At Kauai, the northernmost island of the Hawaiian Islands, although the Hawaiian battle between the New Misurugi Kingdom and the Atlantic Federation had been raging for two weeks, this area remained largely untouched by the flames of war.
No matter how intense the fighting was to the south, the residents of Kauai at most saw distant flashes of light and heard faint echoes of explosions. Apart from being unable to go out to sea for fishing and stores being reduced to stocking only basic daily necessities, little else had changed.
Compared to the residents of southern Hawaii who lived under the constant threat of stray missiles falling on their heads, those in the north had generally experienced less anxiety over these two weeks.
This sense of relaxation was shared even by the Atlantic Federation garrison stationed here.
The current defensive forces on Kauai consisted mostly of soldiers who had been rotated from the southern front due to ship damage, and when they arrived, their vessels were filled with wounded personnel.
Having suddenly transitioned from the high-pressure frontline to this relatively calm "rear area," it was only natural for people to feel a sense of relief.
Therefore, the Kauai garrison kept less than half the required number of personnel on duty at night, with everyone else assisting at temporarily borrowed medical facilities.
However, for these soldiers who believed they had narrowly escaped death, reality seemed more like the Reaper was still chasing them.
As night fell, guards who had been stationed here for two days thought they had survived another day and would live to see tomorrow when several beams suddenly shot from the void in the sky, striking the guard towers with pinpoint accuracy.
These beams were naturally fired by the Jet Black Hunter. After days of careful reconnaissance, he had thoroughly mapped all Atlantic Federation sentry positions in northern Kauai, both visible and hidden. To prevent the enemy from reporting their position, he eliminated them immediately.
Simultaneously, a chain of explosions rocked the ships in the northern harbor.
This was the work of four High War Crabs from the Archangel that had stealthily infiltrated the port.
The warships relocated here were generally those with moderate damage or worse - currently just patched up with holes plugged and damaged surfaces covered with metal-colored foam panels before being sailed over.
Moreover, these ships were filled with wounded soldiers, as physically intact personnel were typically reassigned to other vessels to continue fighting. Only a few lucky individuals responsible for maintaining minimal operational capability remained unharmed after transferring here.
Under these circumstances, the ships' sonar systems naturally weren't constantly monitored. Combined with Reid's anti-sonar modifications to the High War Crabs, which made them appear the size of tuna or similar fish on sonar displays, the four High War Crabs easily reached the near shore.
The remaining short distance didn't matter even if they were detected - after all, Neil had been documenting the number of wounded on these ships over recent days and could easily calculate that few combat-capable personnel remained aboard.
With warships exploding and guard towers destroyed, the Atlantic Federation forces in the port finally realized what was happening.
Unfortunately, sounding the alarm now was futile - the Archangel was already openly approaching.
Although thirteen relatively intact Jet Windams immediately launched from the port, they faced Shinn, who had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.
While Shinn's shooting ability might pale in comparison to expert snipers like Neil, as someone with the potential to become a super ace, his shooting appeared incredibly fast and accurate to ordinary soldiers.
Three purple beams streaked across the sky, precisely shooting down three Jet Windams.
After closing in, Shinn decisively switched to the Multipurpose Anti-Ship Sword, bisecting one Jet Windam at the waist while simultaneously hurling a Beam Boomerang behind him to shoot down another sneaky ambusher.
The remaining eight Jet Windams, having fled all the way north only to encounter a Custom Machine from the New Misurugi Kingdom, felt utterly exasperated. They quickly retreated, temporarily ceding the port to the New Misurugi Kingdom while awaiting ground force reinforcements from the island to attempt recapture.
However, if General Dres learned of their actions, he would undoubtedly execute them personally with his sidearm.
Their retreat allowed two demons to come ashore unnoticed, with no one reporting their arrival.
These two demons were naturally the Hashmal units Reid had acquired from Iron Blood.
The moment the Factory Module finished analyzing Hashmal, Reid immediately began modifications. Hoshino Ruri, Nein, and Nami simultaneously commenced rewriting its programming code.
The coding primarily involved altering Hashmal's base programming from "kill all humans on sight" to an externally adjustable target designation system—a task the three completed effortlessly within a day.
Reid's modifications focused on addressing Hashmal's limitations when operating solo: its sole long-range weapon being the Beam Cannon and its inability to fly in atmospheric conditions.
