The installation of the Solar Ray System on Genesis genuinely shocked Reid. Indeed, the original antagonists in the real world were not to be underestimated, especially Patrick Zala—no run-of-the-mill, decaying villain, but a racist with both intelligence and strategic cunning.
Fortunately, the Solar Ray System's most significant flaws remained unresolved by Patrick Zala. Issues like cumbersome deployment and the excessively long adjustment time compared to direct high-energy weapon projection still persisted.
Although Patrick Zala had mitigated some deployment problems by constructing the two Solar Ray Systems flush against Genesis, adding pre-battle stealth capabilities and base plates, the physical base plates were likely fitted with numerous small adjustable mirror regulators to speed up alignment.
Regardless of the increased cost, if this system managed to eliminate Reid and the New Miserly Kingdom's fleet, Patrick Zala would undoubtedly consider it a bargain—even if the price equaled that of another Genesis.
However, after decloaking, the unavoidable delay in raising and unfolding the Solar Ray System still gave the New Miserly Kingdom fleet time to evade.
Moreover, the original Solar Ray System had been too massive. Now, the two units flanking Genesis were clearly split halves of one system. How PLANT maintained the sunlight concentration with half the reflectors was beyond Reid's understanding.
The reduced size meant the emitted beams were narrower. As the twin beams swept across the New Miserly Kingdom fleet, it was visibly apparent that most ships, including the flagship Granshaio, dodged the attack from various angles. The Mobile Suit losses also seemed minimal.
Once safely repositioned, Reid immediately demanded over comms:
"Brian Eno, report casualties!"
Brian Eno's voice quickly responded:
"Reporting, Chairman. Six standard Constellation-class battleships lost. Over thirty Assault GM Dominions have gone silent, and more than fifty Mobile Dolls were destroyed."
Reid exhaled in relief. His pre-battle order to spread out the fleet had paid off—losing only six out of twenty-one ships was a stroke of luck amid misfortune. Moreover, all losses were standard Constellation-class vessels. Had the Aries been damaged, Brian Eno would have specified. The absence of mention confirmed these were ordinary ships commanded by immigrant officers.
Yet, the Assault GM Dominion losses left Reid speechless. For this PLANT expedition, Reid had maintained the formation of one Assault GM Dominion piloted by skilled operators controlling five to eight Mobile Dolls each.
The fact that Assault GM Dominion losses were only twenty fewer than the Mobile Dolls could only mean the pilots had frozen for a split second upon hearing "Solar Ray System," delaying their evasion or steering the wrong way.
Otherwise, there was no reason the superior Assault GM Dominions would fail to dodge when even the inferior GINN Heretic Automated Melee Units managed it. After all, Flay had successfully evaded in her Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ.
Fortunately, the GINN Heretic Automated Melee Units could still fight without direct command and control, though their movements were somewhat mechanical. Against experienced pilots, they could be toyed with like fools.
But it didn't matter—Reid's elite squad had all dodged the attacks effortlessly. After all, there were no weaklings in his team, and none of their Mobile Suits lacked mobility, making it easy to evade into safe zones in time.
However, there was still a problem. Due to the order to maintain formation spacing, half the fleet's ships had dodged upward into blind spots, while the other half had dodged downward. The entire fleet had been split apart. What about the middle? Well, the middle was where the six destroyed ships had been.
In war, having your forces divided by the enemy is a fatal mistake. But now, the center was within the firing range of the Genesis Solar Ray System, making any reunion impossible.
Naturally, the defensive forces of Jachin Due Fortress seized the opportunity to swarm out, ready to annihilate the divided New Miserly Kingdom fleet.
That said, ZAFT was truly short on manpower. Moreover, Genesis had already fired earlier, during the Solar Ray System's sweep against the New Miserly Kingdom fleet.
The Jachin Due defensive forces still had to split their numbers to deal with the remnants of the Earth Alliance, so the forces they could spare to wipe out Reid's unit weren't particularly large.
Seeing this, Reid sneered coldly. Even if they were here to kick a man while he was down, sending only an equal number of units was downright insulting. Did they really think so little of his forces?
Moreover, while Reid's elite squad was positioned in the upper zone, Flay's Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ was in the lower zone. Unless they deployed the Providence, Flay alone could slowly carve through the enemy lines and push them all the way to Jachin Due's defensive fire net.
