2009-01-08 - Ramraiding

"/THIS/ is your plan?"

Trent Turkleton stares almost indignantly at his lieutenant as the subordinate speaks those words so incredulously. He leans forward until his paunch strains against his uniform, beady eyes glaring at his second-in-command.

"Are you /questioning/ my /orders/?" he snarls, flatly.

"No, it's just -- this plan isn't -- it's not even--"

"Shut up! Shut up, I say!" says Trent Turkleton, slapping one hand against his forehead. "I won't stand for any more of this insubordination! If you can't understand the subtle nuances -- the graceful /genius/ of my plan, then you can get off my ship! I won't take second-guessing! I won't even take third-guessing, and in rare occasions, I will turn a blind eye to /fourth/ guessing!"

"That doesn't make sen--"

"MOBILIZE THE MOBILE SUITS! ARM THE ARMORED MODULES! SUPER CHARGE THE SUPER ROBOTS! We are initiating the plan -- /NOW/!"

Ten minutes later, a large bogey appears on the radar of Izu Base -- something massive, and coming in, fast. Any even meager amount of analysis will show just what it is: a Rhinoceros.

And it's set to ram right into the walls of Izu Base.

Armored Modules, mobile suits, and all manner of mechanized weapons are deployed from the docking bays of the Rhino as its thrusters ignite to maximum capacity, the entire, horned hulking mass of metal tearing across hard earth on a dead path for Izu. They have all of a few minutes to respond before that horn SMASHES into the side of Izu's outer walls in one tremendously deafening explosion, the cacophony going unnoticed by one Captain Trent Turkleton.

"BACK UP! PREPARE TO RAM AGAIN! WE WILL RAM IZU BASE -- /RIGHT OFF THE FACE OF HISTORY/! Ha ha ha! My plans are genius!"

Turkleton's lieutenant sighs, long-sufferingly.

One of the armored modules on the Rhino is a Guarlion. It's a little bulkier than a normal Guarlion, especially across the shoulders and upper torso, and it also has one unusual piece of gear: it appears to be wearing a backpack connected to a long-limbed gripping arm, currently arced above its head like a scorpion's tail.

Ilyse, in the pilot's seat, sits uncomfortably while finding a good time to launch. Eventually it is her turn to do so, and the Guarlion lifts off, bobbing a little awkwardly as Ilyse deals with the new center of balance on the machine.

"Man," she says, not realizing her radio is on, "whoever ordered that ram is kind of dumb."

IZU BASE: SOME TIME AGO

"You'd think we'd have something better to store this thing in while NERV HQ gets new carpeting," NERV scientist Dr. Actress says to his colleague Dr. Bishop, waving a hand at the gigantic wooden crate marked 'EVANGELION PROJECT,' 'DO NOT OPEN,' and 'THIS SIDE UP.' It is roughly large enough to contain an Evangelion.

"Tell me about it. Between stuff like this and that insane biker gang we keep on the payroll, NERV isn't the glamorous science work I hoped it'd be." Dr. Bishop sighs.

"Tell me about it. I assumed highly-classified scientific research was all snorting black-science supercoke out of strippers' big fake titties, also enhanced by black science. ...all right, let's see 'em."

"Three pairs."

"How is that even /possible/ -- we're playing five-card--"

"Uh." Dr. Bishop, sensing that his ruse has failed, grabs the money from the center of the table and runs, causing Dr. Actress to give chase.

Sitting on a folding chair off to the side, Rei Ayanami is thus left unsupervised.

NOW

As forces begin to muster their defense against the incoming DC fleet, a passing colonel or staff sergeant or something sees Rei Ayanami sitting near the giant crate of her Evangelion, staring off into space, seemingly ignorant of the chaos around her. "YOU! LITTLE GIRL! I ASSUME YOU ARE ONE OF OUR THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL CHILD SOLDIERS!"

Rei looks over. "Yes," she replies, flatly.

"IS THAT YOUR SUIT?!"

"Yes."

"THEN /GET IN IT/ AND /FIGHT/!"

Rei stands, taking off her donation-box FILA sweatsuit to reveal her plugsuit beneath. "Acknowledged," she says, walking over to where the Eva is being broken out of storage.

A FEW MINUTES FROM NOW

Secure in her plug, Rei Ayanami lumbers forward in the Evangelion Unit-00, lanky form stalking toward the fray.

As the order to deploy is given, a large blue and gray Jinki runs down the launch catapult of the Rhinoceros. Jets fire, and it leaps, rather than takes off, landing solidly on the ground with a heavy thump. The Moribito-02 takes off running as soon as it lands, easily keeping up with the combat flight speed of the Lions and other AMs above it.

Moribito does pause and turn its head to look back as it hears a loud crash, however. "Wh... why are they ramming? The ramming prow of a Rhinoceros wasn't made for that! They'll ruin it!" Aoba frowns slightly, shaking her head, but returns her attention to the front once more.

Behind her, Ryouhei just shrugs. "Don't try to figure it out, you'll just hurt your head. Sometimes, a man's gotta meet his problems head-on. That's all."

Aoba blinks at that thought. "So it was fighting spirit?" She smiles again. -That- she can approve of, at least.

 Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "One enemy unit is retreating."

 Russel Bagman transmits, "Let em go, Turn on the remaining ones"

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "We appear to have incoming at Izu base. All available units, deploy and intercept."

 Rei Ayanami transmits, "Evangelion Unit-00 deploying."

There are, naturally, Lions in that mass of Armored Modules. One of them looks no different than the others - plain black and white, with the chainsaw assault blade already drawn out. Arado grins a little as the Rhinoceras goes flying down towards the walls of Izu Base. It's a bold, absurd maneuver - one that he likes the sound of!

"I dunno," he says to Ilyse. "I think it's kinda cool. I mean--it's a ram! It's like... old school! Roman old school."

It appears that there is something foul afoot at Izu base. Given that the DC have turned out in force, it can not mean anything good for the personnel there, or the EFA's assets as well. "What is our status?" Ingram asks, fasting his helmet around his chin as the Wildschwein is prepared for launch. One of the ratings salutes, before reading off of a PDA he is carrying. "Looks like one large enemy transport craft, accompanied by a number of mecha sized units. They should be here within the next few min-" And the base shakes violently, Ingram looking over at the far wall where a plume of smoke is rising even now. "...I see. We have less time than I thought we did." He turns, grabbing onto the hook that his personal trooper has lowered, and allows himself to be raised up into the cockpit. "This is Major Prisken to all available units. Izu base is under attack - scramble, and prepare for combat." Two overhead switches are flipped over, and the Schwein's eyes light up, the unit's reactor powering on. Moments later, Ingram departs the hanger, looking around as he tries to get a sense of the situation. And which of these targets might be the most interesting to confront...

MOMENTS AGO

Kusuha Mizuha is in a T-Link Psychotron Test Unit, wearing what looks like a colander on her head. Wires sprout from the helmet in all directions, and more sensors are attached to her arms, legs and of course to her chest. To monitor her heartbeat, don't get so excited. Her eyes are squeezed shut from the strain, and a faint glow of perspiration dances across her brow.

Behind her, computers beep and hum and they monitor her progress and T-Link levels. One scientist shakes his head, sighing. "She's still too low, we need to find her trigger," he mutters, reaching over to turn up some dials. Kusuha squeaks a little.

And then, ALARMS! The order comes out to deplot, and the scientist looks vaguely disappointed. "Oh, fine," he says, turning off the banks of computers. "Kusuha!" he calls into a microphone. "You've got to deploy! Izu Base is in danger, and people could be hurt-- even /killed/-- if you don't get out there!"

"Oh no!" Kusuha gasps, ripping off her test outfit to reveal a pilot suit beneath. The scientists loosens his collar. Kusuha dashes to the door and runs for the hangar. "I can't let any of my friends get hurt! I have to defend them all!"

NOW

"Grungust, let's go!" cries the blue-haired heroine. The great machine groans as its systems come to life, and it takes a step out of the base. "Okay! Let's go protect everyone!"

Bringing up the rear of the advancing Divine Crusader force is a heavy fire support unit, doing its best to keep its visible profile low -- advancing on elbows and knees, like the Guncannon often did during the One Year War. The Tesla Drive hastily bolted onto its back makes this a little bit more tricky of a proposition than it might otherwise be.

Chapman himself, meanwhile, uses his convenient placement near the bottom of his unit to open up a hidden compartment within the bottom, hastily sliding a few stimulants into his mouth. He can handle one-to-one engagements against the average EFA pilot, but mass invasions -- he just can't do it anymore. He's getting too old for it.

Lavi St. James is slow to launch his Tailypo. With his Hambrabi down and out for repairs, he's got to rely on his older, less capable MSTs. But he's slow getting to the cockpit as he walks along the hangar walkways. He can't run, the bruiser are just too...

Pulling his flight helmet a little tighter over his face to hide the black eye from when he 'fell down some stairs' a few days ago, as the story goes, well. He just doesn't want to be seen with a black eye, is all. He's slow to lower himself into the form-fitting chair in his Tailypo's cockpit; the reactor's already at heavy burn and that seat is hot a hell. For a moment, it feels good against his bruises. For a moment. But then it just burns and stings like a bitch.

"St. James. Tailypo launching." Lavi says, uncharacteristically unenthused about the coming fight. A dangerous proposition; when you're not on top of your game, you could be dead in an instant out there. The Tailypo's booster kicks in and throws the American made machine out of the bay, into the sun.

Shin was flying high in the air, as he likes to do. Though this time he was flying his VF-0 to the asia continental orbital elevator up to the Space Ring, and from there, the moon.

Until some Divine Crusader fruitcake rams a Rhino into Izu Base. The general SOS goes out and Shin recieves it. "Tch, don't they ever let up?" Shin banks the VF-0 to the side and pulls it around. <>

The Buster Gundam took a pounding just the other day - beaten savagely by the mysterious machine of a mysterious challenger on not-very-mysterious Huffman Island, it came into dock on the Excellion barely functional.

...and now it's back on the front lines, Noriko Takaya leaping out of the Rhino's deck and landing hard on the earth, charging along beside the battleship, her system bootup finishing with a chime and a few practiced punches. Nothing short of remarkable. But Noriko doesn't seem to be thinking about it: "Noriko Takaya, Buster Gundam! Ready for battle!"

Trent Turkleton peels off his cap and scratches idly at a mop of unruly, ratty hair as he observes the EFA forces beginning to deploy -- hair that, until recently, had not been there. His lieutenant stares for a long, silent moment, and opens his mouth, as if to speak. He quickly shuts it -- a reaction that earns a squint from Turkleton.

"... /What/?"

"It's nothing, sir. Just -- uh -- ... nice ... haircut?"

Turkleton looks proud, slapping a hand against his stomach. "Like it, eh?? Ah, don't worry, lad. One day you, too, can have hair that looks as luxurious as this. I'll tell you, the amount of women who go crazy over this completely natural hairstyle would /baffle/ you. If all the /Newtype/ /punks/ weren't stealing them away with their mental voodoo, any--"

Turkleton's rant about Newtypes and their stealing of his women, however, is put on hold once the walls of Izu are in view again -- and once the EFA begin to pour out in earnest. "Excellent!" shouts the captain, leaning forward. "Men, prepare the thrusters again! Ready the anti-air cannons! We will show them all the righteous fury of the pure, HAIRY human CRUSADERS through our relentless and unerring willingness to unload all our ammo in one hailstorm of vengeance! For the all-natural human world Bian Zoldark longs to create--"

"--there are a lot of Newtypes and Coordinators in the Crusaders, sir... Dr. Zoldark encourages unity. Actually, some of them are on this crew--"

"--RAM THEIR NEWTYPE-LOVING WALLS AGAIN!"

And once more, the Rhino starts to tear forward, threatening to plow into the walls of Izu Base, horn-first.

A FEW MINUTES AGO

Secure in her plug, Rei Ayanami lumbers forward in the Evangelion Unit-00, lanky form stalking toward the fray.

NOW

The Rhino's horn launches forward, indeed -- and Unit-00 launches up, heretofore unimportant magnetic clamps in its wrists giving it the boost it needs to leap onto the Rhino's side as it comes close, before its claws dig into the hull to gain a more secure foothold. The giant, freakish cyborg entity scrambles across the hull of the battleship, moving up its nose before pausing. Inside, Rei Ayanami is tense but inexpressive, maintaining her S.O.P. of radio silence as she considers her options.

A combination of magnets and claws keeping Rei secure as Unit-00 reaches behind its back to unholster its pellet pistol, Rei looks toward the command deck, raising the gun as the Evangelion's joints bend in a freakish, inhuman way to lower into a fighting position.

Evangelion Unit-00, having lined up the bridge in its sights, then empties its gun as quickly as possible.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Pellet Pistol added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a minor hit using Pellet Pistol.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has missed Rei Ayanami with his Antiair Missile counter attack.

