Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[Xinnidy]

Suddenly, Scouting Team!

Ignatius took a glance at Thorvald as he spoke, now he knew that was one of the leaders out there, but lowering his guard right after the younger pilot threathened to steal a suit. Kids these days... "So he's with you? Tell himself to calm down, okay? He's been talking about stealing the suit if we don't comply and that's not gonna fly." There was no way around it, it was very bad wording.

"I don't know why we were never told about a scouting team, but I guess that explains the suit from earlier, huh?" Ignatius looked back at Buck, probably just as confused as he was. "I, uh, don't know about letting that Phalanx go, said something about cadet-in-training... if anything goes wrong I'm gonna hold you to it! You said you're going to take full responsibility, so no going back now." Mumbling something under his breath, Ignatius grumpily made his way to the other Velite in use, having the preliminary scan run on automatic while dropping the pilot lift. "Scouting team, huh?" He squinted back at the two pilots, typing it down in his own device. Ah well, let's just get out of this mess.

[Nanami Touko]

Nice Mess

Buck was getting his attention pulled three different ways, between the kid in the Phalanx, Nikolai screaming, and still worrying about Tarquin taking off. With everyone else losing it, it was definitely not a sanctioned take off... I really hope I don't hear about this later... Not like he was helping make it any better, either. Makoto drove on by him, he had to jump away and dodge the damn thing when the frame started coming down. Kid nearly squished him! With a grumble, at least someone trustworthy had come into the hangar. Coming up to Thorvald and Ignatius as the pilot explained the situation, he adjusted his hat and sighed.

"Sorry, Thorvald... Thanks for taking over, just, this shouldn't have happened at all. Anyway... If you're in charge, I don't see a problem. It's... That's Makoto. The Watanabe kid? In the Phalanx. Most of us didn't trust an actual pilot to survive in that thing, when Abby took off in it yesterday, so having a civilian in there..." He finally put his head in his hands, rubbing his face. What a stressor. "Just make sure the kid doesn't do anything stupid, okay? I know that age isn't exactly a determiner in performance, hi, but last I checked he doesn't have any pilot training." All Buck could do was hope that things would go fine. Makoto was already going up the lift, anyway... Nothing he could do to stop that now.

"Quit your shouting, Nikolai!" he started, on that problem now. "Get into your Velite and get started. You, Makoto and Thorvald are all going after him. So stay as calm as you can and get going."

Just Getting Warmed Up

"You appear confused... But it would make more sense for me to exhibit some form of body heat if I am to assume this skin. It will likely help people be more comfortable with me, than to feel the cold feel of metal beneath it. Don't you agree?" Another smile, but it slowly faded, as they did have to get ready to sortie soon. "I do believe that it will be, Brant. I feel as though any battles we get into from now on will be with this group... I trust that you are prepared for that." Saying 'at least it's not Apotheosis' was something a bit strange, to Hannah. Would some other group to combat be better? Still...

"I've got your back, Brant. You aren't alone in the air anymore." Hannah gave him a thumbs up, much like his own, causing her to giggle. "I do not know what you use this gesture for, but most humans use it to mean things are good. So I hope that it works for you in that regard." She had to take her own time to setup the Mantle, anyway. There were a few things she wanted to confirm and make sure of before it got into combat proper. Like if the machine would be able to keep up with her, outside of a simulation... She could ignore the Gs from maneuvers and any other force exerted when the machine moved... But could its joints?

Papa Bear

Jess tried not to worry when she got Thorvald's message, but it was there. Still, he... He was one of their most veteran pilots. If this mess could be controlled and fixed up, it would be through him. 'Please do', was what he got back, as Jess put her head in her hands and tried to wake herself up. What a morning...

[Ether]

Kim wondered what was going on in the hallway as they passed, but Christina made the judgment not to add on to the pile, and soon they had entered her room, Christina asking of she knew any songs in English. Taking a moment to think it over, she did know a few old English songs from when they were taught the history of pop music, and began to go over one of them in her head, the words starting to slip from her mouth instinctively once she did.

"She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene~ I said don't mind, but what do you mean, I am the one-" Kim began, though she was rather quickly interrupted by an urgent message on her communicator, pulling it up and grimacing at the contents. It wasn't like Tarquin to go off on his own...

"Look like have do later. Tarquin take off alone without clear, all pilots suit up ready to deploy." Kim noted, not worrying about trying to slowly work out the sentence as she flashed the message in front of Christina to confirm.

[Balcerzak]

It felt good when Jess snapped at the jokers, who didn't know a damn thing, and even better when she didn't spill the beans after. Abigail let herself be hugged, pulled to her feet, and reassured. But then, after answering an apparently urgent message on her comms, the captain did what she always seemed to, and it was time to weakly draw the line.

"Did you give the lieutenant a break when times were rough?" Abby asked rhetorically. She'd meant Kim, of course, having heard about the injury to her arm, but unknowingly the way she'd phrased it was vague enough it might have applied to Brant's recent situation as well. "Please," she continued, sounding tired. "If I'm not piloting for you, I might as well go back to the brig. It's the only reason I'm on the outside, after all."

