2011-02-04 - Goodman's Enforced Diet

_  ___  ________________ __                               \               __________________________________                                \             /                                 \ __ ________ _ /                   Mission 01 :  Goodman's Enforced Diet __________                    /          \ ___________________/            \___________________ __ ___ ___ ____ _ __   _

Thursday, February 03, NCA 121 05:34 Vascilia County Local Time Main NUT Facility - BAHRAM

A series of Divine Crusader soldiers had been invited to the main NUT facility after being contacted by BAHRAM command. If they were available to travel to that place, they'd find themselves welcomed by a young man going by Ascian Luddite, who would prompty lead them into a meetingroom and explain the operation that would be undertaken - as well as handing a folder to them. Others, who could not make it, were sent the same file in a digital format for them to read.

Earth forces, or rather, A-LAWS, had been pressuring Mars for a few weeks now, and BAHRAM was starting to suffer - as were the planet's citizens; feeling rather oppressed and all that. Knowing that it was best to strike at their supply lines to weaken then, before going on an all-out offensive. And even though it was somewhat of a high-stake mission, they had put the young Orbital Frame pilot that had received the Divine Crusaders in command of this one. Well... in command was perhaps a big word. But he would be the BAHRAM representative.

The plan was simple. After having received long-range sensor data and launch information through some infiltrants, they'd found out that a threesome of freighters would leave Earth for Phobus, and that their path would take them through a random asteroid belt nearby -- with a big hole in the middle. That was their chance. A location to cut them off and strike down -- or take over -- the transports.

Transportation to the location would be somewhat difficult though. And they needed to get the drop on them. Especially as they had no information on what kind of escort that squad of freighters would have. And that was exactly why, a few hours later... the meeting point was set at Deimos.

Thursday, February 03, NCA 121 24:37 Vascilia County Local Time Deimos: Urenbeck Catapult

A Jhamal grade cruiser, long since stolen from the EFA forces and repainted and refitted lays within the red 'rings' and rail-gun line stretch of the Urenbeck catapult. A foursome of huge thrusters had been added, aimed forwards rather than backwards. On board were the Divine Crusader forces. The hangar was more than big enough for each and everyone of them. Ascian Luddite is still on the bridge of the battleship, where-as the others may still be in the hangar. He is leaning forwards on one of the consoles, looking at the readings coming in front the Urenbeck Catapult command.

"We're ready to go. Space will be compressed towards a area before the asteroid belt, and we'll break out within five minutes. Then the next minute after that is spent severely deacellerating using the four reverse thrusters." The main captain of the ship flips a few switches. "Remember. This ship has seen combat recently, and we're in a state of disrepair. We cannot assist you, as all of our weapon systems are still offline." The blue haired young man nods and turns his head towards the glass window of the large battleship... as the area outside begins to shine in a gorgeous golden-yellow.

"Space compression has started." A few more switches get flipped. "Get ready." The captain notifies the BAHRAM framerunner. "Wish us luck." Ascian clacks his heels together and salutes the captain, before he disappears off of the bridge; leaving a mumbling captain. "They'll give anyone command of a mission these days. That kid's so green, I think I thought his hair was green instead of blue..." To which the XO just nods and announces that spacecompression was complete.

The clock ticks, and it hits '00:00'.

Thursday, February 04, NCA 121 00:06 Vascilia County Local Time Space: Asteroid Ambush Combat Theater #404

A threesome of sizable freighters ships slowly approach between the 2D gap of a large asteroid belt. Because for some reason, people haven't yet figured out that they can move over or under such obstacles. That, or perhaps they simply felt it was safer.

In a triangle formation, the large ships continue their approach, as suddenly their sensors begin blaring loudly. A high energy signature suddenly was being detected. Or rather... something coming in at impossible speeds!

And then, out of nowhere, a massive battleship appears past the asteroid that the freighters /had/ to pass through. It was quite a decent distance away though, just barely on their sensors. But it was traveling at high speed - thrusters at full power to decelerate before it would hit the asteroid belt. It's IFF came through clear: Divine Crusaders.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __      |  __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  AS  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  A?  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  A?  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  |  |  A?  |  |  TR  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  DC  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  A?  |  |  TR  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  |  |  A?  |  |  TR  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  DC  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  A?  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  A?  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |      |  __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  | | __   |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  AS  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  |  |  | | __   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  AS  |  AS  |  |  |  | _______________________________               _______________________________ _______________________________| MISSION DATA |_______________________________ | __  | A-LAWS Transport Target         | DC | Divine Crusader Support Vessels | TR | Transports                     | DC | Divine Crusader Main Forces | A? | A-LAWS // Transport Escort     | AS | Asteroids A-LAWS Mission Objectives:          Divine Crusader Mission Objectives: 1) Move Transports to the Edge of   1) Destroy the Transports the Map 2) Do not let the transports be     2) Do not let the transports escape destroyed ?) Destroy DC Forces (optional)     ?) Destroy The Escort (optional)

Earlier at the briefing.

Through Suriel-o-vision.

"Blah blah blah, stop these transports, Blah blah blah, warp in, blah blah blah We're counting on you Suriel."

Suriel himself looks disinterested, yawning, and trying not to fall asleep in the middle of a brief that took too damn long, when instead it needed to take five minutes. Suriel didn't care about the details! There were rocks, there were Alpha Numbers and A-lawls, and transport ships that needed to be shot!

Now.

Suriel smiled...

"QAREEN MARK II, activate! Direct combat mode engage!" Suriel shouts out as the combat chair falls back, and the trace system activates. Suriel's body is quickly covered in the latex, as electrons activate and connect him directly to the Orbital Frame. Metatron lines runing down his body in perfect sinc with the lines running down his frame.

"LETS DO THIS!" He shouts, and immediately breaks formation, aiming to try and break through the @-laws line sand try and go right for the ships themselves.

It's Erika first time riding the Urenbeck Catapult to be truthful. The Olsmobile ARmy rarely utilizes it since most of their focus is on guerilla hit and fade attacks on EFA garrisons... she can't help but feel butterflies in her stomache as she goes through the last of her of her checks in preparation for launch. For reasons of fast deployment, she's already in her RF Gouf bolted into the ship's hanger. As the timer counts down, she grits her teeth and braces herself. The acceleration is more than she's ever experienced before and she feels herself pressed into her seat as the vessel is launched off the catapult and sent hurtling through the Martian sky. That's not nearly have as bad as the deceleration though, which bucks her hard against her harness as they bleed off speed. After an eternity though, the wild ride ends and the hanger opens up to space. After which her machine is catapulted out into the inky void. With a deep, shuddering breath, she takes the controls and angles her mobile suit towards the convoy. "Morning Glory, ReFined Gouf, moving to engage."

Several URAL class transport vessels, some retrofitted into combat models align alongside the forces moving through the bottle neck... They do align slightly at the detection of the DC attack force, forming into a formation to allow for overlapping support fire while simultaneously avoiding having themselves in each other's fire lines. However, a few ships don't get it quite right.

Mars doesn't seem to get the absolute top of the line folks, neither does a fleet of what essentially amounts to retrofitted q-ships. Various captains on various bridges shout out conflicting orders...

Oi Shinda was one of the people who had managed to get there in person, and had accepted the mission. Since then he has been refitting and ensuring that the Migarder is in it's top shape and fully loaded with saltwater so that it's unlikely to run out of ammo, with the sub-tank filled so that after the battle the Migarder can refuel itself. Good. It was ready for combat.

As the warp begins, Oi climbs up into the Migarder. "This is going to be mainly a space mission." He murmurs to the Migarder. He's sure the AI had already figured that out by now. Thankfully the Migarder had thrusters, so it would be fine out in space. "ACKNOWLEDGED. BATTLE ALGORITHMS ALTERED FOR SPACE BATTLE." Oi grins. "Good. While we're warping, run a full system's check." Oi says, as he settles into the pilot seat of the Migarder.

"RUNNING SYSTEM'S CHECK." Oi hits several buttons, starting up the systems as each systems flash green. And then the warp ends. "ALL SYSTEMS ARE GREEN." Oi simply nods, reaching for one of the panels. Which he pulls on... revealing his emergency fondue pot. "Alright. Thank you for keeping my cheese warm, by the way." He dips a strawberry into it, before taking a bite out of it. "Mmm... delicious. Right then." The hangars open, and the Migarder's thrusters flare to life, sending it flying out into space. "Migarder! LET'S GO AND SHOW THEM THE BEAUTY OF YOUR MISSILES!" The back of the Migarder opens, revealing both it's wings, and the hundreds of rows of missile tubes. "AFFIRMATIVE. BATTLE MODE SET."

Warfare on Earth is a bit different than it is in the Inner Sphere. This was the first thing that Victor told Adam Steiner when he was assigned to the Alpha Numbers taskforce. Among the biggest differences is, in the Inner Sphere, most mech combat happens on the ground, while on Earth, much of it is done in space. Usually that scale of space combat would be handled by Aerospace fighters, but Adam wasn't given very many of those. Not because they weren't available, but just because that's not now the EFA usually operates, and Adam needs to adapt to their tactics, not try and muscle in his own.

As such, Adam's ship has been in drydock for the last few days, and will be there for a few more, while his launch bays are outfitted with launch catapults for faster deployment in space settings. Meanwhile, Adam himself is out testing a new 'space pack' kit for Battlemechs, originally developed by an Earth-born engineer and mercenary who made her mark engineering for Battlemechs.

Adam was originally out here in the asteroids simply working on maneuvering and firing with his Berserker in space. He's fought in space before, but every mech handles differently, and more importantly, Battlemechs weren't designed for this. There's a lot of compensation that needs to be done. So, he had spent a few hours blowing up rocks and swinging around to get used to how it handles. However, a couple hours in, Rachel Specter reported a passing EFA colony, and Adam requested permission to join in the escort. Why?

"We're already out here, so why not start making some friends?"

That's how Adam Steiner's Berzerker ended up in the escort party of the convoy when the battleship appears. Specter reads off the tactical situation. Adam shakes his head with a frown. "Don't these guys take a day off or something? Alright, Specter, put out a distress signal. We'll hold them off as long as we can. Hopefully these pirates will break off if they lose the convoy."

Divada had been present at the meeting as well as her XO, Miranda. She stood stoically by as Ascian detailed the mission parameters with a mostly impassive face. Miranda, on the other hand, looks towards Divada with a raised eyebrow. "ma'am." She whispers, "this almost sounds like a mission for the Gunships." She says before Divada silences her with a hand up. Once the briefing was over, Divada smiles to Miranda. "No....I'm assuming someone is going to bring a ship along. After the catapault 'fires' the Crusader forces into the staging area for the assault, a flash appears in the distances before the Ark Hammer decelerates just beyond the asteroid belt, slowing to near a stop. Divada and Miranda looks on at the front of the bridge. "We're at the staging area, my lady. Engines set at position keeping." "Very good, Liz. Keep us here and scan for the supply ships." Divada says to the girl at the helm. "Tactical, Shields up. Begin powering weapons."

While Alex Dino is not ostensibly part of the Mars push full-time - his duties have largely been restrained to the PLANTs in the wake of the Balmar Conflict - there are some times when additional manpower is needed. It's why he's been recalled here, for now -- and it's also the only reason he's able to scramble when the call for help comes from a trio of Federation freighter ships besieged by Martian Crusaders.

But even scrambling as he is now, it still takes a while. Within the cockpit of the Saviour, Alex Dino's expression is grave -- or perhaps, more exhausted. He looks a little tired as he pushes down on the Saviour's acceleration as hard as possible before it reaches its limiters, g-force straining against his genetically enhanced body. He can take it. And it helps him stay alert.

"This is Lieutenant Alex Dino," transmits the Coordinator; he rubs his eyes, and then pulls down the visor of his helmet, green eyes obscured by heavy black tinting. "I'm approaching the target as quickly as possible to reinforce your position. ETA is five minutes." The radio shuts off. Alex sighs.

"This is necessary too, I guess," he mumbles softly under his breath, and blasts off.

EARLIER

Due to the Martian campaign, Sarah Zabiarov and the Minerva have been more or less reassigned to Mars' orbit during the interim. As such, the young Scirocco adjunct has been occupied with things like wrangling paperwork related to assignments on the Red Planet, wrangling her assigned squadron pilots and trying to hash out mission details. In short, it's been boring--for someone not Sarah.

On the bridge of the Minerva, a signal sets out that DC units have begun advancing upon some asteroid that was a necessity to A-LAWS' freighter line. Sarah frowned in response; so much for getting her paperwork finished before deadline.