The Moribito runs along the ground as once more the Rhinoceros rams the walls. Releasing one hand from her controls, Aoba clenches it into a fist. "Right! If that's fighting spirit, then I won't lose!" She grabs onto the second control stick again and shoves it forward, sending the Jinki charging forward into battle. Behind her, Ryouhei... sighs and shakes his head. But he doesn't yell at her, not this time. At least her head is in the game, and he won't get in the way of that.

As Aoba looks over the EFA machines which have swarmed out in defense of Izu, her eyes are drawn toward one. "Whoah! Look at that one! It's got a... what -is- that thing? On the arm there? I gotta find out!" The jets on the back of Moribito's legs fire, and it leaps high in the air in the direction of the Wildschwein.

"Hey, a little warning when you're gonna do that!" Ryouhei makes a face, but still manages to keep control of the arms. As Moribito-02 reaches the peack of its jump, he pulls back on his controls. The Jinki reaches back, unlatching a large machinegun from its back, and fires several shots toward the perfectly normal robot as it descends back toward the ground.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. 120mm Machine Gun added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has struck a solid critical hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using 120mm Machine Gun.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has missed Aoba Tsuzaki with his M13 Shotgun counter attack.

"A gundam." Lavi says quietly, to himself. Probably just another Gundam Fighter. Lavi can't help but sneer. Gundam Fighters, another damn worthless group. He hasn't seen a damn one of them except Chibodee Crockett lift a finger... not one damn finger to help the EFA's cause. But they love to paint him a villain. Just one more worthless, half-assed group. It isn't right. It isn't /fair/. He's the one out here bleeding, out here /dying/ so that their precious Gundam Fight can have a ghost of a chance of bringing peace... and all they do is verbally deficate on him every chance they get.

"God damn you... DAMN YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR!" Lavi screams into the open band as the Tailypo increases its speed to its full burn, throwing up skree in its wake as it slides in around the Rhinoceros' AA fire as it screams along the land battleship's hull, zeroing in on the Buster Gundam and the Buster Gundam alone. It leaps, kicking off of the side of the Rhinocerus to squeeze out that couple of handfulls of feet of height. Both claws raised high into the air, it decends in a fury, threatening to unbalance both itself and the enemy Gundam due to the angle he comes in at.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Slash Claws added to their queue.

"That girl... can she handle the battleship?!" Kusuha wonders, watching Unit 00 step into the Rhinoceros' path. "Oh no...! She's so young, she'll get hurt!"

And so it is that the mighty riced-out Gungust Type 2 strides across the field with Hulk-style leaps, tearing up the scenery (literally). "Stoooop!" she squeals, holding up both hands towards the Rhinoceros. "You'll hurt her! And you'll hurt my friends!"

Unfortunately, the Grungust misunderstands Kusuha's intentions, and fires off both arms straight ahead. One plows towards the prow of the Rinoceros. The other flies off into the distance, no doubt to land somewhere completely harmless before fizzing out and returning to the super robot. "Uh oh! I just wanted to make him listen... now I have to fight him too!" Casting a glance at the Evangelion, Kusuha frowns a little (it's adorable). "Be careful, Rei! This battleship has a big horn!"

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has attacked Gentle Chapman and Bian Zoldark. Boost Knuckle Multipunch added to their queue.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has struck a solid hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Slash Claws.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has missed Lavi St. James with her Chain Knuckle counter attack.

Hmmm, it seems that he had attracted the attention of something... interesting. Ingram hasn't seen a giant robot like the Moribito before. This was definitely a new one on him, but that doesn't mean that he can take it lightly. Throttling up the Wildschwein to its full speed, he tries to avoid the incoming machine gun fire - unfortunately, he doesn't have enough speed to evade it completely, the shells stitching a line across the front of his mech. "Hmmm, interesting," the blue haired major comments, narrowing his eyes. "This one certainly seems enthusiastic," Ingram muses to himself, and flips the M13 Shotgun over. The first blast goes wide, the choke set to high to do any damage, but the Schwein is already moving at high speed. It skims across the ground, closing the distance rapidly, and the shotgun flips over in its hands... Before Ingram spins the unit around on its axis, bringing up the machinegun in the Schwein's other hand, and giving the Moribito a full burst in return.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. M95 Machine Gun added to their queue.

"Huh," Arado murmurs, as he looks down and spots the Grungust. "That's a big one... might be a good one to try." He grits his teeth and leans forward, feeling the Lion soar forward and swing down--but it isn't as fast and it doesn't move the same as the Guarlion Flegel. Instead, it swings hard to the left side and does not quite get there in time. "Damn!"

Instead, he hits the ground; the bladed feet slash into the ground. He twists it around, comes up, and makes the feet split out. His railgun swings out to one side, as he looks around.

"Looks like the big one's already under fire..."

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has struck a glancing hit on Bian Zoldark's Rhinoceros using Boost Knuckle Multipunch.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has counter attacked for a minor critical hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Antiair Missile.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has missed Gentle Chapman with her Boost Knuckle Multipunch attack.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has missed Aoba Tsuzaki with his M95 Machine Gun attack.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has counter attacked for a minor hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using Iron Blade.

The VF-0 arrives at Izu base at just slightly above the speed of sound. Decelerating, it spreads it's wings as Shin tries to get a feel for teh situation. The situation appears to be 'nuts'.

The Fighter mode VF-0 angles down and tilts it's wings back, diving down at the enemy below "An Armored Module. Can't get much more of a safe target then that." he locks on to Arado's AM and presses the thumb switch, releasing a single air-ground missile. Since Arado was nice enough to ground himself.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. Multi-Purpose Missile added to their queue.

Chapman, on stimulants, has a far easier time of things than when he is /not/ on stimulants -- he brings the Gundam into a controlled sideways roll as the rocket punch comes in, narrowly avoiding the mighty fist. "So that's the Type 1 or 2 -- not much of an improvement on the 0, from what I can see. Not that accurate, either -- yet another piece of Federation pork, I suppose."

Staying off in the distance and electing to snipe, primarily since the pilot doesn't seem like she's precisely the brightest bulb in the shed, Chapman takes only a moment to sight in his rifle -- leave the precision shots for when it's missing some armor, that's rule one. An enormous burst of energy flies out from the heavy sniper beam rifle, seeking to lance through Kusuha's Grungust.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has attacked Kusuha Mizuha. Beam Winchester added to their queue.

"Hah! These EFA fools are easy targets! I'll surely be promoted after this!" Trent Turkleton leans back, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "Admiral Turkleton -- Commander Turkleton! Perhaps... Dr. Zoldark shall make me president of /Earth/ when the war is over! I certainly have the /hair/ for it--"

CRUNCH.

"Great Odin's beard!" announces Turkleton in shock as the Unit-00 suddenly /attaches/ itself to the side of the Rhino. Viewscreens bring up the horrible cybernetic abomination, and Turkleton visibly recoils, looking horrified by the sight. "Wh--what is it?!"

"That's-- that's an Evangelion, sir!" responds his second-in-command, now huddled close to his chair.

"Evawhat? That sounds like something someone made up on the fly! Could this be -- some irradiated Newtype abomination?!" Turkleton looks aghast -- enraged, even, and before his lieutenant can correct him, his booming voice is once more cutting over the bridge. "Fire the anti-air missiles! Strike the beast down! Continue on course! That wall is coming down, whether we have to run over some giant Newtype monster science project to do it or not!"

"It's /not/ a--" The pellet pistol unloads ammunition upon the thick hull of the Rhinoceros, firepower lodging into the side of the wartank with loud metallic THUNKS. The anti-air missiles fire, but the force of the shots striking at point blank range send the Rhino, and its assault, veering off-course. Rockets explode forward, smashing into Kusuha's /Grungust/ instead of the Eva even as her mighty robot fist dings briefly against the side of the Rhino, pushing it /just/ enough to send it, still charging, suddenly veering towards the right, turning violently as it smashes its right side into the walls of Izu Base -- threatening to flatten Rei's Eva with it, if she isn't careful.

"Ha HA!" declares Turkleton, "Take /this/, aborted freak baby of science!" Ka-THOOM.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has attacked Rei Ayanami. Tank Ram added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has struck Rei Ayanami with a glancing hit from their Tank Ram attack!

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has struck a major hit on Arado Balanga's Lion using Multi-Purpose Missile.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has missed Shin Kudo with his Gatling Gun counter attack.

The Moribito-02 lands once more just as the Wildschwein pulls out its own large gun. It takes several quick steps to the side, then begins to charge toward the Wildschwein at full speed. As the shotgun is fired, the Jinki brings up its shield, neatly blocking the worst of the blast. Its left arm reaches back, replacing the machinegun and grabbing what looks like a giant bladed boomerang. The leg-jets fire again, propelling it the rest of the way toward the Wildschwein and slashing quickly with the boomerang.

"Let's give this new boomerang a try! Minami said they're supposed to come back when you throw them." Aoba is a bit too excited about the idea of throwing a giant metal boomerang, but this is the first time it's been loaded onto the Moribito-02! The Jinki's left leg extends and it quickly leaps to the side and away from the EFA machine, arm coming back...

"Boomerang Blade... go!" Ryouhei shoves his controls forward, and the Moribito's arm comes down, lauching the blade at high speeds. It spins around as it flies, making a faint whirring sound.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. Boomerang Blade added to their queue.

Arado certainly gives Shin no reason, immediately, to think of him as anything more than a mere Lion pilot. The machine turns - already slowed by being on the ground, aileron feet clumsily stumbling, and lets loose with an autocannon burst. The rounds never quite whole through the missile; they instead shoot into the air, wide away from anything, and the missile slams into the armor.

It does not pierce through, instead crumpling like a crushed coke can against it and exploding on the armor, leaving it blackened and fiery. Arado is thrown backward, grimacing inside of his cockpit. "Damn... one of those Federation Valkyries. I'll have to be caaaaaaaaareful!"

He does not behave carefully.

Instead, the Lion takes off into the air, spiralling upward; blue light trails after from the Tesla Drive, leaving a ribbon of energy in its wake. The chainsaw sword swings around - and he tries to ram right into Shin Kudo's Valkyrie with the blade, dragging it along the armor in a quick and smooth motion. "Take THAAAAAAAT!"

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has attacked Shin Kudo. Assault Blade added to their queue.

Noriko doesn't actually know who the damnation is coming from or to. But she hears it just before Lavi's Tailypo comes screaming out from the EFA lines. "What--" Noriko stammers, baffled, unable to get much defense up. Lavi swings his Tailypo's claws down, and at the same time, Noriko swings her fist out - "CHAIN KNUCKLE!" she shouts out, and the chain anchor shoots toward the Tailypo...'s left. The Buster Gundam staggers back, tripping backward and landing flat on its back due to the angle of Lavi's landing. "Nnn what..." Noriko mutters. She's confused...but comments like that, she's pretty sure of how to react to.

"I stand for a tomorrow better than today!" Noriko shouts out, jabbing her fist toward the Tailypo with a hard punch - and then the wrist vulcans snap open, spraying beam shots into the Tailypo's chest. "And if I'm going to Hell for that...I'll go gladly!!"

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has attacked Lavi St. James. Punching Shot added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has missed Ingram Prisken with her Boomerang Blade attack.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has missed Lavi St. James with her Punching Shot attack.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has counter attacked for a minor hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Crush Punch.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has struck a major hit on Shin Kudo's VF-0A Fighter using Assault Blade.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo's evasion attempt has failed.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has struck a solid hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Beam Winchester.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has counter attacked for a minor hit on Gentle Chapman's John Bull Gundam using Boost Knuckle.

Ingram smirks. This unit appeared to be very standard designed - a lot of the so-called 'Super Robots' tended to use more smooth designs, heavy armor over a tough frame, but this one seemed very exposed, and used a lot of the conventions that were used by more mass produced units. Its behavior however suggested something other than the normal control system. Running his fingers over the small keyboard at his wrist, Ingram brings up the scanners, gathering information on the Moribito as he sweeps to the right. The boomerang sweeps in, and he weaves aside, allowing the weapon to sweep past him... and with a rough pull on the throttle, the Wildschwein leaps over the blade on its return trip. "Analysis complete. Let us see then..." he muses, before putting the machine gun away. The shotgun comes up, and Ingram changes the choke to a much more narrow setting as he rushes into close quarters. "So what is your name, pilot?" he transmits... right before bringing up his weapon and firing a couple blasts at the DC unit as he passes, working the slide with an almost inhuman efficiency as he ejects the spent shells.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has activated a spirit command.

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "Interesting... an unusual unit."

