Neil opening fire signaled Reid's imminent move.
Before taking action, however, Reid once again patched into the Guyana-class Land Battleship's communication system and said:
"Colonel Kati Mannequin, the situation is clear now. At the very least, I don't see the A-Laws forces currently under your command having the capability to resolve the Otherworld Entanglement.
But I've taken note of your hostility. Once this mission is over, I'll find an opportunity to engage with you properly. After suppressing myself for four years, I could use a reason to stir up some chaos."
With that, Reid immediately piloted his Mobile Suit straight toward the Z Plus A1.
From the earlier battles, Reid had deduced that only he and Ange could engage Amuro's Z Plus A1 with a reasonable degree of safety. Anyone else attempting to do so would be dancing on a tightrope.
And this was Amuro not at his peak. Reid felt that before facing the Amuro of 0093, he should take advantage of the current significant performance gap between their Mobile Suits to spar seriously with the pilot before him.
After all, reputation carries weight. The name Amuro Ray alone was enough for Reid to devote his utmost Focus to the battle.
Truth be told, Reid hadn't been nearly as concentrated during his earlier fight against Char in the Hyaku Shiki. It goes to show that even if a repeatedly defeated super ace and an undefeated super ace were at the same skill level, the latter would exert far greater pressure.
Thus, Reid immediately deployed the Gundam Artemis's High-Energy Laser Funnels and continuously fired the Magnum Beam Rifle to control the Z Plus A1's movement.
However, to Reid's surprise, instead of engaging, Amuro transformed the Z Plus A1 into Waverider Mode and swiftly retreated toward the Ex-S Gundam.
This retreat was entirely in character for Amuro.
This Amuro wasn't some reckless rookie who only knew how to charge forward. From the Beam potency and sprint speed of the Gundam Artemis, he immediately recognized the Z Plus A1's absolute performance disadvantage.
Faced with inferior specs, why would anyone choose to engage in a one-on-one dogfight in open air with no cover?
Under such circumstances, the logical choices were either to regroup with powerful allies for a combined assault or to retreat to complex terrain for tactical ambushes.
The Earth Federation's anti-government detention facility was located in an open coastal area surrounded by wasteland, devoid of mountainous terrain for cover.
Therefore, Amuro naturally opted to rendezvous with powerful friendly units.
And the most powerful Mobile Suit delivered through the Otherworld Entanglement was undoubtedly the Ex-S Gundam.
Through the mutual sensing ability of powerful Newtypes, Reid immediately perceived Amuro's lack of combat intent.
Combined with his actions, Reid knew exactly what he was planning: escape.
It was worth noting that once Reid made his move, the rest of his team also began to besiege the remaining Otherworld Gundams.
If Amuro managed to join that chaotic melee, there was a real risk of him ambushing and eliminating several squad members during the battle.
After all, the firepower of these Otherworld Mobile Suits was exceptionally fierce, and the group combat had already escalated into a storm of Beams and missiles filling the sky.
Without hesitation, Reid activated the Red Comet skill, recalling his Funnels before instantly triggering triple speed. While charging forward, he fired to intercept the Z Plus A1 attempting to regroup with the main force.
Although the Z Plus A1 was a Mobile Suit designed for atmospheric combat—enhanced with FXA-01K Type Flight Armor and enlarged variable-sweep wings to improve atmospheric mobility—it was ultimately a mass-produced unit whose overall performance fell short of the Zeta Gundam.
A critical weakness in speed came from its propulsion system: instead of the combined thermonuclear jet and rocket propulsion engines, it was equipped with only a single thermonuclear jet engine. Additionally, the cooling system was replaced with a cheaper but heavier full-body air-cooling structure.
As a result, the Z Plus A1's Waverider Mode could only achieve a straight-line dash speed of Mach 1.
Under normal circumstances, Mach 1 speed within the atmosphere wasn't particularly slow for a Mobile Suit.
However, with GN Particle Anti-gravity and thrust provided by the miniature nuclear fusion reactor, the Gundam Artemis in MS Mode could already approach Mach 1. After activating the Red Comet skill, reaching Mach 2.5 was guaranteed.
Thus, the Z Plus A1 was quickly intercepted by the Gundam Artemis.
Sensing a trace of Char's aura from the opponent, Amuro decided not to flee.
While maintaining high-speed momentum, Amuro transformed his Mobile Suit back into MS Mode and ascended sharply, causing Reid's predictive shots to miss entirely while securing the high ground.
From this advantageous position, Amuro didn't hold back—he immediately fired the FXA-03M2 Type High-Energy Mega Particle Cannon at the Gundam Artemis.
Among powerful Newtypes, predicting firing timing was almost instinctive, making reaction speed the deciding factor—an area where Reid was no less capable than Amuro.
Reid easily evaded the shot by maneuvering his Mobile Suit sideways, then counterattacked by firing a Magnum Beam at the Z Plus A1 to force Amuro into a major evasion, preventing him from using sustained High-Energy Mega Particle Cannon fire for positional suppression.
