Dynames entered the battlefield riding on Kyrios. It took out the terrorists below with six shots, taking a total of six seconds.
Celestial Beings wasn't stupid. They knew this was a trap, so they quickly retreated after completing their objective. Having Dynames ride Kyrios was precisely because they feared Dynames was too slow to escape.
Unfortunately, now that they had entered the ambush circle, it was impossible to escape the firepower net meticulously prepared by the three major powers unless they could ascend to the heavens at the first cosmic velocity like the Hermes Zero.
Alleluia, inside Kyrios, had just tried to accelerate and climb when all the alarms in the Mobile Suit blared simultaneously.
Visible to the naked eye, countless fine lines streaked across the sky from every direction on the horizon.
This was the Human Reform League's welcoming gift to Celestial Beings. Who knew how many missiles and artillery pieces the League had stockpiled over the course of its development? Today was merely a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg.
The Human Reform League had fired cluster missiles. After the submunitions separated, the attack zone covered every possible angle Kyrios could escape to, perfectly illustrating what a no-blind-spot saturation strike was.
To Alleluia, these missiles were like a fishing net closing in from all sides, and his and Lockon's Mobile Suits were the two big fish the enemy wanted to catch.
Right now, Alleluia and Lockon had only two escape routes.
The first was to go up. But given the two Mobile Suits' climb rate, even if they separated now and let Kyrios climb alone, it would be too late. After multiple engagements, the Human Reform League had long since calculated the climb rate of Kyrios, the most mobile of Celestial Beings' Gundams, and had set the missile altitude based on its maximum capability.
The second route was, naturally, to go down. To prevent the two Mobile Suits from escaping, the Human Reform League had fired all their missiles high into the sky. If they landed now, the number of missiles from this wave that would actually hit them would be small.
But Alleluia and Lockon weren't fools. Going up, they would have to endure a round of bombardment, but as long as their Mobile Suits held up, they could reach high altitude. There, thanks to the anti-gravity effect of GN Particles, a Gundam's cruising altitude was far higher than that of a Union Real Combat Type. At such extreme altitudes, it would be difficult for the Human Reform League's missiles to score a precise hit.
Going down, however, was a death sentence. How could the Human Reform League have only prepared this single wave of missiles? Landing would mean being pinned down by countless more missiles, never to take off again.
Thus, Alleluia piloted Kyrios, carrying Dynames, and began to climb directly. Kyrios was responsible for propulsion, while Dynames fully deployed its GN Field to brace for the missile attack.
The result was predictable. This wave of missiles had locked onto the two Gundams from extreme range at launch. By the time the GN Particles took effect at close range, the missiles had already switched to laser guidance.
Therefore, at least a third of this missile wave hit Kyrios and Dynames. It was a good thing the Human Reform League's goal was to capture the Gundams. Not only were the missiles not loaded with any special explosives, but they were also just ordinary missiles that had been in storage for over a decade and needed to be cleared out. Otherwise, both Mobile Suits would have been blown out of the sky.
For Alleluia and Lockon, although they were shaken to the point of near-concussion, they had at least survived this wave of missile attacks.
Unfortunately, before they could even rejoice, the Mobile Suit alarms blared wildly again. The Haro inside Dynames continuously warned, "Enemy Mobile Suit approaching! Enemy Mobile Suit approaching!"
From Reid's perspective, hundreds of Union Real Combat Types in various configurations flew into the Taklamakan Desert from the surrounding secret Human Reform League bases. (They certainly couldn't have launched from the aircraft carrier command post at sea. Otherwise, these Union Real Combat Types would have had to cross large swathes of Human Reform League territory no matter which direction they came from. Anyone who didn't know better would think the Union was invading the Human Reform League. They couldn't possibly say they flew from the Mediterranean to the Taklamakan, right?)
One could only say that the Human Reform League had truly spared no expense to capture the Gundams this time. These secret bases were originally meant to be kept absolutely confidential, but now they were opened up for the Union and AEU to station their forces.
However, the Union was also serious this time, displaying strength sufficient to contend with the Human Reform League.
Upon discovering they were surrounded by a large number of Union Real Combat Types, Alleluia and Lockon immediately fired all their GN Missiles in the same direction, intending to break through the encirclement.
It was too late to climb any higher. The issue of the GN Drive's insufficient instantaneous burst power (output needs to be ramped up slowly, it can't be maxed out in an instant) was on full display. Kyrios's current climb rate couldn't even match that of a Union Real Combat Type. (There's a close-up in episode 15 of the first season, where Kyrios is caught and knocked down during its ascent.)
However, this wave of Union soldiers was clearly an elite force. Facing a barrage of GN Missiles, the leading Union Real Combat Types in MA Mode didn't slow their charge, while the Union Real Combat Types in MS Mode behind them all fired decoy missiles.
In the end, the vast majority of GN Missiles were intercepted by the decoys. Only a few hit the charging MA Mode Union Real Combat Types, but a loss in the single digits had no effect on the surrounding forces.
