2011-03-06 - Operation Riksent

LITERALLY MINUTES AGO IC...MORE OR LESS

Katz Kobayashi pulls a gun as he rips off his fat suit disguise. "Shine Hausen! You won't be able to do anything without this!" Katz stands there in his Katharon uniform, opening the jacket to reveal the jewelry of Shine's mother, restored and in pristine condition.

Shine's eyes widen.

"Without this...YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE INTO FAIRLION PINK!!!" Katz eyes unsquint for a moment as he focuses on Shine, pointing his gun toward Latooni, bodyguard of Shine Hausen. "Your tyrannical rule will end here, Hausen! I want you to stop this war against Katharon or I will break the source of your power!"

Shine's eyes begin to tear up. "But... What are you talking about?!"

Latooni charges forward,tackling Katz to the ground. Katz scuffles with her, firing the gun repeatedly and clipping her in the shoulder. They continue to struggle on the ground with Latooni just about overpowering our hero.

"Stop it!" Shine throws an item at the two. "Stop it! Don't hurt Latooni!"

"I won't lose!" Katz yells before Latooni flips with him and sends a powerful kick into his middle. Katz stumbles back, falling backwards toward a window. He falls backwards through it and toward the ground....three stories below.

Katz's fall becomes slow motion as he stares up at the camera. He lands and the view changes to what it looks like if he was staring down into a barrel. "CRAP!" A shot is fired and his outline is masked by a red tint.

Katz Kobayashi In A MUSHwide production (The screen starts to fade into a black background as pastel shapes of Riksent with a gun slowly coming into focus.) Katz Kobayashi is Agent Total Zero In Operation: Riksent ( The opening continues with images of half naked women pole dancing on the horns of unicorns and various candy turning into guns and firing. ) With Camille Bidan as No. 2 (There is a outline of Latooni beating Katz over and over as the Katharon Logo hovers over and drops candy on the Riksent background.) Bright Noa as Queen's English (The Riksent Castle changes into a fist which fires upward to punch a Gundam. Katz's outline flies out of it and explodes into candy shapes.) Shine Hausen as "The Monstrous Dictator" (The Candy rains down on the sky, turning back to half naked women who form into a unicorn which rears back.)

SEVENTEEN MINUTES AGO

A quiet voice came on a radio on a very secure band. "Hello? I'm - sorry, this is Shine Hausen, my - Latooni's been hurt, this man has broken into my home... I am on Neo Riksent, we are safe but he is, h, he is starting," a wet swallowing, "he is making his escape and I do not know what he intends...!"

This word spread like invisible snakes through the Federal military network. Maximum security was applied - enough security that the word hasn't trickled all the way out yet. Why not sing it to the rooftops? Because deep in the minds of every regional leader, every factional opinion minder, there is that worry: If they think Hausen is dead by assassination, maybe they'll do something.

And standing behind all of their own inherent politics is Princess Sugarpops' large blue friends.

NOW

The Neo Riksent colony guard, using largely retuned GM IIs, has not been providing much interference. Intra-colony flying vehicles have been grounded, and a subtle ring of Mobile Suits now sits outside of Shine's palatial abode. The menace of Katz Kobayashi has not been shot at. He may well think he's gotten away clean; watchful eyes have studied him and whatever terrible machine he has somehow, improbably, snuck in through security. That is because the intercept point has been set...

... at the materials processing center near the airlock of Neo Riksent. Neo Riksent is a classical cylinder-type colony, reinforced from its former life as the host of the Gryps cannon. Most of the work there is automated, though given its new proprietor's predilictions, the former warehouse district has seen some charitable services, low income housing, and government services offices. Outside of the vasty airlock is, of course, the infinite void of space. Space, freedom...

... and either a getaway, or else the waiting arms of the Federation armed forces!

Meanwhile, at the Neo-Riksent shipping docks, the Valstork has settled in and the Valhawk is helping to move cargo containers out of the hold for loading onto an in-colony cargo train or the like; for all that these colonies are *designed* to be self-sufficient, you still get a lot of inter-colony commerce in foods, beverages, consumer goods (lots and lots of those) and the like. And the Valhawk has just put one more container on the train when Mihiro suddenly blurts out, "Eh?! Lockdown?"

"They WHA?!" yelps Kazuma, bringing the Valhawk back to its full height before twisting around to look at his sister. "What's goin' on?"

"Terrorist incident or something, they're refusing all flight clearances ..."

Kazuma's teeth grind quietly. "Here of all places ... Pops said anything?"

"Not yet," Mihiro answers. "But there's a mission offer flag."

"Get the details and provisionally accept," Kazuma says grimly. "And tell Pops that the cargo's gonna have to wait, we're not goin' anywhere in a hurry if they've got a no-fly order out." He runs a quick check on the Valhawk's weapon systems. "Let's go lend a hand." And with that, the Valhawk strides purposefully off to provide assistance to the Neo-Riksent security forces.

Max Jenius was actually turning in paperwork for a transfer when the radio crackled to life. Shaking his head, he scrambled to the hanger of the SDF-1 and somehow, launched from Prometheus inside of five minutes. yeah, this guy was fast. So inside of a couple of minutes after Shine Hausen sends out the distress call, a Blue Valkyrie does a bit of a speedy fly-over around Neo-Riksent. "Huh. I figured the Colonies out here would be a bit... bigger. Ah well. Time to look for this joker so we can shoot him down and I can get some ice cream."

Never a moments rest when you want it... Either you are doing something back in Olympus, being dragged around by your beautiful (but deadly) girlfriend, or outside working with the A-Lasws. This is what is going on Briareos mind as he is asked to come out and assist with a distress call. All before he has a chance to actually enjoy his soup, kick back, and watch a few movies.

Just his luck..

So here was the seven foot combat cyborg now out in space dropped off by a Federation Transport responding to the call. He was given some basic information, along with access to the airlock to get inside and a rough idea of the layout. It was a quick over view, so he have to hope the guys explaining had their crap together right.

He was operating a GN-XIII, one of those gundams he got to play with on another mission out in space; Thankfully, it was well within in his skill range.

The A-laws Gundam arrived and started to make his way toward the point he was told to go. He just had to hope that colony didn't have like some kind of auto-defense weaponry, or any fun little surprises.

Like Mecha jack-in-the-boxes!

..he hated jack-in-the-boxes.. Buuh.

