When Nein said "focus," a gaming meme suddenly popped into Reid's mind—from Super Robot Wars, where the first person charging into enemy lines usually activates "Focus" (+30% Evasion/Accuracy) to avoid being instantly eliminated by concentrated fire.
Of course, no such convenient skill existed in reality. Fortunately, even though Reid was at the forefront of their formation, plenty of allies ahead were drawing enemy fire for him. At least no Mobile Suits had started sniping him remotely before he entered combat range.
The Zaku family units had descended right between the Celestial Beings and Human Reform League battlefield. These were all aces—even while berserk, they could discern battlefield priorities. Moreover, several Newtypes could coordinate effectively through intuition without communication.
Thus, several units with ultra-long-range attack capabilities immediately targeted the mothership without hesitation.
The unfortunate victim was naturally the closest Ptolemy.
The remaining Tiger had been ordered by Sergei Smirnov to retreat from the battlefield when the Otherworld Entanglement appeared, as it carried the original crew from all four Tiger-class ships. If shot down, personnel losses would skyrocket.
Witness then the synchronized precision strike: the Commander Type Zaku IV (pilot: Ilia Pazom) firing its Long-Range Beam Rifle, the Geara Zulu (Angelo Sauper Custom) unleashing its large Bruno Cannon Kai, and the High Zaku Demon Wolf's enhanced Beam Rifle (with range rivaling sniper weapons)—all aimed directly at the Ptolemy's bridge.
Frankly, even with its GN Field activated, the Ptolemy was in extreme peril. The purple Geara Zulu's large Bruno Cannon Kai possessed enough power to breach the field, while the two remaining sniper beams would become the final crushing blows.
However, following the earlier anomaly, the Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue and Kyrios had returned to form a defensive formation. As the otherworldly units shifted their aim, Tieria—reconnected to VEDA—calculated their targets and shouted over comms:
"Setsuna, throw me your GN Shield!"
Without hesitation, Setsuna instinctively tossed his shield to Virtue—a motion he'd performed countless times. The Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue caught the GN Shield with its free left hand while maximizing its own GN Field, positioning itself directly before the bridge.
The next moment, all three beams were intercepted by Virtue.
Fortunately, the Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue's GN Shield offered superior defense compared to Ptolemy's. The mothership's large GN Capacitor had to power the entire vessel, and its shield needed to envelop the whole ship, whereas Virtue's single GN Drive only needed to protect one Mobile Suit.
Thus, the Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue's GN Shield dissipated only after neutralizing the large Bruno Cannon blast and one sniper beam. The remaining beam was effortlessly blocked by Exia's GN Shield.
The Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue emerged completely unscathed, even retaining enough energy to counterattack with its right shoulder GN Beam Cannon.
Unfortunately, facing a full squad of aces, the beam cannon shot merely whistled through empty space.
As for Lockon, he experienced the awkward situation of having a clear shot yet being unable to hit his target.
The problem was that Dynames had the misfortune of targeting the Geara Doga (Full Frontal Custom). In terms of performance, when placed in the AD universe, the Geara Doga's parameters—except for short-range mobility due to anti-gravity—might actually surpass even the Wodom Pod. Coupled with the fact that the pilot was Full Frontal, it would be strange if Lockon could actually land a hit.
If Full Frontal were to be openly sniped and hit by Dynames, he might as well stop calling himself the reincarnation of Char. Char himself would say that being able to predict the enemy's attack timing and still getting shot was too embarrassing to admit.
Moreover, don't expect the berserk version of Full Frontal to perfectly inherit Char's escape talent as seen in the Unicorn storyline, where he would flee at the first sign of trouble.
This version of Full Frontal claimed to be the reincarnation of Amuro, skillfully timing his moves during Dynames' firing intervals. He retaliated by firing a Bazooka Rocket back at it, while simultaneously using his Beam Machine Gun to shoot down all the GN Missiles launched by the Real Type Armed Gundam Virtue.
Full Frontal had already observed that the Mobile Suit attacking him was missing a leg, leaving it only capable of stationary attacks. So after dealing with the GN Missiles, he followed up by firing two grenades at Dynames.
Fortunately, Lockon had teammates. Kyrios stepped in, using its GN Shield to block the Bazooka Rocket, and then countered by destroying the two subsequent grenades with its GN Beam Submachine Gun.
At this point in the Celestial Beings' battle, Reid made his entrance. Meanwhile, at the same time, other Zakus were engaged in combat with the Human Reform League.
Rewinding the timeline slightly...
