Earth Sphere, Fifth Space Zone. The main fleet of the New Misurugi Republic and three ZAFT fleets were about to enter each other's radar detection range.
At this moment, the guerrilla ships Reid had deployed earlier had already returned to the main force. They were now lying in wait, ready to engage the cautious ZAFT forces as they advanced toward their target position.
The overall commander of this ZAFT expedition remained extremely cautious. Patrick Zala believed Reid was too cunning—a commander who favored unconventional tactics might not be able to outmaneuver him.
Thus, Patrick Zala had chosen the most steady commander for this fleet: Graham Huber (original character), a ZAFT White Uniform officer who had participated in the Nova Defense War. Huber was the type of commander who would eagerly build fortresses right at the enemy's doorstep, relying on their firepower for both offense and defense.
Patrick Zala intended to crush Reid with absolute numerical superiority, so before departure, he had repeatedly reminded Graham Huber: "Stay steady, don't rush."
As a result, Graham Huber had advanced methodically, wasting considerable time but successfully minimizing the effectiveness of Reid's guerrilla tactics.
However, large-scale combat was imminent. This commander assumed his opponent would be the former Eurasian Federation admiral, old enough to be his grandfather. Before the battle, he repeatedly confirmed with his adjutant:
"Any new reports from the reconnaissance teams? The New Misurugi Republic's guerrilla fleet should be gone by now. Have we found any ambushes in the asteroid belts and space debris zones we've passed through?"
The adjutant, clearly accustomed to his commander's thoroughness, double-checked before replying:
"Sir, no flanking forces have been detected in our rear—not even space mines from the New Misurugi Republic. Our rear reconnaissance teams are nearing the maximum operational range for Mobile Suit scouting."
Graham Huber nodded, then added:
"Order the vanguard to closely monitor the targeting of the enemy's mobile fortress cannons. I suspect we've been within their firing range for some time. The reason they haven't attacked is likely to maximize casualties in a single strike. Maintain double the usual distance between ships.
With that mobile fortress in play, we're at a disadvantage in fleet artillery engagements. This operation will primarily rely on Mobile Suit-based frontal combat. Once we engage their forces at close quarters, those high-powered cannons will have to worry about friendly fire.
Also, dispatch two supply ships to support the rear reconnaissance teams and expand their search perimeter. Send two squads of high-speed GINNs along with them—have them detour toward the Star Palace Colony Satellite. After harassing us for so long, it's time the New Misurugi Republic experiences the taste of a surprise attack."
Here, however, Graham Huber had misjudged the situation. Due to the self-destruct mechanisms Reid had installed in the Mobile Dolls—independent of the Mindless Drone System—Huber had yet to capture a single Mobile Doll. He remained unaware that all his opponent's units were unmanned.
It wasn't that Graham Huber hadn't ordered attempts to capture enemy soldiers, but every effort had failed. He mistakenly believed the New Misurugi Republic's troops were fanatical to the point of preferring self-destruction over surrender.
The adjutant nodded and immediately relayed the orders.
Meanwhile, aboard the Barge, Reid was giving his final strategic instructions. Une and Brian Eno, who had completed their mission, listened as he spoke.
"ZAFT's fleet is about to enter the designated coordinates. Our primary objective in this battle remains forcing them to compress their formation."
"Une, Brian Eno, you two will be responsible for wartime command. The Solar Ray System in the rear has already been adjusted to the correct angle. We can begin irradiation as soon as it's deployed. You'll determine the timing of the attack and subsequent deflection angles."
"I'll be sortieing shortly to lead the Mobile Suit units in blocking ZAFT's assault on the Barge head-on."
"Ange will take the Black Tri-Stars and strike from the right flank, while Noin, Yufang, and Yulan will lead the left flank assault. With their capabilities, they'll undoubtedly push ZAFT's flanking forces toward the center."
Une and Brian Eno had no objections to Reid's arrangements. Une then added immediately after Reid finished speaking:
"No problem. However, Reid, we've just received word that the Large Minovsky Particle Dispersal Device is in position and ready for deployment at any time."
"I think the Neutron Jammer's interference with radar communications is still too soft. It's time to let ZAFT experience what real communication disruption feels like."
