After the Ice Phoenix Gundam and the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley faced off once more, neither dared to make a move.
The Ice Phoenix Gundam's Trans-Am had just ended, and the GN Particles in its solar furnace needed time to replenish. Although the dual-energy system meant the Mobile Suit didn't suffer from a significant post-Trans-Am period of weakness, it was impossible for it to burst forth with the same speed as before. Moreover, its GN Field was now greatly weakened.
Ange knew that it was actually the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley's turn to attack. Some of the funnels it had recalled had already recharged and could be deployed again. With the Ice Phoenix Gundam's mobility reduced and its GN Field weakened, the threat of the High-Energy Laser Funnels prevented it from charging in for a close-quarters assault.
Of course, Haman was unaware of Trans-Am's limitations. Without the G-Generation database, Code Amelias herself was likely unfamiliar with the specific characteristics of Mobile Suits from different worlds.
Thus, Haman also hesitated to attack recklessly. Her Mobile Suit's left arm was already destroyed, and without its shield, she was essentially fighting with a single drop of health, just like in a game. She had almost no room for error against the Ice Phoenix Gundam's firepower.
Haman certainly wasn't counting on Reid to rush over and save her if a beam was about to hit her in the face. After all, as far as she knew, Reid didn't possess any abilities related to teleportation.
However, as time passed, the situation was steadily turning against Haman's team.
Yes, Haman's team.
Because Noin's group had already completed the task Reid had assigned them.
The Neo Zeon fleet's objective this time was to invade Earth, so their mass-produced units consisted of the AMX-101 Galluss-J and the AMX-102 Zssa, with the more elite units being the AMX-009 Doven Wolf.
Unfortunately, while these three Mobile Suits were indeed advanced for their era, they were a full generation behind the likes of the Blade Angel Gundam, NT-X2 Gundam, Kyubey EX, and Gundam Delta Kai.
The battlefield was a complete slaughter. The beams and missiles fired by the Neo Zeon Mobile Suits were not overwhelmingly powerful; even the Kyubey EX could tank them with its GN Field, and the other Mobile Suits' Beam Shields allowed them to charge through enemy fire.
More often than not, however, the Neo Zeon attacks simply missed their targets, while every shot from their enemies found its mark.
Even after Reid recalled the Blade Angel Gundam, the remaining forces still handled aces like Haman and Lakan Dahka with ease.
With Reid absent, no one held back against this world's Haman.
Once the Archangel entered cannon-range, it activated its GN Field and fired its Positron Cannon directly. The Neo Zeon's Endra-class ships were nothing but target practice.
Furthermore, Reid had subsequently ordered them to use their various special burst systems to end the battle quickly.
With the current generational gap between Mobile Suits, amplified by systems like Trans-Am and PX, as long as the pilots' skill difference wasn't as vast as Sai versus Kira (Sai did manage to make the Strike take a step, so he could barely be considered an MS Pilot, I suppose), there was no chance of an upset.
Thus, the final result was that the Qubeley was shot down, and the Neo Zeon fleet was annihilated.
While the Ice Phoenix Gundam and the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley were locked in a stalemate, the Archangel, having completed its mission, had already begun to turn around, and its MS forces were now charging toward this location.
Teletha, aboard the New Danuu's Child, naturally noticed the Archangel's movements and spoke to Haman over the internal comms.
"Sister Haman, Reid's ship has turned around, and their Mobile Suits are heading for us. We don't have much time."
Haman also knew that being surrounded by Reid today would be very troublesome. The New Danuu's Child would have a hard time retreating unscathed.
So, Haman opened a channel to Ange again.
"Big Sister Ange, your family's ship is coming back. It seems our battle for today will have to end here."
Ange, in truth, hadn't had her fill of fighting yet. Her Twin Solar Furnace allowed her GN Particles to accumulate very quickly. Although she couldn't use Trans-Am again for a short while, the particle count needed to maintain a reinforced GN Field would soon be restored.
Once her GN Field was usable again, it would be Ange's turn to attack.
However, Ange knew this duel couldn't interfere with Reid's tactical arrangements. The reason Reid had agreed to their duel was likely to stall for time, allowing the Archangel to return and encircle them.
Ange was not an inflexible person. She decided to drag things out; whether they fought or not was secondary. In any case, she wasn't about to let Haman leave. So, she provoked her directly.
