Reid had a fairly accurate self-assessment. Since his MS piloting skills still needed time to develop, he naturally needed a bodyguard.
After all, he still didn't know where he would end up once he left this system space.
If he reappeared inside his Moebius, he'd probably have to stick to his original plan of drifting through space. In that case, having someone in a Union Flag backing him up would significantly boost his survival chances.
So Reid immediately switched to the character summoning interface and selected the pilot summoning option. Most MS pilots—aside from protagonists—were professional soldiers, making them perfect for bodyguard duty.
However, to Reid's surprise, after his terrible luck with the equipment pool, his fortune turned around in the character pool.
A red meteor streaked across the sky—according to the system's explanation, this was the mark of an S-rank character. Behind it was a blue meteor, meaning this character didn't consume his ten-pull pity. The green and seven white lights that followed were completely ignored by Reid—those didn't matter.
When the red light landed before him, Reid excitedly tapped on it, revealing a character card featuring a striking blonde beauty. Her name was Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi (Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon).
Reid froze when he saw the card. It wasn't that the character was bad—Cross Ange had appeared in Super Robot Wars in his past life, so summoning her as a pilot made sense. As the absolute protagonist and a princess, an S-rank rating was more than justified.
But in Reid's memory, especially after the anime aired, this princess had gained far more… ahem popularity in certain circles. Additionally, she was heavily reliant on her personal mech—without the Villkiss, she basically lost her ultimate move.
Still, once awakened, this princess was no pushover. Fans even called her the female version of Kira. The system could probably handle the issue of her mech, so overall, this wasn't a bad pull.
Yet, as Reid stared at the card, something felt off. He couldn't help but ask:
"System, the manual didn't explain how to turn this card into an actual person. Don't tell me she'll just appear next to me once I leave."
The system responded almost instantly:
"Summoned characters will be assigned a reasonable identity in the host's world based on their original setting and then delivered to the host in a plausible manner. Details will be revealed once the host completes all tutorial tasks and exits the system space. Note: Summoned characters will not betray the host, but they have a loyalty system. Initial loyalty is set at 60. If it drops below 40, the character will slack off. At 0, they will commit suicide."
Reid didn't dwell on it and asked another question:
"Alright, so I've finished my two summons. Can I leave this space now?"
But the system was even more rigid than expected. It replied plainly:
"Please open all summoning options to complete the tutorial tasks. Afterward, the first phase of the main quest will be issued, and only then may the host exit the system space."
Reid stopped resisting and followed the system's guidance. The blue meteor revealed the character Lucrezia Noin (Gundam Wing). He remembered her as a female bodyguard beside the female lead in Gundam Wing, with limited screen time, so his impression of her wasn't deep.
The remaining items: the green one was a Duel Skill book, allowing him or a pilot to learn the Duel Skill, increasing hit rate and reaction speed by 10% in 1v1 battles. The white ones were all books to enhance a pilot's six core attributes, mostly by one point each. With such small quantities, their value wasn't significant.
After Reid finished examining all the summoned items, the system's prompt sounded again:
"Newbie tutorial mission completed. Rewards have been deposited. Main mission issued: Defend against one Earth Alliance/ZAFT attack on the base. Success reward: 40 Merit Points, 10,000 G-Coins. Failure means death.
Host can now exit the system by silently thinking 'exit.' To summon the system later, simply think silently. The system will display its functions on a screen visible only to the host.
Finally, the host is advised to cherish this last life. The system's creator left you a message: 'Existence is reasonable.'"
After hearing the mission and the creator's words, Reid was utterly baffled. What base? Did he have a base? And what did "existence is reasonable" mean? Was it about the system? Or the world he now lived in?
No matter how much Reid pressed, the system didn't answer his questions. When he asked about the base, it only replied, "You'll know after exiting the system." As for the creator's message, the system remained silent—clearly, it wasn't programmed to respond to that.
After struggling for a while and getting nowhere, Reid had no choice but to silently think "exit." He hoped he wouldn't immediately face ZAFT machine guns or ship cannons upon exiting, or he might lose his life right then and there.
The sensation of leaving the system space was awful. Reid felt like he had a hangover, his head buzzing. Forcing his eyes open, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling and smelled disinfectant—he must be in a medical room.
This was good news, at least. He had been rescued, even if it was by ZAFT, so he didn't have to worry about immediate interrogation.
There was someone by his side, who noticed he was awake and helped him sit up.
Reid took a closer look—the person tending to him was none other than the S-rank character he had just summoned in the system space: Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi.
After helping him up, Angelise noticed Reid staring intently at her and joked, "You've been asleep for ages. Noin and I found you three months ago, guided by that unknown entity that might be a god. If you hadn't survived without any nutrients for three months, I'd have thought I picked up a vegetable."
Reid was shocked. What? He had been unconscious for three months? That meant it was already mid-May, CE 70. ZAFT's Carpentaria Base on Earth must already be complete, and they were probably attacking the Mediterranean's entry point, the Casablanca Sea. The Gibraltar Base would soon emerge as well.
Realizing how much he had missed, Reid immediately asked—
"Princess Angelise, could you please brief me on the current situation between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT? Also, where exactly are we now? Oh, and do you have any memories related to this world?"
Hearing Reid's questions, Angelise's expression turned serious as she replied:
"Mr. Reid, I was thrown into this world by some entity specifically to assist you. While it's chaotic here, it's still much better than my original world—at least I have some freedom here. No citizens screaming for my blood either. Since we're in the same boat now, you can just call me Angie like a friend would."
"As for information about this world, that unknown entity stuffed all the data into my brain when sending me here. It's truly miraculous—it directly fabricated the existence of the Misurugi Empire in this world, complete with actual territory within the Eurasian Federation, a small city-state by the Mediterranean."
"Though I was still driven out by rebellious citizens, this time it was due to a food crisis. But my status as princess doesn't seem to have been revoked."
"Regarding our current location, this should be your base—a large industrial colony satellite belonging to the L3 Colony Cluster. The unknown deity guided us here."
"It's adjacent to a massive asteroid belt. Because this location is prone to meteor impacts, there are no other colony satellites nearby. Officially, it was established during my Misurugi Empire's prosperous period here, but later funding dried up, leaving it almost devoid of equipment. It's in a semi-abandoned state, and I, the exiled princess, fled to this colony satellite."
"Oh, and your factory module is inside this base. It requires your personal authorization—neither I nor Noin can open that factory door."
After Angie's explanation, Reid understood the system's arrangement—using Princess Angelise's identity to provide him with a physically existing base.
From this perspective, while he was actually in charge of the base, to the outside world he probably appeared to be some pretty boy living off Angie's wealth.
But this worked out well—it could conceal his real authority to some extent, keeping political attacks from reaching him, thereby ensuring greater safety.
Right now, Reid just wanted to exclaim how delicious Angie's "soft rice" was. If it were any other S-class pilot, maintaining control over a colony satellite would be hellishly difficult. But now, this colony satellite legitimately belonged to Angie—if the Earth Alliance or ZAFT tried to attack, they'd have no moral high ground.
There was just one urgent matter—having Angie declare the reestablishment of the Misurugi Empire on this colony satellite, seceding from the Eurasian Federation. From now on, this would be a neutral nation.
(End of chapter)