But the Providence definitely wouldn't come here—the Earth Alliance had Mu and Kira. Creuset would absolutely head there to "lecture" them.
As for the upper zone... Reid scoffed. If he didn't use the enemy's current forces as a bloody sacrifice, he might as well be made of cotton.
So Reid gave the order directly:
"All ships, regroup immediately. The enemy's biggest weapon has already been exposed—there's no need to maintain distance anymore. Once the fleet is reassembled, advance directly toward Jachin Due Fortress! Leave the Solar Ray System to me."
With that, Reid charged straight into the Jachin Due defensive forces and began mowing them down.
With Reid taking the lead, Ange and the Xia sisters naturally followed immediately, and Noin's Delta Squad advanced alongside them.
The Jachin Due defensive forces attacking Reid's position were utterly doomed. The hundred-plus Mobile Suit pilots could only weep inwardly:
"Was this really necessary? Sending a squad of ten Aces against soldiers like us? And with just as many Mobile Suits backing them up?
"Besides, wasn't your fleet just crippled? How can you still launch a counterattack after losing nearly a third of your ships?"
But no one would answer their questions. Against the mobility of the Hermes Zero and the Immortal Aegis with its modified acceleration module, even High-Mobility GINNs performed no better than standard GINNs.
The barrage of fire was effortlessly dodged by Reid and Ange, who retaliated by taking down enemies one by one. With covering fire from the rear, the pursuing forces couldn't focus their attacks on the duo.
ZAFT's pursuit unit didn't last long before being torn apart by the two, only to then face the combined firepower of Mystic Lightning, the NT-X2, and Delta Team. In the end, every Mobile Suit was reduced to space debris.
The battle below unfolded similarly. ZAFT's pursuit forces were halted single-handedly by Flay piloting the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ. Neither beam nor solid ammunition had any effect on its beam shield.
Then, the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ retaliated with its three front-mounted 580mm Multiple Array Phase Energy Cannons, dubbed [Siren Beast], sweeping through and eliminating at least a quarter of the pursuing forces.
By the time the New Miserly Kingdom fleet behind the Psycommu Gundam MKⅢ had regrouped, the frontline was already being pushed back.
Thus, on the New Miserly Kingdom's battlefield, ZAFT forces at the Yakin Due Fortress shifted from offense to defense within minutes. They could only briefly repel Reid's spearhead squad with the fortress's indiscriminate saturation fire.
However, seeing that Yakin Due Fortress was now exceptionally well-defended and difficult to breach, Reid quickly changed tactics, issuing orders over the squad comms:
"Noin, take Delta Team and intercept the reinforcements Yakin Due is sending to Genesis. Ange, Yulan, Yufang, and I will focus on taking out those two small Solar Reflector Systems first—they're disrupting fleet movements too much."
Noin had no objections to this plan. With Delta Team and Granshaio on their side, intercepting Yakin Due's reinforcements heading to Genesis wouldn't be an issue.
Once Noin confirmed, Reid immediately piloted the Hermes Zero straight toward Genesis.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Genesis sat defenseless near Yakin Due Fortress with no guarding fleet, this time Patrick Zala had prepared a full defensive force. Positioned in the Solar Ray System's blind spots were at least thirty warships and countless Mobile Suits—likely the last of ZAFT's hardliner faction.
Reid wasn't fazed by this display. His objective was to destroy the Solar Ray System, not annihilate this fleet.
Now that the Solar Ray System was deployed, its outer armor couldn't possibly be reinforced with ultra-high-voltage Phase Shift Armor like Genesis, capable of withstanding even Positron Cannons.
Still, if they could close the distance, the Hermes Zero's Destroyer Beam Cannon would have no trouble targeting the Sunlight Reflectors. They could even test how effective the Destroyer Beam Cannon was against this PS Armor.
So Reid issued another command over the squad channel:
"Yulan, activate the Mirage Colloid System on Mystic Lightning and infiltrate the Solar Reflector on the far side to destroy it.
"Ange, Yufang, we'll draw the defensive fleet's attention to cover Yulan's infiltration. Once she begins her sabotage, we'll immediately breach their defenses and push forward. I'll use the Hermes Zero's Destroyer Beam Cannon to take out the Sunlight Reflector on our side."