NOW

In the cockpit of the TR-6 Woundwort, Sarah settles in, flicking controls as the launch bridge preps the white unit for launch. Taking a breath in, the young Newtype attempts to focus her mind and put aside her bureaucratic thoughts for the whole 'combat' mindset. It's been some time--at least since the Balmarian conflict.

"Zabiarov, TR-6 Woundwort--ready for launch," she cooly states as she's given the go-ahead. Seconds later the machine is catapult from the launch bay, sent into the darkness of space, advancing upon the incoming ship.

NEARBY

The quick response units that are scrambling bearing those A-LAWS IFFs have to be coming from somewhere, right? That somewhere is the Minerva, a ZAFT battleship, and it is bringing up the rear as its small fleet of mobile suits launch hurriedly from its multiple hangars. They fly out in advance, which means that the white battleship itself... will be a little ways in getting to the destination.

Inside the bridge of the vessel, the captain, Talia Gladys, spares a glance at the person sitting in one of the spare observation seats. She nervously swallows, cutting her gaze away from the masked man seated there.

"Is that really him?" one of the bridge crew mutters to a cohort, who nods the nod of an intimidated man. This masked man, he is a legend, a thing of myth made flesh. "Are you sure? Flash Cardpot? THE Flash Cardpot? I don't remember him wearing a mask in all of those videos." The cohort shrugs helplessly.

The Minerva approaches.

Norris Packard had also seldom used the Urenbeck Catapult but it was going to be interesting. Packard is ready, his age old enemies await him. The Gouf's optic flares up bright red, as the older man finishes the boot up checklist.

"Norris Packard GOUF Crusader launching!"

A moment later Norris gets a taste of the power of Metatron. He launches at high speed right after Erika's RF Gouf launches. The ghost of the one years war is once again on the hunt.

Mars day 1: When I first disembarked in the space port Mars seemed exactly like the news feeds had made it look. Happy, clean even a little better then it seems on Earth. But I took Maya's advice and wore casual clothes I bought at a martian store. As I moved further and further form the space port things became less meticulously clean, they never quite became slums.

Mars Day 3: I rented a truck and drove across the county to another dome. Things here seem less artifical, at least less like they've been worked over to present well infront of a camera... tch, Alpha Numbers are calling me for deployment. Theres a mass driver here so I guess I'll have to make it.

As the SOS goes out, a white and blue mech streaks in from the direction of Mars, booster packs peeling away from the machine as it spreads the wings of it's flight pack out.

"Meiya Mitsurugi, GAT-04 Windam, engaging the enemy."

Within the hangar of the battleship, the acceleration seems a lot rougher than were one on the bridge -- the hangar being on the aft of the ship and all. But one way or the other, if one compares the distance that was just crossed /outside/ of the compressed space, with the amount of time it'd taken to get there... one would have expected everyone to have died of high Gs. Metatron, a mysterious substance that truly did seem like magic.

Ascian was settled inside of the Amenthes now, having gone all the way from the front of the ship to the back just after the startup sequence had started. It had been a rough ride getting there, and he faintly remembered people telling him he really shouldn't be going around whilst that was happening. But, luckily, by the time the worst part came... that terrible deceleration... he had settled inside of the Amenthes, which had a lovely capability of stabilizing such things. Doesn't mean Ascian didn't feel it though.

Still, he couldn't help but smile. He'd finally gotten some sleep before this mission, and with that some socialization at the NUT facility which he... kind of had made his home now. Duat, the artificial intelligence, immediately gives a tactical overlay of what is going on outside, as the units on the Jhamal Cruiser launch, and everything engages their IFF signals. "Shhhh..." The young man lets air escape between his teeth as he catches the number of units outside. "Enemies coming in hot huh? I better get this party started."

The Orbital Frame, the red glow flowing from its core, lifts up into the 'air' of the Hangar, and like a jet flies straight out at high-velocity. Immediately it turns in a wide arc around the cruiser which remains at a distance, and begins to approach the group of freighters, trying to follow behind Suriel's initial approach, and shifts his unit's weapon into rifle form and begins launching a series of beam-shots. Damn Suriel, trying to show up the 'leader' of this mission. Ascian is somewhat conceited.

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "To all forces, concentrate your efforts on the Freighters and their closest escort. Note that long range radar on the Jhamal cruiser has detected an incoming battleship. If we take too long, this may end badly, depending on how many forces that ship carries."

 Oi Shinda transmits, "Understood. Migarder, you heard the man. It's time to adorn this empty space with the light of your explosions!"

 Divada Kirador transmits, "Acknowledged, Midgarder. Launch Fighters..."

 Sovi Reincam transmits, "This is Lieutenant Reincam, inbound."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Good to have you with us, Lieutenant."

Suriel doesn't give a damn about Ascian! He has a position in the forces, that is high speed assault... and basicly being BATSHIT crazy. It has paid off for him so far. He soars in, using the pinpoint mobility of his unit to get in close and avoid weapon fire before he could be picked appart. However, right as he was about to get within firing range... he veers off, leaving Ascian to tank his own shots. Suriel starts immediately making a B-line for the Asteroids!

Finding some of the smaller size, but still larger than his unit, Suriel hits one with a single hand. Causing it to start moving. Fearing this wouldn't be enough, he grabbed it with both hands...and started to go full force into the side of the meteor.

"DEATH FROM ABOVE MOTHERF***ERS!" Suriel shouts out, before releasing the meteor right on top of the ships themselves. A second shot from the Qareen would smack the meteor, cracking it in several places and send it scattering along the @-laws transport ships!

Briareos was still hanging around Mars, mostly on a transport when the attack was going down. Why they want a large brute like him hanging around a planet with low gravity and frail people, he never understand.

Ok, maybe a little.

He was freakin' Superman Here.

Not like he wasn't compared to that on Earth, but come on, who didn't want to be Superman?

The Cyborg's optics flickered online when the notification went on. They flicked on white as he looked up at the information, before they went to a red hue in color as he started to allow his data flow in analyzing the information quickly as he could.

They were under attack by the Divine Crusaders, In space. In freakin' ice-cold, no oxygen, space. She would have loved this.

It was not long till a GN-XIII launched out, blasting across the darkness of space and heading right for a target, this target happen to be Norris Packard, as he moved in, the arm of the GN-XIII pulled out the beam saber and went to attempt to Impale the GOUF with the blade, "Hey! How is the weather?" He chimed up.

 Suriel Misaki laughs!

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "You mad genius..."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Bah! Lucky shot."

The RF Gouf hurtles forth, it's panaramic display coming to life with target information, IFF signals, navigational obstructions, and other such information. Erika filters through it with practiced ease, then picks out a lone machine quickly on course to defend the convoy, "Fast on the uptake... looks like I'm the closest one able to intercept." She moves the controls and the Gouf responds with a burst from it's verniers as it alters course to intercept the Savior. "ZAFT Design... tch, so even they're out here to help the A-Laws," She tightens her grip on her controls, then pulls hard on them. The Gouf accelerates in response and it's hand goes for it's beam rifle. "Blasted ZAFT, you people should have stayed at HOME!" A pink beam leaps from the barrel and streaks across the blackness of space!

And then the combat starts. Oi finishes off his strawberry, sliding the panel back closed to hide his secret cheese fondu pot. The Migarder, on the other hand, is not just sitting by idly. It moves to the back of the DC forces, flying a good dozen meters behind the rest of the forces. "Alright, my Migarder. Are you ready?" Asks Oi, as the Migarder's shields flicker into life around it. "MISSILE DEPLOYMENT TUBES FULLY ENGAGED." Oi grins, pressing a button on the controls of the Migarder.

The Migarder is an extreme long-ranged combatant. It hasn't been seen much in the past, but it shows this very quickly as this battle begins. And a large plasma missile fires out of the back of the Migarder, arcing slightly and then flying at high speeds. It's target is probably obvious. The defenders get no attention from the Migarder this attack. No, it's sending a long-ranged missile flying straight for the freighters!

The rifle shot comes in at the convoy, but it does not strike the ships. Instead, the gleaming silver and blue Berzerker Battlemech swings in to intercept the shot, arm raised to take the blow on the mech's shoulder, shining armor blasted apart by the powerful attack. They've got a bit of a range advantage, Adam figures. Staying defensive will only get the escorts and convoy blown apart like this.

"Alright convoy, you keep heading straight for cover in Mars. We'll try and pull this lot off you." He doesn't actually have official authority to order people around, but hopefully a couple defenders will stick with the ships, and the rest will move out to screen enemy forces and keep them out of weapons range of the convoy. If they get that far, maybe the attackers will break off rather than commit to a pointless battle...

"Attention Crusader forces: You're attacking a shipment of food. Is that really what you guys do with your time? Break off this assault before this gets unpleasant."

It's a longshot, but it's their best one right now. Speaking of longshots, that enemy that struck him is a ways out there right now, but Adam turns his space kit to full, charging forward with as much speed as he can. In space like this, his TSM won't help increase his speed, but as long as he keeps the accelerators on, he'll just keep picking up speed, so it sort of balances out. Meanwhile, as Adam accelerates towards Ascian, he also raises the arm-mounted PPC on his mech's right arm, and fires off a bolt of man-made lightning towards the smaller mech.

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "SHUT YOUR FACE!"

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Who are you talking to?"

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Douche that was all 'whine stop shooting our food whine'"

 Kazuma Ardygun transmits, "Someone's in a bad mood tonight."

 Oi Shinda transmits, "Migarder is set to extreme long range mode. Don't mind the plasma missiles flying over your head and exploding beautifully in the distance."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Ehhh... kill 'im."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "We all know there's more than food in there. And the A-LAWS can starve for all /I/ care."

Divada watched the battle begin to unfold and shook her head. "Well, it looks like they're pairing off quite nicely." She says to Miranda before her Comms officer speaks up. "My Lady, reports are confirming a ZAFT Battleship is on it's way to the target area." Divada turns her head a bit before looking to Miranda. "we're going to have to make this fast then, Miranda. Tactical, fire laser batteries 4 and 5." Two laser batteries starting firing through the asteroid field, mainly at one mobile suit and the battlecruiser it's behind....

Steiner's intervention spares some damage... but the attacks continue piling on. Suriel's strike is noticed. Its hard to not telegraph an asteroid chuck. Unfortunately for Suriel the response from the ships is to launch missiles at him AND at the asteroid, pulverizing it even as they surround his machine in a nimbus of explosions. The missiles from Oi launch out however... The bridge of ship #3 is struck, exploding in a massive catastrophe. The ship tilts, but continues forcing its way ahead, decapitated but still apparently operating off of secondary command levels... The ships do engage their engines, forcing their way forward... Missiles launch out again, aiming at Suriel even as they attempt to push past the DC Defense line. The ships are charging ahead almost recklessly and in danger of losing their escorts as a result...

The last time that she was in space, with her Codarl, it was merely a matter of chance that she wasn't killed-- or thrown from the surface of the transport ship, off into Callisto's gravity well for what would have been a rather unusual landing on the frozen, metatron-rich Jovian moon.

Today, she thinks it better to be safe than sorry. The unfortunate part is that the pickings are slim-- with the Shadows and Codarls on the surface, with the limited supply of Orbital Frames, and with her own...

... well. Sovi has opted to take one of the few DCAM-006 Guarlions at her base and hitch a ride out into space. Settled into the cockpit chair, she takes a moment to regard her surroundings and the controls one more time. The Tesla Drive spins up with a whine, thrust applies directly behind her, and she charges toward the line with a small punch of G-forces putting her to the seat.

"Boost drive disengaged. Target aquired."

An arm swinging forward as the Armored Module takes position, the Guarlion's railgun levelling on the Savior Gundam. Just as her finger squeezes on the trigger, another shot comes in from the side-- the RF Gouf. Oldsmobile? Sure, it may be an ally, but Zeonic-affiliated...

"... Ngh."

The railgun swings upward while Sovi frowns. The AM's legs swing forward while the large machine comes to a lurching (if not sudden) halt, twisting to the side. Accelerating toward the Woundwort, the Metatron-crested Lieutenant lines up her shot while drawing in close and firing a solid slug projectile at pretty insane speeds.

Contrails of bright blue ripple behind the Saviour as its sleek, crimson form is carried hastily through space. The mobile armor continues to speed up, gaining more and more momentum the closer and closer it gets to the transport ships.

Alex's eyes narrow. A year ago, he would have been on the other side of this fence. A year ago, these people would be his allies, not his enemies.