As the Rhino suddenly veers toward the base, it doesn't take a bastard child of science and Intelligent Design to realize what'll happen. Luckily for Rei, though, the wall that the Rhino slams into was already weakened somewhat by its previous attack, as well as unscruplous EFA-hired contractors using subprime materials and pocketing the rest to pay for their kids to go to Space University and avoid becoming Trowa Bartons or dying of a disease and getting shot in some hellhole colony. The wall shatters, crumbling around the gangly form of Unit-00 as its claws remain affixed firmly to the Rhino's hull. Rubble washes over the cyborg creature, causing a momentary disruption of service that gives Rei a minor shudder inside her plug. Still, when the Rhino pulls back, the Evangelion is still there -- a little dustier, and banged-up and dented in a few places, but still there nonetheless.

And with that, Unit-00 resumes crawling up the hull, claws digging in and joints working counterintuitively to resemble something akin to a spider if half of its legs were torn off and it had giant fins and an ugly fucking face. Rei snaps the prog knife into action as she brings Unit-00 closer to one of the Rhino's launchers, hoping to cripple some of its offensive capability by digging the knife into important circuits.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Progressive Knife added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a minor hit using Progressive Knife.

Shin expected a counter attack, but not a /crazy one/. The Assault blade hits the Valkyrie, it's teeth cutting and tearing across the armor. Externally it looks like little damage was done, thanks to the SWAG energy converting armor. In truth though, Shin's predicament is wore then it looks. An acumulator for the armor system was damaged, and shin's power gauge drops by more then a third. "Christ!"

THe VF-0 tips forward and suddenly transforms into battroid mode while upside down, and swings it's GPU-9 gun pod around, firing the 35mm gattling gun at the Armored Core. That pilot is clearly insane and needs to be put down for everyone's safety.

Shin Kudo activates his VF-0A Battroid unit.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. GPU-9 Gun Pod added to their queue.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. M13 Shotgun Narrow Choke added to their queue.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has missed Aoba Tsuzaki with his M13 Shotgun Narrow Choke attack.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has missed Ingram Prisken with her Iron Blade counter attack.

The Grungust is slammed out of the way of the Rhinoceros and goes spinning to the ground a couple hundred meters away. Its sweet blue fins crumple a little as the huge machine digs a trench through the earth. "Ooogh," Kusuha groans, putting a hand to her head and urging the Grungust back to its feet. "I didn't expect that!"

The blue super robot levers itself onto all fours, using the one arm that returned after clanging into the Rhinoceros. This is the position in which it remains while Gentle Chapman breaks cover and fires on the intrepid nurse, who totally fails to notice the attack until it hits, sending the Grungust falling over into its side again. "Uwaaaah! There was someone out there!" she cries, mentally summoning the Boost Knuckle back. Miraculously, it slaps the John Bull on the back on its return flight. With both arms, the Grungust has a much easier time getting up.

"I don't know who you are, but I won't let you hurt my friends!" Kusuha exclaims, as her unit is briefly surrounded by a blue glow. "Don't think I won't fight just because I'm a girl!" With a mighty roar, the blue robot's shoulder-mounted thrusters ignite, sending the machine barreling across the land towards the sniper. One hand draws back, then strikes towards Gentle Chapman in a fierce open-palmed assault. "HIYAAAAAAAAAAH!"

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has attacked Gentle Chapman. Swift Slap of the Eight Winds added to their queue.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has struck a major hit on Gentle Chapman's John Bull Gundam using Swift Slap of the Eight Winds.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has counter attacked for a minor hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Straight Punch.

The Tailypo's left hand shunts the anchor away as Lavi continues to press his advantage of momentum over the toppling Buster Gundam. The Titan pulls back on his control yokes, throwing the Tailypo's chest backwards and splaying it's right foot out in a pirouette, keeping the machine just ever so barely balanced as the whole thing half slides to the left.

The beams of Noriko's mighty punch mist the Tailypo's spiralling back by mere inches, enough to cause a line of paint to bubble and scorch from the proximity heat. But as the Tailypo slams it's leg down onto the ground again, Lavi once more flaring his booster, the Tailypo hunkers down, stabbing downwards with it's right hand. The claws puncture into the Buster Gundam's chest roughly and when he knows, damn certain he knows, he's got her, Lavi rips the enemy machine back up onto its feet. Noriko can hear the MST's arm joints strain; this man is not screwing around.

"A better tomorrow? What the HELL do you think you could do any better then us? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT AND YOU CAN'T!" And this is where things get tricky as Lavi starts to give into his anger. He forces what little leverage he's got left back, towards the Rhinoceros. He pushes his machine to it's limit. He's almost hell bent on finding what this thing is really, truely capable of. He pushes towards the flank of that land battleship, trying to slam the Buster Gundam, his new hated enemy, into its side. While Captain Turkleton probably won't even notice the impact (if indeed, there even is one), it puts Noriko in a bad position to use her arms to defend her as Lavi starts to use his claws to rip and rip and rip.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Maul added to their queue.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has struck a major hit on Arado Balanga's Lion using GPU-9 Gun Pod.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has missed Shin Kudo with his Assault Blade counter attack.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has missed Noriko Takaya with his Maul attack.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has missed Lavi St. James with her Plasma Bianchi counter attack.

Rubble crashes across the Rhino as it unceremoniously bashes Rei's Eva into Izu's wall, debris scratching the paintjob of the machine maliciously. The Rhino begins to slowly pull back as soon as the dust settles; Turkleton looks up, grinning smugly.

"HAH!" he roars defiantly. "We hit it so hard it exploded into a fine, invisible paste! The power of the Rhino is so immense--"

"It's still on the hull, sir."

"... WHAT?!"

The -=SHUNK=- -=SHUNK=- -=SHUNK=- sounds of a knife stabbing itself into the body of the Rhino confirm the Eva's unfortunate life and presence still on top of the battleshiptank, even as Turkleton looks aghast and disbelieving. Blade sinks into metal, yet the Rhino is made tough -- the blade doesn't get too far with each stroke, stabbing into one of the visual data centers of the Rhino before Turkleton finally reacts. "It-- it's shanking us! What does it think this is, prison?!" The captain snaps a hand forward, pointing defiantly at his viewscreen. "Well, if they think they can get away with knifing us in the prison yard, they're sadly mistaken! I'll show them the magic of my Rhino can't be denied! Fire the homing missile!"

Some brief protests and a few angry slaps later, the missile bay towards the rear of the Rhino opens, one massive rocket propelling outward to /crash/ into the Unit 00 at near point-blank range, to blow the Eva straight off the Rhino in an almost stupidly reckless maneuver.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has attacked Rei Ayanami. Homing Missile added to their queue.

"I heard they could do that!" Arado says through gritted teeth, as the VF-0 transforms; he has only seen it up close once, though, when he fought Hikaru. The GPU-9 gun pod, though, makes him think twice; he tries to fly sharply to the side, but the rounds strike a dead-on hit, shredding through the Lion's armor. Pieces of it are shorn off along the left side, chunks torn free as the rounds cut into the frame itself. Smoke rises out of one side, as sensor warnings come across the Lion's HUD; the damage is severe and threatens to limit mobility.

He flies in, slashing hard with the Assault Blade; the chainsaw sword swings down. At the same time, the railgun swings back - but rather than fire, it swats hard towards the side of the Valkyrie. "C'mon!" Arado transmits to Shin. "I'll get you!"

When the boomerang goes wide, Aoba pouts slightly. "Awwww... maybe it'll get him on the way back?" And then Wildschwein jumps over it. "...awwww!" Not fun at all. Moribito catches the blade and begins to move again, despite the Bottom pilot's disappointment. She continues the charge, blinking slightly at the incoming transmission. "Um... sorry." The girl clears her throat. "I'm not allowed to tell my name to strangers!" By her voice, she can't be older than her early teenage years. "But.. but I like your robot! It looks really cool! What's the round thing on the arm do? Is it like an energy shield?"

As Aoba chatters away, Ryouhei brings the shield up again, once more deflecting the shotgun shells. It swipes the giant boomerang underhanded at the Wildschwein and, when it misses, the swing continues, latching the blade onto its back again.

Still moving around the Wildschwein, Moribito reaches beneath its shield, drawing a small rod which quickly extends into a spear easily as long as the Jinki is tall. It shifts its stance, swinging the spear once then stabbing it directly in at their opponent.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has attacked Shin Kudo. Railgun Smack added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. Hybrid Spear added to their queue.

Abruptly leaping out of his prone position, Chapman lowers his rifle for a moment as Kusuha comes in; he comes in for a classic boxing maneuver as she aims for a slap -- a cross counter. The straight punch hits its mark, knocking Kusuha's Grungust a little off balance - but it's not enough thanks to the sheer size, and the slap comes barreling in and sends the John Bull flying.

The rifle is dropped halfway between his final landing point and Kusuha, which puts Chapman in a position where he can't just grab it immediately for fear of getting punched when he's not looking; as such, he is once again put in a position where his boxing skills are what will be at all useful. He hops in toward the Grungust, slipping into a hasty stance -- it's not as good as his old one. He's not as good as he used to be.

Taking a page right out of Little Mac's book, when Chapman is faced with an enormous foe with only his boxing skills to aid him, he does the right and reasonable thing. Crouching down for a moment, Gentle stores some energy in his legs, before firing his entire body upward -- and with the aid of the Tesla Drive, that's one mighty uppercut. "Good to see a Feddie with the conviction to fight to protect something!" he transmits, with a grin on his face. Kusuha may be a flowerhead, but she's a flowerhead with conviction -- Chapman can respect that.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has struck Rei Ayanami with a solid hit using Homing Missile!

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has missed Bian Zoldark with her Remember That Time He Redirected An RPG With A Pan Or Something In The Transporter counter attack.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has attacked Kusuha Mizuha. Marquess of Queensberry Rules added to their queue.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has missed Kusuha Mizuha with his Marquess of Queensberry Rules attack.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has missed Gentle Chapman with her Eye Laser counter attack.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has missed Ingram Prisken with her Hybrid Spear attack.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has counter attacked for a minor hit on Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 using Circle Zanber.

The missile zooms toward Unit-00. Rei looks up from stabbifying the perimeter and realizes that it's moving too fast to properly dodge, but also that it could be used to harm the Rhino itself -- if she can time it right. With a grunt of concentration, Rei has Unit-00 reach up like a pro HANGAR HOOPS baller blocking a shot --

--and the missile explodes, splattering Unit-00's hand and most of its forearm onto the hull, like the director's cut of that one scene in RoboCop. Inside the pod, Rei chokes on her tongue for a moment, her hand simultaneously going numb and in searing, apocalyptic pain. The Eva nearly falls off of the hull of the Rhino, catching itself at the last second and hanging on for dear life as Rei sucks in a few breaths of pure LCL and tries to reorient herself.

Digging her feet into the hull as deep as they'll go, Rei has Unit-00 suddenly break into a run up the Rhino, dashing on two legs as her one remaining arm draws the standard-Eva-issue Pellet Rifle and shoots anything that looks like an important or manned part of the ship to try and buy a few seconds.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Pellet Rifle Strafe added to their queue.

"An energy shield... perhaps you might describe it that way. On the other hand, I'm afraid you're somewhat off base," Ingram replies, a smirk crossing his face. And he throttles up the Wildschwein, watching carefully as the enemy pilot - a young girl at that! - closes in towards melee range. So she wanted to get in close? He could deal with that. In fact, he'll get very close indeed - because while she might have a longer reach, the effective striking space of a spear was very narrow if the initial stroke was not successful. And Ingram braces himself and barrels right in towards the Moribito, before suddenly turning around the spear, bringing up the arm with the strange emitter on the back - and she shouts : "Circle Zamber - engage!" High pressure energy is emitted from the emitter, forming a circular blade around the back of the Schwein's hand. And Ingram slashes Moribito once - and follows up with another slash, backhanded this time, before he rockets onwards.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a solid hit using Pellet Rifle Strafe.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has missed Rei Ayanami with his Antiair Cannon counter attack.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. Circle Zanber added to their queue.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has missed Shin Kudo with his Railgun Smack attack.

"H,hey!" Kusuha cries, as the John Bull Gundam comes at her in a boxing pose. "I'm not very good at boxing! Aaah! Get back!" shouts the brave pilot, firing off a blast of eye lasers. This goes completely wide, but manages to dig up a spray of dirt and rocks. Somehow this 'dirtscreen' manages to throw off Gentle's aim enough for the punch to miss its mark as well. "Whew... that was too close! Nice work, Grungust!"

But there's no rest for the wicked. Kusuha Mizuha is, of course, the most opposite from wicked as any one human can be, but let's face it. There's no rest for the innocent either. "I've got to... finish him off so that I can help Rei... she's in trouble!"

The Grungust again holds up both of its hands... and they fire in tandem, reaching out to slap at the Mobile Fighter with all of Kusuha's mental strength. "Fall down!" she cries, summoning up her Super Robot Spirit. "Go! DOUBLE BOOST KNUCKLE!"