Edited October 25, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Sandalphon]

Stay calm?
STAY CALM?
oh sweet summer child, have you ever been calm for a day in your wretched life?

Nikolai bit back the instinct to continue shouting, opting instead to give buck a particularly venomous glare instead, hoping that his collected seething ire was well communicated. He scampered towards the machine, clumsily climbing into the cockpit, fumbling into place as he took a deep breath.

"Sorry for making shouting..." He muttered cooly as he settled into the seat, the mechanical hum whirring to life around him as he felt the purr of ignition around him, "I figure people not idiot enough to let child go out in big war machine alone. Because would have to be developmentally brain dead for allow such stupid fucking thing to happen, like turbo fucking moron. If he end up dead I come back here and explode literally everyone on boat and then myself, da?"

He clenched his teeth as the titanic metal death machine sprung to life around him, no matter how often it happened, the thrust and general forces of gravity never really sat well with him.

"Everyone ready? If not eat shit and catch up or else I leave you behind." 

[Nanami Touko]

Smooth Transition

Christina had absolutely no idea what Kim was singing as she started, but it sounded good, so that was fine. All too short lived, though. Kim went back to her broken English, showing her the captain's message... Her smile dropped, but returned, almost bitter this time. "I see... Then, let's get up to the hangar. Gotta suit up and make sure we're ready by the time we get to the base." The disappointment was evident on her face, but she tried to power through it. "We've got this."

The Only Reason

When Abby first retorted, Jess thought she'd been talking about Brant. She was about to get very worried, but, there was no real way that Abby could have heard of what happened in the meeting room... Brant wasn't going to go around sharing that. She must've been talking about Kim, and the wound she'd gotten previously. Jess scowled. "If you think I was going to let her fight until she was fixed up, you're crazy. If you go out there in the state of mind you're in right now... It could seriously kill you. I hope you understand that... And I hope you pay attention to that, too." The only reason, honestly... How could she be so ridiculous.

"It's not the only... Just... Please be safe. I need to get to the bridge-- I need to get dressed, then get to the bridge." She gave Abby one last look, a mixture of hurt and worried, and turned to her room. Uniform, where's my uniform...

[Ether]

The disappointment present on Christina's face was palpable... it didn't take a TK to recognize that much. Pausing for a moment, Kim reached over, firmly gripping Christina's shoulders to look her at eye level as she put her words together.

"Listen, Chrissy... we can... we will continue, once... we're in the clear. Okay? I'm sorry... that we couldn't... keep going. It was... amazing to see you... like this. Truly happy... listen. If you don't... want to, you don't have... to come into the Artemis with me." Kim began, taking a moment before continuing. 

"I know... it's difficult for you. I appreciate you... being willing to do it. But don't think you have to... okay? I don't want... to force you."

[Shin]

Tarquin did his best to ignore Makoto's messages, he desperately wanted to explain to his friend why he had fled so suddenly - but he was far too conditioned to disobey an order from his creator. It simply wasn't in his fibre to try such an act. The forests began to thin, the presence of the river reminding him immediately of his location. He'd never set foot outside of base during his youth, but he had always been curious about its surroundings, asking to see pictures of the surrounding territory. This was perhaps his first time actually travelling through it under his own volition.

"Corona Ten... it's been years since I have been here." he marvelled, the base ahead was a sight for sore eyes. However, multiple enemies were pinging on his radar. None of them were ANF signals, Apotheosis was his best guess. The one puzzle was why they were attacking at the moment he'd returned. Had the Professor called him to help? He'd been top of his cohort for solo combat, but he had doubts about being able to take on so many foes with a single Velite. He would have to play smart, but there was a sinking feeling he'd gotten into more trouble than he could manage.

-

Corona Ten, Major Payne’s office 0910 local time

Spoiler

 

The tension was eating away at the Major’s nerves, he hadn’t been on edge this much since the time he had to settle his divorce from his first wife. However, it wasn’t just everything he owned that was on the line, it was the lives of everyone under his command that was at risk. He was almost ready to call a full evacuation and destruction of the site, but they’d need the OK from central or exceptionally bad circumstances to try to justify it. Evacuation wasn’t currently on the agenda, he needed to have faith in his security team. Even if they were outclassed and outnumbered, it would be unfair of him to disregard all of their talents. There were also the trio of pilots they had outside. They weren’t much, but they were the first line of defense against an incoming force. Checking in on them would be best, letting them know he hadn’t forgotten about them.

“Mobile units, this is Major Payne.” he transmitted, using their secure frequency. “Looks like you’re all we’ve got until we can get some help. The Professor ain’t budging on using his machines and comms are still down. Keep an eye out for trouble, don’t engage unless you think you can take them. I’ll message again with more orders when the situation calls for them, good luck, soldiers.”

“Part of me would almost take the court martial over this mess... “ he growled, leaning his elbows on his desk after ending communications. What was the world coming to? He’d seen the broadcast, was actively living in fear better than the cold war? “The moment they get the comms lines up, I’m asking Colonel Sanders for a full fledged evac.”

