2010-11-09 - Africa: Turbulent Lands

The sky over Africa was still light - but beginning to darken slowly. A few clouds covered the air - but nowhere near enough to hide the presence of a red glowing machine darting through its skies. But there was something off - something wrong about the machine. Its flightpath seemed irregular - like it was having trouble being controlled. In addition, its path was one that was going downwards quickly in a steep arc - leading straight towards the Sahara desert.

"Sir! Amenthes is locking down. We expended too much energy. We need to land." Duat, the Orbital Frame's A.I. warned its runner - who looked incredibly tired and angry. "Set us down, Duat." He releases the controls and lets the A.I. guide the machine down onto the sand - just barely able not to crashland. The machine seems to be in terrible shape - missing one arm, part of its torso missing a good chunk, and a wing is also missing on its back - all on its right side. "Damn aliens." Ascian, the runner, mutters as the machine begins to settle in the sand and powers down most of its essential systems, except for radar. "Estimated time for energy recovery; two hours." Duat informs its runner.

Remy Sledge's black core a speck in the Sahara desert, what it's doing there is anyone's guess, the owner or core haven't been seen for several months, it seems to be just standing there, it moves only after the red speck lands, walking up to the brutally beaten up machine, "And to think I'd have a quiet day in the sahara." comes over the radio, the voice is hard to pin down, as if it has gone through a vocoder, the unseen pilot reaching up to light a cigarette, the sound of the lighter heard through the radio, "What military?" they ask, as if they are completely in the dark with what the world's situation is.

"Sir, we are receiving a transmission." A little window that stated 'Audio Only' popped up - also indicating it was a public unsecured channel. "We'll hear it." Ascian replies to his A.I. whilst he stares out of his cockpit as the radar indicates the origin of the signal with a white marker. "Doesn't seem like the FoF system thinks it to be an enemy." Ascian mutters before listening to what is being said on the radio.

"I am sorry we are ruining your quiet-time in the desert." The young soldier replies across the same channel. "As for my affiliation - I am with the Divine Crusaders. Please Identify yourself." He isn't going to threaten to shoot if they would not tell him - he knew perfectly well that such a bluff would go nowhere. Ascian proceeds to place his hand on the cockpit - which opens up its black shield, so that Remy could potentially get a visual on him with a scope or anything of the like. But he is no longer looking in the direction of the black core. Instead, he is concentrated on the damage done to his frame. "Damnit..." His voice could probably barely still be heard on the Radio - with the man standing up. "How dare they have done this to you..."

Remy Sledge's core is pointing a very large bore rifle at the cockpit when it hears those two words, 'Divine Crusade' the transmission continues, "You are to cease moving, power your machine down, and keep your hands where i can see them." the pilot must mean business, or be completely nuts, oddly the machine has no identifier, and the signal it gives off fluctuates quite a bit, "I want a sitrep of what happened, and then I will determine whether i should stand down or not." a silky sheen sliding over the core for a moment, causing it to have a distorted image to it. From appearance it looks like the only weapon system it has is the rifle it's holding.

"Sir, the machine is targetting us." Duat warns. "I figured it would." its runner replies promptly and raises his hands. "The machine is already powered down... as far as it can. Any further - and it would die." He speaks of it as if it were a living being. "But I suggest you do not threaten me too much - my allies are closeby. But if you lower your rifle, I will see what information I can share with you." As a soldier, he'd been taught not to give in to questioning so easily - even not with a rifle aimed at him. Even not such a big one... "There is something odd about that suit sir - it may use some kind of coating. The sun does not reflect normally off of it."

Remy Sledge 's cold laugh can be heard, "If they can find us, were in a bubble." the core's rifle remains aimed at the cockpit, more specifically at the pilot, the level of electrical interference and noise increases, even the quality of the radio transmission goes down considerably, the hiss of static in the background becoming quite noticeable, even annoying, "Again, a sitrep. and then i lower the rifle." the voice is cold and hard, amplified considerably by the static and the voice modulation.

"It would appear he is speaking the truth. All diagnostics and the radar are detecting jamming. I do not think I could get a signal through." - "Damnit..." There went that playing-card. "Aliens are invading earth - as our glorious leader foretold - and we are quite failing at preventing their invasion. They are abducting people, and blowing up anything that gets in their way. How is that for a situation report?" Ascian calmly words as he speaks into the radio - which Duat fervently tries to stabalize. "Anything else you want to know?" It would appear the soldier is getting somewhat annoyed. He isn't quite fond of being on the wrong side of a rifle. "Ten percent of energy acquired. We could actively assault our opponent for about ten minutes." - Ascian looks down onto the radar - keeping his hands up, and whispers at his machine; "Continue regenerating. But be ready to close the cockpit and perform emergency evasive maneuvers."

Remy Sledge 's rifle reluctantly lowers after about a minute or two of consideration, "If that is a lie, I will find you...". The core's thumb engages a manual safety on the weapon after lowering it, the interference suddenly ends black core taking a knee, it's silent for a few moments, "It is good enough." the pilot lifts his hands and rubs his eyes, the core twitching for a moment it seems, "What I want, before I leave you here, is all the data that has been gathered on these aliens, and yes, even the stuff you claim to not have, and I'll set a beacon for you to throw your emergency encoding in. Fair enough? we are not enemies, for now."

"I have none though. All I can give you is some video data I collected whilst at the battle of Themes. I am just a scout. I do not have access to such data. Not that we really have much..." Ascian calls out through the radio. "Sir, the machine has lowered the rifle - and interference has ended." As Duat tells him this, his own hands lower and he leans back a little. "And that data is not mine to share." He remains to be defiant to Remy's offers and demands. "As for the emergency beacon - I am not in need of one." Unlike many machines out there, his Orbital Frame could regenerate its energy without outside assistance. "Fifteen percent refilled. At twenty we will have enough to get to HQ using full velocity." Duat notifies Ascian. "I realize we are not enemies - but I cannot hand such information to a stranger, you must understand."

