The rescue point Reid ordered to be set up was located within the ruins that the main Vagan force had cleared out when they assembled.
The buildings here had been reduced to piles of rubble. It only required a simple cleanup by Mobile Suits to clear out an open space; after all, the original prototypes for all MS were construction machinery.
This time, Reid put on a good show of his manpower. Tens of thousands of natives disembarked from the Gran Chaos and began clearing the wreckage of the destroyed Mass-Produced GM Astrays.
As for the security and order of the rescue point, Naze Turbine of Tekkadan was in charge, leading a large group of natives.
His legs had been restored in an Advanced Medical Pod, and after two months of recovery, he could already run, jump, and swim.
Although his main job was still a mechanic, in a situation like today's, his nearly two-meter height, broad shoulders, and the torn scars on his arms and face (which he intentionally kept as a man's badge of honor) made him a perfect fit for a security chief. His mere presence was enough to max out the intimidation factor.
As for the medical team, besides the natives, Atra Mixta was also among them. This was a rare internship opportunity.
Reid and the other members of Tekkadan did not show their faces, at most speaking through their MS's external speakers.
Therefore, the person speaking on behalf of the medical camp was naturally Kassapa.
Following Reid's orders, Kassapa arranged for his people to first collect the intact cockpits from the Union flight squadron to see if there were any survivors inside.
If the person inside was dead, they would collect the body to be returned to the Union later, which could be considered a fulfillment of their brief comradeship-in-arms.
If the person was still alive, they would be stripped and thrown into a Medical Pod. Basically, anyone still alive at this point could be saved, or at the very least, have their vital signs stabilized.
The good news was that none of the rescued Union pilots needed to stay in a Medical Pod for an extended period to maintain their vitals. The most seriously injured, Graham, only needed to have the metal fragments in his body removed (caused by the explosion of cockpit instruments) and then lie in a Medical Pod for two or three hours.
Of course, besides Graham and Daryl, only one other pilot from this elite Union flight squadron could be saved after being shot down; the rest had all perished.
The only member of this unit who could still move freely, Howard, was now in charge of taking stock of his comrades' bodies. After all, the cockpits of many of their mobile suits had long since exploded, and all that could be found in the pools of blood and flesh were twisted and deformed "dog tags."
After Setsuna recovered a little, Exia left on its own. Reid did not stop it. He even had Hoshino Ruri send a message to Wang Liu Mei, telling Celestial Beings that one of the mercenaries who kidnapped Masoud Lachmadi was named Ali al-Saachez. Presumably, upon hearing this name, Setsuna would be able to guess where Masoud Lachmadi had been taken.
Next were the local civilians from the Kosi region of the Kingdom of Azadistan. As the smoke gradually dissipated, these civilians were brought to the rescue point one after another.
However, the first people to be sent over were almost all children around the age of ten; there were very few adults.
This was because the cellars of those civilian houses couldn't fit many people, and the people had unanimously prioritized letting the children hide first. The adults either found other ways to escape or took up arms to resist.
These children were terrified. Many thought they had been captured as prisoners. Since there were no living people in the Mass-Produced GM Astrays, and although announcements were broadcast in the local language, the intelligent AI, with a database that was ninety percent combat data, was clearly unable to answer all of the children's questions, nor was it capable of comforting them.
At the same time, one couldn't expect the natives to comfort anyone either. Although they were efficient and knew how to alleviate the suffering of the injured, when it came to conversation, this group was the epitome of aloofness. The other party could say ten sentences, and they might not even utter a single word in response.
Moreover, these natives obviously couldn't speak the local language of the Kingdom of Azadistan, so communication was a problem.
Seeing this, Reid could only notify the perimeter forces to let the local rescue teams from the Kingdom of Azadistan in.
After the Mass-Produced GM Astrays surrounded the Kosi region, no matter how slow the Kingdom of Azadistan's reaction was, they knew that an Otherworld Entanglement had occurred in their country.
The current parliament of the Kingdom of Azadistan still had some initiative; otherwise, they wouldn't have brought in the solar power receiving antenna facilities in an attempt to lift the country out of poverty by integrating with the world.
So, the reformist faction of the parliament, braving the cries of "This is divine punishment for the usurpers!" from the numerous conservatives in the capital, dispatched the last combat-capable forces they had on hand.