Since Ahab Waves interfere with both GN Particle and Minovsky Particle stability, and Hashmal utilized a super-sized Ahab Reactor—producing stronger Ahab Waves than dual-reactor Gundam Frames—Reid couldn't equip the machine with GN Particles or Minovsky Flight systems.
He couldn't guarantee whether these levitation methods might temporarily fail due to Ahab Wave interference, causing Hashmal to fluctuate erratically during flight.
With the two most common anti-gravity methods rendered useless, and the CE Universe's atmospheric flight anti-gravity technology being too immature for miniaturization to Mobile Armor scales, only one solution remained: brute-force propulsion.
Hashmal's two wings functioned as factories producing Pluman (unofficially confirmed, as visual analysis shows no other plausible factory space). Since Pluman constituted vital components of Hashmal's combat capabilities, the wings couldn't be removed.
Thus, for adding extra thrusters and directional verniers, Reid had only one option: enlarge Hashmal.
Consequently, both wings and body were thickened and expanded. Skeletal strength issues were resolved by replacing materials with Nano Gundanium Alloy, simultaneously enhancing durability while reducing weight.
The outer armor posed challenges—the technology for replacing Nano-Laminate Armor substrate with AC Gundanium Alloy remained unperfected. Reid maintained the original armor but, given the expansion, fully armored all previously exposed piping and structural elements.
These modifications increased Hashmal's original 35.2m height to 40 meters. The wings grew broader and thicker to accommodate three large thrusters added to each rear lateral side, plus three Beam Cannons mounted atop the frame.
The enlarged upper body necessitated proportional thickening and enlargement of Hashmal's legs to support the increased mass.
These changes skyrocketed Hashmal's weight from 49.8 tons to 90 tons.
However, powered by the AC micro nuclear fusion reactor, brute-forcing 90 tons of flight posed no problem whatsoever.
Moreover, since Hashmal's wings were originally capable of rotating forward and backward, this modification did not affect its original movement patterns. Instead, it gained even greater power, and its Beam Cannons could now fire at all angles based on the wing orientation.
Naturally, the Plumen produced by Hashmal were also slightly modified by Reid.
The small electromagnetic cannon originally mounted in the Pluman's mouth was directly replaced by Reid with a beam cannon. However, due to the Pluman's limited energy capacity, this beam cannon only had the firepower of a beam pistol. It was effective at close range but nearly useless against enemies at a distance.
This modification was intended to ensure that Plumen wouldn't be completely helpless against Phase Shift Armor, like a tiger unable to bite a turtle. Their primary role remained that of small drones designed to swarm enemies at close range and destroy them in melee combat.
As for Noin's gift to the Atlantic Federation, it consisted of two modified Hashmal units.
For this mission, the Hashmal were programmed to target Atlantic Federation Mobile Suits, turrets, various types of warships, and individuals wearing Atlantic Federation military uniforms. Additionally, any unit not on the whitelist that attacked them would also be added to the target list.
After two weeks of intense warfare and Neil's reconnaissance, Noin had a clear understanding of the Atlantic Federation's assets, so there were generally no oversights.
The two Hashmal units launched directly from the transport ship and flew ashore, immediately unleashing their devastating power. Their Beam Cannons swept across the sea and mountains, obliterating the remaining Atlantic Federation vessels in the harbor and the automated turrets on the mountains that were attacking them.
However, these two Beam Cannon shots caused significant collateral damage. The entire harbor was completely destroyed, with all structures affected and engulfed in raging flames.
Hashmal had no fear of fire. Seeing no immediate enemies nearby, the two Mobile Suits entered the harbor to collect metal and manufacture Plumen.
The process resembled a hen laying eggs: Hashmal would feed sufficient metal fragments into the factories in their wings, and then produce a Pluman from their lower section.
Just as the Hashmal were "laying eggs," the New Misurugi Kingdom's orbital drop troops descended.
The commander of the first wave, looking at the harbor now transformed into a sea of flames, remarked over the Archangel-controlled team channel:
"Good grief, our orders were to cooperate with the new weapon in clearing the Atlantic Federation's remaining forces and assist allies in establishing a temporary base. But where are the remaining Atlantic Federation forces in this harbor? And how are we supposed to build a base in a harbor destroyed like this?"
