2011-06-04 - The Neo-Cultural Revolution

CHINA FENGNING BASE NOW The Fengning Mechanized Infantry Base is but one of numerous such installations in the Beijing area; each boasts a stock of high quality mass production units, ranging from the GNX-III to the Huckebein to a small supply of White Rides for the truly adventurous. About a year ago, the mostly civilian Porcelain Mao Revolutionary Army began a campaign of insurgency bolstered by support from Katharon elements, prompting a multi-month conflict between Katharon and a number of Earth Federation elite units; just before the events leading up to the Third Impact, however, the fighting began to slow down as both external forces pulled back to focus on other matters.

When Ingram Prisken glassed a significant chunk of Beijing with his R-GUN's Metal Genocider, the fighting came to a complete stand-still.

Since then, China's Federation bases have mostly been used to supply reinforcements, fuel, ammunition and the like as other conflicts have dictated; without aid from their Katharon allies, the Porcelain Maos have required only the barest of basic patrol regiments to keep in line, as they've been unable to scrape together the resources to make more of an impact upon the region. It's been quiet in China; the personnel in many of its bases - even in Beijing, the heart of the Federation's power in the region - have grown lax.

"Wow," Private Chang Sung wondrously exhales as the Nazi Party's secret weapon - the combining Unstoppable Reich of Iron, Dai-Menschen V - combats the timelost Gundam Maxter on his television screen. "Pre-colonial history is /fascinating/."

"Not on /my/ watch, Ratzis!" Chibodee exclaims while lunging at the monstrosity to deliver a powerful right cross to Adolf Hitler's robotic visage. "I can't let you fire the Spear of Dest--"


 * KZZZZZT*

"Wha--" Chang murmurs as his TV suddenly goes on the fritz. "What the he--"


 * BWEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOO!*
 * BWEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOO!*
 * BWEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOO!*

"Shit!"

Chang scrambles from his seat and begins donning his communications; the whole base is bathed in bright red lights as its personnel struggles to remember the procedures for emergency situations. They are, to say the least, sluggish in taking their combat posts.

Outside, a /storm/ of slate-gray, pincer-shaped remote weapons buzz through the air above the base. Magenta particles coruscate within their opened ends, unleashing a rain of superheated fury to level Fengning Base as it fights to mount an effective defense. Screams of alarm and terror rise from the base, but they're largely drowned out by the explosions.

Ringing Fengning's perimeter, a dozen blue and gray Ashsabers stand ready and waiting for the base's defenders to arrive. Save for the stencilling on each one's breast - a bright red image of Chairman Mao with the Chinese symbol for 'CHANGE' beneath it - the machines look to be factory fresh.

"This is it!" one of the pilots transmits to the base. "This is the moment we have waited for--the moment you have dreaded! China is yours no longer, Federation dogs! Surrender now!"

By and large, the /rest/ of the Ashsaber's pilots raise a triumphant cheer in her support.

Long Wang wasn't a long time member of the Porcelain Mao Revolutionary Army, however, he'd been amongst his downtrodden peers for long enough for garner some level of comeradery and recognition for his more above average skills as a lieutenant... if one could call his position something like that... and previous experience within a terrorist small faction under Amalgam - and a small unit of Rk-92 Savages. To say that the card he'd been dealt was a step up from the Savage that he had once called his friend, would be a sheer understatement!

Him and his squad now has found themselves in a series of Ashsabers, gifted upon them by a 'mysterious benefactor'. Or at least, that's what Long Wang had been told. Not too long ago, they had blasted off along with the rest of the stencil-encrested units, and now found themselves hanging before the great Fengning Base. "Unit one, take the turrets on the eastern side. Unit two, take the turrets on the western side. The rest of you, stay with me and unleash a barrage on the enemy hangar. Don't let them come out unscathed!" Long Wang calls over the radio, and then smirks, momentarily taking his hands off of the controls and crosses his arms before his chest.

He looks proud, exceptionally so, as if he'd been the one to initiate this. As if this was all his show. It really wasn't. But being in a position of leadership made the man happy. And watching those beautiful explosions beneath the purple particles just made it that much more happy. He'd come to understand this comrades over the last few months. He knew why they wanted freedom. And he would stand by them through thick and thin. Now finally, they had a chance. A chance to change things.

His hands go back down onto the controls, and he jerks them to the right, flipping a little cover off of the top and presses the red buttons attached. With a little bit of maneuvering, the Ashsaber reaches down for the beam machine gun and unleashes a violent spray of blue colored bullets on a nearby hangar, filling it with holes. <"For freedom!">

"We have reports of major insurgent activity in China. Insurgent forces are mobilizing towards major political centers. Requests for assistance have gone out."

Dewey regards his comm. officer with a momentary sigh.

"Assessment?"

One of the Ageha looks up, "Katharon is likely supporting the insurgent push, they will be present with mobile suits and other forms of walking armor." Another Ageha speaks, "Given the duplicitious nature of the Chinese, evidenced across millennia of observed history it is entirely likely that China's new government will begin to cede from the Katharon support and resume allegiance with the Earth Federation if the Earth Federation maintains a position of over all strength. Katharon's hopes for gratitude will fall on empty hearts in the long run."

A third begins a slow, mirthless giggle, "They all think they'll be doing this for a greater world. In twenty years the next batch of revolutionaries will be blowing up their monuments."

Dewey looks over, "Position the Ginga above that supply facility. Notify Orange Deployment ships 10 and 38 to prepare to release payload onto the facility if it is taken."

Dewey settles back into his chair.

He pauses to regard the book he had been reading, "Ah, Lucillus. O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!"

He chuckles, "How apropos."

TWO DAYS AGO:

Tessa Testarossa is in a planning meeting with Lieutenant Commander Castello - trying to get a grip on how to handle the situation around the globe. They've made decent gains, but she's not sure what to think of the loss of Frontier IV. On the one hand, fomenting revolution is the /whole point/, but...

The discussion is interrupted when a mail comes in on her tablet, and she pops open the window, blinking in surprise at who shows up in the screen. "General," she says. "How can I help you? It's been a while." Pause.

Frown. "Please repeat that?"

NOW:

The TDD-1 Tuatha De Danaan, the mysterious "Toy Box" that even now haunts Federation waters, has finally found its way back to the Pacific after a long series of stays in other waters. Today, it sits in a blind spot in the Federation's patrols, its runway exposed while Tessa monitors the situation on the battle line. The bridge is dark, as always, and Tessa Testarossa runs her knuckle across her lip, thoughtfully, as she considers the data.

"This is Colonel Testarossa," she finally begins, speaking to Katharon's pilots. "You will all be assisting the Porcelain Mao Revolutionary Army in a takeover of a Federation base in the vicinity. The General has been very gracious with our recent quiet, so I think it's time we pay him back. Please give this battle your all, as always." She sighs, hangs her head, and murmurs, as is her tradition: "May God have mercy, and guide us to victory."

She reaches over to touch the mute button on her mic, and only then does her eye snap up to something unusual on the monitor. Those are PMRA IFFs, but...no, that silhouette...

"Ma'am! We're receiving video from the battle zone, there's something--!"

"Ashsabers...?" Tessa murmurs, biting her lip. "General...what on Earth have you started?"

 Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert's signal crackles. "This is Geist One. All system ready to go. Am ready to launch when catapult is free."

There was a loud rumbling under China...

Hours ago.

Representive Alex Rosewater is sitting, enjoying a very fancy dinner. He eats alone, only tended to by his android butler. Cutting his steak, he looks up as someone interupts his dinner.

"Ah...Angel, what do you have for me?" Alex asks, not stopping his eating. Angel, not put off by this, but instead more put off by the Android, which only causes the Android himself to smile. She speaks, professionally, "Sir, I have determined that you may want to personally attend a Katharon mission to help liberate a area of China from the EFA."

Now.

Teresa would only have very little warning that the Represnitive would be personally attending the battle. The loud rumbling would stop right under the battle itself...before the ground started to break apart. Slowly, the BIG FAU would tear it's way from under the surface. Those may notice a 'train' like digging mole mobile deep under the earth, with 'train platforms' being laid behind it. The ground quickly closes under the Big Fau as it steps monolithically forward.

