The Gundam capture operation by the Human Reform League, Union, and AEU was a struggle between individual strength and collective power.
Before departure, Reid once again brought the Neutron Jammer and additionally carried ZAFT's large-scale EMP Bomb Odin's Lightning.
In Reid's view, the three nations—Human Reform League, Union, and AEU—might not deploy only 52 MS units totaling 832 Mobile Suits as in the original storyline.
The reasoning was simple: the Otherworld Entanglement phenomenon occurred every time Celestial Beings appeared. As long as the leadership of the three nations wasn't foolish, they would surely deduce this straightforward logic.
Although Otherworld Entanglement didn't accompany every Celestial Beings operation, thus far, aside from the first incident at the AEU orbital elevator, otherworld invasions had occurred only during large-scale battles involving Mobile Suits.
It was worth noting that the Human Reform League had suffered losses before. During the Top Armed Forces' assault on the Celestial Beings' Mothership, if not for the Otherworld Entanglement, the Celestial Beings' Mobile Suits would have been captured.
Moreover, Reid suspected that the three Earth nations might have included him in their contingency plans.
If Reid recalled correctly, this Gundam Capture Operation was first proposed by the Human Reform League because they couldn't allow Celestial Beings to stand above national sovereignty.
Now, Reid's SDP was similarly an organization existing above nations, with technology even surpassing Celestial Beings. Given SDP's public declaration of non-participation in political games, the three nations might take the gamble—after all, if SDP retaliated, all three leaders would share equal risk.
Alejandro Corner's influence didn't extend to the Human Reform League, so he had sufficient reason to plead "powerlessness."
Thus, Reid made thorough preparations this time, even replacing all Mass-Produced GM Heresy Armor on the Gran Chaos with Electromagnetic Armor at the cost of significantly reduced operational duration, ensuring absolute advantage in battles against the three nations' Mobile Suits.
After completing preparations, Reid once again assembled the combat personnel and initiated the next phase of assessments.
This transition proceeded without complications—the Gran Chaos was transported to a desert area.
Hoshino Ruri delivered her routine status report:
"Location confirmed: Human Reform League's Taklamakan Desert. Time: 12:00 noon. Poor network connectivity in surrounding area. Unable to obtain additional information. Recommend relocating to gather intelligence."
Reid knew that according to normal plot progression, even if Celestial Beings directly engaged the three nations' forces now, the battle would last 15 hours, leaving ample time for intelligence gathering.
He immediately ordered:
"Approved. Transfer to nearby Human Reform League city for initial intelligence collection."
Upon Reid's command, the Gran Chaos immediately departed the Taklamakan Desert and moved above the nearest city.
Upon reaching the city, Hoshino Ruri and Nein immediately began scanning networks for relevant information. Soon, Hoshino Ruri reported:
"Report: Network data confirms joint military exercises by Human Reform League, Union, and AEU forces in the Taklamakan Desert. Exercises scheduled for tomorrow. All three nations' forces have already entered Human Reform League territory. (Minor plot inconsistency: There are no seas near Taklamakan, yet Union's command center appears to be naval-based.)"
"However, judging from the recent military supply movements of the Human Reform League, a conservative estimate suggests their mobilized forces are ten times larger than the publicly announced exercise troops.
Similarly, both the Union and AEU have shown abnormal resource allocations. It's almost certain that this tri-nation exercise is a trap set to lure something out."
Reid immediately understood—sure enough, the Human Reform League, Union, and AEU had factored him into their calculations.
He guessed they intended to use those forces as reserves if he didn't appear. If the Otherworld Entanglement and he showed up, those troops would attempt to resolve the entanglement. If successful, he'd be the next target for bombardment.
So Reid directly asked, "Liuli, if we were to directly confront one of these nations, could we win?"
Though Hoshino Ruri didn't understand why Reid asked this, she calculated and replied, "As long as we maintain mobility, unless this world has widely adopted Celestial Beings' technology, no amount of troops would be enough to wear us down. If we deploy major deterrents like the Neutron Jammer, this world would plunge directly into chaos."
Reid already knew that with his current technology, bullying the Human Reform League, Union, and AEU—who lacked GN-T Drives—would be child's play. So he continued, "What if we don't use any large-scale interference equipment and engage in a straightforward frontline battle?"
Hoshino Ruri answered instantly, "We'd be suppressed by national-level ultra-long-range firepower. If we can't break through in time, we'd lose."