Remy Sledge's core stands up, "Video is fine, and fair enough." the core turns and starts to walk away, but pauses, it acts very much like a person with how it moves, the head actually looking over the shoulder, through the skeletal 'wings'. "and that is what you are to refer to me as when you tell your superiors of this, which I am quite sure you will. "A stranger' I am pretty sure you are quite close to being able to get home, be thankful I spared you." with that the thrusters clustered in the lower back begin to power up and suddenly the core shimmers for a moment, before they fire - the machine leaping away, speeding off to another sector of the desert.

"A stranger I have a video feed on, and a voice recording. Maybe they'll be able to tell me who you are - stranger." Ascian replies, whilst he settles back into his cockpit - the protective shield closing quickly above him. "Sir, I do not believe it is wise to be threatening anyone. We are not combat ready - and our chances at getting away unharmed is only at a meager 77.35 percent." - "Well, let's make sure he doesn't get that chance then, huh?" His eyes raise up at the energy readings just as they tapped against the 20% mark - and the machine bursts to life - leaping into the air, one leg raise up, other hanging down - and within the blink of an eye it speeds away like a VOTL aircraft.

"Mobile Suit detected - coming in fast. Designated Scout - sending FoF signal... confirmed." This conversation can be heard quite clearly in and around the control center as a heavily damaged Orbital Frame appears on the horizon outside of the Earth's Cradle. "Prepare for potential emergency landing." This announcement then gets fielded around the entire front side of the base as the doors begin to slowly open. The Orbital Frame - red glowing, missing a good chunk of its chest - an entire arm and wing... is still somehow remaining afloat and coming in for a landing.

"Command has given permission for landing." Duat, the Framerunner's A.I. comments. "Good. Take her in easily." Ascian replies. However, 'easily' is a bit hard with one wing missing, and as they begin their descent, it is a harsh one. Soon they are almost scraping over the desert floor. The runner calmly reduces the velocity at which his machine is going - whilst at the same time, on the outside, one could see the red glow of the machine flickering. It was running on fumes, it seemed.

The mood within the Earth Cradle is somber. The organization known as BIG FIRE is a bogeyman of sorts amongst the Divine Crusaders. When Bian Zoldark died, the threat of BIG FIRE coming to collect its investment from defectors is one of the primary reasons the organization stayed coherent. A man from the Magnificent Ten is a bad omen, especially when that man is the one called the Ultimate Impact-- an Earth elite that rips apart mobile suits with his bare hands.

The slick Spanish nobleman stands upon the landing space, breathing smoke as he waits. The ash of his cigar is blown away by the entrance of the Amenthes. Behind him, a seemingly hollow suit of armor in the old Japanese style floats barely above the ground.

When Ascian exits, the MS technicians point him toward the man in the suit rather than the debriefing room.

Ascian takes his time to get out of the frame after setting it down and proceeds to momentarily yell at the technicians whilst Duat guides Amenthes to unload its Vector Trap. From out of nowhere - using its remaining arm, it pulls out the second arm which had been sliced off, as well as the homingbeam-array-composed second wing, looking rather terrible. "You better fix Amenthes up good - and quickly!" He calls out. It's not like him to throw out orders - especially not as he doesn't really have the rank for it. But he is a bit obsessed with the state of his machine, and that shows through especially at times like these.

It is only then that he realizes that where he was being pointed was not the debriefing room. "New commander?" he asks - not quite up to speed on the chain of command yet. He was a new arrival after all, so approaches the nobleman with little fear. However - believing the man to be higher in rank - he fixes his sweat-stained military uniform and makes sure that he is looking at least halfway decent before going on the final approach and coming to a halt a few armlengths away from Lord Alberto - clacking his feet together and saluting the man. "Ascian Luddite reporting, SIR!"

"I'm not you're commander, brat," Alberto says. He taps his cigar with his finger, then tosses it aside. It burns to nothing mid-flight. "Don't waste your petty military practices on me. I have questions and you will answer them."

The Expert steps forward, walking a circle around Luddite, his sharp shoes clicking as he goes. "I have only one concern. What is the status of BAHRAM? Our runners have not returned with information for quite some time. I expect you to rectify this downfall of communication."

"Sir, I am afraid I have only limited information. Orbital Frames are generally constructed under such secrecy, that we don't know what all the other projects are doing." He pauses for a moment - knowing very well that this probably is not the information wanted by this man. "By last report, Nohman is still on Mars, doing whatever he is doing. A new Orbital Frame pairing was finished - the Amenthes and the Mayet. The Mayet was lost during transit - carrying my sister. No news on the status of Zephyrs' projects either, sir." The youth had stopped his salute upon being asked to stop his militairy practices - but he still stood like a rigid pole of sorts - his eyes looking ahead sharply. "In short, I am afraid I cannot give you that information." His tone suggested that he simply did not know, and did not want to give false data.

Alberto smiles. His weird techno eyepiece thing makes a clicking noise. The floating suit of armor behind him remains eerie. "Nohman does well to play his cards close to his chest. I can't blame a fellow player."

Notably he does not register the loss of a sister, though harsh commanders being harsh is not exactly an unheard-of phenomenon. "Do you know how to pilot any suits other than those Orbital Frames?"

"Sir. I know how to pilot a LEV. But due to my training having been... restrictive..." That was an understatement there, "I have not received any training in the use of other types of mobile suits." He pauses for a moment, then tries to throw in a bluff; "But I've been told I am a fast learner." He is trying to make himself look good. He doesn't know if he is truly a fast learner or not. He simply believes that Mobile Suits could not be that different from LEVs. Right?