Upon hearing this, Matilda Ajan immediately reprimanded him sternly:
"No one said to establish the base in this harbor! Just secure the base construction materials that will be airdropped later. What follows is the new weapon's performance time. Once the Atlantic Federation forces are driven out from the entire Kauai Island, there will be plenty of locations to establish temporary bases."
Matilda Ajan was nominally the daughter-in-law of Brian Eno, commander of the New Misurugi Kingdom's outer orbit forces. Her words were not to be disregarded by these outer orbit troops.
Even if they weren't under the same chain of command, a single phone call from her could make their lives very difficult.
Meanwhile, Shinn in the sky was astonished by the destructive power of the Mobile Armors below. He had fought against the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ in simulation battles.
Although the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ was as tall as these two enhanced Hashmal, it was far less massive.
To use an inappropriate analogy, if Hashmal were a brick, the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ would be a domino as tall as that brick.
Facing such a colossal machine, Shinn instinctively felt a tremor in his heart and couldn't help exclaiming over the squad comms:
"This destructive power is absolutely terrifying—it's like two demons dancing in flames."
Though Shinn meant no malice, his words were easily open to misinterpretation.
Seeing Shinn's loose tongue again, Neil immediately stepped in to smooth things over, saying:
"Demon or weapon, having this thing on our side is the greatest fortune, isn't it?"
Shinn didn't actually have any issue with Hashmal's existence, so he naturally agreed.
Seeing Neil successfully cover for Shinn, Matilda Ajan quickly changed the subject and issued orders:
"Alright, the combat mission isn't over yet. These two Large Mobile Armors will automatically clear out the Atlantic Federation forces on the island—we just need to follow behind and mop up. But maintain distance to avoid getting hit by our own Mobile Suits' beams."
With Matilda Ajan's command given, the others naturally complied.
By this time, the easily accessible metal in the harbor had already been consumed by the two Hashmals. After all, once there were two or three Plumen, they would gather metal like ants and deliver it back, allowing Hashmal to simply produce more Plumen.
Thus, in just a short while, each of the two Hashmals had thirty to forty Plumen subordinates. They split into two groups and began clearing the island along separate routes.
The defenders on Kauai Island were utterly doomed. The defensive capability of Nano-Laminate Armor was considerable, and as Mobile Armors, the Hashmals' armor was far thicker than that of heavily armored Mobile Suits.
This directly resulted in all kinetic weapons possessed by the Atlantic Federation forces on the island producing ricochets upon impact—even creating a small dent was a struggle.
As for beams, given the thickness of the special metal coating on Hashmal's Nano-Laminate Armor, even firing three to five shots from a Buster Beam Rifle would cause no damage.
What followed was sheer despair for the Atlantic Federation troops on Kauai Island.
The Windam's Beam Rifles inflicted zero damage regardless of how many shots were fired—these Mobile Suits didn't even deploy positron shields, and even with Phase Shift Armor, their white coloration indicated relatively low voltage supply.
Some assumed the beams were weakening over long distances and attempted close-range attacks, only to be instantly destroyed by the Beam Cannons mounted on Hashmal's wings.
Even skilled pilots who managed to break through to point-blank range found their Beam Sabers bouncing off the enemy's armor like water guns hitting steel plates.
Subsequently, these pilots would find their Mobile Suits swarmed by groups of small black machines, swiftly torn to shreds by their Mechanical Claws.
After experiencing the despair of failing to breach Hashmal's defenses with any method while witnessing a single shot from its Beam Cannon wipe out entire squads, countless Atlantic Federation soldiers began suffering mental breakdowns.
Over the squad comms, they repeatedly screamed, "Demons, demons! These are white demons! The New Misurugi Kingdom's demons!" before turning to flee.
The moment the first cry of "demon" echoed through the comms, fear began spreading like a contagion.
The last thread of reason in everyone's mind snapped completely under the weight of fear, and the Atlantic Federation soldiers broke into a chaotic retreat. Some even leaped directly from the cliffs into the ocean to escape, convinced that a drop of more than ten meters, potential unseen reefs below, and the icy waters were all safer than the white demon pursuing them.
This allowed Hashmal to sweep through Kauai Island with startling ease.
When reinforcements arrived from Hawaii Island, they fared no better against the impervious Hashmal than the original defenders had.
Moreover, Reid's Hashmal could fly. Once airborne, it preyed upon the Jet Windams like an eagle hunting sparrows—those who didn't flee faced certain destruction.
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