"BIG FAU! ACTION!" he says, as the screen infront of Alex flashes,

CAST IN THE NAME OF GOOD,

YE NOT GUILTY

The control panel rolls out around the represenitive, as he carefully grips both ends.

Russel Bagman had been concerned about China's Porcelain Mao Revolutionary Army. But with the Balmarians and the rebuilding of the military of the federation? He'd been elsewhere often training new recuits or pilot switched from the aerospace or armor core to mecha. Also the halloween plan had become a bit more imporant too as various design modifiucations and such had gone back to Mao to try and tweak the machine or even in a few places reduce production costs.

That all changed when when the reports of the rebellion were armed with Ashsabers. Where did they get them? This has called for added deployment, there's an EFA transportt and a number of Alpha Numbers onboard. The first mech out is a green Gespesent but something's strange it's a big different and gear. Russel bagman is dropping in M90 assault rifle and he really doesn't like the connotations of these new mecha given he's only ever seen the DC with them before.

It's been a while since the Gelgoog Marine AS has been out of the hanger. Astrid has been busy bettering herself after a rough series of losses, and rather than blame her machine, she'd blamed herself. Now, finally content, the redhead slides back into her reliable old machine's harnass and buckles it. While the Zeonic machine powers up, she unscrews the lid of a hip flask and downs a mouthful of its contents. By the time it's re-capped, all systems are online. She tucks the flask into a pocket, then reaches forward to grasp the control sticks.

"This is Hailstorm. Smoke 'em if you got 'em."

Seconds later, the Gelgoog launches out of the TDD-1's deployment catapult and into the sky. Thrusters ignite, and while Astrid guides her machine towards shore, she reaches back to unsling her trusted anti-tank shotgun. A quick check verifies a full ammunition load. Inside the machine, the woman bares her teeth in a feral grin, "Catapult's clear. Just point me at the enemy and I'll rip 'em to shreds, Cap'n."

"There's been reports that it's totally moving!" Comes the cry of Gidget, comm-commander and gossip-girl extra-ordinaire. "Well then don't let him know." Talho remarks, leaning against the comm-tower, arms crossed, staring out at the clouds. "Knowing him he'll..."

"Launch the Gekko!" The door slides open, revealing Holland, a gauze wrap on his head and some on one of his arms, keeping it up. "Change the course. He's finally coming out of hiding. This is our chance to end it without anyone else's help!"

Talho stalks towards Holland, eyes glaring at the wounded captain of the ship. "You're in no position to command anything in the state you're in, Holland. You took a blow to the head, remember? Mischa gave you strict inst-"

Holland doesn't pay any attention to her as he barges past, shaking her off the good arm that she tries to grab. But he stops as he passes her by, staring directly away from her. "You've got to do this Talho... if for no other reason than I'm asking you." If this is for his selfish gains or if he really means it, the woman stalks towards the controls.

"Woz. Jobs. Ken-Goh. Places! We're not just letting him go this time!"

The skies directly above the Ginga give off an ... EFA signature. Far, far long outdated and replaced. But the Federation signature remains, multiple green lines being drawn across the sky. It begins to fall, the white and green battleship catching a wave directly past the Ginga, opening frequencies near immediately - as well as multiple missile pods on the wings, deploying both the message and the ordinance.

"DEWEY!"

"Now that you've-Ghh!" Holland never thought about what to /say/ to his brother when he met him again. "We're going to end this stupid game of yours game today!" If things could end today, he wouldn't have to face the results that could come from Dewey's tomorrow. Or however long it might take.

 Astrid Stalvern transmits, "This is Hailstorm. Smoke 'em if you got 'em." ... "Catapult's clear. Just point me at the enemy and I'll rip 'em to shreds, Cap'n."

There are a few perks to having the only jet on a submarine full of things that are not jets. Namely, none of the opposition are going to be expecting anything that can fly around and make a general nuisance of itself like that. Also, nobody's going to expect a one-of-a-kind stolen secret Russian superplane that does things planes have no right to do, now, are they?

From the runway of the Tuatha de Danaan comes a sleek, predatory aircraft that looks too large for a Russian-made jet, but too small for any sort of transforming machine. The top is black, the underparts chromed silver, and its wings are bristling with all manner of highly explosive weaponry. The best kind!

In the cockpit, Isa Reichert shifts herself in the chair, tightening gloved hands over the controls and grinning. The expression twists the scarred side of her face into an almost sinister expression. Her hand reachs up to her helmet, toggling the comm equipment and the line to the Tuatha de Danaan and her other Katharon allies.

<>

Thankfully, it doesn't take long before it's her turn to go -- the M-0209 Skytalon is flung skyward, its engines roaring as it rapidly gains altitude, streaking towards the point where the Chinese rebels are ringing Fengning Base. The black and silver jet tips a wing, banking a languid circle around the perimeter, looking down with a low whistle. They're not playing around, are they? Guess they can't afford to, with all the trouble they've run into against the Feds...

<> Isa transmits, with a grin. <>

Inside the Skytalon's cockpit, the other two pilots see to their own duties. Dominic grins.

"That's a lot of bloody mechs." Dominic, her weapons operator, with his affable Cockney accent and devil-may-care nature. "Looks like they mean business, today."

"Uh oh." Bespectacled Liese, affectionately nicknamed 'Rabbit,' communications and navigations operator. "This is going to piss the Feds off, isn't it...?"

"Bah. We will worry about them if they even come," Isa comments, unconcerned. "Let them try to stop us...!"

The Second Mech to fire out the EFA transport is a RED Gespenst, which, similarly to the green one, seems modified. However, the voice that carries out from the transmission is a very distinct yell. "OCTO-1, LAUNCHED! LET'S GO, RUSSEL!!"

With that, the Red Gespenst charges for the enemy, plowing through mooks if there are any like they were nothing. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"

Raidiese F. Branstein hadn't expected a Chinese revolution to spring up under their watch when he took his turn at patrol today, but this is exactly the kind of job that Kai Kitamura formed the New Aggressors for. Several Aggressors were deployed to help deal with the situation, Rai being among them. Captain Leos Klein kept his ship in position in orbit however, instead deploying the Aggressors on a smaller transport to deliver them to the fray. Rai didn't really understand why, but Captain Klein thinks about battles in a way Rai doesn't fully understand. It's a level that Rai certainly respects, but also one that makes him a little nervous.

When the Aggressors drop from the transport, Rai brings up the rear, his light and dark blue Gespsent charging out of the hanger and immediately swinging around to spread out and create a line to advance from. They have very little info on what's going on here, so for the time being, playing it safe is the best bet.

"Alright Aggressors. You've seen the briefing. We don't know a lot, so until we have a better idea what's going on, stay close, but stay loose. Watch out for each other and stick together. They've got numbers on their side and will probably try and draw us out and isolate us. Keep your eyes open."

At the moment, this is the rebel's battle to lose. The best thing Rai can see is to fight defensively and wait for the enemy to make a mistake they can take advantage of. Rai doesn't charge forward or make the first move here, instead darting around the field to find the best position to cover his allies and let the enemy come to him.

One of the next machines off the Tuatha de Danaan's catapult is one of their iconic Gernsback series, but this one is a little bit different-- customized, even, with less in the way of firearms and more in the way of /every goddamned blade in the armory/. Weapons packs mounted on the hips and thighs, an excess of the flat-bladed anti-tank daggers at various carry points, and a twin pair of monomolecular swords, as well as the odd booster pack mounted in the center of it's back.

It's also pink. Really, really pink.

"Cross Two-Six, M9E Gernsback, Close-In Strike Type!"

Rachel Miu Athha's golden eyes narrow a little as she braces herself. She's had some time with Melissa Mao, and learning how to handle her machine a little better, so the strain on her body afterward isn't so bad. The weight of the machine centers, lowers, and then it screams across the deck before being vaulted off into the Chinese sky.

"Go!!"

Sailing through the air, cutting a long, long arc in the sky, the slightly-smaller machine shifts it's weight when the booster fires, landing on it's feet with a bit of a crash and slide. "Engaging optical camouflage; moving to Field B!"

As the Ginga comes to float above the facility, a quick IFF check is done, and it doesn't take long for Long Wang to hear that these are /not/ their allies. "Unit three, four, with me." And thus, a twelvesome of Ashsabers rip forwards the ship at the same time that Gekko works its way towards it, and literally surround it from all sides.