"While you're waiting for this overpriced little tart to be repaired," Alberto says, "I expect you to familiarize yourself with other weapons in the Divine Crusader arsenal. There is an extensive catalogue of readily available mass production units. If you are going to be a pilot, I want you to be a pilot at every turn."

He gestures dismissively toward the broken Frame. "This sort of thing should not stop you. Speak with a flight chief about this sort of thing. Try a Dreissen or one of those mobile fighters. You're no use to us if you can't operate at full capacity as often as possible."

"Yes sir - I will take that advice to heart." There is something about his expression that seems reluctant. He doesn't like being away from his machine for long periods of time. And something felt off about being in something other than his own machine. But he knew he'd screwed up in the last battle. But who'd have thought that the aliens could do so much damage with a /single/ attack? Things really were crazy out there. Ascian takes a step back and turns his head towards the suit of armor behind him. He takes a moment to concider whether his next action was wise or not - and decides that he may as well ask; "Sir. If I may be so free. What is with that suit?"

Ascian immediately regrets asking that question as Alberto raises his finger like that, and he sees the technicians run for their lives. His right eye twitches - and a very faint red glow appears in a line under his eyes; or perhaps that was just a trick of the light. "Sir. I would appreciate it if you would not treat miss Amenthes as such." His voice lowered an entire octave as he speaks - surprising himself and he quickly puts a hand to his mouth. However, he continues to look straight at Lord Albert; not quite able to take away the element of defiance from his shocked expression.

Alberto turns his head, though his finger does not waver from its target.

"You stopped talking just when you were about to say something interesting. Come on, now. I could melt this worthless piece of hardware in a second. I'm sure they'd build you another one."

He hated this feeling - this feeling of being powerless before these... irregular humans. NewTypes, Psychics, people like the pilot he'd seen last day who'd pilotted their machine by sheer telekinetic power. He keeps his eyes fixed on Alberto and lowers his hand. "Sir. Please appologize my sudden outburst." However, he was trained as a soldier. He wouldn't cower before such power. He would merely appologize - believing that doing as such would fix this problem. "My mind is yet somewhat unstable from the battle at the British Isles. Much psychic energy was throw around." He also makes an excuse for his actions other than the true reason.

"How unique."

Alberto lowers his aim, the air a little less tense. The landing area is still cleared. His hand burns with dangerous energy, kicking up a localized windstorm. "A man from BAHRAM making excuses for insanity. That's certainly a first." The Spaniard from BIG FIRE turns and gestures toward the ruined Orbital Frame. "I can respect a secretive fascination, if that's what you're on about. Every good soldier has one. I'll pay you a bounty for every time you come back in one piece, and a percentage of property damage on the Earth that you cause."

The hitherto motionless armor spreads its arm, creating a huge black space within its cloak. Alberto steps inside, disappearing into its folders. "We pay very well. Nohman knows that much."

Ascian is taken somewhat aback by Alberto's sudden change in behavior. Was he really 'insane'? He believed he'd hardened his mind against most of the influence of the Metatron. Or was he just fooling himself in that aspect? He knew he was a bit too obsessed about his machine. But as Alberto had said - wasn't that normal? For a 'good soldier'? Or was that in turn, only yet another excuse? The young man lets out a sigh as he believes to be out of earshot from Albert - getting into his suit and makes distance. "Bounty for the destruction of earth?" He whispers to himself. "Is he serious?" He had no qualms with such a mission however... perhaps he could do something like that. If it was something needed of him. But would that really ensure a rise in ranks? Money did get some people ranks it seemed...

The skies above the desert had remained empty for a while now - showing a neat blue sky with a slight red tinge to it due to the effects of the Aegis shield. The sand is still heated up however - and the sun is straight above. The weather? Well, standard weather for the sahara really; hot and dry, with a slight chance of mirage here and there.

However, the skies are not to remain empty. Even the desert needs to be scouted out now and again, and it has fallen to Ascian to perform this task. There is one issue however; he doesn't quite know how to fly the thing he is flying. A SV-51 Variable Fighter is making its way across the desert and stutters here and there. Its flightpath is eradic, and one could only guess what kind of stress the pilot was under. Perhaps it had been stolen? The IF system wasn't even activated, so it did not register to any faction. Of course - this particular model was known to be piloted by the Divine Crusaders. But can one really be sure in the chaos that is plagueing this planet at the moment?

A small camp had formed within the desert beneath - containing a few people looking up with fear in their eyes. There were a few trucks, although some seemed too damaged to really work anymore - and people were moving amongst them. Refugees. They had caught a boatride during the attack on western Europe, and by the looks of their vehicles, it looked like they had quite the bit of money there. And we all know how the DC loves their money. It was probably unfortunate for them to send out an S.O.S. in this area.

The near-silent whirr of the GN Tau Drive embedded on the IDB Custom was almost lost on the klaxon-like S.O.S. signals cropping up on the various open comm-channels of Tori Adenbright's machine. It had only been hours since her landing on Earth -- a place she hadn't been to for quite a while, now, what with her test pilot arrangement up in the PLANTs -- and already she was called into action.

Which suited her just fine; she was contracted to test this machine out, and test it she will. "All systems operational, biosensor link active," she confirmed to herself. There was a faint smile on the Newtype's face as she laid a bit of pressure on the machine, proverbially dangling the carrot in front of it.

The IDB Custom arrived, high up in the air. It was a peak-white machine with a navy blue torso, with an emblazoned white rose on its shoulder. A camp with a number of machines, and a SV-51 Variable Fighter... Tori made contact with the camp. "This is the White Rose, A-LAWS Marine Division. Report your status."

