Chapter 58: Rau Le Creuset, the Instigator of Chaos

Reid was satisfied after finding an Astray Gundam. Leaving a locator in the warehouse, he retraced his steps back to the surface.

Upon emerging, Reid noticed the Archangel hadn't appeared yet, but all of ZAFT's GINNs seemed to have retreated.

This allowed Reid to roughly pinpoint the timeline—it was likely after Miguel Aiman's self-destruct had knocked out Murrue Ramius but before the Archangel's official appearance.

In the anime, Murrue Ramius being stunned by the explosion and later waking up were shown consecutively, but realistically, considering her bandaged gunshot wound and the extinguished fires around her, this couldn't have been a short span of time.

Later, she even directed a group of students to locate the fifth cargo truck and drive it back—how could that have happened in just a moment?

For Reid, however, this was good news. At least he now had more time to excavate the Green Astray.

So, Reid returned to the NT-X Gundam and, guided by the locator, positioned himself directly above the warehouse before starting to dig.

Reid couldn't possibly clear a path large enough for cargo trucks to enter the underground through the half-destroyed, still-burning factory. Instead, he opted for the most straightforward method—using the Beam Saber to carve through the warehouse's ceiling.

This covert military warehouse couldn't have been located beneath residential or commercial areas, so the surface was a small park, now completely deserted.

Angie fired an Anti-ship Missile to blast away the topsoil, revealing a half-meter-thick isolation panel beneath. Reid then used the Beam Saber to cut through it. After all, Beam Sabers in the Cosmic Era universe operated like lighters—by controlling the output, they could function as precision beam engravers, eliminating the risk of igniting the weapons and ammunition below with excessive force.

Before long, Reid successfully tore open the warehouse's ceiling and hauled out the weapons and Mobile Suits inside.

Naturally, Reid planned to transport everything to the Archangel first. Right now, their crew wasn't much larger than his own, and since they weren't hostile factions, Reid had no fear of them confiscating the goods he'd scavenged (or seized).

As for being denied boarding entirely—that was impossible. With their limited armed forces, the New Misurugi Republic being a friendly neutral state, and ZAFT's assault trapping them, boarding for discussions wouldn't be an issue.

Thus, Reid directed the convoy toward the Strike Gundam's location—the Archangel was bound to appear near the Mobile Suit.

Just as Reid predicted, to maintain authenticity, he didn't abandon his unit to approach the Strike's personnel beforehand. Instead, he followed the convoy at a steady pace, clearing blocked roads ahead while maintaining the pretense of heading toward the port (the Atlantic Federation's secret factory was directly connected to the port roads).

However, halfway there, another explosion erupted from the central axis of the Colony Satellite.

Through the main monitor feed, Reid could see two Mobile Suits locked in combat above the central axis—a ZGMF-515 CGUE and a distinctly Earth Alliance-produced Union Flag.

However, the Union Flag was in a sorry state now—three of its back wings were already destroyed. If this weren't in space, it wouldn't even be able to fly in this condition. And forget about transforming; the thrusters needed for that were definitely damaged.

Moreover, the Union Flag seemed to have run out of electromagnetic bullets, having stowed its main weapon at the waist mount. Its right hand wielded a Plasma Sonic Vibration Blade, while its left arm—clearly a special modification—had its defensive shield removed and replaced with a twin-linked autocannon from a Mobius Zero Pod.

This arm could even detach and operate wirelessly, attacking independently like a Wired Bit—essentially a primitive version of the future Gundam-destroying flying arms. Right now, the pilot was relying on this modified left arm to exchange fire with the CGUE.

Reid had to admit, the Atlantic Federation's reverse-engineering of the Union Flag Operating System he'd provided had yielded some results. At the very least, they'd found the code for loading additional modules (most programs reserve interfaces for future module expansions during development) and managed to cram the Mobius Zero's wired pod system into it.

As for the Union Flag's pilot, Reid didn't need to guess—it had to be Mu La Flaga. With his skills, a bit more practice would've let him master the Union Flag's transformation. Given an advanced machine like this, of course he wouldn't still be piloting a Mobius Zero. And the Atlantic Federation had even added his beloved wired pod system for him.

But his opponent—affectionately nicknamed "Uncle Mu" by fans—was none other than Rau Le Creuset. It was obvious Mu had already been through intense combat before clashing with Rau, judging by the CGUE's pristine condition versus the Union Flag's numerous bullet marks.

Reid refused to believe Rau could dominate Mu without a scratch, not when Mu was piloting a Union Flag with slightly better mobility than the CGUE.

Yet no matter how you looked at it, Mu's Union Flag was now cornered. Reid watched as Rau's CGUE blasted off the modified left arm serving as a turret, destroying Mu's last ranged weapon.

If this continued, Mu—deprived of ranged options and unable to transform into MA mode to create distance—would be shot down sooner or later.

Fortunately, a massive explosion erupted near Strike, originating from a simulated mountain on the Colony Satellite. The blast was powerful enough to blow the mountaintop clean off. The next second, the completely unscathed Archangel burst through the smoke.

The sudden disturbance startled Rau, preventing him from finishing off Mu's Union Flag with a final shot. He quickly sought cover, wary of the Atlantic Federation's newest mothership potentially targeting him with its cannons. (In the anime, Rau just froze—utterly ridiculous. One shot here would've ended him.)

After a brief observation, however, Rau made what he deemed the most logical decision.

Mu's Union Flag was already crippled and no longer a threat. The Atlantic Federation's new MS on the ground hadn't mobilized yet, leaving the mothership unguarded. A quick assault on the bridge would take it down with just a few shots.

Thus, Reid saw the CGUE maneuvering erratically as it charged toward the Archangel's bridge.

Then Reid witnessed just a glimpse of the legendary helmsman's skills. Even in the low-gravity environment above the Colony Satellite, the Archangel actually rotated over 120 degrees on the spot and dodged sideways to evade the CGUE's ambush.

One must understand this was a 420-meter-long capital ship, not some tiny aircraft measuring mere tens of meters. For such maneuvers to be executed without stalling and crashing could only mean the helmsman was truly god-tier.

Meanwhile, the ambush-failed Rau Le Creuset spotted the NT-X Gundam and Empress Custom Flag guarding the motorcade nearby.

Seeing this, Rau had a sudden inspiration and muttered to himself in the cockpit:

"The New Misurugi Republic's new Mobile Suit? Hmph, perfect timing. Let me make use of you."

Soon after, Reid saw the CGUE charging straight toward him with clear hostile intent.

Without overthinking, Angie decided to intercept first since the enemy was attacking. She immediately fired a warning shot from her Electromagnetic Cannon.

Reid, however, sensed something wrong the moment the CGUE rushed toward them. Only someone utterly foolish would provoke him and Angie at this moment when Rau was the isolated party here.

Thus Reid didn't fire immediately. Then he spotted the massive Archangel behind the CGUE.

Instantly realizing the enemy's intention, Reid urgently spoke through team comms:

"Angie, don't shoot!"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Angie had already fired the Electromagnetic Bullet. As expected, the prepared Rau performed an emergency brake and descent, causing the shot to miss and strike the Archangel's flank instead, creating a small explosion.

Fortunately, the Archangel's Laminated Armor held strong. The electromagnetic shot ultimately failed to penetrate, leaving the hull surface intact after the smoke cleared.

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