But today he gets an enemy lock-on warning from a Divine Crusader IFF. His teeth grit as he grips hard onto his directional controls. "They're already on the offensive...?!" he wonders aloud before the Saviour abruptly /banks/ to the right. A pink crackle of energy lights up /just/ along the underside of the mobile armor as it transforms and expands into its Gundam mode, V-fin snapping open and green eyes flashing bright.

"Sorry -- but I have a mission to accomplish...!" The wing binders of the Saviour snap up -- and from the topmost barrels come a salvo of artillery fire, aiming to pepper the RF Gouf liberally with a surge of machine cannon rounds.

Norris Packard is going for the transport when without warning a GN-XIII suddenly intercepts. He's caught up close at this point. The GOUF's optic locks on to the other machine.

"Quite the good save for the chance of sudden feddies!" Another heckler it seems, this was going to be fun. The Gouf isn't fast enough thougha s Bri gets a hit, Norris machine pulls the tempest saber out from under the shield.

"Let's see what you got Feddy!"

Packard attacks his movements speak of one whose been doing this a long time. He's clearly feeling the other out, as the blades beam edges snap hisse to life.

"I hope you made peace with what you worship you shall be meeting them soon!"

The GN-XIII quickly parries the other blade from the GOUF and holds it there. The blades spark on impact as the Gundam Machine holds it there as Briareos speaks, "Feddy huh? Interesting nick-name, but sadly, that isn't my name." He then shoves the blade away and moves back slightly, floating there in space.

"The Name is Briareos," He then sheaths the beam sword, "And You can call me, Headache."

The GN-Lance Rifle comes around from the Lance itself and then opens fire on the Norris, hoping to hit the head of the unit.

Suriel smirks the shot was perfect!

Until the ships actually started to DEFEND THEMSELVES! What bullshit was this!

"Asshole!" Suriel shouts, only avoiding obliteration by a lucky chunk of asteroid hitting him, which was hit by the missile first. Growling, he comes down again, but only to start avoiding missiles. Missiles fly, but Suriel doesn't seem to be interested in attacking...why..?

Remember that asteroid? Sword breakers imbeded in it fly out, flying down right towards the assorted battleships, and aim to focus on one of the undamaged or lesser damaged ships engines. Suriel himself moves closer, just always out of missile shot, or avoiding return fire by the skin of his teeth.

"Blah blah blah, stop shooting our food, blah blah blah! Not very fun when the shoe is on the other foot is it assholes?! COME ON!"

Upon advancing, the sensors of the Woundwort begin to chime as /something/ has locked onto the A-LAWS unit. Almost immediately the GN-T powered shield bubbles up around the unit as the Woundwort pivots around. "There," Sarah quietly notes, both gaze and Woundwort sensors locking onto the Ark Hammer. Vulcans light up, beamfire growling from the head of the ivory-colored unit in response as lasers strike the machine, causing it to falter midflight.

"D-damn," she mutters, green eyes hooding sharply at the Ark Hammer. "Fine--if you want--"

Then, a Guarlion.

Frowning as the DCAM-006 Guarlion takes aim, the Woundwort begins to sharply bank, attempting to out-strafe the pilot's aim. The slug fires--and misses, by mere feet. The Newtype smirks discreetly.

"All right, then," she notes with a calm, level tone. "If you wish to engage, then so be it.

"But you can be sure that I will not go lightly--ever--on my enemy!"

The Woundwort accelerates, drawing two beam sabers from its hip-mounted holsters as it advances upon the Guarlion. Should it get close enough it swings the sabers from out to inward, like a pair of shears attempting to slice the Crusader unit in half.

Bullets riddle the frame of the RF Gouf as Erika returns the favor in kind with her Finger Machinegun. Unfortunately, the Savior's Phase Shift Armor is more than up to the task of repelling the shells and Erika winds up on the loosing end of the exchange. Erika grits her teeth as she finally breaks off the futile attack and flanks left, circling around wide, "And I have a home to defend, so you can take your 'mission' and shove it!" The right arm of the Gouf snaps up and a think cable ending with a beam emitter launches out, seeking to spear the Gundam so it can deliver a surge of disruptive electricity to it's systems.

The Amenthes marks Adam's Berserker clearly on a Vidwindow, warning Ascian of the smaller machine's approach. "Tssk, he's getting in my way." The BAHRAM framerunner's grip on the controls becomes firm, the leather gloves he is wearing creaking as the strength improves. In response, the flow of Metatron through the machine becomes more rapid, stronger, the red glow quickly darting from the cockpit to the core, then out towards its wings.

The unit goes into a barrelroll for a moment, and spins cleanly around the incoming mobile suit as its wingbits move outwards and the metatron crystals sprout into move sizable feather-like shapes, letting their red glow and crimson feather-like embers flow freely through space like some kind of insane version of a GN-Tau Drive. In response the unit lets go of a series of quick plasma-bolt shots, which end up hitting nothing but empty space.

"Tssk." The unit spins around again, so he may lay his eyes on the freighters, who have just put most of their energy into their engines. The threesome, one managing even without a bridge, are starting to move in between the Asteroid belt, and are making quick headway.

"I gotta take out this clown first..." Ascian looks back at the unit which had tried to /punch/ the Amenthes. "Let's go, Duat." Again, the flow abruptly changes, as this time the glow of Metatron energy moves straight into the tendril-style tailfeathers of the Orbital Frame. Forming between all of them, a large ball of compressed energy. He had originally intended to expend that kind of energy to go after the transports, but whilst he was in this location, away from the asteroids still - about halfway between the deployment point and the edge of the asteroids, he believed he could wait for them to come closer.

"Take this! You damn eartheners! Stop oppressive Mars!" He calls out, "Take my anger, take all of it!" He was on fire, and so it seemed... was the entire unit he was pilotting. The crimson energy becomes brighter and brighter, ember feather-like sparks of left over energy jumps off of the unit, as does it off of the orb between the tailfeathers which gets /swooped/ straight towards the enemy. A red high impact bomb-like entity.

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Misaki, I am leaving those transports to you, until they get within my range."

The laser fire from the Ark Hammer sears right through the asteroid field, carving apart the large floating structures -- some revealed to be little more than fake balloons, in time honored Gundam fashion -- in their effort to seek out the thick white armor of the Minerva. Yet they encounter resistance, the specialized paint on the exterior of the white battleship causing the beam-based weaponry to disperse with minimal damage.

"Launch Neidhardt tubes eight through twelve!" the captain shouts aboard the darkened battle bridge, the weapons officer quick to repeat the order -- and then punch in the command, flipping over safety caps to reveal switches. They in turn are flipped, and the ZAFT battleship responds like the well-oiled machine it is.

Along both sides, two tubes open up, dispensing rather oversized warheads out into the field of battle. They leave a pleasant white contrail behind them, as they seek out the enemy battlecruiser with lethal impact.

"Begin evasive maneuvers," the masked Cardpot orders, which earns a glance from the Captain. But this man, this Flash Cardpot, this veteran of the one year war -- he holds a specialized A-LAWS license, granting him near immunity to run roughshod over anyone nearby! "Do as he says," Talia Gladys confirms the order. The Minerva banks to the left, seeking out the cover of a sizeable asteroid.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "They won't."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I'll hold you to that!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Engaging the battlecruiser."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Don't hesitate to spare some extra ammo by assaulting different units on the battlefield, Ark Hammer."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Noted. They'll have to scrub the mission if the transports go down...won't they?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Correct."

The sight of a battle erupting around Mars has not been all that uncommon of late. With the arrival of the most recent A-LAWS task force, the situation around the Red Planet has become confused and chaotic. It certainly is something that an opportunistic group who was looking for plunder would easily be able to take advantage of. And when your 'plunder' is live humans, the chaotic conditions of a battlefield are perhaps the best place to go looking for your targets. The asteroid fields have boasted a higher than usual loss rate when it comes to spacers and mining workers. It hasn't been all that unusual, and it was a drop in the bucket compared to the damage that the Earth Sphere had taken during the Balmarian Invasion... but it was there, even if no one had thought to look into it as of yet. And part of the reason might become a little more apparent after today. Covetous eyes look upon the battlefield from deeper within the asteroid field, glowing red orbs taking in the chaos and the fighting. Chitinous claws scrape against bare rock, and silent messages are sent across the swarm mind. And standing atop one of the asteroids within the field, a black and red clad figure gives a single gesture. "Take them." BGM: DETESTABLE VISITORS Signals begin appearing from deeper within the asteroid field. The radar returns are unusual - non-metallic in origin, and there are a good many of them. In practical terms... a good number of yellow icons appear on the map, not DC, not A-LAWS, not EFA. The Radam erupt forth from the asteroid belt in a large wave, heading right for the center of the battle. Grunts have the most to worry about, as three or four Radam break off towards any mass produced suit, seeking to surround it, cut off the limbs, and drag the torso away back into the asteroid field. The rest just keep on coming, a high pitched psychic screech echoing through space as the swarm plunges into battle.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "Gah...! That sound!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "What is that?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Picking up bio signatures and they are inbound!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Observe, but do not engage until they prove to be hostile to us. We cannot risk this mission right now!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "You fool."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "You have a better idea?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "We don't exactly have the resources to spare to engage another enemy."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "Please transmit images to me."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Duat transmits the images of Radam units.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard sends images of Radam Spider crabs.

Fire from the Divine Crusaders line is pretty easy to notice. Including the missile from the Migarder.

"Thats too far for me to close in easily." Meiya comments to herself and targets the point of launch with the Windam's optical sensors. A single long-range missile drops from it's wing and arcs through space towards the Migarder.

Then Meiya is alerted to a new pressence on the battlefield. The Windam turns to look, it's optical lenses zooming in on the alien...

"...Radam!"

The Ark Hammer continues to float there with a moderate amount of cover from the battleship. Divada only smiles as the Opposing battlecruiser takes cover. "Wonderful. They have an asteroid field to hide them from our fire, lets makes them come out from their hiding places." She says to her XO as she touches a button on her headset. "Seraphim to Knight Leader." "Knight Leader here, My lady." "Divert Curse for the transports. Bring them down." "Yes my lady." One entire squadron of Cutlass Fighters scream towards the transports and open fire with their lasers....aiming for fuel tanks or engines...

Moving in closer and closer, the Guarlion doesn't lose an inch of speed when the shot is fired from the Burst Railgun, the pilot within laying into the controls even /more/ when the Woundwort manages to dodge. Sovi seems more like /she/ wants to initiate the melee battle, but the Armored Module is not really known for it's abilities as a melee combatant.

Then again, Sovi Reincam is an unusual woman.

The Woundwort swings both sabers the moment the Guarlion comes into melee range. The Armored Module's weight shifts again as the Martian woman attempts to completely change vectors, attempting to escape above Sarah while setting the machine on a two-axis spin. She doesn't escape fully intact, either-- the scissoring motion of the sabers having taken the lower left leg from mid-shin as a trophy.

"I respect your candor. Then I won't go lightly on you, either!"

As Mars and space and the distant Sun spin around in a whirl on her HUD, the glare of the star casting her helmet into a solid reflective gold, Sovi manages to right the machine-- at least, enough to aim her back in the right direction before she drifts too far. Word of another incoming force is enough to turn the blue-haired woman's head for the moment, Sovi draws in a breath.

Swaying in again on the charge, the Martian woman starts firing the Burst Railgun time and again, this time hoping to close the gap and put a hole through it's armor!

Bullets ricochet off the Saviour; each one causes a minor electrical surge as the Phase Shift activates at the point of impact, diffusing the kinetic force into nothing more than dull, harmless impacts. Alex Dino watches on, his face completely obscured behind that helmet's visor.

"... Then fight as hard as you can," is all he can really say to Erika before he focuses himself fully on his target and the battle around him. A Gouf. If it's here, then it must be one of those Martian-types he dimly remembers. Still, the specifications should be similar to his own Gouf-variant, so the next move must be--

--The heat rod, which is currently piercing the Gundam at its wrist. "Damn--!" Alex tries to remove it, but it's too late -- the electrical surge /rips/ through interior systems, briefly overwhelming and overloading sensors and forcing them to short circuit one after the other. Thanks to the Phase Shift, the damage on the exterior is minimal. But -- the numerous system errors that run across Alex's view screen tell a different story for the interior.

For now, Alex ignores them. Instead, he pumps down on the acceleration of the Gundam as he abruptly switches it fully over into manual mode. It becomes a bright crimson blur as it yanks free both of its beam sabers from its hips, activates them, and then brings them down -- one in a broad slash aimed to slice that heat rod right out from its base. The other starts to come down, to impale through the Gouf's right shoulder joint--

--But that is when it abruptly stops. It might look odd -- except for how the Saviour is looking directly towards that asteroid field beyond.

