While Reid was arranging for Ange and Noin to return to the Gran Chaos to retrieve the Buster Beam Rifle for a decisive end to the battle, the Vagan Mobile Suits had nearly finished regrouping. The two assembly points had even merged into one after a secondary sonic communication.
By this point, not only Reid's forces but also Celestial Beings and the Union had closed in.
Although Hoshino Ruri had assigned them clearance zones, the enemy was now openly converging on a single point. It was unrealistic to expect these two groups to obediently follow orders and continue searching for non-existent enemies in their designated areas.
Therefore, Reid didn't say much, instead tacitly entrusting them with the encirclement of one flank and having the already-assembled Tekkadan form a defensive line further back.
However, whether it was the beast-like instincts awakened by the X-Rounder System that told the two Ghirargas commanding the troops which direction was more dangerous, or just a pure guess, it didn't matter.
In any case, before Ange and Noin could even report that they were in position for a high-altitude bombardment, the remaining Vagan forces were already charging straight for the area defended by Celestial Beings.
In truth, the Vagan forces' decision was supported by data. Although the entire Cauchy region of the Kingdom of Azadistan was shrouded in thick smoke, they could still gather data on the intensity of the enemy's cleanup efforts in each direction from the speed, reactions, and commotion of their allies being killed.
The directions defended by Celestial Beings and the Union were clearly characterized by attacks from high-energy beams and powerful beam cannons. Furthermore, their reconnaissance units could be identified through the smoke, and the interval between attacks was distinct.
The other directions, however, were like something out of a ghost story. Most of their men were eliminated without even knowing how they died.
One direction featured attacks that were within their realm of understanding, while the other directions saw inexplicable, large-scale deaths at an extremely rapid pace.
Thus, the last vestiges of human reason in the two Ghirarga pilots told them it was better to face a front line ablaze with cannon fire than to confront attacks of completely unknown principles. Their forces could no longer afford to trade lives for enemy intelligence.
So, the two remaining Zeydras acted as the vanguard, overloading their Electromagnetic Armor to achieve defensive power far beyond normal. The ten remaining Danazines were distributed on the left and right flanks, with the two Ghirargas in the center, holding their Ghirarga Cannons.
Knowing the enemy could snipe them from outside the smoke, the key to the Vagan forces' breakout was to never stop. They had to charge forward quickly, without a moment's pause.
Celestial Beings and the Union weren't fools; they had long since detected the enemy's movements through magnetic field positioning.
In response, a sniper beam from Dynames and a full-power barrage from Gundam Virtue's GN Rocket Cannons arrived as if by invitation.
However, while overloading a Zeydra's Electromagnetic Armor was tantamount to turning its own armor into a bomb, the resulting defensive boost was substantial.
Dynames's ultra-long-range sniper shots, which could barely penetrate the heavy armor of a Zeydra under normal circumstances, now simply ricocheted off like "splashes."
Fortunately, Gundam Virtue's GN Rocket Cannons were still quite effective. Unfortunately, upon detecting the incoming high-energy beam, one of the two Zeydras leaped up and met the twenty-meter-thick beam head-on.
Even the Zeydra's overloaded Electromagnetic Armor couldn't withstand such a massive particle impact. The Mobile Suit's outer armor melted rapidly before it exploded in mid-air.
The good news was that this Zeydra had absorbed most of the GN Rocket Cannon's power. The other Zeydra easily blocked the remaining shockwave.
By sacrificing one Zeydra, the Vagan forces had successfully bought themselves a dozen or so seconds to break through.
Don't underestimate those dozen seconds. Once the Vagan forces picked up speed, the hit rate of Dynames and Virtue's attacks would drop significantly, and a breach of the defensive line would be inevitable. (Celestial Beings and the Union were unaware that Tekkadan had also set up a defensive line behind them.)
Celestial Beings and the Union were well aware of this point.
Graham felt he had gained a lot from this collaboration with Celestial Beings.
Although he hadn't communicated with the Gundam pilots, he had analyzed the maximum power and attack intervals of the sniper-type and artillery-type Gundams' armaments through their attacks. This was data that would normally be impossible to obtain without sacrificing lives, and even then, one could easily get false data due to insufficient pressure.
But now, these otherworldly enemies were strong enough—so strong that even Graham felt a sense of despair.
After all, there were only four Gundams, and the SDP didn't usually appear, nor did it actively involve itself in world conflicts.
But these otherworldly visitors numbered in the hundreds, and many of their Mobile Suits were no less capable than the Gundams. The Union's entire current MS force probably couldn't defeat such an army.
