Chapter 3: The Radiance of Nuclear Fire, Protagonist, Deceased

Reid spared the enemy Recon ZINN pilot and disclosed the nuclear attack intel for his own calculated reasons.

This certainly wasn't due to any sudden bout of mercy on Reid's part. To be precise, warning about the nuclear strike on Junius 7 at this point was meaningless. Unless the Moebius launching the nukes could be intercepted, even if the colony immediately launched evacuation ships, the shockwave and debris from the explosion would still kill everyone. The ships wouldn't have enough time to escape the blast radius. Not to mention, there was no guarantee the enemy would even believe his warning.

Reid's actions were a lose-lose scenario. From the Earth Alliance Forces' perspective, directly warning the enemy about their own attack plan was grounds for a court-martial—followed by a bullet to the head.

But for Reid right now, this was about leaving himself an escape route.

Though he had prepared to drift in space, if his plan succeeded and a rescue ship could reach him, ZAFT's reconnaissance units heading to Junius 7 were the most likely to pick him up given his current position. In that case, Reid would be counting on this communication record to save his life—or at least secure a quick death.

As for the possibility of the Earth Alliance Forces retrieving this transmission? Practically zero. The Roosevelt was doomed. After Junius 7's destruction, ZAFT would go berserk, and the Earth Alliance Forces would have no chance of re-entering the area to recover him.

The remaining hope was being picked up by a civilian Earth Alliance vessel or a neutral nation's ship. In that scenario, Reid would have enough time to physically destroy the system logs. Surviving the total annihilation of Junius 7 would already be a miracle—who could guarantee his mobile suit would remain intact?

After piloting the Moebius away from the abandoned platform, Reid turned his attention back to the main battlefield.

In the few minutes Reid had been away fighting the Recon ZINN, the frontline battle had already concluded.

The Atlantic Federation's attack had been an ambush, while Junius 7's defenders were caught in a passive defense. Moreover, PLANT's military was already stretched thin, with most of its forces deployed at the frontlines. The troops left behind to guard an agricultural satellite were generally greencoats from privileged backgrounds—after all, the war had only just begun, and ZAFT hadn't yet been forced to deploy student soldiers.

These greencoat pilots were likely second-rate even among ZAFT's ranks. Combined with the numerical superiority of the Moebius units, once the Recon ZINN was tied up by Reid, the frontline forces, deprived of intel support, quickly collapsed.

All five GINNs had been reduced to wreckage, but the Moebius squad wasn't faring much better. On radar, Reid could only see four remaining Moebius units pushing forward toward Junius 7.

The performance gap between the two sides' machines was simply too vast. And from what Reid had observed of the Atlantic Federation pilots aboard the Roosevelt, their skills were mediocre at best—many were rookies, and all were members of Blue Cosmos. For this mission, loyalty probably mattered more than combat prowess.

Reid's own squad, however, had been temporarily reassigned to bolster the elite forces.

Seeing the situation, Reid quickly opened the comms and hailed his squad:

"This is Reid Isaac. The Recon ZINN has been eliminated. Is anyone still alive? Anyone?"

Reid wasn't really holding out much hope at this point. The kill ratio between GINNs and Moebius units was typically 1:5. Even though his squad had been using guerrilla tactics, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be shot down. After all, incompetent teammates often got veterans killed on the battlefield.

And the Moebius's nickname as a "mass-produced iron coffin" wasn't unfounded. For the sake of mass production, it wasn't equipped with any substantial armor—just a graze could damage it, a direct hit would make it explode. Its defensive capabilities were practically zero.

Fortunately, Captain Steve's voice soon came through the comms. He sounded exhausted, but at least he was alive.

"Reid? As expected of Artemis Fortress's ace. Taking out a Recon ZINN solo with just a Moebius. The others weren't so lucky, though. Our squad's down to just the two of us now. I'm out of ammo and resupplying on the carrier. You must be running low too, so hurry back and—BOOM!!!!!"

Before Captain Steve could finish, a massive explosion roared through the comms, cutting off the transmission the next second.

Reid immediately turned his gaze toward the Roosevelt. In the distance, he could see two GINNs had flanked the carrier. The Agamemnon-class Carrier's point-defense guns weren't dense enough—the engines had clearly been hit, triggering a massive explosion.

Then, Reid watched as a heavily damaged GINN, equipped with D-Equipment (high-yield explosive missiles) for siege assaults, charged straight for the bridge. The next moment, the bridge was obliterated.

With the bridge gone, the entire ship's control systems failed. The interconnected circuits caught fire, spreading rapidly throughout the vessel. Seconds later, the Roosevelt erupted in a massive internal explosion, its hull torn open by multiple gaping holes. No one inside could have survived.

Even though Reid had known this would be the inevitable outcome, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow—like a fox mourning the death of a hare.

But he didn't have time to dwell on it. A frenzied shout suddenly blared over the battlefield's public channel:

"Hahaha! Close enough now, you monsters in the sky! All of you—DIE! For a blue and pure world!!"

The shout snapped Reid back to reality. He wasn't safe yet. A nuke was about to hit the colony, and he was still within the blast radius—not to mention the deadly debris field from the shattered satellite. It'd be a cruel joke to survive the battle only to be shredded by flying wreckage.

Without hesitation, Reid swung his Moebius around, maxed out the thrusters, and deliberately angled himself to use a derelict platform as a shield against the debris. Then he sped away from the area at full throttle.

But Reid had underestimated the situation. Sound doesn't travel in space, so he wouldn't hear the nuclear blast. However, the blinding flash from the explosion—even with his back turned—flooded his panoramic cameras, searing his vision like a flashbang.

The good news? The retina-scorching white light didn't torment him for long. The Moebius's systems crashed instantly. The cameras went dark, and every button in the cockpit lost power.

The moment the malfunction occurred, Reid realized what he had overlooked. The EMP shockwave from the nuclear explosion—Reid had completely forgotten about it. His Moebius had no EMP protection whatsoever. The moment the EMP hit, it would shut down immediately.

Reid knew he was utterly finished. Next would come the debris impact from the colony satellite. Without life support systems and unable to adjust the mech's posture, there was no way he could survive this wave of debris strikes.

Perhaps not even a second passed. Reid only felt as if his soul had left his body—his vision went black, and his consciousness completely faded away.

(End of Chapter)