Reid nodded. This was expected. Although in the storyline, the three nations bombarded Celestial Beings' four Gundams for 15 hours without destroying a single piece of armor, that was because their goal was capture—not elimination. They primarily used hive rockets and Electromagnetic Rifle suppression, with occasional aerial bombs at most.
If their objective had been to destroy the four Gundams, even without nuclear weapons (banned in the AD Universe), a few heavy thermobaric bombs would have likely melted the Gundams' outer armor. Standard high-temperature melee weapons only reach around 1000°C (like the Zaku II's heat hawk temperature—online sources, not official settings), while thermobaric bombs easily exceed 2000°C. Even E-Carbon Armor enhanced by GN Particles would melt under such conditions.
In truth, GN Particle-enhanced E-Carbon Armor isn't as durable as imagined. After 15 hours of bombardment in the original work, all Gundams showed pitted and damaged surfaces, proving their armor was nearing its limits. A few more hours of bombardment would have likely broken the Gundams themselves.
The same logic applies to Reid's situation. If they stood still as targets under high-powered missile barrages, whether the personnel would reach their limits is debatable, but equipment and devices always have operational thresholds.
However, these are all hypotheticals. Reid would be foolish to position himself at the battlefield's center as a target. The Gran Chaos isn't one of Celestial Beings' Gundams that gets pinned down by ground bombardment. With its Lightwave Defense System activated, unless targeted by an 80m-class GN Linear Cannon from Celestial Being, the Gran Chaos would be virtually invincible.
Forty seconds is more than enough for the Gran Chaos to break through any encirclement. Moreover, the ship's and Mobile Suits' missile interception systems are fully functional.
Therefore, after confirming that the scale of the three-nation military exercise far exceeded the original work, Reid directly commanded:
"Liuli, move the Gran Chaos above the AEU forces, infiltrate their base system, and locate Ali al-Saachez. Also check if Kowloon is within the AEU camp.
By the way, Ali al-Saachez should currently be using the alias Garry Biaggi, with the identity of a French Foreign Legion member."
Reid's order was actually unrelated to this mission.
The purpose of finding Sachez was still for Kowloon.
In truth, Reid didn't believe Kowloon would be operating with the AEU - he had clearly resumed his former terrorist activities without even maintaining a mercenary identity. (Hoshino Ruri and Nein had already cross-referenced all available mercenary registration photos and found no matches for Kowloon)
No matter how chaotic the AEU's management might be, they wouldn't bring along a standard terrorist to this formal three-nation exercise.
If Reid's judgment was correct, and the Virtue Gundam had been taken down under Kowloon's command, then Kowloon's initial area of operation had been Human Reform League territory. Those two Iron Man units equipped with anti-air backpacks were most likely stolen from the Human Reform League too.
However, since Ali al-Saachez had previously cooperated with Kowloon, he should know Kowloon's approximate whereabouts.
Though Reid had time and area restrictions for this mission that made dealing with Kowloon inconvenient, he would eliminate Kowloon at the first available opportunity.
The Gran Chaos moved above the AEU forces' encampment without being detected by anyone. The Vagan's "Veil Umbrella" system proved extremely effective - all Mobile Suits and vessels originally using Electronic Camouflage Systems had been refitted with this equipment, which could even block thermal detection, preventing the AEU from detecting any abnormal heat sources above them.
As for the AEU base's military network system, with Hoshino Ruri and Nein working together, it was like entering their own home. Soon, the Gran Chaos had synchronized with the base's surveillance system.
Through name and photo filtering, Nein quickly located the target and reported directly:
"Reid, we've found Ali al-Saachez. He's in the Foreign Legion camp at the edge of the Mobile Suit area, holding the rank of Second Lieutenant. As an MS Pilot, he has his own private room.
However, there are no surveillance devices near his room except for several main corridors, so we cannot confirm whether he's currently in his room.
As for Kowloon, he's not among the AEU forces."
Hearing this, Reid wasn't surprised and laughed directly:
"Whether he's in his room or not doesn't matter. If he is, we'll just kidnap him directly. If not, I don't mind waiting for him.
Yulan, Yufang, let's go meet this guy who's had contact with Kowloon."
Regarding the handling of the Kowloon matter, Reid wouldn't avoid involving the Xia sisters. These two sisters had long belonged to him body and soul. Even if the Kowloon from their original world appeared before them, they wouldn't hesitate to kill him on Reid's command - after all, Kowloon had already sold both of them to Reid long ago.