Sparkle Pony Happy Time Shipping Co., LTD Neo-Riksent 12:34 - Mission Time

Thwip Thwip

A guard falls to the ground with a heavy thud, a well of blood rapidly pooling in his mouth gives way to a trickle down the side of his cheek.

"Come on," Admiral Bright urges his young Lieutenant, Rachel Miu Athha. He lowers his silenced pistol and makes a quick walk over the freshly deceased guard, the heels of his leather wingtips clacking softly against the floor tiling. His dapper choice of black space-tuxedo well complements the pink-and-gold cheongsam of his pilot-slash-accessory-to-murder-and-breaking-and-entering.

If looks could kill...

"We won't have much time," the Admiral adds as he crosses into a nearby office. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulls out a modified data cable with optical jack. "You'll need to break into to the file encryption and find any mention of money being moved into Trailer coffers. We'll finally have the proof we need to blow the Raven's Nest wide ope--"

And, as fate always have it, Bright's audience-informing speech is cut off by a soft beep from his wrist. He makes a slight face before raising it up. The cuff-link communicator flickers blue. "This is Queen's English," Bright murmurs softly. "Go ahead."

> "This is Red Jack," the operator on the other end. "We've intercepted a distress call from the capitol! Agent Total Zero is engaging the Princess! Federation forces are moving to intercept!"

"What!?!" Bright sputters. "Katz!? But.. how!? Damn it, with the Argama hiding in the nearby loading bay, we'll never be able to escape. We'll just have to scrub the mission and move to pull Katz out before retreating. Dispatch Suicide King and Spade Ten to the home. Pink Queen and I are en route."

The Admiral lets out an exasperated sigh. "Looks like the Trailers will have to wait for another time. Let's get to your Gundam and move."

 Red Jack transmits, "Suicide King and Spade Ten, Agent Total Zero requires immediate extraction from the Hausen stronghold. I'm uploading coordinates now! Be careful, you're fighting inside a colony. You'll have to distract Federal forces into space, or else we'll risk destroying the colony."

The sound of hydralics working overtime can be heard as a MWF-JG71 Raysta (the civilian model version of Morgenraete's Astray) works to move a crate full of equipment. Within the cockpit of the civvie model machine, Garrod sits, dressed in a worker's spacesuit. The idea is simple: Pose as a dockworker in order to provide support to the infiltration team should they need it. Any long as nobody screws this up, they'll be in and out with no one the wiser. Cue Katz Kobayashi. "What the... a lockdown? Did the team get caught?" Garrod feels a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomache. A feeling that is only reinforced when the call comes out for him to move into position. with a quick glance around to make sure no one's watching, Garrod slips his mobile suit behind some stacked crates, then pries a particular one open. Inside is a... charitable amount of military hardware that he helps himself to. "One day, things will go off without a hitch. Then the universe will explode or something, I just know it."
 * Somewhere in the loading bay of the colony ***

Shine Hausen's very swanky house has been broken into, her friend injured, very important family treasures stolen, and the perpetrator escaped. Unfortunatly for one Katz Kobayashi, a visitor was at Shine Hausen's home on Neo Riksent on business of an up coming ceremony.

The front doors of the house are pushed open from the inside, swinging them wide open as a woman's figure steps out. Long purple hair whips in the artificial wind of the colony as Meiya Mitsurugi narrows her eyes. "Katz Kobayashi... you will return what you've stolen.

She reaches down to the hem of her uniform skirt and takes the side in both hands, pulling it apart to rip up hte side, freeing up room to move. She begins running. Running faster then normal people realy have right to. Running right to the docks like some kind of super samurai.

Or the goddamn Terminator.

Nenai Illan has been stationed at Neo-Riksent, while she's been going over with several of the new aces that have been transfered to her ship. She still was proud to be on duty here, it ment at least to her she was being trusted given her status as formally hostile to Humanity as a whole. S but just what is going on?

Something's happened to Shine, and she's now heading for the docks her self, the lumbering form of the full size meltrandi in combat armor and bearing the markings of a ship captain is quite the sight. The Meiyanator is also indeed noticed by the giant as she enters the bay...

She reaches out the moment Bright pulls the trigger, but her hand fails to reach the Captain in time. Instead, what stings the back of her mind is a brief moment of intense worry and fear, voice that pleads out for any explanation as to what had just happened. Of course she would be chastized for her reaction, but Rachel Miu Athha is not the same scared and terrified girl that she was when she had arrived on the Argama.

Instead, her golden gaze steels, an obvious frown set across her features.

Even /if/ she has a pistol in hand, Rachel has not intended to actually kill anyone for the entirety of this infiltration mission. If she were a few seconds faster, the chances of this infiltration being a zero body count would have been well within reach.

Producing a small datapad and plug-in chip from her dress, Rachel quietly and sternly moves to the terminal in order to carry out her part in this mission, except then...

... Katz. An explanation all to himself.

The white-haired girl lowers her head a little, frowning... and after a moment, nods. "Yes, sir," she says in a pointedly harsh tone of voice. Turning away to tuck the hacking components back where they were stored, her weight shifts in the damn expensive-looking shoes worn on her feet... and she makes a break for it, along their pre-planned route of escape.

 Katz Kobayashi transmits, "This is Agent Total Zero! I'm about to make my escape!"

 Katz Kobayashi transmits, "My plan to get the Princess to surrender went...wrong."

 Katz Kobayashi transmits, "I think I shot the Gundam of Gundams."

 Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "You shot--"

 Garrod Ran transmits, "How did... what were... bwah?"

 Captain Bright Noa sound of hurried running in dress shoes, clack clack clack clack clack, "We'll worry about the details when we get there! Move it, Pink Queen!"

Without warning, suddenly a MSA-003 Nemo bursts from a warehouse. Katz clutches the controls, feeling his wrist with each slightly movement. Katz breaths heavily, looking toward the direct of the palace. "Shine Hausen. You have made one critical error! I still have your transformation gem! You can't fool me into thinking this is just some random jewelry! I know better!" Katz's loud speaker booms across the landscape, alerting everyone to his presence.

"I am Katz Kobayashi and I'm going to end this war once and for all! Even if I have to end your tyrannical rule permanently." The Gundam's audio systems boom across the landscape.

"Everyone! She can't change into Fairlion Pink so long as I have her pendant!" Katz announces over the loudspeaker... "Oh..." He switches to radio, cringing. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to say that part outloud."

 Katz Kobayashi transmits, "Awesome. With the Nemo on my side, I cannot fail!"