Graham was even beginning to think that the existence of an organization like the SDP might not be such a bad thing.
However, Graham had no intention of retreating to the rear and letting others carry the burden for him.
When he saw that the two Gundams' long-range attacks had ended without successfully halting the enemy's advance, he unhesitatingly charged forward in his Union Flag.
Of course, Setsuna, who wanted to become a "Gundam," had the same idea.
Thus, Exia and Graham's Union Flag stood directly in the path of the Zeydra that was trying to clear the way.
At the same time, seeing their captain move, the remaining members of the Union's flight squadron instinctively positioned themselves in front of the numerous Danazines.
To be honest, this action was tantamount to using their lives to stall the enemy, hoping that Reid's forces could quickly close the encirclement.
Of course, no one would just sit and wait for death. Setsuna and the members of the Union flight squadron held the mentality of "breaking even with one kill, profiting with two."
So, facing the giant claw of the Zeydra's right hand swinging toward him, the highly focused Setsuna, aided by the anti-gravity effect of the GN Drive, drifted backward like a leaf with the claw's swing. After dodging the attack, he unfolded the GN Sword on his right arm and swung it down toward the enemy's right shoulder.
However, the pilot of a Zeydra was no pushover. Reid wouldn't have been surprised if it was Zanard Bihado from some other timeline sitting in that cockpit.
A pilot of this caliber would not leave such a huge opening.
As Exia's GN Sword swung down, the Zeydra's Tail Blade shot out from its right side, directly parrying the GN Sword.
Now it was Exia that was full of openings. The Zeydra's left claw was raised high, ready to swat the bug before it.
However, the Zeydra pilot had gravely underestimated Graham.
Although the Union Flag's performance was too weak—even if the Zeydra stood still and let it attack, it would take some time for the Plasma High Vibration Blade to break through its thick Electromagnetic Armor, let alone the overloaded version—the Zeydra pilot completely ignored the Union Flag in front of him.
This directly led to his defeat.
Graham piloted his Mobile Suit like a circus acrobat, performing a 360-degree horizontal roll in mid-air. During the roll, he precisely inserted the Plasma High Vibration Blade into the thruster and heat vent on the Zeydra's front shoulder—an area of weak armor he had found after long observation.
Overloading the Zeydra's Electromagnetic Armor was already an extremely dangerous maneuver. With a heat vent destroyed, the Mobile Suit itself couldn't hold out.
The Zeydra's raised left claw could no longer swing down. Visible arcs of electricity erupted all over its body, and then it exploded like a bomb.
Exia and Graham's Union Flag took the explosion, which was comparable to a Mobile Suit's self-destruction, almost point-blank.
The former was merely blown away, while the latter flew out of the explosion in pieces.
The good news was that the Mobile Suit's waist and hip section flew out in one piece, so Graham was likely not dead, though he couldn't have escaped severe injuries and unconsciousness.
In fact, Graham's condition was relatively good compared to the rest of the Union flight squadron.
A handful of Union Real Combat Types and one Union Flag against ten Danazines? It was like sparrows against hawks, and the sparrows were even outnumbered.
So, after just one exchange, only one Union Real Combat Type remained, and only its lower half at that. The pilot was Overflag Team member Howard Mason, who had once again escaped death by the skin of his teeth thanks to his skill.
As for the other member, Daryl Dodge, his Mobile Suit was torn apart after he used his Union Flag's defensive rod to block beam vulcans from multiple Danazines.
However, his Mobile Suit's condition was similar to Graham's; the cockpit section was relatively intact, so he probably wasn't killed instantly.
As for the others, there was no need to say more. If they were still alive, they were truly lucky.
But the Union flight squadron had actually achieved its goal.
Because they had to clear away the "insects" in front of them, the Danazine troops failed to build up speed immediately. The two Ghirargas they were protecting, however, had successfully accelerated.
This directly resulted in the Danazine troops pushing the two Ghirargas ahead of them.
One of the Ghirargas took a crimson Positron Beam Cannon shot to the face.
At this time, the only one in this area capable of firing a Positron Beam Cannon was, naturally, the Garibaldi Rebake.
When Exia had charged down to face the Zeydra, Orga, who was observing the battlefield from behind using magnetic fields and GN Particle density, was nearly scared to death.
Reid had repeatedly warned him not to let this Exia pilot die.
Yet this pilot was so reckless, daring to block an entire enemy force with a single Mobile Suit. (In Orga's eyes, the Union flight squadron was basically useless, their firepower too weak to even provide cover.)
