stray Beam Cannon fire while spectating.
Of course, Hashmal's Beam Cannons didn't discriminate targets. Reid's squad, which had been effortlessly dominating the Plumen, was now thrown into chaos by this sudden wave of indiscriminate full-map AOE beam fire, forcing everyone into frantic evasion.
Seeing this, Ange angrily shouted over the squad comms:
"Reid, stop fooling around! Are you playing a game of deadly evasion with us? Any Mobile Suit without shields hit by these beams will be instantly destroyed."
Hearing Ange's words, Reid felt somewhat wronged.
He just wanted Hashmal to spin faster so it would crash harder when it finally hit the ground.
Since Reid needed to capture Hashmal alive, he couldn't simply stab its energy core to destroy it. Instead, he had to disrupt its internal components to force a shutdown.
However, Ange had spoken, and Hashmal's random "spitting" was indeed quite dangerous now.
So Reid reluctantly slammed the still-firing Hashmal hard into the ground.
Truth be told, if there had been anyone inside Hashmal, they'd have to meet reinforced concrete human standards to survive Reid's rough handling.
Naturally, Hashmal was smashed into system failure - cameras, processing units, connection lines all malfunctioning, with its wings and legs twitching uncontrollably.
At this moment, Hashmal truly resembled a bird fallen from the sky, convulsing on the ground.
Which makes one wonder - why do birds fly anyway? The falls must hurt so much.
Of course, Reid wouldn't actually ponder why birds fly at this moment.
Taking advantage of the remaining Trans-Am duration, Reid piloted the Joyeuse Gundam into a high-speed descent from altitude, delivering a powerful kick to Hashmal's central connection area.
Then, the two GN Buster Swords mounted on its back launched forth, piercing through the tips of Hashmal's large wings and pinning them to the ground.
Of the two super GN Swords, one was thrown by Reid to sever Hashmal's tail connection cables.
The other directly sliced open the armor on Hashmal's back, then injected Mirage Colloid into the mechanical structures inside as Reid commanded:
"Nein, infiltrate the Mobile Suit's systems. Locate its central processing node and report the position."
Here, Reid was utilizing Mirage Colloid's capability to function as universal data cables for transmitting electronic signals. (This is the principle behind wireless Dragoon Systems, hence CE Dragoons' operational range matches the Mobile Suit's Mirage Colloid dispersion range - quite extensive in space. Though officially called Quantum Communication, it's not quantum communication in the traditional sense.)
Hashmal's systems certainly had firewall protection, making instant system takeover for immediate shutdown unrealistic.
Therefore, Reid only needed Nein to confirm the location of its data processing components through infiltration.
With the location identified, Reid could perform targeted destruction to force Hashmal's shutdown.
Currently battered into multiple system failures, Hashmal lay like a fish on the chopping block, incapable of mounting effective counterattacks even after the Joyeuse Gundam's Trans-Am duration ended.
Nein quickly confirmed the location of its central data processing component through system infiltration.
Armed with the location, Reid used the Lambda Driver to deliver a penetrating strike that destroyed its data processing system.
Deprived of data processing capabilities, Hashmal naturally shut down completely, collapsing with no possibility of reactivation unless the components were repaired.
The numerous Plumen under its control, now without commands from their main body, immediately entered a dormant state on the spot.
Seeing this, Reid had the system capture the nearly intact Hashmal from the outside and then ordered,
"Liuli, send the Mobile Dolls down and transport all the dormant Plumen back to the ship. These little things may not be strong, but they have Nano-Laminate Armor, so let's not waste them."
At Reid's words, Liuli immediately directed the Gran Chaos to descend and dispatched the Mass-Produced GM Astrays to collect the "scrap."
Of course, a significant portion of the Plumen were buried beneath the rubble of the canyon, and it would take some time to dig them all out.
But Reid had time now—he could stay in this Iron-Blooded universe for three more days, which was enough to excavate all the Plumen.
Moreover, Reid deliberately lingered with the intention of luring the Arianrhod Fleet here.
As for the local Tekkadan, out of respect for Orga, Mikazuki, and the others on his side, Reid had no plans to actively attack them for Merit Points.
Unless this Tekkadan foolishly attacked him, Reid was willing to let them off this time.
Although this meant forfeiting the 140 Merit Points from the Gundam Barbatos Lupus, actively attacking Tekkadan would undoubtedly cause discomfort among his own people.
For the sake of internal unity, Reid felt the 140 Merit Points were worth sacrificing. Leading a team was no easy task, and human hearts were the hardest to control. The people he had already recruited were far more important than these points and the uncertain skills they might drop.
As for the remaining McGillis and Isurugi Kamiche, Reid was interested in farming skills from them, but they were allies of Tekkadan.
Given Orga's personality, if Reid attacked McGillis now, Orga would certainly intervene. So, Reid decided to let him go.
After all, Reid hadn't forgotten that Code Amelias's team had fled, not left this world.
Considering that team also had a McGillis, the local McGillis would be the easiest to locate their hiding spot.
Thus, as Reid's team began cleaning up the battlefield, the bold and adventurous McGillis and Orga approached.
McGillis arrived piloting a Schwalbe Graze, while Orga stood on the hand of the Gundam Barbatos Lupus.
To prevent misunderstandings, both machines came unarmed. As they drew near, McGillis even proactively opened his cockpit to reveal himself.
In response, Reid extended them the courtesy and had the Xia sisters escort the two machines to the vicinity of the Gran Chaos's landing site.
Not wanting to engage in unnecessary pleasantries, Reid didn't even show his face and directly broadcast his voice:
"McGillis Fareed, Commander of the Earth Outer Orbit Fleet, and Orga Itsuka, Head of the Mars Security Firm Tekkadan. What brings the two of you to me?"
McGillis wasn't surprised that the leader of this mysterious force knew him—after all, as a Brigadier General of Gjallarhorn, he was quite well-known.
Orga, however, was somewhat taken aback that the leader recognized him. Frankly, at this point, Tekkadan was merely a cooperative organization under the transport group Teiwaz within the DiVaze framework.
To insist that Tekkadan is merely a subordinate organization of Teiwaz, in the eyes of top-tier forces, they'd be relegated to the children's table.
As for why Orga believed the unit before him belonged to another elite faction, it could only be said that the leader of this force alone had single-handedly slaughtered the Mobile Armor that nearly destroyed humanity. Such combat prowess was enough to elevate them into the ranks of the top-tier powers.
Hearing Reid's calm tone, which seemed devoid of hostility, McGillis politely responded, "Greetings, sir. Although you recognize me, I must still introduce myself. I am McGillis Fareed, the current head of the Fareed family among the Seven Stars. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Reid, upon hearing McGillis about to engage in meaningless pleasantries, decisively interrupted, "Enough, Mr. McGillis. If I were you, I wouldn't be standing here chatting so calmly right now.
I've received word that there is someone who looks exactly like you using your identity to swagger and deceive. You'd better look into this immediately, or the Fareed family's reputation will soon be as foul as a cesspit."
(End of Chapter)