 Garrod Ran just... sighs.

If it were possible for a giant robot to spontaneously aprout an equally giant sweatdrop, Kazuma is *certain* that the Valhawk would look like something out of one of those old animated shows with a big ol' sweatdrop. "Transformation gem ... uh ... Mihiro, check me on this, but is there *any* evidence for what he just said?"

"Not that *I* know about," Mihiro answers. "Not even the 'tyrannical' part - I thought Shine Hausen was one of the better rulers in the Earth Sphere. And I know you did."

"Still do, sis." Kazuma shakes his head, detaching the Beam Shot Launcher from its mount and raising the longarm to take aim at the Nemo, clicking his mic over to external speakers. "Katz Kobayashi, huh? Do yourself a favor - shut down that mobile suit, get out of the cockpit, and keep your hands empty and where we can see 'em. You're not ending *anyone's* rule like this, grievance against Shine Hausen or not."

No new word has come from within Neo Riksent's manor, and the secondary seat of Federal governance (kind of). Even Meiya Mitsurugi, who was next on Shine's agenda after a relaxing little lunch with her bodyguard and BFF, has only been given a summary of the situation.

However, she's being updated by colony police. One of them turns on a feed in Shine's panic room/emergency escape pod. She watches. She listens.

She breaks down in tears after hearing Katz's words.

MEANWHILE

The Riksent colonial force authorizes payment to Kazuma, possibly with a comical ch-ching. The Mobile Suit forces have internal comm chatter to no particular end; they may be hoping that between Mitsurugi, Nenai, and Briareos, the Nemo can be brought down without risking damage to the colony or its environmental landscaping.

Briaroes makes his way inside at last and is moving quick even in the Gundam and heads right for the target area. He is using a combination of his own systems plus the Gundam's systems to navigate his way through. Even as the radio comes to life.

He can hear a void, something about 'pendant'. "Must be the 'thief'." He says to himself before he comes around a hard corner. He can spot Katz in the distance. Though if he wasn't sure if he could make the shot, but he /will/ try.

"You!" Briareos shouts out, "Hand over that Pendant.. NOW!"

Then the GN-XIIII opens fire as it runs, not wanting to use its thrusters unless he /has/ too.

EARLIER Staren catches a nap in his quarters in the Argama -- He'll need his rest for this evening's mission.

SOFT FADE OUT TO DREAM SEQUENCE Staren uneasily follows one of his neighbors from the Orb Union into the abandoned warehouse where people are gathering. The mind-controlled people won't listen, and being the only sane one in the room feels all too familiar. He chucks the bomb they've built out a window, and then flees as they chase him, before the MP Eva controlling them lands in front of him. "Oh, shit." It grabs him, and then... Katz leaps in from somewhere and cutz (yes, with a z, because it's cool, kidz!) the Eva to pieces with a beam saber. "Katz, you saved me... You... took the candy? Will you be alright?" "Of course! Don't you worry Staren, you'll never have to go back to the DC now!" "But I was never in--"

THEN Katz stares down at his hands. "Why didn't you TELL me this?!" Rabi, Staren's pet cabbit who in this dream is voiced by Dr Hell replies, "You didn't ask." Staren pipes up, "You know, it actually makes a lot of sense, if you're going to be fighting--" "I'M NOT HUMAN ANYMORE! Now I can never ask the girl I like out!" Katz bemoans. Staren sighs, "Can't you see, you care _because_ you're still human! And she won't because she won't _notice_! You look the same, you sound the same, you--" "NOT LISTENING LALALALALA"

FINALLY "There _is_ a way to save Katz," Rabi tells Staren. "There is?" The cabbit nods, and holds up a bag of candy in a paw. "All you have to do is take the candy." Staren swallows, and then nods, "I'll... I'll do it." And then out of nowhere Macua DYNAMIC ENTRIES Rabi. "No!" Staren shouts, "Why did you do that?!" But as he looks over, he sees among smashed robot cabbit parts...

an INANIMATE CARBON ROD.

REAL LIFE Staren wakes up. "What... What the hell did I eat?"

NOW

Staren sits in the cockpit of his Gespenst ('borrowed' from the Crusaders), which is itself in one of the large crates Garrod was helping move. To think such dealings were going on in the trailers... he wonders what Kazuma, Juku, and Macua will think...

And then that becomes no longer a problem. Katz is in trouble. ..._Katz_ is in trouble. Staren sighs. Why did he have to be involved in this mission? (It is left as an exercise to the reader whether that 'he' refers to Katz or to Staren)

The Gespenst Model II breaks out of its crate and runs out of the warehouse just in time to see Katz loudly proclaim that Shine can no longer transform.

"What."

Staren groans, "Please tell me this is another crazy dream..."

Now properly armed (with a Leo Drum Machine Gun, a Zaku II Heat Hawk, and various other odds and ends from the surplus military hardware store), Garrod and his civilian Raysta model leaps into action, arriving on scene loaded for bear and ready to help! Then Katz drops his Idiocy Bomb, and Garrod's mind just blanks out. "You... you /what/?! Katz, I swear, you are the biggest idiot I have ever known." Urge to Teamkill, rising...

Dash cunning!!

Pulling out a smaller wireless remote, Rachel immediately points it up at the hatch and clicks the button. The outer hatch opens, a zip-line with a foot hook dropping down to the floor. Rachel does not ask Bright to grab on-- she reaches out with one strong hand and /pulls/ him to the cable, clicking the remote to bring the pair back up to the cockpit hatch.

Getting herself situated in the pilot's seat immediately, the console swings up between her knees while the interior of the cockpit is plunged in darkness. Within moments, the panoramic display ripples around them while the young Lieutenant starts skipping almost every standard start-up procedure and buckles herself in with the seat restraints.

"IWSP start-up. Battery extenders engaged, phase shift armor functional..."

Rachel wraps her hands around the control sticks and inputs the tilt axis to aim upward... and then blows a hole through the ceiling with a spray of vulcan fire. Thrusters fire, and the Gundam ascends with a heavy lurch as Rachel is forced to make compensations for the sometimes-fickle nature of colony-based gravity.

The HUD on the main monitor tracks the start-up of the phase shift, scrolling up a silhouette version of the Strike Rouge from toes to head to represent zero to one hundred percent. The dull gray exterior of the Mobile Suit burns red before bleeding away into it's iconic pink and red, and Rachel floors it to catch up with Katz... and hopefully keep him from getting himself killed.