"Get out of here, laowài!" - foreigner - "You don't belong here!" The homing lasers that fly towards the Gekko are avoided, as a series of the Ashsabers disperse, only to return and grabbing the gigantic weapon known as the Halberd shooter. The beamcannon opens its mouth like a shark, and black and blue ripples quickly begin to form within them,

"Let's give these EFA dogs a warning shot they will never forget!" Long Wang calls out, and his radio gets replied to with a loud collaberative cheer. The beamweapon charges further, the blob of energy pulsing faster and faster, until finally, all twelve Ashsabers unleash the Halbert Launcher's attack! The beams cut straight in a slightly off twelve-pinned cross. These mooks are at least smart enough not to be in the path of eachothers' attachs! And after the beam starts flying, it increases in power and further spikes of blue rush from the weapons, rending the skies alight with their destructive power - hoping to cut into the Ginga from all sides!

"You bastard!" The scrambling of all further transmissions hits home. Holland barely gets those two words out before there's only static. Holland, fresh from leaning forwards and yelling at the screen, falls back into the commanding seat, tightening the restraints. "Of course he wouldn't listen..."

Not that Holland tried to reason with him.

"AH! From the side!" Gidget, doubling as the tactical weapons read out and early warning system cries out loud enough for the room to hear. "And ... the bottom! And the other side! There's too many!" "Talho!" He said her name as well, memories of the past that keep ripping into him. "Get us out of the way." His words coated with a simmering rage.

The Gekko twists, spiralling out of the path as it rises, beams catching right as it catches a wave, veering about a hundred and eighty degrees to leave the Ginga in the sights now. Triple lasers lock onto the front of the Ginga as the other battleship dives towards the first, but only the first one charges.

"Ken-goh!" "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?" The somewhat Russian man notes, "But I don't that'll matter, hah!"

A beam of light lances towards the Ginga's front - guided by Ken-goh's honed skills.

"We're not the only one after him!" Gidget adds. Holland doesn't have a response for that one. What a surprise.

"Here they come!" Hong Lin - who is as close as this particular strike force has to a commander on account of being the loudest - exclaims as the Aggressors unit makes landfall. Other pilots' eyes are turned up towards the Ginga and Phrike, but the latter /seems/ more interested in air-to-air combat and the former in observation.

Hong thus saves her attention for the combatants on the ground.

"There!" she exclaims as he sensor sweep finally settles on the shifty blue Gespenst. "You, there--"

"....." "....."

Hong finds herself briefly stymied when she has to actually look over her control panel - helpfully pre-labelled to assist pilots with what are otherwise unfamiliar cockpits - to find one instruction set in particular, but once she does her eyes brighten. Gripping her control stick in both hands, she calls up a targetting reticle and sharply sweeps it across the blue Mark IV's body; bright red crosshairs shine on several points of its frame.

"--Turn around and walk away now! China doesn't /want/ you!"

Above the base, one of the swarming remote weapons snaps to a stop, hangs still for a moment and then whirrs on a zig-zagging path towards the Gespenst.

"China doesn't /need/ you here--be gone!"

She presses the shiny red button atop her control stick then; magenta light flares briefly within the pincer-like weapon before laying down a scintillating trail of destruction that threatens to engulf the Gespenst if its pilot isn't careful.

Russel Bagman does not have newtype powers, but has experance and has to rely on paying attention to information given Katharon's incolvement it might be something else. He pauses and he's cloest to field B. In that is in the direciton he's heading there's something not right here. The Gespenst moves into the area, it's head moving a the pilot scans. There's something odd he swears he saw a ripple. It's been long known Mithril had the M9 somehow before America finished it's creation. So the chance of stealthunits is high, he fires a burst from his rifle trying to time the shot just a bit to try and lead it. But is he shooting at ghosts? He may be but whoknows.

"Katina? What's your status! Watch you back we may have stealth units lurking around here!"

The blasts from the ground emplacements are halted with mocking alacrity by the Ginga's defense network. Their blasts meet fiends, the distortion masking a barrage of missiles that strikes downwards with punishing accuracy.

The Gekko's lasers take advantage of the distraction, raking across the orange hide of the massive battleship..but for their trouble are met with more missiles, fired almost as if an after thought.

Dewey peers out from beneath his cap, eyes narrowed, a calm smile like a rictus grin on his face...

The serenity of the buddha, the anger of an asura, boiling in his eyes..

"What an embarrassment."

"We've analyzed their attack and..."

Dewey looks up, "Ah yes. The Chinese. I'd forgotten about them."

Weapon slats open across the immaculate frame of the Ginga, unleashing thousands upon thousands of rockets and an almost beautifully intricate formation of lasers. The beams criss cross and dance through the sky, weaving about almost like errant birds, wafting through the air and leaving gleaming trails behind them.

The missiles that go flying rocket right after the Ashsabers. The Chinese within watch their little screens get filled by hundreds upon thousands of little indicators of enemy fire incoming. "It's like the rising sun!" One of them exclaims. The machines all turn tail and rocket away from the Ginga, quickly lowering down towards the ground and chase through the buildings beneath, letting the missiles beset the Federation encampment. However, one of the Ashsaber pilots isn't as lucky, and it ends up colliding with the back of his unit.

"Maaamaaaaa!" The forever nameless Chinese mook cries out, as the metal behind him bends beneath the explosion, splinters of metal crash into his body. He doesn't get to suffer long however, as the explosion reacts with the Ashsaber's reactor, and the entire machine explodes in a giant ball of fire, that continues to roar as the machine crashes into a nearby hangar and bangs into an old Gespenst II that was being moved out to defend the base!

"Press the red button to unleash missile counter-measures!" Long Wong calls over the radio upon noticing that the rest of his squad has not yet figured out. For a moment, the entire base is lit up in white flares springing up here and there, after which the Ashsabers finally turn back towards Dewey's Ginga and lift their weapons up at the enemy.

"Once more! This time, from below!" Long Wong commands his units, and dives straight underneath the Ginga. One after one, the eleven remaining Ashsabers in his unit cut underneath the battleship and unleash a beam-sword of light towards the skies, trying to cut into the bottom hull of the enemy ship with their gigantic blue beams.

In the meantime, Unit 02 and 01 have finished their eradication of the towers around the base, and have turned about to rush at the Ginga to help their comrades. However, the sudden gigantic explosions that occurr in the airspace as the Ginga unleashes its bombardment, are pushed back by the assault, and forced to remain at a distance.

The Gekko shakes from the damage done from the counter assault, missiles crashing against the panels and cracking them, against the frame of the ship and blasted off the outer layer of armoring. It's only slight damage, however. "Nice shot Ken-Goh! I didn't doubt you at-"

The Gekko, suddenly under fire from the beams as it gets ever closer, is not in an advantageous position to pull away from them. "Dammit, isn't there anything that can be done!" Holland asks of Talho, already busily trying to pull the Gekko out of the path. There's just too many. A satisfying explosion shakes the once Federation ship, a plume of fire and smoke following after it. "We can't give him any satisfaction from this!"

Ken-Goh laughs, "Oh, I had made sure he would not be the only winner in that situation!" Missiles crash against the Ginga's own hull. "Good man." Holland gets out, gritting his teeth. "Do we have anything else?!" The next laser clicks into place, charging.

"Oh, not just one!" Ken-Goh sounds out! "There's two more things they'll have to watch out for!"

Energy generated on the front of the emitters suddenly lances out, the three barrels roated so thtat the charging energy is dispersed equally, three blasts within mere moments lancing out towards the ship. The Gekko pulls up and away after the last diving run.

"What the hell is that thing capable of, anyways?" Holland only finally questions, and being the amazing commander he is, dismisses it. "Whatever he can manage, we'll be more than enough for him. We have to be!" Holland 'lifts' his teams spirits. The damage was /way/ too much so soon. If things kept up... tch, he can't think about that! If Dewey succeeds in anything that old monk would never let him live it down!

This isn't Raidiese's first time fighting bits like this, though the Ashsaber is never an easy target to take out. Rai has only fought one of these things twice. Not enough to learn all its tricks, but enough to know to be afraid of it. His Gespent's systems warn him of the incoming drones and he immediately starts to move, the Gespenst IV leaping through the air, landing, and sliding in a tight S-curve to avoid the incoming blasts, which still manage to scorch the exterior of his mech quite a bit more than he would have liked.

