After dodging the horizontal slash, Neo Roanoke ascended, using the clouds as cover to transform back into MS Mode. He then fired a "Siren Beast" Multiple Phase Energy Cannon to temporarily force back the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α that was attempting to pursue him.
Taking advantage of this brief respite, Neo Roanoke surveyed the battlefield.
The two Special Flame Tigers that had been besieging him were now ganging up on the Chaos and the two Zamza-Zahs. If left alone, they would likely be defeated soon. On the ground, it was clear that the Gaia and the Abyss couldn't end their fights quickly.
Realizing the battlefield situation was turning against his side, Neo Roanoke decisively issued an order.
"Sting, Stella, Auel, we're retreating! We'll fall back into the city and rely on its defensive firepower! All other units, withdraw in an orderly fash—Damn it!!"
Halfway through issuing the retreat order as the frontline commander, Neo Roanoke suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation. His body reflexively maneuvered the Mobile Suit to evade.
In the next instant, a MEGA Particle Beam grazed past the Exass Aegis's right shoulder.
Having narrowly escaped death, Neo Roanoke grumbled to himself inside the cockpit.
"Looks like I can't even run properly without taking out that sniper. And it seems their target is to decapitate me!
Sting, Stella, Auel, you guys retreat first. I'm going to see who exactly is after my head."
With that, Neo Roanoke once again transformed the Exass Aegis into MA Mode. He shot past the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α that was trying to chase him down, relying on his superior speed to charge straight toward the direction from which the two beams had been fired.
In truth, Neo Roanoke had misjudged Reid.
Reid's purpose in coming to South America was to figure out who this Neo Roanoke was and why he gave him such a persistent, unsettling feeling.
Therefore, when he sniped at the Exass Aegis, Reid had aimed for the right arm. He had no intention of killing him; otherwise, Neo Roanoke wouldn't have been able to dodge that shot on reflex alone.
The Exass Aegis's evasion even drew praise from Reid.
"Damn, what an evasion. It seems this new Neo Roanoke has some skills. Is he about to awaken as a Newtype?"
A few seconds later, Reid got his answer.
Neo Roanoke piloted his suit, charging toward Reid's hiding spot.
Normally, this would be pointless. Reid had the Obscurant Umbrella System active; even if the Exass Aegis flew right next to him, he wouldn't be discovered.
However, when Neo Roanoke closed to a certain distance, Reid felt a jolt run through his brain as a mental link was established with another mind.
The person he connected with was clearly Neo Roanoke.
In the world of their minds, two Reids floated in the air, facing each other.
To be precise, one Reid appeared slightly younger (the original), while the other already showed signs of age (a result of drug-induced growth).
The younger Reid's expression shifted from disbelief to furious rage.
"My clone. The Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation really dared!"
However, after his initial shock, the older Reid replied with an attitude that suggested he found the other's surprise strange.
"You're surprised? Did you think your so-called warnings could stop the Eurasian Federation and the Atlantic Federation from researching your genes? Original, the data the Eurasian and Atlantic Federations injected into my brain tells me you're not that naive.
Let me guess. You never found me with your secret intelligence network, or rather, you knew of my existence but deliberately left me be, just so you'd have an opportunity to declare war on the Eurasian and Atlantic Federations later.
And now you've appeared before me, which means you're ready, right?"
Hearing this, Reid was momentarily speechless. What kind of knowledge had the Eurasian and Atlantic Federations crammed into his clone's head for him to interpret his actions this way?
Was the matter of the secret intelligence network coming back to bite him? Through the mental link, Reid felt that this clone of his, named Neo Roanoke, seemed to genuinely believe that he had intentionally allowed his creation.
At this moment, Reid and Neo Roanoke's minds were deeply connected. So when Reid felt he was being wronged, Neo Roanoke sensed it too.
Neo Roanoke instantly realized something and burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, Original, you've deceived the entire world. Hahaha, there's no such thing as a secret intelligence network. The whole world has been fooled by you! You're a liar! The biggest liar in the world!"
Being called a liar didn't make Reid any angrier, because if his rage could be materialized right now, it would have already burned all his hair off.