When several Mobile Suits with long-range attack capabilities targeted the Ptolemy, the Human Reform League's forces found themselves facing a surprise assault from the Zaku I Commander Type (Char Custom), High Mobility Psycho Zaku, Marasai (Yazan Gable Unit), and Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type.
To be honest, the Iron Man series of Mobile Suits were cost-effective and highly practical, but in terms of pure performance, when compared horizontally, the Space Type Iron Man likely fell short even against the standard High Zack. Against a Custom Machine like the High Mobility Psycho Zaku, its mobility was significantly inferior.
Among the enemy units they faced, only the Zaku I Commander Type had relatively poorer performance, but it was piloted by the original Red Comet himself. And this wasn't the Char from the storyline who hadn't awakened his Newtype abilities—in his berserk state, his New Human Ability was fully awakened.
As for the so-called elite [Top Martial] unit of the Human Reform League, when compared to their opponents, it was a case of "comparing people leads to death, comparing goods leads to disposal."
On the Human Reform League's side, the only one with both piloting skills and a Mobile Suit that could hold its own was Soma Peries in her Iron Man Peach, but she still lacked combat experience.
Right from the start of the battle, the Iron Man Peach was toyed with by the Zaku I Commander Type (Char Custom) and the Marasai (Yazan Gable Unit). Although she held the upper hand, she was effectively pinned down and separated from the main force by these two units.
Seeing this, Sergei Smirnov had no choice but to lead the remaining units to form a defensive formation against the attacks from the High Mobility Psycho Zaku and the Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type.
However, Sergei Smirnov felt that this battle was utterly frustrating.
Before the High Mobility Psycho Zaku exhausted the fuel in its two rear Propulsion Rockets, even equipping the Space Type Iron Man with three additional thrusters wouldn't be enough to catch up.
As for the Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type, this thing is essentially a Zaku III body equipped with the funnel weapons of a mass-produced Qubeley.
The key point is, the pilot of this Mobile Suit is the enhanced Puru, armed with a Beam Rocket Launcher and eight small funnels. The [Top Martial] troops, having no experience dealing with funnels, would be melted into scrap metal by beams from all directions if they dared to charge close.
Therefore, Sergei Smirnov's only option was to form a defensive formation. At least the enemy wasn't like the Celestial Beings' Gundams, which could ignore attacks from 200mm x 25mm smoothbore cannons.
However, this was a slow death. The High Mobility Psycho Zaku's 280mm Zaku Rocket Cannon, 360mm Giant Rocket Cannon, and Beam Rocket Launcher were equally unbearable for the Iron Man units.
Moreover, their own side was in a tight formation, like a flock of sheep surrounded by wolves, and from time to time, someone would make a mistake and be shot down.
Fortunately, after losing nearly half their combat strength, Reid arrived.
The entry of a powerful Newtype immediately drew the attention of all the frenzied Newtypes and Universal Century Enhanced Persons present.
The Commander Type Zaku IV, Geara Zulu (Angelo Sauper Custom), High Zaku Demon Wolf, Geara Doga (Full Frontal Custom), Zaku I Commander Type (Char Custom), and Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type—six machines abandoned their opponents and charged straight at Reid.
They all judged that this newly arrived Newtype was too powerful and had to be eliminated first.
So, the moment Reid entered the battlefield, he found beams and rocket shells flying at him from all directions simultaneously.
Just as Reid had the thought to activate the shield, Nein behind him immediately entered support mode, her tone becoming mechanical as her own soul merged with the Mobile Suit.
As Nein mechanically stated, "Force Field Shield A-Form activated," the Gundam Artemis's Work-type Structures on its shoulders instantly detached and scattered, forming a rectangular barrier in front.
This was Shield A-Form, which defended against attacks from only one direction but had over three times the defensive capability of the all-around protection B-Form.
Reid's order to activate the shield didn't mean he intended to stand still as a target. Instead of retreating, the Gundam Artemis charged forward, with Reid targeting the "soft target" High Zaku Demon Wolf, aiming to take down one unit first.
Why not go for the lower-performance Zaku I Commander Type (Char Custom)?
That was precisely because its performance was too poor—it couldn't keep up with the other units and was currently positioned behind them, using the others as shields. To get to it, Reid would have to break through the other five machines first.
Thus, Reid handled evasive maneuvers while Nein shifted the barrier's position to block attacks that couldn't be dodged.
Working together, the Gundam Artemis charged straight through the web of beams and rocket fire, closing in directly on the High Zaku Demon Wolf.
The pilot of this machine was the Titans' Enhanced Person, Rousseau. Like most Enhanced Persons, Rousseau had severe emotional issues.