Meiya comes running into the docks just as the Nemo starts moving, and Katz makes his speach. Meiya's fist clenches tightly at her side asn she mutters under her breath..."Transformaiton gem?!"

She is going to have /words/ with Tessa about this.

Meiya looks around the hangar bay and runs off to the side. She swings over the railing of a cargo lift and rides it up to the level of the boarding catwalks and runs into a white and blue Mobile Suit. She slides into the cockpit and enters the start up code, closing the hatch as the catwalk swings away from the MS' chest.

The GAT-04 Windam steps into the center of the hangar, brandishing it's shield. "Return the gem at once!"

Panoramic cockpits make life easy for the unorthodox mobile suit passenger.

Bright hangs out behind Rachel's seat, watching the monitors display the world around them as the Gundam Strike Rouge jets toward the Hausen household. "Remember, we're inside a colony. We'll have to do whatever we can to pull the battle outside. Otherwise, we'll risk significant damage to the point of destroying the place! Whatever you do, don't let the Federals sucker you into making the wrong move."

Meiya isn't the only one who's going to have /words/. Garrod is getting a little fed up with Katz's... exploits himself. Unfortunately, they still need to fight their way free, or else the /entire/ Argama is going to be caught. That means overlooking Katz's stupidity for the moment to focus on the big picture. The Raysta's borrowed Leo machine gun snaps up and rattles off a quick burst of gunfire towards the Windam as it starts maneuvering towards cover.

"No way, War Profiteer! I see through your lies! I'm going to bring down this Kingdom and stop the war with Katharon! A guy like you wouldn't understand that. I'll fight until the end!" The young pilot yells toward Kazuma Ardygun, undocking a weapon and taking aim. "I won't back down! I'm going to be the hero!"

Briareos gets the drop on Katz with his attack from the GN-XII. The beam fires into the machine, blasting a plank of armor off. Katz winces. "Damnit!"

Katz blinks as he sees the large Zentradi woman, pointing a gun at him. "Oh. Crap." He quickly fires up the thrusters and fires repeatedly at the Zantradi woman. Beams fire in several angles as he attempts to get some distance He winces when he sees the Zantradi's shot hit the ground next to the Nemo. "Eeep."

When Meiya speaks, Katz narrows his eyes. "No way! I dug this up from Riksent! I spent money on restoring it too! So it's mine now!"

The Nemo fires it's Beam Rifle wildly, attempting to strike out his attackers like Rambo.

Rambo works good on people who are not sorta Rambos themselves. However when dealing with a combat cyborg who doesn't have a problem punching mechas in the face with no power armor over his body.

This type of tactic doesn't work against someone like Briaroes.

The GN Gundam moves in quickly and quickly steps to the side of one shot, then to the other and is moving super fast as reflects go. It would seem the GN is moving in closer and closer.

"If you surrender now," Briareos states, "We may let you walk out here with out any missing limbs, cause I don't think its taken lightly for attacking a princess." The GN Gundam then leaps and attempts to actually tackle the Nemo to the ground if possible, "So ready or not! Here I come!!"

Shine, in her bunker, feels a creeping despair. Is this house really safe? This colony? Is it even a home any more? She sits, near the comm gear, others having gone to tend to the business of state. It is a very solitary feeling.

OUTSIDE

As the Gundam launches and comes near the perimeter of the stately Hausen manor, a haystack shifts, revealing itself to have been a cleverly disguised GM-II. The occupant of it does not speak, nor do they have a great signature on the good ol' brain waves; instead, that pilot does what he, she, or it has been trained to do -- raising that GM rifle upwards and firing upon the Gundam, even while moving laterally, away from the house. Draw their attention.

Keep them from the princess.

 Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "Tch-- hang on!"

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Whh--"

"Wh .... *WAR PROFITEER*?!?" snarls Kazuma, abruptly livid. "Oh, you didn't -- ya know what?" he snaps, lowering the Launcher and latching it back onto its hardpoint as the Valhawk begins advancing on the Nemo. "I *was* gonna go easy on you. Even if *they* weren't. But after *that* ..."

The Valhawk accelerates into a run, not even bothering with thrusters, its footfalls rising from a steady clang to a rapid clatter of metal feet on reinforced metal decking.

"... I'm gonna plant your machine in the bulkhead and cut your cockpit outta the torso myself!!" Kazuma finishes. The GN-X is ahead of him, but its tackle misses, so Kazuma has a clear path to indulge himself - trying not just to grab the Nemo around its waist, but to flip it up, over, and drive it head-first into the deck in a giant robot suplex.

"Camille, weren't you supposed to be /watching/ Katz?" Since they weren't getting anywhere anytime soon, Fa deigned to resort to her favorite timewaster: breaking Camille's balls, "What on earth possessed you to leave him alone, anyways?!"

"I didn't think...he'd get into...that much trouble." Every said something you knew became more and more retarded with each syllable? That's what Camille just felt, "Okay, fine. But I don't see how any could've predicted Katz could actually get within spitting distance of the /Ruler of All Known Space/. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with the Federation?" We'll let Quattro field that one in some other scene. They seemed to have moved forward about an inch.

"That reminds me.." Fa delicately lifted a pinky to her chin in a way she hoped Camille would notice, "Since we used to live here, and it's Neo-Riksent now, are we like...subjects of hers or something? Can we appeal to Princess Shine for stuff?" Space politice was weird.

"I don't know, that crap makes my head hurt." Camille's fist slammed into the steering wheel without warning, giving his female friend quite the start, "God /damn it/ come on! Move already!!"

This.

This is how his allies behave, and that's okay.

But if you try to understand the universe, that is a crime.

Why is Staren with these people again?

Dr. Hell makes so much more sense...

...

Right now, Katz needs to be gotten out of there. Is he running away? No, he's shouting nonsense and firing a beam rifle _wildly_ inside a _residential colony_.

Staren pushes the control throttles forward. "Idiot! Dumbass! Moron! THIS is how you think a hero should behave?!" The Gespenst charges in, trying to grab the Nemo and pull it away. "If you want to live, get out of here with me NOW."

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Katz is surrounded, we'll need to disable the hostiles immediately!"

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "Screw that! THEY'RE the heroes here! We're pulling him out, if he focuses on running instead of fighting maybe we can make it!"

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "What?!"

The Leo machine gun's rounds rip into the Windam, tearing ot gouges in the armor and forcing it back. Meiya however quickly presses the weapon trigger for the head vulcans, sraying rounds back into the Astray variant. "Damnit, he has support!"

