Reid's plan to infiltrate A Baoa Qu wasn't just about stealing the fortress's database.
The real prize was the abandoned warships and reserve Mobile Suits left behind by the hastily retreating Titans forces—essentially free G-Coins just waiting to be claid. If Axis crashed into them later, he wouldn't get a single G-Coin. Hence, Reid needed to pull off this seemingly redundant preemptive demolition of A Baoa Qu to secure this windfall.
The team mobilized swiftly after Reid's orders.
Gaia, Ortega, and Mash—all burly n—could barely squeeze into the Blitz after its conversion to a Panoramic Cockpit. While this severely obstructed the pilot's visibility, it didn't matter much since they'd be skirting the battlefield's periphery under Mirage Colloid System stealth, avoiding combat entirely.
Reid, anwhile, only had to share his cockpit with Xia Yufang and Xia Yulan, two slender girls, leaving plenty of space. Such were the perks of leadership—no wonder everyone wanted to be boss.
Soon, Mystic Lightning and Blitz Gundam catapulted into space via Aries' launchers. To prevent thruster flares from betraying their position in the frigid void, the Aries launched them toward the battlefield's edge, leaving both machines to coast on inertia initially.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. With the Titans in retreat, AEUG didn't pursue deeply—their objective was rely to pin the Titans at A Baoa Qu. The combat zone shrank rapidly as hostilities dwindled.
The retreating Titans fleet hadn't yet docked at the fortress. Circling A Baoa Qu, the two Gundams observed transport craft swarming like ants from several ports, ferrying supplies to the fleet outside. Only outgoing vessels moved through the docks—none entered.
Reid planned to infiltrate from A Baoa Qu's underside. First, this area lacked major ports and thus foot traffic, with sentries likely reassigned to logistics, minimizing detection risk. Second, as Gaia's trio inford him, a waste disposal chute for non-recyclables led directly into the fortress. Though foul-slling, it was perfect for infiltration.
Guided by the terrain-familiar Black Tri-Stars, Reid's team soon located the small waste port. Too cramped for Mobile Suits—only tiny transports used it—Reid's Newtype senses confird no active surveillance. Still, to neutralize potential caras or alarms, he deployed Small EMP Bombs around the port. Any monitoring devices nearby would be fried, and fortress personnel wouldn't suspect sabotage from sudden equipnt failures.
It's unlikely that the A Baoa Qu fortress would have the leisure to send people to this garbage disposal area to repair surveillance equipnt under the current circumstances.
After completing these tasks, Reid piloted the Mystic Lightning to the port, using its Thermal Blade to cut through the barrier panel. He then anchored the Mobile Suit to the outer wall of A Baoa Qu fortress and said to Xia Yulan:
"Yulan, stay on standby in the Mystic Lightning. There won't be any patrol Mobile Suits here now.
If you do encounter so unlucky soul, activate the Mirage Colloid System imdiately, take down the patrol unit, and destroy the Blitz Gundam.
Once the Blitz Gundam is destroyed, I'll receive the alarm signal placed on it. I'll then adjust our retreat route accordingly. All you need to do is keep the Mystic Lightning circling the fortress and wait for our signal."
After Yulan nodded, Reid and Xia Yufang, wearing specially designed bulletproof pilot suits (new Titans-style ones), exited the Mystic Lightning's cockpit. They regrouped with Gaia, Ortega, and Mash before entering the garbage transport port of A Baoa Qu fortress in single file.
Upon entering the port, Reid's first priority was distributing weapons. Everyone was loaded with silenced firearms and specialized grenades.
Gaia, Ortega, and Mash didn't question how Reid could produce items out of thin air. Their leader was blessed by the gods—summoning weapons was nothing unusual.
Once ard, the five of them ascended through the garbage transport pipeline, heading for the central data room of A Baoa Qu fortress.
With Gaia, Ortega, and Mash—who were familiar with the terrain—leading the way, and Reid's Newtype senses allowing him to detect people around corners and down corridors, their progress was smooth.
The Titans inside A Baoa Qu fortress were in complete chaos. For the few unavoidable checkpoints, Yufang simply removed her helt and pretended to ask the guards for directions.
Her appearance was highly deceptive—the guards easily mistook her for so high-ranking officer's lover who had been abandoned and lost. This allowed her to get close without suspicion.