Rai is quick to set his sights on the mech that sent the attack. "You want to lecture me on what the people want, while you've taken up with the Divine Crusade yourselves?" Rai has fought Ashsabers twice before, and both were against DC targets. Seeing them in the hands of these rebels, the conclusion Rai draws is the obvious one.

The Gespenst IV pulls out an unfolding rifle of a design much more complicated than the EFA usually fields. It's actually based on a Balmarian design, and packs a lot of power. Of course it takes some time to power up fully, and Rai isn't willing to hold his shot that long. Instead, he uses the shorter firing mode for the rifle, bringing only a portion of it's power to bare as it charges and unleashes a blast of energy at offending Ashsaber.

"Save your hypocrisies for another time. I've got a job to do!"

With its free hand, the Gelgoog Marine AS tips a two-fingered salute at the Skyhook, then descends. The legs swing forward, and the machine lands heavily amidst the Porcelin Mao military forces. The shotgun is weilded one-handed, while the other hand pulls up the handle of the backpack-mounted gatling gun, "Alright!" Astrid sets her teeth in a nasty grin, thrusting the gatling forward and unloading a solid five-second burst before she starts moving again.

An enemy unit that gets too close winds up with a foot in its chest, "Get out--!" Standing over it, Astrid unloads a round of her shotgun into its face - Effectively removing the machine from combat by blinding it. A spray of oily lubricants splatters up the side of her Gelgoog, "-of my way!"

And thustly, Astrid rampages in the background of the battle. Don't mind her.

The attack from below is met with rapidly moving bits that interpose fields amidst the space. Due to sheer weight of massed fire, a few blasts do eke through, damaging the orange paint on the lower side of the Ginga... They are again met with PUNISHINGLY accurate beams of laser fire in response...

The blast from the Gekko is similarly met by the energy bits, forming a deflection field that sends the beam careening skyward...

A similar barrage of missiles is sent at the Gekko...exploding early to fill the air with shrapnel...

"Such futility. Do you hate me so, brother?"

He sighs and glances to an Ageha, "Bring some wine. This may take a while..."

He glances to the gunnery position...

"That last full barrage has left our focus alignment somewhat off...

"Fire a barrage to recalibrate it." "The strength of the guns will be lower, Sir." The Ageha behind him smacks his head, "Not lower then if we don't hit them at all you fool!"

Dewey smiles, turning to regard the tactical displays, "Ah, they grow up so fast."

The Big Fau achieves it's goal of being supportive, but not being directly shot by people.

Hurray for not shooting.

Stealth. Once upon a time Isa Reichert was asked to test a few stealth aircraft for the joint Soviet-Yuktobanian programs, but she had never relied much on stealth capabilities. She's never had to. Her style was always one of simple brutality and a stubborn refusal to surrender; a style of not leaving until her or her opponent's machinery was reduced to useless scrap.

That tenacity had earned her quite the reputation among Federation ranks when she had still been among them, inspiring respect among her fellow Yuktobanians and fear among the Belkans on the other side of the war.

In the cockpit, circling serenely over what has become a battlefield, Isa narrows her single blue eye. A red unit dislodges from the EFA transport, one whose pilot's voice strikes a familiar chord with her. What is that voice; who does it belong to? She could swear she's heard it before, years ago... but it doesn't matter. They're a Federation pilot. They're aiding the lost cause of a hopeless bureaucracy mired in its own inefficiency and obsessive need to control the world.

They're part of the problem, whoever it is.

Slamming the control stick forward, Isa snarls orders to her weapons operator to target that red Gespenst. The reticule appears on her control screens, and she gives the order at the same time the jet noses down, falling into a suicidal dive right for Katina Tarask's machine, machine guns roaring -- the wings leave contrails as the Skytalon screams right past it, pulling up sharply so as to avoid an unfortunate meeting with the ground.

Some of the Ashsabers pull back up - foolishly so - into the enemy's scope of fire. "Ieeee!" A series of the Chinese revolutionaries call out as the lasers carve past their units. Yet somehow, these folk have quite some luck, for none of them are hit vitally so. One of the Ashsabers ends up getting shot in the leg, loses control, and goes crashing to the ground. A second loses an arm. Long Wang and most of the others however are doing quite well. And even as the beams strike most of their units, the shielding and coating is enough to disperse the damage enough that the units are fairly fine!

The continued assault from the Ginga doesn't manage to hit the Chinese pilotted units however, as they continue to spread out and swing in and out of range, and continue diving underneath the enemy ship. But those bits. How to deal with those bits!?

With bits of course! "Press the button with the drill, while targetting the enemy unit, and then select automatic!" There was no way the poor Chinese revolutionaries were good enough pilots to guide the swordbreakers manually! But they /are/ capable of following Long Wang's orders. From the still remaining eleven - even the one which had crashlanded, and is now right back on its feet, launch a full swarm of the energy-coated remotes, which flood themselves with power and start winding about rapidly, trying to cut into the enemy ship and rip through its armaments!

"Unit 1, unit 2, assist our allies!" Long Wang continues to command over the radio. And the two detachments of Ashsabers rush towards the Gekko and unleash a supporting fire upon the Ginga as well, obviously trying to protect their valuable ally from the obviously much more advanced Federation vessel!

"Haha! Directly on-!" "What!?" Holland asks! Talho stares in disbelief as well. Holland speaks up once more, "That's what it's capable of!? Gh... So we're at a disadvantage from the beginning!" Missiles crash against the armored hide of the Gekko, tearing away the somewhat lighter sheets that allow the machine to be so darned fast.

But the battleship doesn't get away entirely from the assault. Pulling up and away, the homing lasers follow, streaking lines like the trapar that is left behind, though more even, due to the damaged reflection plates. The beams shoot past, some into the wings, as Talho manages to swerve away from the culimation, the Gekko spinning in a way that battleships its size are /not/ meant to do.

But it does. "Talho, pull us around! Ken-goh, make sure everythings held together! We're going to break through that shield!" Holland commands, a fire in his eyes. Because it's a /really/ risky and stupid idea. But it's one that Holland fully endorses.

The Gekko-Go turns towards those bits, and the Ginga, and... accelerates, the battleship's path the bits and the top of the Ginga. One of them is a bit large and less mobile. It's the one that'll be impacted upon. The launch gate isn't getting any use currently anyways!

"He's not going to stop me that easily... and he's not going to get away, either!" 'Me'. Holland barely thinks of the crew at the moment, vision narrowed down to the single man sitting so comfortly in his own machine.

The Gekko's charge isn't one that can be pulled away from, it's a desperate impact.

The batteries charge up as the Gekko would slam through/into the bit field, unleashing as it impacts the outside of the Ginga, slamming the battleship into the possibly heat damaged armoring.

"Dewey, do you think it'll be that easy to get rid of me!"

Katina goes wide eyed as her sensors pick up an incoming Bogy, and she glares up in that direction and tries to strafe, but her Gespenst gets riddled with bullets. She growls and pops out her Roche Saber and gives it a swing, striking the Skytalon through its little dive bombing.

She grins as she shouts through the comm, "Is that the best you can do?! I CAN TAKE YOU DOWN EASY!" She pops her M90 out and points it up at the Skytalon, and fires off a grenade at it. "EAT THIS!"

Careful reflexes spare the Skytalon from sporting a brand new hole in the vicinity of its fuel tanks. The Roche Saber instead gouges a line clear along the fuselage, from just below the cockpit all the way under a wing, screaming and spitting sparks all the way.

<> Isa's howl is fury incarnate. Not two days prior she had finally finished repainting the Skytalon. That Navy reject Melissa Mao had ordered the entire thing painted powder pink. It might work for Rachel, but not for the cranky one-eyed Yuktobanian.

The Skytalon wobbles a little drunkenly, but Isa glances back through the cockpit glass in a brief glare. There's that red Gespenst. Thankfully, her hasty retreat leaves the grenade in the dust -- it detonates at the apex of its throw, but the fire isn't close enough to do much more than singe some more paint.

That voice, though... that sounds awfully familiar.

<> Isa demands, leaning over her cockpit controls and narrowing her single eye. <>

Yep. She knows that voice, even as she's barking a command to Dominic. Two missiles detach from their rails under the wings, corkscrewing toward the red Gespenst as they do.

 Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "Ergh... I've been detected. Engaging a Gespenst, I'm not sure what model that is, though..."

 Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert growls, over thundering engines. "Red Gespenst -- that one is /mine/."

 Astrid Stalvern transmits, "I'm on the ground, watch it if you start droppin' bombs--HEY! YOUR FACE PISSES ME OFF! GET BACK HERE!"

 Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert transmits, cheerfully, "Shto--" What, "--you can't handle little bomb? Ay, don't worry, I will warn you."

 Astrid Stalvern chainsaw roar, "Appreciated!"

 Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert, over the tortured SCREE-EE-EECH of stressed metal, sounds like she's slamming her cockpit's console angrily. "AY! I just had that REPAINTED...!"

The Gespenst picks up the missiles incoming, and Katina blinks a little as she actually gets a response from the enemy, even as they manage to dodge her previous shot. She strafes the Gespenst as it launches Split missiles in order to explode the Air-to-ground missiles coming at her.

Katina then response, "Katina Tarask, Aggressors! And you made a big mistake!" Before firing MORE MISSILES at the Skytalon.

Dewey sips his wine, watching the display of the Gekko...

The Chinese soldiers below manage to blast upwards into the bit field, the bits are well designed for preventing hits from landing on the Ginga, but less so for avoiding getting shot themselves...the OS will need to be looked into it seems...

As a bit explodes, the chinese soldiers below are able to capitalize on it to fire on the hull, momentarily unimpeded..

Dewey does stand as he spots the Gekko charging directly at them. A strange smile crawls across Dewey's face.

"No, it won't be that easy, Holland. You have a longer way to go before these arms will embrace you."

The gunnery officer blinks at it, "...the...the..."

Dewey steps forward, placing both palms on the firing console like maestro, he draws deft fingers across the console...

The entire dorsal payload of the Ginga unleashes into the Gekko...

Missiles and lasers, firing at point blank range into the battleship, even as the Gekko's own weapons skid across the Ginga's hull plating...

Blistering light rains down, as the beams curl about the green starship, the trapar gleaming against the ordnance and the beautiful explosions and contrails.

They should have sent a poet.

Dewey allows himself a soft chuckle.

He turns, heading to his command seat again, before wafting his hand in the air.

"Ventral missile launchers on the insurgents."

The ventral ports open, firing a rain of precisely targeted missiles down onto Long and his men...

The tactical alarms on the Gernsback sound off in short order-- there's gunfire coming! Rachel goes from a good stride to a sudden burst as the booster ignites, propelling the Arm Slave forward fast enough that the stealth camouflage can't quite keep up with the machine's speed, creating an odd-looking blur of colors that eventually gives way into the reveal: The pink Arm Slave and the off-standard weapons loadout.

In the midst of her dash, Rachel's aim quirks upward, the 40mm in-hand swung upward at an odd angle to start firing back at Russel's Gespenst. Only after she fires-- and evades the gunfire herself-- does she actually stop to look at the machine, realizing a few things: First of all, that thing is /definitely/ off-standard from what she's used to seeing. Second, it saw her while she had stealth up. Third, and most importantly, it almost /hit/ her while she had the stealth up.

Rachel sucks in a breath and shifts her weight in the pilot's cradle, feeling the tight-fitted flight suit shift with her movements. The pink-hue machine doesn't wait too long, either. After a moment's time, the M9 is starting to run again, taking long strides across the asphalt as it seeks to close distance with Russel's machine.

The machine gun is dropped on the ground, abandoned to instead /bum rush/ the Gespenst straight-on. It doesn't reach for the packs on it's legs, it doesn't reach for the twin swords sheathed on it's body. It doesn't even reach for the anti-tank daggers stowed on it's body. What is it going to do? What would textbook strategy say to do?

What is /Rachel/, the student of Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, Melissa Mao, and Bright Noa, the friend of people like Judau Ashta, Camille Bidan, and Theresa Testarossa going to do?

The young Newtype's machine leads off with a right leg planting against the ground and sliding out wide to one side-- and then the left arm slings forward, fingers balled up into a closed fist and aiming to /punch/ the Gespenst squarely in the middle of the chest!

Textbook Arm Slave combat /that/.

"What...?"

The Gespenst IV's EOTI-driven payload slams into Hong's Ashsaber 0.02 seconds after Rai's condemnation; the machine stands its ground rather admirably against the blast, which is to say that it's pushed about a dozen feet backwards when the discharge explodes against its protectively raised forearms. When it finally stops - and the smoke and aggressively bright light of the CP Cannon fade - cracks are visible along the machine's chest and forearm; scorch marks, too.

Judging from the way it engages its back-mounted thrusters to lift off, it doesn't /seem/ to have been particularly impared, though.

"I am not the one for your propaganda, prole," Hong dismissively transmits as she lowers the gun in the Ashsaber's right hand to take aim at the blue Mk. IV. Bright blue particles of energy visibly race from the barrel's tip as its onboard capacitator delivers all the juice it can muster. "I've heard it all--we've /all/ heard it all! Save it! Katharon supports us in our freedom, and that's all we've ever needed!" With that, she seeks to put an end to the conversation by pulling the Halberd Launcher's trigger.

She /also/ seems to seek to put an end to one of Fengning's barracks, because the throbbing blue beam that lances from her rifle seems targetted at slicing directly through the base after passing through the Gespenst's position; it digs a deep furrough in its wake and the sound of the earth being pulverized as it rakes across it is deafening.

The jet twists in midair, Isa glancing over a shoulder and down through the cockpit glass -- that would be because the jet is at a slightly upside-down angle to watch the red Gespenst -- as the Skytalon's missiles are detonated harmlessly. Tch.

"Can't win 'em all," Dominic sighs, glancing down as well.

Time to shift tack. Isa narrows her eye at her beeping radar display, which shows a handful of flashing red dots streaking for the jet. Grinning, she rolls the aircraft out of the way, braking, and -- and then the jet does something that /jets should not be able to do/.

It /hovers/, a series of verniers on the undersides of the wings and fuselage flaring to life.

Katina's slew of missiles are sent streaking overhead, swinging wide and missing the mark completely. Isa turns the Skytalon in a pivot, then, turning its weapons-bristling profile to face the red Gespenst. And she laughs, darkly.

<> Her tone is a little off, this time. <>

And then, with a vague 'whoosh,' several bombs are dropped off the rails and sent free-falling for the shiny red Gespenst. Only belatedly does Isa remember to glance over toward where Astrid is busy chewing up and spitting out Federation mooks. <<Ay! Astrid! Fire in the hole!>>

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert transmits, hastily, "Ay! Astrid! Fire in the hole!"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Astrid Stalvern transmits, "Movin'."

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert transmits, "Heh, heh. Think of it this way -- if I accidentally hit you, drinks on me, da?"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Astrid Stalvern gunfire, "Deal. Reichert, you're all right."

This time, the insurgents are prepared! The moment missiles go flying, a gigantic gulf of white spray comes from the hips of the Ashsabers, whilst the units near the Gekko start blasting away at the missiles that end up spraying along the sides. Dewey might find that his bridge-crew is temporarily blinded as the skies continues to be filled with explosions and way-too-bright magnesium bright flares. And during this time, a series of the Chinese insurgents have managed to find themselves spots /on/ the hull of the Ginga and are using their burning daggers - launched from the sword breaker bays - and ripping into its hull. Sadly, they don't really know where the weak spots lie.

But Long Wang does! Long Wang knows where to strike the Ginga's weakspot for massive damage. His Ashsaber rapidly moves to the back of the Ginga and at the same time all the swordbreakers in his unit's bays unleash and fire magenta blast upon magenta blast. The half dozen of them fly in formation, ripping their energy blasts down Dewey's battleship's back after which they jab down towards it, whilst he continues on - hoping that the homing lasers will be too occupied with the swordbreakers to notice that he is flying straight for its engine.

And the moment he finds himself at the rear, he unloads the full load of his Halberd Shooter, trying to dig as deeply into the exhausts as possible! Burst upon burst of energy flies at the back of the Ginga, seeking to penetrate any defenses it may have and forcing the ship to sink!