The Nadia flew toward the refugee camp, coming from a different direction than Tori. Shinji sighed, looking at the bandages down his arm. It had been several days since his attempt to bluff the alien invasion. As of now, the only thing Shinji accomplished was catching those bastards off guard at the cost of a modified cargo ship.

Despite this, Shinji was a lot different lately. He was more assertive in his actions, snapping at anyone who didn't follow them to the letter. Sure he didn't yell at his commanding officers but if that coffee guy got his order wrong...oh man. There was also a wild look in Shinji's eyes. It was as if the littlest thing could set him off into a raving lunatic...

Shinji takes a deep breath. "This is 2nd Lt. Shinji Ikari reporting in. If you need assistance, please respond."

The Nadia kept a safe distance, knowing what territory it was in.

The Valhawk does not crack the sound barrier on its way across the desert sky.

Partly this is because Kazuma's just putting his (or rather, the Valstork Family's) machine through a relatively sedate shakedown, making sure everything is working properly after that run-in with two near-nightmares in one night - at the same location, yet.

Mostly it's because *he* needs the shakedown flight, to relax before he breaks something that isn't so easily repaired.

The SOS being transmitted by the desert caravan, though, prompts an irritated look to cross Kazuma's face, and the Valhawk starts shedding altitude. "Can we please," he transmits, "have *one night* without laying out new bones for the Balmarians to swoop down on? Come on."

Nenai Illan and her force of Zentradi/meltrandi had been on high alert; often intercepting Balmarian forces. They had been busy, there had been glory won. But still the looming shadow that real balmarians where here. Not just their drones, they had major ill intent for the ones who had saved her people from endless war. This wouldn't do but the SOS has her attention. It could be another attack. Her black and silver battle armor speeds towards the source.

As Tori's voice sounds over the radio, a man quickly grabs onto the transmitter and responds; "Please, we are out of gas - and we need to get to a city as fast as possible." They were miles and miles away from the nearest inhabitated location of any proper size. "We are out of water - and in need of assistance. Please, White Rose of A-LAWS - 2nd luitenant Ikara-san. We will pay well if you can move us before the trailers come picking at our goods." What goods? Who knows. Some of the caravan's trucks seemed to be shielded in a ways against basic scans.

Noticing a blip... two blips... as well as the radio conversation, the Divine Crusader's framerunner-without-a-frame-to-run has a bit of a hard time taking note of everything that is going on. Luckily, he's figured out where the autopilot button is. Of course, this took at least two times of him saying; "Duat, take it from here." And letting go of the controls. He really was not used to being 'alone' in whatever he was piloting. It was sad in a ways, really.

Whilst set to autopilot, he stared out of the window as the machine turned a corner around the caravan - followed by a quick look at the radar, indicating additional incoming blips. He could hear the radio-chatter. "Goods?" The young man mutters softly to himself but doesn't speak on the radio; a fact that only makes the caravan beneath even more nervous. And the addition of a second jet that doesn't identify itself only seems to make it that much worse. Some could be seen grabbing guns from the front of certain trucks.

"So then... this button is..." Ascian decides to go in further to investigate and guides the jet further along before disengaging the autopilot and shifting his jet into walker-mode. Of course, this makes it that much harder for him to handle the machine, and he ends up crashing the machine into the sand a little further away from the trucks - creating a plume of sand that pops into the air. Such a good thing these things are made to last. So, within seconds, Ascian has gotten track of how to do some of the basic controls and pulls his machine out of the sand and begins to walk the machine into the camp - being greeted by angry men with shiny looking guns.

The Variable Fighter posed some additional concerns to Tori, and now the Newtype has just taken stock of the Valhawk. The Nadia she can identify via the A-LAWS IFF transponder, and Nenai -- well, actually, that one caught her attention for a while. She hadn't seen a Meltrandi before, but she has a more immediate concern to work with right now.

"Very well. I'll send a rescue team to bring your caravan to the nearest neutral resupply point," Tori stated via the comm. This -is- Divine Crusaders territory... but there should be neutral ports by the coastline. Hopefully the DC still has enough sense to not involve them in this, or be desperate enough to scavenge. She turned her attention to the Variable Fighter next, as it approached. The White Rose attempted to open a line to it as well.

"Valkyrie Pilot, please identify yourself. These men are in need of aid, and aggression will not help anyone at this point."

... 'before the trailers come picking at our goods' ...

Kazuma twitches as those words cross the local airwaves. It takes him a moment to make sure his temper is reined in tightly enough to respond without verbally ripping someone's head off, and only then does he punch the button to transmit again.

"This *particular* Trailer has more of an interest in seeing you reach your destination *with* your goods than anything else you might be inclined to think about Trailers," he transmits, trying to keep the snarl out of his voice and only mostly succeeding. "If you need assistance, I'm happy to provide it - and if you genuinely NEED assistance, I'd be out of line to demand payment."

Shinji listened to the radio and blinked. "uh..." He isn't sure what to make of this particular distress call. The Trailers weren't that bad, were they? Despite this, Shinji pilots the Nadia toward the camp, looking to do a pass over before deciding what should be done.

Upon doing this, he spots the Valkyrie and frowns. "This isn't going to be simple, is it?" He narrows his eyes, preparing himself.

Nenai Illan own machine is moving in, at this point. She pauses as she comes in. There's something not right here or is there? She's a bit curious about the radios as she comes in, the alien machine's pilot sends a singal.

"This is Nenai Allian of the Zentradi forces allied to the EFA, what is your situation exactly? Has there been any signs of the Aerogaters."