"... What in the world are those...? Are those--" He remembers full well, the horror stories that Jung could only sometimes muster up the nerve to tell him about-- "--STMC?!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "Designate biounit Unknown 1. Obtain scans. Biounits are to be considered dangerous and likely aggressive."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "I remember those fuckers."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "These things are why the crusade exists. It is our duty to kill them."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "They were stealing bodies during the assault on the PLANTS."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "If only the rest of the earth sphere knew that."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Uh. I think the entire earthsphere knows about aliens. We only got attacked by TWO OF THEM!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Tssk, I bet they know, but just don't care. As long as they can have their political games."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "Of course they know. They have also been attacked."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "This is why we should fight them. This is why the crusade exists. While this is your operation. I will be engaging the aliens. Erika with me. Leave none of these things alive!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "The objective is pushin' towards Mars."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite sounds conflicted... he's inexperienced and isn't quite sure what to say in the situation, "Tssk..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "I will enage them Suriel can you handle the transport then join against the aliens?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Yes sir."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Norris is in charge."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "Captain Packard."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Yes?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Echidna Iisaki transmits, "If possible, capture one or a corpse for study."

Adam doesn't slow down at the attack, and keeps accelatering as the fireballs come in for him. His system identifies them as missiles, and a machine gun mounted on the chest swivels around to target them, firing blasts of anti-missile fire into them, shooting the blasts before they hit, and causing them to detonate just before they strike the Berserker, Adam's mech flying right though the fireballs and building up a good deal of surface heat, but not taking any noticeable damage from the blows.

"Earther? Wrong guy. I'm from Somerset, a world in the Inner Sphere. And I don't care what you think you're trying to accomplish here, what you ARE doing is attacking a shipment of food headed for your own planet! If you won't stand down then I'll just have t--"

Adam is interrupted mid-threat by the sudden appearance of something he has no experience with: Hostile aliens! The bugs come out of nowhere, and suddenly there are spider-crabs everywhere! Adam has no idea what these things are or how to deal with them, but it becomes clear early on that they're hostile, as they destroy some mechs, and a few come after him.

The heavy silvered sword held in the Berserker's left hand is raised in defense and brought down in a vicious stab at the nearest spider crab as it flies toward Adam's mech, the massive momentum of the 100 ton machine's high velocity behind the blow. The attack isn't anything fancy, but simply a reflexive defense against an enemy that charged him, Adam himself having no idea what's suddenly happening. "What the...What are these things?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "I shall do my best."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Do you require assistance, Mister Packard? *sounds so formal*"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Ascian, Suriel, attempt to finish the rest of the transports. Those of you who can break off from the feds. Attacks the aliens as soon as possible. They were likely planing to strike us while we were in combat, clever on their part."

It's a good thing Alex did stop, for Erika's sake. Cause at pretty much that exact moment, she lets out a startled cry and clutches at her head at the alien scream echos within it. Her mobile suit in response stops moving from the lack of input. "Nnng... it feels like a a swarm of angry wasps buzzing in my head...!" After several moments, she manages to push through the pain and grab at her controls... but rather than take advantage of Alex's divided attention, she whips around and unleashes a blast from her Finger Machine Guns at the aliens, "Nnng...! Shut up! Shut up!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "... Roger that!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "I shall assist when I can."

Suriel's assault is momentarily paused by the arrival of the Radam. He remembered these assholes...but his attention was quickly stolen back by the cowards running! Suriel will kill tiny cowards! The Orbital frame holds a hand out, causing a pike to appear from it's vector trap. However, there was a moment with command argued for a moment. Ascian faltered, and right there was enough for Suriel to sense the weakness in his 'commander' and immediate switch to listen to a stronger commander.

Who mirrored his own sensibilities. Suriel dived down, his pike leading the way, and attempting to litterally CRASH through the lead transport ships engine block, trying to cut through anything along the way!

"THERE IS A MISSILE LOCK." The Migarder's AI pings, as the air-to-air missile comes shooting in towards the Migarder. And then the Migarder shifts, presenting it's armored front towards the missile, it's shields setting up. "Alright, stop that missile, Migarder!" Oi responds to the AI. "PREPARE FOR IMPACT." The missile hits the migarder dead-on, exploding as the shielding shimmers, mitigating some of the damage and leaving the Migarder ... fine, actually. Well, okay, there's some visible damage to the armor, but nothing too bad. Yet.

Oi briefly considers his options, before nodding to himself slightly. "Alright then, Migarder. Let's rain hell down on their ships." He inputs a few commands on the Migarder's command screen. "BURST MISSILES ONLINE." Oi presses the big red button. "Fire." The Migarder shoots a pair of large missiles from it's back, each of which explode into a scattershot of smaller missiles flying towards Meiya and the carriers.

"UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED. AWAITING ORDERS." Pings the Migarder, which causes Oi to frown slightly. "Leave them be for now, Migarder. We have other things to focus on. Do not lock on." The Migarder responds simply, "AFFIRMATIVE."

"Tssk." As if this battlefield wasn't chaotic enough, with the transports furthering their approach, another force had to just dip into the battle! It quickly becomes apparent that Ascian really isn't cut out to be a true commander at this point in time. He is so concentrated on the mission that he demands everyone concentrate their attention... and quickly gets an earful about the fact that he is being a fool.

He kind of hangs his head, biting his bottom lip as command gets lifted from his shoulders. On one hand, it makes him angry. He'd been given command of this mission, and with such a sudden turn-around, someone else now had command. But on the other hand, he was relieved that it was in the hands of someone more capable than himself.

All he can do is pick on Adam at this point. "It's not food! We know that there's weaponry and ammo on board of that ship. And it certainly is NOT going to Mars' citizens. Don't talk like you know anything about my planet!" But with Adam now going after the aliens, all he can do is listen to orders. He goes after the transports again! The wings spread as the unit turns again, and that red glow scars space once more as the unit powered by something the Balmarians had called an outright 'poison' - then blasts off towards the transports which have now broken out of the asteroid belt and are well on their way to where they had initially deployed.

"You are not going anywhere!" He screams out over global broadbands as the unit sends another series of those flaming balls of energy at the ships that are trying to keep going - hoping to take out their engines.

Sovi's response earns her an odd look from Sarah, whose green eyes widen slightly. Respect her candor? "Hmph," is her only response, her eyes narrowing on the Guarlion. "I'd prefer that," she murmurs to herself. After all, how can she get stronger for her Master without challenges?

The Woundwort briefly withdraws from close proximity of the Guarlion, giving it time enough to fire the Burst Railgun at the ivory mobile unit. Again the machine strafes aside, the shot missing the Woundwort completely. Lucky? Maybe. Or maybe Sarah /has/ gotten better??

"If you're keen on ranged combat, then let me humor you!" Sarah exclaims as the Woundwort lifts its large right arm--large, as there is a /rifle/ stuck to it. Taking aim, the rifle fires a concentrated shot, seeking to pin the Guarlion straight through the proverbial heart.

However, once the shot is fired, SOMETHING happens. Sensors go nuts as foreign organisms burst from the asteroid, launching themselves into the battle. "Wh-what the--!" The psychic scream catches Sarah off guard, causing the young Newtype to reel back in her pilot's seat and grasp painfully at her helmet. "Nggh!"

Suriel's attack claims one of the transports, it explodes violently as he crashes through it... "Fortunately" it was the already weakened transport craft. Whatever its cargo was, goes up with the brave men operating it... The other two ships continue powering full out, even as Ascian lands strikes against the engine blocks of the remaining ships. One of them begins launching cargo containers, in order to increase its forward momentum with newtonian physics. The other uses the more economical method of LAUNCHING MISSILES at all of the belligerants.

Still, the ship's only combat actions are defensive.

Norris Packard isn't quick enough but he's got a plan, this feddy seems to be fairly good hhe has to admit. "Norris Packard of Zeon."

He's locked in close combat with the other, but he manages to avoid a head hit still the lance digs into his machine. But he's got his foe all nice and close, so he plans to make use of this. He's preparing to unleahseh an attack as unknown bio signatures appears. Parckard issues some orders, gets request from one of their allies that's a very sound one. Try to get remains for study if possible.

The Gouf looks at the federation machine.

"I have something far more imporant to deal with!"

The GOUF actually breaks off and turns heading for the biosignatures. He sees the things are using pack tacits? Damn what are these things, also the timing to strike. These creatures are smart, hunting in packs waiting for the humans to be knee deep in fighting their own kind before they strike. He opens fire with his beam machinegun, but he may be open to Bri's attack depending on what the A-laws soliders. But this is something that made a zeek break off from fighting a Federation solider... it's kinda worrysome.

The Ark Hammer and its support ships may have a surprise in store for them, with the Minerva given time to do /something/ while the enemy in turn attempts to lure it back out. It's about to, when something else happens; aliens, and lots of them.

Aboard the bridge, the masked Flashpot lifts a hand to the side of his mask, as if feeling the psionic reverberation that's happening out there with the advent of the alien force. "Our priority remains ensuring those transports are able to retreat--" Talia Gladys declares, only for a helmsmen to hurriedly report that one of them just went up in smoke!

"Move to safeguard the other two," the Captain declares, and the Minerva comes out of hiding with a full head of steam, firing shots from the three heavy cannons that rest atop the deck of the vessel. It's course is simple; get to those transports, and do it quickly, without docking on top of one in a sexy manner. Prime targets in the meantime? Cutlass Fighters.

Unfortunately for the hopes that anyone else might have had about the course of this battle, there is little chance of the Radam showing any preference for whomever might be on the battlefield. Someone who is exercising some measure of tactical control might use them in such a manner, but these have been unleashed upon the field of battle with little regard for whom might be in the way. Their goal is to capture and kill, tearing apart as many human machines as possible to get to the meat inside. Much like a crab might crack open a clam, truth be told. But the swarm is relentless, and it doesn't seem to feel casualties the same way that another force might. Adam's sword cuts clean through one of the creatures, the two halves tumbling off into space and splashing a torrent of light purple blood across the front of his Berserker as the Beast comes apart. But for everyone one that attacks, another takes it place - the flying spider crab roars straight down on the Battlemech and attempts grab onto its shoulders with its wing claws. The mandibles will go to work at that point, gnawing and tearing at the front armor of the mech to try and get at Adam himself. Another alien staggers as Erika's barrage of shots strikes it, the beast keening in pain as it drifts listlessly, huge holes streaming droplets of purple ichor clearly visible across its torso and shell. It shudders once before it goes still, already beginning to dissolve away as caustic internal fluids begin to rework its physiology into nothing more than slime. But those same internal fluids can be used for offensive purposes as well, and a Radam Beast cuts a tight turn to attempt to get an angle on Erika. Its mouth opens, a muscular action in its throat expelling a thick ball of acidic slime towards her machine. The mass hurls forward at high speed, and if it hits it will melt away at armor and vital systems alike, turning even hardened armor into gooey mush if it's not scraped off fast enough. Norris' experience in alien fighting is something to be respected as well - his shots lance off into the horde, not aimed at any one creature but doing some damage to several of them. The keen gets louder for a moment... and the Radam Beasts launch themselves back at him in response. They don't try for a direct attack, but one of them comes in full on, aiming to use its own mass as a weapon as it tries to slam headlong into his GOUF. Adam Steiner will find himself in the worse position at this point - the Radam are relentless, and the one clinging to his suit might not have been able to get through with its first bite, but that doesn't mean that it isn't going to keep trying. It continues to gnaw and mangle, trying to rip through the armor plating around his cockpit and tear him clean off of his mech in the process! Norris and Erika on the other hand have kept the distance open, and several of the Beasts swirl about, trying to distract them as their fellows close in from all side. Several Radam are already breaking off to go after other grunt pilots, but the two Gouf pilots will suddenly find themselves dogpiled by a huge number of the bugs, the creatures crushing in from all sides, snapping and tearing at their machines.

Divada knew the ship would take the bait on the Squadron attacking the transports, but it's fire would find purchase on the Ark Hammer itself, such is the movement of the fighter squadron. "My Lady. There is now an alien threat entering the combat zone." Divada turned towards the sensors officer and made a bit of a face. "Status on the EOTI laser." "Fully Charged my lady" "Good. The Battlecruiser is now a secondary target. Primary target is the alien threat. Lock the EOTI Laser on them and fire." A laser turret turns away from the Battlecruiser....and fires upon the radams.

