Chapter 91: The Correct Way to Use the Lambda Driver

The semi-public test of the Immortal Aegis was held as scheduled. Although Reid had cleared out unrelated personnel, those who truly wanted to observe had, with his tacit approval, managed to learn about the test through various means.

Reid currently looked like he had pulled too many all-nighters, but Ange was positively glowing. She piloted the Immortal Aegis in a simulated battle against

Next came the live-fire test. Reid deliberately instructed Ange to use maximum firepower to intimidate the prying eyes watching in secret. By compressing high-energy plasma with high-density Phantasm Particles into a beam rifle-sized ray, they achieved both extreme range and melting capability. Ange fired a single shot from over fifty kilometers away (under Earth's normal atmospheric conditions, the range would be reduced by about one-third, and this wasn't even considered long-range—UC-era beam sniper rifles had repeatedly struck targets from the outer atmosphere to the surface, despite Earth's beam dispersion effects) and pierced straight through a massive meteorite over a hundred meters in diameter.

This range far exceeded that of a warship's large beam cannons. Taking out a ship's bridge would be a one-shot, one-kill affair—no exceptions.

Reid was reasonably satisfied with the Immortal Aegis' test performance. At least for now, no systemic issues had surfaced. However, the mobile suit would still need modifications, though not to its primary armaments or thruster layout.

First, Lambda Driver testing had to be expedited. After dealing with Noin tonight, he'd have to go into seclusion—if not for the sake of his kidneys, then for the sake of progress.

After all, Reid needed to thoroughly understand the Lambda Driver's effects in space and its interactions with various particles before integrating it into the mobile suit.

Additionally, Reid planned to keep Kid Salsamille occupied. He handed him the Full Metal Panic smart AI code documentation to study from scratch, hoping he could develop an intelligent auxiliary program for mobile suits. This would lay the groundwork for their future unmanned MS systems and bio-sensor networks.

Thus, the day after testing concluded, Reid "floated" out of Noin's residence and promptly went back into seclusion, delegating countless meeting requests to Une. Meanwhile, he reassigned Xia Yufang to guard the entrance. Xia Yulan assisted him with Lambda Driver testing, and aside from nightly visits to Noin or Ange's place, he spent every day researching at the factory.

After a week of practical testing, Reid had largely mapped out the Lambda Driver's performance in the Cosmic Era universe.

First, the Lambda Driver wasn't invincible, nor was it as purely willpower-based as one might assume.

Counterintuitively, the system's documentation explicitly stated that the Lambda Driver's maximum amplification and defensive capabilities were determined by the mobile suit's output power.

Using the Green Astray's output as a benchmark, the mental barrier's strength under testing showed that Xia Yulan could block, at most, physical rounds up to Anti-ship Missiles and 90mm railgun levels (as seen in Season 4, where the Hellion's railgun overheated like an axe, proving ordinary Lambda Drivers indeed had limits). Anything beyond that was impossible. Moreover, consecutive blocks were unsustainable—forcing it would exert mental strain, ranging from nosebleeds to psychological damage.

Defensively, the Lambda Driver performed slightly better against beam weapons than Reid had anticipated. Though it was unclear how mental energy could materialize a physical barrier in vacuum, the Strike's 57mm high-energy beam rifle shots in aerial combat could be blocked outright, with relatively low energy expenditure. However, blocking a single beam weapon would immediately collapse the barrier, requiring reactivation.

Of course, attempting to block heavy particle beam cannons or ultra-high impulse cannons with a bare Lambda Driver was out of the question—the high-energy particles would melt the barrier instantly, dooming the pilot.

Through testing, Reid realized that using the Lambda Driver purely for shielding was its most inefficient application. Its true potential lay in synergizing with various armaments and particles.

The simplest example is an ordinary anti-beam coating shield, which would typically be rendered useless after blocking two to three shots from a heavy particle beam cannon. However, by overlaying the shield with a Lambda Driver shield capable of blocking machine gun fire, the initial thermal energy of the beam would be largely dispersed by the Lambda Driver, reducing its impact to little more than that of a standard beam rifle. As a result, unless the beam is sustained, the shield can easily withstand over a dozen heavy particle beam shots.

The same principle applies to physical weapons. After equipping the Green Astray with Phase Shift Armor, the armor can absorb physical damage but not the shockwaves from impacts. The Lambda Driver can be deployed around the cockpit to perfectly neutralize the shockwaves, protecting the pilot.

After all, any physical weapon powerful enough to overwhelm the Lambda Driver's shockwave absorption would likely also pierce through a Mobile Suit's Phase Shift Armor. For instance, if the Strike tried to tank the Archangel's 110cm electromagnetic cannon head-on, it would simply be shot clean through.

In short, the best defensive use of the Lambda Driver is as a fixed damage-reduction shield rather than an absolute defense. Tests showed that even with Reid's mental strength, activating the Lambda Driver in the Green Astray didn't make him significantly more resilient than Xia Yulan. However, piloting the higher-output NT-X allowed him to mitigate more damage—though still far from achieving invincible absolute defense.

If we must quantify defensive strength, the intensity of physical interference depends on both the pilot's mental strength and the machine's output power. A Mobile Suit equipped with a Lambda Driver has upper and lower limits for physical interference intensity, while the pilot's mental strength determines where within that range the intensity falls.

But defense is just a fixed shield. When it comes to offense and auxiliary functions, the Lambda Driver offers far more versatility.

