2011-06-03 - Pacific Patrol

Oceania is a collection of islands in the Pacific ocean. It is divided into four groups: Australasia, which consists of Australia, New Zealand and a few smaller islands, Melanesia, which consists of Indonesia, Papau New Guinea, Fiji and other islands, Micronesia, which consists of Guam, the Marshall Islands and other small islands, and Polynesia, which consists of Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia and other islands.

These islands are diverse and different, organized together into a small collective to represent their own interests in the world at large. They are individually weak, but collectively they are an important alliance, and one of the major supporters of ZAFT.

It's not really the same place where he got shot down yesterday, but, well, damn, the ocean all looks the same.

Good thing Ryusei's probably immune to PTSD, otherwise he'd be having 'nam flashbacks right now. Or, 'cific flashbacks if that makes sense. The R-Wing flies high above the sparse clouds gathering over the islands of micronesia, radar-sweeping the area. There IS a DC sub somewhere there, the brass was right. Of course, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy to find it.

 Ryusei Date transmits, "Super-4 here, I'm at the rendez-vous coordinates, ready to start the patrol." He yawns audibly. "...No sign of the DC sub or any kind of hostile contacts. Sky's clear.""

The azure form of the Brynhildr swoops its way just over the water at an easy, light pace, making a game of dipping its spear into the sea to sluice huge waves up behind it. The pilot is clearly enjoying herself, dipping and bobbing at low altitude more as a way to pass the time doing stunts than actually provide a useful service to the team.

"Mebbe try not to blow up this time, yer think?" Aki clips over the radio with a cheery air, her feet visibly popped up on a corner of her console over the video link. Sunglasses on against the pacific glare, mp3 player transmitting tinny bass, she is living large.

Ryusei's face in the small portrait in the "contacts" corner of the screen grins with a mixture of irony and sadness. "...I'll try my best. Villetta will really put me to the wall if I wreck another machine." A short pause. "Thanks for saving my bacon yesterday here. I owe you one."

It's a good few minutes into the patrol, before a trail of glittering, red-orange particles, and a slightly heavier flicker of static on the radar, herald the arrival of an A-LAWS Jinx, hanging in mid-air as its GN Drive levitates the Mobile Suit. Aerodynamics be damned, the Jinx attempts to keep pace with the R-1, and pull up alongside it. Turning to face the other two, the Mobile Suit nods its head, and then an anonymized pilot's face appears on the channel, her face hidden by the polarized face plate.

"This is Blue 0. Standing by to assist in your search, Super 4."

Ryusei Date can be seen lifting an eyebrow. "..."

"...wait. waait. Don't tell me. Uhh... mhhhh..." He cheats, clearly: turning halfway to the side, he opens the scanner detail context menu and checks the pilot's name under "".

"...Eight! Nice to see ya again. Why can't I see your face?"

Aki waves it off with a sunny grin as she banks her machine, spinning into a roll that leaves a snake-like trail in the water behind her. She blinks as the new face cuts into the video link, then grins at it. "'Sup, ma'am," she says as she gives it a salute, "An' don't worry about it. It's pretty much what this thing was designed for - bein' fast and carryin' stuff is part of its trade."

There's a pause, as the A-LAWS grunt looks away, possibly in annoyance. Reaching up a flipping a switch on the side of her helmet, the visor clears, revealing Eight's masked face, her annoyance now clear. "Transmissions can be intercepted, Super 4." she says, as if in explaination, then nods to Aki. "Has there been any sign, so far?"

Ryusei nods sideways to Aki's comm window. "It's a Tesla Leicht design, right? Part of Terrestrial Dream?" he asks, slowing down R-Wing a bit and getting a bit closer to the Brynhildr to get a better view. Way to get distracted, Ryusei. "It's really a beauty."

Suddenly swinging the Brynhildr around in a circle, Aki gleefully impacts her spear against the water to give herself the scenic backdrop of a crashing wave for just enough of a moment to put on a sliding badass pose. "It's /the/ Tesla Leicht design! --well, sorta. One of the newest ones, at least!"

Immediately, the Brynhildr rockets through the wave and forwards, water sluicing off it as Aki responds to Eight like NOTHING AT ALL JUST HAPPENED. "Naw, ma'am! It was right around here yesterday at a guess, but they've prob'ly moved on by now. Gotta watch out for stuff like 'Carpet bomb the area our mechs had a fight in', after all."

