"So disorienting,"
Dearka muttered.
"Focus!"
Yzak snapped back irritably.
Just as he finished speaking, the hangar before them, having endured the explosion and intense heat, finally began to break apart.
"Altitude 3,000 meters, beginning separation."
Fred's words cut off the two men's exchange.
At the same time, under Fred's command, the numerous Mobile Suits began retro-thrusting.
Aside from the experimental unit, all of their remaining Mobile Suits were the more agile CGUEs. With the retro-thrust, they quickly broke away from the accelerating, falling wreckage of the cargo ship.
The scenery outside the window now came into their view.
It was March, and deep in the night. Through their built-in night vision, the land below was a frozen world of ice and snow.
Even the mid-air where they were was ravaged by a blizzard—the visibility was frighteningly low, and it looked bitterly cold.
And their current altitude, combined with the weather, was more than enough to evade Radar.
"Target synchronization complete. Operation begins."
"Assault squad, follow me."
"Yes, sir!"
Under Fred's methodical commands, no one lingered on the icy scene before them. They swiftly formed into three squads and flew off toward their respective objectives.
Time waits for no one.
...
"What's going on?"
Hearing the alarms blaring through the base, the officer in charge of security and defense showed barely concealed panic, his face still bearing the lingering fatigue of having been roused from bed in haste.
Not just him—everyone else in the room looked the same.
After all, this place was far from any combat zone. No one had imagined they would suddenly come under attack.
"Unclear. Perhaps they slipped in under cover of that transport plane a while ago."
The Adjutant beside him replied, still fairly composed.
"And Communications?"
"Wireless Communications haven't recovered yet, but wired lines are still up. We've already called for reinforcements from the garrisons at nearby bases."
"Good!"
At this, the officer's ashen expression eased slightly.
Without wireless Communications, it would probably take two or three hours before the nearest reinforcements even noticed anything, and another two hours after that before they arrived.
But there were several special forces units stationed at the nearby bases, including formations composed of Coordinators and Enhanced Persons, equipped with captured and reverse-engineered GINNs and CGUEs.¹
With all these factors combined, holding out for two hours—or even counterattacking—was not an unreasonable hope.
Not to mention, their own garrison was no pushover either.
"Deploy all units!"
"Initiate Level One Defense Plan."
The officer took a deep breath.
"Yes, sir!"
After the highest-level alert was activated, fighter craft began lifting off one after another.
Several bases in the surrounding area instantly lit up as well.
Reflected by the blizzard, the lights became pillars shooting straight into the sky.
"Looks like they've caught on, Captain."
Hawk, seated in a newly built Blitz, wore a grave expression.
"We've been spotted."
Fred showed no surprise at this entirely expected development.
"Per the plan, we handle the diversionary attack. Hawk, you infiltrate the base."
With Fred's Artificial Intelligence support, plus the Quantum Virus and Mirage Particles, and Hawk's own Electronic Warfare capabilities...
...and the blizzard masking their heat signatures.
With so many luxurious configurations stacked together, there would be no problems barring accidents.
And his existence was to wipe out any accident that might occur.
"Yes, sir!"
Hawk answered, and the entire Mobile Suit turned transparent, quickly vanishing into the blizzard.
"Now, let's begin."
Watching the silhouettes of the fighters gradually appearing in the distance, Fred's eyes sharpened.
The wing propulsion units on his back emitted a deep blue glow.
Under that immense power, Freedom charged headlong toward the base.
At the same time, the railguns at its waist rose up.
"So fast!"
Seeing the MS suddenly closing in, the pilot of the fighter felt his already tense heart clench.
"That's nothing like an MS's speed!"
In principle, within the atmosphere, fighters should have held the speed advantage against MS.
But right now, everything they faced seemed to defy that logic.
The Mobile Suit before them was astonishingly fast, nothing like an ordinary MS.
Moreover, even its identification signals didn't match any of the current mainstream MS at all.
"It's a new model!"
Even as fear gripped the fighters' Captain, he connected to the Communication Channel.
"No good! Communication interference—we can't send messages."
Under the jamming, only the members of his own squad received the message.
Although they were all equipped with advanced machines, they were sorely lacking in training, especially in combat training under Neutron Jammer conditions.
They had no combat experience whatsoever, and their training hours were far from sufficient.
Facing true Aces like Fred and his team, there was one and only one possible outcome.
The two sides closed the distance at incredible speed. Even through the cover of the blizzard, Fred easily took aim at the enemy's Skygrasper-like fighters.
The yellow trajectory of the railgun rounds tore through the darkness of the snowy night, striking the Cockpit before the Captain could even react.
The instantaneous explosion lit up the night, and crushed the enemy's morale in an instant.
"The Captain?!"
"Is that MS a monster?"
Their panic was understandable.
They had barely trained for anti-MS combat at all.
The machine's silhouette, completely invisible in the low visibility, combined with its ghost-like speed and mobility, filled them with terror.
But even in their fear, there was nowhere for them to flee now.
Surrender was impossible, too.
That left only one option: to keep fighting.
However, no amount of attacks would prove anything but futile.
Fred's single Mobile Suit alone was more than enough to annihilate this squad of only twelve Skygraspers.
Not to mention, behind Fred was another combat squad composed of four Aces including Lasty.
Even though they were all piloting CGUEs, facing these inexperienced Skygrasper pilots would be more than enough.
These Skygraspers, though equipped with Beam Rifles, were clearly no match against the fast machines and the harsh weather.
"The first line of defense has been breached!"
"Only three minutes?!"
Hearing the report from below, the sense of relief that had just risen in the officer in charge was shattered completely.
"Yes! The Radar has picked up the targets! They're moving fast!"
"Damn it... Could it be those new models that were stolen from ORB?"
Hearing this, the person in charge felt his heart grow colder and colder.
"Where are the reinforcements from the surrounding bases? Why haven't they arrived yet?"
He shouted loudly, as if trying to dispel his own fear.
Their reliance, of course, was not the garrison stationed here.
The first line of defense had really been more of a probing attack.
But now, the probing alone was already more than they could handle.
"They... they've all been held up."