The Windam takes another step backwards and around a corner to get into cover. Meiya isn't too concerend about bullet breaching a colony hull, beam rifles however could pierce the hangar doors. It is for this reason that the GM reaches out to a parked GM and grasps the rifle from it's weapon rack, and pops back around the corner to fire a burst at Garrod's machine.

 Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Staren, disengage the battle immediately."

 Staren Wiremu transmits, "How could you put him in this situation, Admiral Bright? When I did something incredibly irresponsible and _didn't even get anyone killed_, I was brigged for a week. _Why is Katz still on the loose_?!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "I didn't put him in anything, you idiot."

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Now disengage immediately before you do something to endanger yourself and everyone around you!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Staren Wiremu transmits, "You let him stay on the Argama. You didn't set hgim in... we _must_ have holding facilities somewhere, where he can get help, talk to psychologists or SOMETHING..."

<Radio: B - Secure> Katz Kobayashi transmits, "Staren... I know you need help but now is not the time!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Staren! Survival NOW! Complaints LATER!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Staren, we're not having this argument. Disengage immediately. That's an order."

<Radio: B - Secure> Katz Kobayashi transmits, "We need to beat the Federation!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Staren Wiremu transmits, "..."

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Katz is an idiot, but this is live combat! we need to focus on staying alive and escaping!"

As the Mobile Suit cuts a straight line through the colony's airspace, Rachel takes a moment to hook her finger down into the side of her shoes and pop them off her feet. Setting bare soles against the pedals now, it looks like she's having a little bit of an easier time keeping the machine on a straight bearing, at least until...

... sting! Newtype flash.

Rachel looks over her shoulder, past Bright as the Strike Rouge suddenly spins around to face behind her. The shield swings up to defend the Mobile Suit against the impact of rifle rounds against the surface; some go high or low or just barely wide of the defensive equipment and strike the phase shield. Those sound more like dull thumps against the hull, but nothing more-- the pink glow acting as the zapper while the bullets are the flies.

"... that's not a standard GM... and he's not gonna let us go that easily."

Rachel tilts her head forward. Don't damage the colony... then it would probably be better to stick to melee weaponry and rely on the ability to put her enemies down without outright destroying the unit-- or killing the pilot.

The Strike Rouge suddenly cuts it's reverse thrust, the Mobile Suit darting /forward/, aiming to close the gap between them. The Armor Schneiders drawn and held in a backhanded grasp, Rachel rears both blades up over her head and aims to drive them into the head unit-- hopefully blinding the GM!

Nenai Illan says, "There's only one thing for idiots and fools like Katharon. Death, your going to kill the rest of your species with your childish STUPIDTY!"

Nenai isn't fast enough to avcoid the beam rifle shot, fullyu the blast just melts through he armor had she not tried to move she'd likely be a corpse she's hurt. Yet? She keeps going and pulls back for a bird like mecha. The hatch opens nenai climbs in and it hisses shut.

"Nothing but a thief."

The machine moves in avoiding using it's heaciler laser on the back but it is moving in to smackl the Nemo up close with those derringer(sp) like arms.

DAKKADAKKADAKKA--CLUNK. Well, that's not a good sound. Maybe getting a weapon from the surplus store wasn't the best of options. With his drum machinegun jammed, Garrod stops firing and tries to get his gun unjammed. When that doesn't work, he does what any sensiable person would do with a gun that doesn't work: He throws it at his opponent. By some miracle though, jammed gun intercepts beam shot, consuming the machinegun in a small explosion. unfortunately, this means that Garrod now no longer has a gun and his foe does. Thinking quickly (and with a bit of desperation), Garrod grabs the nearest crate and uses his mecha's horsepower to lift it over his head, before /throwing/ it at Meiya. The crate breaks open upon impact, spilling out an entire shipment of stuffed plushies onto whatever it hits.

The Nemo quickly swings to the side as Briareos's Gn comes in for a flying leep. Katz narrowly avoid the tackle, steadying his machine. The pilot breaths heavily, caught unaware by the Valhawk. Katz' eyes widen as he suddenly finds himself victim for a supplex that threatens to wreck his AEUG machine. THe Nemo quickly raises it's arms to try to keep it's head unit from being smashed. The impact makes the arms almost buckle. Katz can already tell that the arm's motors were bent and going to be a lot slower in reaction time.

"I won't let you! I'm going to be the hero! I'm going to save Katharon! I won't let you or your pirate legions stop me. So loosen up your pantaloons, buddy! I'm going beat you and that parrot you keep talking to." He means your sister, Kazuma or whoever you were on the radio with. "Haha! Everybody knows it is harder to pilot when you have a hook for a hand! Your time is at an end, Trailer Pirate"

As a note: Yes, Katz Kobayashi actually thinks the Trailers are all extras from classic pirate movies. Yes. Pantaloons and everything.

Nenai's smack knocks the Mass Produced unit backwards, tumbling it over into the Strip Club that was Camille's house. Camille gets a shot of his former home crushed....again. Way to make friends, Katz.

The Nemo rises up and raises it's Clay Bazooka, aiming at the Valhawk. "WHO IS LAUGHING NOW, PIRATE?!"

Unfortunately for Camille, his home and Fa's were probably nationalized by the Titans and razed to establish some kind of spacenoid death camp before Shine conned the colony out of Paptimus Scirocco. As such, their land may be reclaimable in the courts, but their houses are gone... forever*.

THE SAFE ROOM

They've shot Nenai, Shine thinks. She buries her face in her hands.

THE SURFACE

The GM rises upwards after Rachel. This is rather non-descript; the machine throws up an arm in order to keep its head components from being blown the hell up, which means instead its arm gets blown the hell up. The GM's head turns to watch the arm falling with a MS posture best described as 'dull surprise'.

It accelerates after Rachel nonetheless. Acceleration which is complemented by the ultimate weapon available to the GM series.

HEAD VULCANS

(*- Camille owes 2,102 bison dollars in back taxes)

"Gugggh!" Bright groans as Rachel performs evasive manuevers. "What--, what the hell has gotten into Staren!?" he asks rhetorically. It's just Sunday, after all. "Katz is outnumbered. There's no way he can take on that many enemies at once!"

All of a sudden, Katz's Nemo whallops the shit out of the Valhawk.

