"..."
"Contract the defensive line! Get our people concentrated within the base's anti-air coverage!"
"All wire-guided rocket propelled grenades and Beam Cannons, prepare to aim! Wait for that Mobile Suit at the front to come closer, then hit it with concentrated fire! We must shoot the enemy down!"
With the Communication Channels and targeting systems jammed, only wire guidance posed any real threat to such an agile MS.
If it were one of those clumsy MS, once it stepped into this snowfield and sank in, it would be hard to get out—ordinary missiles would suffice, since there'd be no dodging them.
Even the ground-based BuCUE couldn't run very fast across the soft snow surrounding them.
That was one of the reasons they had chosen to build the base in this location.
But they had never imagined that ZAFT's technological iteration would advance so quickly.
No... perhaps it was because of the stolen ORB technology?
Silently cursing ORB in his heart, the officer in charge swept his eyes over the base map displayed before him as he directed the battle.
This place was underground and could be sealed off if necessary—barely enough to save their lives.
As for the experimental subjects on the surface, countless explosives had already been installed above them. Once detonated, whether it was the evidence of their crimes or those invaders, everything would be buried here.
It would also erase every trace.
Even if those Aces truly broke through to this place, they could still bury them alive here.
And if the enemy really had the capability to wipe out all of their defensive forces, then sacrificing one base to take out such an Ace squad would count as making up for their failure.
With that thought, the officer did not hesitate and continued giving orders.
"Have all high-value targets move into the underground shelter."
"Yes, sir!"
Amid the flurry of commands, Fred had already piloted the Freedom Gundam all the way to the airspace above the base.
His arrival seemed to have triggered some kind of trap.
Rocket propelled grenades, Anti-Aircraft Guns, and Beam Cannon turrets within the base came swarming toward him as if they cost nothing.
Meanwhile, the few Atlantic Federation GINNs on the ground raised their Beam Rifles and opened fire on him.
Although they had only just obtained the technology from the G Project, it was clear the Atlantic Federation had already put it to use quickly.
If it had been broad daylight, facing this kind of formation, Fred might have felt a bit daunted.
But this was not broad daylight—it was a blizzard night of terrible conditions.
Even wire-guided missiles and rocket propelled grenades had their targeting capability greatly reduced in this weather.
Not to mention that Fred had the Freedom, renowned for its agility within the atmosphere.
As he flew backward in evasive maneuvers, the Freedom's multi-colored cannons fired from time to time.
The shield in his hand blocked the thick Beams that he couldn't dodge.
Thus, the numerous attacks flying toward him were either evaded or shot down.
As for the massive Beams, troublesome as they were, he only needed to fly into the clouds, and those attacks could no longer pose any real threat to him.
And without giving them a chance for a second wave of attacks, Lasty and the others following behind Fred quickly began firing at the positions of those turrets.
Under the gap in both mobile suits and ability, the remaining GINNs piloted by the Atlantic Federation's aces likewise couldn't hold out much longer.
As for whether the pilots of those GINNs were the Atlantic Federation's mixed-blood Coordinators or Enhanced Persons, it no longer mattered to Fred and the others.
This was a battlefield. No matter who the enemy was, as long as they were still piloting weapons, they had to die.
"How's the evacuation going?"
Seeing that all was lost, the officer in charge took a deep breath and asked.
"All high-value targets have been evacuated underground!"
"Activate the Self-Destruct Program!"
"Yes, sir!"
At those words, everyone in the command room breathed a sigh of relief.
Better you die than I.
Their defeat was now obvious.
In that case, blowing up everyone above ground was the best option. As for the innocent people?
Such a thing didn't exist.
They had nothing left anyway.
"Activate the Self-Destruct Program!"
With the officer's authorization, the operator gazed at the mobile suits that had already landed inside the base and were using their Vulcan Cannons to mow down the ground anti-air units, took a deep breath, and pressed the bright red button.
All was lost. Their ground forces could do nothing more than fire a few harmless small missiles at the enemy. Death was only a matter of time.
Detonating now could at least be considered avenging them.
However, the idea was beautiful, but reality was not.
Although they had mentally prepared themselves, after the self-destruct button was pressed, not only did they fail to detonate the base, but the massive steel gate behind them let out the sound of locking shut.
Then, more and more images of gates locking appeared on the large screen before them, fed from the various internal surveillance cameras.
"Our system has been hijacked. All the gates have been emergency-locked. We're trapped in here."
The systems officer in charge cried out in alarm.
"What?"
Wasn't this an internal network? They weren't connected to the outside at all—how was this possible without any external connection?
And yet they hadn't detected the slightest anomaly along the way?
But now was clearly not the time to dwell on that.
With their last resort failing, the officer in charge stared at the tightly sealed gates, speechless for a long while.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Fred and the others quickly finished mopping up the remaining ground forces.
They smoothly infiltrated the interior of the base.
"According to current surveillance, there are sixteen armed personnel ahead of you. Their exact positions have been synced to your computers."
Hawk's voice rang out in everyone's earpieces.
"Good. Let's begin."
Looking at the assault squad in front of him as they finished checking their firearms, Fred waved his hand and gave them a gesture to advance.
With the entire base's system under their control, the base's fall was only a matter of time.
Soon, all remaining resistance had nowhere to hide under the cameras that ran throughout the entire base, and they were wiped out completely.
As for the locked-up officers and the like, they were to be handed over to the follow-up units.
After all, he had no need to personally handle that kind of thing.
Doing so wouldn't grant him any skill bonuses—nothing but trouble.
His mission was essentially complete at this point.
However, even though he had expected the grim scene, seeing the various experimental facilities inside the base, the young man still felt a surge of anger rise in his heart.
These people had lost even the most basic sense of conscience.
"Damn it!"
Not just Fred—behind him, Hawk, who had already finished analyzing the data, and the others all wore expressions of either fear or rage.
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