After Neil finished speaking, silence once again fell over the Ptolemy II's communication channel.
The members of Celestial Being wanted to reprimand Reid for this severe restriction of personal freedom, but on second thought, it seemed Celestial Being had been the same way before. In his years as Lockon, Neil had never met with his younger brother, Lyle, at most watching him from a distance to confirm he was safe.
Moreover, at this point, the Gran Chaos was already notifying Neil's Dark Hunter Gundam to launch.
So, Neil prepared to end the call, saying, "Alright, it's time for battle. If you have any questions, we can talk later when there's a chance. Let's solve the Otherworld Entanglement problem first."
With that, the Dark Hunter Gundam was launched from the Gran Chaos.
Seeing that Neil and his brothers had finished their reunion, Reid began issuing commands over the team's voice channel.
"Barbatos Lupus and Garibaldi Rebake, remain on the deck and guard the Gran Chaos.
"Ange, Gaia, Ortega, Mash, surround them from the right flank.
"Noin, Salya, Hilda, Belfgang, surround them from the left flank.
"Yulan, Yufang, Neil, and Orga's squad, you'll assault from the front with me!"
After speaking, Reid piloted the Gundam Artemis and charged forward first.
However, as Reid's team rapidly approached the battlefield, the A-Laws' Guyana-class Land Battleship began broadcasting over its external speakers and all platforms. Kati Mannequin's voice announced, "To the SDP forces, the Earth has now been unified. Your unit does not have the authority to engage in Mobile Suit combat within Earth's territory. The forces that appeared from the Otherworld Entanglement will be dealt with by us, the Earth Federation's special peacekeeping force, A-Laws. Please do not interfere with the battlefield. Land your mobile suits and await our inspection."
Reid almost laughed when he heard this. How confident were these A-Laws, demanding that he land and await inspection? They were clearly just looking for trouble.
In fact, Reid wasn't wrong. A-Laws was indeed looking for trouble.
Due to Reid's intervention, the A-Laws of this universe was not a Titans-like organization formed by consolidating forces to deal with the growing anti-Earth Federation factions.
Here, the formation of A-Laws began immediately after the establishment of the Earth Federation Government. The reason was simple: to deal with the SDP and any future Otherworld Entanglements that might appear.
Ribbons didn't even need to act as the mastermind behind the scenes to create a special force for the Otherworld Entanglement and the SDP. He only needed to plant the idea, and the Earth Federation Government itself would eagerly push it forward.
Dealing with the Otherworld Entanglement was already a responsibility of the Earth Federation Government; they needed to prove to the people that the SDP was no longer needed to solve these incidents.
As for the SDP, they were a force lurking in the shadows that the Federation Government could not ignore.
To put it bluntly, the SDP's existence made the Earth Federation Government feel as if someone was constantly aiming a sniper rifle at their heads from the dark. Naturally, they would spare no effort to eliminate this sense of threat.
Therefore, this version of A-Laws was created from its inception to deal with Reid's unit. The current announcement was merely a formality, an excuse to start a fight.
Thus, Reid had Hoshino Ruri connect his voice directly to the Guyana-class Land Battleship's communication channel, using the same disguised voice from four years ago.
"Colonel Kati Mannequin, we haven't appeared in four years, and it seems you have quite a strong opinion of my unit. May I take that as a declaration of war?"
Hearing Reid's voice again, Kati Mannequin was not too surprised. She was far more confident now than she had been four years ago. She replied, "Commander of the SDP, the world today is not the world of four years ago. We are now capable of resolving the problem of Otherworld Entanglements ourselves. Therefore, the problem of your illegal armed group's existence should also be resolved."
Reid let out a cold laugh. "Heh, illegal armed group? You're not wrong about that. It seems our unit has never been legal throughout history. But you say this A-Laws you've formed can solve the Otherworld Entanglements? Where does your confidence come from? Actions speak louder than words. The mobile suits from the Otherworld Entanglement are right in front of us. I'll watch you wipe them out this time. If you truly have the ability to eliminate otherworldly MS, then I might really not appear again in the future. Or, are you prepared to engage me with the forces of your single mothership and see if you can hold out until the rapidly converging reinforcements arrive?"
Reid's words were actually meant to make Kati Mannequin's A-Laws clash with the Gundams that had appeared, to see if the A-Laws' MS were different from those in the original story.
At the same time, Reid could also observe Amuro's movements during this battle. After all, he had never fought against this absolute protagonist of the UC series before and was completely unfamiliar with him.
Kati Mannequin understood Reid's meaning in a second. After a few moments of thought, she decided to play along with Reid's words to buy time.