The outco for these guards was predictable. Gate guards in such fortresses usually numbered no more than two. Against Yufang at close range, with the elent of surprise, failing to neutralize them within two seconds would an her skills had deteriorated.
Moreover, Yufang eliminated them silently. The unfortunate guards died without even a cry for help.
Reid and the others then hid the bodies. Given the current disarray in the Titans' security departnt at A Baoa Qu fortress, no one would have the ti to look for missing personnel.
The five of them proceeded unimpeded to the central database area. After dispatching two more Titan guards at the entrance, they forced their way inside. According to Reid's senses, three people remained inside.
There, Reid saw three bald programrs in the database, busy downloading data.
This was a stroke of luck. Reid had been wondering how to bypass potential firewall protections, but now soone had already logged in for him—even providing military-grade computers.
With three muffled gunshots, the bewildered programrs were sent to et their maker.
After eliminating the Titan programrs, Reid imdiately connected his prepared computer to the military terminals they had left behind.
Since these three programrs were most likely sent specifically to salvage data, they had administrator-level access, allowing them to download all the data from the A Baoa Qu fortress.
Reid naturally didn't hold back, imdiately using their credentials to download data directly to his own computer—and at a faster speed, too.
After all, Reid only needed to package and take the complete data, while the Titans programrs had to consider much more. To save ti, they had to decide which files were important and which weren't.
Still, the download process was quite lengthy. Even with the CE universe's modified super-military-grade computer, it would take half an hour to download all of A Baoa Qu's data.
Not wanting to waste ti, Reid left Xia Yufang alone to monitor the computers while he took Gaia, Ortega, and Mash to plant bombs elsewhere.
This part of the operation carried so risk. Reid's targets were the large hangars storing warships and Mobile Suits, as well as the docking bays for vessels.
Both locations had plenty of Titans soldiers scrambling to salvage Mobile Suits and ships, making it difficult to plant bombs discreetly.
Fortunately, Reid wasn't reckless. If an area was too crowded, he simply moved on. With so many people stationed there, it was clear most of the Mobile Suits and ships would be evacuated anyway.
The four of them only needed to find less-guarded spots to set the explosives.
However, as they moved from one location to another under the guidance of Gaia, Ortega, and Mash, Reid noticed that their next target didn't quite match their description.
According to them, this was supposed to be a warehouse storing MS parts, adjacent to a large hangar filled with Mobile Suits—which was why Reid had chosen it for bomb placent.
But upon infiltrating the area, Reid discovered it had been repurposed into a modification facility, likely after the Titans took over.
And then, atop the scaffolding in this makeshift factory, Reid spotted a pleasant surprise—a brand-new Gundam, the RX-124 Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II].
Inside the facility, ground crew were urgently instructing the test pilot to finish system adjustnts so they could relocate.
Their voices were loud enough to mask the sound of Reid's team entering. Reid also caught the test pilot's na—Eliard Hunter.
Truth be told, Reid's knowledge of this man was limited to having heard the na. He hadn't read A.O.Z. Under the Banner of Titans, only knowing about this protagonist and his machine through various gas.
Reid knew that this Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II] was equipped with an I-Field. While I-Fields could only be used on Mobile Suits powered by Minovsky Particles and still couldn't withstand high-powered beam attacks, they consud far less energy than the CE universe's Light Shield System and could easily cover the entire unit.
Of course, Light Shields offered significantly stronger defense than the I-Fields typically deployed by standard MS (in UC, I-Fields had been pierced by heavy beams more than once). Each system had its pros and cons.
So, without hesitation, Reid decided—he was taking this Mobile Suit for himself.
From perception alone, Eliard Hunter didn't seem to possess Newtype traits—or rather, his Newtype abilities were too weak, just like Jerid ssa. If he hadn't co out to challenge Reid one-on-one, Reid wouldn't even have sensed his presence.
So Reid specifically exchanged for a sniper rifle from the system—or rather, this thing should be called a 40mm sniper grenade launcher.
As long as this thing hit the cockpit, it wouldn't matter whether Eliard Hunter was a Newtype or not—he'd be dead.
With ti pressing, once Gaia, Ortega, and Mash had taken their positions to encircle the area from above, Reid imdiately raised the weapon and fired.
Given Reid's current physical condition, he could wield the 40mm sniper grenade launcher like a rifle while standing, and his accuracy was guaranteed.
Thus, the grenade shot straight into the cockpit of the Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II], detonating with full force.