It's worth noting that the Kowloon appearing now wasn't the one they knew. Having experienced multiple interworld travels, the two sisters naturally felt no gratitude toward this version of Kowloon.
As for the possibility that Kowloon might know the hypnotic commands to control the two women, Reid believed no command could override the system's priority. If Kowloon had such capability, he wouldn't have been reduced to merely provoking Sagara Sousuke with words from his bed in the original storyline.
Thus, Reid felt exceptionally at ease as he quietly infiltrated the AEU military base with the two women.
Considering they had fire support from a warship overhead and he wore a Luna Titanium Alloy bulletproof vest impervious to ordinary firearms, Reid could break through even if discovered.
With Newtype perception and Hoshino Ruri having taken control of the surveillance system, plus Reid wearing an AEU major's uniform obtained from some unlucky officer's quarters (while the Xia sisters wore lieutenant uniforms), bypassing guards became remarkably simple.
The real challenge in this area was the lax military discipline - drunken soldiers wandering about and military personnel engaging in promiscuous activities in every corner.
Perhaps because the AEU had deployed far more troops than in the original timeline, but couldn't mobilize sufficient domestic forces (as mentioned in episode 14 of the first season, after the Mollaria Republic incident, few European nations were willing to follow AEU orders), they had to recruit large numbers of foreign legionnaires to supplement their ranks.
How could one expect proper military discipline from these mercenaries? They were notorious for fighting for money when needed, and indulging in debauchery, gambling, and alcoholism during peacetime.
Frankly, during the infiltration, Reid almost felt he was navigating through a red-light district rather than a military camp.
Fortunately, despite Sachez's villainous nature, he understood not to engage in unsavory activities before combat, remaining quietly in his room.
Therefore, Reid opted for subterfuge rather than kicking down the door for a shootout.
First, Reid had Hoshino Ruri forge an order supposedly issued half an hour earlier by base commander Kati Mannequin, summoning Sachez to Hangar 6 where the AEU-MA07013 Agrissa Type 13 was stationed. She also created several missed call records and remotely disabled the communicator's speaker.
Then Reid aggressively knocked on the door:
"I'm Major Bidalf from the 16th Mobile Unit! Lieutenant Garry Biaggi! Why haven't you reported to Hangar 6 as ordered by Commander Mannequin? Open this door and explain yourself!"
The "Major Bidalf" Reid mentioned was completely fabricated, borrowing the name of his old Eurasian Federation acquaintance, betting that Sachez wouldn't know all AEU high-ranking officers.
Startled by the violent knocking, Sachez instinctively reached for his weapon.
But after checking his communicator and confirming both the half-hour-old order and multiple missed calls, he cursed:
"This damn (censored) communicator! The speaker's broken!"
Since the Agrissa Type 13 was indeed in Hangar 6, and Commander Kati Mannequin was notoriously strict and meticulous, Sachez assumed she was conducting equipment inspection and he'd been caught off guard.
Thus, Sachez could only approach the door with his gun, peering through the peephole at a man with Eurasian-like features but strong military bearing wearing a colonel's uniform, apparently accompanied by two female soldiers.
Sachez figured Major Bidalov must have been pulled away from some pleasant business when sent to fetch him, which explained his foul mood.
Having pieced together the context, Sachez relaxed his guard slightly. He first holstered his gun, then pulled open the door with a forced smile, saying:
"My apologies, my comms speaker seems broken—I didn't see the order or messages. Major Bidalov, I'll accompany you to Hangar Six right away."
Yet the moment the door swung open, the Major he was focused on remained motionless.
Instead, the female soldier to his left (Xia Yufang) lunged at him with Blitz-like speed.
Just as Sachez sensed danger and tried to draw his weapon, Xia Yulan—positioned on Reid's right—had already fired a taser from his blind spot, instantly electrocuting him into unconsciousness.
The entire sequence flowed with seamless precision. Xia Yufang smoothly shoved Sachez back into the room, forced a small bottle of fast-acting sedative down his throat, then fitted a hood over his head, bound him, and hauled him away.
With all surrounding surveillance systems hacked, no one noticed when Belfgang later descended in the cloaked Mystic Lightning to retrieve him.
Thus, Sachez vanished from the AEU base. His evening was about to become... eventful.
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