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has attacked Gentle Chapman. Double Boost Knuckle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has missed Aoba Tsuzaki with his Circle Zanber attack.

"A government that ignored us," Noriko growls out, quietly. Lavi's anger is feeding her own. It's hard to really /not/ get either angry or scared when someone comes at you shrieking in fury, and Noriko has learned not to retreat so easily into fear. "That's what you have! I don't know what we can do better!!"

Lavi retreats momentarily, and Noriko uses the time to snap-draw her Plasma Bianchi, getting the shock stick ready for an attack - and snapping it up as Lavi comes at her with his claws, catching them both with the broad length of the electrified baton, held in both hands. "I don't know what we'll do better, but I do know one thing! A government that lets people forget about the monsters that are coming for them...IS NO GOVERNMENT AT ALL! CHAIN KNUCKLE!!"

She adjusts her grip, pointing the knuckle launcher at Lavi and then letting it soar at him - the anchor lodging deep and forming a beam chain back to the receiver, if it hits.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has attacked Lavi St. James. Chain Knuckle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has struck a major hit on Lavi St. James's Mk.4 Tailypo MST using Chain Knuckle.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has missed Noriko Takaya with his Strike Raid counter attack.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has missed Gentle Chapman with her Double Boost Knuckle attack.

Rearing the tank backwards again, Trent Turkleton looks pointedly at the rear-view monitors of the Rhino (they have those) to see the results of his works. And what he finds, is--

"It's still ON there?! It's ruining my paint job!! I bet these 'Evajelloans' ooze acid from their fingertips! Paint-eating acid! Those diabolical monsters, I won't stand for it!" Trent smashes his pudgy hand into the arm of his command chair, gritting his teeth in rage. The Rhino rocks as suddenly the Eva opens fire again. Missile silos are struck, exploding violently against the thick hull of the machine as Turkleton rocks in his seat.

Dark masses of smoke rise up from the scorched wounds of the Rhinoceros as it continues pulling back. Trent rubs a hand against his forehead, lifting up the ratty mass of hair to massage his scalp. "Hhnnnng... Ready the main gun! Load the artillery shell! We're going to blast that thing /right into the earth/! Like hell I'm going to let some Newtype abomination ruin my sleek and stylish new paintjob out of pure, unprovoked maliciousness! Shoot it down!!"

With the groan of metal, the Rhino's main gun turns around, the cannon barrel staring down at the Eva Unit-00 in a moment of morbid silence before a single, massive artillery shell is fired from its depths with one deafening boom, to blast Rei right off the tank.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has attacked Rei Ayanami. Main Gun - Bullet added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has struck Rei Ayanami with a solid hit using Main Gun - Bullet!

Despite the ranged weaponry it's armed with, Moribito is primarily an in-close fighter. Both Aoba and Ryouhei are perfectly comfortable mixing it up in close quarters. "Ooh? What's it do then?" When the Circle Zamber spins up, Aoba's eyes go wide. "Awesome..." Of course, she does keep enough of her wits about her to pull back on her controls, making the Moribito jump to the side. The first thrust slices against its torso armor, but the second one goes wide. "That's a really neat-looking weapon! But check this out!" She glances back briefly, "Hey! Do Harken mode!"

Ryouhei has to resist the urge to slap his palm into his face. "AHOBAKA! Don't tell him what we're planning!" Now that voice is definitely male, and fairly deep. There must be two people in the cockpit! "Sh.. shut up! Hentai kidnapper! Just use it, he doesn't know what it does anyway! Do you?" The girl peers across at the Wildschwein, even as she maneuvers Moribito closer.

Ryouhei lets out a longsuffering sigh. "...yeah." He pulls back on his controls, andthe Jinki begins to spin the Hybrid Spear. As it spins, the end of the shaft slides apart, and a pair of scythe blades extend out. Moribito charges the rest of the way in, both hands lifted, and brings the harken down in a pendulum swing across the Wildschwein. "HARKEN!"

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. Hybrid Spear - Harken Mode added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has struck a major hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using Hybrid Spear - Harken Mode.

Tch. This was going to be bad. Ingram brings around the Wildschwein's arms, and manages to grab the spear as it comes in. Its not enough to stop the blade entirely, but it does keep the Schwein from being carved in half by the force of the blow. However, the argument is enough to bring a bit of a laugh out. "I see. The movements from that unit suggested that it was a dual pilot unit. Very well then." And the Wildschwein ejects a beam saber from its wrist holder, catching it with one hand and spinning it around for a moment. And the shotgun is tossed aside... and Ingram ejects the second beam saber, wielding them both for a moment. "It appears that I'll have to work to keep you both occupied." That said, he leaps straight in, bringing both sabers around in an intricate dance, one striking high, the other low - trying to do his best to confuse both pilots as he hacks away at different parts of the Moribito.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. Beam Saber Mastery added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has struck a major hit on Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 using Beam Saber Mastery.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has counter attacked for a minor hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using Iron Blade.

"WHAT?! YOU THINK YOU CAN IMPROVE THIS PLANET BY DROPPING COLONIES ON IT?!" Lavi screams, his voice threatening to go hoarse. The Tailypo's claws grind against the Plasma Bianchi, throwing sparks up from the impact. Lavi imagines them cutting through that stick, that damn stick, inch by inch. He's no Newtype, but he doesn't need to be to have an active imagination.

But the Tailypo leaps backwards as the weapon electrifies. With a blast of his verniers, he leaps forwards again, right into the incoming fist of the Buster Gundam as he moves to the assault again. The impact throws him off and his claws just barely scratch the Buster Gundam's paint on it's left arm, leaving a quartet of superficially shallow gauges in its armored surface.

But Lavi's unfocused rage hardens and cools, narrowing itself down to a contained point. It's like stepping out of a sauna into the cold winter night; focusing and comforting in the edge it brings, making it easy to forget what kind of danger that your health is in. "There aren't any more heroes in this world. No one's righteous... how dare you claim otherwise."

The energy chain strains as the Tailypo skates around the Gundam, hard and fast, in a contest of raw power verse mass and velocity combined. But then suddenly, Lavi reverses with his verniers, darting inwards with both claws seeking some kind of purchace in the Buster Gundam's armor. And then all eight vulcans open fire, four to a hand, mounted in between the claw blades. And if they open fire inside the Buster Gundam... well, so much the better.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Impale and Fire added to their queue.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has struck a solid hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Impale and Fire.

Sliding to the side, Chapman breathes a sigh of relief as the twin boost knuckles fly past him. "You won't scratch this John Bull so easily," he remarks, as he takes a few steps back, finally retrieving his rifle. He takes another few steps back from Kusuha, trying to find a way to actually get in some solid offense against her -- the Grungust is so large compared to the John Bull that feeling like some offense is doable is nearly impossible.

Fortunately, he has a plan -- it just requires a little bit to get in position. Doing a Tesla Drive-assisted leap backward away from Kusuha, he tracks the woman's Grungust carefully with his rifle, looking as if he's going to annihilate her with repeated laser rifle blasts.

He then just buzzes her with the chest-mounted machine cannons, like a dick.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has attacked Kusuha Mizuha. Machine Cannon added to their queue.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has struck a minor hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Machine Cannon.

Shin Quickly transforms the VF-0 into GERWALK mode as it completes it's flip, and jets straight upwards, letting Arado's gunclub go sailing straight past. "Trying to club me... did they even put this guy through training?!" Shin is having a hard time processing what the heck Arado is doing, which means something very important to Shin: Arado is very dangerous.

The GERWALK mode valkyrie jets away, then spins about, kicking it's legs out so it can continue to fly backwards, away from Arado's Lion as the Gunpod fires another spray of 35mm bullets. "Man, that is the wrong kind of machine for you."

Shin Quickly transforms the VF-0 into GERWALK mode as it completes it's flip, and jets straight upwards, letting Arado's gunclub go sailing straight past. "Trying to club me... did they even put this guy through training?!" Shin is having a hard time processing what the heck Arado is doing, which means something very important to Shin: Arado is very dangerous.

The GERWALK mode valkyrie jets away, then spins about, kicking it's legs out so it can continue to fly backwards, away from Arado's Lion as the Gunpod fires another spray of 35mm bullets. "Man, that is the wrong kind of machine for you."

Shin Kudo activates his VF-0A GERWALK unit.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. GPU-9 Gun Pod added to their queue.

Rei has bought herself a few seconds by firing everywhere like a maniac, but only that much. As she sees the main gun being trained upon her, Rei has no choice but to pray it's an automated system and try to get its attention diverted -- by ripping out a huge chunk of the hull's outer plating and throwing it. Unfortunately, the gun is built SCION tough and fails to follow the moving object as it spangs off of the Rhino and falls to the ground, landing on a few Izu Base civilian employees' cars in the parking lot below.

The gun strikes Unit-00, sending it slamming backwards so that its spine slams directly into the Rhino's horn, grotesque and mangled body splaying across it like a freakish ship's figurehead.

With the giant bullet still jammed into the Eva's belly like a metal cork holding in its guts, Rei vomits a torrent of blood into the LCL in front of her, and is forced to reach in front of her face and swish it out of her way to see. She pushes forward, forcing the Eva to dash back up the ship, cutting a path on three limbs toward the command deck. Rei surges toward the bridge, Unit-00's clawed hand swinging up -- and then violently chopping down, like a giant, cleaving sword, and a much cooler and more badass one than that fag Sanger Zonvolt's.

Because sometimes, karate chopping a bitch is all you can do.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Gymkatavelion added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a solid hit using Gymkatavelion.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has counter attacked for a minor hit using Antiair Missile!

Armless, the Grungust Type 2 is decidedly less imposing than usual. Even so, it's a big machine-- considerably bigger than the John Bull Gundam indeed. Fortunately for Gentle Chapman, Kusuha Mizuha is not a person who thinks in terms of 'tactics' and 'strategies'. As such, she's not very good at taking advantage of the size difference.

She's also pretty terrible at sniffing out feints, and she proves this by preparing for a barrage of beam blasts. When the machine cannons come instead, she's almost completely unprepared. "Grungust...!" she gasps, as the great machine tries to present an arm stump as a target rather than the cockpit. It's mostly successful, but the bullets dig into the regal blue-and-gold armor and send sparks flying across its surface. "Oh no, Grungust! Are you okay?!"

At this point, the twin boost knuckles begin their return arc, which just happens to have a trajectory that might go straight through the John Bull Gundam's back.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has attacked Gentle Chapman. Boost Knuckle Is A Round Trip added to their queue.

Bickering in the cockpit isn't exactly something new for Aoba and Ryouhei. It's more surprising if they can go a full battle -without- arguing with each other. Granted, it does sometimes get bad enough that one or the other is distracted, but not this time! "Two beam sabers? And the spinny thing? Wow!" As the two energy blades are swung in, she quickly shifts Moribito to the side and back slightly. It jumps at the last moment, leaping neatly over the low-striking blade...

...and the higher blade is completely ignored, as Ryouhei lets it dig deep into the torso armor. Instead of trying to deflect it, he slides the Jinki's grip on the Hybrid Spear, jamming the harken side of the blade into the Wildschwein. "Don't think we'll go down that easily!"

As soon as contact is made, the rear of the Moribito's legs open, and the booster jets fire. The spear is shifted to the left hand, and the shield is brought up, as Moribito-02 suddenly charges forward, seeking to slam intot he Wildschwein and knock it back.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. Speed Tackle added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has missed Ingram Prisken with her Speed Tackle attack.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has missed Arado Balanga with his GPU-9 Gun Pod attack.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has missed Gentle Chapman with her Boost Knuckle Is A Round Trip attack.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has counter attacked for a minor hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Rifle Butt Smack.

"Aaaaaaahhhh!" Arado yelps, as the rounds come flying in. He fires the Tesla Drive again; the 35mm cannon rounds slam into the ground and cause holes to be cut into the stone. The purple-haired boy grimaces, having narrowly avoided being ripped apart by the rounds and gone into a jump that he cannot fully control. The result is that the Lion is coming down a little messily. However, he has a way around this.

"I'll...do whatever it taaaaaaaaaaakes!" he yells, before sending the Lion into a hard spin. "Victory's about turning everything into an opportunity!!"

The Lion spins; the Tesla Drive pushes it too hard and it goes like a top; it's a top that threatens to plow right into the GERWALK mode Valkyrie!

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has attacked Shin Kudo. Spinning Lion Top added to their queue.