Hehehehe...

Even as missiles directly hit the Qareen, causing armor to be ejected, which only healed thanks to Metatron a bit later, Suriel turns slowly towards the offending transport.

His hand shoots out, as the pike breaks into several parts, slamming into the single hand. The pike parts form the arm cannon, as the parts spread into a single 'fan' of the regulator fans.

Suriel is calculating things like momentum and speed with just his mind and the metatron fused reflexes. The cannon aims forward, aiming for the bridge of the ship. Suriel was, in his mind, doing them a favor...better to die from being obliterated, than by being used by the alien bug things. The single shot of black death fires, aiming out to smash the bridge of the ship and expand out...before constricting rapdily...trying to litterally obliterate a single part of the ship.

"No escape."

Even distracted with the arrival of hte Radam as she is, Meiya doesn't miss the squeal of missile lock inside her cockpit, and increases thrust to accelerate, pulling the control stick upwards and loops around as the Windam's head tracks the incoming missile. The head vulcans fire and detonate the missile.

"This is going to be bad..." Meiya widens the missile lock-on and launches the missile available to the Windam in a wide spread, detonating the warheads in amongst the Radam and some of the DC.

The containers that go flying get in the way of the Amenthes, and Ascian's earlier good mood at the start of this mission was entirely gone. "Tssk... Fuck it!" He calls out and grips so hard on the controls that the unit shudders for a moment - a few sparks jumping from its shoulders, and a slight crack forming in the mouthguard. He looks furious as he dodges around the gigantic metalic canisters and sends bolts into them that soon end up causing massive explosions.

"Duat!" He snaps. "Roger that sir. Engaging high-velocity preperations for the Vector Cannon Mark II. I must warn however, its power output will not be as high as a fully charged shot.". Something to which the young man simply snaps, "Doesn't matter, do it!"

"Shift to Vector Cannon Mode - Mark Two."

The unit begins to unpack, pieces of metal appearing out of nowhere, connectors shifting around and locking into place. The bit-wings shift further outwards to give more room for the Vector Cannon equipment. A large barrel even purses from the torso of the unit whilst two rail-gun like sidings appear over the length of the cannon.

"Energy Lines Connected."

The crystalized mass behind the bitwings grows to such size that they now clearly look like /wings/. Stretching out far and wide from the unit, glowing red and yellow, as if they are on fire.

"Gravity and Kinetic Energy Cancelers - engaged."

The cannon-tip begins to shine with a crimson light, purple lightning begins to crackle along the railgun as the unit engages its thrusters and flies straight along the side of one of the units - aimed at the one begin it... if the attack would pierce one, perhaps it could hit both.

"Inner Chamber Pressure Rising Normally."

A eightsome of circular plates suddenly appear right around the half-way point of the railgun beams and begin to circle around it, slowly speeding up and forming a red electric link like lightning constantly seeking earth - spreading this all throughout the long metalic beam towards the cannon as well as its end.

"Life Ring has started revolving."

The rings flare up quickly, much more so than normal, and within mere seconds, Duat is already notifying Ascian;

"Ready to fire."

The unit is clearly showing on any kind of radar by this point, with the amount of energy gathered. The space between the Amenthes and the area beyond the two ships begins to warp as the space is starting to be compressed by the unit, and then suddenly... a gigantic beam of red-white energy... not pink... flies through space in unison with Suriel's fierce attack.

If this would not work, the transport would very likely get away.

The Gouf escapes the reach of the Saviour's beam sabers before Alex remembers his situation. It's fine, though, he reasons to himself. In this situation, they shouldn't /be/ fighting. In fact, he is preparing to launch off for the incoming horde of insectoid-like monstrosities--

--when he sees lights in the distance behind him. "They're still pursuing the ships...?! Dammit--!" Green eyes narrowing, the Coordinator punches down on the thrusters to his Gundam, even as he opens up secured allied lines. "This is Alex Dino -- I'm going to have to leave the STMC - Radam - whatever, to all of you! I'll try to make sure the freighters make it to their destination!"

They should be able to handle those creatures, Alex reasons. He can't let those ships sink, though; he can't ignore the people on there.

"I'm coming...!" he mutters, blasting off as quick as possible for those freighters.

<Radio: C - Global> Ascian Luddite transmits, "TAKE THIS! YOU EARTH BASTARDS!"

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "We love you too, Kid."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "Good to know you hold no specific animosity towards me, Ascian."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda not sarcastic at all.

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Sorry Shinda... the A-LAWS... just get to me."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "I'm not from earth, Ascian."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Ah. Well... good!"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "I am...."

Critical errors and red screens blazed across her HUD, some layering over each other until the image was a solid blur of crimson and errors and error codes were all that she could see. The control panels of the Orbital Frame Ninlil became more like a conductor as the flow of Metatron fed backwards through her, and she heard everything screaming in her head all at once. Her back arched, her skin burned, and black marks that were somewhere between organic and circuitry blazed over her body.

Armor crumpled in the fist of the Mass Production Evangelion, and then the cockpit was thrown through the fourth story corner of a nearby building. Lodged halfway through it, twisted metals and armor impaling her stomach, she started to suffer from it-- not the injuries, per se, but the symptoms of a highly acute case of Metatron exposure. It wasn't thirty seconds later that her body had melted into the primordial ooze as a ghostly Rei Ayanami emerged from what was soon after a crater.

Ever since that moment, Sovi Reincam has changed. Maybe it was the combination of excruciating pain, the release, the euphoria of 'oneness,' and then returning to life fully healed and whole.

The Guarlion tips backward at what is /literally/ the absolute last second, the back wrenching itself into an arch as the beam fires. The conical chest of the Guarlion explodes in front of her, the beam piercing through the chest and through the crested head. In front of her, the display screen wrenches forward and distorts the image shortly before it rips outward and follows the path of the particle beam into space, the metal starting to liquefy under the heat.

And all the while, the Guarlion's off-handed blade thrusts forward to catch the Woundwort and it's pilot off-guard.

Sovi Reincam no longer needs to use her display monitor, because a chunk of the front part of her Armored Module's cockpit is now exposed for all of space to see. On an empathic level, there's an eerie calm, a serenity that /should not/ be there, especially with strange psychic screaming and a whole other force on the way. It isn't drug-induced, like when she tries to use the Codarl's Lambda Driver, either.

And from that point-blank position, the railgun swings up to return the favor to Sarah with one more direct shot.

The bridge section of the ship dumping cargo manages to avoid damage from Suriel's attack as it launches, its crew apparently deciding that they don't want to die for pastries like the poor bastards in Ship #2. The lead segment, denuded of its cargo and propelled by the explosion of its rear segment launches it off at high speed. The second ship fails similarly as Ascian's attacks cut through the rear segments, setting the cargo portion aflame...

The bridge segment detaches again and as with ship #3, launch off.

The GN-XIII watches as the dude he was just fighting runs off to go play with Alien bugs. He watches from the distance, resting the lance-rifle against the shoulder, before he looks over the rest of the battle field, "Play with bugs or.."

It wasn't to much longer till he watches the transports get blasted down by a Divine Crusader. He then changes out the weapon to a GN Beam Rifle. He remains silent till he takes aim for the Orbital Frame.

His freezes there for a moment, before he opens fire. If the divine crusaders want to attack ships, then so be it. He'll make them wish they didn't.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Hmpf. looks like the transports are dust, Ascian. Good work. Now we have aliens to take out."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Shit... getting shot at... Duat! Deactivate the Vector Cannon mode... hurry up will 'ya!?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "As the transports are down, shall I re-target?"

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Funny though when you think of it. Bastard means fatherless child, sooo That would mean us as 'Earthers' are Fatherless children, does that mean Mars is Forgotten Step-child?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam's audio pickups sound loaded with static and noise. "This is Lieutenant Reincam. I'll have to withdraw in short order, this Guarlion is coming apart at the seams."

<Radio: C - Global> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Tssk."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "So ladies, are we going to get all butt hurt about how Ascian's non-PC statements in the heat of battle hurt our feelings, OR ARE WE GOING TO KILL SOME THINGS THAT SCREAM AND BLEED?!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "Restrain your attitude or get off the battlefield."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "No."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "Remember that you're addressing a superior officer."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "Sirs? I am requesting orders. Shall I shift targets to the unknown aliens or continue to pursue my current target?"

The Minerva hurries along, but it doesn't seem to be in time; the devastating one-two punch is delivered by the Crusade, and in turn the transports are reduced to little more than rapidly escaping escape pods. Inside, the balled, gloved fist of Flash Cardpot descends onto the table he's seated at. It's a sentiment that's shared by much of the bridge crew of the battleship, as they're forced to watch the lives of comrades and precious allies lost to the brutal onslaught.

"Target the Orbital Frame," Captain Gladys declares, pointing a long finger at the view screen, where both of the culprits are now being surveyed. Yes, it seems that A-LAWS fully intends on making the evil-doers pay for their crimes, while the alien onslaught is dealt with by others.

"Calibrate the Tristans. Begin charging the Tannhauser," the Captain adds. Atop the Minerva, the double-barreled beam cannons begin adjusting their trajectory, seeking a swift target lock on a single orbital frame. A tall ask, but galvanized by the loss of their comrades, the weapons officer intends to make sure it hits.

"If that secondary target isn't blown out of the water, fire the position cannon at it next," the Captain issues future orders, as the battleship begins unleashing one massive stream of green energy after another, aimed to catch the Orbital Frame before it can disappear as they're prone to do!

Adam is indeed in a bit of a spot right now. He sees his target break off while he's wrestling with a bug, and is forced to use his mech's arms to fend off the crushing claws from his cockpit. From his position in the head of the mech, it looks to Adam like he could reach out and punch the spider crabs. The mech's arms wrestle with the crab, but can't get a good angle to use the sword to fend them off, so instead Adam braces his legs against it and fires his flamer into the face of the thing as he kicks off at the same time.

"Damnit!" Adam exclaims as he turns around, only to see the ships go up in explosions. "I'm not letting you get away with this!"

Adam charges right for Ascian, thrusters adding velocity to the speed he picked up from kicking off the bug. His attention turns back to the mobile suit... The bugs are more dangerous, but he'll be damned if he lets these people escape unharmed from this ambush! It's possible they even lured these bugs here! Adam swings the sword around, diving in right for Ascian, and holds fire until he almost slams into the Frame, at which point he swings the sword around, looking to slam the blade straight though the rear armor at the center torso. He doesn't know how these Orbital Frames are built, but it's likely they have the power core in the center, and Adam aims to skewer the center power of the machine in one blow.

The arrival of the Radam was definitely not conducive to Sarah's efforts here. Their psychic screeching has imposed itself upon the Newtype, making her focus drop and concentration falter considerably. While Sovi and her Guarlion have taken quite a beating, thanks to the large rifle for an arm, it hasn't hindered the Martian pilot completely.

Case in point: Despite having the front of her cockpit block all but obliterated and now exposed to the atmosphere of space, she still pilots as if she were at one-hundred percent. By the time Sarah manages to shrug off the Radam's mental distraction, it's too late: the Guarlion and its railgun strike a blow on the Woundwort, causing the ivory-hued mobile suit to spiral backwards through space after a large, localized explosion rocks it soundly.

Recovering as quickly as can be, the Woundwort gains its bearings, showing a rather nasty, half-melted scar upon its chest and shoulders, one arm having been damaged to the point of wiring and mechanics exposed and sparking erratically. Still, the young and painfully determined Newtype pilot just grits her teeth and focuses firmly on the Guarlion, arms tense as hell as she grips her controls.

"I'm not done with you yet!" she cries, punching the proverbial gas. The Woundwort bursts forward, propelled by the GN-T drives as the right, gun-mounted arm thrusts forward. The mounted rifle splits, exposing a beam emitter--and a claw, which propels itself outward, attempting to latch onto the arm bearing the railgun and /rip/ it off.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "Sergeant Packard, orders?"

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Thought so."

<Radio: C - Global> Divada Kirador transmits, "We're kinda busy right now. But if you leave you name and number, at some point in the future, we'll give a damn."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "My my, there is a vixen out there."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "And she has a nasty bite too."

<Radio: C - Global> Divada Kirador transmits, "So glad you approve. Now, if you don't mind. I have an operation to continue."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Can't talk and work?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Captain Divada, don't bother yourself with the trailer trash."

The Saviour moves fast, but not fast enough.

It isn't the first time in Alex Dino's life he's experienced the harsh realities of limitations, but it's no less hard to swallow when he sees those freighters go down. His gaze steels over, and a frown creases his lips.