"Haman, don't call me 'big sister.' You haven't even married into the family yet. If you want to stop fighting, fine. Admit defeat, and I won't make things difficult for a homewrecker like you."
Ange knew that with Haman's pride and the imperceptible inferiority complex she harbored, she would never admit defeat.
Yes, in some respects, Ange's understanding of Haman was clearer than Reid's.
The reason Haman, who had already conquered the Earth Sphere, was still obsessed with Reid was, at its core, due to the emotional wounds Char had once inflicted upon her, which had led to a sliver of insecurity in matters of love.
She couldn't understand why the men she fancied didn't fancy her back. It was true for Char, and it was true for Reid.
Haman was well aware that her New Human Ability leaned towards charm and was particularly effective on other Newtypes.
So what was wrong with her? Even with her charm, both Char and Reid kept their distance.
This had become an obsession for Haman. Even though she had successfully seduced Reid into bed, his actual performance made her feel she had only won half the battle. Therefore, she would absolutely not concede to Ange here.
Ange's demand seemingly only asked Haman to admit failure in this martial duel, but one must not forget that the duel's origin was Haman's refusal to accept Ange's status as the primary wife, wanting to usurp her.
As expected, upon hearing Ange's words, Haman's anger flared once more.
But this was a Haman who had, at least, once unified the Earth Sphere. She knew how to control her wrath.
Haman took two deep breaths, forcibly suppressing her anger. She first spoke to Loli Amelias over the internal comms.
"Amelias, that thing I told you about before, you can summon it precisely, right? You can summon it now. After the World Impact, we'll retreat immediately. You should be able to see that our current forces are insufficient to fight Reid's troops."
Loli Amelias was not without judgment. She knew Haman was right. Although her current body's destruction wouldn't harm her true self—the seal was already cracked, and she could just create a new body later—who enjoyed experiencing death for no reason? Even if one could be revived, the experience of death itself was not diminished. Thus, Loli Amelias replied, "Don't worry. I may not be able to fight right now, but my abilities are not weak. It's time to give Reid Isaac, a manager who hasn't fully mastered his own abilities, a little surprise from a senior."
Having received a firm answer from Loli Amelias, Haman spoke to Ange again.
"I haven't lost this battle. You merely have the upper hand for now. If you want me to admit defeat, your performance so far is not enough. However, that heartless Reid is trying to surround my comrades, and I can't allow that. So let's settle the outcome of this battle the next time we meet. Ange, one day, you will have to call me 'big sister.'"
With that, Haman piloted the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley, turned, and flew directly toward the New Danuu's Child.
Seeing this, Ange naturally maneuvered the Ice Phoenix Gundam to give chase.
But Haman was prepared. The cloaked High-Energy Laser Funnels had already been deployed, and they unleashed a volley at the Ice Phoenix Gundam.
The Ice Phoenix Gundam's GN Field had not yet fully recovered. Sensing the threat, Ange could only evade.
Meanwhile, Reid, who was observing the battle, couldn't hear their conversation, but he could sense the change in Haman's fighting spirit.
When Haman's will to fight diminished, Reid had an inkling of what was to come. So, when Haman piloted the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley to flee, Reid immediately said to the long-cloaked Xia Yulan, "Yulan, make your move. Take out the enemy mothership's thrusters."
Xia Yulan naturally did as Reid commanded, raising her Beam Rifle and preparing to fire at the New Danuu's Child's thrusters.
The reason for targeting the thrusters instead of destroying the ship directly was that the original Tir Na Nog's hull had a multi-layered armor structure, and its bridge was internal, making a one-shot kill by targeting the bridge impossible.
The Blade Angel Gundam lacked a high-power beam weapon. If it were to try and slice through the hull, it would probably have to carve a path from bow to stern and still fail to shoot down this clearly specially modified Tir Na Nog. It was better to just use the Beam Rifle to disable the warship's mobility by taking out its thrusters.
However, just as the Blade Angel Gundam raised its rifle, a ripple powerful enough to shake space itself suddenly emanated from the New Danuu's Child.
It was a ripple visible to the naked eye. The Blade Angel Gundam was instantly thrown back, and Xia Yulan could only struggle to maintain the Mobile Suit's posture, unable to fire.
And it wasn't just Xia Yulan; the vibration affected everyone equally.
The Ice Phoenix Gundam and the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley were frozen in place, unable to move.
Reid also felt the entire universe tremble, and the Gundam Artemis began to lose stability uncontrollably.