Nods gravely. "Yeah, man, I hate subs. I don't even know what they were doing around here, probably just waiting for a patrol to ambush. Guerrilla warfare and all that. And we don't even have a kill to our name, so the engagement ended in their favour. Which means they'll probably do it again somewhere else." He takes a deep sigh, bringing his R-Wing back on the straight and level at 3000 meters.

Eight frowns at Aki's report, looking away momentarily. "I... Can't easily detect units down here. This far out, I can only barely feel the carrier's presence." she reports, looking either ashamed, or angry, at the fact. "I'll keep trying, of course, but if they've run..."

The R-Wing makes a low pass on the calm surface of the ocean, lifting a massive spray of water in its wake, as if getting closer to it would reveal its dark mysteries.

Mysteries such as "where the heck is that sub now", for example.

"If I were its captain" - everyone is free to feel terrified at the idea of Captain Ryusei Date in charge of ANYTHING, folks - "I would have left the area just after the ambush. Hit and run, hit and run."

Huffing out an amused sigh, Aki's brow knits in friendly worry; she reaches forward to ... try to headpat the tiny Eight face on her viewscreen, which looks just a little weird on camera. "If they're run, then that's our job done fer now at least, ma'am. Don't beat yerself up over it! We just gotta keep patrollin', that's all."

Her mech bobs left and right, right and left, making another game of playing with the waves. It may take a moment to realise that Aki is basically slalom skating over the surface of the water, because she is a very serious pilot. "Yeah, but what were they hit an' runnin'? If they're just looking fer opportunistic targets, well, here we are. I can't really make myself any more conspicuous an' tempting."

Ryusei Date shakes his head. "They attacked when they were two against one. They kept fighting when you arrived, but- maybe their rules of engagement are "only commit to battle if you have numerical superiority"? Or maybe they moves far enough that they don't see us just like we don't see them." He does sound a bit frustrated. He scratches his head. "Man, that fire monster was scary. Russel and Katina said it wasn't the first time it showed up - do you know anything about it?"

Eight leans back in her cockpit, locking her controls so she can massage her temples. "No." she states. "I'm unfamiliar with that... 'Fire Monster'. However, with the DC's resources, there's no telling what manner of machines, or monsters, they could throw at us." Looking back at the camera, her expression is back to neutral. "As for their tactics," she continues, "It depends on the commander. Most appear to have a considerable degreee of flexibility... Or simply lack oversight by their leadership."

Ryusei Date nods. "I mean, they have Doctor Hell in the DC. A GUY CALLED 'DOCTOR HELL' IS IN THE DIVINE CRUSADERS." He explains rather loudly, as if to hammer the point home. "They're totally off the hook!" He adds, just to make sure.

With a deep sigh, he relaxes a bit in his chair, and flips a few switches. The instrumental intro of "Unconquerable Adamantium Shogun Daigaizor Seven" begins to echo in the background.

"I know one of 'em. Not the big fire one, but the other one's Ascian Luddite. I shot 'im down over Russia a while back," responds Aki as if this is all perfectly normal, shrugging one shoulder. "Only trouble is, he got me too. Good job it was right on top've a base. Anyway! We just haveta get their attention, right?"

The Brynhildr slows to a low level hover over the water, dipping the spear in. Suddenly there is a thundering -boom- and a whole lot of steam around her machine, as a burst of superheated plasma makes light work of a chunk of seawater. "Oiii!" calls her loudspeakers, "Come an' get us!" Sadly, her only audience appears to be a group of bewildered and shortly quite crispy fish.

Ryusei Date glances down at the explosion. "Hey. Don't shoot at the sea. Stab it. Whatever." He says, clearly a bit surprised. "It didn't do anything wrong." He's quite deadpan here, hard to tell if joking, serious, or just bewildered. He brings the R-Wing down, in formation with the Brynhildr just above the surface of the water. The ocean is so beautiful, today like yesterday. Clear blue, calm and peaceful as its namesake. (You'll never bleed! Dai-gai-zoor! You'll never die! Dai-gai-zoor! Seeeee-ven!)