So, Reid simply said coldly, "Whether I've deceived the world or not is irrelevant. All that matters is I guarantee that whoever clones me, I will annihilate.
Tell me, which lab were you born in, and where is the Phantom Pain Unit headquarters? The torture you've endured, I will repay twofold upon the organization and people who created you."
Reid's words only elicited a cold sneer from Neo Roanoke, who replied, "What's the point of that for me? I'll be long dead by then."
Reid said nothing more, tacitly accepting the fact that this Neo Roanoke would inevitably die.
Neo Roanoke wasn't surprised. He spoke loudly again in the mental realm, "Original, I am you! Even if your body and mind have evolved, some thoughts don't change. You can't tolerate my existence, even if I only have a few years left to live.
However, coming to South America alone wasn't a good choice, so I'm still going to struggle a bit."
In the outside world, the communication in the mental realm had lasted but an instant.
Thus, after confirming Reid's position through their mental link, Neo Roanoke fired a beam, forcing the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β out of its Obscurant Umbrella mode.
Then, Neo Roanoke activated his external speakers and broadcasted on all channels, "Reid Isaac's real self is right here! ZAFT, this is your best chance to capture him!"
After that, Neo Roanoke used the internal comms to speak to the Atlantic Federation forces, "The retreat order stands. You all withdraw first."
Reid's face was grim. This Neo Roanoke truly was his clone, completely unpredictable. By the time he realized what his clone intended to do through their mental link, it was already too late to stop him.
It was clear that this clone of his—no, this Neo Roanoke—had his own independent personality. Although he was made from his old genes, his experiences meant he was not Reid Isaac. Moreover, he had no intention of imitating him.
Of course, Reid, knowing the truth, would have to kill Neo Roanoke. That much was obvious.
As the Chairman of the Military Committee of a nation, he could not, for public or private reasons, allow a clone of himself to exist in another country, especially one not of his own making.
But Neo Roanoke was a bit like Reid in one aspect: he didn't want to die. That was why he hadn't even revealed the location of the laboratory he hated, hoping that if he were defeated, Reid might spare his life for the sake of that intelligence.
However, Reid wasn't one to sit and wait for his doom. He immediately fired an ultra-high-altitude signal flare into the sky. This was a special flare that could fly straight out of the atmosphere, allowing the Balkis's orbital fleet, which was monitoring the situation in real-time, to see it.
At this moment, the ZAFT high command felt their thoughts were in a bit of a jumble.
The enemy's frontline commander had fired at thin air, forcing out a stealthed, unknown Mobile Suit, and then claimed Reid Isaac was inside.
Normally, no one would believe such a thing; it was clearly an enemy tactic to sow confusion.
But the sudden appearance of two unknown Mobile Suits, with their high performance and excellent stealth technology, made them look very much like products of the New Misurugi Kingdom.
However, why would a Mobile Suit from the New Misurugi Kingdom show up on the battlefield to attack the Atlantic Federation's frontline commander? There were too many inconsistencies, too many questions. The ZAFT frontline commander here, Talia, felt her own mind couldn't keep up.
But there was one person who instantly believed Neo Roanoke's words: Orphee Lam Tao.
In a flash, he connected the iron-masked man by Lacus's side with Reid Isaac.
If that iron-masked man was Reid Isaac, then everything that happened yesterday could be explained.
Why that iron-masked man seemed so terrifying in his eyes, why he couldn't read his thoughts at all and could only tremble instinctively, why Lacus's mind had rejected him, making him feel like he had slammed his head against a wall.
Moreover, the Coordinators actually knew that the reason Aura had handed them over to Durandal's command was because the birth of Newtypes had rendered their existence meaningless.
If humanity were to awaken as Newtypes on a large scale in the future, then Coordinators, with their inferior abilities in every aspect, would naturally become obsolete.
So, compared to the hatred of having his love stolen and the bitterness of having his very existence stripped of meaning, Orphee Lam Tao felt that his embarrassment from yesterday was nothing.
