A mushroom cloud rose over the Atlantic Federation base in the polar night, its massive flames illuminating the sky. With no obstructions in the way, the explosion was visible even from the East Asian Republic base over 40 kilometers away.
By this time, the East Asian Republic's first wave of support troops had long since taken off toward the Atlantic Federation base.
However, upon seeing the distant Atlantic Federation base—now suspected to have been hit by a tactical nuclear bomb—the East Asian Republic base commander was already considering whether to recall the halfway-deployed units, as the Atlantic Federation forces might have been completely wiped out.
Unfortunately for that line of thinking, the Atlantic Federation's top brass valued their lives too much—they had genuinely taken shelter in a location even a nuclear bomb couldn't reach.
The Atlantic Federation base's underground command center had been constructed alongside the server room, with defenses rated for nuclear-level attacks. The Special Particle Bomb deployed by the New Misurugi Kingdom only reached the destructive power of a tactical nuclear weapon, after all.
So, inside the underground command center, the base command team and their security detail were merely shaken up by the tremors from the blast; no one had died. The most severe injury was a gash on one person's head.
The surface structures of the Atlantic Federation base, however, weren't so lucky. After the explosion subsided, the entire base had been transformed into a massive crater, exposing the metal plating of the underground nuclear shelter's roof.
Faced with this, the Atlantic Federation base commander grew genuinely frantic. Since the wired network remained intact, he began sending distress signals to the East Asian Republic base across the strait at a rate of one every dozen seconds.
When the East Asian Republic base commander saw the log of rescue communications handed to him by a subordinate, he was utterly speechless. Tossing the record aside, he turned to his staff officer and asked,
"The Atlantic Federation claims they were attacked by the New Misurugi Kingdom. They say the explosion wasn't a nuclear detonation, but the same type of bomb the New Misurugi Kingdom used to destroy the Faroe Islands laboratory."
The East Asian Republic staff officer glanced at the log and was equally dumbfounded. He remarked sarcastically,
"The Atlantic Federation brought this on themselves. Cloning Reid Isaac was bad enough, but getting caught red-handed? They deserved to be bombed.
Still, they're our allies now, so we have no choice but to send aid. If the New Misurugi Kingdom manages to completely sever the server lines at the Atlantic Federation base, our communication lifeline will be cut off anyway.
And if the Atlantic Federation is truly defeated in the future, our nation would struggle to handle a joint assault from both PLANT and the New Misurugi Kingdom.
But why doesn't this distress message even mention how many troops the New Misurugi Kingdom deployed?"
Deep down, the East Asian Republic base commander knew he couldn't afford to ignore the Atlantic Federation base's plight.
The East Asian Republic forces stationed here had orders to guard the Amerasian communication cable. Even if the Atlantic Federation side encountered issues, any damage to the cable would be considered a failure on their part.
Thus, the East Asian Republic base commander issued a direct order:
"If it's the New Misurugi Kingdom's forces we're dealing with, we must respond seriously. Keep two air squadrons behind to defend the base; dispatch all remaining units to support the Atlantic Federation base.
Notify the first wave of support troops to slow down and wait for the main force. With their current numbers, charging ahead now would be tantamount to throwing their lives away."
"Also, I suspect the New Misurugi Kingdom won't simply attack the Atlantic Federation military base alone. Have all our underwater units deploy and check if anyone is digging up undersea cables.
Finally, deploy all the base's searchlights. Don't spare the flares—light up the entire sky and surrounding area.
The Black Tortoise Gundam Team is to standby at designated positions. I don't want our forces to go support the Atlantic Federation only to have our base sneak-attacked by New Misurugi Kingdom troops.
I've heard from the General that Reid Isaac is well-versed in our nation's history and military strategy, having mastered many of its essences. Moreover, his tactics are dirty—he'll always choose ambushes over direct confrontations."
After the East Asian Republic base commander issued these orders, the entire base instantly lit up like a lightbulb in the darkness, followed by all East Asian Republic Windams taking off.
However, what this East Asian Republic base commander didn't anticipate was that the New Misurugi Kingdom was actually executing a strategy of "besieging the enemy to strike their reinforcements."
After the Atlantic Federation base was destroyed, the Atlantic Federation's jet-powered Windam units that had been chasing the Jet Black Hunter naturally discovered their base had been ambushed.
Realizing they'd fallen for a diversion tactic, the Atlantic Federation pilots, under their commander's orders, ignored the sniper rifle still aimed at their backs and desperately raced back to base to see if they could still protect the underground sections.
This suddenly transformed the fleeing Jet Black Hunter into the pursuer.
From a third-party perspective, the Jet Black Hunter was now single-handedly chasing hundreds of Atlantic Federation jet-powered Windams, with every shot resulting in another mobile suit being shot down.