Major Payne chuckled dryly to himself. He wasn’t even sure who he was talking to at this point, he didn’t have anyone to convince that they were in a bad place. Perhaps he needed to try and fool himself into thinking he was still in control of the situation? For a man who’d seen the harsh reality of the battlefield, it amazed him how he could still hold on to hope.

“An open window isn’t a good thing to have in a warzone, Major. Mind if I give you that court martial myself?” Almost on cue with his chuckling, a woman with purple hair jumped through the Major’s window, brushing herself off. “Going to give you one chance to surrender, so I suggest you take it. Comply, and you can be the first to jump out this window. Decline, and… I’ll be throwing you out myself.”

Major Payne turned, stepping back and drawing his pistol. “How in the… how did you get past security?” he barked, his gut telling him that the woman in front of him was far more dangerous than he could imagine. Neither option she gave him sounded particularly enticing, but the sense of dread filling him knew that inaction would spell the end. “Not gonna happen, punk. If you’re one of those Apotheosis goons, I’m stopping you here and now.” 

His finger began to squeeze the trigger of his pistol, he could ask questions later once he’d incapacitated her - or at least that’s what he believed.

The woman’s arm came up to block the round before even looking back at him, shaking her head. “That’s the wrong answer. You don’t get second tries.” Perhaps he’d fire more, she didn’t mind; it was a good exercise to stretch the arms. The hilt of a katana came out of her coat, liquid bubbling and crackling its way along until it formed a blade. “Hope you’ve made peace.” He didn’t see her coming, before the newly formed sword was through his chest. “Hope your men have made peace, too…

The Major didn’t have time for second shots, or to make his peace. The demonic blade had pierced through his chest, a spurt of blood jetting out of his back as the blade emerged. “Stefan… you schnitzel-eating piece of…” he spluttered, his legs growing weak as he crumpled to the ground. ”God have… mercy…”

His body went limp, the Major had been given an involuntary early retirement.

Letting his body slide off, she swung her blade hard to clear the blood. “They talk of giving up, but they’re always patriotic in the end. How foolish. Now, where’s the doctor…” Unfortunately, she hadn’t been told where his office was. That was fine. Plenty of time to clear the place out while looking for him.

 

[Phoenix]

There was still a little time before anything else important happened, so once Megumi was back in her room, she took a minute to uncover her body doubles. She left one in the bed, and moved the other to its case in the closet, turning it off completely. In a little while, its body would be completely cooled off, and it would be indistinguishable from a corpse. Megumi locked the case and then returned to the other decoy.

"Hmm ..." the doctor wondered if a sprawled out pose wasn't a little undignified. After a moment, she moved her remaining doppelganger onto its side, and pulled the cover back over it. "Good enough." With that taken care of, Megumi changed for work, poured herself a glass from the bottle of absinthe, enjoyed a quick drink, and then left her room, presumably for the day.

---

Brant shrugged at the first question, feeling he would have gotten used to either state sooner or later. Admittedly, what Hannah was aiming for was more was preferable. The android's doubts about the situation unfolding were warranted; Apotheosis had a way of just showing up, and they had made themselves everyone's top priority with all of that aggression. Brant did miss fighting simple rebels, though. If it had to be Apotheosis, so be it. "I'm 'prepared' for a giant mechanical gorgon to appear and start shooting at us," Brant smirked a bit grimly. The point was simply that whatever the threat was, his response would be roughly the same: gear up and await orders.

Brant chuckled when Hannah used his thumbs up without knowing exactly what it meant. She had it right in that it was a good sign, though. "Yeah you've got. Make sure you flip it upside down for the enemy if they get you on camera," Brant advised before heading out. "See you in the air, Hannah ... and thanks."

Brant got too messages after he exited the Mantle's cockpit and started down with the lift. One was from Thorvald, but he couldn't read it right away, because the second message was from Firmia, and it was straight audio. "The Regalia's clear and ready," she said, "head straight there."

"I haven't changed, yet," Brant said as his feet hit the hangar floor.

"The Regalia has its own SKIN suit stored in the cockpit," Firmia explained, "You can change in there. It's in your colors, and it was designed for that specific machine." There was a hint of pleading in Firmia's tone, which was extremely unusual. In a more casual situation, it'd be kind of endearing. Right now it just felt peculiar.

"Alright, heading there, now."

Brant took a moment to read Thorvald's message as he headed over to the Regalia. Apparently he was taking a couple of the other pilots and going after Tarquin. Not only that, but he was leaving Brant in charge here for whatever reason. A bit impromptu, but not a big deal, nor was it the time to second guess the veteran pilot. 'Roger that. Good luck, and call if you need backup,' Brant eventually replied.