A reception of men with guns is of course not exactly the welcome Ascian can appreciate. He realizes that this machine is not as... sturdy against the use of machine guns as Amenthes but... "Step back from the machine, or I will open fire!" Being a soldier he believed that he could out-bluff these guys and raises the GERWALK's machineguns at two men. "You aren't wearing armor. I am. You should not threaten and hold a weapon unless you are prepared to lose your lives." The men seem confused, and some lower their guns and step back.

Of course... that doesn't particularly look too great for those who don't have a specific visual and audio on what is occurring. But he has a chance of clearing this up the moment the White Rose opens her commlink to his unit. "Scout for the Divine Crusaders." Is what he identifies himself as, not really giving that much away. "Currently holding these people at gunpoint - in self defense of course." There was something about the tone in his voice he had said that last bit - had seemed off.

In the meantime, the men outside are backing off - something the refugee's person at the radio was well aware of. "Well then, mister trailer. How about you get rid of that damn guy pointing his guns at us?" There is a pause, whilst a direct link is set momentarily to the GNX - "We would prefer if the rescue team simply brought us some gas and water. We can make it across the desert fine with just those supplies." It seemed there was a matter of distrust as well. "That is, if you can get us out of this situation alive." Is added - before that direct link breaks off again and the man reports to Nenai; "The EFA, thank god! No sign of the aliens. But please get rid of this man threatening our people!"

A machinegun suddenly goes off - as a rather nervous refugee loses his patience and lets a volley of shots go at the Valkyrie. Perhaps due to Ikari's fly-over. Will the Divine Crusader prove to be as heartless as they are sometimes rumored to be!?

There was an upswell of emotion that filtered into the GN-XIII's biosensor. Tori narrowed her eyes a bit, and felt the sweltering distrust and frustration of the caravan men. The heat of the desert, the tense interchange between them... this was going to get bad pretty fast.

She let out a little noise of displeasure, and placed pressure on both her feet. The Tau Drive's shrill whistle was heard as the IDB Custom moved to attempt to interpose itself between the men and the GERWALK.

Tori shut her eyes for a moment, and attempted to get a better sense of what it is that young man's tone is making her think of. There was an extra layer to this beyond just a simple dispute, she felt. "Lay down your arms -- both of you. DC Scout, I appreciate your concern, but there is no need to use force for your own protection. Not in a Valkyrie, that's for certain." She heard what Kazuma had to say, and perhaps it would be easier for him to handle the resupplies -- it's good that he was willing to reason with them, as well.

The Nadia hovers behind the GN-XIII, prepairing to intervein if need be. The pilot scans the area, trying to decide if he should try to fire and disable the machine. For the moment, Shinji just lets the stand off go without discharging his machine's weapons.

Things were much more complicated in the real world. He used to just fight Angels and not have to worry about stand offs like this. "So what do we do Tori?" Shinji asks the other A-Laws representive.

"All right, watch yourselves," Kazuma transmits as the Valhawk swoops further down - and transforms, engines 'fluttering' a bit to control the now-humanoid mecha's descent, aimed to land feet first between the DC-piloted VF and the members of the caravan who are facing off with him, or trying to. Ideally, the Valhawk is now placed so that the refugees' gunfire will hit *it* rather than the Crusader.

"Look, Mr. Divine Crusader Pilot," Kazuma transmits, trying to keep his tone patient and not overtly hostile. "We have bigger problems at the moment than the fights which've been going on between the Crusaders and the EFA and stars know who else. And these people don't really have anything to spare, from the sound of things, so if you were on a supply acquisition mission, there's nothing to achieve here except *very* pointless loss of life."

"On the other hand, if this is a big misunderstanding and you aren't stooping to banditry, then put your gunpod away, offer these people an apology for frightening them - which seems to have happened, intended or otherwise - and let's sort things out with words rather than firepower, mmkay?"

The Valhawk is just standing there, now - no weapons readied, but seemingly poised to move.

Nenai Illan has no issue in ripping the Crusaders apart, after all they let Solis run wild. She's confident she can take them down. She pauses at the machine gun fire this is going to be an issue, but if the scout will pull back then that will be good but her machine is moving to get in the way should hostilies break out.

"Now isn't the time to fight with the Balmarians at the gate."

Oh, just how wrong Kazuma is. These man are not shipping 'nothing'. This many machines nearby - someone HAS to pick up on the fact that a twosome of these trailers are carrying something that is giving off energy-readings... faint... seeping through the metal that was trying to drown it out. Whatever the case - Ascian is noticing it. But he doesn't voice this, nor does he investigate. He merely bites his lower lip as he becomes increasingly aware that he is outgunned here. A-LAWS... EFA... these were his enemies. Yet at the same time - why were they not shooting him? Were these not the ruthless people who would take any chance to come out on top? Or did they not want to start a fight in DC territory?

Outside of his windows, he could see clearly - the GNX as well as the now transformed Valhawk. He steers his machine back a bit - almost putting one of the large machine's feet onto one of the nearby trailers as he missteps. However, he corrects his balance. He sends out a message; "I have no intention of listening to A-LAWS or the EFA when it comes to these kind of conditions. You are in Divine Crusader territory - do not try to tell me what to do." He warns, whilst aiming one of the gunpods at Tori's machine. He himself feels threatened by the presence of this many enemies - especially in a machine that was not his own. One he doesn't quite know how to control. This was a fool's bluff. The second gunpod gets aimed at the incoming Nenai. She was EFA... to him, she was the biggest threat.

In the meanwhile, since all of these suits seem to be 'protecting' the refugees now, the men are lowering their weapons and talking amongst themselves. The refugee on the Radio speaks; "Please. You are making our men nervous. Please - could you disembark or head outside of this caravan?" It's a message to everyone. "We promise we will not shoot." We? But the radioman had not spoken to anyone outside? Was he the leader perhaps?