Bright makes a thoughtful face. "..Rachel, you'll need to blitz through this enemy as quickly as possible! We need to break through to Katz!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Katz, hang in there!"

Briareos misses and lands down on the ground, he slides a bit thanks to this near miss and grumbles softly. He lifts himself up to watch everyone following his lead.

Good.

Last thing they needed to do was put a massive hole in the colony and this loon was going to do just /that/ if they didn't do something quick.

The GN Gundam pulls out the beam saber before he goes back into the fray, he watches the blast impact the Trailer unit, but he quickly moves, before attempting to slash the blade for the Nemo in one direction, "Do you even care for the civilians," Slice the other way, "In here?" Then attempts to slash again.

It seems his aim was to try to either take out the arms or the knee joints. Briaroes was indeed trying to immobilize the Nemo.

"People can die because of you!"

This is a *populated area*; Kazuma knows better than to just dodge - the Valhawk's shield is quickly raised, but the Clay BAzooka's blast slams into the Valhawk, knocking it flat on the ground again.

"Pirate?!" snarls Kazuma as he kicks in the Valhawk's thrusters, helping push the machine back to its feet as he stows the shield again. "You ... called me a *PIRATE?!*"

All Mihiro can do is try to calm her brother down - and Kazuma's not having it. Too many of his buttons have been pushed in too-rapid succession, his blood is up and he's *pissed* at the idiot.

"FOR THAT, I'M GONNA RIP YOUR MACHINE APART, PLUCK OUT THE COCKPIT, AND SELL THE SCRAPS ALL OVER THE EARTH SPHERE - AND GIVE THE PROCEEDS TO SHINE HERSELF!!!" roars Kazuma - and the Valhawk charges again, eschewing its weapons in favor of simply brutalizing eleven kinds of hell out of the Nemo with fists, feet, knees, elbows, even a headbutt if the opportunity presents itself.

Piloting a Mobile Suit is something that comes naturally to Rachel-- be it her cloudy past that gives her this talent, if it's something truly innate, or a skill picked up through her countless battles, it's still something that requires a degree of focus... focus that is a little harder to achieve when Bright Noa is literally right over her shoulder. Quattro did something similar once, but the results were a little... better.

Accelerating and seeking to close the gap between the GM and the Strike Rouge even further, the pink Mobile Suit reaches to the large white handle that sticks out atop the upper end of the shield. Yanking it free and lashing out in a striking motion, the hooking, boomerang-shaped blade of energy swings at the GM to little effect; bullets continue to rain and impact against the Phase Shift armor.

"... then hold on tight, Captain!"

Reaching under the left arm, the Mobile Suit's hand grips the handle of one of those twin anti-ship swords sheathed on the IWSP pack. Rachel whips the blade around for a single strike at the legs just above the knees... and then the entirety of the machine whips around at high velocity, spinning in place while the blade flips over--

-- and aims to crack the GM in the "ribs" with the blunt side of the sword!

Piloting a Mobile Suit is something that comes naturally to Rachel-- be it her cloudy past that gives her this talent, if it's something truly innate, or a skill picked up through her countless battles, it's still something that requires a degree of focus... focus that is a little harder to achieve when Bright Noa is literally right over her shoulder. Quattro did something similar once, but the results were a little... better.

Accelerating and seeking to close the gap between the GM and the Strike Rouge even further, the pink Mobile Suit reaches to the large white handle that sticks out atop the upper end of the shield. Yanking it free and lashing out in a striking motion, the hooking, boomerang-shaped blade of energy swings at the GM to little effect; bullets continue to rain and impact against the Phase Shift armor.

"... then hold on tight, Captain!"

Reaching under the left arm, the Mobile Suit's hand grips the handle of one of those twin anti-ship swords sheathed on the IWSP pack. Rachel whips the blade around for a single strike at the legs just above the knees... and then the entirety of the machine whips around at high velocity, spinning in place while the blade flips over--

-- and aims to crack the GM in the "ribs" with the blunt side of the sword!

The crate sails through the air, and Meiya dodges back into cover just fast enough that the offending shipping contianer can only bounce off it's shoulder, breaking apart as it spins through the air and releasing it's load of soft cuddly collectables all across the battlefeild.

Meiya's head turns to look for a moment "B-bunnies...?" She shakes her head as if to clear it. "Stay focused..."

The Windam comes running back around from cover and leaps towards Garrod's Astray knockoff and reaches down to grasp hold of it's beam saber, igniting it as it swings the plasma blade across horizontaly at Garrod's head.

"Oh, at least Staren is trying to help!" Fa attempted to put a positive spin on a rapidly decaying situation, but even she could tell she was reaching.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see what Neo-Charlie Sheen is going to bring to this cr-FUCK!" Camille decked instinctively as the mobile suit crashed into the strip joint not far behind them, tacky 'LIVE NUDES' sign and all, "My house...again!!"

"Good riddance." Fa mumbled under her breath, which Camille didn't really hear because he never actually listens to Fa.

"That's the fucking line." Camille stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs, "HEY IDIOTS, IT'S SUNDAY! THERE IS NO RUSH HOUR!"

Suddenly, the road was clear.

"Camille..." Fa could scarcely believe her eyes, "How did you do that?"

"Do I look like Koji Kabuto to you?" The Zeta pilot spoke with harsh annoyance as he sat back down, pulled a pair stylish shades from the glove compartment and donned them, "I'm the goddamn newtype."

"You really you should stop taking Captain Quattro's shades." Fa was suddenly unimpressed, "They look really dorky on you."

Rubber screamed as the jeep tore ass for downtown, and the fallen Nemo.

"What're you going to dooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Bright yelps as the Strike Rouge lunges forward. The sheer force exerted on the mobile suit sends the Admiral flying forward, slamming into the back of Rachel's piloting chair.

THUMP.

"..nngh.."

Bright groans faintly, his hands flexing around something ample and soft. Faintly, he wishes he could've had his face slam against that rather than a rigid pilot's chair.

He at least squeezes along with a sigh of relief. "I didn't realize these Morgenroete models came with interior cushioning... if only it were a bit more all-round. Amazing material, though. They feel just like br--"

Bright glances over Rachel's shoulder.

"Oh.../what the hell/.." Bright immediately blanches, his hands atop his young Lieutenant's cheongsam-clad chest the entire time. He immediately lets go and jolts toward the back of the cockpit cavity, his hands shaking at the wrist as if he could try to air out the sensation of accidentally groping Rachel's chesticles.