Upon arriving in the cockpit, the TK had to do a bit of hunting, but right next to the bulky survival kit secured to the seat rigging, there was a small case with the SKIN suit inside of it. Once the cockpit was closed, Brant put his normal clothes in the case, and put on the new SKIN suit. The color scheme was similar to the mobile suit it was designed for, with an almost metallic light gray serving as the primary color, a dark teal covering much of the chest and back, and golden trim in various places, including a vaguely bird shaped print adorning the upper chest area.

Brant had been about to radio in to confirm that he was now on standby , but going over the line in his head first reminded him that 'Oni' had unofficially been dropped during yesterday's meeting. "Hmm ... okay, might need to think that one over." Brant supposed he could use the time Firmia had saved him to try and come up with a new one. Barring that, one more mission with it ought to be fine.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Willing

Christina sighed as Kim tried to play around her rather obvious disappointment, but she shook her head. "I told myself I'd do it. So... I'll do it. Even if it's scary. Even if I'm not very good at it... It helps you. And I like that." She tried to smile more genuinely this time, managing something. "So... Let's get me into that gross suit, and have me squeak and shrink at enemy fire. I can only get better, right?" It was forcing herself, but it was an attempt.

Ready For Takeoff

Hannah watched Brant leave, and sunk into her pilot chair some. It was... Comforting. To be able to provide something like this. It was something no one else could do. That just made it feel better. She smiled. "It is time to see if I can put this maneuver into affect." Surely, the machine would hold. Just to make sure... "Firmia," she asked, on her channel, "I would like to test how well the Mantle will hold up under transformation during movement. It seemed alright in the simulation, but would that hold accurate for a real battlefield?" She would still test it anyway, but... Best to check.

Wings of The Terrorists Who Killed J-Pop

Aliza wouldn't be enjoying her J-Pop for much longer. The calm skies and trees were near instantly replaced with an unknown battleship, coming almost out of nowhere. Machines began to pour out of it, a strikeforce in all regards. One landed near the base, kneeling down, perhaps unloading or waiting for someone. The rest began to case the perimeter, and there was a squad led by an imposing machine, heading right towards Aliza's location.

That Old Sinking Feeling

As Tarquin approached the base, multiple enemy signatures came into sight... It was Apotheosis, already one step ahead of the Riese, once again. But why Corona Ten? The boy wouldn't be finding the answer to that any time soon.

Scenario 6: Severed Strings

It wasn't much issue going through Corona Ten. Vera found only a few guards, and the guards that did try to stop her lasted seconds. The professor's office wasn't anywhere to be found. Really, why hadn't this been made easier? She sighed, cutting through the gun of another guard, driving her fist into his face, and silencing him permanently. "I suppose I'll have to find the guard station, and contact him myself... I can't shake the feeling that something's about to go wrong, though."

"Lieutenant," one of the soldiers popped in over her radio, "we've got sighting of an ANF Velite, Mk.II-M class, ma'am. Approaching alone. Long range scanners indicate a ship in the vicinity."

Vera froze, and curled her lips into a wry smile. Every time, without fail, right Riese? It could be another ship, but really, fate was never on her side, was it? "Return fire if fired upon. Leave it be otherwise. This is supposed to be a get in, get out operation... We don't have reinforcements this time."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Double time, Vera...

Player Phase/Turn 1

Victory Condition: Defeat all Enemies

Defeat Condition: Tarquin or the Riese is shot down

Battle Mastery: ???

Edited October 26, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Ether]

"Okay... I'm sorry... Christina. I'll keep you safe... promise. Meet you... at the Artemis." Kim replied, taking a few moments to compose her words, before leaving with a sigh. No more time to waste, huh? 

[TheRoon]

"Mmmmhmmmmhmmm~" Yeah another tune Aliza couldn't sing boomed in her head as she continued on her marry way with a chip on her shoulder and one in her mouth....no really she's still stuffing her face full of the things. Speaking of chips they were still very much scattered about the cockpit, but she figured she'd get the chance to clean some up later. No worries!

...shame she might be dead wrong.

ALERT ALERT! As an alarm sounded off and the comms went off with them.

"Look alive newbie!" Spoke the lovely Sledge. "We got company! Form up!"

"...mm?" And the girl (still with the very delicious chip in her mouth) rose her head to the situation and well. Knock knock. It's the terrorist faction. With huge cannons. And guns...guncannons? No she's still on that silly robot show in her head. These were Legionary Mk III mechs, a bit of a retro model. Aliza remembered seeing them from her academy studies, more specifically from a book she was loaned by this nice red head who she had a lovely movie date with. But anyway! She didn't seem to recognize the green robot in the center. Was it a new model? A custom built one? Oh and uh the huge battleship behind him. A big boat, with gu-wait we already did this bit. Anyway it's like huge, dangerous, heavily armed and imposing. Sweet!

Well regardless they were here, armed, and quite ready to tear the Italian space case a new one. How did she react? Well. Let's start by her mouth opening just slightly. The chip in it didn't fall out but it did slump a bit. Just like her mood. She took a small blink at the situation and reacted as such. "....mmmmmmmuuuuuh..." It was at that point the finger food fell out and reality settled in like a ton of bricks. "...you serious?"

Yeah they were serious.