"Don't hide behind factions -- you're talking to me, right now, person to person," Tori interjected after Ascian attempted to dismiss her. "And I'm appealing to your rational side to settle this like mature adults, not children with guns. Listen to the young man," she gestured on screen towards the Valhawk, "Does he sound like he wants to start trouble?"

Meanwhile, the sensor did pick on something... faintly. There was a soft 'mmm' from Tori as she moved to a secure channel for a moment, over to Shinji. "Ikari, do you sense any readings from the caravan? Give it a once-over with your radar as well..."

"I'd just as soon not see *any* trouble happen here," Kazuma says, the Valhawk's head tilting forward in a nod. Then the mecha looks down at the caravan members nearby, just making sure of where people are arranged. "Out of curiosity, where were you all trying to go?"

Shinji looks down at the caravan and frowns, wondering why they are even here. Damnit, why did this have to be so complicated? he could barely understand what was going on at the moment.

"I think... I'm not sure but my reading is very weak. Like one of those N-Jammers, I think?" Shinji plays with the controls a little, trying to adjust to get a better scan. Unfortunately, he gets nothing.

"We are just trying to get somewhere the aliens are not as likely to strike. Away from Europe - it seems they are rather crazy about that place." The refugee leader replies on the radio, lying through his teeth; something Tori might have the best chance at realizing, being a NewType and all that.

In the meanwhile, Ascian lowers his weapons as Tori speaks to him. It all makes sense to him, as a person. But as a soldier - due to the rigorous training he'd gone through - there is resistance to the idea of working together with these earthnoids; a word he mutters across the radio in a despising manner. "Fine. I will not attack you or your... friends." The tone of his voice shows his reluctance quite well. "However, I cannot vouch the same for these... smugglers." He aims his left gunpod at one of the N-Jammer(??) holding vehicles.

This show of aggression of course isn't quite liked much by the people present, and the weapons go up again. "Sir, please stand down your weapon." The leader states in a strangely... scared manner. Like his life was somehow depending on it. Like - if the Divine Crusader would fire - something really bad would happen. "Please stop that crazy spacenoid!" The man whines over the channel.

The White Rose took a deep breath. She's dealt with these types plenty in the past -- you tend to spot a lot of liars when you deal with a lot of red tape and bureaucracy. Then there was his aura... liars always gave off a putrid stench. It colored their words, made their tone unpleasant to the ears. At least, the bad liars do.

She transmits, also to Kazuma: "This -is- Divine Crusader territory, and he is a scout of theirs. It is his job to ensure that no threat comes to his vigil. Permit him to inspect your cargo -- we will, all, keep a watch over him. If he so much makes an aggressive move, he knows what will happen." By this point, they all know what's going to happen. Gunpods will be fired, and the counterattack will make the term 'alpha strike' inadequate at best. "Regardless of the outcome, we will transport you all to the nearest neutral port, safe and sound. This is my offer to you."

The Valhawk was just starting to lift one leg to take a step when Tori's transmission comes through. "Scout. Not law enforcement," he points out - but the A-LAWS pilot does have a point. A good one.

The Valhawk jumps into the air, converting back to Air Force mode and beginning to circle, almost casually. "Lemme see if I can at least figure out a good port to lead this caravan to ... Mandela Spaceport is Trailer-affiliated, that's about as neutral as it gets around here, but that's a fair ways south."

Nenai Illan replies over the comm at this point, as she gets out, she pauses at the mention of getting out of the machine for a moment. "My self getting out wouldn't do much. I am able to combat mecha out of my machine." She has taken down mecha while wounded after bailing out before after all. She does keep her machine's arms lowerd and the weapons mounted there not aimed at the caraan. "I can see about getting you the supplies you need."

"If the Crusaders are playing civil in a time of Crisis? As for Escort yes we can provide it." Her voice does have an odd rumble too it, it's like she's 35 feet tall or something.

They sure don't seem too happy about this. "We'd rather he doesn't. We do not trust the Divine Crusaders. We are carrying precious cargo - and are afraid that if it came out what we are carrying, that they will proceed to raid us. Not to mention - that damn spacenoid has aimed his guns at us twice now. We don't trust him!" Anything not to let them into their cargo. However, it seems they don't get much of a choice. The Valkyrie's cockpit opens up, and a wire lowers down from the machine, which the soldier uses to get down. "You better keep your word." He had signalled to Tori. This was crazy... trusting an A-LAWS member to guard his back. Crazy!

On the ground, his legs tremble a bit. He was /still/ not quite used to earth's gravity. But, he'd been working out a bit to get over this nasty effect. Holding a hand at his side - where his sidearm was holstered - he heads towards the offending trailer his unit still had its rocketpod aimed at. The refugees are nervous, but are not raising their weapons. Instead, they seem to be backing away, as if preparing for something. And perhaps the pilots would notice that different guns were being removed from a few of the trucks. Or rather... rockets.

He quickly continues on inside of the trailer - finding the remnants of a large machine. A pulsing blue core lies in the middle, connected to a computer. Readings are displayed on the machine, and it seems to be trying to stabalize the core. He recognized the technology - he'd read up on this. It seemed that these men were trying to rebuild an N-jammer from old scraps. But the core was unstable... He quickly raises his hand to the radio in his breastpocket and signals the ones outside. But there is interference. "N-jammer *cccggghhh* property *ccccg*~saders *ccchhhhggg now."

Ikari's words washed back over Tori's mind. It was an N-Jammer, as she suspected earlier... it would follow that one could still have been salvageable, especially all the way out here in the desert. In her time working for the Integrated Design Bureau, she had heard it mentioned often -- it was a bit of bitter, contested point there.