With the orders given, the Hermes Zero, Immortal Aegis, and NT-X2 Gundam immediately formed a triangular formation, flying back-to-back to completely obscure Mystic Lightning.
After detonating an incoming missile, the three Mobile Suits scattered, and Mystic Lightning vanished from sight.
The fleet defending Genesis consisted of ZAFT's last elite forces. Noticing one enemy Mobile Suit had inexplicably disappeared, they immediately realized one must be using the Mirage Colloid System.
However, the fleet's commander didn't guess that the missing MS had gone to destroy the distant Sunshade System by taking a detour. Instead, he assumed it was attempting to infiltrate and attack the fleet.
Thus, the thirty or so warships immediately unleashed indiscriminate barrage fire around them. Meanwhile, half of the four MS units sent to intercept Reid were recalled to guard the ships, ready to swarm and overwhelm any enemy that appeared.
This situation suited Reid's group just fine. While their Mobile Suits vastly outperformed the enemy's, facing a hundred enemy units three-on-one would still force them to focus on evasion while looking for counterattack opportunities—or to close in for melee combat, where friendly fire concerns would reduce incoming attacks. Standing their ground and trading shots was out of the question.
Since their main objective was to draw attention away from Mystic Lightning, Reid and the other two opted to charge into the enemy ranks for close combat.
The Genesis defense force was instantly thrown into disarray. Seeing this, the rear fleet had no choice but to redeploy the MS units they had just recalled. Sacrificing over a dozen units, they barely managed to stall Hermes Zero, Immortal Aegis, and the NT-X2 Gundam, while the rest pulled back to maintain distance and suppress them with covering fire.
But Reid's trio couldn't be driven off so easily. Their mobility was on a completely different level—after circling halfway around, Hermes Zero, Immortal Aegis, and the NT-X2 Gundam charged back in for another assault.
In the end, without needing further advances, the three Mobile Suits effortlessly forced the enemy back into the range of the fleet's guns, successfully bringing the Sunshade System within the Destroyer Beam Cannon's firing range.
With half their objective achieved, Reid didn't hold back. Ordering Immortal Aegis and the NT-X2 Gundam to cover him temporarily, he aimed the Destroyer Beam Cannon at the Sunshade System's flank and fired.
The result was predictable. Against high-energy plasma beams, something as fragile as a solar reflector would be lucky to last even 0.1 seconds.
The small Sunshade System was effortlessly melted straight through, its upper half sent drifting freely into space.
But Reid was just getting started. Hermes Zero adjusted its angle, sweeping the high-energy plasma beam downward until it struck Genesis's armor below.
Yet, when the Destroyer Beam Cannon's blast hit Genesis, it scattered like water from a toy gun hitting stone. Even after sustaining fire for two or three seconds, the armor remained unbroken.
Though this was expected, Reid couldn't help but grumble,
"Damn, that's tough. Just how much voltage are they pumping into that Phase Shift Armor to make it this strong?"
However, at that moment, the Sunshade System on the other side of Genesis shattered—clearly, Xia Yulan had completed her mission.
Seeing no reason to keep tangling with the thirty warships and MS units here, Reid decided to regroup the fleet first and launch a full-scale assault on the Yakin Due Fortress.
As long as we capture the Jachin Due Fortress and prevent Patrick Zala from activating the fortress's self-destruct protocol.
Once that's done, we can use the Genesis controller in Yakin Due to cut off the Phase Shift Armor's power supply to Genesis. At that point, even if this fleet continues guarding Genesis, it would become much easier for me to either annihilate them or bypass them entirely to destroy Genesis.
Of course, attacking Jachin Due Fortress also serves Reid's personal agenda—he needs to witness Patrick Zala's death, or else he won't feel at ease.
Yes, though Reid hinted to Lacus that he could sentence Patrick Zala to life imprisonment and spare his life, the truth is that even if Reid did capture Patrick Zala, he would have Xia Yufang arrange things so that Patrick's only outcome would be a "suicide" in prison.
After all, Reid knows all too well—as long as Patrick Zala is alive, he would undoubtedly scheme to kill Reid. And Reid has no intention of spending every day watching his back like he's guarding against a thief.
(End of Chapter)