Reid nodded upon hearing this. Their own Mobile Suits and fleet communications had been adjusted for high-concentration Minovsky Particle environments. But this would be ZAFT's first encounter with such technology—they only had protection against Neutron Jammer signal interference. Once they entered a high-density Minovsky Particle environment, their communications would be completely severed, leaving only Laser Communication and Light-Dark Code operational.
With a smile, Reid responded:
"I recall that thing disperses faster and achieves higher concentrations when shattered. Although we'll be affected too, we can use Mobile Dolls as signal relays. Here's the plan: I'll deploy the Large Minovsky Particle Dispersal Device into the battlefield as I sortie. I'm certain ZAFT will help us destroy it."
Une naturally had no objections. Even their own modified equipment would be significantly affected, so the enemy would fare even worse. She nodded in understanding.
Seeing Une's nod, Reid turned and left the command room without hesitation. Professional matters were best left to professionals. While his foresight and knowledge of various equipment made him competent at strategic planning, when it came to actual tactical planning and large-scale battlefield command, Reid couldn't compare to Une and Brian Eno—he might not even match Noin.
Therefore, for battlefield tactics, Reid only needed to provide the general direction—the specifics could be left to Une's execution. Like Kira in the theatrical version, his place was at the front lines, where his expertise could be fully utilized.
After Reid's departure, Graham Huber on the opposing side immediately received frontline reports:
"Sir, the New Misurugi Republic's fleet has launched approximately sixty unknown mechanical objects from their formation toward us. Each measures over thirty meters long, egg-shaped, and emits unknown green particles. However, their flight speed is very slow."
Hearing this, Graham Huber's previously furrowed brow relaxed slightly as he murmured:
"Finally making your move? After all this time, I'd have been worried if your New Misurugi Republic didn't have any new tricks up your sleeves. It's good that you're showing your hand—now we can just counter as we go."
Graham Huber then issued his commands directly:
"Have the vanguard fleet dispatch five Nazca-class ships to charge forward and intercept those machines directly with shipboard artillery. Whatever these things are, detonating them closer to the New Misurugi Republic fleet will work to our advantage."
Normally, Graham Huber's order would have been correct, but Reid possessed far more information than he knew.
Thus, when the five Nazca-class ships broke away from the main force with a death-defying resolve and entered the New Misurugi Republic's artillery range first, they were surprised to find that the enemy seemed to ignore them entirely—not even a single missile was launched.
After successfully destroying the strange machines deployed by the New Misurugi Republic, the captains of these five Nazca-class ships discovered that the green particles inside had dispersed across the entire battlefield with the explosions.
The next moment, the Nazca-class ships realized their communications with nearby allied vessels had been severed.
By then, even a fool would have understood—these strange green particles were meant to disrupt communications, and they were exceptionally potent.
Reid, who had already arrived at the frontline piloting the Hermes Zero, saw that ZAFT had indeed helped him spread the Minovsky Particles as intended. Without hesitation, he issued the order:
"Vanguard forces, follow me in the assault!"
With that, Reid, leveraging his speed, instantly accelerated to Mach 3. The bridges of the five Nazca-class ships were still in chaos. By the time Reid began his charge and the CIC thermal radar operators started reporting, the captains finally ordered their Mobile Suits to launch.
The outcome was predictable. These five Nazca-class ships managed to catapult only a single GINN before the Hermes Zero closed the distance in an instant and obliterated their bridges with an electromagnetic rifle shot.
As for the unfortunate GINN pilot, the very first second of this war meant facing the destruction of his mothership and the enemy's top commander right in his face.
Thus, the unlucky GINN pilot mustered all his courage, drew his heavy heat sword, and charged at the Hermes Zero—only to have his cockpit blown apart by a single shot from Reid.
Reid had fired the first shot of the war, and naturally, the New Misurugi Republic's vanguard Mobile Suits also began their charge!
On the main battlefield, Reid had prepared five hundred Mobile Dolls for the assault. As they advanced, the rear fleet launched a barrage of missiles to cover their attack against ZAFT's forces.
By this point, ZAFT's commander, Graham Huber, had already dispatched the flagship's Mobile Suits and ordered the scattered fleet to regroup.
But there was no helping it—ZAFT's communications had been severed, and Graham Huber's orders simply couldn't get through. After multiple attempts, they found that only short-range laser communication still functioned.