The Union's plan was clear. They knew that once the Celestial Beings Gundams finished accelerating, the Union Real Combat Types wouldn't be able to catch up.
Therefore, the surrounding MA Mode Union Real Combat Types didn't fire a single missile or electromagnetic cannon shot that would affect their speed. Without a word, they charged straight for Kyrios and Dynames.
One had to admit, the Union of the AD Universe, having absorbed forces from the Far East, really had a knack for kamikaze attacks.
They knew that missiles and electromagnetic rifles would have a hard time hitting the agile Kyrios, so they chose to ram it directly.
Kyrios now felt like it was playing a flying version of bumper cars, with every surrounding Mobile Suit trying to crash into it.
Ultimately, Alleluia found it impossible to evade and could only watch as a Union Real Combat Type rammed Kyrios from the side and rear in a suicide attack, flipping it over.
In truth, this attack wasn't entirely suicidal. The upper body of the Union Real Combat Type was designed to be jettisoned. The pilot who orchestrated this mid-air collision was actually highly skilled and daring; he had timed his ejection perfectly and survived.
Kyrios, on the other hand, was out of luck. Since these Union Real Combat Types hadn't fired any of their munitions during the charge, the impact naturally caused a sympathetic detonation.
The explosion's shockwave left Alleluia inside Kyrios completely unable to control his Mobile Suit. The impact itself triggered the GN Drive's safety protection, cutting off the GN Particle output. Trailing black smoke (from the exploding Union Real Combat Type), the Mobile Suit plummeted straight toward the ground.
Meanwhile, things weren't much better for Dynames.
Fewer MA Mode Union Real Combat Types were besieging it, but after they pinned Dynames down for a moment with missiles and electromagnetic rifles, the MS Mode Union Real Combat Types that followed completely surrounded it.
Much like the time in the Kingdom of Azadistan, Lockon, faced with a swarm of Mobile Suits and lacking any area-of-effect capabilities with his primarily long-range arsenal, could only feel a sense of regret that his parents hadn't given him two more arms.
Dynames was now in a position where it couldn't cover its front and back at the same time. Although it accurately shot down several of the approaching Union Real Combat Types with continuous fire, it was ultimately grabbed and held tight by two enemy suits.
Then came the AD Universe's version of the "2887" tactic. The cockpits of the two suits ejected, leaving their upper bodies to self-destruct.
The defensive power of Dynames's deployed GN Full Armor Shield was indeed much stronger than that of Kyrios, but it wasn't deployed at the moment. So, unsurprisingly, it was blown out of the sky just like Kyrios.
However, Lockon was, after all, the most mature of the first-season Celestial Beings Gundam pilots. Unlike Alleluia, he didn't completely lose control of his Mobile Suit from the blast. Amidst the violent impact, he managed to keep Dynames's attitude stable as it fell, avoiding a situation where it would have nose-dived into the sand.
By now, Alleluia had recovered and transformed his Mobile Suit into MS Mode. He piloted it over to rendezvous with Dynames. Both of them knew it would be difficult to escape on their own now; they had to group up and defend.
However, the Taklamakan Desert was located in the heart of the Tarim Basin. There wasn't a single piece of cover in the desert.
To make matters worse, the ground bombardment began the next second.
It was as if several hundred MS had sprouted from the Taklamakan Desert. Even Reid, observing the battlefield from a third-person perspective, hadn't noticed when so many MSJ-06II-LC Iron Man Long Range Cannon Types, MA-115HT Union Flag Hover Tank Types, SVMS-01SG Land Battle Heavy Armor Type Union Flags, and ammunition suppliers had appeared on the ground.
One could only say the Human Reform League was a master of camouflage. Reid could only assume these Mobile Suits and machines had been there all along, just covered by Human Reform League-produced camouflage cloths that protected against metal detection waves.
At this moment, Kyrios and Dynames were surrounded and being fired upon from all directions by at least two hundred smoothbore cannons and other cannons.
Although they were only being hit by a few dozen shells at any given moment—after all, the units had to fire in segments to achieve a saturation attack—the sensory experience of being bombarded by dozens versus hundreds of cannons was pretty much the same for Alleluia and Lockon.
In any case, the Mobile Suits were protected by GN Particles, so there was no immediate danger. It was just that the cockpit felt like it was in an earthquake, and they could barely keep their hands on the control sticks.
Watching this scene, Reid asked the others who were watching with him, "I say, what would we do if we were in this situation?"
Ange shot Reid a look and said directly, "That level of firepower can't break through Gundarium Alloy, and the vibrations can be nullified by the Lambda Driver. As long as we don't just stand there like idiots and let our armor wear down to the point of metal fatigue, we could just walk right up to those Mobile Suits and go on a rampage."
Reid heard this and thought it made sense. The Lambda Driver was black technology; if Celestial Beings had it, they would have escaped long ago.
So, Reid said no more and continued to watch Kyrios and Dynames get shelled and bombed. Although they were almost unscathed, the pilots inside must have been like ants on a hot pan.