"Rachel, for god's sake, tape those down or something!"

The GM is slammed hard enough to jar its armor plating, one of them cracking visibly as it draws back several dozen yards -- one arm managing to fumble loose its beam saber. The weapon ignites...

... and is then held still, the pilot apparently faltering.

IN THE BUNKER

Shine sobs into the radio, "Don't - don't any of you get hurt, I don't want any of you to... Just, just let them /go/ I don't care about what they took!!"

IN THE AIR

The GM stays warily clear of the Gundam. It makes no particular attempt to communicate with Rachel "Hooters McGee" Miu Athha, though it does look very disapproving. Rachel may have time to notice that it has a very detailed paint job, though it seems to be impaired by the exploded and largely detached arm.

Oh crap, here she comes! With the reflexes of a paranoid mongoose, Garrod ducks his Raysta back as the tip of the beam saber flicks past, seering into it's faceplate and giving the civilian mobile suit a kind of creep, molten smile as Garrod instinctively punches the Windam. The punch is more to buy him some time than any serious attempt to damage the military machine though. he just needs a little space so he can pull out another discount bargain-bin weapons. In this case, a Zaku II Heat Hawk. The blade of the ax glows bright orange as it superheats it's cutting edge. A cutting edge that Garrod merrily attempts to introduce to the Windam's face.

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Garrod, what's your status!?"

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Tangled up with a Windam, but I'm still in good shape!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Just remember, we can't risk any explosions inside the colony!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "One missed shot or blown reactor and this entire place goes up!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Don't worry, this thing doesn't come with anything that explodes except... uh... itself. *sweatdrop* I'll make a mental note not to die though."

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Right!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Katz Kobayashi transmits, "Ack! Going down!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "Captain, the GM seems to be breaking off. Our best bet at this point is to make sure our pilots are clear and then escape straight through the industrial dock."

<Radio: B - Secure> Katz Kobayashi transmits, "I did my best!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Camille Bidan transmits, "No need, Fa and I are headed Katz's way"

<Radio: B - Secure> Camille Bidan transmits, "The rest of you should get out of here."

<Radio: B - Secure> Rachel Miu Athha transmits, "Understood."

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "It's about time you showed up, Number 2!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Camille Bidan transmits, "Sorry about that, we got caught in traffic."

Nenai has been called off by the princess prehaps it's a good thing, at lest it looks like that. However she sees that there are those who are not giving up are still likely free fire targets. She turns away from Katz's machine.

"So more huh? FINE YOU IDIOT MICRONIANS GET WHATS COMMING TO YOU!" She stars moving in on one of the katharon machines who are remaining.

Briareos' Beam Saber is almost blocked by the Nemo's beam saber. However, the attack manages to cut off the right arm. It falls harmlessly to the ground, leaving the Nemo almost defenseless. Katz winces as he struggles with the controls. "Come on. Why is this so hard for me?! I need to help! I'm so close to making Bright and my dad proud of me! Please, Nemo!"

And then Kazuma's machine starts the beat down. The Nemo has armor torn clean off. The weapons go right after. All Katz can do is fire the Vulcans to temporarily blind Kazuma and crash land the Nemo.

The Nemo manages to fly toward a building a few blocks away and crash-land. The wreckage lays dormant as smoke comes from it.

The pilot quickly ditches the mobile suit and heads toward a back exit, keeping out of sight.

Since the world knows what Katz Kobayashi looks like---In fact the news was currently playing a story with a picture of Katz Kobayashi from a file. It was of Katz looking at the camera with a scared look on his face. In his hands was a extra long hotdog and a smear of mustard on his chin. Due to a flash, Katz had red eyes. The report cited him as Celestial Being's mad dog and an enemy of the state.

For this reason, Katz put on another one of his disguises. As Camille's jeep pulled up, a blue haired boy runs toward it. "Camille! We need to abort!! Damnit! The Federation is too strong." He didn't look anything like Katz....Actually, he was wearing Camille's stock outfit and a blue wig. He was essentially in Camille cosplay only with squinty eyes. "Oh and don't use my real name. I'm Camilla Fridan until we get back to the Argama. Oh...right." He makes a sour look that attempts to look like Camille...It comes out more constipated than anything else. "Come on. We gotta go!"

'Look at how bountiful she is~! Look Leo, aren't they amazing?' Healing Care took two large handfuls right in front of Leo Stenbuck in the young man's office. It was done to irritate the hell out of Leo, or just get a reaction out of him-- but then, the only response that came out of Ralla Triald was a dull and monotone, 'Captain, this is uncomfortable.'

The safety straps that keep her rooted to the cockpit seat provide at least a little padding to the wandering hands of Bright Noa, but it seems like the white-haired girl has barely taken notice that her personal space has been so intimiately violated by another. Her attention is focused forward-- on the GM, as it seems like it's had a rather sudden change of heart.

As she turns away from the customized GM and bolts for an escape route-- Camille and Fa were set to rescue Katz-- she glances back at Bright after his loud proclamation with a look that shows nothing but absolute, pure, one hundred percent honest to god innocence.

"Is there something wrong, Captain?"

It's roughly around that moment that the IWSP's thrusters reach their peak efficency, adding an extra shock of speed to the Mobile Suit's flight. "We'll be out of here in another minute and a half if we don't run into any other trouble..."

Staren decides to yell at Katz to leave and then try to just block the attacking EFA, when Katz is suddenly dealt with. Okay, apparently Katz has been picked up and they are _getting out of here_ like sensible people. Staren's Gespenst turns to do the same, high-tailing it out of here. With any luck, the EFA will be too confused about which side he's on to pursue, since he tried to grab Katz.

It's a look that makes Bright sick to his stomach. He pauses to listen in on the chatter over his cufflink communicator and frowns slightly. "God, what was I thinking about letting these maniacs aboard my ship? Maybe Cagalli was right all along about these Trailers." He lets out a breath of air and shakes his head at Rachel. "Nothing, let's get out of here. I'll have Garrod pull out and make a break for it."

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Garrod, we're leaving."

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Good call. I don't think i can take on all these guys with just this civvie machine and a crate full of suplus guns."

<Radio: B - Secure> Katz Kobayashi transmits, "Captain! I managed to get into a disguise and met up with Camille! We'll be home free"

<Radio: B - Secure> Captain Bright Noa transmits, "Good, let's get out of here."

1

The jeeps pulls up to the Nemo's crash site. Camille stepped out and slammed the door shut with extra force.