"Dr. Hell was a leading researcher in biology and biochemistry, before his dissappearence and subsequent re-emergence as the creator of the Mechanical Beasts." Eight says, in an attempt to correct Ryusei. Dropping down, the Jinx cruises overhead of the other two as Eight sighs. "They are certainly aware of *your* presence, Saitani. They are probably ignoring you."

Ryusei Date Shrugs. "He's still a guy called Doctor Hell. DOCTOR. HELL. Come on. Even without looking at his face, or what he does, that thing alone would be enough to immediately let everyone know he's a Bad Guy with a capital B and a capital G!" He explains.

"Ehhh?" Aki looks shocked and dismayed at that sentence, honestly, which is why there's a grin tugging past her deadpan. "Yer gotta be mistaken, ma'am, how can yer ignore a magnetic personality like me?" The Brynhildr lifts up just a little - enough for it to turn full on to the water. Interestingly, the power being given to the thrusters along its feet simply transfers across to those on its legs, keeping it where it is - not so much turning on a dime as spinning sideways on one, instead.

"Still, if hearin' a series of explosions on the surface doesn't bring them up, it can't be anywhere around here. Same principle - depth charges would probably suck too much for them not t'respond to."

"You can't depth charge the entire ocean." Ryusei admits. "Think of the environment a bit. And, besides, that'd be a lot of depth charges for only one sub. I think the Brass for once had a good idea: intensify patrols and keep a lot of mechs in the air, ready to jump at the first hostile contact."

He seems to think about something for a second. "Also, I reviewed combat data from the engagement yesterday, and realized something."

"If they're trying to avoid contact, then surface explosions are what they would be avoiding at all costs, Saitani." Eight chids, then sighs. Looking back to Ryusei's screen, she asks, "What?"

Doesn't sound too proud of what he's about to say, and understandably so. "I've fought like a complete tool. I shouldn't have counterattacked after their first attack, and instead ran away towards the reinforcements to buy time. And, after that. i still basically fought on my own instead of using teamwork. I've been too long out of Team SRX, damnit." He gives a soft, frustrated punch at the control panel. "I'm sorry, Aki. You had to go through so much trouble because of me."

Aki slumps back in her chair, laughing to herself. "Would yer quit it? It's me /job/. I don't mind. Look at it this way, yer saved me from five hours of starin' at space." Her machine rockets forward, building up pace again simply for lack of anything better to do.

"Hey, Aki. Eight." Ryusei suddenly looks straight into the camera, going all serious, but with a strange, mad light in his eyes.

Eight looks up from her suit's console, returning the gleam with a questioning look. "Yes?"

"We totally should design a combination attack for the next battle."

"Eehhhhhhh... I dunno, in that dinky thing?" frowns Aki as she crosses her arms, looking down and to one side on her monitor. "I dunno if you could keep up with this thing when it's in full battle mode..."

Eight, on the other hand, considers this for a moment, then shakes her head. "This unit is not designed to work in conjunction with the SRX-project machines."

"In that WHAT NOW?!" Ryusei growls all of sudden as armored plates slide, wings retract, the asset shifts and the R-Wing, almost reflexively, turns into the R-1 Custom's humanoid, combat form, wawing his fist angrily at the Brynhildr, kept aloft for now by its jump boosters. "Now you take that back right now, Aki! You saved my hide back then and I'm grateful, but NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THE R-1 CUSTOM LIKE THAT!!"

Looking down at the two bickering pilots, the Jinx's pilot sighs. Then, with a note of flat puzzlement, she asks nobody in particular, "Can it really be called a custom if there's only one to begin with?"

Ryusei Date turns enthusiastically to Eight! "That's EXACTLY the reason it's "Custom"! ...Well, okay. I added the "custom" part to make it sound cooler. But, technically, it IS custom, so it's all right!"

Aki only laughs happily as the Brynhildr starts skipping its way over waves, dancing back and forth. "Well, it can't stand up to the pride of Tesla Leicht, that's for sure!"

The R-1 Custom shakefists again at the Brynhildr before re-morphing into the R-Wing. "You got it! Soon as we get back to base, you've got yourself a match at the sim! I'll make you EAT those words!" The R-Wing then blasts away angrily at full throttle, gaining speed and altitude until Ryusei has calmed down a bit. "Anyway, Eight." He picks up the conversation from where he left it, still fuming a bit. "I didn't mean combination as in combining the robots... I meant a combined attack! You know? A combo, a special technique, a hissatsu? A secret move?"