One that she did not have to struggle to resolve in her mind.

"The N-Jammer is not something /anyone/ should have their hands on. Do not forgot how many deaths and misery the last crisis caused, three years ago. Even one operational unit can cause a lot of grief to so many people," Tori expressed with a firm, but unaggressive tone. She looked towards the refugee's leader, for a moment. "Do you believe that the monetary gain from this device will be worth the sorrow it causes? Can you bear such a burden on your shoulders?"

"N-jammer?" Kazuma repeats under his breath. He knows full well what Neutron Jammers are - and while the Valhawk's power systems use a different technology which N-Jammers don't mess with as much as they do conventional nuclear powerplants, he's fully aware of the trouble they CAN cause.

The Valhawk continues circling.

Ascian works fast and walks up to the computer and takes a quick look at it. It looked like an advanced program - something that did NOT fit in with all the scrap that was laying around here. The young man tries to press some keys - but there seem to be no responses to anything he does. It must be locked down somehow. In the meantime, some of the men have come around the metalic truck he's in and have raised their machineguns at him. "Come out now!" They call at him. He too knew about the N-Jammers. He too knew the dangers they possessed. He may not have been here those three years ago, but they reports had been enough. "I'm disposing of this." He utters and grabs his gun and aims at the computer. The men outside... surprisingly, suddenly run away from the truck! The gun fires. At the same time the men grow angry.

"Money is money! Get out of our way!" And a variable amount of rockets and gunfire commences from the sizable caravan of trucks. Rockets are mainly aimed at Nenai's Queedluun-Rau, where-as the machinegun fire goes for Tori's suit. Kazuma, being in the air, seems to be lucky enough to go unscathed. There is a problem though. The trucks also are beginning to take off. "You shot it!" The man shouts over the radio. The blue pulse from the truck is growing sizable and more dangerous. Some of the men outside can be heard shouting; "It's going to explode!"

Ascian was not long to get out of the truck and back into his vessel and calls over the radio. "I shot the computer that was apparently keeping it stable. It seems to be a bomb now. Unless you want these people to die - I suggest we ship this thing into the air." His machine walks backwards and suddenly falls over - knocking over one of the trucks that was trying to get away; revealing that underneath its cloth protection, a few families were cowering, along with men in white coats. Scientist-families? There were children amongst them. This was certainly not good.

There was a flash of death that washed over Tori's mind. Years ago, this would have gripped her by surprise, wrapped her in fits, in a canniption that would disable her. Now, however, she has a grip over it and instead reacts accordingly. "Nenai, Kazuma! Grab that N-Jammer and throw it into the air! Make sure it doesn't explode on anyone!"

Her goal was singular in nature -- she was going to overboost the GN Tau Drive to rush over. The Mirror bits deploy around the machine, each of them flying over at the speed of thought to serve as a wedge to stop the falling truck, even as machinegun fire pelts against the surface of the GN-XIII. Fortunately, anti-personnel weaponry fare much less effectively against... well, mecha, so while pock-marks appear on the metallic surface, no internal damage is really done.

There's really no missing that blue glow - and enough radiation is coming out for the Valhawk's sensors to pick up on it and bleep an audible warning. "Terrif ... GET CLEAR!!" he yells over the radio, repeating it via the Valhawk's external speakers for good measure, and the Valhawk descends rapidly, converting back to Air Force mode and yanking the truck open to expose its cargo.

Once that's done, he grabs the radioactive core along with some potential containment material, and the Valhawk *LEAPS* into the air, engines roaring at full power. He can't switch the Valhawk back to Air Force mode with this kind of a burden, so the best he can do is just push the engines as hard as they'll go. "If anyone wants to give me a push, now's a good time to offer it!" he calls out - even though the Valhawk might already be jumping high enough that nobody can really give him that boost.

Nenai Illan says, "Call the trailers they were the ones who got rid of most them I thought?" Yeah, she's a Meltrandi, there's thing she just doesn't get... She sighs as she looks at the rockets and her eyes narrow a little. But the order? Suggestion to deal with the N jammer's a good one. She does so and kicks her boosters up to full power, creating a blast of dust, and who knows what else. "LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Ascian gets a grip on his machine's controls and is tossled about in his cockpit a bit before he reasserts his balance and notices the children in the truck. "What the hell!?" It seems he accidentally turned the speakers on. "Why do these guys have families with them!? Don't they know how dangerous this thing is?" He refers to the N-Jammer. "Hell!" Weaponsfire continues as a few of the trucks pull away further - whereas others cannot go due to a lack of fuel; resulting in men trying to run after some of the departing trucks.

The smugglers had not lied about the fact that they had been low on resources. Some of the kids begin to cry, and the parents are covering the little ones. One pair fail to grab their child in time - and the kid begins to escape into the desert - only to be picked up by the Divine Crusader's GERWALK, who'd gotten behind the protective 'shield' that the GNX was providing.

"Now now kid, don't go getting lost now." He sounded... nice? He'd spoken to Tori within nothing but aggressiveness, yet for the civilians he can show a nice face. How brainwashed was this man? He turns his cockpit upwards then - just in time to see Nenai bursting off to give Kazuma the requested boost. "Stay here kid." He nudges the little one gently towards the truck and flips the switch - kicking his fighter into high-gear and trying to use its claws to push Nenai - who would in turn push Kazuma for that requested rush of speed.

Tori's mind reached out for a moment, and she felt the sense of solidarity that Nenai, Kazuma and even the scout was displaying. It was a good feeling -- something that she doesn't sense as often as she would like. She arranged her Bits to move in a more fluent fashion. Given that they are essentially flying platforms, they're well-suited to either giving the refugees cover against any potential of a blast or as discs to shuffle them away with.