Facing the Magnum Beam, Amuro—whose New Human Ability included exceptionally sharp danger perception (some speculated his ability was specifically honed for threat detection)—instantly recognized he couldn't block it with his Shield and had no choice but to dodge.
This created an opening for Reid's assault.
The Gundam Artemis' various Funnels instantly deployed, launching multi-directional attacks against Amuro from all angles.
However, Amuro was quite familiar with Funnel-type weapons.
Though this was his first encounter with Funnels operational in Earth's atmosphere, the countermeasures remained largely similar.
Without hesitation, Amuro immediately transformed his unit into MA Mode and gained altitude. The logic was simple: Funnels couldn't move quickly or far, and their beam weapons had limited range. Creating sufficient distance would neutralize most of the threat from MS-mounted Funnels.
But Amuro had underestimated the Gundam Artemis' Funnel systems. While the High-Energy Laser Funnels still suffered from those three limitations, the two Large Heavy Particle Funnels had no such range restrictions.
Reid synchronized his consciousness with Nein behind him, having her assist in calculating the Z Plus A1's ascent trajectory. He then preemptively fired three beams—from his Magnum rifle and two Large Heavy Particle Funnels—sealing off all possible escape routes for the Z Plus A1.
By the time Amuro realized that climbing was futile, it was too late. He had no choice but to take one of the three beams head-on.
Amuro's decision was characteristic of his style: he directly threw his FXA-03M2 Type High-Energy Mega Particle Cannon at one of the Heavy Particle Beams, then raised his Shield to block the shockwave from the cannon's explosion upon beam impact and the weakened Heavy Particle Beam.
This was undoubtedly the right move. Although the Heavy Particle Beams fired by the Large Heavy Particle Funnels weren't as devastating as the Magnum Beam—which could cripple half a Mobile Suit even with a glancing Shield hit—their power was still sufficient to blast through ordinary anti-beam coating Shields and destroy the arm behind it.
Amuro knew all too well that if his Mobile Suit lost an arm, his chances of turning the tables against such a powerful Newtype and the significant performance gap between their machines would be slim.
So, Amuro chose to sacrifice one gun, hoping to preserve his Shield in the process.
As it turned out, Amuro's luck held once again. And he once again demonstrated his formidable danger-sensing ability.
Amid the explosion's smoke, a Mega Particle Beam shot out, striking with pinpoint accuracy one of the Large Heavy Particle Funnels that was preparing to return to the Gundam Artemis for recharging.
Simultaneously, the Z Plus A1, its Shield slightly damaged, instantly closed in on another Large Heavy Particle Funnel and sliced it apart with a Beam Saber.
These two actions occurred almost at the same time.
In other words, Amuro had blindly fired through the smoke to hit one Large Heavy Particle Funnel, then with absolute confidence holstered his weapon, drew his Beam Saber, and charged out of the smoke to destroy the second one.
Throughout this, Nein, who was controlling the two Funnels, was completely unable to react in time.
Since the first beam directly targeted a Large Heavy Particle Funnel far from the Mobile Suit, no alert was triggered. By the time the beam was visible, it was already too late.
As for the subsequent slash, Nein explained that she was still trying to deduce the enemy's position from the earlier beam to guide Reid in a blind shot, but she never expected the enemy to charge straight at her second Large Heavy Particle Funnel. As a result, she failed to maneuver the Funnel away from the Beam Saber's strike in time, leading to the destruction of both Large Heavy Particle Funnels.
While Nein was utterly astonished by how the opposing pilot managed such feats, Reid wasn't particularly surprised.
Amuro using a Beam Saber to cut down Funnels was practically standard procedure for him. Losing two Funnels to him today was entirely expected.
Without hesitation, Reid immediately holstered his Magnum rifle and prepared to close in for melee combat with Amuro.
Reid had now realized that trying to shoot Amuro down from a distance was quite challenging, especially since he was piloting a highly agile Mobile Suit.
If ranged attacks weren't working, then close combat was the way to go. The Z Plus A1's limb movement speed, short-range maneuvering capability, and overall output were far inferior to the Gundam Artemis.
Moreover, the Z Plus A1 lacked a Psychoframe and, to cut costs, didn't even have a Bio-Sensor. This made it nearly impossible for Amuro to pull off any miracles.
Ordinary Newtype abilities cannot allow a Mobile Suit to break through physical limitations. Once close combat begins, the Z Plus A1 would inevitably fall into a disadvantage quickly.
Normally, Amuro would do everything possible to avoid close combat with the Gundam Artemis, but now he had no choice.
Reid's Red Comet skill was still active, and the Z Plus A1 had already rushed extremely close to the Gundam Artemis in order to slash at the returning Large Heavy Particle Funnels.
As a result, the Z Plus A1 was completely unable to avoid being closed in on by the Gundam Artemis.
However, even in close combat, Reid and Amuro still had a few tricks up their sleeves.
