Reid's words might have sounded like a joke between close friends in another context.
But in reality, Reid was taking advantage of Murrue's current state of mind. Having been imprisoned for six full days, waiting daily for her final sentencing—which could easily span decades, centuries, or even execution—the psychological toll was immense.
Under such pressure, Reid was practically the only glimmer of light in her otherwise pitch-black future. Even if he hadn't already built up some goodwill with Murrue, any woman in her position would feel a flutter of emotion—provided the man wasn't grotesquely unattractive.
So, Reid was being rather cunning by initiating a system recruitment at this moment.
Murrue had actually been a recruitable target back in Orb, just like Bargiruel and Mu. But at the time, Reid had assumed he'd likely be politely rejected, so he hadn't even tried.
Now, however, the timing was perfect. Though Murrue's spirits had momentarily lifted upon seeing him, this was merely a stimulative recovery—her overall condition remained fragile. The system's prompt could easily be dismissed as an illusion or ignored entirely.
Just as Reid had anticipated, Murrue didn't dwell on his obviously flimsy excuse of a joke when he extended his hand. Who in their right mind would break into a military base of the world's most powerful nation (at this point, the Atlantic Federation had absorbed the South American Union, making it indeed the strongest) just to rescue a debtor?
Touched, Murrue grasped Reid's outstretched hand and replied,
"Even black-market workers deserve wages, you know."
The moment she said this, Reid received the system notification confirming a successful recruitment. Murrue's profile now displayed a loyalty rating of 79.
With a smile, Reid responded,
"I always reward talent handsomely—even if it's under-the-table employment.
Alright, Murrue, can you move? We need to get going. Something feels off about this Alaska Base, and I want to investigate."
Murrue instinctively wanted to dissuade Reid from prying into the Atlantic Federation's secrets—but then it hit her. She was already a fugitive. Why should she care about the Atlantic Federation anymore? Her priority now was to follow her new employer.
Having mentally discarded her Atlantic Federation identity, Murrue proactively offered,
"No problem. I've been to Alaska Base before. I'm familiar with the layout and facilities."
Seeing her enthusiasm, Reid had no intention of dampening it. He simply said,
"I've heard rumors that the Atlantic Federation installed something underground here—something that could turn the tide of the war. Let's check it out."
With that, he handed Murrue a pistol and took the lead. A pistol could be concealed as if drawn from a pocket, but body armor was out of the question—so Reid had to scout ahead.
Thanks to his Newtype abilities, Reid could detect and avoid any personnel in their path. Combined with the fact that most Atlantic Federation forces had already withdrawn, and the East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation troops were busy fending off ZAFT's assault on the base, the interior was practically a ghost town—vast stretches of empty corridors and deserted zones.
Even without Reid pointing it out, Murrue could tell something was wrong. No military base would be evacuated this thoroughly—it looked abandoned.
Under Murrue's lead, the two descended and soon found the first target Reid needed to document.
Murrue was stunned when she saw the massive underground microwave generator, muttering in confusion,
"Impossible... This is the Cyclops System? Why was it built here? What is the military planning?"
However, Murrue didn't stay bewildered for long. She wasn't foolish—she quickly pieced together a terrifying realization and turned to Reid for confirmation.
"Reid, this Cyclops System is meant for self-destruction! The East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation forces are just bait—to lure ZAFT's main forces here! The Atlantic Federation plans to wipe out ZAFT's Earth-based forces in one blast!"
Reid, meanwhile, was calmly snapping photos with his recording tablet, intending to use them later to squeeze hush money out of the Atlantic Federation when they tried to explain things to the East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation.
So, when Murrue posed her question, Reid replied with eerie calm,
"Most likely exactly as you guessed, Murrue. Let's go. Destroying the Cyclops System here would only let ZAFT successfully seize the Alaska Base. Without reinforcements, the East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation won't hold out for long.
Our best move now is to get out and warn them to break through. The Archangel is still at the Alaska Base too, and they don't even have a commanding officer right now. We need to hurry and save them."
Murrue immediately saw the logic in his words and, now even more urgent than Reid, led him back out of the underground area.
To rescue the Archangel, they naturally had to pilot the Hermes Zero. On the way to the Mobile Suit, Reid made a detour to the command center.
Officially, he claimed he wanted to take a few photos of the empty command center to strengthen their case when convincing the East Asian Republic and Eurasian Federation to retreat.
In reality, Reid was hoping to run into Creuset.
If he did—well, the man wouldn't be leaving today. He'd be the first to hell, waiting for Siegel Clyne, Muruta Azrael, and Patrick Zala to join him so they could make up a full mahjong table.