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Long Wang shouts, "For Chinaaaa!"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert chuckles. "Da! You are not half bad, yourself. Better still if you can hold down your liquor."

Russel Bagman was right it looked like thee was something his shots go wide but it gets a response. He was right!

"Stealth unit confirmed, stealth unit confirmed."

The Gespesnt MK IV's scannersd and computer gets to work takingin data from the other unit, try to learn what it can and relay useful information to russel for now he sees the other machine comming at him. He fires one split missile pod as he tries to dance back and away from Rachel, the missiles however do no good and the Armslave slam into his machine fairly hard. However he's keeping attention to any other markings on this machine. The gespenst is damaged but doesn't take as much as the standard mkII would. Russel isn't going to give up here.

The Gespenst Mk IV kicks in it's hover systems and starts skirting along and the M90 rifle comes to life once more. If Rachel pays attention they might notice kill stickers on the machine's shoulder including a Valison, several notable Balmarian units and ... what appears to be a crossed out version of the CB logo. Also on the other shoulder its a cartoony octopus spitting a bullet and an 02.

The machine comes around and keeps after them.

If Rai were in the R-2, he could use the Beam Shield to try and protect the building, but in this machine, he's a bit more limited. All he can so is twist to the side, letting the powerful energy beam strike though the air where he was and destroy the building behind him. This is getting out of hand.

Luckily, Rai has one thing going for him. The enemies here seem to have bitten on the 'DC' hook hard. They think Katharon gave them the Ashsabers. Rai can use that. If he can control the angle of this fight, he'll be able to reduce collateral damage like that.

The Gespenst IV strafes around the Ashsaber, CP Cannon replaced by the heavy mech-scale machine gun. Rai lets off several grenade shots at the Ashsaber he's fighting, not as much to 'damage' her as to 'herd' her into a better position. As he fires, he skates, runs and flies off backwards, for all appearances like he's trying to keep her in optimal firing range. And while he is, he also is trying to draw her out, and lead her away from the base they're here to protect.

At the same time, Rai keeps talking. He has to keep her engaged. Keep her focused on him. He gives the woman the Branstein smirk at her words. "Katharon? You think they built the machine you're in now? Have you ever SEEN one of the Katharon rebels in one before? I certainly haven't. But I -have- seen them before. Fighting under the banner of the Divine Crusade! I don't know what kind of deal your leaders struck, but they're playing both sides. And it looks like you get the honor of being their pawn."

The incredibly risky and potentially rewarding attempt... only ends with the entirety of the Gekko-go's systems screaming at them for the entirely wrong reasons. As it breaks through the barrier, the 'helpless' top side of the Ginga erupts in various missile hatches, laser batteries and in general, weaponry.

"This'll be close...!"

It's not. The beamfire doesn't so much as scorch compared to the sudden eruption of weaponry as the beams tear off armoring, reflection plates cracking and falling off as missiles detonate about the bow and the aft. The various damage mounts, the systems screaming at both Talho, Ken-Goh and Job and Woz below.

"..Dammit...!! Alright, we've still got a chance!" Holland insists, "Ken-Goh..." "Holland." Talho speaks up.

"We'll just aim for the cockpit...."

"Holland!" Talho tries to get his attention again.

"If we can just manage to cut it off from the rest...! Then he'll..."

"HOLLAND!" Talho yells, finally. "The engines... they're failing. It's over!"

The Gekko-Go skids off the top of the Ginga, almost comically. Wings catch the 'lift' of the trapar, pulling it only a fraction upwards before it begins to accelerate, a glide downwards that grows closer towards the ground every second.

"That can't be it... That'd mean...!" He won. That all the time spent skirting him and the law would have been wasted. That the solo-attempts Gekko-State had made to wreck his damn plans! All the goddamn time that they spent trying to subvert and expose him /wasted/.

Holland falls back into his seat, the plume of smoke from the engines growing. It's going down, that much is true - but it's in one piece. Holland faces yet another failure in his growing resume of them. "Where are we going down?" Talho is a bit surprised he speaks at all. "It looks like...." A specific and direct country and area-code is read off, listing Katharon as the major provider of them all.

"Alright... Take us down when we're in deep! We'll ride the waves until we get far enough in that he won't follow!" The downside, a downed battleship placed haphazardly in their lands wouldn't be taken well.

The upside? Katharon don't play well with the Federation/@-Numbers/A-Laws.

"And keep that Federation signal up!" Holland's head wound must be worse than it seems.

Katina narrows her eyes as she watches her sensors go off several times, and growls as she takes evasive maneuvers, bursting faster and dodging left and right as she manages to avoid getting her Gespenst caught in the blasts of the unguided bombs.

She growls and swaps out for her Collapsable Plasma Cannon, and points it in Isa's direction, "We know each other? Where?" She doesn't yell too much this time, mainly because she's a touch confused, but trying to keep otherwise calm.

Dewey watches the Gekko absorb the damage and flee...

He smiles for a brief moment, relishing it...

The scrambling dissipates for only a moment as another brief transmit is sent, the tone is familial, calm, as if he were waving to a departing relative... "Good bye, Holland."

Its then that the ship lists, the damage reports coming in as the rebels below combine their fire, overwhelming the defenses and striking at the reflection film of the ship...

Dewey shakes his head, "Honestly..."

He looks at the gunners, "Move us higher. Fire the dorsal missile bays."

He looks at the Ageha, "Attempt to lock on, prepare a firing solution to account for the ground clutter."

The missiles surge out again...

The Skytalon continues to hover, timed boosts from the verniers keeping it aloft like a helicopter might. It pivots to continue facing the red Gespenst as it moves, red and blue formation lights on its wings blinking in rhythm amidst the smoke of spent ordnance.

<<We never met personally. We knew each other by reputation, da? Who has not heard of you?>> Isa glances down to her display panels, her statement distracted. Her attention is on the information and the numbers, and of course the visual of the red Gespenst. <<Think back. To One Year War. On Earth, it was Belkan War...>>

Reaching up to the banks of switches and toggles overhead, Isa flicks several of them, grinning like a wolf as a red light starts blinking on all three cockpit consoles. Good. She has the Gespenst right where she wants it to be. "Domino."

"I hear ya." Without needing much of a prompt, the blonde Belkan starts keying commands into his the console. "Heh, heh."

<<Astrid, move it!>>

There's no warning given to Katina as Isa suddenly slams the engines forward, sending the Skytalon rocketing above the Gespenst -- and unloading pretty much most of the bombs it's carrying. It doesn't matter what they are or what they're used for; they're /all/ dumped, right onto Katina's head.

If Rachel had cared to keep track of her kill count, it would /probably/ be a little shorter in terms of a list's length, but the targets would be worth a whole lot more in points: A battleship, a Balmarian Mobile Armor, /Haman Karn/. Still, decorum aside, Rachel's ability to close the gap has thusfar been her advantage. She doesn't have the hover ability of the Gespenst Mk. IV, and Arm Slaves are also not known for having a Tesla Drive installed--

-- but she has the only M9 in Mithril that has a booster pack.

Rachel braces herself and triggers the small high-output backpack booster again, keeping an eye on the charge-style meter that determines how long she can burn it before needing to take a break, closing the gap between them while the feet scrape and slide across the ground, but ultimately keeping the pink robot balanced.

The assault rifle comes her way again. At this range, at this distance from the barrel, there's no way that she would be able to dodge, save the brief tingle that runs up her spine, the sudden influx of pressure that leads the teenaged princess to jerk the machine a few feet to the Gespenst's left. With a heavy swing, the left fist goes for a short, powerful overhead punch, but goes just shy of making contact.

The white-haired girl starts to exhale while the G-force and pressure on the machine's frame starts to catch up with her. Instead of trying to keep up or go /past/ the Gespenst, the CIS-Type pulls out a small (mecha-sized small), flat dagger, and tries to drive it into one of the Gespenst's legs, near the thigh. Hit or miss, the Gernsback will stop short, mostly due to that charge of the booster being spent.

But if it hits, if that little dagger makes it into the leg of Russel's Gespenst, it will linger there for a few moments... then /explode/.

Missiles keep flying, and the Ashsabers continue disspensing flares all across the area. Sadly, for one of our friends, one of the Ashsabers ends up running /out/ of flares, and is a bit too isolated from his friends to have the missiles fly away from him. One by one, a good six of them crash onto the armor of the Ashsaber. One of the arms and one of the legs get torn out, ripped straight from the machine... but it keeps floating! These things are sturdy! Vindel certainly knows how to get his R&D lab to make a proper machine!