The ground crew below were still stunned, not yet realizing it was an attack. They thought the explosion was caused by Eliard Hunter accidentally triggering sothing.
Then it quickly dawned on them—there were no bombs planted in the cockpit, so how could the explosion be this massive?
Unfortunately, their realization ca too late. The mont Reid acted, Gaia, Ortega, and Mash imdiately opened fire, mowing down a large portion of the ground crew.
Moreover, they had already noted the location of the ergency alarm. When the Titans had renovated the warehouse, they likely hadn't bothered to relocate it to avoid rewiring. As a result, no one could reach it to sound the alarm now.
The only survivors were those who had taken cover at the feet of the Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II], using the Mobile Suit as a shield.
But their cover was confiscated the next second. The system showed that the Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II]'s pilot had been killed by Reid, and the Mobile Suit could now be reclaid. Reid imdiately ordered the system to retrieve it.
The staff who had been hiding at the Mobile Suit's feet suddenly felt like they must be dreaming. The massive machine they had just been leaning against—sixteen ters tall and weighing nearly forty tons—was just gone in an instant?
Of course, these were questions they could only ask the Reaper in hell. Gaia, Ortega, and Mash showed no rcy to the Titans personnel. The mont the Mobile Suit vanished, they finished off everyone left. They even descended to the platform to double-check for survivors, putting an extra bullet in the head of every fallen body.
Reid had to be grateful that this was a secret modification facility with excellent soundproofing—otherwise, the commotion would have surely drawn the guards.
However, once other inford personnel ca to check on the Gundam TR-6·[Hazel II]'s transfer progress, the anomaly here would inevitably be discovered.
So Reid imdiately decided to return to the central database. Once the data download was complete, he would leave.
There was so distance between here and the central database, so it shouldn't be found too quickly.
Reid's judgnt was correct. The mont the four of them returned to the database, the base's alarm blared. Through the communication device of the dispatched gate guards, Reid confird that the Titans' security had detected intruders within the base. They were now searching the modification facility.
Fortunately, the data from the central database had finished downloading by then. Reid had Gaia mimic the guard captain's voice to confirm the positions of the guards over the comms. Without waiting to see if the other side noticed anything amiss, he hung up imdiately after confirmation, then retreated with the data drive and computer.
Perhaps the A Baoa Qu fortress was simply too chaotic at the mont, but Reid and his four companions encountered no obstacles during their retreat. Outside, the Mystic Lightning and Blitz Gundam remained undetected as well.
Once back inside the Mystic Lightning, Reid imdiately activated the countdown for the planted bombs—all of which were set to detonate in one minute.
Then, without bothering to conceal their heat signatures, both Mobile Suits pushed their thrusters to maximum and fled the airspace around A Baoa Qu.
This blatant escape naturally drew the attention of the surrounding guard fleet. However, before they could even issue a warning, several ports in the A Baoa Qu fortress behind them erupted in massive explosions, spewing flas outward.
Simultaneously, chain reactions of explosions began spreading rapidly throughout the fortress.
The only silver lining for the Titans was that by this point, 70% of the internal supplies had already been evacuated. Commander Bask Om had also returned to the Dogosse Gier, sparing them the loss of yet another commanding officer.
But now, the Titans clearly had no ti to pursue Reid and his "petty thieves." Seeing the state of A Baoa Qu, Bask Om imdiately ordered a breakout—after all, Axis was already within reach, and breaking through the AEUG's defenses would take ti. If they didn't flee now, they wouldn't get another chance.
[Author's Note: A tiline discrepancy appeared earlier. If calculated from the first Gryps II destruction battle, the war should have lasted one month, not three days. The three-day count starts from the Battle of the Great Maelstrom. The relevant tiline information has been revised in previous chapters.
Additionally, upon closer review, the author confird that the Silver Bullet project was scrapped during the Titans era—the Titans never actually built it. The Silver Bullet's production was a plan revived by the AEUG after acquiring Titans' data, with the first unit rolling off the assembly line in UC 0090.
There's a common misconception here: the Gundam TR-6 refers to a series, not just the Silver Bullet. The Silver Bullet is rely the final model of the Gundam TR-6 line.
As for the Titans' Gundam TR-6 units, only the model ntioned in this story is explicitly confird to have participated in the Titans' final battles. The others are unaccounted for, so it's reasonable to assu they saw no action.]
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