Unfortunately, the boosted attack from the Moribito isn't as successful as Ryouhei might have hoped. Ingram pulls the control stick around, and kills power to the left vernier, allowing the Schwein's leg to fold up underneath it... and at the last second, he redlines the right vernier. The personal trooper drops down on its side, before simply spinning to the right and sliding out of the way in a half arc. It almost looks like the machine is sliding on its side, even though it never quite touches the ground, and the entire motion looks so smooth and natural that it might seem almost unreal. Ingram does look down, taking in the damage that he has taken so far. Rough, but he's still in decent fighting shape. And he can tell that he's not been able to inflict that much damage on his opponent. "I would not expect someone who has dedicated themselves to overthrowing humanity in the name of fighting the alien invaders to be easy to defeat regardless - not unless they were fools." Ingram flips two switches, ejecting a strange object - it looks like a gun that mounts on the back of the Schwein's arm, except it has two extended prongs in front of the beam emitter. "But humanity can ill afford to be fighting itself right now. And I need to ensure that the resources at this base are not destroyed for some capricious reason." The Wildschwein spins around, the weapon suddenly flaring and generating a spinning energy disk between the two tines. "Disk Slicer... engage." And with a flick of the wrist, Ingram launches the solid state energy blade at the Moribito, the disk flattening out and growing larger as it travels.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. Disk Slicer added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has struck a major critical hit on Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 using Disk Slicer.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki's evasion attempt has failed.

"Tch! Persistant as a gnat, this one!"

"I don't think that's the right expression..."

"PSHAW! Pshaw, I say! Ready the main cannon -- AGAIN!"

Turkleton remains completely oblivious to the state of the person piloting the Evangelion as the main gun of the Rhino begins rotating once more, attempting to lock onto the fast-moving Eva. In fact, odds are he's oblivious to the fact that there even /is/ a pilot, because the Evangelion might as well be some sort of psychotic drugged-up Godzilla to him. Fat lips peeling backwards in a sneer, Captain Turkleton tugs his cap back on tight even as the Eva is suddenly /right/ in the way of the Rhino's bridge. "What the HELL--"

Metal CRUNCHES inward in a sickening screech as the Eva's hand impacts the bridge's exterior. Thick metal concaves inward, the roof crushing downward ominously as the entire control room is rocked violently. In the same motion, anti-air missiles deploy, all impacting the Eva in order to launch it /away/ from the bridge... just as the main cannon begins to shine bright.

"Main cannon at 100%, sir!" shouts one of the bridge members as they tap incessantly at a terminal.

"Excellent. Then -- FIRE! Blast this freakish thing with its freakish sword hands and its freakish... ... EVERYTHING right the earth!! For the GLORY of..." Turkleton pauses, and for a long moment, there is silence.

"... damn, I thought I had something. FIRE!"

And, with one deafening screech, the main cannon of the Rhino releases a /tremendous/ pillar of energy, the mega particles all raining down in an immense blast meant to knock the Eva -- you know, really far, in one tremendous explosion.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has attacked Rei Ayanami. Main Gun - LAser added to their queue.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has activated a spirit command.

Gentle Chapman, as the stimulants go into full effect, starts to maneuver like he used to; as the boost knuckles come back in, he turns around and nails one with the butt of his heavy rifle, sending it off-course; he then whirls the rifle back around again, pointing it at the Grungust. The old soldier is definitely in his element now -- and the young medic is definitely out of hers.

Getting down on one knee, Chapman starts to draw a bead on the woman's Grungust, looking for spots he previously damaged; the machine is well-armored enough that he doesn't want to just bash up against an area he's already hit. It's slow going, just because the machine is so large, but sure enough, he finds a target, and from there, it's just a matter of --

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has activated a spirit command.

Noriko doesn't answer the colony drop thing. She hated that. It shook her to the core to participate, and nearly destroyed her entirely when it landed off-course. She woke up screaming for weeks, until she talked to Miss Setme about it.

Bless that woman.

Still, Noriko has to answer. Her plan had been to restrain Lavi's ability to run away with the Chain Anchor, but he does the one thing nobody's tried before while anchored: Stay in melee range.

It's ultimately the kind of system that's more useful in zero gravity. With two melee-type opponents, it's not really that useful. Noriko finds this out the hard way. Lavi declares his quiet rage - and then jabs his claws into the Buster Gundam, vulcans firing and ripping into the armor.

Noriko screams, and screams, and screams - and then takes hold of her chain.

"If nobody's righteous...I'll /make/ them righteous! If I have to be the villain they need...I'LL DO IT!! UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

She spins. Simply rotates in place, spinning around faster, and faster, and faster, the chain anchor lodged in Lavi's Tailypo eventually running out of slack and jerking him off his feet, swinging the Tailypo off its feet with phenominal force, around and around and around - until Noriko redirects all that force, swinging the chain up - and then slamming it down!

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has attacked Kusuha Mizuha. Called Shot added to their queue.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has attacked Lavi St. James. UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA added to their queue.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman has struck a solid hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Called Shot.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has missed you with his Main Gun - LAser attack.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has missed Shin Kudo with his Spinning Lion Top attack.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has struck a major hit on Lavi St. James's Mk.4 Tailypo MST using UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has counter attacked for a minor hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Rip and Tear.

What do you do when attacked by a LAser?

Just remember:

1. Dodge!

2. Duck!

3. Dip!

4. Dive!

5. Dodge!

How well does Rei Ayanami remember the filmstrip about dodgeball they showed in P.E., considering she didn't so much play dodgeball as sit on the grass and stare at nothing--?! Let's find out!

As the laser thrums to life, Rei jukes to one side, dodging the red tracers that attempt to fix on her position (1. Dodge!). She then crouches down while moving forward, knowing that a smaller target is a harder one to hit with such a big gun (2. Duck!). Then, her swings her body low, shoulder fin snapping open to reveal a missile launcher (3. Dip!) and pushes the Eva forward, its belly sliding up the hull of the Rhino as the missile launcher locks on (4. Dive!). And in that brief moment, the process comes to its culmination as with a split-second to spare, the laser flashes overhead, the Evangelion Unit-00 ducking just under it, missing decapitation -- or at least losing a shoulder fin -- by a hair's breadth (5. Dodge!).

When the beam finishes, the Eva lies still for a moment, its slide having come to a lurching stop because of the giant bullet still jammed into its belly catching on a bump in the hull plating. It seems to be inactive, totally motionless. Rei waits a few more seconds -- and then the missile spirals out of her shoulder on a plume of grey smoke.

Despite the Wildchwein sneaking out of the way, Aoba doesn't sound too upset when Moribito flies past. "That was pretty quick!" The Jinki plants one foot and pivots, facing the Trooper again. "We--" And then Aoba goes silent. Her hands grip the controls tightly, her jaw sets. Finally, she yells out, "We're not here to overthrow humanity! Or overthrow anyone!" Jets fire, and Moribito leaps away from the incoming attack... but isn't quite fast enough. The Disc Slicer tears deeply into Moribito's armor, leaving a trail of shredded metal and sparks.

"We.. we're not fighting to hurt anyone! We're fighting to protect people!" Moribito lands and turns again, the Hybrid Spear collapsing back into a small rod which is tucked back behind the shield. "Moribito is going to protect everyone from the threat of aliens and anyone else who wants to hurt them!" There's a slight catch in her voice as she shouts, and she might be about to cry. Maybe. Not that she'll admit it. "And I won't let you get in the way!" Aoba's hand quickly moves across the control panel, flipping several switches, and pulls back one of the control sticks with her other hand. "PHANTOM!"

Moribito-02 takes two steps forward, then, suddenly, is not there anymore. Oh, sensors will pick up a small cloud of metallic chaff left where it was standing, but even some very advanced sensors won't be able to keep up with the sheer speed at which the Jinki suddenly moves. Its motion a blur, the Moribito dashes toward Wildschwein, right arm raised high. As it speeds past, the arm is brought down, hard, then Moribito pivots and speeds in to tackle the smaller machine bodily at incredible speeds. "SORYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Shoulder Missile added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. Phantom Charge added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a solid hit using Shoulder Missile.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has struck a major hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using Phantom Charge.

Shin is starting to wonder if he's fighting a person, or a short-circuiting Lion computer. His eyes widen slightly at the spinning out of control Lion as it flies straight towards him like an out of control top, or dare I say, an insane dradel.

Shin cuts the engines of the VF-0 and lets it drop underneath Arado, converting the machine back to fighter mode and pitching the nose down to gain speed before pulling back up and around. "Man... You- ...You, did they even train you? Is that thing /working/ okay?!" Shin just can't believe it.

The VF-0 comes back around and locks on to the spinning Lion again. "I can't believe I'm actually fighting this guy... He needs...he needs something with a lot more armor and short range weapons then that Lion if he's serious about piloting."

With the tone of the computer's lock on signle, Shin presses the button, launching another missile for the deranged Lion and/or it's deranged pilot.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. Multi-Purpose Missile added to their queue.

The arms re-fasten to the Grungust Type 2's biceps, and Kusuha breathes a sigh of relief. "I hate being disarmed!" she murmurs, completely oblivious to her own terrible pun. "Alright! Now it's time to finish this, then I can go back and help my friends!"

The Grungust turns back towards the John Bull, assuming a 'manly flex' pose as the sun blazes behind it. "Your time is u-- what?!" Kusuha squeaks, as the Grungust's HUD chimes a powerful ROCK ON from the enemy. "Oh no! This could be bad... stand strong, Grungust! DON'T GIVE UP!"

With a hiss of steam, the Grungust's arms cross over its chest in a protective X-shape, while its legs dig into the ground, bracing for impact. The eyes flare, once, just before the bullet slams straight into the center of the X-formation, driving the Grungust pack several meters. The braced legs furrow the ground, but the mighty machine does not fall.

The arm which took the brunt of the blast, however, is heavily damaged. "Not much... left in that arm...!" Kusuha gasps, fighting to keep the Grungust standing. "But... enough power for..."

The skies darken. Clouds roll in, and thunder rumbles in the distance. An unseen wind whips Kusuha's hair about her face in the cockpit, as she presses THE BUTTON. "Get ready, Grungust!" she cries, as the great machine reaches into empty space, withdrawing an ornate golden hilt. The girl's eyes grow distant, and her voice seems to be built from rushing waterfalls and the prayers of children. The barren hilt slams into the damaged arm's hand, and sparks fly. "HEAVEN AND EARTH!"

Inch by agonising inch, the blade forms. As the hand moves away from the hilt, thick, black mist swirls into a vaguely blade-like form. The thunder crashes, closer and closer, as the Grungust slowly swings the roiling blade towards the sky. Then, lightning lances from the clouds, striking the ephemeral blade... and turning it so much more solid.

The blade drops down, angled back from the Grungust's hip... and the great machine charges. Inside, Kusuha shoves the controls forward, staring straight at her target. "This is it...!" she cries, as she approaches the John Bull. At the last possible instant, the blade flashes.

"DOOMBLADE!"

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has attacked Gentle Chapman. Doomblade added to their queue.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has struck a solid hit on Arado Balanga's Lion using Multi-Purpose Missile.

The Lion comes blitzing towards Shin, as it gets the spin under control; a few vernier bursts, haphazard but effective, stop it and bring it in line. The missile hits it just after it stops spinning, ripping off a chunk of the already damaged armor and exploding inside of it. A fireball blossoms out of the left side of the Armored Module, flame and smoke spewing into the air as the Lion flies away.

"Yeah! It's just been awhile since I've flown one!" Arado transmits to back to Shin. "But... just a Lion will do!"

The Tesla Drive bursts again, sending the machine into the air. Fire trails after it, as it goes airborne. A compartment on the chest explodes off, nd a single cannister flies down. As it closes on Shin, it ruptures apart - and a thick set of gels that quickly form a web fire out and downward, towards Shin's VF-0.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has attacked Shin Kudo. Spider Web added to their queue.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has struck a devastating critical hit on Gentle Chapman's John Bull Gundam using Doomblade.

COMBAT: Gentle Chapman's evasion attempt has failed.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has struck a minor hit on Shin Kudo's VF-0A GERWALK using Spider Web.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo's evasion attempt has failed.

The Tailypo is dragged along for several moments as the F5 that is Noriko spins up to top speed. She is no Schwarz Bruder, but she is possessed of a powerful will and indomitable spirit. The MST is whipped around like a ragdoll on the end of a fishingpole and Lavi vomits into his oxygen mask from the centrifigal forces pressing him into the back of his seat, re-opening several cuts he got two days ago when he 'fell down some stairs, twice, face first into Jerid Messa's swinging foot'.

The Tailypo smashes into and through a boulder, sending stone splintering in all directions. Smoke billows outwards from the damaged machine, obscuring the view. Is that it? Has raw guts given victory from what was a pretty lopsided battle?

The Tailypo's left arm reaches out of the smoke and grabs onto the beam chain. "Get. Over. Here." Lavi orders, pulling backwards on the chain as his boosters throw him backwards for the extra pull, then forwards towards the unbalanced Buster Gundam. It crouches as it skids closer, then gives a mighty uppercut to Takaya's unit as the two impact. And in that moment, that moment just after impact, when the arm is outstretched and oil from the Buster Gundam is flying like blood, time seems to slow down, just for that moment. Just long enough for Lavi to all-too calmly say,

"This isn't some anime, little girl. You can't make them righteous with your tactics and you don't have the balls to be that kind of a villain."