By the time the Atlantic Federation's jet-powered Windam units returned to base, only about fifty remained—having directly lost half their forces.
These returning units immediately spotted the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α blasting the top metal structure of the base's nuclear-proof engineering with its High-Powered Beam Rifle, and naturally charged forward to drive off this enemy.
Simultaneously, East Asian Republic reinforcements arrived, temporarily surrounding the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α with over two hundred jet-powered Windams.
Fortunately, the Archangel arrived from the north at this moment, its two Positron Cannons sweeping through the East Asian Republic reinforcements. While shooting down over a dozen mobile suits, they broke the encirclement around the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α.
Shinn didn't dare hesitate—being targeted by two hundred Beam Rifles was no joke. Although the Electromagnetic Armor could withstand beam attacks, everything has its limits. If the Electromagnetic Armor failed, he'd be finished.
So Shinn immediately pushed the thrusters to maximum, accelerating until the mobile suit nearly left afterimages as he rendezvoused with the Archangel.
Meanwhile, behind the Atlantic Federation forces, a Super MEGA Particle Beam swept through again, halving the closely-positioned Atlantic Federation jet-powered Windam units. After clearing the path, Neil piloted the Dark Hunter Gundam to rendezvous with the Archangel.
Seeing the operation had reached its critical moment, Matilda Ajan gave the order:
"After the Lohengrin (Positron Cannon) is charged, fire directly at the ground's metal structures. The Gottfried and Valiant are free to engage enemies. Launch the Anti-Beam Explosive Shells, activate the Porcupine Array Anti-Air Machine Gun's auto-targeting, deploy a barrage, and load Anti-Air Cluster Warhead Missiles into the stern missile launch tubes 1 through 5—fire them directly into the enemy mobile suit groups."
With Matilda Ajan's command, the Archangel once again demonstrated its terrifying firepower on the battlefield.
In an instant, 225cm twin high-energy beams, 110cm linear electromagnetic cannons, and the scattered pellets from anti-air cluster warhead missiles rained down like a storm.
It could only be said that when the Earth Alliance designed the Windam, they prioritized weight reduction and cost control, resulting in lightweight armor that forced the mobile suits to evade even these low-damage pellets.
Thus, even with the East Asian Republic's military discipline, maintaining formation for the main force under such circumstances was out of the question.
Once the mobile suits were scattered, it was Shinn and Neil's time to shine.
Both the Jet Black Hunter and the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α were equipped with beam shields. As long as they weren't surrounded by beam fire from all directions, no one on this battlefield—devoid of absolute aces—could land a critical hit on them.
So, as usual, the two charged into the enemy mobile suit group, ready to unleash a one-sided slaughter.
But this time, they were facing the East Asian Republic's forces. If Athrun, who was stationed at the L4 Armory and had extensive combat experience against the East Asian Republic, had been present, he would have stopped them from diving deep into enemy lines alone.
Sure enough, just after breaking into the enemy formation, Shinn and Neil leveraged their mobile suits' performance advantages to instantly shoot down seven or eight enemy units each—only to find themselves surrounded.
Under the command of the East Asian Republic's squad leaders, even the scattered soldiers regrouped into units of nine, forming a 27-unit encirclement to besiege the Jet Black Hunter and the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α.
The Jet Windam, as a mass-produced model that prioritized mobility over defense, was by no means lacking in maneuverability.
Moreover, the East Asian Republic, with its vast resources, equipped all its units with anti-beam shields—unlike the Atlantic Federation, which settled for standard physical shields of acceptable quality, capable of blocking a beam or two.
As a result, the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α's standard high-energy beam rifle was now largely ineffective for eliminating enemies. The East Asian Republic troops were adept at blocking, and Shinn's shooting ability—without activating SEED—wasn't precise enough to consistently hit enemy torsos during high-speed maneuvers.
Attempts to engage in close combat were thwarted by beams fired from behind, forcing evasive maneuvers and preventing any chance to close the distance.
The situation for the Jet Black Hunter was slightly better than Shinn's. By maximizing the output of its Long MEGA Particle Launcher, it could penetrate shields and destroy enemies.
However, high-power cannon fire inevitably led to longer intervals between attacks.
Recognizing the Jet Black Hunter as a sniper-type mobile suit, the East Asian Republic forces desperately rushed in for close combat—unlike their tactics against the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α, which they kept at a distance, engaging in hit-and-run maneuvers.
Fortunately, Neil's close-combat skills were formidable. The Jet Windams that closed in for melee combat gained no advantage; losing an arm or a leg was a light penalty, as most were bisected at the waist.
However, the East Asian Republic still managed to stall the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α and the Jet Black Hunter, leaving the two Mobile Suits with no capacity to protect the Mothership.
As a result, the Archangel was immediately besieged by the remaining forty to fifty Mobile Suits, and the battle situation became precarious.