Edited October 26, 2017 by TheRoon

[Xinnidy]

Hectic

"... Good morning, Dwight, Ensign Calvin." Roxanna entered the bridge rather suddenly, and her appearance was a bit off. Despite her usual vanity, she was rather unkempt, bags under her eyes hinting a poor sleep. "...Where is the captain?" She rose her voice slowly after making her way to the XO's seat, uncharacteristically slow as she rubbed her eyes.

---

Thanks to Shin's prescience, Tarquin moves to (3,25), and casts Sense!

[Phoenix]

Megumi arrived on the bridge shortly after Roxanna, quietly making her way over to her usual spot and turning on the console. Tarquin's Velite was still sending data back; the boy sniper's intentions likely weren't nefarious in that case. Megumi had doubted that from the beginning due to the timing of it all.  She would have tried contacting Tarquin but someone must have already tried that multiple times within the few minutes it'd taken her to get dressed and get up here. Best to check, actually ... "Has anyone been able to make contact with Tarquin, yet?"

---

Hannah's question caught the young Alkaev off guard. The android must not have seen the promotion material for the AMS units, that or not taken any of it at face value. That was fine, though. They weren't quite pressed for time, and it was better to go over things like this specifically, rather than let the android draw her own conclusions based on information off the net. "Transforming on the move is fine, even at low altitude." There were upper limits, of course; best to at least make sure Hannah was aware of them. "MS mode can't reach speeds high enough to compromise flight mode transformation on its own, so don't worry about that. If you're transforming into MS mode from flight mode, make sure you're subsonic or the joints will lock up until the internal sensors are green again. You'll be frozen for a few seconds while the suit slows down if that happens, so don't try it. If you need to enter MS mode, slow down as much as you can afford to, first."

---

That was about all the time Firmia had saved him used up, and Brant still hadn't come up with any callsign replacement he'd be happy with. He'd jokingly considered the nickname Firmia had given him, Pobornik (поборник). It fit him eerily well, especially now, but it was just long enough to not sit well with the TK as a personal callsign, and it would beg an explanation on at least two occasions, Brant was sure. Berkut had a nice ring to it, but came with the explanation irritant. In English it meant Golden Eagle, and that was too long for a 'Brant callsign.' Maybe something short and in English would work ... or maybe just Oni since that was as short and to the point as it got, even as a Japanese term ...

Brant sighed. It wasn't really the time to bother with this. "This is Oni One," Brant turned on his comms to the Riese's main channel, "on standby and awaiting orders."

"Oni is a weird callsign for you," Firmia's voice came into the cockpit, "Pobornik is better."

That hadn't been unexpected ... "It's temporary," Brant assured her. The conversation seemed to end there, with no reply from Firmia.

[Balcerzak]

Wait, the pilot of the Phalanx really was... well, Thorvald supposed as long as they didn't trip over themselves there wouldn't be any trouble. This was just going to be a quick, pop out and chastise Tarquin, then bring him back affair. Even on the off chance anything did happen, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep on robot safe for long enough until it got the chance to run away. It'd probably take more time arguing with him to keep him from launching anyway, time that would let Tarquin build his lead.

"Got it, will watch the civilian like a hawk, don't you worry," he gave as a final reply before ascending and taking off, Nikolai and Makoto following close behind him.

---

Okay, that had admittedly been a bad example hadn't it. A broken arm would be probably the one legitimate case where the captain wouldn't allow a sortie, Kim'd just been lucky enough there'd been no trouble before she'd the time to heal. If Abigail had been in a better headspace, perhaps she'd have found an actually good example, but as it was, she'd just ended up upsetting one of the few people that cared. When she saw the pained look in the captain's eye as she turned away, Abby realized she'd fucked up, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. There'd been no way of preventing it in the first place. She was hurting, bad right now, and wanted to wallow in it, have someone acknowledge it, maybe even fix it (ha ha). Having things get turned around and hurting someone else back, that hadn't even been on the radar as a possibility. Yet, here they were, selfish mistake later.

Abigail bit her tongue, keeping herself from saying anything else at the moment, it'd likely only add oil to some fire or other, and not do anybody any good. Unfortunately presence of mind only goes so far, as her audible stamping down the hall to reach the elevators bore witness to. There was no reason to go back to her room, the her pilot suit and everything that would be needed were already in the hangar. If she stepped into her room, she might just flop down, curl up and not come out, which wouldn't do at all. She still had work to do, and still had crew to win over.

[Xinnidy]

Red Wings

The Metis hovered along in front of the legionaries, looking to be almost weightless in the sky. Come on, what's happening over there... Esther sighed, the Metis' hind subcameras panning towards the facility for its anxious pilot. How am I supposed to be threatening on my first mission... She sighed, the emotions she was picking up from the base were all over the place. Vera, why didn't you do a pacifist ruuuuun?? She couldn't pick up anything concise with all this fear of death emanating over. It was unlikely for Vera to die over there, but still...