The most crucial discovery Reid made was that the Lambda Driver can physically interfere with both Phantasm Particles and Minovsky Particles.

For example, whether it's Phantasm Particles or Minovsky Particles, once fired from a Mobile Suit, their ability to maintain shape and their effective range are extremely limited.

But with the Lambda Driver, Reid could even gather these particles into a particle fist to strike enemies.

Of course, the higher the particle energy, the harder it is to control precisely. Still, Reid tested and confirmed that the Blitz's Mirage Colloid System could completely prevent Phantasm Particle colloids from shedding during movement.

Moreover, the Lambda Driver can form a low-defense but long-lasting physical interference layer on the Mobile Suit's surface, perfectly encasing the Phantasm Particle colloid within a millimeter of the armor. This doesn't interfere with the activation of Phase Shift Armor and significantly alleviates heat dissipation issues.

The only exception is the engine exhaust port—the temperature there is too high, directly melting the encasing colloid and making the exhaust flames impossible to conceal. Thus, even with the Lambda Driver, activating the Mirage Colloid System prevents high-speed movement.

Additionally, the Harpy Guided Plasma Cannon from the Forbidden Gundam was not only completed but also enhanced with the Lambda Driver's help.

Imagine firing a shot straight ahead. With the Lambda Driver manipulating Phantasm Particles, the beam can curve in arcs within a maximum 20-meter radius around the Mobile Suit—even turning 180 degrees to strike a target behind it. How utterly bizarre is that?

It can even mimic the Stargazer, continuously emitting beams to form a 20-meter-radius beam ring around the Mobile Suit for close combat.

In other words, a pilot proficient in using the Lambda Driver can essentially wield beam weapons without blind spots. Although distorting beams with Phantasm Particles severely impacts range, this becomes negligible in close-quarters combat within a few hundred meters.

Moreover, by restraining Phantasm Particles, melee combat can also utilize overloaded beam sabers—forming massive beam swords over ten meters long for attacks. Even two beam sabers assisted by Lambda Drivers can now clash against each other.

However, while particles allow for such versatility, the Lambda Driver's enhancements for physical weapons are limited to three effects: reducing recoil, increasing bullet velocity, or coating shells to improve penetration.

Naturally, Reid also mastered the notoriously unpredictable close-combat "ball-crushing" technique. After all, it only required intense mental focus on the hands—not particularly difficult to learn. It was baffling why Sagara Sousuke never managed to grasp it even by the series' finale.

Reid took it a step further. The Lambda Driver's lethality against enemy pilots was far greater than imagined. When a mech directly contacted an unprotected enemy unit (lacking special particles or Lambda shielding), vibrations could be used to attack the pilot.

Even if the mech's shock absorption systems mitigated most of the damage, human bodies weren't as durable as machinery. Unless the pilot was someone like Heero (the protagonist of Gundam Wing), who survived zero-range self-destruction unscathed, severe injury or unconsciousness was almost guaranteed.

Testing also yielded unexpected benefits. During repeated Lambda Driver experiments, Reid noticed his and Xia Yulan's awakening values skyrocketing.

Normally, awakening values barely budged unless one spontaneously awakened as a Newtype—otherwise, they'd stagnate for weeks. A prime example was Ange: her awakening value hadn't changed since her summoning, even though her shooting and combat skills improved slightly after several battles.

It remained unclear whether Lambda Driver training would affect someone like Noin, who lacked an awakening value stat entirely. Additionally, activation required some emotional volatility—Noin's calm demeanor might hinder successful activation.

Just as Reid was thoroughly enjoying his exploration of the Lambda Driver's applications, a week later, Xia Yufang suddenly reported:

"Master, I captured a spy snooping around the Colony Satellite factory during patrol. How should we handle them?"

Reid was intrigued. Anyone who could infiltrate Yufang's patrol zone before being caught had to be skilled. After all, security had been significantly reinforced, and all personnel were locals.

Of course, Yufang hadn't immediately eliminated the intruder due to Reid's orders. Spies who penetrated the factory were usually operatives from major nations. As long as they hadn't stolen or seen anything classified, Reid preferred leveraging them for practical gains—an unspoken understanding between him and Earth's four superpowers.

After all, Reid couldn't let the powers believe he was entirely beyond their control. For spies who failed to obtain intel, he'd grant them some face.

That said, those who crossed the line—attempting murder or kidnapping—were swiftly executed. Not as spies, but as criminals under criminal charges.

So spies from various countries have now learned their lesson—infiltrating the Star Palace, even knocking out a few guards, is fine, but don't kill or maim anyone. Otherwise, pray you don't get caught. Reid Isaac is no pushover; those who dare to cross the rules he's set must be prepared to die.

With that in mind, Reid decided to go check on this spy. Coincidentally, he was already struggling with the practical transmission issues of the Lambda Driver on actual units. Mobile Suits were several times larger than Arm Slaves, so the Lambda Driver's equipment size and transmission pathways had to be completely redesigned. The Factory Module could only provide reference materials—most of the experimentation still fell to Reid himself.

On top of that, he had to consider the future possibility of Large Mobile Armors being equipped with Lambda Drivers. Right now, Reid was completely overwhelmed, seriously considering whether he should go out on a supply run to earn another 100 Merit Points and draw a new researcher.

As it happened, by his calculations, the Artemis Fortress should have been towed back near the Star Palace Colony Satellite by now. It was about time he went out to meet people.

(End of Chapter)