These reformists knew their own limits. These troops were not sent to defend the city or drive away the SDP and Celestial Beings wreaking havoc on their land, but were purely a rescue force.
Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, Reid had long since ordered the city to be sealed off. These troops didn't dare to start a war with the SDP's forces and could only wait obediently on the outskirts.
By now, it was no longer just the Kingdom of Azadistan's troops outside the city.
Government officials from both the conservative and reformist factions had gathered, and even Marina Ismail had come.
However, the pitiful princess was being pushed forward at this moment purely to test the SDP's attitude. After all, her status was just right, and she was also an official representative of the country.
Of course, Marina Ismail herself had stepped forward voluntarily; she was genuinely worried about the civilians in the city.
Regrettably, the Mobile Dolls didn't recognize any princess. No matter how Marina Ismail shouted, wanting to speak with the SDP's commander, she was met with only silence.
Of course, there were always brave souls who wanted to try crossing the blockade line. Unfortunately, after these brave souls were turned to ash by beams, the others naturally didn't dare to cross the line.
After that, reporters from various countries within the Kingdom of Azadistan also arrived.
To be precise, the Kingdom of Azadistan's parliament had deliberately let them in.
The purpose was clear: to prove to the public that it wasn't that they were unwilling to carry out a rescue, but that the SDP's forces wouldn't allow it. The blame was not on them.
However, for most of these reporters, they didn't really care about the lives of the civilians in the city. The most important thing right now was to film the SDP mobile suits that were blockading the city.
After all, this incident proved that the SDP, just as they claimed, was no small organization. There were now over a hundred MS blockading the city.
Although they were clearly not as high-end as the mobile suits that had appeared before, the number of countries that could deploy over a hundred MS at once could be counted on two hands.
And as the smoke shrouding the city dissipated, the massive mothership in the sky became clearly visible.
However, any spy satellite from around the world that flew over the Kingdom of Azadistan would now self-destruct, and it was the same even if cameras were sent from the circum-earth power generation orbit.
Therefore, the national television stations of various countries received orders to have their local cameramen shoot the ship intensely from the ground, because only ground-level filming was permitted.
Since Reid did not prohibit the reporters from filming, as long as they didn't cross the blockade line, they could shoot however they wanted, and the Mass-Produced GM Astrays would not react.
In fact, by this point, the people outside the blockade had basically given up on entering the city before the SDP withdrew. At most, some politicians would protest the SDP's interference in national sovereignty and blockade of the city for the media cameras as a matter of routine.
However, with Reid's order to allow rescue personnel in, the people on the outskirts were instantly thrown into chaos.
Almost everyone claimed to have medical knowledge and that they could enter to help the civilians.
Reid had anticipated this situation and sent someone to make a direct announcement.
"All who claim to have medical knowledge may enter, but you cannot bring any metal with you. The medical equipment inside is fully supplied.
Furthermore, if anyone who enters is found to have inadequate medical knowledge, leaves their team midway, or does something completely unrelated, that person will become an object of their family's remembrance.
Everyone can witness the fate of those who try to fool the SDP. We hope they remember in their next life not to provoke those they cannot afford to provoke."
Reid's words all but explicitly stated that anyone who dared to try and bluff their way in would die.
Most people present knew that the SDP was not bound by international law. No matter how many people they killed, they were killed, and even if they were labeled as terrorists, the SDP wouldn't care.
In fact, none of the three major powers dared to label the SDP as a terrorist organization right now.
Because once they were designated as terrorists, if an Otherworld Entanglement occurred in their own country, would they help or hinder the SDP when they appeared?
Helping would mean they were aiding terrorists. Hindering would not only get them beaten, but if those mobile suits from another world went on a killing spree in their country and they were powerless to stop it, wouldn't they be screwed? As long as a country had a clear head, it would not do something that would put it in such a no-win situation.
Therefore, unless the SDP openly killed people without reason, any deaths were for nothing.
Of course, killing someone who deceived you, in the universal values of humanity, would be considered an overreaction, but not without reason. In the eyes of some in high positions, if a person of low status dared to intentionally fool someone of extremely high status, their death would be well-deserved.
And so, more than half of the people who had just claimed to have medical knowledge instantly vanished.
Those who were still confident enough to enter, apart from a very small number of hopeful opportunists, truly possessed relevant knowledge.
These people were mostly real medical personnel, along with a small number of soldiers skilled in battlefield medicine.