"... At least the crew got free," is all he can really assure himself over. If only he were a little faster...!

Alex shakes his head, dismissing the thought as the Saviour turns around. If he can't save the cargo, than at least he can get rid of those damn bugs. Whatever they may be. The wing binders of the Saviour pivot about straight behind it; verniers open and vomit out gouts of propulsion that knock the Saviour out of its standstill and into full acceleration.

The red mobile suit shoots /above/ the swarm and past it before it abruptly about-faces and changes the direction of its wing binders, pointing them directly down towards the swarm. Only seconds pass before twin beams of bright green light from the Saviour's Super Fortis Cannons sweep like fluid bolts of emerald lightning through the mass, trying to destroy whatever of those creatures that it can.

Norris Packard realises the swarms, is huge, he tries to bring some down, with his ranged fire. He knows how many of them there are, as they slam into his machine. He takes some heavy damages as they slam into him.

"REMEMBER BIAN ZOLDARK!"

He yells over the comm, he slams into the bug, the Tempest Sword now striles gin and again. Heck he'll use a heat rod to try and pull the bugs closer. HE hacks slash and starts looking for anything that stands out from the grunts. There has to be a commander or pack leader in this mess.

~They are using pack tatics watch your selves!~

"MISSILE LOCK-ON DETECTED." Pings the Migarder's AI again. "Don't worry about it. Just keep the shields up and keep a lock on her." Oi replies to the AI, quickly hitting a button, activating the laser systems of the Migarder. "LOCKED ON." And then? Then as the missiles come screaming in, the Migarder fires a wide laser beam in return, likely taking out a couple of missiles, however, the vast majority impact on the Migarder.

"Migarder, status report." The Migarder pings in return, "ARMOR AT 78 PERCENT. ENERGY RESERVES AT 81 PERCENT. ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS ARE GREEN." Oi nods at the status report, resting his hands on the targetting systems. Waiting silently on his orders. "Begin charging the wide-array Laser Barrage." Oi says, the front of the Migarder beginning to glow in several places. He frowns slightly. Sitting idle too long will not be good for him. "Migarder, target the unknown aliens." Oi shifts slightly, shifting to a tightbeam transmission to Meiya. "The aliens are a priority target. I will not shoot at you for now." He closes the transmission after that, turning the Migarder towards the aliens.

"Migarder. Fire!" He presses the big red button, and there's a brief charge, before several large laser beams lance out towards the ranks of the aliens. "RECHARGING LASERS. PREPARING THE MAIN CANNON." Oi chuckles softly, nodding. "Excellent. We'll probably not be doing that though."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "Hey, hey you, hey, loud space guy."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "I'm going to find your car. And rub my butt all over it."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "I ordered the channel gagged. We have aliens to kill."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "I want you to know that."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Talking to me?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Shit, three of the A-LAWS units are after me."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "No, the guy who hates Earth people."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Oh him, yeah."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "I doubt he even has a car."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "Fine, his dog, whatever."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Attempt to shake them, if you can't flee, we'll deal with these things. Watch your self they re using pack hunting tactics. Keep your eyes open for one that stands out which is likely the swarm's leader."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "Ascian. The Migarder is still in good shape. If you need a shield, get behind it."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "If you can paint it, Mister packard, I'll hit it with the EOTI Laser."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "No sign of any apprent leader yet."

The initial strike by Briareos's catches Ascian off, the beam splashing right one one of the gigantic crystaline wings of the unit, cracking it and shattering a foursome of bits that formed that wing. Ascian is rocked heavily forwards inside of his cockpit as the unit is forced forwards, quickly met with the explosion of the unit which it had just destroyed.

"Shit, Duat! Disengage the Vector Cannon mode! Hurry!" The pieces of generated metal suddenly disappear, and the wings begin to reallign. With four less bits, four of the other side quickly shift over so that it can come to an equilibrium of eight on each side whilst the unit still tumbles through the wreckage of the two units, before Ascian finally manages to stabalize the unit with his combat computer's help.

"Vector Cannon mode, disengaged succesfully." It reports. "Took you long enough." The bluehaired man snaps at it and glares at the Vidwindows, as well as the indicator of Amenthes' status. "Damn, running low on ener~" - "INCOMING ATTACKS!" Duat suddenly places up not one, but two vid-windows - one with high-heat signatures coming in on the radar.

The Amenthes quickly rushes through the wreckage, leading /down/ underneath it and grabbing a piece of metal whilst it is at it and uses it for shielding as the gigantic beams off of the Minerva flash through space and evaporate parts of the remains of the transport. And just as the beam disappates, and the plate which Ascian had grabbed gets slammed through by Adam.

It was through sheer luck that Ascian managed to notice the blade it was holding and used the cover of a nearby floating living block as it comes swinging around. There... he notices dead bodies, floating about. A few women, a few children. CHILDREN!? Why were there children aboard a ship like that!? This was supposed to be a cargo ship - carrying supplies for the military. WHY were there children on board!?

He raises his hand to his mouth and suddenly is feeling sick... realizing that this situation was almost like Erika's a few days ago. Though he still could not quite realize what she must have felt, to have large quantities of dead bodies bump into her cockpit.

The Orbital frame continues to rush away from the transport and towards Oi Shinda's machine, as he is suggested to make use of it for cover whilst unleashing a series of plasma-bullets towards where Adam had once been, hoping that it might deter the guy from following him. He couldn't think of aliens right now...

Her eyes widen. The gun-mounted arm extends, and the claw bites down into the Guarlion's arm at the elbow joint, digging through the armor and severing servos and motors and all kinds of electrical connections. The fingers twist open, the Burst Railgun flipping erratically out of the Armored Module's hand-- and Sovi frowns, her gaze turning toward the Woundwort-- or perhaps straight into the machine's eyes.

The Guarlion attempts to break free, pull away from the grip of the claw, but Sarah's Mobile Suit is unrelenting. At full reverse, the joint pull of the Woundwort's claw and Sovi's flooring it causes the arm to break apart at the seams. She was /hoping/ the Armored Module would be able to hold out against the damage, but... this isn't exactly an Orbital Frame.

But... she's free.

"I apologize. I would prefer to not die in a /Guarlion/."

Both feet slam down on the pedals, the control sticks are rushed backwards, and the DCAM-006 Guarlion starts to blaze backwards through space, away from the battlefield. At a suitable distance, the Guarlion's ASRS engages, encasing the machine with a glowing energy field-- and then it's /gone/, flying as fast as it possibly can.

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite lets out a sickened sound.

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Hera transmits, "... Ascian?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "This is Lieutenant Reincam, I'm pullin' out."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Command didn't say anything about them transporting families on that damn thing..."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "hhmmm..."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Hera transmits, "... Families, On what things?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Suriel Misaki transmits, "So?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Tssk. This is nothing like the simulations."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Nothing is like the simulations, Mister Luddite...."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite snaps, "I know that."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Oh nooooooooos!"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Sovi Reincam transmits, "... The transport had civilians?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Alright, I'm over it."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Shut up Suriel!"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I noticed small bodies, guessing children."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Seems they did."

<Radio: C - Global> Suriel Misaki transmits, "ENTIRE CREW WAS BABIES?!"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Sovi Reincam transmits, "Someone run the ship's tags through the system. If we have any information as to why they were transporting civilians, I'd like to know."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Norris Packard transmits, "..."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "What?"

<Radio: C - Global> Suriel Misaki transmits, "The crew of the ships, were babies. What was there to understand?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I bet some commander was just being foolish and having their kids over... or something."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Something...."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "... What ships and what crew?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "That's gotta be it... it's their own fault..."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Norris Packard transmits, "Or they were transporting refugeees from earth."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Aliens die first. blame the twits later."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Hera transmits, "..."

It was to be expected that some of the humans would put their feelings aside once a real threat entered the combat zone. That was logical. What remained to be seen was if they could actually manage to drive off the Radam without suffering a loss of their real objectives. They certainly are going to stop at nothing to achieve theirs. A barrage of lasers knifes into the Radam formation, striking several of them in rapid succession as the beams sweep across their numbers. Several explode in large clouds of purple mist, their bodies shredded by the energies that ravage their chitin covered bodies. Others are merely singed by the blast, and these come rushing in towards the Ark Hammer like a swarm of angry space bees. Several of them try and land right on the deck of the ship, clawing and slashing at the hull as they try and peel back armor plating and burrow inside. The followup barrage of missiles from Meiya isn't improving matters either. Two Radam are caught in the blast, the explosions sending them hurling through space. One shudders and expires a moment later, unable to even move after such a beating, but the other gathers itself and coughs up a ball of acid to throw back in the purple haired pilot's direction. Adam manages to kick one bug off of him, but the swarm hasn't passed up a chance at this delicious meal - they continue to follow, the creatures screaming through space as they bear down on him. Alex unfortunately has hit upon a good point. As the frieghters go down, a sudden sense of awareness seems to ripple through the Radam. Several turn the moment his cannons begin to fire, responding with a barrage of acid globs, each one trying to melt through his armor. Norris' assault seems to be met with intelligence - Beasts scatter out of his path as he charges, and although he hacks one apart with several repeated strikes, the others remain tantalizingly out of reach, drawing him back away from the main portion of the fight. Other laser blasts lance out from Oi, cutting through two beasts, but others dive aside or curl up to shield themselves from the attack. The change in tactics is dramatic, and the Beasts begin to fan out, moving to circle around the fighting... the target being the freighters and their now more vulnerable crews, given that the main portion of the ships are gone. Deep within the asteroid field, a pair of red eyes flash. "It seems that an opportunity has arisen. Very well then - I shall direct this battle myself." Every Radam looks up for a moment as a single voice echoes through the hive mind. "I am assuming direct command." The Radam begin to swarm about, many of them no longer looking to fight directly, but instead seeking to break past the defenders to make a move on the freighters. And from deep within the asteroid field, there is a flicker of red light. And then... "You've dealt with my beasts," Evil shouts. "But now let us see how well you can deal with a true Tekkaman! CRASH INTRUDE!" The man-sized object suddenly disappears into a streak of red light, blasting straight into the defenders' formation. He slams headlong into Norris' GOUF, one hand held straight out as he seeks to deliver a massive kinetic blow straight to the torso joint. The red streak bounces off, spinning around and aiming to slam right into Oi a moment later, the Tekkaman leaving behind a blazing mantle of searing energy in his wake. "As for the rest of you!" Evil throws both arms out, the six crystal orbs, three on either side of his chest, crackling with energy. "PSIIIIIIII! VOLTEKKA!" A tremendous explosion of energy erupts outwards, the beams swirling about, first racing after Alex, and then crashing down towards the Ark Hammer. Each one is like a heavy cannon from a starship, enough to cause considerable harm to those struck.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "I believe....we have our leader."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Indeed, I'm moving in."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Anyway, I'm out. I didn't sign up for killing entire tiny crew."

Landing the claw onto the arm of the Guarlion with a heavy THUNK, however unheard in space it may be, Sarah offers no sense of smugness or pride as the arm of the DC-allied machine RIPS free of its mechanical joint. The Guarlion struggles against, backpedaling as it were to evade the Woundwort and any further assault. The Newtype frowns slightly at the other pilot's words--and that gaze.

Another 'hmph' escapes the young woman as the Guarlion retreats from combat. She watches the machine take off. Only then does the young woman's gaze filter back toward the battle. "I'm not finished yet," she murmurs to herself, surveying potential targets. Then--

"You'll do," Sarah notes as the rifle-bearing arm lifts. It doesn't point anywhere in particular, but its tip glows an angry shade of orange. When it fires, the beam seems to go nowhere--until it zigzags /back/ and angles itself at Ascian's unit, actually giving chase for some distance until losing its lock on.

It seemed Briareos was ignored from the strike and the Orbital Frame was on the move.

So then GN-XIII went chasing after the faster Orbital Frame, the lance then was reactived as the A-Lawed move quickly, even running off a piece of the fallen ship, which lead him into a sick sight.

"People?" He took noticed of the bodies. "They--" The GN-XIII looked right back at Ascian, "You killed Civilians!" Briareos roared out.

It seemed the cyborg was angry and he had plans to ram that lance now right through that Orbital Frame, "You damn bastard!"

Suriel between one asshole commander telling him to be less blood thirsty, and the other screaming at him to kill women and children, well... Suriel instead decides to say screw it and leave.

Flight mode is active, and without much fanfair and blasts off towards the pick up point.

That screaming continues in Erika's brain, pressing down on her consciousness and serving an irritating distraction. she tries to shut it out, but the wail keeps drilling into her mind. She flinches and shuts her eyes for a moment.