Driven by jealousy and hatred, Orphee Lam Tao, without any orders from his superiors, roared into the squad comms, "Everyone, with me! This is the best chance to capture or kill Reid Isaac."
With that, Orphee Lam Tao abandoned the Chaos Gundam, which was on the verge of being shot down, and took the lead, charging toward the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β.
The other Coordinators naturally followed him at once, but none of the regular ZAFT soldiers would listen to Orphee Lam Tao. He was a FAITH, true, but he had no frontline command authority.
Seeing the battle turn against him, Reid decisively gave an order, "Shinn, hold off those four Galactic Tigers. I'll end the fight here as quickly as possible. And our support will be here soon."
After speaking, Reid closed off his mind to prevent the mutual mind-reading of Newtypes. He then activated the Quadruple Round Magnetic Defense Shield System on his Mobile Suit, folded the two Long VSBR Beam Cannons from its backpack to its waist, and fired two shots at the Exass Aegis.
Neo Roanoke had no experience fighting a true Newtype. He only felt that he could suddenly no longer hear Reid's thoughts, only confirm his location.
But not being able to hear his thoughts didn't matter. Neo Roanoke's piloting skills were clearly stronger than Reid's had been when he was piloting the NT-X Gundam to protect the Archangel.
So, when the two VSBR beams came at him head-on, the Exass Aegis dodged them with a simple turn.
But in the next instant, the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β, with its High-Energy MEGA Particle Cannon converted into a long spear mode, was right in its face.
Neo Roanoke hastily used his suit's Anti-Beam Shield to parry the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β's spear thrust.
Then he saw a large foot growing bigger and bigger in his left camera view.
It couldn't be helped. Reid's MS piloting skills were now at a master level, while Neo Roanoke was, at best, a fledgling ace.
Furthermore, there was a huge disparity in their physical conditioning, and Reid's reaction speed was far superior.
So even though the Exass Aegis's performance was not inferior to the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β's, there was still a significant gap in their combat capabilities. In the very first exchange, Reid's suit sent it flying with a roundhouse kick.
The kick left Neo Roanoke dazed, but he still managed to force the Exass Aegis, which had lost its posture, to transform into MA mode. Without even looking where he was going, he pushed the thrusters to maximum and prepared to flee.
From that brief exchange, Neo Roanoke had already determined that he was no match for the evolved Reid.
All he could do now was stall for time and wait for those four ZAFT Special Tigers to arrive and tie Reid down so he could escape.
But Reid wasn't about to let Neo Roanoke get away so easily. Seeing it transform into MA Mode, he immediately activated his Red Comet skill, tripling his Mobile Suit's speed.
The GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β instantly left a series of afterimages as it caught up to the fleeing Exass Aegis. With a downward slash, it severed the Exass Aegis's right wing and thruster.
Just as Neo Roanoke had expected, Reid chose to capture him alive to find out the location of the experimental base that held his genetic material. Otherwise, a direct thrust into the center of the Mobile Suit would have been enough to shoot it down.
But now, the Exass Aegis was as good as "shot down." Missing half of its thrusters, the suit immediately began to spin, trailing black smoke as it plummeted to the ground.
Seeing this, Reid naturally piloted his suit in pursuit, preparing to turn it into a limbless suit and bring Neo Roanoke back for a slow interrogation, while also using him as living evidence to declare war on the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations.
But just as Reid dived toward the ground, three Galactic Tigers broke free from their entanglement with the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α and charged into the battlefield between Reid and Neo Roanoke.
It couldn't be helped. Even with a superior Mobile Suit, the current Shinn still had an incredibly difficult time fighting Coordinators who could read his mind. Tasking him with holding back four suits was a bit too much, especially since the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) α lacked any wide-area attack methods.
And while the main Atlantic Federation forces were retreating in an orderly fashion, the new Three young aces had not.
The three of them held a great deal of affection for Neo Roanoke. Seeing him shot down, all three, who were halfway through their retreat, didn't hesitate to pilot their Mobile Suits back into the fray.
Thus, the GP-08 (Phantom Rose) β, having landed on the ground, found itself surrounded by the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and three Galactic Tigers.
(End of Chapter)