The ANF mechs weren't going to scare themselves, unfortunately. At least, they didn't seem to budge yet. Thankfully, it was a 5v3 on her end, and this AI was better than ANF's easy mode training simulators. "Hah... well, I signed up for this." The Metis held its beam rifle up, training it on the middle ANF machine. Time to test them. With a command, the Mk. IIIs rose to arms, things were about to get very rude.

[Nanami Touko]

Facts to Hold

Hannah stored the information Firmia had given her, and kept her plans on schedule. If those were the only things to keep in mind, then the Mantle would be able to perform easily. "Brant," she chimed in after Firmia, "you should choose a name based off of a famous pilot, real or otherwise. Like, Goose, Maverick, or Ice Man. I believe that would fit best." Hannah finished her customizations after that, sinking comfortably into the seat of the Mantle. "Time to put this to the test."

Arriving on Deck

Jess came in a few minutes after Roxanna did, quickly assuming her seat and sighing. "Captain on the bridge... Let's get... Oh no." Immediately she saw that this wasn't going to be an easy day, as the Riese's long range scanners came up red. "Great... All pilots," on went the radio, "it's Apotheosis... Strap in and suit up. Thorvald, take your squad and get going after Tarquin." She groaned, and bit her lip. This was not the place to be throwing Abby into...

Suit up, Once Again

Kim seemed... Almost disappointed. Why? Wasn't it a good thing that she was pushing herself? It took so much bravery to keep getting into that machine, as safe as it was-- comparatively, so why the sigh? And why was she going off on her own? I wanted to walk with her... If they were getting ready to sortie, there was no point in trying to catch up. Kim was as athletic as they came, it would only result in Christina running herself ragged down the halls before even taking off. Gently taking off the coat and hugging it tightly, she left Kim's room and took a sigh for herself. "She'll be there. You'll be safe. You can... You, can do this. You can do this, Christina..."

Personal pep talk over, the elevators were only a small walk away, her feet dragging like weights on every step.

---

The suit really didn't get any easier to wear... Mentally, that was. It had only been a day, but it was starting to feel more comfortable against her skin... "Heh... SKIN on skin..." She'd take every moment of levity she could get. Not spotting Kim walking around yet, she took that coat and put it on again, sadly finding that it fit just a bit better. The sweater had likely been too thick. With an exasperated sigh, she stepped over to the Artemis, getting an eyeful of it, and then deciding to rest against it's leg. "Kim'll be around any minute... Or she's already inside and I don't even notice~"

Enemy Phase/Turn 1

Tarquin moved closer, but none of the Cressidas moved to engage him! Pretty good at following orders.

On the other side of things, Esther wanted to do some testing!

Legionary #1 targets Sledge, moving in for close combat!

Quote

Target: Sledge
Final Hit: 89
Final Crit: 24
Roll: 24,11
Hit
Crit!
Final Crit Damage: 47

Sledge swings back with an installed assault sword!
Final Hit: 100!
Final Crit: 16
Roll: 48,41
Hit
no crit
Final Damage: 28

Sledge gains +2 will!

Legionary #4 does the same!

Quote

Target: Sledge
Final Hit: 89
Final Crit: 24
Roll: 31,59
Hit
No crit
Final Damage: 31

Sledge counters once more!
Final Hit: 100!
Final Crit: 16
Roll: 95,59
Hit
no crit
Final Damage: 28

Sledge gains +2 Will!

Legionaries 2 and 3 fire in on Hicks! He fires back! Wow!

Quote

Legionary 2 fires
Target: Hicks
Final Hit: 100!
Final Crit: 17
Roll: 36,35
Hit
Final Damage: 17! Wow! Tanky!

Hicks returns fire-- Whoa! What a cannon!
Target: Legionary 2
Final Hit: 89
Final Crit: 3
Roll: 77,100
Hit
No crit
Final Damage: 67! Nice!

Hicks gains +2 will!

Legionary #3 tries the same tactics!
 

Quote

Target: Hicks
Final Hit: 100!
Final Crit: 17
Roll: 42,33
Hit
No crit
Final Damage: 17

Returning fire!
Final Hit: 89
Final Crit: 3
Roll: 14,2
Hit
Crit!
Final Crit Damage: 101! Wew!

Hicks gains +2 will

NPC Phase/Turn 1

Hicks gets the party started!
Moving to 14,5, gatlings on Legionary 3
Invincible up!
 

Quote

Final Hit: 99
Final Crit: 13
Roll: 70,23
Hit
No crit
Final Damage: 20

The Legionary counters with its own gatlings!
Final Hit: 95
Final Crit: 17
Roll: 91,21
Hit
No crit
Invincible!
Final Damage: 2

Hicks gains +2 Will

Sledge follow his guy up!
Focus on, 13,5, forest up!
Targeting Legionary #3

Quote

Final Hit: 100!
Final Crit: 16
Roll: 36,90
Hit
No crit
Final Damage: 16

Legionary #3 counters, firing gatlings!
Final Hit: 66
Final Crit: 13
Roll: 95,77
Miss!

Sledge gains +3 will!

One more for the road!