In Kati Mannequin's view, only six mobile suits had appeared in this Otherworld Entanglement, which wasn't a large number. Moreover, there were no super-large, high-firepower Mobile Armors like the ones from four years ago.
It seemed what the SDP said about otherworldly beings getting stronger the longer they stayed in this world was true. Ever since that Kowloon died four years ago and the massive MA invasion ended, no more Otherworld Entanglements had appeared. Now, four years later, the scale of its reappearance was clearly much smaller.
Therefore, between six unknown otherworldly MS and the SDP's dozen ridiculously powerful main units and the hundreds of unmanned mass-production machines in their mothership, anyone with a clear head would not think the SDP was an easier opponent than those six mobile suits.
Thus, facing the SDP, a force that could potentially shoot down her mothership and wipe out her entire unit in a single charge, Kati Mannequin very prudently chose to engage the Otherworld Entanglement mobile suits, which were currently in a frenzy and fighting the defense forces of the anti-government prison below.
As for the Celestial Being Gundams, they were the lowest priority among the three groups of enemies A-Laws had to deal with, so she would ignore them for now.
So, Kati Mannequin finally said with great determination, "Commander of the SDP, I will prove to you that in today's world, the mobile suits from the Otherworld Entanglement are no longer an unbeatable enemy."
After speaking, Kati Mannequin said over the A-Laws' internal voice channel, "First and Second Squads, coordinate with the prison's anti-air defenses below to cut off and surround the Otherworld Entanglement mobile suits, then destroy them one by one."
Hearing this, Reid also spoke on his own team's channel, "Everyone, once the encirclement is complete, you can hold your fire for now. Let's watch A-Laws put on a show for us and get a feel for the enemy's movements and armaments."
And so, in the eyes of Celestial Being, the charging SDP forces did not immediately rush into the fray with the Otherworld Entanglement units as they had four years ago. Instead, the dozen or so mobile suits formed a loose encirclement.
A-Laws, on the other hand, charged like hounds toward the six Otherworld Entanglement mobile suits. Twelve Ahead units used the four small beam cannons on their GN Lances to create an impenetrable web of fire, intending to suppress the enemy's movements, with two Harute units providing command and support from behind.
However, faced with such a simple attack, the six teleported otherworldly MS simply evaded with their shields and maneuvers.
But the counterattack from these six otherworldly MS was not something A-Laws could easily handle.
The Full Armor Red Falcon Gundam unleashed its full firepower: six beam launchers, four propellant wing beam cannons, the shoulder-mounted MEGA Beam Launcher, and the Linear Beam Lance in its hand.
The FAZZ didn't use its iconic Large Hyper MEGA Cannon, but instead showed off its missile capacity. The 6-tube small missile launcher on its left shoulder, the 3-tube missile pod on its left arm, the two 8-tube missile pods on its chest (AMA-09S type), and the 2-tube large cluster missile launcher on its abdomen (AMA-13S type) all fired in a full burst, instantly filling the sky with a swarm of missiles heading for the Ahead units.
The Ex-S Gundam also fired a salvo from its four back-mounted beam cannons, two leg-mounted beam cannons, and its Spirit Beam Cannon.
The overwhelming firepower of these three Gundams truly unleashed a fleet-level barrage.
The Ahead and Harute units charging toward them were instantly engulfed in various beams and explosions. Only two Ahead units positioned at the edge and the GN Cannon Zero (the GM Head unit, as identified by Hoshino Ruri) which was hanging back due to its slower speed, managed to survive.
Unfortunately, while the GN Cannon Zero was safe due to its distance, the two Ahead units only survived a few seconds longer than their comrades. The Kapursli Muninn transformed directly into MA Mode, and while boosting, it sniped one Ahead with its Fedayeen Long Barrel Beam Rifle, then pounced on the other like a bird of prey.
The pilot of this Ahead tried to counter with a thrust from their GN Lance.
But the Ahead's thrust was caught directly by the Kapursli Muninn's mechanical claw. Then, its two MEG Particle Cannons fired continuously, blasting the Ahead's upper torso into pieces.
Kati Mannequin had severely underestimated the combat power of these six Gundams. The Gundam Swan and Z Plus A1 hadn't even made a move, and in just one exchange, the A-Laws' First and Second Squads were almost completely wiped out.
However, it wasn't over yet. The Gundam Swan hadn't attacked because it truly couldn't find an opportunity.
But the Z Plus A1 was piloted by the old schemer, Amuro.
Seeing the enemy's first wave annihilated by his allies' firepower and the second wave forced to evade, leaving the enemy mothership exposed, he immediately transformed his mobile suit into Waverider Mode and charged at full speed toward the Guyana-class Land Battleship.