Unfortunately, it seemed the East Asian Republic's resistance was too fierce, and with ZAFT lacking overwhelming equipment superiority, Creuset hadn't managed to infiltrate the base early.
Still, Reid didn't dwell on missing Creuset. Time was pressing, and the Archangel was full of rookies with no leadership. If it got shot down, failing the mission phase would be a real disaster.
So, Reid quickly brought Murrue back to the Hermes Zero.
Seeing that the Hermes Zero had stealth capabilities, Murrue assumed Reid had infiltrated the base undetected, dispelling her earlier doubts about how he'd gotten here.
Once they boarded the cockpit, Reid warned her,
"Murrue, you don't have a pilot suit for protection. If the inertia throws you around, you could break something. Hold onto the seatback tight—or grab onto me if you have to. This Mobile Suit is extremely fast. Don't let the acceleration or deceleration throw you off."
Murrue nodded, assuring him she'd be fine.
However, she severely underestimated the Hermes Zero's acceleration—and her own physical endurance was far below Major Li's.
The moment the Hermes Zero launched in MS Mode, she nearly lost her grip and ended up clutching Reid's arm for dear life.
Reid was so tightly restrained that he could barely push the control stick. Without hesitation, he pulled Murrue into his arms, seating her sideways on his lap.
At this point, Murrue had no room for shyness either. She clung tightly to Reid, pressing herself against him.
Truth be told, Murrue didn't smell particularly pleasant right now, but her figure was simply too alluring. With such soft jade in his embrace, Reid never once considered pushing her away again.
Reid had long since learned the Archangel's location from Major Li—it was defending the main gate of the Alaska Base. The Atlantic Federation still had to put on a show, after all. Their most elite new warship remained, and with it guarding the main gate, who would immediately suspect that nearly all Atlantic Federation personnel inside the base had already withdrawn?
With the Electronic Camouflage System activated, Reid flew all the way to the vicinity of the main gate, where he saw the Archangel taking a brutal beating.
By now, Reid could clearly observe the main composition of the ZAFT forces.
It had to be said, with the New Misurugi Republic continuously rolling out new Mobile Suits, the military-industrial developers of Earth's four major nations were under tremendous pressure.
After all, if a small country like the New Misurugi Republic—supported almost single-handedly by Reid Isaac's research team—could produce Mobile Suits like this, then these state-subsidized enterprises with abundant resources would look utterly incompetent without any achievements.
This was especially true for PLANT's Equipment Development Bureau. Since PLANT had been the first to develop and deploy Mobile Suits, being shown up by Reid like this was downright embarrassing.
Thus, through the Equipment Development Bureau's blood, sweat, and tears, numerous Mobile Suits or modified models originally scheduled for later deployment had already been rushed to the battlefield.
Among the passing ZAFT forces, Reid spotted numerous High-Mobility GINNs equipped ahead of schedule with MMI-M636K Beam Carbines, and even several Beam Weapon Test-Type CGUEs.
Of course, given Earth's environment and the Alaska Base's nature as a coastal facility, the main offensive forces naturally remained the airborne DINNs and aquatic Guerrillas and ZONOs.
Thanks to the East Asian Republic's deployment of numerous Celestial Soldiers and Generals at the Alaska Base, combined with the base's own defensive turrets and support from aquatic vessels, the battlefield situation hadn't devolved into the original scenario where ZAFT easily breached multiple side gates of the base.
The DINNs were completely prevented from approaching the coastline by the 155mm×50 caliber rapid-fire anti-air guns mounted on the Celestial Soldiers.
They could only engage in passionate long-range exchanges at high altitudes, but the DINNs' 76mm heavy assault machine guns proved largely ineffective against the heavily armored Celestial Soldiers. It was worth noting that most of the East Asian Republic's Mobile Suits had Chobham Armor installed in critical areas—machine gun bullets merely sparked upon impact.
Precisely to counter the East Asian Republic's Mobile Suits had ZAFT deployed so many GINNs and GOUFs armed with beam weapons. Considering that ZAFT only began prioritizing beam weapons and mass-producing them after capturing G Weapons and learning about Phase Shift Armor's existence, these High-Mobility GINNs and Beam Weapon Test-Type CGUEs must have been rushed into production through overtime efforts. If they were all destroyed here, Patrick Zala would likely need medication for his heartache again.
Yet currently, only this ZAFT unit stood any chance of trading fire with the East Asian Republic's forces. Both sides were now locked in a stalemate—ZAFT couldn't break through, and the East Asian Republic's troops couldn't repel them either.