Under Amuro's control, the Z Plus A1 appeared to have taken a stance, ready for close-quarters combat.
But just as the Gundam Artemis was about to rush into his face, Amuro fired a burst from the Mobile Suit's head-mounted 60mm Vulcan Gun at the Gundam Artemis.
This kind of attack was naturally not meant to blow the Gundam Artemis's head off with the 60mm Vulcan Gun—it was only intended to interfere with the optical data collection of the main camera.
Then, that sly old fox Amuro directly threw his Shield in an attempt to spoof the lock-on.
Since the Z Plus A1's Shield had already been severely damaged earlier while blocking the residual waves of the Heavy Particle Beam, Amuro had no hope that it could still block a Beam Saber, let alone the massive sword on the opposing Mobile Suit's left arm, which looked extremely powerful.
However, Reid and Amuro were thinking along the same lines.
During the assault, Reid used his direct mental communication to notify Nein to activate the Decoy Balloon capsules on the Mobile Suit's waist, launching several Decoy Balloons to spoof the lock-on.
Thus, a comical scene unfolded on the battlefield.
Because the Gundam Artemis's main camera was jammed by the 60mm Vulcan Gun, Amuro successfully spoofed the lock-on by throwing his Shield at the perfect moment.
Although Reid had been watching out for this move from Amuro and realized Amuro was up to no good when he attacked the main camera, the Gundam Artemis was moving too fast under the boost of the Red Comet skill, making it difficult for Reid to change his attack. As a result, his first strike still landed on the Shield. Although he successfully sliced through the Shield, there was no Z Plus A1 behind it.
However, the same problem occurred on Amuro's side as well.
Just as Amuro saw his trick succeed and prepared to maneuver the Z Plus A1 to the side and deliver a heavy blow to his opponent, three Decoy Balloons suddenly appeared in front of his Mobile Suit. The Z Plus A1's lock-on was thrown into disarray, and after sidestepping, he ended up slashing one of the Decoy Balloons.
Thus, in this exchange, because both Reid and Amuro tried to spoof lock-ons and pull off sneak attacks, they both ended up swinging at thin air.
That said, Reid still came out slightly ahead, because no matter what, the Z Plus A1 had lost its Shield, while Amuro had only managed to pop a balloon.
But their confrontation was far from over. After Amuro's missed strike, he immediately controlled the two Beam Cannons on the Mobile Suit's legs to flip up and fire two shots at the Gundam Artemis's back.
However, these two shots were blocked by the Funnel Wave Shield that Reid promptly deployed.
And the next moment, Amuro had to face the ten High-Energy Laser Funnels that Reid released.
Now, without a Shield, the Z Plus A1 had zero room for error against the High-Energy Laser Funnels.
To make matters worse, Reid had completely surrounded the Z Plus A1 from all angles before opening fire simultaneously. Unless it could instantly learn to particle-phase, the Z Plus A1 would have to sacrifice some components.
Fortunately, Amuro's Awakening Value was high enough, and his Newtype danger perception was sharp, allowing him to distinguish which of the ten high-energy laser beams were lethal and which would only cost him some parts.
Moreover, Amuro held nothing back this time, pulling out all the stops.
The Z Plus A1 wielded two Beam Sabers at once, using their beams to refract and deflect two of the deadly high-energy laser beams.
At the same time, Amuro twisted the Mobile Suit into a bizarre, reclining mid-air pose, doing everything possible to evade the remaining high-energy lasers.
Unfortunately, Reid's Funnel attack had already seized the initiative. The Z Plus A1's swept-back wings on both sides were melted through and destroyed, while its right leg was severed and exploded.
Amuro didn't hesitate for even a second after escaping immediate destruction, immediately launching a counterattack.
He manipulated the Mobile Suit to spin and throw the Beam Saber in its right hand, then fired a shot directly at it.
Since the I-Field on the Beam Saber hadn't yet dissipated, the subsequent beam attack was diffused by the I-Field, instantly destroying six of Reid's High-Energy Laser Funnels.
But this was Amuro's last-ditch effort.
The Z Plus A1 had lost all stability and was now plummeting downward.
Seizing the opportunity, Reid closed in with the Gundam Artemis, swiftly severing both of the Z Plus A1's arms to prevent any chance of a comeback.
Then, using the Lambda Driver, Reid condensed a high-density GN Particle Energy Ball in front of the Mobile Suit and fired it directly at the Z Plus A1's Minovsky Fusion Reactor. (Its location is the same as that of the Zeta Gundam.)
The GN Particle Energy Ball easily melted through the armor and struck the Minovsky Fusion Reactor. The high concentration of Minovsky Particles inside reacted violently with the equally dense GN Particles, causing an immediate explosion.
The Z Plus A1 erupted into a massive explosion high in the sky. Thanks to the superior performance of his Mobile Suit, Reid had finally managed to defeat Amuro for the first time.
(End of Chapter)