A few minutes before Reid's warning popped up, the perspective shifted to the Gundam Virtue, which was rushing headlong toward the Marshall Islands.
Tieria remained completely unaware of the massive Gran Chaos trailing behind him, single-mindedly charging toward the mission objective.
By this point, Tieria had witnessed Alleluia acting without authorization, Setsuna foolishly stepping out of the cockpit, and Lockon's inexplicable obsession with terrorists.
Compounded by Reid's internal public questioning of the Innovators' ideology, Tieria felt that the entire organization was problematic. Everyone was beginning to doubt the authenticity of VEDA's prophecies, especially since VEDA had never predicted the so-called Otherworld Entanglement phenomenon—clearly, it lacked data in this area.
To Tieria, doubting VEDA was no different from doubting himself. He believed the other Gundam pilots were utterly unqualified to operate the Gundams, and the support staff lacked resolve. How could the Innovators thrive while surrounded by such incompetence?
Even so, Tieria kept his grievances to himself. After all, these individuals were chosen by VEDA, and questioning them was, in a sense, questioning VEDA itself.
Thus, while Tieria appeared calm on the surface, he was exceptionally agitated inwardly, setting the stage for the disaster that would unfold minutes later.
As Tieria piloted the Gundam Virtue into the airspace of the Marshall Islands, he quickly located the Eden Lai base there based on guidance.
In the original timeline, this was merely a jungle airstrip, easily obliterated by a single shot from the Gundam Virtue.
But now, the center of the airstrip was filled with bound elderly people and children. The moment the Gundam Virtue appeared, a frenzied male voice broadcasted over the speakers:
"Haha, the Gundam really came! And it's this chubby Gundam—how lucky! Hey, Gundam pilot! The airstrip is packed with hostages I've taken from the surrounding areas. Make your choice: blast the hostages and us to smithereens, or stand there and be a target! Men, give our guest a welcoming gift!"
As the voice faded, eight Long-nosed type Mobile Suits (practically the representative units of terrorists in the AD Universe, mostly sourced from the Middle East) emerged from the airstrip hangars. Positioned beside the hostages, they unleashed a synchronized volley at the Gundam Virtue.
Even for Tieria, who prioritized VEDA's missions above all, his moral compass forbade him from firing on innocent civilian hostages unless absolutely necessary.
Thus, constrained by the hostages' safety, the Gundam Virtue could only activate its GN Field and act as a target, unable to use its high-powered weaponry. This was precisely why the terrorist considered himself fortunate.
Had any other Gundam been deployed, they could have utilized lower-destructive arms to precisely eliminate the Long-nosed types without harming the hostages.
Moreover, these hostages were clearly taken recently, as the intelligence provided had made no mention of their presence.
Yet Tieria was not entirely without options. The Gundam Virtue was equipped with a GN Beam Saber, though it was seldom used.
So, Tieria maneuvered the Gundam Virtue, activating its GN Shield to ram directly into one of the Long-nosed types encircling the hostages, using the GN Rocket Cannon (physically) to send it flying.
Then, with its left hand, it drew the GN Beam Saber and executed a sweeping slash, cutting down two nearby Long-nosed types.
The remaining five Long-nosed types quickly retreated upon seeing Gundam Virtue possessed close-combat capabilities.
Tieria responded with a cold, disdainful smirk. With the GN Shield now covering the civilians below, he could unleash his full firepower without restraint.
However, Tieria never anticipated that these civilians were merely bait to lure him to the ground.
As the Long-nosed types withdrew, the mechanical sound of hydraulic winches pulling steel cables echoed from all directions.
Suddenly, a steel cable net burst forth from the airport's surface.
These cables were made of high-strength zinc-aluminum alloy-coated steel wires with a diameter of 5.15mm. Each strand consisted of 127 wires, woven together with dozens of other strands to form the net.
Since this island airstrip was merely a temporary facility with roughly leveled dirt runways, the buried cable net remained completely undetectable from the surface.
Tieria couldn't possibly keep a metal scanner active continuously - in fact, it was questionable whether Gundam Virtue even carried such equipment, as metal detection wasn't standard battlefield technology. After all, battlefields contained abundant metal objects, and constant metal detection would only interfere with the pilot's judgment.
The mastermind behind this trap was particularly ruthless - they activated the mechanism immediately after confirming Gundam Virtue's landing, not even sparing their own subordinate who failed to escape the trap zone in time.
Thus, Tieria was caught completely off guard. By the time he realized what was happening, Gundam Virtue was already ensnared in the net.
But entanglement was only the beginning. The next instant, ultra-high voltage electricity surged through the metal mesh.
The Long-nosed type that failed to escape the trap zone instantly smoked and exploded within seconds.