And then time resumes as the Tailypo's second claw comes in, striking upwards with a twist, just so, seeking out the enemy Gundam's cockpit block with one measured, precise stroke after a savage blow. Tailypo pilots have been doing this since the Steel Union Conflict. There is no 'official' manual or doctrine for this, but Tailypo pilots have unofficially dubbed it after the man that created it.

The Kitamura Killing Technique!

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Claw Ravager added to their queue.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has struck a major hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Claw Ravager.

One delicate blue eyebrow is raised in response to Aoba's shouting. Did she really think that the DC wasn't acting out of its own self interest? This attack alone, striking at one of the major military bases used by the EFA, would only serve to weaken the Earth's defenses against the alien threat. It was, from a strategic standpoint, a purely selfish attempt to offset the EFA's military power. Unfortunately, this attack is going to hurt. Ingram can already tell that if he were to take it full on, he would probably lose the entire machine - the Moribito's assault would simply tear the Wildschwein clean in half. The only option he has left is to brace and ride the force of the charge. And so Ingram sets the thrusters to full back power, and holds both arms in front of him - and the blow still strikes with tremendous force. The armor all across the front of the Schwein is cracked and shattered, several internal systems having taken major damage. Sparks fly in the cockpit, and Ingram holds one hand protectively in front of his face. "Tch. "What about the people in this base your comrades in the Rhinoceros are trying to crush? People who are not striking out at you? Claiming to defend people is all well and good, but don't expect that line to work when you strike from the shadows like an assassin," Ingram counters, before pulling out the personal trooper's shotgun. The last three shells have been loaded with something different than the regular load, and the Schwein's hands work quickly, ejecting the two remaining rounds of normal shot in a quick motion. The weapon comes around, shoved against the Moribito's midsection at close range, and Ingram smirks. "And a girl like you should not be piloting a machine. Unless... there is something unusual about you." That said, he fires from near point blank range.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. M13 Shotgun Slugs added to their queue.

Chapman's John Bull tries to block against the Doomblade, which is a bad choice. The weapon cleaves off one of the John Bull's arms, and nearly removes one of its legs as well -- and stimulants or no, Chapman isn't willing to fight through that, not against an already-hardened target like Izu Base. The man's already blown his trump card, and the Grungust seems no worse for wear for it; it is time, he thinks, to make his exit.

The John Bull, clutching the stump where its arm should be, rifle discarded, begins running from the battlefield. Gentle Chapman may not be afraid of death, but now is not his time -- he has just a few more things to do before, in his mind, going out in the only way he can now allow himself.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has struck a major hit on Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 using M13 Shotgun Slugs.

The cannon barrel of the Rhinoceros-class wartankship smokes, the edge super-heated to a wavering orange-yellow as metal alloys and conductors begin to slowly cool off. Smoke rises off the tip as Turkleton leans forward, watching with baited breath as to the end result of his skirmish. He looks assured, cocky--

--until the haze of power clears and the Evangellion is lying there, just underneath the blast radius of the particle cannon.

"Wh-- could it be?!" Turkleton shouts, aghast. The missiles spiral out, and SMASH against the side-cannons of the Rhino, destroying them in hellacious explosions of raw force and heat. Turkleton rocks in his seat, his lieutenant launched to the floor, even as he stares at the viewscreen, horrified. "The freakish cyborg Newtype irradiated monster alien... knows the dreaded five D's technique! They're learning too much, too fast, lieutenant! Soon they'll learn how to open doors -- and how to /vote/! We must stop them, for the sake of humanity!"

"... What are you even /talking/ about."

"I'm talking about the FUTURE! Can't you see!? Things like this -- this CYBORG ROBOT NINJA threaten the tenuous grip on reality we real, /actual/ people with voting rights are desperately trying to cling to! For the sake of the future of everything that makes sense--

"RUN OVER THAT GIANT NINJA FRANKENSTEIN!!"

"We /can't/ sir, it's still on top of us."

"Then /ram/ it into something or something, don't get snide with me, I'm not a /doctor/ who /knows/ these sorts of things!"

Once more, the Rhino's thrusters roar with dangerous life as it goes into motion again, slowly speeding up and gaining momentum as it seeks to ram itself into one of Izu's southern walls with such a tremendous impact that the horn of the Rhino /bends/ slightly from the exertion.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has attacked Rei Ayanami. Tank Ram added to their queue.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has missed Rei Ayanami with his Tank Ram attack.

The sticky webbing hits the VF-0 and encrusts all over the machine, keeping ailrons and rudders from moving and the flaps stuck in position. This puts Shin in a bad roll. "Shiii...!" Shin presses the transformation control and pulls the throttle stick upright, engaging the transformation. Thankfully the webbing didn't hit the legs or much of the torso hing point, so the transformation actually works...even if the wings are stuck in place.

With control regained, Shin turns the VF-0 around in mid air in it's humanoid form. "I'm sorry but you are like a driver with no practice!" The Gun pod comes up again, but this time it fires a longer burst as Shin dives after the Lion, turning te machine in midair to fire at the Lion from another angle, and then follow through by attacking from behind as the VF-0 straightens out.

Shin Kudo activates his VF-0A Battroid unit.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. GPU-9 Combo Assault added to their queue.

"This is a military base... and there's plenty of time for them to move away from the Rhinoceros!" Besides, it's busy over there... ramming into things. "I don't strike from the shadows!" The Moribito is still moving fast, but not quite fast enough... and those shells slam into it, knocking it back a short distance. "I'm right here!" She glances back to Ryouhei quickly. "Let's try that new one. It's armed, right?"

"Wh.. -what-? You sure?" When Aoba nods, Ryouhei nods back grimly... and Moribito reaches back to pull a very large rifle from its back. "Arming the cannon!" It holds the rifle steady, pulling back on the loading mechanism, which drops a shell in with a loud THUNK.

"Don't you tell me that I can't be with Moribito! It's a dear friend, and it's going to protect everyone!" Even as the arms take steady aim, Aoba works the legs, darting the Jinki to the side. "Fire!"

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has attacked Ingram Prisken. 227mm Anti-Jinki Recoilless Cannon added to their queue.

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "The Wildschwein can't take too many more hits. But the enemy is also heavily damaged."

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has struck a solid hit on Ingram Prisken's Wildschwein using 227mm Anti-Jinki Recoilless Cannon.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken's evasion attempt has failed.

 Shin Kudo transmits, "I got hit by one of those glue rounds."

 Lavi St. James transmits, "We can take 'em."

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "Indeed. Do not give up."

Lavi once again uses the beam chain to his advantage. He's good. He's damn good.

But Noriko has something better than anger.

Lavi yanks her off-center, and then comes shooting at her too fast to track, slamming a fist into the Buster's Gundam-chin as it passes, slamming her higher, up into the air.

He talks to her. He belittles her. He challenges her resolve. And then his second claw sweeps up, rips into the Buster Gundam's exposed belly, simply plucks the cockpit up, and then rips it apart, ending the Takaya lineage forever with a moment of vicious horror.

...is what Lavi wanted.

Instead he finds that about a meter below the cockpit his claw is intercepted by the forearm of the Buster snapping down, and in that timeless instant, Noriko breathes, "Is that so? Then, let me show you...what I do have."

And then she spins around, sharply, /mounting/ the Tailypo in midflight, one arm pulled back as both machines descend toward the ground, and as they fall Noriko shrieks,

"HARD WORK AND--"

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTS!!"

She jams her fist into the Tailypo's belly, digging into the armor. Then the wrist snaps open, ripping out more of the armor as it expands just enough to release the safeties on the beam vulcans, which discharge a full-power shot into the Tailypo's armor from every barrel at the same time just as they slam into the ground.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has attacked Lavi St. James. Buster Wolf added to their queue.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has missed Lavi St. James with her Buster Wolf attack.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has counter attacked for a minor hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Rising Knee.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has struck a major hit on Arado Balanga's Lion using GPU-9 Combo Assault.

Immediately after it strikes, the Doomblade flickers out of existence, and the weather returns to normal. Kusuha turns, watching the John Bull withdraw, and nods. "I... I did it!" she says, hardly believing it. Then... "Oh no! My friends!"

The Grungust turns, turbines humming to life as white fire propels the machine /back/ across the battlefield, and towards Izu Base. "Rei! Major Ingram! Shin Kudo!" Kusuha calls, leaving the Titan out of it because those Titans seem a little iffy. "Don't worry! I'll protect you all!" And indeed, the Grungust lands right in front of Izu Base, spreading its arms and legs in a protective pose.

"If you want to hurt my friends... you'll have to GO THROUGH ME!"

"If you believe that..." Ingram comments - and suddenly brings the shotgun around as the shell from the cannon flies at him. Its not much of an evasion, but the weapon defects the shot enough that it 'only' slams into the torso of the unit, instead of impacting the power core and disabling the machine. Tch. "...then you are only going to be lead to a life full of disappointment." He wonders idly if this girl is from some Divine Crusader version of NERV - the mech she is piloting doesn't seem as disturbing as an Evangelion, but it does seem unique and different. He looks down, and grimaces as he sees that the slide on the shotgun is ruined. Bad enough luck. But he brings the machine gun up - and tries to hose down the Moribito with the weapon, rattling off a steady stream of shells at the unusual mech.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has attacked Aoba Tsuzaki. M95 Machine Gun added to their queue.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Ingram Prisken has struck a solid hit on Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 using M95 Machine Gun.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki's evasion attempt has failed.

Knock Out! Aoba Tsuzaki's Moribito-02 unit has become disabled!

"We'll see about THAAAAAAAAAAT!" Arado yells. He sees the gunfire coming in and tries to fly close to the ground; it does not get out of the way in time in the least, as the rounds come slicing down through the whole thing. Armor is ripped off the frame, shorn from the top and side; mechanical systems are ripped into pieces, torn away from the machine. Electricity sputters across it in sparks and great, forked lightning bolts.

Somehow, though, the Lion rises into the air; flame and smoke trail off it, and it swings out one foot. Arado's teeth grit together. "I've got what it takes... I can do this... AND I'LL SHOW YOU!" The engines cut and it begins coming down - a seemingly insane move, for a moment.

"MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTY!"

The bladed foot is aimed, then, and the engines cut back in as it comes crashing down for Shin's Valkyrie. Sparks explode off it; the machine drops down, twisting, the Tesla Drive furiously trying to keep up, as verniers fire - and burst, giving their last.

"LIOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

The machine's remaining verniers send it down on a carefully controlled course, the bladed aileron of the foot aimed at cutting into - and perhaps through - the VF-0.

"KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!"

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has attacked Shin Kudo. Mighty Lion Kick added to their queue.

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "Look out, Shin!"

The attempt to slam Rei to her death fails -- but the effort to knock her loose succeeds. Mission accomplished, Turkleton! Unit-00 is wrenched free of its spot on the hull, falling out into the air in a long arc, like a football place-kicked by the best damn team in the Earth Federation Football League, the Neo England Patriots. There's not a lot Rei can do here -- her options are spontaneously learn to fly, or continue falling. Still, she reasons, might as well make the most of it.

Before she can even think that through completely, Rei has unfolded her Eva's sniper rifle. Resting its long barrel in the crook of her mangled arm, Unit-00's rifle lines up a shot, adjusting its broken body so that it falls down backward. The ground is coming up fast, but Rei is not concerned. She could very well die, but, well, she's aware of that, and it doesn't seem to trouble her in the slightest. All that matters right now is lining up that shot.

Looking through the scope at maximum magnification, Rei is almost sure she can see a person in her crosshairs as Unit-00 squeezes the trigger.

Unit-00 then smashes into the ground, pieces of armor shattering and the titanic form of the cyborg monster crashing through the roof of part of Izu Base, destroying everything beneath it -- and the Eva /bounces/, all of its weight being put on its head for a fleeting moment, causing its spine to snap and its armored skull to crush inward and flatten. The dust takes quite a while to settle.

 Kusuha Mizuha transmits, "Oh no!"

 Ingram Prisken transmits, "Kusuha!"

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has activated a spirit command.

 Kusuha Mizuha transmits, "I'm trying!"

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Sniper Rifle Mastery added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has hit Bian Zoldark with a glancing hit with her Sniper Rifle Mastery attack.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has counter attacked for a minor critical hit using Antiair Cannon!

 Ryusei Date transmits, "KUSUHA! Argh, dammit!"

It's almost... disappointingly undramatic. The Tailypo's left arm intercepts the Buster Gundam's own arm and knocks it aside, mere moments before a leaping knee to the chest throws the Crusader's machine backwards ungloriously.

