Gundam:Super G Universe System

Angie could somewhat accept Reid's judgment regarding Aina Sahalin. At the very least, she understood Reid's demand to cease fire only after the enemy had lost combat capability.

As for Noin, being a military instructor, she had no objections to Reid's assessment.

Thus, Noin began approaching the Apsalus III and activated the broadcast system, saying:

"Zeon pilot, Aina Sahalin. I must say your proposal is incredibly naive. You're piloting a lethal weapon capable of mass destruction, yet you speak of a ceasefire. How can I be sure you're not preparing to ambush us?"

Aina Sahalin hadn't expected a response from one of the two Mobile Suits in the sky, nor that its pilot would also be female.

After a brief hesitation, ignoring her brother's protests from the rear cockpit, she replied directly:

"Fine. Let's both lower our weapons. You put down your gun and maintain distance, while I open my cockpit and stand where you can see me. How's that?"

Noin was initially inclined to agree to Aina Sahalin's proposal, but Reid immediately warned her via a private comm channel (to prevent the broadcast from being heard):

"Noin, don't agree. Fly toward the top of the Apsalus III—that's its blind spot. If you position yourself in front of it, its MEGA particle beam cannon could pierce through you at any moment. It's too dangerous."

Receiving Reid's communication, Noin didn't verbally respond but understood what to do next. She first holstered her weapon to lower Aina Sahalin's guard, then deliberately angled her descent toward the Apsalus III's head.

Seeing the opposing Mobile Suit indeed lower its weapon, Aina initially relaxed—but soon realized something was wrong when she could no longer see the MS that had responded to her.

Just as Aina tried to locate the enemy unit, Reid's ambush struck.

Reid had found the perfect position for a sneak attack: concealed behind a massive boulder, positioned at the Apsalus III's rear-right flank.

To avoid detection by the Apsalus III, Reid had moved at a snail's pace, only now reaching an optimal firing position.

Once in position, Reid immediately aimed at the Apsalus III's right hammer arm.

Reid couldn't fathom what the Apsalus III's designers had been thinking. On paper, it was a firepower-specialized unit, yet it carried two enormous flails. Did they seriously expect it to engage in close combat? What kind of sluggish MS pilot would get hit by these things during a charge—unless the enemy's thrusters all failed?

Worse, these massive hammers created a critical weakness: balance. If one Iron Ball was destroyed and the central balance rod damaged, the Apsalus III's Minovsky Particle Flight System would fail to maintain stability.

Once balance was lost and the Apsalus III tilted beyond a certain angle, the anti-gravity effect of the Minovsky Particle Flight System would cease—just like an ocean liner nosediving into the sea, it would inevitably crash to the ground.

Thus, Reid aimed directly at the Apsalus III's slender hammer arm. A single beam shot would melt it through, causing the hammer below to drop instantly.

Since Aina had barely moved to show her sincerity, Reid was essentially shooting at a stationary target with ample time to aim. Given his already exceptional marksmanship, there was no chance he would miss.

After firing, Reid confidently pushed the thrusters to maximum, using the full power to assist the NT-1 Gundam in leaping upward.

He then drew the Beam Saber from his back and severed two-thirds of Apsalus III's balance rod in a single slash.

For Aina Sahalin, these events seemed to happen almost simultaneously.

First, she heard Apsalus III's lock-on alarm but didn't even have time to check where the targeting was coming from before a beam shot erupted from the lower right.

Then, Apsalus III's right hammer indicator vanished, and within seconds, the balance rod reported an error. The mobile suit began frantically signaling imbalance warnings as it started tilting to the left.

Inside the cockpit, Aina had no time to worry about anything else. She immediately chose to jettison the left meteor hammer and maxed out the left thrusters, prioritizing restoring balance.

From below, Reid saw Apsalus III voluntarily discard the left meteor hammer, which told him the designer wasn't completely brain-dead—at least they had considered how the suit could recover balance if one hammer and the balance rod were destroyed.

However, Apsalus III was now full of openings as it struggled to stabilize. Without Reid even needing to say anything, Noin and Angie, already airborne, launched their attacks on the vulnerable machine.

Noin, in particular, was close enough in her Union Flag to fire directly into the gaping hole in Apsalus III's upper armor. She successfully lodged an electromagnetic bullet into the left-side cavity.

With that, Apsalus III was effectively crippled. A massive explosion tore through its left internal structure, disabling half of its Minovsky Particle Flight System. Balance was now impossible to recover, and the machine could only plummet toward the mountainside, trailing flames and black smoke.

Fortunately, Aina hadn't flown Apsalus III too high—perhaps haunted by the shadow of Apsalus II's crash. The durability of Apsalus III had been significantly improved, so despite the fall, it didn't disintegrate, and its main structure remained intact.

Still, the impact was enough to shut down the machine. Apsalus III's monoeye dimmed and went dark.

Yet Reid remained vigilant. Over the team comms, he ordered,

"Angie, Noin, descend behind Apsalus III. Don't give it any angle to shoot at you."

With that, he led by example, circling to the back of Apsalus III and climbing onto it from behind. He aimed his Beam Rifle at the cockpit and, regardless of whether the pilot was alive or dead, activated the external speakers to address Aina inside:

"It's over, Aina Sahalin. Surrender now, and I'll spare your life."

By this point, Aina Sahalin had realized that the man piloting the Gundam was likely the one in charge of the battlefield.

But now, powerless and furious, she didn't feign death. Instead, she roared in rage:

"Cowards! Is this how little honor the Earth Federation has?!"

Since the two Mobile Armors were in physical contact, Reid could still hear Aina Sahalin's accusations through the mechanical audio transmission system even after the Apsalus III had shut down. To this, Reid coldly replied:

"First, we never agreed to a ceasefire. Second, we're not the Earth Federation."

"Aina Sahalin, I'm giving you three seconds. If you don't come out, you'll be going up in flames with this MA."

As soon as Reid finished speaking, Aina's brother Ginias Sahalin, seated in the copilot's seat, immediately said:

"Aina, you go out first. They don't know there are two pilots. You'll distract them while I restart the Apsalus III. We still have a chance to turn this around."

Aina turned to look at her brother in despair. He didn't seem the least bit concerned about whether she would survive after exiting the cockpit.

But Aina had no choice. She opened the cockpit hatch and raised her hands in surrender.

Seeing Aina Sahalin's cooperation, Reid offered some consolation:

"Alright, Aina Sahalin, don't look so betrayed. This is a battlefield—you were too naive. But at least you protected the wounded who needed to retreat."

No sooner had Reid spoken than a hidden emergency exit opened at the Zeon base in the mountains, and a Zanzibar Class ship roared into space.

This time, no one would be sniping at them from the ground. At least until they broke through the atmosphere, these Zeon soldiers would be safe.

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