Aliza scoots on over to 13,4, focus on, targeting the Legionary along with her squad!

She fires, she hits, no crits, it missed!

A victory!

Aliza gains +2 Will and +15 EXP!

Player Phase/Turn 2

Victory Condition: Defeat all enemies!

Defeat Condition: Tarquin or the Riese is downed!

Battle Mastery: ???

Docs

Edited October 27, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[TheRoon]

Well, this was it. A real battle. Her first one...though she probably wouldn't admit it. She stood there for a moment, trying to take it in. Were nerves settling in? 'Ok...ok...stay calm...terrorist attack...just gotta...uuuh...'

"Newbie!" And out shouted the voice of Sledge on the comm line.

"E.eh?" She snapped out of it.

"Look alive! They're firing at us! Hicks ordered a retreat to the woods! Follow me and use the trees for cover!"

Good thing they targeted the seasoned soldiers because Aliza was completely staggered. But those orders managed to snap her out of it. She suddenly looked determined and pulled the ear buds out of her head. Although she did forget to turn off the music, as another certain track from that robot show glared out. 'Can't let it end here...I gotta get to the stars no matter what...' "R.Roger that!" She spoke back and followed her two comrades into the woods. Once they got in position she noticed them firing at a damaged Legionary. It seemed to have been hit pretty hard. Aliza took this chance to follow up with her own shots. 'Focus...focus...ok!' Another pep talk later she managed to fire at the mech, which did indeed hit. "I got it!" She gasped out. Yeah, just like the academy drills. No worries.

However, the Legionary turned to Aliza. Which put her on edge. But fortune was on her side, for she was able to dodge just in time. "Aha!" She smiled a bit. "Alright, nice!" So this was live combat. Similar to mock rounds indeed, but those were live. It was actually giving her a real rush. What a thrill! "Alright...what's next!" She grinned. "I'm ready for anything!"

[riariadne]

"Martinson, Gefalscht." Dwight nodded as the two leading ladies arrived on the bridge. He had been there at his seat well before Jess's message, as per usual, and was not one to waste time readying as soon as he had seen it. "As you can see on the radar, the scenario has certainly escalated, which we seem to be growing used to. I've taken the liberty to ensure that preparations should be under way well enough for the Riese to follow up on Special Eriksson's scouting team in both of your absences. We are ready when you are, Captain, XO."

[Ether]

It only took a short while for Kim to don the SKIN suit and arrive at the hangar, although slightly longer than usual, her thoughts clouded over with the talks from before. Christina had seemed to jovial, so... happy. It was the first time since they had met that the blonde had seemed... content. And here they were, about to deploy again to the field, crushing Christina's fleeting moment of happiness. She'd told herself she would do it, so she will... even if she's scared, even if she doesn't want to...

"<Can I do that to her?>" Kim mumbled to herself as she walked... Christina had chosen to join her, but to say she was willing seemed... wrong. The girl was forcing herself to overcome her fears and her trepidation, which might have been a good thing? It was hard to say, really. Improving oneself was all well and good, but was it an improvement she had needed to make? After the initial need, was there really any rhyme or reason behind continuing to expose the girl to her own fears, and to the danger of the battlefield? There was no time to decide that now, but would doing this really make Christina happy? Walking over to the Artemis, as well as Christina herself, Kim couldn't help but frown, just the slightest bit.

"Hello Chrissy, are... are you ready to deploy?" She asked, mulling it over in her head. Despite all that, was it her choice to make? If Christina was to face her fears, was it Kim's place to question it? She just didn't know.

[Dandragon]

She hadn't been quick enough, and as a result, she had been left behind by the scouting party on orders of Thorvald, of all people. It didn't single her out specifically, but he had apparently said not to let anyone else launch until the ship arrived at Corona Ten, which had still pissed Elaine off enough to be pacing the hallways, unable to sit still. And in that time, she had begun to doubt her own conclusions towards the identity of the mole. What if it wasn't Tarquin? What if there was some other reason he had launched without permission? But then why go to Corona Ten? What ties does Tarquin have to that facility, of all places? One thing was certain, however, and that was that Apotheosis was most likely there. She hoped this wasn't Louise meant by 'meeting her in person'.

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald and the others had made good time, and managed to catch up to Tarquin without incident, although it had taken a while. Thankfully it seems the boy hadn't been pushing his craft to the limit, as if all involved had been going top speed they couldn't have managed. When he got a good look at just why the younger pilot had slowed down, however, he was forced to frown, and a low whistle escaped. That was certainly quite the welcome party waiting for them. Time to batten down the hatches and wait for back-up, if he could just get Tarquin to agree with the plan.

Calling out on open comms, Thorvald tried to make that case. "Look son, I'm not sure why exactly it is you took off ahead of schedule, but right now that doesn't matter. Rushing into this is only going to get somebody killed, so I'm gonna need you to form up on me. Helping Corona Ten is a priority, sure, but we've got to get there slowly and deliberately while we wait for the rest of the cavalry to show up." 