However, the result of both sides being able to deal effective damage yet unable to defeat each other naturally turned the battlefield into a meat grinder. Almost every minute, ZAFT's beam units and the East Asian Republic's Mobile Suits were exploding.
Moreover, the tide of battle was shifting unfavorably for the Earth Alliance.
Just because the coastal defenses were holding didn't mean the sea was safe. For all Earth Alliance surface vessels, regardless of nationality, the Guerrillas and ZOnos in the water were deadly. Their mobility underwater was too high, making torpedoes unlikely to hit them.
The Earth Alliance ships, stuck in port with almost no room to evade, were being systematically destroyed in whole formations.
Once the surface forces were wiped out, the Guerrillas and ZOnos could flank the East Asian Republic forces from the side. No matter how capable this unit was, it would inevitably face annihilation.
While the East Asian Republic was holding strong, preventing ZAFT from breaking through, the Eurasian Federation's performance was lackluster. Nearly all ZAFT Mobile Suits equipped with physical weapons had shifted to the Eurasian Federation and Archangel's front.
But the Eurasian Federation's main forces were mostly stationed at home. The defensive units sent to Alaska Base were all second-line troops, equipped with only a dozen or so Union Flags that couldn't even transform proficiently. The other units' armaments remained unchanged from before.
It was only because Archangel's reputation was formidable enough to draw sufficient fire that the Eurasian Federation hadn't been overrun yet.
Of course, the current Archangel was essentially a group of rookies haphazardly operating a bunch of abandoned vessels left by the Atlantic Federation. The machine guns were set to auto-intercept, and the cannons were firing completely without coordination.
Missile launches followed only one principle: target whoever was closest.
Thus, Archangel had barely achieved any effective kills. It was only thanks to its robust Laminated Armor and the presence of ace helmsman Arnold Neumann that evasive maneuvers were still reliable, allowing them to hold out this long.
But if Archangel continued like this, its destruction was only a matter of time. As Reid piloted his Mobile Suit into communication range, he directly patched into Archangel's comms and said:
"Archangel, this is Reid Isaac. Open the starboard deck to let me in. Don't worry, I'll help clear the enemies on your right flank. Also... I've brought Captain Murrue back."
The moment Reid finished speaking, Miriallia's tearful voice came through: "Mr. Reid! It's really you! Thank goodness, thank goodness... We're finally saved, wuuu..."
Reid didn't respond. Instead, he deactivated the Electronic Camouflage System and charged straight into the ZAFT forces besieging Archangel.
The Hermes Zero was too fast. By the time the dozen or so ZAFT Mobile Suits surrounding Archangel registered the lock-on alarm, Reid's attack had already arrived.
With precise shots from his Electromagnetic Rifle, Reid instantly destroyed the three farthest DINNs. Then he plunged directly into the remaining group of DINNs. Before their pilots could even get a clear look at the Hermes Zero, their Mobile Suits were bisected by its Beam Saber.
From a distance, it appeared as though the Hermes Zero had simply flown a quick circle through the DINN formation—after which the DINNs stood motionless as if frozen, cleanly sliced apart before they could react.
The encirclement of the Archangel was broken in an instant. Dalida in the CIC wasted no time and immediately took the opportunity to open the right deck of the Archangel to allow the Hermes Zero to land.
However, Reid had no intention of entering the hangar. After landing on the deck, he opened the cockpit and let Murrue jump onto the Mobile Suit's hand before lowering her down. To prevent any command difficulties due to Bargiruel's absence, Reid directly equipped Murrue with the previously extracted [Tactical Forecaster] (retrieved in Chapter 96).
Without delay, Reid then turned his Mobile Suit around and flew back into the sky.
After all, ZAFT's attacks on the Archangel hadn't ceased, and Reid had no time to enter the ship and catch up with the others.
At that moment, the Archangel was facing a barrage of missile attacks. Reid stowed his Electromagnetic Rifle and activated the Beam Gatling Wrist Cannon on his right arm. Relying on his superior speed and the protection of the Lambda Driver, he charged forward and shot down all the missiles before they could reach their target.
By the time Reid finished dealing with the missiles, Murrue had already returned to the bridge. The moment she resumed her position as captain, she contacted Reid and asked,
"Reid, should we contact the commanders of the East Asian Republic and the Eurasian Federation now? The Archangel has direct communication lines to both of them."
Without hesitation, Reid replied from within his Mobile Suit,
"Contact them immediately. The three of us must break through simultaneously—this will divide ZAFT's forces. It'll significantly increase everyone's chances of making it out."
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