However, on Celestial Beings' side, Sumeragi, as the Tactical Forecaster, would naturally not let two Gundams get captured after being so deeply surrounded.
Exia and Virtue had been hiding in the Taklamakan Desert all along.
So, even though not a single MS, not even a rock, could be seen in the Taklamakan Desert when the terrorists arrived, in reality, both sides had a total of several hundred MS hidden in the desert, with even more on standby in surrounding bases, ready to deploy at a moment's notice.
Thus, the fate of Exia and Virtue was different from the original story. In the original, Virtue managed to fire one shot, carving a deep trench, before being surrounded.
But this time, the moment the two Gundams activated, the two-way communicators scattered across the desert, just like in space, instantly exposed their positions.
Since the Human Reform League had deployed far more forces than in the original story, and the other two factions were not far behind, the moment the signal-jammed area appeared, the reserve forces of all three sides immediately fired artillery and missiles into the area, while simultaneously dispatching over a hundred Iron Man High Mobility Type Bs to surround them.
The current Gundam Virtue was the one Reid had returned. After Hong Long had piloted it, Tieria indeed hadn't noticed that it wasn't his original unit.
Since there were only so many GN Drives, Celestial Beings couldn't just discard a Mobile Suit because someone else had touched it. So, Gundam Plutone and its GN Drive were returned to the Fereshte Organization via Ian Vashti. (Most members of Celestial Beings and Fereshte don't know each other, but VEDA has records of the Mobile Suits. Ian Vashti knows people on both sides, and in this book, he was the one who got the Fereshte GN Drive and Plutone to Celestial Beings.)
However, Tieria's first sortie after getting Virtue back was extremely unlucky.
Its GN Rocket Cannon was still charging when countless artillery shells and missiles rained down from the sky, forcing it to maximize its GN Shield. Getting hit by a shell while the GN Rocket Cannon was charging was no joke.
If the attack missed, it would be one thing, but if the GN Rocket Cannon exploded while charging, Virtue and the nearby Exia would suffer at least minor damage, and it would be normal for them to lose a limb or two.
However, maximizing the GN Shield inevitably slowed down the particle charging speed of the GN Rocket Cannon.
By the time Virtue finished charging, the Iron Man High Mobility Type Bs had already surrounded it.
Exia tried to drive these Iron Men away, but the difference in numbers was too great. Even Setsuna couldn't charge forward while enduring the vibrations from his cockpit being hit by 200mm x 25mm Smoothbore Cannons.
In the end, Exia could only try to counterattack with its GN Rifle, but the enemy Mobile Suits were all high-mobility types and had been specifically modified for the desert environment. With Setsuna's shooting skills, he could basically only trace their outlines.
And as subsequent long-range fire support arrived, Exia and Virtue fell into the same predicament as Kyrios and Dynames, suppressed in place and taking a beating with their GN Fields active.
However, Exia and Virtue were better off than Kyrios and Dynames. Virtue's GN Shield was extremely powerful and could nullify a lot of the impact.
Exia, as a melee Mobile Suit, had stronger armor and defense than Kyrios and Dynames, and it also carried a Shield, so they had some opportunity to fight back.
For example, after charging its GN Rocket Cannon to its minimum firing power, Virtue could still perform a sweeping attack to drive away the besieging forces. (He didn't dare charge it to maximum, truly afraid of an accidental hit causing a sympathetic detonation.)
Unfortunately, as long as the ultra-long-range missile bombardment suppression wasn't dealt with, the four Gundams could not break through. What followed would be a battle of attrition.
It was a question of whether the allied forces of the three powers would run out of ammunition first, allowing the Gundams to find an opening to escape, or if the Gundam pilots' stamina and energy would be depleted by the high-intensity battle.
From the original story, Reid knew that Celestial Beings was doomed to lose. This time, the Human Reform League, the Union, and the AEU were even better prepared than in the original. Even if the three Throne Angels arrived, they would just be feeding the enemy kills.
Even if Throne Angel Drei used its large-scale GN Particle dispersal to disable the long-range missile systems, the sheer number of MS would be enough to overwhelm Celestial Beings.
Now that the three powers' tactical networks were linked, Reid's side had also tallied the total number of MS in this battle. The combined forces of the three powers were not ten times the number in the original story.
One could only say that the Human Reform League, in clearing out its old stock, had truly shipped ten times the ammunition, which had caused Hoshino Ruri's misjudgment. But the Human Reform League still sent over 1,500 MS, the Union brought around 900 MS, and the AEU over 600 MS.
The three powers' total of 3,000+ MS was more than enough to drown seven Celestial Beings Gundams. One must remember that the Thrones used GN-T Drives; it was impossible for them to endure 15 hours of relentless bombardment like the Celestial Beings Gundams.
Thinking about it carefully, if they really went with ten times the numbers, the Human Reform League would have had to allow the other two powers to station far too many troops within its own territory.
So it was changed to a little over three times, with the Human Reform League accounting for half.
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