Kati Mannequin noticed the Z Plus A1's surprise attack immediately and commanded from within the ship, "Aim all GN Cannons and missiles at the approaching enemy and drive it back. The enemy's firepower is intense. Third and Fourth Squads, continue to try and suppress those five mobile suits in a dispersed formation. Fifth Squad, launch and deal with that orange and white mobile suit that broke from the group."
In fact, having seen this much, Reid already had a rough idea of the A-Laws' mobile suit capabilities.
The Ahead's armaments were similar to the original story, but its mobility was a bit higher than he had imagined.
But what surprised Reid the most was the Guyana-class Land Battleship.
If Reid remembered correctly, the specs for this warship stated it could only carry six MS.
But now, this warship was churning them out like it was giving birth. With six Aheads and one Harute per squad, five squads had already been deployed, plus that GN Cannon Zero. This warship could probably hold 40 MS.
And Reid hadn't looked closely before, but this warship wasn't the 200-meter class from the original story, but a 400-meter class.
Considering the Ahead's performance, Reid was certain that this universe's Earth Federation had made significant progress in E-Carbon lightweight technology.
This seemed to be one of the changes brought about by the Foam Metal he had left behind.
Moreover, because the power of the Gran Chaos had left such a deep impression on the Earth Federation, A-Laws was developing its ships with an emphasis on large size, high capacity, and heavy firepower.
However, the World Change Fluctuation Value was only at 19.988%, with the main increase coming from this wave of otherworldly invading mobile suits. So, this enhancement in the Earth Federation's technological capabilities had almost no impact on the world.
Nevertheless, even if the A-Laws' mobile suits were a bit stronger than in the original story, sending six Aheads and one Harute against a Z Plus A1 piloted by Amuro was still a bit too arrogant.
Amuro, piloting the Z Plus A1 in Waverider Mode, simply performed high-speed left and right barrel rolls to evade all of the Guyana-class Land Battleship's GN Cannons and missiles.
While dodging, Amuro even maneuvered the Waverider Mode to flip forward and fire its thigh-mounted beam cannons, which were now facing forward, at the Guyana-class Land Battleship.
Those two shots directly hit the left and right wings of the land battleship, causing the anti-gravity effect from the GN Particles to fail to support the ship's weight. The ship could only trail smoke as it made an emergency landing on the ground.
Fortunately, Amuro's follow-up finishing blows were intercepted by the deployed Fifth Squad.
Unfortunately for them, they had provoked a Reaper they couldn't afford to mess with.
The intercepted Z Plus A1 transformed directly into MS Mode and was immediately surrounded from all sides by the six Aheads and the Harute.
However, facing the web of fire from seven mobile suits, the Z Plus A1 weaved through it as if it were dancing.
No matter which angle the attacks came from, the Z Plus A1 could dodge as if it had eyes in the back of its head. It would even casually fold back its leg beam cannons without turning its head and destroy a mobile suit attempting a sneak attack from behind.
At this moment, the seven A-Laws pilots felt as if they were fighting a ghost. Their attacks couldn't hit, while the enemy's counterattacks always struck their torsos with precision.
In less than two minutes, the A-Laws' Fifth Squad was completely annihilated.
As for the Third and Fourth Squads that went to attack the other five machines, only a handful remained, barely hanging on.
The A-Laws squad commanded by Kati Mannequin was almost completely wiped out.
Faced with this situation, Kati Mannequin, who had just made an emergency landing, was on the verge of despair.
Four years had passed, and the Earth Federation's MS capabilities had undergone a world-shaking transformation compared to four years ago. Why were they still being reaped like grass when fighting mobile suits from an Otherworld Entanglement?
Here, Kati Mannequin had been tricked by Reid.
This Otherworld Entanglement was actually Reid's assessment mission. How could the difficulty possibly drop off a cliff? The mobile suits appearing from these entanglements would only get stronger.
Although only six machines appeared this time, each was piloted by a side-story protagonist-level character, and they were all human-piloted, unlike the first Otherworld Entanglement's Tallgeese family, which were almost all Mobile Dolls.
Therefore, it was no injustice for five A-Laws squads to be annihilated by these six mobile suits.
However, just as the Z Plus A1 was about to finish off the grounded Guyana-class Land Battleship, a sniper beam shot straight at it.
Amuro, inside, reacted in time and do
dged the beam.
This sniper shot was fired by Neil on Reid's orders. Anyone else here could die, but Kati Mannequin couldn't be taken out of the picture so soon. She still had to command the great war against the ELS in the future.
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