Meanwhile, the four High War Crabs on the seabed also encountered trouble.
The East Asian Republic had deployed all of its underwater forces, forcing the four to hide among nearby reefs after reaching the vicinity of the cable.
As the battle at the Atlantic Federation base intensified, many of the East Asian Republic's Abyssal Forbidden units were dispatched to attack the low-flying Archangel from the ground, aiming to shoot it down first.
Seeing the enemy forces reduced by more than half, Barry Howe and the other three prepared to launch a forceful assault.
Powered by robust engines, the four High War Crabs surged out from the reefs, directly colliding with and toppling four Abyssal Forbidden units of the East Asian Republic that failed to evade in time, then finishing them off with Beam Wrist Blades.
However, the commotion attracted the attention of other underwater defenders in the area.
Barry Howe and his team then discovered that the East Asian Republic had deployed a new model not mentioned in their intelligence.
It turned out that the underwater Mobile Suits fielded by the East Asian Republic this time were Gundams—five of them, all equipped with Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors according to scans.
Despite the sudden appearance of these aquatic Gundams from the East Asian Republic, Barry Howe and his comrades remained unfazed.
This was because Reid's modified High War Crabs, in terms of performance metrics, surpassed ZAFT's Abyss Gundam in all underwater parameters except sprint speed, though their ground mobility was lacking.
Without hesitation, Barry Howe and the others fired their Underwater Special Beam Cannons to test the enemy's capabilities.
Using long-range Beam Weapons underwater was essentially cheating. Even though Beam speed in water was far slower than on land, it was still impossible for Mobile Suits to dodge.
To ensure underwater agility, the East Asian Republic had clearly forgone equipping their aquatic Gundams with Shields.
As a result, all five underwater Beam Cannon shots hit their targets. Although the enemies managed to evade critical hits, striking only legs and shoulders, the Gundams were still heavily damaged.
What Barry Howe and his team hadn't anticipated was that these enemies also possessed underwater Beam Weapons.
Through their research on Minovsky Particles, the East Asian Republic had developed an Underwater Polarized Beam Rifle, identical to the one used by the Universal Century Federation.
All five Gundams were Minovsky Reactor-equipped units. Although they used rebranded, inferior reactors sold by Orb, they were sufficient to power this Underwater Polarized Beam Rifle.
These units were originally intended as a surprise for ZAFT—Beam Weapons operable underwater would surely give ZAFT's aquatic forces a hard time.
Unfortunately, the first battle for this Underwater Polarized Beam Rifle was against the High War Crabs.
This Beam Rifle was notorious even in the UC universe for its weak firepower, with its Beam potency significantly diminishing over distance.
Thus, when the Beams struck the High War Crabs, the water's attenuation had reduced their power to a level that the Phase Shift Armor could withstand.
Still, Barry Howe and the others were terrified and dared not allow the enemy a second volley. They immediately closed in for close-quarters combat.
Once the battle shifted to melee, it became a one-sided domination by the High War Crabs.
The East Asian Republic's underwater Gundams primarily relied on close-combat weapons like harpoon guns and hand anchors, which proved completely ineffective against Phase Shift Armor.
Thus, these five Mobile Suits were quickly torn to pieces.
Seeing that surrounding enemies seemed to be converging, Barry Howe knew further delay would turn the situation into a chaotic melee. He decisively ordered:
"Soap, Xiaoqiang, Ghost – you three cover me. I'm going to excavate the fiber optic cable to inject the virus."
Soap, Xiaoqiang, and Ghost naturally complied without objection, immediately forming a triangular formation around Barry Howe's High War Crab. They used torpedoes and the Underwater Special Beam Cannon to prevent enemies from approaching.
Barry Howe had good reason to volunteer for the virus injection task – his proficiency in excavation with the Mobile Suit was exceptional.
Soon, Barry Howe's High War Crab uncovered the underwater fiber optic cable. Without delay, he manipulated the Mobile Suit to insert its claw tips into the cable, injecting the virus through Mirage Particle Communication.
The next second, data exchange servers at both ends of the Bering Strait began smoking instantly. The virus trapped the servers' data in an endless loop.
Before the technical crew in the server room could respond, transformer failures caused power overloads, igniting fires directly.
Moreover, the overload current completely destroyed the base server rooms, severing communications between both sides immediately.
The virus rapidly spread through the wired network, causing explosions in servers directly connected to these two bases across both the Atlantic Federation and East Asian Republic.
Upon receiving confirmation of the mission's success, the already smoking Archangel didn't hesitate – it plunged directly into the water. The GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α and Jet Black Hunter Gundam naturally followed suit, leaving numerous jet Windams hovering above the surface helplessly. These support units, lacking depth charges, could only watch the water's surface in frustration.
(End of Chapter)