Behind Reid, Nein struggled to stabilize the Mobile Suit while reporting, "Unknown energy impact! The force isn't strong, but it seems to be directly affecting the surrounding space! The Gundam Artemis is shaking because the external space is shaking!"
Hearing this, Reid immediately complained, "It's a World Impact! Dammit, the World Impact from Chang Wufei's time was barely noticeable. Why is it so exaggerated this time? What the hell is Code Amelias trying to summon?!"
As Reid grumbled, a massive red sphere of code, a hundred meters in diameter, appeared in front of the New Danuu's Child. As the World Impact ceased, the red sphere dissipated, revealing a colossal silver-white Mobile Suit within.
Staring at the enormous machine, Reid exclaimed in shock, "Model number RX-124, Gundam TR-6 [Silverin]. Code Amelias actually summoned this thing!"
By now, Haman had already used the moment of shock to pilot the Butterfly Shadow Qubeley back to the New Danuu's Child, bringing the Meteor Shenlong Gundam and Gundam Bael back aboard.
Before returning to the ship, however, Haman deliberately sent a private audio recording to Reid's Mobile Suit. It said:
"Reid, this is a little gift I prepared for you. I know you're collecting Mobile Suits and technology as you move between worlds, so I've prepared this machine, whose design I've only ever seen. Don't worry, Amelias doesn't know about this. She just thinks you're experiencing the life of a manager and collecting a harem in various worlds. I hope we can have another long, private talk all night the next time we meet. For now, goodbye."
While Reid was listening to the recording, the New Danuu's Child teleported away from this world.
Everyone on board knew that Amelias's World Impact summons were a huge gamble.
Summoning ordinary Mobile Suits was fine; their pilots were usually obedient.
However, if the pilot had any sort of psychic specialty (which almost all protagonists and major villains did), Amelias's words were useless.
Moreover, these pilots would be in a state of mental confusion. That was why Amelias never dared to proactively summon such capable individuals; she only ever responded to the calls she sensed from across countless spacetimes to lure them over.
The pilot of this Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] clearly belonged to the category of "capable individuals." That's why Haman and her crew fled so decisively. If they had been a second later, the Tir Na Nog, being closest to the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin], would likely have become its target.
Before leaving, however, Loli Amelias made a tentative attempt to order the pilot to attack Reid.
The result was the Silverin's pilot firing a shot from its Hyper Mega Cannon II right back at them.
The New Danuu's Child was lucky it fled so quickly. Otherwise, it would have been shot down by the very Mobile Suit Code Amelias had summoned, without Reid even needing to attack.
But while the New Danuu's Child had fled, Reid wasn't going anywhere.
Although Reid had already completed the G Invasion mission and could return with a single click of the system, with the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] right in front of him, how could he possibly leave?
This Mobile Suit was summoned by a World Impact and couldn't be captured, but shooting it down would drop technology.
The Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] was loaded with black technology; dropping any single piece would be a huge gain.
Without a second thought, Reid first bought a Neutron Jammer from the G-Coins shop and activated it.
He had no choice. According to its specs, the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] could be equipped with nuclear warheads.
Although these weren't the special Minovsky Particle-enhanced nukes from the RX-78 GP02A Gundam Physalis, but rather ordinary fission bombs, even a fission-reaction nuke was not something Reid's Mobile Suits could withstand. He had to block it with a Neutron Jammer.
In the time it took Reid to deploy the Neutron Jammer and block nuclear fission, the mentally confused pilot inside the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] had already locked onto the Gundam Artemis and the Ice Phoenix Gundam.
It couldn't be helped. They were the only two Mobile Suits near it; it would be strange if it didn't lock onto them.
Against Mobile Suits, the Hyper Mega Cannon II was like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito.
So, the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] directly deployed its "Funnel Weapons": six unmanned RX-124 Gundam TR-6 Kehaar II units.
Yes, the Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] was just that absurd. Not only were its funnel weapons unmanned Mobile Suits, but they were mass-produced units that could be named "Gundam." (They had internal cockpits and could also be used as pilot escape pods.)
After the six Kehaar II units spread out, they charged in pairs toward the Gundam Artemis, the Ice Phoenix Gundam, and the Blade Angel Gundam (which had been knocked out of its stealth by the World Impact).
The Gundam TR-6 [Silverin] itself, meanwhile, targeted the distant Archangel, aiming its Hyper Mega Cannon II, preparing to fire.
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!