There's laughter in Aki's voice as she rushes ahead, spinning merrily through more low-level flight. "C'mon, heroes ain't supposed to be /that/ hot-headed, are they? I coulda called it /way/ worse than that. Anyway~" she adds with an evil smirk slowly growing on her face, "'Izzat how you talk to your rescuer?"

With a sudden blast of angry red GN particles the Jinx attempts to catch up with the Ryusei, causing Eight to have a frustrated look when she re-opens the line. Flicking through her unit's weapons, she frowns. "This unit lacks the nessesary... adjustments for such tactics, Ryusei. The control system is built with standard piloting data." she notes, with a hint of... Annoyance? Frustration? Continuing, she explains, "I have the standard weapon loadout. A Lance rifle, a standard rifle, point-defenses, and a Beam Bazooka."

"I told ya!" Yep, he's very sensitive about this. "I owe you one, but that doesn't mean you can talk smack about the SRX project like that! I'm going to forgive you for this one time, since you saved me yesterday, but keep that in mind! I won't let you badmouth SRX and the R-1 Custom any further! Got it?!"

Aki drops back, the Brynhildr flying level with the other two machines and keeping an easy pace alongside them. "Heeh... that's one of the A-LAWS general machines, then? I haven't really seen the loadouts on any of them, since I'm pretty much bolted to this one. It means I've got barely any guns, but I've never been much good with 'em anyway."

The blue machine slowly circles the Jinx, giving it the mech version of a speculative look.

Ryusei Date *GLARES* some more through the camera at Aki before turning to Eight's side. "Adjustments? You don't really need specific adjustments, just be good at improvising and working in formation, and a bit of soul!" Helpful as always, Ryusei.

Returning the speculative look with a four-eyed glare, the Mobile Suit glides along steadily, while Eight continues, "I can engadge at close or medium range... But I don't trust the targeting systems for long range. What about you, Ryusei? Saitani?

Tapping at her chin on the monitor, Aki's face bobs left and right in thought as she tries to sum up the capabilities of her machine. "Weeeell... this thing can hold a gun, but the radars ain't so hot. It was never really meant t'be a battle craft so much as light support, so there's nothin' major in the shell itself. On the other hand--"

The Brynhildr hefts its huge spear, and the pilot's voice gains a distinct note of pride. "This thing'll rip anythin' apart like paper or just burn it up instead, ma'am. Slices straight through armor like a knife through a very soft thing if I'm runnin' it at full power." As if for effect, she hits the firing button

With a loud 'ka-chunk' a spent canister is thrown out the side of the spearhead as the air along its point suddenly bristles with small blooming explosions.

"The R-1 has weapon options for all ranges, but I'd say it excels at close-medium ranges." Ryusei explains as the R-Wing does a little barrel roll. "It's not a super focused close combat machine like the Alteisen or the Grungust, and tries tis best to be versatile. It has a Boosted Rifle for sniping at extreme range, and a Mega Beam Rifle for firefights at long and medium range. Then, in close combat, it has a knife and a pair of tonfas, but its main punch comes from the T-Link System."

Ryusei Date is scrolling a menu on the instrument panel, or browsing or typing something just off-screen. "So, we've got a set of nice close-combat-oriented machines, in short. Eight, what's the range and projectile speed on that bazooka of yours? And, is it guided or unguided?"

Eight seems to be considering things for a moment, before looking back to Ryusei's machine. "Unguided, with a GN Particle warhead. It's designed for cracking warships... Or overly-arrogent mecha."

Aki coughs and deadpans it as the Brynhildr swoops to one side, looking very sullen and serious on her monitor. "Ma'am, please don't crack me with a bazooka."

Ryusei Date Ponders, scratching his chin. "But it sounds like it'd be hard to hit a fast-moving target with an unguided rocket. What about the rifles? Something packing some punch but still accurate?"

And so the day continued, as the three squabbling pilots flew into the horizon. No DC subs were found during the patrol, and EFA Far East Command suspects the DC to have retreated its submarine assets from the Pacific.