Reid's communication with Alejandro went very smoothly. After all, while Reid's side couldn't sever the connection between the Quasi-Innovators and VEDA, cutting off all of Alejandro's external signals was a piece of cake.
With his security detail completely down and all signals cut, Reid didn't even need to draw a gun. The "Overseer" of Celestial Being was trembling with fear the entire time.
In such a state, he basically wouldn't object to anything Reid said.
Besides, Reid himself hadn't made any excessive demands. He merely stated that if the Union dared to cause him trouble in the future, he would expose Alejandro's true identity, arrange for him to "commit suicide" with three gunshots to the back to frame him as a member of Celestial Being, and let the Union liquidate his entire family.
Alejandro knew full well what his family would face if his identity as a member of Celestial Being was confirmed and his reputation was ruined. With such leverage in Reid's hands, and being utterly powerless against him, he could only nod in agreement throughout the entire conversation.
In truth, Reid didn't expect Alejandro to be of much use. After all, in the original story, this poor soul was just a pawn used by Ribbons from beginning to end.
As for his family's supposed 200-year dream, Reid thought to himself, Even if you controlled VEDA, you couldn't rule the world. Do you really think he who holds VEDA holds the world?
However, it was true that Alejandro could, to some extent, prevent the Union from actively seeking trouble with him. With just a few subtle maneuvers, he could make the government focus its main attention on Celestial Being.
But Reid's surprise attack on Alejandro and Ribbons's residence still brought about some changes.
Alejandro and Ribbons fled the Kingdom of Azadistan overnight.
Ribbons knew that the probability of Otherworld Entanglement occurring where Reid was present was very high. He advised Alejandro to leave quickly, lest he get caught up in the mess while trying to be a spectator.
Reid didn't stop Alejandro and Ribbons from escaping. A glance at the World Change Fluctuation Value showed it was now at 23.273%, an increase of only 0.001%. Reid even suspected this increase wasn't caused by their departure. He went straight back to the ship to sleep.
The next morning, the residents of the Kingdom of Azadistan were awakened by the sound of explosions.
The previous night, when Sachez and Kowloon launched their fully-armed assault on Masoud Lachmadi's residence, they had also helped the Azadistan government eliminate most of the high-ranking conservatives, but they deliberately left the most extreme one alive, only injuring him.
Since all of Sachez's and Kowloon's men were masked, this high-ranking extremist official naturally had no idea who had attacked him.
But that didn't matter anymore. The blame could be pinned directly on the reformist faction.
Moreover, with Masoud Lachmadi, the one person who could keep everyone in check, now missing and presumed dead, this extremist official naturally seized the opportunity to incite the wrath of all sectors of Azadistan society under the pretext of rescuing Masoud Lachmadi, who he claimed had been "kidnapped by the reformists."
Initially, only the official's subordinates were causing destruction everywhere. But as the news of Masoud Lachmadi's kidnapping spread, the capital of the Kingdom of Azadistan gradually descended into chaos.
Extreme conservatives, mercenaries hired by Sachez and Kowloon to fan the flames, and opportunists looking to loot during the chaos all ran rampant on the streets.
There were also Masoud Lachmadi's staunchest supporters leading believers to protest on the streets.
Although it was still just small-scale conflict for now, the Azadistan parliament was clearly unable to distinguish between the protestors and the rioters, so they could only suppress them all.
This made the parliament look guilty as charged. Many in the middle and lower echelons of the government now believed the kidnapping was the work of the reformist parliament.
This led the conservative faction within the government to secretly begin planning a coup, as they believed the reformists, backed by the Union, were preparing to purge them.
The reformists, who had long been in private contact with the Union, saw this as the perfect time to justifiably let them station troops in the country.
Marina Ismail was merely an external figurehead and mascot with no real power. All she could do now was listen to the various reports with a heavy heart, her eyes wide with helplessness.
Wang Liu Mei naturally received news of the civil unrest in the Kingdom of Azadistan immediately. However, the Ptolemy, which had previously raided the Celestial Being's "Global" Colony Satellite at Lagrange 4 (equivalent to the Fourth Cosmic Era Zone in the CE Universe) to carry out its mission of eliminating the Super Soldier Research Institute within, had not yet returned to communications range.
Seeing this, Wang Liu Mei could only urgently summon Setsuna and Lockon, who were active on Earth, for this mission.
However, as Wang Liu Mei was explaining the reason for the summons to Setsuna and Lockon, Hong Long's account, "Beautiful and Moving Little Lumi," suddenly received a private message, which popped up directly on the screen.
The content was simple: "There's a 21st-century legend that says advanced weapons will grow in the desert," followed by a set of coordinates.
