The battle between Exia and the AEU Custom proceeded exactly as in the original storyline. Amidst the indignant roars of AEU's ace Mobile Suit (test) pilot Patrick Colasour, the AEU Custom was effortlessly reduced by Exia's GN Sword Rifle (Sword Mode) into a leg-equipped bamboo pole.
Exia then took off to retreat but was intercepted by over a dozen AEU Enact final models, eventually becoming a sitting duck trapped in the mid-to-lower sections of the orbital elevator.
The Granshaow observed the entire battle, prompting Ange to comment in exasperation:
"That Gundam in this world looks intimidating with decent mobility, so why is its actual combat capability so weak? Those flat-headed turtles perform similarly to the Union Flags, so how did over a dozen of them manage to corner this Gundam?"
Reid found himself at a loss to defend Setsuna, as this very scene was one of the reasons he earned the nickname "Setsuna the Fool." With Exia's performance specs, it could have broken through even under the Enacts' electromagnetic bullet barrage.
Yet here, Exia was being outperformed—its flight speed couldn't match the Enacts' MA Mode, and tactically, it was being toyed with like a dog by over a dozen Enacts.
Exia only managed to take down one Enact in close combat during the initial engagement when the enemy was unaware of its capabilities, after which it achieved nothing further.
Then, Exia's GN Sword Rifle (Rifle Mode) entered full spray-and-pray mode with its GN Particle beams—none of which hit anything. Eventually, it had to switch back to Sword Mode, using the blade as a shield against the Enacts' 60mm machine guns.
(Note: The author isn't bashing Setsuna—this is literally how he performed in the original plot, spouting cool lines while getting ganged up on...)
Watching this, Reid could only helplessly explain:
"Well, this Gundam pilot might be doing this intentionally—demonstrating how casually a Gundam can handle enemy attacks. Look, it's practically standing still, just blocking. When skilled martial artists give demonstrations, they often let students attack first while only defending, right?"
His justification left everyone speechless. Nothing about this Gundam's performance resembled a training demonstration. Hilda even proactively suggested:
"Chairman Reid, why not let me go test that Gundam? I think I could capture it alive."
Hilda was clearly getting overconfident after seeing Exia's poor showing and wanted to bully some weak prey. But then Elvira Hill interjected:
"I advise against engaging that unknown Mobile Suit now."
She then pulled up Granshaow's motion analysis of Exia and continued:
"Based on movement analysis and the observable lack of visible thrusters, we can deduce this unit is equipped with an advanced anti-gravity system—likely related to those unknown particles. Therefore, its current performance is far from the machine's actual limits."
Reid nodded at Elvira's analysis, impressed—this was why she was S-rank. Even in the completely unrelated field of high-energy particle physics, she could instantly identify GN Particle-based anti-gravity.
After all, Reid's own understanding of GN Particles barely extended to their anti-gravity properties and communication jamming capabilities. Anything beyond that was pure speculation.
Unless we bring back a GN Drive to feed the system, Reid's half-baked understanding would only mislead the researchers. So Reid simply pretended he knew nothing about GN Particles either.
Unfortunately, the system's current assessment mission restricted his range of movement, directly dropping him at the event node before forcibly teleporting him away afterward.
This left Reid no time to arrange for someone to secretly search Antarctica for the hidden GN-T Drives underground.
The problem was, Reid only knew the GN-T Drives were in Antarctica - he had no idea about their exact locations. With Antarctica being so vast, completing the search within a month or two was impossible.
Moreover, until he figured out the rules governing world fluctuation values, he needed to maintain a low profile. Significant increases in world fluctuation wouldn't benefit him at all.
So after Elvira Hill finished speaking, Reid immediately added:
"Indeed, it's too early to deploy. That Gundam isn't our target anyway. Let's wait a little longer."
As soon as Reid spoke, a GN Beam shot up from the ground, instantly taking down one of the Tieren Space Types attacking Exia.
Without needing Reid's instruction, Nami quickly calculated the shot's origin and reported:
"Beam attack source located - a new Mobile Suit. Detecting the same particle dispersion pattern as the units near the orbital elevator. Likely an ally."
She then displayed footage of Dynames Gundam lying prone for its aerial snipe on the main screen.
Hilda immediately fell silent after Nami's report. The situation was clear - had they deployed earlier, that sniper shot would have hit them instead.
The fact that Granshaio hadn't detected this unit before it fired proved these particle-dispersing Mobile Suits had stealth capabilities.