The machine then carves through the skies, following after Long Wang as they launch all of their Sword Breakers upon the hull of the Ginga, trying to cut /THROUGH/ the hull and rip into the crew of the Federation machine. that's right! They are saying 'screw' it to being nice, and they're going to try and bugger straight into the crewmembers of Dewey's Ginga, in order to stop his abilities to continue his assault upon their crew.

Some of the Ashsabers in the meantime fly off, protecting the Gekko as it bounces off and hits its thrusters to continue along - away from the Ginga, and form a curtain of beams to defend it from the Ginga's attacks. Then suddenly! Long Wang crashes his Ashsaber straight in front of the bridge in which Dewey is sitting with his tea, and raises the gigantic Halberd Launcher up to him.

Using the metal contact to send a message straight into the ship, he shouts out; <"Hey you! Federation shmuck! TAKE THIS!"> And the blue beam quickly loads up to a full charge again. The jaw-mouthed weapon opens up further, and the angle of the screen quickly changes to a perspective behind the Ginga and FWHOOOOOOOSH! BLUE BEAM OF DEATH!

"I know my mission, and I know that these gifts - /wherever/ they may have come from - are what I need--what /China/ needs to see it to the end!" Hong confidently replies.

It seems initially that Rai's plan of herding Hong's Ashsaber into place is a successful one; as each grenade explodes in the air near the Ashsaber, it deftly sweeps this way or that, simultaneously keeping it safe from harm and more or less above the Gespenst. Soon enough, both machines are a ways away from the base, and while the still-cooling Halberd Shooter /might/ be able to get a good shot off at it, it would take time--and a shift of attention away from Rai's Gespenst.

None of this does a thing for the remote weapons still launching intermittent attacks upon the base, of course, but their individual output is markedly less than the Halberd Shooter's.

"Forget what you've seen elsewhere, dog; this is now. This is the beginning of a new China--"

The Ashsaber's thrusters just stop firing all of a sudden and the machine falls like a stone. Occasional bursts from its foot boosters indicate that the machine's pilot /is/ still in control of the unit, and even has an interest in her continued survival; it's just that she's /also/ looking to quite crush the state of the art PT beneath her feet.

"--do you understand?"

The Ginga begins accelerating upwards as the attacks rain in on it. The attack on the bridge accomplishes nothing, as bits deflect the attack into other portions of the ship...

"We're beginning to recieve significiant damage. Loss of reflection film across thirty percent of the ship..."

Dewey sighs, as the fire from the lasers fails to repulse the attacks...

"Stagger the fire, and resume ascent."

More homing lasers seek out towards Long's men

The Red Gespenst this time gets engulfed in the explosions from the bombs dropped by Isa this time around, but she plows through it, and keeps going, growling as she gets more focused, and this time lets out her raging to Isa, "I was piloting my Messer at the time! Big freaking deal, where are you going wiht this, and why shouldn't I just.." She lets out a long spray of bullets from her M90 now, "JUST BLAST YOU OUT OF THE SKY!!"

"Tsssk, Federation man no talk." Long Wang mutters to himself, and then calls out the command. "Stab them! Stab them to their doom!" The swarm of Ashsabers which had previously been covering the Gekko finally arrive. Finally, Unit 1-4 are all combined, and the Swordbreakers cut off just as the Ginga re-initiates its homing laser assault. The breakers cut straight into the beams! Sure, some of the swordbreakers are unfortunate, and end up absolutely eradicated upon approach, but that doesn't halt the rest of them.

In the end, with twentyfour Ashsabers going at the Ginga, each deploying six Sword Breakers, it's probably just too much for the homing beams to keep up with. And, Long Wang hopes, too much for the enemy ship. The things fire an assault of purple beams from all directions on the ship, not caring about their positions compared to other swordbreakers, hoping to break the hull so they can dive inside and unleash more of their massively damaging purple beamfire!

Mithril didn't feild anythin but top tir pilots, he's always known that. Backed by their mysterious ability to get tech that wasn't even finished beinf developed gave them quite an edge when you combine good pilots with high end units. This is going to be a brutal fight. he knows about how those daggers work, only by personal experiance of them being used on him before. He does get a glance at the shoulder he notices a few of the kill marks. Katina may be in trouble he could very well be so.

Speaking of the Tank Dagger? It's comming right at him, he sides to the side and then uses the jets to leap up just evadin the deadly weapon, as he's comming down. Russel gets a target lock and opens up with his rifle, sending a stream of bullets and a grenade at the slighly smaller mecha he's fighting. Before he touches down and treies to keep the other machine infront of him.

The blue Gespenst doesn't attempt to dodge this one. Rai wasn't expecting the Ashsaber to drop on top of him, and while it does do a good bit of damage, the sleeker Ashsaber smashing right into the chest of the heavier Gespenst, it does sort of work into Raidiese's plans. He has to keep control of the pace of the fight. That's what matters right now.

The Gespenst does stagger back from the force of the assault though, moving back a good 20 meters before Rai can get control of it again. However, he only smirks again, and shakes his head. "Accomplishing your goals at any cost? Isn't that what got you into the very situation you're fighting against? You're really no better than what you claim the EFA is! At least it was the choice of your people, and not a few thugs who sold their nation to the Divine Crusaders!"

Yeah, Rai is pushing a bit hard, but he needs to keep control of things here.

He continues to back off bit by bit. He doesn't want to get too far. He needs to stay close enough to the rest of the Aggressors that he can get help or help others as needed. He also decides to keep the Ashsaber at a distance again, and levels the M90 Assault Rifle. This time he unloads a blast of anti-mech machine gun fire, intermittently breaking up the spray of bullets with a grenade, just to keep the enemy off balance. His aim is to take out the motor systems however, and each blast is focused more at the hips and head than the center where the cockpit and torso should be.

The Ginga suffers several smaller explosions, smoke rising from its hull. It abruptly cants to one side, as it accelerates upwards at high speed... Dewey sits down, finishing his wine as he watches Long pounding on the bridge glass...

He sips at it as the Ginga heads up into the upper atmospheres...unless Long and his men want to revisit China at terminal velocity, he reasons they'll be disengaging soon. He does tip his glass to the ashsaber, "I look forward to the day your grandchildren tear down your monuments. If it ever comes." And the Ginga's left the battle.

<<Hunh. Never mind.>> Isa's tone turns bitter, this time. She wants a drink and a smoke, and she can't have either one of those as long as she's in the sky. <<Is in the past, anyway. What matters now is I bring you down.>>

Wrenching the Skytalon sidelong, the jet rolls away from the volley of ammunition. She can hear a few odd bullets pinging off the fuselage, spitting sparks, but they're not enough to do any serious damage. Still twisting, Isa guides her jet into an ascent, corkscrewing and spinning to try and avoid the stray ammunition -- either from her dance partner or from anybody else.

"Domino."

"Got it."

When the jet comes to a halt, it turns its nose down to the red Gespenst. A bright green targeting reticle flashes on her display screens; Isa guides the aircraft forward and down into a steep dive. Something shifts below the cockpit -- after a few seconds of reconfiguration, there's a frigging /cannon under it/, glowing blue-white with energy.

Say hello to my little friend.

The Talon XCL-02 cannon fires a shock of energy, so brilliantly and intensely blue-white that it lights up the sky for a moment -- a four-second burst of pure energy rakes the ground, tearing up the earth and anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. Which, hopefully, encompassess Katina Tarask and her machine.

<<Just get out of my way,>> Isa rasps angrily, gloved fingers tightening around the jet's controls.

Long Wang presses hard on the pedal, causing the Ashsaber to /kick/ against the front window of the Ginga, before he recalls all of the units on his team, as the enemy ship begins to retreat. Within moments, the twentyfour Ashsabers rush straight back to the Federation base and continue their assault. Purple beams come rushing across the tarmac again, Sword Breakers ripping through buildings, and it would seem that mister Chang is about to need to get his Cable TV re-wired, because Halberd Launchers fire along in circles around the HQ, cutting into the underground structures like a knife through butter!