The pop-up was so conspicuous that everyone present saw it.
Lockon saw Hong Long's ID and gave Wang Liu Mei a strange look, then burst out laughing.
Even Setsuna stiffly turned his face away. Although he wasn't outwardly laughing, everyone knew he was roaring with laughter on the inside.
Wang Liu Mei was truly on the verge of breaking. She slapped a hand on Hong Long's shoulder, her whole body trembling as she ground out through her teeth, "Didn't I tell you to change your ID? Why are you still using this name?!"
Hong Long tried his best to keep a straight face, feigning calmness as he said, "I was afraid that if someone wanted to find me, they wouldn't be able to, like in today's situation."
Wang Liu Mei knew Hong Long was just making excuses, but now was clearly not the time to get angry and make him change his ID. Forcing down three parts fury and seven parts embarrassment, she cleared her throat and said, "Ahem, in that case, was this contact from the SDP?"
Hearing this, Hong Long's fingers flew across the keyboard in a dazzling display. He then nodded and said, "The IP address that sent the message is a proxy server. I can't trace it back. With this level of skill, it's safe to assume it's the SDP. Besides, only they would know where we're headed at a moment's notice."
Wang Liu Mei sighed. "Hah, what a pain. Where there's SDP, there's a high chance of Otherworld Entanglement, but we only have two Gundams right now."
Upon hearing this, Setsuna stated without the slightest hesitation, "It's not a problem. The mobile suits sent by the Otherworld Entanglement always appear with a margin of error, destroying everything around them. They are also targets we must eradicate."
Lockon clapped Setsuna on the shoulder and said, "That's right. Last time, my mobile suit wasn't in top condition, and I didn't manage to shoot down a single one. If we run into them again, I can't lose my composure like last time."
Wang Liu Mei was relieved to see that Setsuna and Lockon had no intention of backing down. She had just been planning to lament a bit before trying to persuade them, just in case they refused.
After all, Wang Liu Mei didn't have command authority over the Gundam pilots; it wouldn't be a problem if Setsuna and Lockon didn't follow her orders.
So, Wang Liu Mei switched directly into work mode, muttering to herself, "But these coordinates... should we go or not? If we go, who knows what's waiting for us there. If we don't, and we miss out on important intelligence, it'll be too late for regrets... What a dilemma."
Wang Liu Mei was actually saying this for everyone present to hear, hoping they would offer some advice.
But Hong Long, in most situations, would not interrupt Wang Liu Mei's thoughts. Setsuna's stance was that he was a Gundam, and a Gundam didn't need to consider whether or not to go to some coordinates.
After a moment of awkward silence, it was Lockon who finally caught on and followed Wang Liu Mei's lead. "I think we should go check out the coordinates, but not all of us at once. How about one person goes first to scout it out? Since it's my suggestion, I'll go..."
Lockon had intended to say that since he proposed the idea, he would go himself, but Setsuna cut him off. "I'll go. Exia is stronger in close combat. If we run into a trap like the one with the Gundam Virtue, I can easily cut the ropes and escape."
Since Setsuna had said so, Lockon naturally smiled, nodded, and said, "Alright, then I'll provide sniper support for you from a distance. Brother Hong Long, help me find a sniping point near the coordinates. The desert should be quite open, right?"
Seeing Wang Liu Mei give a slight nod, Hong Long immediately began searching for sniping locations near the coordinates.
Due to the suspected invitation from the SDP, Wang Liu Mei believed this operation had a higher priority than the situation in the Kingdom of Azadistan, which wasn't likely to erupt into a full-blown war any time soon.
Both Setsuna and Lockon agreed with this assessment. Thus, at noon that day, during the hottest part of the day in the desert region, Wang Liu Mei's pink transport plane, carrying Exia and Kyrios, landed in an uninhabited area on the edge of the coordinate's desert.
(The author doesn't really know what a real desert looks like, but isn't the one in the anime just a wasteland?)
After landing, Exia and Kyrios set out simultaneously. The former headed for the coordinates, while the latter went to the sniping point Hong Long had found. Wang Liu Mei's transport ship remained in place to provide support.
Exia only flew towards the coordinates after Kyrios was in position. However, from the air, there was nothing to be seen near the coordinates. After landing, a cursory glance also revealed nothing, so Setsuna could only report over the team comms, "Arrived at the target location, but there are no targets in the vicinity."
Just as Setsuna finished speaking, Lockon's voice roared through the squad comms, "Watch out! I see MS-class footprints behind you through my sniper scope."
Hearing this, Setsuna didn't hesitate, deploying Exia's right-hand GN Sword in a horizontal slash behind him.