So Orga immediately ordered all of Tekkadan to charge and rescue him. He didn't want to screw up his first official mission under Reid.
Thus, just as the entire Union flight squadron lost their combat capability, Tekkadan's forces arrived in the nick of time.
The two Ghirargas, now sticking out like sore thumbs, were naturally prioritized as targets.
A Positron Cannon was not an attack that Electromagnetic Armor could block. Not even a GN Particle shield could stop it; one would need a Photon Wave Barrier, the strongest defensive measure, or Yata Mirror Armor. (Theoretically, the Yata no Kagami shouldn't be able to block an attack based on antimatter annihilation, but it did in the story, so let's just assume it's still a beam...)
So, the Ghirarga that was hit instantly exploded into a firework display.
As for the remaining one, Tekkadan's five Ghost Jegans each gifted it two high-explosive missiles (locked on via magnetic field induction).
Although the Electromagnetic Armor was formidable and wasn't directly penetrated, ten high-explosive missiles were enough to blast it out of the sky and down to the ground, trailing smoke.
On the ground, the Barbatos Sirius had long been waiting. Seeing the enemy Mobile Suit fall, it leaped up, its Rebuilt Sword coated in high-temperature plasma, and plunged the sword through the Mobile Suit's back, a portion of it emerging from the chest.
Then, Mikazuki maneuvered the Mobile Suit to give it a flick. The Ghirarga was instantly torn open from its chest to the right side of its neck. It didn't even need to explode; it turned into red code and vanished before it even hit the ground.
At this moment, Reid's forces, encircling from the other side, also arrived.
Facing Tekkadan, Exia, and the remnants of the Union flight squadron, who were practically standing together with the enemy, Reid urgently called off Ange and Noin, who were already in position.
The ten remaining Danazines were no longer a major threat.
Reid, piloting the Gundam Artemis, deployed its Photon Wave Barrier and tanked ten shots from the Danazine Cannons, buying time for the others behind him to get into close range.
Xia Yufang and Xia Yulan activated their Mental Link System, transforming into two streaks of light—one purple, one blue and white—and charged into the enemy group.
Xia Yufang, piloting the NT-X2 Gundam, instantly sliced three closely-packed Danazines in half with its Twin-Headed Halberd.
Her younger sister, Xia Yulan, was not to be outdone. Not only did she cut down two Danazines with the Blade Angel Gundam's twin swords, but her vastly increased Psychic Power in the Mental Link state also allowed her to simultaneously control eight GN Funnel Blades, which worked in pairs to cut down four more Danazines.
The Xia sisters' actions were practically kill-stealing. Sariya and Belfgang could only compete for the kill on the last Danazine.
Perhaps feeling that it was too pitiful for Belfgang to have barely scored any kills in this battle, Sariya, whose emotional intelligence was not zero, chose to provide support with the Gundam Eclipse this time. With the two Magnum Cannons on its shoulders and the sniper rifle in its hands, the Danazine truly had no escape. After the Mystic Lightning closed in, it easily decapitated the enemy.
With that, all the Vagan Mobile Suits sent in this otherworldly invasion were annihilated.
Although Reid didn't have many kills either, he no longer cared about that.
Looking at the World Change Flctuation Value, which had returned to 13.288%, Reid knew this mission was over.
However, this time Reid couldn't just pack up and leave.
Quite a few Mass-Produced GM Astrays had been shot down in this battle. They wouldn't disappear into data; their wreckage remained in the city.
This wreckage still contained some technology from other Gundam Universes. After the Vagan forces were wiped out, the World Change Fluctuation Value had risen by 0.015%, and Reid suspected this wreckage was the cause.
So this time, Reid needed to clean up the wreckage of the Mass-Produced GM Astrays before he could leave.
And Reid hadn't forgotten about the Gouf Custom, suspected to be piloted by Kowloon.
This was a good opportunity to search for it thoroughly. As long as Kowloon was still in the city, Reid was confident he could dig him out, even if he had to turn the city upside down.
After all, there weren't many living people left in this city. It would be easy to find everyone using a life detection system.
Reid planned to have the Mass-Produced GM Astrays act as ambulances, which would be extremely efficient for finding people.
So, Reid put on a show and notified Hoshino Ruri, asking the natives to bring down a dozen standard Iron-Blooded Orphans medical pods on a transport ship.
Reid planned to gather all the civilians in the city under the pretext of humanitarian aid. If anyone dared not to show up by then, that person would be suspicious.
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