However, Salia observed Dynames Gundam and asked:
"If there's one hidden unit, could there be others? Dr. Hill, can we estimate positions based on external particle concentrations?"
Elvira Hill shook her head decisively:
"Impossible. All external electromagnetic signals are being jammed. Large-scale detection using other methods would expose our position."
With no way to detect potential hidden units, all eyes turned to Reid for the final decision.
Reid was already analyzing the situation. The question of hidden units was moot - according to the original timeline, only Exia and Dynames Gundam were deployed at Victoria Lake.
The remaining Kyrios Gundam and Virtue Gundam were stationed at the Human Reform League's synchronous orbital space station.
What truly concerned Reid was the implication of "worldlines entangling due to temporal fluctuations" - did this mean enemy forces had already infiltrated this world? His mission required exposing them, otherwise why had there been no anomalies even as Celestial Being's operation neared completion?
Fortunately, just as Reid considered deliberately stirring up trouble to flush out potential threats, an anomaly suddenly appeared in the sky.
A thundercloud materialized in the previously clear troposphere, unleashing countless lightning strikes that forcibly halted the battle between Exia and the Tieren units below, driving them out of the storm zone.
Fortunately, both the Exia and the Enact had some degree of lightning protection, and the thundercloud was actually quite small. All Mobile Suits managed to escape the lightning's range.
However, the lightning was just the appetizer. From within the dark clouds, a circular black gate slowly opened, revealing the silhouettes of five Mobile Suits emerging from the gate and entering this timeline.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the thundercloud vanished without a trace.
Reid took one look at the five Mobile Suits and immediately cursed:
"Damn it! Tallgeese, Tallgeese II, Tallgeese III, Tallgeese Shilong, and Tallgeese Tianyi! Did we just stumble into a damn Tallgeese nest?!"
While Reid still had the luxury of swearing, the spectators below—participants in the AEU Custom's public demonstration and the AEU military base personnel—were completely dumbfounded.
What they had just witnessed was beyond comprehension. A massive rift had opened in the sky, and five Mobile Suits emerged from it, making it look like an alien invasion.
Meanwhile, Setsuna and Lockon Stratos (real name: Neil Dylandy), the pilot of Dynames, reacted slightly better. Their first thoughts were identical:
"Is this the 'Dialogue' foretold in the prophecy? But isn't it way too early? Or is the Dialogue itself a prolonged process?"
Unfortunately, Setsuna and Lockon were completely mistaken. These five Tallgeese units were pure intruders, utterly incapable of communication, piloted only by electronic brains containing Zechs Marquise's operational data.
So when the AEU Enact squad leader saw the five Mobile Suits remaining motionless, he attempted to fly up and question them:
"Unknown Mobile Suits, identify your affiliation! You have violated AEU airspace!"
If only he had kept his mouth shut. The AI of these five Tallgeese units had been abruptly transported here without receiving any orders, leaving them in a hovering standby state.
But the moment the Enact pointed its gun at them, it instantly triggered their automatic defense protocols.
The next second, the Enact was simultaneously struck by five Dover Gun shots, obliterating it without a trace.
The other AEU Enact pilots, witnessing their leader's gruesome demise, naturally opened fire immediately. The outcome was predictable—within ten seconds, all of them were shot down.
The five Tallgeese units then naturally turned their attention to the Exia, which had been watching the spectacle.
Just as Setsuna, sweating bullets, prepared to engage, reinforcements arrived.
A high-energy particle beam dozens of meters thick swept in from the flank. The five distinct Tallgeese models, familiar with this attack, swiftly evaded.
The attack, of course, had been fired by Reid in the Hermes Zero.
The moment the five different Tallgeese models appeared, the World Distortion Value instantly spiked by 10%.
Honestly, this number was lower than Reid had expected, given that the phenomenon of worldline entanglement had practically made it feel like an alien invasion.
But this also proved that the world wasn't as fragile as he thought—it wouldn't collapse just because a few foreign Mobile Suits showed up.
Still, Reid didn't dare to keep observing. The World Distortion Value was low now because those five Mobile Suits hadn't taken action yet. If they ended up killing Setsuna, then he'd see just how fast the world would collapse.
So Reid immediately ordered a full deployment to eliminate the five Tallgeese units.
However, the moment he launched, he saw the five Tallgeese preparing to gang up on the Exia.
This was unacceptable, so Reid immediately provided long-range cover with the Destroyer Beam to prevent Setsuna—who was still relatively inexperienced—from being taken out in the first round.