In that case, there was no choice. While clustering the ships made them easier targets for the enemy's heavy artillery, it was still better than losing all command over the fleet due to communication failure.
After all, heavy artillery fire could still be dodged, but if the forces were left without coordination, the battle could be lost in no time.
ZAFT's fleet executed with remarkable efficiency. The flagship's orders quickly spread through the fleet in a relay fashion.
Except for ZAFT's vanguard fleet, which was too embroiled in combat with Reid's Mobile Suit forces to respond promptly, the middle and rear sections of the fleet swiftly regrouped, reestablishing their communication network through laser communication relays.
At this moment, the distance between ships in ZAFT's fleet was at least one-third shorter than normal spacing. Meanwhile, the right-wing forces led by Ange and the left-wing forces commanded by Noin had already engaged ZAFT's flanking units.
In truth, Reid had deployed much stronger fleets on both flanks than at the center. The AI-controlled fleet under Hoshino Ruri's command was positioned within Ange's right-wing formation – this was the same commander who could utilize her ship "friends" as battleship-type "Bits."
The ship commanders under Hoshino Ruri's fleet had remarkably easy duties, as she only needed to designate targets for the Mobile Dolls. Through the Battleship-Type Telepathy System, Ruri could directly control the AI of her subordinate ships for movement and attacks.
With Ruri's fleet coordination, combined with Ange and the Black Tri-Stars' natural proficiency in surprise assaults, ZAFT's left-wing forces (note: ZAFT's and the protagonist fleet's left/right wings were inverted) soon had their defensive line torn open by the Immortal Aegis' Beam Gatling Equipment. The Black Tri-Stars then followed up, charging through the breach to widen the gap.
Finally, the Mobile Dolls swarmed in. Even with GuAIZ units that matched the Strike Gundam's performance, the scattered ZAFT forces stood no chance against seven or eight Mobile Suits surrounding and overwhelming them with concentrated fire – sheer numbers defeating skill.
As Reid had instructed them not to penetrate too deeply (their strategic goal being to compress ZAFT's ship spacing), Ange and the Black Tri-Stars resisted the temptation to attempt breaking through to destroy the flagship. Yet even without a full assault, ZAFT's left wing had to retreat to reorganize after their line was breached – successfully achieving the spacing compression objective.
Similarly, the New Misurugi Republic's left-wing offensive progressed smoothly. Reid piloted the Hermes Zero, while the Mystic Lightning naturally went to Xia Yulan, now equipped with the Mental Link System – though mook-clearing operations hardly required Psycho-Link activation. Emulating Reid's tactics, Yulan simply activated Fixed Mirage Colloid stealth (her Lambda Driver proficiency nearly matching his) and vanished across the battlefield.
Noin's situation differed. Despite having awakened as a Newtype after Reid's modifications, she remained unskilled with these abilities, and her custom machine wasn't ready. Thus she continued operating the Wing Gundam – ironically perfect for grunt suppression. The Buster Beam Rifle's three-shot limit became irrelevant thanks to Matilda Ajan, her ship's logistics-specialist captain who prepositioned six rifles. Automated retrievers would deliver fresh weapons while collecting spent ones for recharge, ensuring continuous firepower.
Against the Buster Beam Rifle, ZAFT's GINNs and GuAIZ units fared equally – grazing hits meant instant death, direct impacts left no remains. With Noin clearing mobs and Xia Yufang's NT-X Gundam finishing survivors, Yulan stealthily reached the battleships' vicinity, commencing her "Reaper's roll call."
The ZAFT ship captains knew how to deal with the Mirage Colloid System. After the first warship was ambushed and shot down, all nearby vessels immediately activated machine gun barrages and fired close-range anti-air scatter shots for indiscriminate area suppression.
Unfortunately, ZAFT's standard warships lacked Anti-Beam Explosive Shells. While this indiscriminate fire could indeed reveal the position of the Mystic Lightning, it posed no threat to the machine, which could simultaneously activate its Phase Shift Armor.
Thus, Xia Yufang simply tanked the machine gun fire and proceeded to take out four more warships. Only when the internal heat buildup reached a critical level did she decloak, drawing dual Heat Sabers to engage the escort Mobile Suits. This allowed the Mobile Suit to dissipate heat while adding a few more kills to her tally.