The Tailypo advances again, slowly, cautiously. It's a hunter, eyeing up a wounded deer. "Not enough. Not nearly enough." The oil slicked claws aim outwards again as the MST sets itself for another advance. Will this be the final one? Can Noriko hold on again? And how many more times can she even hold on?

The American made machine bounds to the attack, sweeping a claw downwards in an overhead strike. It follows it's natural momentum through with a mighty backhand in a similar fashion as the second claw completes it's revolution around. "I'll bring peace to this planet... even if I have to murder every last one of you Crusaders with my own two hands... there /will/ be peace!"

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Double Crescent added to their queue.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has missed Noriko Takaya with his Double Crescent attack.

After firing the cannon, Moribito ejects the large shell. Rather than raising the weapon for another shot, the Jinki slings it back over its shoulder. "I have nothing to be disappointed about!" Jets fire, and the Moribito charges in again. "And besides... everyone is counting on me!"

As it runs, the Jinki attempts to speed around the incoming bullets. It does outrun the first few, but the extended burst finally catches up to it, and several of them pepper its torso. This normally wouldn't be -too- bad, though, except that one of the stray bullets is heading directly for Moribito's -head-. And although it's something of a rarity in general, the head is where it keeps its cockpit. A cockpit with a glass cover.

When she sees the slug heading straight toward her, Aoba throws up her arms in surprise, letting out a surprised and fearful SHRIEK. The small piece of metal hooked on her belt loop begins to glow brightly... and anyone sensitive to psychic waves may feel the mental equivalent of a gong being sounded. The bullet... lodges itself in the glass covering the cockpit. It cracks.. but doesn't shatter. In the air around the cockpit, a bubble of...well, it's going to defy all scanners, but it looks like a forcefield. It flickers and fades, and the bullet falls to the ground, taking the shattered segments of that piece of glass with it. Slowly, Aoba lowers her arms and blinks.. while Ryouhei just stares, speechless. "What.. what was.. but..." The girl looks at the shattered glass, then across at the Wildschwein... and suddenly feels very cold. "I... I..." Aoba swallows hard, shakily grabbing the controls, and pulls back. Jets pop out of the rear of the legs, and Moribito leaps up high, boosting away from Izu base.

COMBAT: Kusuha Mizuha has successfully covered Shin Kudo.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga has struck a major critical hit on Kusuha Mizuha's Grungust Type 2 using Mighty Lion Kick.

COMBAT: Aoba Tsuzaki has retreated from the area.

 Shin Kudo transmits, "Kusuha?!"

<Radio: B - Tactical> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Excellent work, Mizuha."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ryusei Date transmits, "Kusuha!?"

<Radio: B - Tactical> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Shin, do not allow her sacrifice to go in vain."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ryusei Date transmits, "WHAT?!"

<Radio: A - Chat> Ryusei Date transmits a crash, his signal cutting out, probably mercifully for the pilot who just got taken off of cleaning detail.

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "What---WHAT?!"

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken sighs. "So impulsive."

Unit-00 plummets, like an angel cast out of heaven. Alternatively, it plumets like a giant organic robot moster expelled from a massive battleshipwartank through a liberal use of rammings. Turkleton looks pleased as the Eva begins to fall, steepling his fingers within his captain's seat as he leans back. Fat lips pull into a smile as the Eva continues to fall, and Captain Trent Turkleton heaves a sigh of relief. "Aaah, it's good to see that regular, normal, natural human ingenuity -- like mine -- can overcome any not-normal, not-natural, not-regular not-human abominations to the lord with a dash of cunning and a handsome smile -- like mine. In fact, I--"

"Sir, I think it's--"

"Not now! Like I was saying, I think it's only right for me to give everyone who contributed to this daring mission a firm pat on the back." Rei Ayanami catches the bridge of the Rhinoceros in her cross-hairs as Trent Turkleton boldly pats himself, and him alone, on the back. The lieutenant's eyes widen.

"S--/sir/, she--!!"

"Do not EVER interrupt my VICTORY speeches AGAIN, it's a BAD OMEN--"

CHOOM.

One bullet smashes through the bridge of the Rhino with a violent onrush of air that rips through metal and glass and blows off Captain Turkleton's hat and wig as he stares blankly at the gaping hole that was once the right half of his operations center. The wind is warm on Turkleton's bald scalp as he stares on blankly, all the crew in a panic. Slowly, he gulps, his look of surprise and horror transforming into a smile of satisfaction.

"HAH! Not even psychic tomfoolery can stop us! Your cheap tricks of 'pretending to be dead in mid-air while conveniently holding a gun and pointing it at my ship' can't fool US, /NEWTYPE/! My lieutenant and I are invincible!" A pause. No sardonic reply. "Right?!" Still nothing. Turkleton looks to his side.

Where once was the lieutenant is now just a smoking pair of boots, the faint signs of blood on the remains of the roof above indicating the end result of a bullet-borne journey for the unfortunate man. Turkleton looks forlorn, resting a hand to his chest.

"... LIEUTENAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT... somethiiiiiiiiiiing!!" He cries, for Captain Trent Turkleton never bothered to learn his trusted right-hand man's name.

Ingram narrows his eyes as the bullets start to strike home on the Moribito. He hadn't intended to aim for the cockpit, but it seemed that fate had conspired to send a few rounds the way of the pilots. A pity - he would have liked to have a chance to... ...how interest. A smirk crosses Ingram's lips as he observes the unusual phenomena - it is reminiscent enough of a Psychodriver that it catches his interest. An unusual combination of psychic power, and without the use of EOT or a T-Link system that he could determine the presence of. His fingers flick across the Wildschwein's control panel, and he looks up at the retreating Moribito. He would have to keep this one in mind. In fact, he was required to. Unusual psychic phenomena were extremely rare, and this one did not seem to quite conform to any of the standard wavelengths. "This is Major Prisken - all units, report in," he transmits a moment later, to all the other EFA units on the field.

"Mr. Shin!" Kusuha gasps, as the battle with Arado seems to reach its peak. "Oh no! The Valkyries aren't built for that kind of damage... I have to protect him!" The blue-haired pilot flips a switch. "Grungust! Let's go!"

The mighty machine's eyes flare once, then the great engines on its shoulders again rumble to life. With the sound of a thousand stampeding mustangs, the blue robot lifts slowly off the ground, rising in front of the antique VF-0A like the most heavy metal angel ever to grace the skies. Blue, red, white and gold paint shin in the glow of Arado's super fighting spirit, but Kusuha Mizuha is not one to falter so easily. "I don't want to hurt you... but I won't let you kill Mr. Shin!" she shouts, straining forward in her pilot seat. "Grungust will protect everyone! I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE!"

The Grungust intercepts the Mighty Lion Kick moments before it would have struck Shin Kudo's unit, and even the powerful super robot cannot emerge unscathed. "UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kusuha screams, more out of habit than genuine fear. The kick takes the blue machine's left arm off entirely, sending it spinning down to plant itself in the earth, severed hand reaching for the sky like some twisted Tim Burton set piece. The kick travels on, slamming into the Grungust's chest, cracking the powerful crystal and even so much as /denting/ the EOTI-based alloy of its armor.

But she protects the Valkyrie. And that's good enough for her. Even as the Grungust spins back into the base's wall, crushing a Super Robot-shaped hole into the fortification, Kusuha is satisfied. Terrified and in pain, yes, but satisfied. Restraints dig into her chest and waist, and her head bounces off the HUD with a vicious CRACK. Blood sprays down onto the controls... and, for the moment, Kusuha is out of the fight.

"Keep... keep fighting... everyone!" she says weakly. "I'll be... okay!"

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken uploads an image of the Moribito-02 to the image server. "I need any information on this machine we have available, please."

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "Ahm, uhm, uhm."

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "That's the Morbito, I think."

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "Fought it a few times, girl piloting it sounds cute, fast, hits pretty hard, energy weapons mostly."

<Radio: A - Chat> Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "I'd say theres two pilots."

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "Oh, yeah, two."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "The 'Morbito'? The rest of the data seems to conform to my own observations. Has the unit demonstrated any para-psychic phemonina before this?"

<Radio: A - Chat> Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "Not...that I've seen."

<Radio: A - Chat> Tasuku Shinguji transmits, "Huh?"

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Very well then." There is the sound of some typing, and then, "Thank you, Meiya, Tasuku. Your input is appreciated.""

<Radio: A - Chat> Kusuha Mizuha transmits, "Ryusei, no! I'm ok...!"

<Radio: A - Chat> Latooni Subota transmits, "It stopped in midair and violated the laws of momentum."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ruri Hoshino transmits, "Though when you consider some of the other robots we use, that doesn't seem very impressive."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Hmmm. It has demonstrated a barrier similar to the one produced by the T-Link system. But the waveform is different - it appears to be using a different technology."

Noriko's punch hammers only the air, shooting down a stray, inoffensive patch of empty air.

Lavi thinks he is the hunter eyeing up a wounded dear. He feels confident in his victory. He feels his power is supreme, his cause just. The girl before him is so small, so young. So weak.

"You don't understand, do you," Noriko murmurs. "'Not enough?' You really just don't understand what I am at all."

He comes at her now, screaming his intent to rip her apart. The Buster Gundam proves that it's no wounded deer - it jukes to the rear, neat and clean, the claws passing through empty air while Noriko wraps her wrist around the beam chain still lodged in Lavi's Tailypo.

"I am not someone who will ever stop," she says. "Even if I'm doing it wrong...even if I'm a fool, I'll keep on coming! Until this world is protected...until I find a way to get it right! I will never stop! Not until the world my father dreamed of is achieved! THAT is..."

She pulls him in, but only for a second before she leans up on one foot and hammers a kick into the Tailypo's abdomen, "HARD!!" then yanks him back in for a punch to the face with her free hand, "WORK!!" and then lets him out a little before pulling him in one more time for a roundhouse to the face, "AND!!"

She yanks Lavi in one more time, and her voice howls out as her machine's head zeroes in on the Tailypo's. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTS!"

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has attacked Lavi St. James. Chain Knuckle Combo added to their queue.

<Radio: A - Chat> Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "Maybe Devine Crusader research has produced a slightly different solution to the T-Link?"

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Perhaps. If they have, I need additional data on it."

<Radio: A - Chat> Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "I'll see if I can get my flight recorder of my one battle with it forwarded to you."

<Radio: A - Chat> Carris Nautilus transmits, "The design is very unusual. It doesn't seem as though it would be as mobile as what you describe."

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has struck a devastating critical hit on Lavi St. James's Mk.4 Tailypo MST using Chain Knuckle Combo.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has counter attacked for a minor critical hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Claw Vulcans.

On the ground, Evangelion Unit-00 rises.

Its legs are broken and its skull is mostly caved in. The bullet lodged in its guts has come loose, spilling out rotted intestines, metal cabling, and copious amounts of thick orange LCL. Sparks cascade from wounds freely, occasionally producing a galvanic reaction as the angelcorpse seizes and jerks.

Inside the plug, Rei Ayanami flatlined for nearly a full minute before her plugsuit activated its in-built semi-invasive heart massage and jumpstarted her back to life. Her eyes shudder and flutter as her plugsuit follows up on this with a sudden injection of adrenaline to focus her further. It doesn't matter if she's in critical shape, you see -- just that she can survive it and keep her wits through it long enough to finish the job.

And it is indeed time to finish the job. Rei Ayanami may be near-dead and in need of intensive medical care, but she knows that destroying enemies of Earth, be they Angels from Heaven or Rhinos from Space, comes before her own personal safety. The Eva lurches and threatens to topple over as it rears its final weapon -- its bazooka -- and struggles to line up a shot. The Eva's arm keeps shaking -- and Rei is jacked up on stimulants herself, making aiming sort of a fool's game. Still, one never knows until one fires. So Rei shoots.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Bazooka added to their queue.

Shin knew Arado was crazy, bonkers, around the bend, up the wall, off his rocker, etc, etc. You get the point, but he didn't think Arado was completely /insane/. The lightening blue kick comes in at the VF-0 and Shin struggles with the controls, the sticky webing is caught in the flaps and joints of the wings, making aerial manuvinger aproximetly impossible.

Then the terrible rumble of the Grungust comes up, and it's massive form blocks the attack from Arado, lossing it's arm and crashing to the ground. "Kusuha?!" The Grungust goes down, but it's pilot is alive - Thank God. The problem here, is Shin, as her turns to look at Arado, for a brief moment he feels his blood pump through his viens as if it were on fire - No, no. He wasn't going to kill Arado, he refused to. He just wasn't like that.

He is however, a lot less likely to stop himself from trying to shot off the Lion's legs and arms with missiles.

The VF-0 Gives one mighty flex of it's motors and transforms, shattering the sticky glue that had aheared to it's armor as it transforme into fighter mode. Both engines ablaze with electric blue plumes of fire as Shin barels right down on the damaged Lion.