Fa grimaced, this didn't look good.

2

Katz approached in a ridiculous outfit, yelling something retarded. the alone was probably enough to provoke what came next if the Newtype wasn't already there.

3

Camille's fist sailed through the air with all the might of a FALCON PUNCH!!!! as soon Katz was in range. No words, no argument, not bullshit.

Also he did this still wearing the shades.

Heat Hawk, Face. Face, Heat Hawk.

The bargin bin weapon of the Raysta does it's dollar ninty-nine job, driving the Windam back yet again.

The second beam saber is quickly drawn and attached to the first, both blades igniting in the Windam's hand as the spin in it's hand.

The Widnam leans in, rushes forward. It's face is half melted with the heat hawk still stuck in one side with it's other side's optic still glowing like some kind of horror movie mosnter.

Meiya goes straight for what would be the total windmill beam saber eviciration of the Raysta, but before she can even beging ripping off one of Rom Stol's attacks, the Windam stops dead in it's tracks.

The beam saber point is only ahlf a foot away from the Raysta's neck, just close enough for the paint to buble and warp.

"The pricess has given the order to let you leave. I advise taking the oportunity."

Briareos does what he needed to do, however Katz sorta--

Vanishes.

"Shit.." He then runs down in that direction, before attempting to try and locate where Katz went too, "..come on.." He then parks the moble suit, before the Combat Cyborg leaps out and those white-blue four optics flicker before they change to red, attempting to use a filter to help him track down just where his target may have run off too.

"..damnit.." He mutters again as he walks gently, not able to locate till well..

He just walks in the direction he thinks is the right way.

This means, he may be walking for some time, or will find the jeep already gone.

Alas, he can't keep his /full/ word, but at least the colony was safe, right?

"Gah!" yelps Kazuma as the vulcans go off in the Valhawk's face, sending his visual monitors on the fritz until Mihiro can reset the connection. Immediately, Kazuma looks for the Nemo - and there it is. "There you are ..."

The way the Valhawk is very nearly stomping as it approaches the fallen mobile suit is probably deliberate on Kazuma's part, and he leans down to make good on the rest of his threat - ripping at armor, moving other components aside, and extracting the cockpit block.

.... the *EMPTY* cockpit block, now - Katz got out before Kazuma could get to thet Nemo, and Kazuma lets out a brief, sharp sigh of annoyance. Plus he hears Shine's plea not to get hurt - not that he's too worried about *that*, but there's one more problem: unless Kobayashi had another mobile suit hanging around? He's on foot. Or in a motor vehicle.

And the Valhawk is, to put it succinctly, not equipped to capture a human on foot or a civilian motor vehicle, unless he wants a bunch of toasty corpses. Which, to put it just as succinctly, Kazuma *doesn't* want.

"Good thing she doesn't really need a gem or something to transform, huh," Kazuma grumbles. "All right. Mihiro, tell 'em 'mission accomplished' and file our claim for salvage rights. I gotta get this wreckage back to the Valstork and figure out how to sell it. Gonna have to keep an eye on the news ... see how they spin it, and word the offers appropriately."

It's also occured to him that Kobayashi *might just* be willing to buy an important piece back in exchange for the nicked jewelry. It's worth looking into ...

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "OH CRAP!"

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "..."

<Radio: B - Secure> Garrod Ran transmits, "Wait, I'm not dead yet."

1. Katz/Camilla is happy to see his best friend. Despite his Newtype senses confirming potential danger from Camille, Katz ignores it.

2. Katz actually tries to hug Camille, bending into the punch. This makes it hurt ten times worse when it impacts his face. His eyes go wide as his jaw shifts to the side in his mouth. He feels spit come running down his face. "Ugh."

3. Katz doubles over in the jeep. He meets eyes with Camille, looking about as innocent as someone who started an international incident can look. He coughs violently, clearing his throat. "Stop....hitting.....yourself." The Camille cosplayer, Katz Kobayashi, says as he flops over Fa.

Fa caught the unconscious Katz with all the feminine grace she could, oofing some under the youth's burden, "Was that really necessary?"

"He's done more to damage to Katharon than any of the people we've been trying to fight against." Even the power of Quattroshade couldn't filter Camille's utter disdain, "I have a feeling this is it for him, unless Captain Bright has finally gone insane. Stuff him in the trunk."

Moments the later the Jeep sped away, intentionally taking the bumpy, unpaved road to the rendezvous point.

Shine, now that the threat seems to be passing, curls up and hugs her knees, feeling like she's shrinking into the faux-antique chair she's been sitting in. She wishes she had the silly chair she'd gotten when she was a little girl, the one father had ordered, the one like a big fat rabbit with armrests you could hug yourself with.

But that chair, of course, is gone now, turned to ash by implacable alien energies motivated, not even by rage, but by strategic and political calculus. Not for the first time, Shine regrets proposing that Latooni enter the Gundam Fight; had she not, then they would not be where they were today, and she would not be so acutely alone.

When Bright gives the word that they're pulling out, it's like music to Garrod's ears. This entire mission has been a clusterfuck thanks to the actions of one deranged, mentally retarded Newtype boy, and he'll be glad to go home and sleep it off. There's just one problem: Meiya 'McSwords' Mitsurugi. When Meiya comes charging in like a whirling dervish, all Garrod can do is loudly exclaim "OH CRAP!" and shuts his eyes, expecting a violent crash and intense pain. Neither comes, and after a moment, Garrod opens his eyes and sees meiya with a beam saber to his throat and an ultimatum. "Right, I was just leaving..." n_n; As a sign of good will, the Raysta drops all it's assorted bargain bin equipment and takes a step back, arms raised in a 'please don't kill me' sort of way. Once far enough to be out of blenderizing range though, he turns tail and just fucking /runs/.

"Camille, what's wrong?" Fa's face was framed in concern, all his social missteps of the day suddenly forgotten, "You look upset."

"Do we end up alone no matter what we do?" The newtype spoke without looking at his friend, gazed fixed on the tint of his shades in the rearview mirror, "I hate being on this colony. Lets never come back." There was something in the damned air.

"Camille..." The Argama's resident mother figure wrung her hands in feminine distress, having no words to soothe this sudden existential crisis, "..there's a pretty big dip in the road, maybe you'll feel better if take it extra hard." Her hand raised up to her mouth, faint blush on her cheeks.

"Yeah.." Camille manages a soft smile, missing the entendre, "Maybe."