However, the GN Sword was blocked in mid-air, sending sparks flying.
Simultaneously, a pitch-black mobile suit, holding a shield, revealed itself amidst the attack.
Seeing this, Lockon immediately took a shot without a second thought. But there was another cloaked mobile suit behind this one, which raised its shield and blocked the beam.
Just as Lockon was about to fire a second shot, he found a large sword glowing with blue plasma light resting on his mobile suit's neck. Before Kyrios's shoulder armor even fully touched the greatsword, the armor began to show signs of melting, and alarms blared wildly inside the cockpit.
Fortunately, the white MS holding the sword seemed to have no intention of continuing its attack. A young and cold voice spoke through the external speakers, "Put down the gun. We are not enemies. That was just a test of your skills. Also, you were aiming at Orga."
Lockon had no idea who this Orga was. But looking at the opposing MS, he knew that if he didn't lower his gun, his Kyrios would be split in two. He had no choice but to reluctantly release the sniper rifle and ask, "Who are you? How did you get so close to me?"
The one holding Kyrios at bay was, of course, Mikazuki. Seeing Kyrios's hands leave the sniper rifle, he deactivated the plasma enchantment on the Rebuilt Sword, then retracted his weapon and recited his lines from the script, "We are Tekkadan. We were entrusted by a friend to deliver something. I was actually lying in ambush nearby from the start. After all, there are only a few good sniping positions. I just got lucky and was waiting for you."
After speaking, Mikazuki had Barbatos Lupus point to the GN Particle Stealth Fabric he had thrown aside and the GN Particle Capacitor beneath it.
The moment Lockon saw these two items, he understood. Celestial Being had spent all its time using GN Particle optical stealth to evade pursuit, and today, the boomerang had come back to hit them. They had been ambushed using the same method.
However, the other party truly seemed to have no ill intent. Although Kyrios had let go of its sniper rifle, its head-mounted sniper scope was still active. He could now see that on Exia's side, both parties had lowered their weapons. It looked like they had already come to an understanding.
Indeed, on Exia's side, after Kyrios's shot was blocked, the mobile suit that had parried Exia's GN Sword pushed Exia away, and Orga's voice broadcasted over the public channel, "That really scared me, you're so jumpy. I'm gonna have to ask for more from that kid Reid. Helping him with a delivery nearly got my mobile suit wrecked."
Orga was doing this on purpose, of course. Reid had let Tekkadan operate independently partly because he wanted to flesh out the organizational diversity he had mentioned when he was posing as Tem Ray.
The technology of Tekkadan's mobile suits was distinctly different from Reid's original team, and Celestial Being could easily see that their tech trees were likely not the same.
Hearing Reid's name, Setsuna temporarily adopted a defensive posture, not attacking again, but asking warily, "Reid sent you? Who are you?"
Hearing this, Orga deliberately spoke in a roguish tone, "Me? The leader of Tekkadan, Orga Itsuka. I guess you could call me Reid's junior, but I'm not actually under his command. No matter how much authority he has, he still has to ask me for help.
Also, you don't need to be so tense. If I really wanted to harm you, you'd already be dead. Brothers, stop hiding. Let Celestial Being see you."
As Orga finished speaking, a mobile suit identical to the one in front of him stood up from the sand to Setsuna's left rear. To his right, the optics around a rock distorted, and another identical mobile suit appeared.
Including the one behind the mobile suit in front of him, Setsuna realized he had been surrounded by four mobile suits the moment he landed.
Moreover, seeing the rifles mounted on the waists of these mobile suits, which looked similar to the SDP's, he knew they all had beam weapons. If they had wanted to ambush him, he would have been destroyed long ago.
Seeing that none of these mobile suits had raised their weapons, Setsuna also retracted his and asked, "You said Reid had you deliver something. What is it?"
Hearing this, Orga suddenly sounded displeased. "Kid, has anyone ever taught you that when a non-hostile party tells you their name, it's polite to give your own in return?"
Setsuna considered that this person might be Reid's partner, so the so-called S-class secret of a Gundam pilot's name was probably meaningless to them. He replied, "Setsuna F. Seiei."
Orga had actually known all along that Setsuna was in Exia. It had all been an act, and now he was really getting into it, laughing heartily. "Haha, so you're the greenhorn who got his ass kicked by an AEU mobile suit that was at least three generations behind yours? But that move just now was pretty good. Looks like you've improved a lot recently.
As for the cargo, my last brother has already brought it over. Take a look."
As Orga spoke, he maneuvered his mobile suit to point to Exia's right rear.
In that direction, dust suddenly billowed up as the Gundam Virtue charged over in a strange posture.
(End of Chapter)