The hostages beneath Gundam Virtue's feet were instantly eliminated - these terrorists clearly never intended to spare any lives from the beginning.
Gundam Virtue itself didn't fare much better. The GN Field, when confronted with high-voltage electricity, was breached due to magnetic repulsion. Though both the Mobile Suit and pilot suit had electrical protection, Tieria still screamed in agony as electric shocks coursed through him, leaving his limbs paralyzed and unable to control the Mobile Suit.
Fortunately, such intense electrical attacks couldn't be sustained indefinitely. Given the Marshall Islands' industrial limitations, the terrorists likely had to overload multiple generators to produce this level of assault.
But the electric shock was only the second phase. Simultaneously with the electrocution, chain explosions erupted beneath Gundam Virtue's feet. Below the hostages and steel net, explosives had been buried deeper underground.
However, conventional high explosives couldn't even penetrate Gundam Virtue's foot armor. Their primary purpose was to blast open pre-dug deep pits.
With Tieria still paralyzed and unable to recover, Gundam Virtue plummeted straight down into the forty-meter deep crater under Earth's gravity.
The next moment, numerous tanker-like vehicles emerged from all around the base, accompanied by Long-nosed types dragging hoses.
These vehicles and Mobile Suits rushed to the pit's edge at maximum speed and began pouring Human Reform League-manufactured quick-setting gel into the cavity.
While inferior in quality to military-grade versions used by the Human Reform League, the terrorists clearly intended to compensate with quantity.
As Tieria struggled to activate Gundam Virtue for counterattack, massive amounts of quick-setting gel already coated the Mobile Suit's surface, rendering it completely unable to stand up.
As the quick-setting gel continued to pour in, Gundam Virtue's surface was completely covered, with even the barrels of the twin GN Cannons on its shoulders clogged by the gel. Firing now would guarantee a barrel explosion.
Tieria couldn't even attempt to shed his armor now, as the external plates were fused together by the adhesive, making it impossible to disengage.
The terrorists were exceptionally cautious, seemingly afraid Gundam Virtue might still crawl out. They didn't stop pumping the gel until it filled half the pit, leaving one to wonder where they had sourced such a massive quantity of the substance.
By now, Gundam Virtue was completely immobilized, trapped like an insect preserved in resin—a giant amber specimen.
Once the situation seemed fully under control, the mastermind behind this operation emerged from an underground bunker. A lackey at his side flattered him: "Big Brother Kowloon is truly amazing, capturing a Gundam with just a minor scheme."
Indeed, the one capable of devising such a vicious tactic was none other than Kowloon. Through some unknown means, he had left the Mollaria Republic and traveled across regions before finally arriving in South Asia, where he became a minor leader for Eden Lai in the area.
However, Kowloon remained vigilant and warned his subordinate: "Don't get ahead of yourself. Fill the remaining space with explosives. I have a feeling Gundams aren't that easy to deal with."
In truth, Kowloon's intuition was correct. Merely encasing Gundam Virtue wasn't enough to end the battle.
The cockpit still contained breathable air, and its life support systems could keep Tieria alive for a short period. So, throwing caution to the wind, Tieria resolved on one final course of action: he'd rather self-destruct Gundam Virtue than let it fall into the hands of terrorists.
As a last resort, Tieria commanded Gundam Virtue's GN Drive to release GN Particles without restriction, even at the cost of damaging the mobile suit's particle transfer conduits.
Furthermore, disregarding the risk of barrel explosions, he fired the GN Cannons—which predictably detonated immediately.
Trapped in a confined space, the full force of the explosion was absorbed by Gundam Virtue itself. But Tieria no longer cared about collateral damage; his sole objective was to ensure Gundam Nadleeh's escape, even if it meant sacrificing external armor and weaponry.
Not only did the GN Cannons explode, but Tieria also detonated the GN Rocket Cannon in the right arm. The intense heat from the blasts instantly melted the rapid-hardening gel surrounding Gundam Virtue, while the thicker upper layers of gel were remelted by the scorching airflow, forming an expanding bubble.
Subsequently, the massive GN Particle output from the GN Drive burst through this bubble. Since the gel coating Gundam Virtue's surface had been softened by the high temperatures of the weapon self-destructions, the mobile suit finally managed to shed its armor.
However, the moment Gundam Nadleeh erupted from the ground, it was immediately targeted by concentrated fire from various smoothbore cannons and electromagnetic cannons.
This was inevitable—the instant the first underground explosion occurred, Kowloon had deduced the Gundam pilot's intentions. He immediately rushed into a warehouse, piloted a Gouf mobile suit of unknown origins, and ordered his subordinates to prepare to focus fire on any escaping Gundam.