What was rather surprising was that most of the reporters present also knew some first aid.
But on second thought, it was understandable. Being a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, a place where terrorist attacks frequently occurred, learning medical knowledge could genuinely save lives, and perhaps even their own.
So, after passing through a metal scanner to ensure they had no metal other than things like pacemakers or vascular stents inside their bodies, these people boarded a transport plane and were sent directly to the rescue point.
By this time, the rescue point was already teeming with refugees, and the Medical Pods could only be used for the seriously injured. The lightly injured were tended to by the medical teams.
However, as more and more people arrived, the medical teams were completely short-staffed. After all, no matter how ravaged the city was, there were still over a hundred thousand living people.
Although Reid's main goal was still to screen for Kowloon, once people were found, it was necessary to place them near the medical point and keep them under control.
Fortunately, with the arrival of medical support personnel, the manpower shortage was greatly alleviated.
And these people were also relieved to see that the SDP was genuinely rescuing civilians.
However, Reid strictly enforced his words. Among those who entered were Marina Ismail and her aide, Shirin Bakhtiar. Even though Reid recognized these two, he still arranged for them to help the wounded.
He placed them with the children, however, to prevent any conservatives among the adults from acting irrationally.
Marina Ismail and her aide, Shirin Bakhtiar, were very compliant and conscientiously carried out their nursing duties.
Marina Ismail was just a puppet in the political arena, but that didn't mean she was incapable. At the very least, she performed simple nursing tasks very well.
As for the few who had tried their luck, Reid had them executed on the spot without hesitation after they were discovered. Among them was a conservative member of the Kingdom of Azadistan's parliament. He had followed Marina Ismail in because he was afraid she would form a connection with the SDP.
After all, Marina Ismail herself could be used as a bargaining chip. If the reformists were to use a honey trap, the conservatives would never be able to make a comeback.
Of course, these conservatives from the Kingdom of Azadistan were really overthinking things. Reid had little interest in chasing women right now; he could barely keep up with the crowd of wives he already had at home.
At this moment, Reid just felt a headache coming on, because he had already screened the Kosi region of the Kingdom of Azadistan once and had not found Kowloon.
He hadn't even found Sachez. However, the wreckage of their two mobile suits had been found on the outskirts of the city, but the intact cockpits were empty.
Reid actually knew that both Kowloon and Sachez had strong cockroach-like attributes; they were exceptionally hard to kill.
Yes, although there was no concrete evidence, Reid was now basically certain that the pilot of that Marauder Complete was Kowloon, who had escaped from the battle in the Mollaria Republic.
After all, even including the super-robot side of the mecha world, people as hard to kill as Kowloon and Sachez were truly a small handful.
And considering the appearance of the extra distortion node earlier, it was almost certain that the terrorists who had ambushed Tieria and captured Gundam Virtue were commanded by this guy, Kowloon.
Reid prepared to screen the city two more times before the mobile suit wreckage cleanup was complete. If he really couldn't find the two of them, he could only assume that they had fled the city during the initial phase of his battle with the Vagan.
At the same time, since these two were now acting together, Reid could only assume that these two "cockroaches" from different worlds had found a kindred spirit in each other.
So Reid gave a direct order for Tekkadan to sortie again, follow Exia, and find the mercenary group that had kidnapped Masoud Lachmadi, to see if Sachez would rendezvous with them, bringing Kowloon along.
His mission time would last until Celestial Beings withdrew from the Kingdom of Azadistan.
It was obvious that the original story event where Celestial Beings rescued Masoud Lachmadi and returned him unarmed would still happen.
So Reid still had time. Even if Kowloon didn't rendezvous with Sachez, Sachez himself would be enough. Reid figured he also knew a thing or two about the Great Memory Restoration Technique and could even analyze some brainwave data. He was confident he could pry out all the information Sachez knew.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as smoothly as Reid had imagined. Perhaps after losing his mobile suit, Sachez couldn't quickly rendezvous with his mercenaries. Or perhaps Sachez had simply abandoned his subordinates.
All in all, by the time Reid finished clearing the wreckage in the Kosi region and had treated the few seriously injured people in the Medical Pods, his entire force had disappeared into the sky, re-entering observation mode.
Even after Setsuna had rescued Masoud Lachmadi and returned him to the Royal Palace, Reid had not a single shred of news about Kowloon or Sachez. He could only return with regret.
(End of Chapter)