After all, in a one-on-one duel, the Exia Gundam wouldn't be instantly defeated even against the highest-performance unit here, the Tallgeese III. The agility granted by the GN Drive's anti-gravity system in short-range maneuvers was among the best in the entire Gundam multiverse.
(The Tallgeese Sky Wing was essentially the original Tallgeese with four additional wing-shaped propulsion units. While this greatly improved mobility and added a feather-based attack method, it didn't fundamentally change the unit—it was still the base Tallgeese at its core. Adding four wings didn't magically elevate its performance.
PS: Don't bring up the Glory Defender Pack from the SEED Freedom movie—that thing is official cheating. Nobody played like that before.)
But expecting the Exia to take on five opponents at once was asking too much. Both the Tallgeese II and Tallgeese III, regardless of version, were equipped with thermal weapons capable of effectively damaging the Exia's armor. The Beam Dover Gun was also not something the Exia could simply tank.
That said, Reid's Destroyer Beam Cannon wasn't sweeping across the battlefield either, since the orbital elevator was nearby. If they accidentally destroyed the AEU's orbital elevator now, whether they'd still be included in the future Earth Federation would be up for debate. Losing the orbital elevator at this stage would plunge the AEU into an energy crisis similar to what the Eurasian Federation faced in the Cosmic Era.
The Union would absolutely take advantage of such a situation, and the World Change Fluctuation Value would undoubtedly spike again.
Fortunately, this level of cover was enough. The rest of Reid's Mobile Suits had already arrived near the AEU orbital elevator.
Taking a moment to check the World Change Fluctuation Value again, Reid noted it was at 13.001%—only a 3% increase from before his intervention.
This further proved that the mere appearance of unknown Mobile Suits wouldn't cause the World Change Fluctuation Value to skyrocket.
While Reid was still analyzing the fluctuations, over at the orbital elevator, Ange had already begun directing her forces to swarm the five Tallgeese units.
Reid's side had ample data on the base Tallgeese, as they had captured all five initial Meteor Project units along with the Epyon Gundam. All the technical details of the Tallgeese could be found within those machines.
Thus, Noin, Salia, and Hilda moved to engage the Tallgeese III, aiming to pin it down.
The Black Tri-Stars targeted the Tallgeese Prime Dragon—a unit identical in performance to the original Tallgeese, save for its Leo-style head sensor. Three against one was more than enough.
The Xia sisters went after the Tallgeese II. The difference in combat ability was significant, and the Tallgeese II likely wouldn't last long.
Reid's target was the Tallgeese Sky Wing. Its mobility was exceptionally high, and among the Mobile Suits present, only the Immortal Aegis (with its modified thrusters) and the Hermes Zero could keep up.
As for Ange, her opponent was the original Tallgeese. Her goal was simple: overwhelm it with superior machine performance for a quick victory, then swiftly assist others who hadn't finished their fights.
As a result, the original protagonists—the Exia Gundam and Dynames Gundam—were completely ignored, left to stand and watch the battle alongside the AEU forces below.
Since the Ptolemy was still near the Human Reform League's synchronous orbital space station at this time, GN Particle interference prevented Setsuna from communicating with Lockon. The distance between them was simply too great.
Unwilling to remain a spectator, Setsuna took the initiative to charge into the battle between Reid's forces and the five Tallgeese units.
Perhaps remembering how the Hermes Zero had initially covered him to prevent being ganged up on, Setsuna intervened in the fight where Reid's side was at a disadvantage—the three Delta units battling the Tallgeese III.
With Exia Gundam, Setsuna directly intercepted the Tallgeese III, swinging his blade to halt its pursuit of Salia's Delta Plus, while broadcasting over external speakers:
"Who are you people? Why have you appeared here?"
However, Exia Gundam's sudden entry triggered an unexpected reaction. Both the Delta Gundam Kai and Delta Plus here were powered by Minovsky Particle Fusion Reactors.
Although none of the three Delta units had actively dispersed Minovsky Particles, as soon as Exia approached, the concentration of GN Particles and Minovsky Particles in the air seemed to reach a critical point, suddenly causing a series of very small explosions.
The force of these explosions was likely weaker than firecrackers set off during East Asian New Year celebrations, but they were extremely dense, instantly erupting wildly between Exia and Salia's Delta Plus.
Most of this chapter's evaluations of Setsuna were excerpted from a thread discussing his combat abilities.
Opinions on Setsuna's early-stage combat prowess were fiercely divided, but overall, most people believed that in his early days, he was either genuinely weak or prone to showboating, leading to frequent failures.
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