Thus, Gundam Nadleeh was forced back into the pit the moment it emerged.
This was actually quite normal. With the Trans-Am system currently locked, Tieria's massive release of GN Particles couldn't be effectively utilized - it was pure waste. Moreover, it caused the GN Drive's particle levels to drop drastically, resulting in a sharp decline in Mobile Suit performance.
Without the substantial GN Particle enhancement, the Gundam Nadleeh's armor could no longer withstand the 200×25mm smoothbore cannons of the Long-nosed types, and its vibration damping effect was significantly reduced.
That's why Tieria was directly knocked unconscious by this concentrated barrage. He probably didn't realize before passing out just how poorly the Mobile Suit would perform without the protection of abundant GN Particles.
Tieria's coma meant the Gundam Nadleeh was captured, directly costing the Innovators one Gundam. Naturally, the World Change Fluctuation Value skyrocketed by 30%.
The only silver lining now was that Reid and others were following right behind the Gundam Virtue, having witnessed its capture almost from start to finish.
So Reid didn't need to look for other explanations - it had to be the Gundam Virtue's failure that caused the sudden surge in the World Change Fluctuation Value.
However, Reid still didn't know about Kowloon's presence on the enemy side. He simply assumed that the nations coveting the Gundams had increased their support for these terrorists, combined with having a tactical-minded terrorist leader, which led to the Gundam Virtue's defeat.
Reid decided he couldn't wait for any Otherworld Entanglement phenomenon to occur now. If he didn't intervene with the Gundam Nadleeh situation, his own assessment mission would fail.
For Reid, even if the Innovators lost the Gundam Virtue, they couldn't afford to lose Tieria - he was crucial to the Innovators' recapture of VEDA in the second season.
But since Reid had already made his stance clear earlier, he couldn't openly dispatch large forces to retrieve the Mobile Suit.
This was where the cover identity registered in the Mollaria Republic came in handy.
Reid immediately transferred to an Overflag, setting out with Ange and Noin who had also switched Mobile Suits.
The three Overflags already bore the Blood Lily insignia on their shoulders. Taking advantage of the enemy directing Long-nosed types to transport the Gundam Nadleeh, Reid activated his Red Comet skill without hesitation, his Mobile Suit transforming into a black lightning bolt charging toward the terrorist airfield.
Since the generator had been overloaded earlier, all radar equipment at this Eden Lai base was powered down, unable to issue any warnings.
By the time the outdated Long-nosed types and Goufs triggered their lock-on alarms, Reid had already closed in successfully with his Overflag.
With Reid's current skills, even piloting an Overflag, the Long-nosed types transporting the Gundam Nadleeh couldn't react in time before being sliced in half by his plasma saber.
Reid then immediately said over the team comms:
"Ange, Noin, just disperse these terrorists. We'll take the Gundam Nadleeh and withdraw immediately."
Reid was doing this purely to save time, as he didn't know when Otherworld Entanglement might suddenly occur. If they dragged this out too long, fighting whatever units came through the entanglement while piloting Overflags would be far too risky.
Ange and Noin naturally complied. Without skills like Red Comet, they arrived at the battlefield slightly later than Reid, so they began picking off the MS below from high altitude.
Inside the Gouf, Kowloon watched as three Mobile Suits resembling Union Flags rushed to steal his prey, causing his killing intent to surge. He immediately opened fire on Reid's Mobile Suit while roaring through the external speakers:
"Which unit are you from? Do you even know the rules!"
Had Reid brought the Xia sisters along this time, they would have recognized Kowloon's voice instantly.
But Reid only found the voice somewhat familiar and didn't think much of it.
While protecting the obviously deactivated Gundam Nadleeh, Reid could only use the Overflag's "electric fan" to block the incoming electromagnetic bullets.
Truthfully, the Gundarium Alloy from the AC Universe could easily withstand the Gouf's weak electromagnetic bullets, but Reid didn't want to reveal this advantage too early.
However, attacking Reid would inevitably draw the Dragon's attention.
Seeing Reid under attack, Ange immediately charged toward the Gouf without hesitation.
Though Kowloon was a decent MS pilot, he originally piloted Arm Slaves and hadn't been an MS Pilot for long. Combined with the performance gap between their Mobile Suits, he stood no chance against Ange who benefited from system enhancements.
In just two exchanges, Ange severed the Gouf's right arm. Recognizing he was outmatched, Kowloon decisively chose to flee, deliberately taking a hit from Ange's Overflag electromagnetic cannon with the upper torso of his Mobile Suit (like the Union Real Combat Type, the Gouf's cockpit was in the crotch section but lacked an escape module).
The Gouf's upper torso was pierced clean through, and the damaged Mobile Suit trailed smoke as it crashed into the forest below.
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