Faced with such an unreasonable foe, ZAFT's right-wing fleet had only one option: have their Mobile Suits pin down the Mystic Lightning, denying it any chance to cloak, while all warships retreated to avoid being rapidly closed in on by the elusive machine.
But as ZAFT's left and right-wing fleets pulled back, Graham Huber immediately sensed something amiss. He barked orders:
"No good! The New Misurugi Republic forces are trying to herd our ships together. They must have a scheme. Order both flank fleets to counterattack at all costs, regardless of casualties!!"
With Graham Huber's command issued, ZAFT's flank forces had no choice but to desperately push forward despite their terror of the enemy before them. For a moment, they actually managed to stabilize their formation. Though casualties were heavy, the New Misurugi Republic's Mobile Doll numbers were also rapidly dwindling.
At this point, Une made her move. Seeing the enemy organizing a counterattack, she knew the battle couldn't drag on—protracted fighting would incur too many losses, jeopardizing the next phase of the Show Sword Plan. She immediately ordered:
"Activate the Barge Cannon! Target the lower section of the enemy fleet and sweep upward. Mobile Dolls controlling the firing axis, evade. Notify Reid to sweep the upper section of the enemy's central fleet with the Super Destroyer Cannon once the Barge Cannon attack concludes. After bombardment, immediately clear the attack axis set by the Solar Ray System."
As Une finished speaking, the Mobile Dolls began relaying the orders in sequence, and Reid soon received the message.
Without hesitation, Reid abandoned his current targets and flew clear of the Barge Cannon's firing axis.
The ZAFT vanguard forces only noticed the enemy Mobile Suit formation suddenly scattering, with the machines swiftly peeling away to reveal a direct path to the opposing mobile fortress.
Then, the ZAFT pilots saw the mobile fortress's massive black cannon glowing with golden light—the telltale sign of high-energy beam charging.
Naturally, Graham Huber at the rear saw this too. He leapt to his feet and roared:
"Calculate the firing axis! Order all units in its path to emergency evade!!"
But Graham Huber was a step too late. His command had barely been relayed when the Barge Cannon fired.
The nearly one-kilometer-wide cannon barrel fired a beam that instantly expanded to five kilometers in diameter before being shaped. The high-energy particle stream obliterated seven ZAFT warships and all Mobile Suits along its firing axis. As the Barge warship adjusted its position, the Barge Cannon's beam swept upward, destroying five more warships and countless Mobile Suits before its energy was depleted.
Since the beam swept from below, the warships and Mobile Suits could only evade upward. With the ZAFT fleet already tightly packed, emergency maneuvers caused several collisions between ships.
Yet Graham Huber breathed a sigh of relief when the enemy's attack ended—their losses were still within acceptable limits. A weapon of such destructive power couldn't fire rapidly. During its recharge time, he had to find a way to break through the frontlines and either force the mobile fortress to retreat or destroy it.
But Graham Huber didn't expect what came next. A beam nearly fifty meters thick swept across the upper section of his fleet, annihilating three more warships and at least forty Mobile Suits.
This attack came from a new model of Mobile Suit deployed by the New Misurugi Republic on the frontlines.
Graham Huber instantly realized one thing—the New Misurugi Republic had developed a devastating high-energy beam cannon technology. Reports from the right flank had mentioned a single Mobile Suit repeatedly firing beams over ten meters thick, inflicting heavy losses.
However, since that unit's range wasn't excessively long, Graham Huber had only ordered high-mobility Mobile Suits to engage it.
Now, it was clear that unit might have been an early prototype of this high-energy beam weapon—and there could be many more Mobile Suits equipped with similar weapons waiting for them.
Just as Graham Huber lamented how difficult this battle would be against so many super beam weapons, the ship's announcer suddenly spoke up.
"Report! The enemy fleet has abruptly split left and right, revealing the Star Palace Colony Satellite behind them... Wait! There's something unfolding near the Star Palace Colony Satellite—is that... a Solar Ray Reflector?"
The announcer's words cut off abruptly—he never got the chance to finish. Graham Huber watched the tactical display as countless solar reflectors near the Star Palace Colony Satellite unfolded. Before he could even process what the New Misurugi Republic was planning, his vision was instantly flooded with blinding white light.
In that fleeting moment, Graham Huber felt as though he had been cast into the heart of the sun—his body incinerated, his soul sublimated into wisps of smoke...
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