Infrared cameras in Shin's helmet track his eyemovements as the stop on each limb of hte Lion and the cockpit HUD announces missile lock.

Missiles fly out from the undersides of the VF-0's wings, each one connecting to the others in a kind of limited swarm-AI guidance that causes them to arc and fly around the Lion and seemingly change directions at random as they close in.

"You want leave. -NOW-."

Shin Kudo activates his VF-0A Fighter unit.

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has attacked Arado Balanga. Itano Circus added to their queue.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a solid critical hit using Bazooka.

<Radio: A - Chat> Latooni Subota transmits, "It is fairly mobile. Wildraubtier was more agile, but it could do some things I could not, such as stop immediately and hover."

<Radio: A - Chat> Latooni Subota transmits, "It does not need to decelerate."

<Radio: A - Chat> Kouduki hmmns "Sounds like the Moorcock-Lechte engine we worked on, but we never got that finished."

<Radio: A - Chat> Carris Nautilus transmits, "Interesting."

<Radio: A - Chat> Kouduki transmits, "That used the element Grey Eleven to crate an area where inertia becomes detatched from an object. This could be similar. The use of a collpasing material to create an inertia control device. But this is all theory, obviously."

The Tailypo's chest crumples inwards and the head is battered. But it is the final hit, that single headbutt that truely does the horrendous damage to Lavi's machine. The almost disorderly morass of cameras falls away in the form of broken glass that tumbles haphazardly down the front of Lavi's machine. The cockpit goes largely dark, save for the lightning underneath the panels, as the Titan loses visual entirely. He fights with his controls, trying to restore /something/, cussing and swearing to himself. If he had the Hambrabi's panoramic cockpit, this shit wouldn't be a problem.

As it skids to a blind stop, the right hand of the Tailypo covers the cockpit block for a moment, before it clamps down protectively. And then just rips the canopy clear off. This fixes the twin problems of not being able to see and the canopy automatically closing itself while boosting or firing. Sure, it exposes the pilot directly to enemy fire.

Ask Lavi if he cares. I dare you. I double dare you, ask Lavi if he freaking cares.

He sets himself to motion once again, needing to get his machine moving so that he's not a sitting duck. But without the primary cameras, he doesn't have his primary rangefinders and targetting sensors. So he just eyeballs the angle of deflection on the fly, leading Noriko's machine as the octet of heavy machineguns opens in full barrage.

"Well then... let's just see how far your guts can take you, girl." The Tailypo swerves around, suddenly altering its course to come straight back in, he's on a collision course for the Buster Gundam, claws first. With an exposed cockpit... he's either mad or suicidal!

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has activated a spirit command.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has attacked Noriko Takaya. Cometary Collsion added to their queue.

<Radio: A - Chat> Latooni Subota transmits, "I was not able to obtain satisfactory scans of how it operated, only of what it did."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Hmmm. Make gathering additional data on that suit a priority when possible, and have it forward to me. If you can capture it, or take a piece, that would be all the better."

COMBAT: Shin Kudo has struck a devastating critical hit on Arado Balanga's Lion using Itano Circus.

COMBAT: Arado Balanga's evasion attempt has failed.

Knock Out! Arado Balanga's Lion unit has become disabled!

<Radio: A - Chat> Meiya Mitsurugi transmits, "Yessir."

<Radio: A - Chat> Latooni Subota transmits, "Yes, sir."

<Radio: A - Chat> Carris Nautilus transmits, "Understood."

Arado is more than a little surprised when the Grungust takes the hit for Shin. When the Lion finishes ripping the arm off the Grungust and slams into the ground, the battered frame twists around. An armor plate, jostled beyond the point it can hold, is torn off by the rough motion. "Wh-what the... she blocked for him!"

His eyes go wide when he detects multiple missile locks. "Oh /shit/," he manages. He hits the thrusters and tries to get the Lion airborne, but the AM has had all it can take; it lifts off, but too slow for the huge number of missiles. His eyes go wide, and he hits the eject switch; the Lion's head pops backward and he is fired out, as the missiles converge and tear into the Lion.

It goes up in an immense fireball, the missiles exploding all at once. High above, Arado floats downward, with his parachute holding him up.

"Damn... that didn't go so well." He frowns.

COMBAT: Lavi St. James has struck a solid hit on Noriko Takaya's Buster Gundam using Cometary Collsion.

COMBAT: Noriko Takaya has missed Lavi St. James with her Lancer counter attack.

"LIIIIIIEEEEUUUUUUUTEEEEEENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNTTTTTT!!!"

"Sir..." speaks up one of the crew, pensively. "... Don't worry. We will certainly avenge Lieutenant Stamps!!" Captain Turkleton pauses, looking up from his kneeling position.

"... Who?"

"..."

It is about at this time when the Evangelion Unit-00 rises upwards from its proverbial grave. A mere blip at the corner of the viewscreen now, the technicians, now completely alert, notice the rise of the machine monster almost immediately. "Captain! The Evangelion is getting up again! I think it might be attacking...! Is there no stopping this thing?!"

Turkleton looks blearily towards the viewscreen, and squints. "... What are you people doing, bandying about these names that have no bearing on our situation?! 'Lieutenant Stamps,' 'Evangelion,' what do these things have to do with anything?! You should be focused more on the cyborg newtype monster that's targetting us! Prepare the defenses! We are going to avenge--"

And with a deafening ka-CHOOM, the bazooka incinerates the horn of the Rhinoceros, blowing off a massive chunk of the front end of the ship and leaving nothing but a melted slag of metal where once was a proud, massive horn erected upon the ship. Turkleton stares blankly.

"--We are going to pull out! Retreat, for the memory of the Lieutenant, my proud and noble subordinate!"

The white flare of retreat is shot into the skies as the crackling, devastated Rhino begins to fall back, engines deploying full power as it about-faces and begins a sputtering retreat. Turkleton slumps in his seat, looking solemnly towards the pair of boots that was once his lieutenant.

"And the greatest tragedy of all," mutters Turkleton gravely, "is that the lieutenant will have to be posthumously courtmartialed for dessertion of his ship." The crew stare blankly.

"Are you... are you -serious-?"

"THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT COURTMARTIALING, YOUNG MAN, AND YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER THAT!"

And so the Rhino of Trent Turkleton retreats.

COMBAT: Bian Zoldark has retreated from the area.

Rei Ayanami cannot tell at the moment whether or not she is having a stroke. Her mind and body, normally working on an equally emotionless and cold playing field in their mission to make Shinji Ikari's puberty as tough a time for him as is clonely possible, have gone afield from one another. The left side of her face won't stop twitching, and she can feel her heart beating at an irregular rhythm; additionally, she's pissed herself, but the plugsuit was made with that eventuality accounted for, and given that she's inside a giant gel-cap full of snot anyway, it feels less gross by comparison.

Unit-00 has proverbially pissed itself, and not in the good way, like you'd want. Rather, it lurches like a drunkard, snapping its own bazooka in half as it struggles to try and make one final attempt. Instead, it just falls forward, onto its belly, dragging itself forward on its elbows as its pilot has a mild out-of-body experience far more intense than any Roy Fokker flashback. Finding its sniper rifle amidst the wreckage its landing caused, Unit-00 raises it toward the sky, and the rapidly retreating Rhino, and fires one last, desperate shot with a loud 'crack.'

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has attacked Bian Zoldark. Sniper Rifle added to their queue.

Noriko is proud of herself for beating the shit out of Lavi's Tailypo. And then he rips the canopy off. "What!?" Noriko gasps. "Are you...you can't! You'll die! Are you crazy!?"

Lavi proves the answer when he comes rocketing at her with a heavy barrage of machine guns and then slamming his claws into it. Noriko's hands are fast, though - she reaches up to her machine's back, drawing the Lancer off and then swinging it down - but Lavi's in range too fast, and the Lancer is trapped in the air while Lavi gouges at the Buster Gundam's armor.

Noriko has to back off, and then looks over as the Rhino begins its withdrawal. "Tch," she mutters. "There's a difference between hard work and guts and standing alone like an idiot next to a major EFA base!" She turns briefly to look back at Lavi, and then shakes her head. "...this fight is over," she says, simply, and re-sheathes the Lancer, beginning to make speed away from the battlefield. She has no intention of staying here to fight the whole EFA.

COMBAT: Rei Ayanami has struck Bian Zoldark with a solid critical hit using Sniper Rifle.

It seems that the enemy is falling back. The last opponent on the field is the Buster Gundam now, and despite all of her hot blooded actions, she is standing alone against an entire base. The odds are definitely not in her favor. Ingram pilots the Wildschwein around, coming to a stop next to the Gungrust and looking down on it. He extends a hand down, establishing a wireless connection to the Type 2's systems, and he takes a quick pilot reading. Brainwaves are scrambled, but seem to be in one piece. Good enough. "Excellent work, Kusuha. You have done well today," Ingram congratulates her. "I'm sure your friends will be pleased." Well, except for Ryusei, but Ingram already knows that the boy will be showing up later demanding that his former girlfriend be pulled off the offensive roster. Again. As if that was going to happen while she was willing and Ingram continued to need combat data. "Good work everyone," he transmits over a wider frequency. "We've taken damage, but the base is safe. Pull back for repairs and re-arming. We don't know when the DC will be back, so remain on your toes."

<Radio: A - Chat> Ingram Prisken transmits, "The DC forces are disengaging. All units fall back. Medical teams to the flight tarmac - we need at least two teams for Ayanami and Mizuha."

"THhere's also a difference between can't and shouldn't." Lavi says coolly. The Tailypo stands and levels its claws at the Buster Gundam's backside as it starts to retreat... but Lavi holds his fire.

No. Not yet. He's not ready to give up that part of himself yet.

The Titan rips off his flight helmet and chucks the thing out of his cockpit as if it were nothing. In reality, it's almost a fifty thousand dollar helmet, the price of protection. Sort of like wearing a cadillac on your head. Still, next to the millions that it takes to build a Mobile Suit or the billions that go into a single Evangelion... well. Lavi's just glad to get rid of the damn thing and the smell of vomit it had in it. He takes a moment to step out to the edge of his cockpit and stretch. His uniform, the standard for the Titans, is smattered with flecks of vomit and blood and is throughly matted with sweat. But Lavi wears it proudly. It was supposed to mean something. Maybe it did, once. But even if that isn't what it means now, Lavi will wear it proudly. Maybe he'll even make it mean something one day.

But that day isn't today. Today just another pointless battle in which neither side makes any progress towards the end of the war. There's been a lot of those. Lavi turns his head to the side and spits out some of the foul taste at the back of his throat... God, when the hell /did/ he vomit in all of that? Hell. He just sits back down and turns his MST back towards base.

"This is St. James. Recovering to Hangar Seven."

<Radio: B - Tactical> Rei Ayanami transmits, "Evangelion Unit-00 d-- disabled."

<Radio: B - Tactical> Kusuha Mizuha transmits, "A,are you okay, Rei?!"

<Radio: B - Tactical> Ingram Prisken transmits, "Recover Unit 00. And ensure the pilot is in one piece as well."

<Radio: B - Tactical> Rei Ayanami's reply to Kusuha: "Uncertain." Then, she goes silent.

With the sound of a giant robot-sized gun going off, Trent Turkleton only has time to look behind him before another sniper shot /rips/ through the Rhino's rear secondary thruster. It pierces outward on the opposite end of the hull, and the entire battletankship is rocked in the wake of a massive explosion, fire rippling through several hallways as men desperately try to keep the ship in functioning order. Yet -- it still stands. Somehow.

As the Rhinoceros goes, and men run about him in a frenzy, Trent Turkleton looks upward towards the wide-open roof of bridge. "Cadet," he remarks to a crew member mopping up the blood from the floor.

"Yes, sir?"

"I'd like you to schedule a memorial for the lieutenant. Something lavish, for us all to remember him by."

"Sir, that's-- that's touching. That you'd be willing to spend the money, to--"

"What? ME spend the money? God no, man. Take it out of his accounts, and his paycheck. He won't be needing them anymore, anyway! I'm sure his wife will understand. Living or dead you have to earn your honors! Through hard work and paying for it out of your own pocket! ... And if you could get a massive statue of myself, wallowing in agony over the lieutenant's death for the memorial, that would make things perfect, I think."

"..."

And life goes on.

Life does indeed go on.

Evangelion Unit-00 simply stops moving. It just doesn't try to get up. Its chest jerks slightly when the plug fires out of its back, landing a short distance away. Because it is NERV, NERV is already on site, seeking to clean up the mess and haul its hardware out of there as soon as possible, scientists and evil bikers working in unison toward that end.

As the plug opens, Rei Ayanami gets out, vomits, and collapses into a fetal ball, laying in her own puke.

Like a /loser/.