When she opens them again, the Radam are upon her. In rapid success, three Radam bugs slam into her machine from all sides, their fangs and acidic saliva melting away at it's armor. The buzzing worsens with proximity, "L... let me go you alien FREAKS!| The beam sword comes to lift and cuts two of them away. the third however is /pried/ off her mobile suit with it's bare hands-- then /hurled/ towards the newly arrived Tekkaman, "Take your god damn bugs and /go to hell/!"

"Target is fleeing, chances of pursuit unlikely," the targeting officer of the Minerva reports, as Suriel makes good with an exit. That vexes the Captain, who can do nothing but order that they redeploy their attention to searching for any survivors, while keeping a watchful gaze on the nearby alien threat.

Meanwhile, the powerful Tannhauser Cannon emerges from its gate at the fore of the white battleship, powering up, a wordless warning to those who should remain that danger is imminent, and annihilation a very real possibility.

Inside, the masked Cardpot drums his fingers, perhaps a touch vexed as well.

<Radio: C - Global> Tekkaman Evil transmits, "I admit, it is amusing to hear you aliens bickering over semantics. I am amazed that you survived so long."

<Radio: C - Global> Koji Kabuto transmits, "Wh--"

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Who you calling alien?"

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "Hey! Hey. Hey."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "Hey you, guy."

<Radio: C - Global> Boss transmits, "Shut up."

<Radio: C - Global> Kazuma Ardygun transmits, "Somebody who's not from around here, obviously."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "We survive as long as we do through poker faces, stubborn natures, and sheer iron will. Now go run off to another galaxy somewhere and please, don't leave behind a calling card."

<Radio: C - Global> Norris Packard transmits, "Ah, I admit clever tatics on your part. Your far smarter than the Balmarians."

"Blast it," Adam mutters as his target manages to evade and disengage. This one is made to maneuver in space, so Adam is at a distinct disadvantage as the frame pulls back, shooting more fire his way. He uses his beam-shielded blade to deflect some of the incoming fire, simply tanking the rest, attacks smacking into the thick armor of the Berserker. However, while the damage done is light, the attack serves its main objective.

However, Adam can't possibly catch up. Both because the frame is moving too quickly,because he's taking fire, and because there are space bugs that quickly close between them. "I can't let... Aargh!" Adam pounds a fist on his controls, before he moves to break off the chase. "Next time, we'll settle this."

His attention turns back to the more immediate threat: The space bugs. It looks like while he was distracted, some sort of command unit emerged. He can't see what it is, and it's a ways away, but he still moves to engage. "Hey buddy, why don't you come over here? I want to get a good look at you," Adam transmits as he fires his ER Mediums in rapid succession, cycling though his weapons as fast as possible as he closes.

<Radio: C - Global> Norris Packard transmits, "However, let see how you fare against my blade!"

<Radio: C - Global> Kazuma Ardygun transmits, "We also have a tendency to stop killing each other and focus on the bigger threats when they present themselves."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Duat reports, "I detect high energy readings from the battleship!"

<Radio: C - Global> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Man, I am with the alien on this one. Fuckin' all this arguing totally killed my murdering buzz tonight."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Probably did you a favor then."

<Radio: C - Global> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Shaddup."

<Radio: C - Global> Archangel transmits, "Make me."

When Meiya has launched the flight of missiles she turns her Windam around and accelerates back towards the traansport ships. "I won't let you!" The Windam draws out both of it's beam sabers, igniting them both as it comes flying past the Radam Spider-Crabs, slicing and swingin both blades to try and destroy as many of the Spider Crabs as possible before they can reach the transport crews.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Crusader Forces, clear firing line 427 mark 86. <<Essentially a straight line between the Ark hammer and Tekkaman Evil, as well as behind him>>"

When Briareos starts yelling at him, Ascian just feels more sick. "They weren't civilians!" He is convinced, or rather, has convinced himself of this. BAHRAM command would not lie to him! "And it's their own fault for accepting a mission from the A-LAWS! It's their own fault for aiding in the oppression of Mars!" He yells right back at Briareos. Does he really believe any of this? Or is this mostly the mental programming he's received over the years?

"Now stop firing at me, you lunatic! Your mission is over! You failed in defending the transports, go attack the aliens!" Is he really that dense? Does he really believe that just because he 'completed the mission', the enemy is just going to retreat? Has he learned nothing over the past many months of warfare and combat?

The Orbital Frame quickly darts to the let as Sarah fires her shots, and continues to move backwards and away from any extra shots whilst Briareos comes after him with that lance. He doesn't manage to get to Shinda in time for defense, so is left to do some quick maneuvering that ends up with his unit's right leg screetching as it scrapes against the side of the lance and sends the Amenthes into a tumble that Ascian manages to correct quickly... and to show that he has no intentions of going after /Briareos/, he instead sends a series of quick red orbs of 'fire' at the Woundwort - which had damaged Sovi Reincam's unit enough so - that she had departed from the combat theater.

Bright green pulses of beam fire ripple through space, burning away acid before it can touch the Saviour. The mobile suit, in turn, shunts further backward, trying to gain more ground. "With that many numbers, if I'm careless, they might overwhelm--"

And then, the Radam... start to flee.

"--me?"

Alex stares on in confusion as the insectoid abominations lurch past Federation and Crusader forces alike en masse. It only takes him a second before his eyes widen with the realization of what they're after. "It's the freighters! They're after the crew--!"

And it only takes seconds after the Gundam launches for the mass of monsters head-first that something tiny and crimson /launches/ past it.

"--What--?"

So small is it that Alex barely gets a good look before the human-sized Tekkaman unleashes a chaotic vortex of energy upon the Saviour. Its shield thrusts forward by instinct to intercept the blast, far larger than anything that size should be able to output. The Saviour strains against it... before the shield cracks and splits violently in twain, knocking the red mobile suit backward.

"What in the world is that supposed to be...?" Alex squints, a frown forming over his lips. It looks like those Sol Tekkaman that Katharon use, but--

Alex doesn't think about it. Instead, he just /bolts/ his Gundam backward for the Radam, even as the wing binders of the Saviour lock into place at its sides.

"Whatever you are... I won't let you do this! Locking on--!"

Before both artillery and beam fire unload in a hybrid assault of hypervelocity bullet rounds and burning green particle pulses, looking to tear through that exceptionally small, yet obscenely powerful Tekkaman.

They fight their way through the warrior beasts he keeps, hacking and slashing h his way against the bugs. But worse he heads things over the radio. His eyes narrow but he's got to keep fighting. His hungh about the bugs are smart, or there's somthing commanding them. They get out of the way, he gets one, but others manage to keep out of reach. This proves they are not mindless at the very least. But then comes the command it's tiny it's human size. It's comming right at him. Packed pulls off a high G move, avoiding a direct hit but the small alien rips part of his machine off still with that hit. Then comes enough firepower to make CB pilot droll, heck Trowa might want that but Packard readies his blade and launghes him self full force at his smaller foe.

"Your kind is the reason why the Crusade exists in the first place, now it's time to die!"

"My lady, Ion Cannon is fully charged" Divada Looks towards the Tactical display and nods. "Very good. Target the new enemy unit. Comms, warn all Crusader Units to clear a firing line." Divada says as she and Miranda begin walking towards the starboard side window of the bridge to watch the attack. The Comms officer opens a line. "All Crusader Units Clear Firing line 427 mark 86." Divada then flips down her holo screen. "Fire." A Blue beam is fired from a turret near the aft of the ship lances out towards Tekkaman Evil....

"IMPACT IMMINENT" Pings the Migarder's AI as the Tekkaman Evil comes flying in, impacting hard with the hull of the Migarder, causing major damage to it. "Ugh." Says Oi, as he holds onto the chair, the MIgarder shaking violently. And then his attention is taken. He looks towards Ascian. "Dammit, I don't have time for this." He shifts, Migarder's thrusters flaring to life to attempt to get between Ascian's suit and the attackers. The Migarder just isn't fast enough though.

So the Migarder shifts. "MAIN CANNON ONLINE." Oi nods slightly. "Perfect timing, my Migarder!" The man swiftly hits several keys. "Our target is... both!" He hits several target locks. "THAT WILL BE DIFFICULT." Replies the Migarder. "I don't care. Do it anyway." He shifts the Migarder suddenly, angling it to attempt to get both in the fire range...

And then the main cannon charges, a massive sphere of energy forming in the V of the Migarder's beetle shell. "MAIN CANNON FULL CHARGE." Oi grabs a pair of controls and pulls both triggers on them. "MAIN CANNON FIRE!" The ball almost /explodes/ into an extremely /massive/ beam of energy, aimed to consume Briareos and then fire for Paptimus' ship.

While informed on the new "situation" through communications, Sarah's mind is far less focused on Radam and more so on the people who were at fault to begin with: Crusaders. So, taking up her arms against the remaining Crusader-allied machines /not/ engaging the Radam. Or perhaps on their way to do so; really, Sarah doesn't care about their intent. Only A-LAWS'.

The assailed O.F. unit retaliates in kind, several shots fired at the ivory-unit. Lifting its arms, the machine shields itself--primarily vitals--from the incoming assault for the most part. Still, the damage is enough (coupled with Sovi's work) to pierce several holes in the armor and drop its guard. Sarah's lips pull tightly across her face.

Without a word the young woman just hoists its beam rifle and takes aim. The rifle itself splits down the middle, exposing a beam-emitter... which gathers considerable power before firing off a large, orange-hued blast of energy at the Frame. She'll take it out, damn it.

The Boys words echo, but it doesn't seem to solve the Cyborgs anger, it was even hinted in his voice and that GN-XIII just points at him, even as Ascian tries to get away. "There were Children onboard! What do you call that, Huh?!" The fist clenched tightly before the Gundam tossed it out to the side, "Were they also Soldiers of war?!"

The GN-XIII Then placed away the lance, before bringing out the Beam saber once more, lighting it up in front of his other hand. "Mission... like I give a damn about missions. You crossed the line, pal. This is for E-Swat honor and the A-laws... No../ For all of Earth."

That is when warning lights go off in Briareos' vision of the energy beam comes charging in his direction.

The GN-XIII lets out a battle cry, before he just charges, and at the very last second moves out of the way as the beam slides right past him.

His charge of attack... Ascian Luddite.

"Let me Teach you a few things about war, pal.."

Divada then watches the Aliens fly away and shakes her head. "Belay that order, they're running." She says over the intercom. "Helm, plot a departure vector. Take us out." She says as the battle seems to pick up yet again. "Fighter Squadrons, get a scan of some of those smalled 'bodies' before docking. Seraphim out."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Ark Hammer is withdrawing. Mission is already accomplished, no need to draw out the battle."

"Massive beam of energy detected!" the navigation officer states the obvious aboard the Minerva, as the Migarder unleashes on the white battleship. "Evade!" the Captain orders in typical Gundam fashion, only for something else to happen. The masked Cardpot pushes an override button. He pushes the 'fire' button' shortly afterwards.

That massive cylinder poking out of the front launch tunnel erupts in an even larger beam, streaming forward in a crackling surge of blue, white and red. It simply overWHELMS the approaching blast, destroying it mid-flight, before hurtling on towards the new target; the Migarder.

"Consider that a better tactical option," Cardpot quips, at the outraged face of the Captain that's directed towards him. In the meantime, there's one huge shot aiming to crush the beetle by wiping it from existence, one atom at a time!