Then he had some words for the civilian who'd been tagging along. While initially doubtful, Makoto had pleasantly surprised Thorvald with his prowess at handling the Phalanx. Still, while that meant he was comfortable trusting the kid to move around the landscape without trashing his ride, there was no way he could be exposed to any combat. Without any real training or experience, live combat would be a disaster, even if his good intuition had been serving him well so far. "And you, in the Phalanx there. You're not to get within firing range of any of those Cressida, you understand? If those hunters start flying around to flank us... just take cover behind me or something and we'll deal with that if it happens." Sigh, this was going to be quite the rodeo. Hopefully the captain wasn't too far behind.

Thorvald moves to 3,22
Tarquin moves to 4,22

 

---

 

Abigail's fingers uncurled and the helmet she'd been carrying dropped to the floor. It was just one thing after another, wasn't it? She was standing in the hangar, having made her way to where she'd left the Phalanx after their last engage. And it was gone. Had she parked in a tow-away zone or something? A joke like that might have been funny if... no, there really were no circumstances, were there? Shoulders slouched in defeat, she left the helmet where it lay and, spotting Buck, slowly walked over to the 'head mechanic'. 

"So... where'd it go?"
 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Escalation

Jess kept an eye open on the monitor, as her other was slowly covered by her hand. Everything was as ready as it was going to be for another engagement with the terrorist group... The only thing that was worrying Jess was a signal matching one they'd seen at the Colony. An Unknown that they hadn't properly dealt with. More like, it had dealt with them. Had their tech improved enough over these last few days? With the addition of the Artemis and the Russian bots, as well as their small finds here and there, things seemed fine... Only battle would tell.

"Thank you, Dwight. XO, keep your eyes peeled, today. We're... We're going to need all hands on deck for this one. I can feel it."

Worries Aplenty

"Kim...?" There she was, looking worried again. "I don't need a T-Link to tell that you're not okay with this... Listen, i-if I'm a hindrance, I'll leave things to you, but if I'm helping, at all, even with the squeaking and yelps..." That made it sound so awkward, really, but... It was accurate. "If I'm helping by being inside of this machine with you, then let me help. I..." She didn't want to get into a big diatribe about things, but that's how it felt things were going. She sighed, shook her head, and sucked up her discomfort. "I need, to do this. I have to. I can't just, curl up under the covers and act like everything's fine while you're all out there, getting shot at, when there's even the smallest little help I can give. I shouldn't... I shouldn't be alive, but I am. So I need to do everything I can!" Her thinking felt a bit faulty, but her emotions felt right. At least, this time.

"B-Besides," she suddenly stuttered, "how, h-how... Am I s, supposed to, k... N, Never mind! Open up the robot, so we can get seated..." There was that, too... If she could stand these fights, she could dig up the bravery for anything. Surely.

Stolen Vehicle

Buck looked at who was talking to him, squinted, furrowed his brow, and sighed. "I don't have it in me to deal with your anger today, Abby, so just... Makoto took it. He wanted to help chase down Tarquin, and it's the only machine he knows how to pilot, alright? Look!" He swing his finger happily towards the Cressida he'd been messing with, adjusting his hat with confidence. "That's my latest remodel, I call it the Crescent Moon! It's got the latest tech from the Apotheosis machines we could scavenge, and everything extra I could do to it to make it work better. You're not gonna get better safety unless you strap into a Legionary, but that seems like it's way too slow for you, miss Phalanx."

With a happy chuckle, he rested his hands behind his head, smugly grinning. "So get mad if you want that your bot's being borrowed. One ride in that thing, and you're gonna be thanking him for taking it. Trust me."

While Buck was grandstanding, Avery had dipped herself in, not paying attention to second in command's musings. She had to make what adjustments she could to Astin's machine before she let them take off. She didn't have much time... But it was enough time for the necessary touch ups."

[Ether]

It seemed Christina had picked up on her frustrations, but the blonde had misinterpreted their origin, causing Seung-Min to shake her head at Christina as she closed in towards her. Again it would be, with the English... still, she had to make an effort on this.

"That's not it... Chrissy. You're not... a hindrance at all. I just... worry that you're... forcing yourself. <It feels like you don't want to be here, y'know? But you're making yourself do it out of some misplaced sense of duty.>" Kim began, slipping into Korean midway through to try and parse her thoughts, before continuing.

"It... feels like you don't really want... to do this. That you're... doing it out of misplaced sense... of duty. But... it's not my... place to decide. It's yours. So long as you... want to pilot with me, no matter what your... reason is... I'll be happy to have you."

[Nanami Touko]

Obvious

Christina looked at Kim with a confused eyebrow. Was it not obvious enough? "Of course I'm forcing it." She paused a moment and hoped that was all she had to say, but maybe that wasn't clear enough... "I'm not cut out for these sorts of things. And... If I don't force myself, I'll never improve. That's all there is to it. I don't want to go in there... And I don't like it. But... You're saying I'm not a hindrance. So I must be helping something. So... I'll do it. Until I get better at it... You gonna open the robot, Kim?"