But in a frenzied state, emotional problems were no longer an issue.
However, the High Zaku Demon Wolf's close-combat weapons consisted only of a combat shield on its left arm. Frenzied Rousseau wasn't mindless; seeing the opponent's Beam Saber in its right hand, which clearly output more power than a normal one, and the Giant Beam Blade on its left arm, he knew close combat was a fight he couldn't win.
So Rousseau manipulated the Mobile Suit's backpack to extend maneuvering thrusters from both sides, directly turning 180 degrees and aiming the nozzles at Gundam Artemis' head monitor for a burst—intending to obstruct the opposing pilot's vision while flying backward to create distance.
However, in a position the frenzied Rousseau failed to notice, the metal blades on the upper part of the funnel structure forming the Beam Arm Guard had long vanished.
As Gundam Artemis charged forward, Reid had already controlled four Physical Bit Blade Knives to reposition behind the High Zaku Demon Wolf.
The frenzied Rousseau's backward retreat maneuvered the Mobile Suit directly into the waiting blades.
Two of the four physical blades cleanly severed the High Zaku Demon Wolf's backpack mechanical arms, immediately releasing two maneuvering thrusters.
The remaining two blades plunged straight into the High Zaku Demon Wolf's left and right arm joints from behind, completely robbing it of resistance capability.
Subsequently, Reid effortlessly pierced the High Zaku Demon Wolf's cockpit with his Beam Saber, making it the first Mobile Suit to withdraw from this wave of Zaku forces.
Naturally, while Reid was piloting Gundam Artemis to impale the High Zaku Demon Wolf, the other five Mobile Suits weren't idle either.
Even with some coordination, these frenzied pilots still showed no concern for friendly fire.
Just as Reid shot down the High Zaku Demon Wolf, he had to face beams and artillery shells incoming from the other Mobile Suits.
So while recalling the physical blades, Reid deployed all twenty small Funnels stored in the leg compartments.
These Funnels weren't for offense, however, but for intercepting various projectile attacks.
The remaining beams could be partially avoided by ascending and partially blocked by the barrier.
Thus unfolded a breathtaking scene: Gundam Artemis ascended skyward while stepping on the High Zaku Demon Wolf's about-to-explode wreckage, surrounded by beautiful laser patterns resembling bar laser curtains, accompanied by intercepted missiles and rockets exploding. A high-energy beam deflected off the Photon Wave Barrier, scattering particles like a deity ascending to the heavens.
The pilots from Celestial Beings and the Human Reform League watched this spectacle in prolonged silence.
After a long pause in the Celestial Beings comm channel, Setsuna finally murmured:
"This... is Gundam...."
On the Human Reform League side, Sergei Smirnov commented:
"No wonder SDP dares to claim they're the origin of many myths... Even a materialist like me feels the urge to kneel in reverence before this vision."
Though the previous attack and evasion were undoubtedly spectacular, one couldn't ignore the reality that Reid was being besieged by six—now five—ace pilots.
Especially since both the Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type and Commander Type Zaku IV also possessed Funnel Weapon systems.
Moreover, all remaining pilots on the battlefield were Newtypes now. While Funnel attacks were relatively ineffective against them, they could still effectively restrict movement.
Though Gundam Artemis could temporarily match five opponents in firepower thanks to its numerous Funnels and overwhelming firepower, Reid's divided attention in controlling so many Funnel Weapons—even with Nein assisting his Accuracy—resulted in abysmal hit rates.
Compounded by Reid's need to focus on Evasion, most firepower merely traced silhouettes around targets, serving no purpose beyond limiting mobility.
Likewise, don't expect Reid to have time to shoot down the funnels of the Zaku III Psychomu Equipped Type and Commander Type Zaku IV either. If he couldn't hit such large Mobile Suits, there was no need to mention funnels smaller than an MS's palm.
Fortunately, Reid had teammates too, though he had been the first to launch and charged ahead so quickly that he temporarily found himself surrounded and beaten down.
But now, after two or three rounds of fighting, the Immortal Aegis had arrived at the battlefield with the main force.
The situation instantly reversed as nine Mobile Suits appeared on the scene: Immortal Aegis, Delta Gundam Kai, Mystic Lightning, NT-X2 Gundam, three Amazing Kampfers, Gundam Eclipse (Salya), and Delta Plus.
The five Mobile Suits that had been besieging Gundam Artemis very wisely retreated to reorganize their battle lines, as the berserk pilots judged that without cooperation, they would be instantly annihilated in the coming battle.
(End of Chapter)