"You're rather passionate. That's not a bad trait in a warrior, but you're going to have to try better than that if you think you're going to be able to defeat us. The Radam have need of your power, and we'll take it from you by force if need be!" Evil spins around, plowing through Erika's tossed Radam in an explosion of ichor and pieces of Spider Crab - clearly he doesn't care if his minions are shredded in the process of fighting. A single motion allows him to pull a lance from a port on his armor, and he slashes the girl's Gouf once as he passes by. Unfortunately, the rest doesn't go so well. He's definitely overextended, and there are too many of the humans around for him to avoid easily. Several shots come from all directions, blasting Evil left and right for a moment, and he staggers for a moment. "Tch. It seems that I've underestimated you," he muses for a moment. Part of him wants to continue fighting - and then another voice speaks. He nods once, in silent agreement with the other voice. The last blast sends Shinya flying, and he goes sailing off into the distance, a few chunks of armor flying off from the force of Athrun's cannons slamming into him. He rockets straight past the freighter crews, and the Radam all turn as one as their master is sent hurtling away from the battlefield. As Evil is hurtled along, he subtly adjusts his course as the Radam catch up, their bodies spreading out to shield him. The entire group continues to travel along, moving away from the battlefield. There is only one master to be obeyed here... and the Radam Swarm begins to turn slightly red as they encounter the first traces of Martian atmosphere. The entire group is plummeting straight towards the Martian Ocean far below, rapidly beginning to fade from view except as a large trail of red fire as they start to enter the atmosphere.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Track the decent of the aliens, once I'm repaired I'll go investigate."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Hera transmits, "Aliens?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "withdraw with the Ark Hammer, Mister packard. We have extensive repair facilities."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Duat reports, "They have left my sensor range."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "I... I'm pulling back as well. My head's throbbing from being close to those things and my suit isn't doing so well..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I... I'll pull out as well"

The Amenthes is being controlled extremely precisely, whilst Duat warns Ascian of another high-energy reading aimed at his unit. His gaze lays upon the unit he'd just attacked. He kind of whispers to himself; "Why aren't you dead yet..." But he knew, he knew that Orbital Frames were not 'the most powerful things' in the universe. Hardly. But he also knew that its framerunner, himself, was nowhere near good enough to take out such units with a 'single shot'.

Especially not as long as Duat was attached. Yes, he was in a mood to blame anything and everything that wasn't himself. The fact that his unit just blasted up, away from the beam however, leads him straight into the path of Briareos, who lets his weapon sweep. He tries to reach by blocking with Amenthes' right arm... forgetting it was still in rifle mode.

The weapon cuts straight into the arm, splitting it into halves before Ascian can properly react and move away from it. Leaving Amenthes with a pronged arm that is completely useless. Sparks flare between the prongs for a moment, whilst the unit keeps flying 'upwards'. Unable to rely on those weapons, the unit's wings suddenly release their set positions and turn towards Briareos' unit and let loose a massive rush of lasers, forming an octagon between all of them. He doesn't even bother to guide them, or to make them do weird things. After launching that attack, Ascian's unit turns and the unit attempts to speed away towards the BAHRAM Cruiser.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Norris Packard transmits, "Some of the alien beasts dropped towards Mars."

Ascian starts to try and get away, however that Orbital Frame isn't going to get that far. The GN-XIII Gundam dives right for the Orbital Frame, those laser blasts drive into the Gundam, ripping the armor apart.

Briareos doesn't stop, he doesn't even flinch. Instead the free hand of the Gundam grabs ahold of the Orbital Frame, before taking the assault rifle which he had changed out mid way in the flight over and presses it into the Orbital Frame.

He could shoot down. He could go directly for the cockpit. "Lesson one - Don't ever think the mission is over, till you are no longer in ground zero." Then opened fire, hoping his hold was good enough to rip the Orbital Frame in half.

Did he really just -- ... yes. Yes he did. His beam missed the first target, and this is immediately followed by another beam incoming. "BRACE FOR IMPACT." "Shields full power, we're not going to be able to dodge it!" "DIVERTING POWER." The Migarder basically curls itself up, folding it's wings and legs into it's body as the beam comes in, the shielding focusing on the front of the Migarder's hull as the massive beam comes in and -- utterly consumes the now-free-floating Migarder in it's awesomely powerful light.

As the beam fades, however... the Migarder is still there. Oi focuses on the Minerva. Attacking something of that side is almost suicide under most circumstances. The sheer damage output tends to not be large enough. However, Oi does not back down from this challenge. Immediately, the Migarder begins to fly up and forward towards the capitol ship, opening up again. "Migarder. We have our target. Lock on."

"MISSILE STORM READIED." Migarder's AI pings, as the missile tubes begin to warm up, hundreds of the missiles being prepared to fire. "Fire." The Missile Storm is aptly named, as hundreds of missiles fly out of the back of the Migarder, flying towards the Minerva to all attempt to rain down on the larger battleship! Each explosion is rather multicolored and beautiful. Not that anyone who's in the Minerva will be able to properly enjoy it, all things considered.

'Missing' was not an option for Sarah Zabiarov.

So, when it happens, the young woman tilts her head slightly, brows knitting lightly in response before she exhales in annoyance. Shaking her head, the Newtype turns her attentions away when the Frame goes after someone else. If he won't give pursuit, so to speak, she will simply focus her use elsewhere.

Like assisting in protecting A-LAWS crew and allies from Radam. So, turning from combat, the Woundwort advances toward the Saviour Gundam to assist where it needs assistance in the mess.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Hera transmits, "I can go investigate. I am still here in Base."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Shit shit shit shit... not the cockpit!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Hera transmits, "Eh?!"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite's radio goes 'fzzzzzzzt'.

"Shit!" Ascian turns his head back, as if he could see the enemy. But a Vid-window luckily follows his sight and displays the enemy grabbing his Orbital Frame. The claws dig in fiercely into the already damaged leg. He tries to pull the leg, and begins to turn rapidly, trying to get the GN-XIII to release him... then his eyes widen as he notices it is taking out the beam rifle.

His heart skips. He doesn't know what to do. The rifle aims upwards. "No way man..." The unit continues to shake, trying to knock off the balance of the weapon. But Briareos' skill is a definite presence. "... I don't wanna die..." He's practically crying. "I DON'T WANNA DIE, I FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE TO LIVE FOR!" He then shouts, emotions flowing from him into the Amenthes, and just as he thinks that things are about to end...

CRASH! A twosome of Cyclops units crash into the Gundam and try to grab for its arms. The rifle goes up and the blast /sheers/ across the side of the cockpit and along the torso upwards - fracturing part of the unit's core at its chest and ripping off part of its head. The sensors immediately are blown, radio goes out, everything goes haywire. The unit's controls spark, rejecting his input all of the sudden.

And for a moment... Amenthes floats neigh-dead in space, as the two cyclops units keep trying to remove the GN-XIII from the Orbital Frame, whilst another set has just arrived to try and pull the Amenthes back to the Jhamal cruiser.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Go ahead Hera, just be careful when you do. Sending Coordinates."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador proceeds to transmit the Coordinates.

The problem is the specialized paint; it's built to resist damage, and it shines in this instance. The response from the Minerva is immediate. Once the flurry of missiles is spotted, the Captain shrieks for countermeasures as the masked Cardpot puts a finger into one ear.

Tube after tube open, spitting out quick-fire darts that aim to lessen the volley; it works to an extent, the ordnance exploding in the dead of space, sending debris scattering in a multitude of directions. It doesn't prove enough however, as the bulk of the volley still gets through -- only to slam into that specialized armor plating. The damage proves considerable all the same. The hull is breached in sections, and an engineer running across a platform is lost in an explosion.

The ship is rocked, and the crew feels it, jostled about in their seats, some more bouncy than others. It's like an episode out of Seed Canon, right then and there. The battleship banks, aiming to provide cover for nearby A-LAWS troopers.

"Return fire!" Gladys shouts, again stabbing at the main view-screen with her long finger. The munitions officer responds, unleashing an absolute tidal wave of missiles, one after the other bursting out of the Minerva to leave a long white contrail in its wake. They are big, they pack a lot of firepower, and they're all hurtling for the Migarder.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Hera transmits, "... ..Right."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Hera transmits, "Just make sure that Ascian gets back ok, ok?"

The Cyclops come, the shot was fired, and Briareos satisfied for the most part, leaves the floating unit alone, however he swings the free arm of the Gundam around and goes for the head of the Cyclops attempting to crush it before jetting away.

He looks over to the damage Orbital Frame and the unit trying to pull it away. He thought of those words, 'I don't want to die! I have someone to live for!'.

... someone to live for...

The Cyborg just floats back, allowing Ascian to apparently live for another day. "... youth... unexperienced, naive, and foolish. Your lucky I am not a cold hearted bastard."

Then the GN-XIII takes its leave to mostly investigate if anyone needs assistance or any other targets that need a wake up call.

With the Radam in retreat or floating in pieces, the Windam deactivates it's beam sabers and places them back in their recharge racks. "Almost..." Meiya turns the Windam back towards the Divine Crusader forces again. "... Looks like it's just about over..."

"INCOMING MISSILES." Pings the Migarder watches the missiles incoming, and then simply grins. "Keep firing for a few more moments, Migarder. Let's shoot their missiles down." He says, as he idly adjusts the Migarder's shields. Just in case. You know. It doesn't work. Several lasers fire from the Migarder's hull to shoot down the worst of the missiles that are incoming, intent on making a hole that the Migarder can fly through the hole. "I'm not done yet." Oi says, pointing at the ship on-screen.

"Migarder. Fire the spear." He hits several buttons on his control panel, while the Migarder pings, "YES SIR. FIRING MISSILE SPEAR." The Migarder shifts slightly, presenting it's back towards the large ship. "SEARCHING FOR VULNERABLE POINTS. ... ... ... LOCKED ON." And then the Migarder begins to fire several volleys of missiles towards the Minerva.

However these plasma missiles do the strangest thing. They twist together into one massive, sharp-looking missile, which suddenly accellerates to much faster than the missiles were flying previously. The massive missile is aimed for the spot on the armor where the Missile Storm did the most damage to... and it would attempt to pierce into there. This would be followed immediately by the missile spear detonating, the intent being to detonate /past/ the armor, to do enhanced damage!

The Orbital Frame is finally let go, and is hauled away by the cyclops units. The Jhamal grade cruiser opens its hangar, receiving the Amenthes - the cyclops units dropping it within. In the meanwhile, the unit which the Cyborg's unit had crushed the head of, is kind of floating in the way, its arms spread. It is obviously being controlled... and not by just some random program. Blocking the way. Just in case.

In the end, the Amenthes simply lays down on the ground, its bioluminescence eradic. The cockpit opens, and Ascian is just kind of sitting there, yelling and crying and hitting the console of the unit, tugging and pulling on the controls. It takes a few medics to remove him from the unit, after which he finally calms down and just... kind of goes along with things.

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite turns a different Radio on, "I'm alright. What's the status out there?"

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "I am still on the field. I will be retreating momentarily, I believe, as it seems unwise to linger any longer."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Come back safe, Shinda-san."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "The Ark Hammer is away and fighters are recovered. Knight 4 took some damage from the Battleship's guns."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I'm sorry."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite hehs, "Next time, I'm definitely leaving command over to someone more experienced, until I am properly ready."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Ascian, command is making decisions like that. You're not going to like it and more likely, you didn't get all the info you needed...."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "The mission went off well."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite uuu-uuu. "I meant the sudden alien appearance. I froze up."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "Almost all objectives were successfully handled."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "The unknown factor was not something you were prepared to handle."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I think... that man was right. There is more to a mission than just its objectives."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "Yup. Always is...."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Oi Shinda transmits, "There is. But you need to focus on recovery."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I'll be fine. But I think the Amenthes will be out of duty for at least a good week. I think her core got damaged. Who knows what that may have done to her internal systems."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I am already docked with the Jhamal cruiser. They have Metatron on board. But either way, she will need to be moved to the NUT facility."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Divada Kirador transmits, "All right."

<Radio: A - DC Chat> Ascian Luddite transmits, "As for me... I need a rest after writing the report on this mission."

There's much teeth grinding and gnashing going on as the smaller battleship proves so very skillful at doing what the Minerva couldn't; taking care of business, or the missile flurry at least. It turns into an ever-growing battle of missiles, threatening to grow larger and larger, culminating with that devious strike by the Migarder. The missiles merge -- and plunge headlong towards the white battleship and its designated weak point!

The crew gasp in turn. The Captain gasps. The helmsman gasps. The first officer gasps. Flash Cardpot gasps. It's such an unexpected twist, yet the words of the Captain save them; "Evade!"

The helmsman snaps out of his gasp long enough to pull his steering wheel to one side, and the Minerva plunges, that massive missile glancing off of the thick hull of the battleship thanks to some improbable Coordinator angle math!

"I think we've provided enough cover; signal the retreat," the one-year-war vet states, and the Captain complies. Throwing down covering fire, the Minerva begins emptying everything it has, purposefully aimed to keep the remaining Crusade at bay. Yet its course is clear -- it is withdrawing from the field, signaling the retreat with three massive flares.

The missile was deflected. But you know what, the sight of the battleship beginning to flee was enough for the Migarder. It very suddenly turns up-side down, presenting it's rear thrusters towards the battleship... and then it's thrusters flare into life, sending it flying at full speed away from the battlefield, righting itself. The Migarder was not made to escape fast, however. Or move fast at all, so it would probably be open for any last-second shots from those who might want to get a revenge shot on the retreating missile bug of doom.