"Dammit." Isa's observation is an angry snarl as the fist slams into the underside of the jet, shearing off several of the hardpoints (and their ammunition) as well as crunching off the tip of the left wing. She glances back in time to see the char-broiled Gespenst.

<<Dasvidania,>> she calls over her shoulder, tone about as saccharine as she can be expected to make it.

<<Geist One to Katharon force,>> Isa calls, switching tactical frequencies. <<Am retreating. Fuel reserves are lower than I thought, and I have taken some damage. Red Gespenst is out of commission. Do not think she will be problem to you. Oh, and pilot is Katina Tarask, sound like. Will return to base now.>>

Provided no one calls for her to do anything more, the black and silver and slightly damaged jet will turn it heading south, returning to the Tuatha de Danaan for a landing.

And maybe a drink, too.

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert transmits, "Geist One to Katharon force. Am retreating. Fuel reserve are lower than I thought, and I have taken some damage. Red Gespenst is out of commission. Do not think she will be problem to you. Oh, and pilot is Katina Tarask, sound like." Grunt. "Will return to de Danaan now. Captain, do I have runway to land on?"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Colonel Theresa Testarossa transmits, "Understood, Geist One. TDD-HQ will meet you at the prearranged rendezvous."

Katina growls as the Skytalon flies away, and she screams over at it, "DAMMIT! GET BACK HERE!! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS AND USE YOUR BLOOD TO PAINT MY MECHA!!"

She growls, and watches as her Gespenst lurches over. "Dammit!"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert transmits, "Da. Acknowledge, Captain. Will be there soon. Will need some repair, but damage is minor."

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Colonel Theresa Testarossa transmits, "Understood, Geist One."

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Heavy Russian Accent: Isa Reichert sounds like she's grinning. "You should see other guy, da?"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Colonel Theresa Testarossa very brief, prim laugh.

"'The people'?" Hong incredulously transmits. "How would you know what 'the people' want, outsider?"

The thing about the Ashsaber is that it is a much better at being a war machine than its pilot is at being a pilot; up until now, Hong has survived on basic training and instinct, and while there's something to be said for surviving so long with nothing better than refurbished Gespensts and Tierens to protect her over the course of this extended revolution, at the end of the day she's fighting on guts more than any kind of talent.

So when the Ashsaber pulls back to dart around Rai's variable offense and comes out on the otherside without even a scratch to show for it, it should be understood that the pilot's luck and the extreme performance of her machine has more to do with her showing than anything else. If nothing else, all the dodging keeps her from getting a good bead on the Gespenst, so despite her Halberd Shooter beginning to leak supercharged particles into the air around its barrel, she doesn't even /try/ levelling it on the Personal Trooper.

But well, there are those /remotes/ to contend with.

On the up side, when they all pull away from the base as one to try ringing the air above the Gespenst, well--they've /left the base/; that's one less source of continued damage for the native forces to deal with later.

On the down side, they're ringing the air above the Gespenst.

"Even if you /are/ correct - even /if/ these Divine Crusaders are responsible for these gifts - China's well-being is more important than /whatever/ grievances /you've/ got with those people."

One after another, the space between each remote's spines glows hot with magenta wrath.

"The people will understand."

One after another, each remote /fires/; a chorus of *THOOM!*s cracks the air as beam after wickedly hot beam falls towards the blue PT.

The dagger misses-- but she still stops short, and still manages to keep herself from going face-first into her own explosion. Unfortunately, the cloud of smoke and flames screens her vision for a few moments, making it hard to see the Gespenst... and easier for it to retaliate with bullets and more bullets. Another burst of pressure strikes her mind, and Rachel twists the M9 to the left, letting the bullets slam into the left arm and the large guard that protects the upper arm and shoulder while she charges through the black cloud of smoke.

And again, there are no kill tallies on her machine, because any marks that identify a machine as belonging to Mithril-- a group that is secretive enough that many groups still don't even know their name-- would be pretty silly. Of course, it being pink is totally fine, because /shut up/.

Bursting through, the pink Arm Slave lunges at the Gespenst and snaps up one of the packs mounted on the legs. The bulk of the device is just large enough that her hand is covered over the wrist-- but a brace snaps in place to pinch it snugly from the underside, and a flat blade slides forward... and starts to vibrate. The strike from the monomolecular vibro-katar is shallow; not quite what she wanted to accomplish, but at least she's back in relatively close range.

Then, she springs-- straight past the Gespenst, landing with a drag of the feet and in a crouch. One weapon is stowed, and the other weapon is drawn. 'The other weapon,' in this case, being a big freaking /sword/. With both hands wrapping around the handle, the pink Gernsback breaks into a sprint toward Russel's Gespenst... and with a low sweep leading to a high stance, Rachel swings the sword at the Personal Trooper, trying to flat-out decapitate the machine in a single swing!

Beam fire strikes in from all around, and Raidiese does the best he can to swing his mech in all directions at once, trying to dance between the raindrops of enemy fire and somehow come out unscathed. Very quickly the saturation fire from the remotes blows the hell out of the ground under him, and Rai's mech is obscured by the dust and debris from the ground as it's blown apart under his feet.

All is quiet for a moment after the beams silence. Then, as the dust settles, a shadowy silhouette can be seen standing in the center. The Gespsenst Mk. IV raises its rifle again, Rai looking a lot more serious than before as he stares at the opponent. "You're right," he says as he squeezes the trigger, sending a another blast of machine gun fire at the Ashsaber. "I don't know your grievances. Because you neglected the step of airing them to go straight for armed revolution instead."

The Gespy charges forward, still firing heavily, the machine gun glowing slightly from the heat. "All I know is my job, and my job is to maintain the peace for all people in the EFA! Sometimes that means protecting the Earth from alien threats, and sometimes it means stopping those like the Divine Crusaders, who take up arms against their own rather than work out their problems with words.

Rai continues to pour fire at the Ashsaber, hoping to overwhelm its speed with a relentless assault of sustained fire, still aiming for its motor systems. Rai wants to disable this target if at all possible. "If all you can do is bring violence against others, than that is the response you'll get!"

Russel Bagman seems to have an idea about melee weapons he doesn't seem to be a major melee fighter but he seem to know hopw to handle himself as the other machine as it's comming. All Russel knows this is one lean mean pink machine. An ace? That's his best guess. But what matters is they are the enemy and he's engaged with them. he sees the monomolecular comes int then the mean does something. The machines gets up to attempt to parry the incomming attack with it's steel knife the blads lock for a moment sparks fly lighting up the Gespesnts optic visored face but then the knife's guard gives out and the blade sinks into the neck of the machine a bit, but not enough to take the head off.

Then the Personal trooper falls back? That's kinda odd but then it switches out weapons. The M90 is returned to a stroaged hard point and odd looking weapons is pulled. IT looks like an partially finishe weapon.

At least untill it starts to unpack like a Balmarian Knight's main gun. As the weapon forms, The machine grabs a handle that's appeared, anm there's a bright glow down the barrel.

<Plasma Feeds Onling, CP Cannon deployed, ready to fire.>

Russel hears the tone of a target lock and then fires sening a huge burst of plasma at the other machine.

Thruster fins on the Ashsaber's back pop up, heralding a renewed burst of life in its propulsion systems; the way the machine races into the skies to keep itself a few steps ahead of the Gespenst's grenade salvo leaves a beautiful arc of explosions that lingers for several seconds behind it. Hong waits until she's absolutely /certain/ no more grenades are coming for her to actually stop moving, and once she does... she merely raises the Ashsaber's empty hand as a signal to the rest of the rebel forces.

"Everyone, collect the downed unit and disengage!" she transmits. "We're done here--I'm sure Katharon will follow in its own time! Come on!"

Some of the pilots take a bit longer than others to break off from rampaging through the base and its less-prepared defenders, but in time they all follow Hong's lead in breaking off and scattering from the scene. They didn't arrive together and they won't leave that way either; presumably, they will reconvene later to do a post-mortem of some kind on the mission, or throw darts at pictures of Shine Hausen, or possibly both.

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "Tessa, it looks like they're pulling out-- what should we do?"

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Colonel Theresa Testarossa transmits, "Disengage and return to the rendezvous at your discretion."

<Radio: B - Katharon Secure> Astrid Stalvern's gatling emits a few more shots and winds down, "En route."