"Cease your struggling," Tori demanded of the men who were still firing, "And turn to your families and neighbors. Protect them! Get them to cover!"

Nenai Illan is a Meltrandi born for war, but she seems focused at this point. Nenai is busting hard at this point. She is indeed giving about all the thruster power her machine can, and the meltrandi battle armor are noted for being quite capable. Sure there's strain on her ,but she'll deal with it. "TRAILER KEEP GOING! I DONT KNOW THE BLAST RAIDUS OF THIS MICRONIAN TECHNOLOGY!"

"Roger that!" Kazuma transmits in answer to Nenai, his hands tightening on the Valhawk's controls as he watches the radiation levels from his 'cargo' continuing to rise; with the Valkyrie and the Queadlunn-Rau both boosting him, he's backed off the Valhawk's thrust but is letting the afterburners replenish ... because he *IS* going to need them.

Finally, he can't wait any longer. "Shut down any non-hardened electronics *now*!!" he calls over the radio - then kills his own radio and most of his sensors; they *should* be able to stand up to some radiation, but this is going to be a lot closer than merely 'some' radiation. This is immediately followed by the Valhawk crouching into the Queadlunn-Rau's hands, then *LEAPING* upwards, thrusters kicking back up to full power - Nenai's likely going to need her armor's visual sensors worked on after that, but he'll apologize later.

The only sensor he's still got running - the area radiation monitor - ticks up further into the 'hazard' zone, then into outright 'danger' - and that's when Kazuma finally moves to get rid of his deadly burden, flinging it straight up to get it as far away from the ground as possible.

And it explodes, the light silhouetting the Valhawk as its parts start to reconfigure ... then swallowing it up entirely.

The Valhawk emerges from the nuclear fireball a handful of seconds later - just long enough to wonder if Kazuma cut it too close, and far enough away to leave PLENTY of room for doubt if you're only watching the spot in the sky where the Trailer machine disappeared.

The men who were still firing - at least some of them - halted their fire and got out of their trucks as Tori somehow manages to talk sense into them. But it's not many. It would appear that those who are wielding the weapons are in no way related to the scientists they had been transporting. And others probably feared that blast more - not knowing just how large it would be. The ones that are near the GNX however are cowering still behind the large machine and the Bits produced by it. Some of the gunfire gets dangerously close, but thanks to Tori's skills - and the lack of the enemy's - none of them make it through. It is a miracle in a ways.

Ascian has to be careful in the meanwhile, as Nenai goes for her boosters - he has to maneuver his Variable Fighter so that he doesn't get hit by the intense heat of those things. He didn't quite know the term Micronian, or rather - he knew of it, but had never heard it used before. It amused him. "Micronian." He whispers to himself. Wait, why was he being amused at an EFA pilot?

He however continues to surprise himself as he does what is requested and lands near one of the filled trucks and moves his mech above them so that he could potentially guard them against the inevitable explosion and stares up into the sky whilst the systems power down. He has to move his arm up over his eyes as the blue core finally bursts and sends a shockwave throughout the desert - as well as lighting up the sky, making it seem for a moment like there is a second sun. A blue sun... but still. And finally... relief when he does indeed spot the Valhawk in the sky again - still flying.

Ascian then quickly begins to power on his systems again and takes in his surroundings. He was expecting the A-LAWS and EFA to turn against him any moment, now that there were no more common grounds present - and begins rearing up his gunpods as he begins to back off.

But with that explosion, the men who had been firing previously have now all taken off a distance and have halted their fire. Others had their trucks completely stall, and there was even a small explosion in one of the far-off trucks that had held their leader with the radio. Probably due to the radiation.

Tori gritted her teeth and shut her machines down -- there was such a thing as an emergency shutdown on this thing -- and shielded her eyes from the devastating blast. That such people would still consider repairing and rebuilding a device like that is... unreasonable, to her. She will not let this slide just so easily.

"Kazuma, Nenai, let's help transport these men to Mandela Spaceport. There, we can let the authorities know..." as she turned towards the refugees' leader, if she can find him on camera, her tone gaining a disapproving edge to it, "... and deport those responsible back to their country, so that they can be properly tried for crimes against humanity."

She glanced back up towards Ascian, and saw him starting to back off. Well... that's alright. Crisis averted. "Thank you for your assistance and cooperation, DC Scout. I am Tori Adenbright, Integrated Design Bureau. I hope to meet you again someday."

Ascian lowers the gunpods and lets out a sigh across the Radio. "You guys take off - the Divine Crusaders are sure to have seen that blast - and I do not think it would be wise for you guys to stick out. Get out of here - I'll take care of things. That is... if you think you can trust me." The young man opens his cockpit to show that he is being serious, and his gaze quickly sweeps the area. In this state, he lowers his unit and fires a warning-shot at one of the far-off trucks, where people were still trying to start up.

"I promise I won't kill anyone." The BAHRAM runner adds. In the meantime, across the radio, he hears Kazuma reporting that he couldn't help anyhow because his unit was in serious need of repair. It's not something he takes much note of however - though he was somewhat glad that someone other than him had been able to perform that task. But he did wonder - how the heck was he going to report this?

Tori considered this for a while... but why not? More of his unit is going to come, and though she would've liked to handle this personally, she -is- on track to meet other people of her unit. "Very well. I will trust you on this," she stated, putting her stock in a man who hasn't even given his name to her yet. But regardless, it's trust in strangers that often opened doorways to her.

"Take care of these people. Their lives are in your hands," were her parting words, as the IDB Custom's GN Tau Drive started up again. A faint shower of orange sparks gently lifted the unit off, dustfuls of sand blowing around its feet as it rose off into the bright-lit desert air, Mirror bits recalling around its back.