2011-01-25 - Smackdown

The first mission that the Alpha Numbers are being deployed on is not very glorious, not likely to make the history books, and in cooperation with other forces.

Lieutenant Arado Balanga -- his new rank pending the final organization of the Numbers -- descends from up high, in the Wildwurger. The machine is coming down towards a Killer Whale-class submarine that is moving through a deeper channel until it catches the trap. There is a hard lurch underwater, as the several ton ship slams into a steel composite cable net.

"That's our cue," Arado says to the other Numbers, A-LAWs personnel, and allied forces present. "Let's get 'em!"

The Wurger drops out of a cloud. It carries the M90 in its hand, aiming it downward, at the Killer Whale. The purple-haired kid's lips split into a big, wide grin.

Emblazoned in almost pastel blue, a series of KLFs supports the downward attack. Their descent however is less direct then Arado's, instead they cut sleek lines through the sky, and leave glowing streams of trapar behind them...

The leader, ensconced in his cockpit, and garbed in the strange almost lovecraftian multi-eyed piloting rig, switches his view through the various cameras.

"We are taking up support positions, Sir."

When it comes to being able to serve as a fishing platform, the Grungust is ideal! At least the Type-2 is in this case, shifted into Wing Gust mode and floating on the surface of the water some distance away from the trap area like some giant, blue and gold boomerang shaped surf board. And while Arado might have some crazy ideas, it is going to take a little while to actually make sure that they find a target so they can attack it. And that is why Kusuha brought along a fishing rod. The cockpit of the Type-2 is laying open a few meters away, and Kusuha herself is relaxing, her flight suit unfastened around the neck (although not more than that - the cold over the last year has meant that 'beach days' are preciously rare, and the lack of summer might well extend into the next year if they weren't lucky). The floater for her fishing line bobs up and down gently in the waves, something brushing against it and causing it to submerge for a moment... ...and then the alarm goes off. "Oh well. Next time!" Kusuha promises, grabbing her helmet, chair, and fishing rod as she hurries back to the cockpit. As soon as she has her helmet on and flight suit re-sealed, the blue haired young woman hits the throttle, the Type-2 rising out of the water as its boosters go to full power. The Wing Gust soars towards the battlefield, and Kusuha smiles as she transmits to Arado, "Grungust Type-2, now arriving!" she states, and the Wing Gust reconfigures in mid-air, the Type-2 plummeting down into the water and aiming to land right on top of the submerged Killer Whale.

The Wind Elemental Zefholm accompanies the EFA-LAWS forces today, Alia in its cockpit as her mind reviews the last several days. It's possible that BAHRAM pilots may have gotten the point to leave Langran alone, but BAHRAM is not the entirety of the Divine Crusaders... there is perhaps more to be done. So when the Wildwurger, Grungust Type 2, and many other federal forces dive... Alia joins them. Zefholm is unusual in that it functions just fine underwater; its one advantage over the generally superior Cybuster. It glides through the water almost as if this were space or sky, though trails of displaced liquid show Alia's movements quite well as she looks around, trying to get a handle on the situation...

The Valhawk isn't really here on contract or anything, although that's not likely to stop the A-LAWS from trying to order Kazuma and Mihiro to heave to and assist their operation. Whatever the operation is.

On the other hand, depending on how things break down, Kazuma may not need to be ordered to lend a hand. Either way, the Valhawk is cruising along a few kilometers out from the Australian coastline, mostly doing a survey of the shallows, far enough up that they shouldn't disturb anyone or any wildlife, except maybe the occasional unwary bird - but Kazuma's doing his best not to reduce the seagull population.

The sight of A-LAWS and EFA mobile units cruising out in search of a submarine gets the siblings' attention in short order, and while Kazuma is hesitant to abandon the mapping work, they've covered this section of the coast by now ... so Kazuma decides, for now, to just see what's going on.

Earlier

Mars is under seige by the A-Laws, fighting against the Earth federation's continuedoppression... so why is Erika back on Earth instead of fighting for her home land? Supplies, plain and simple. Mars has gone a long way to support the Crusade in it's efforts on Earth, and it's time for a little support in return. With a pad in hand, Erika watches as the mobile suits are loaded up onto the carrier bound for Mars from their launch site in Australia. Almost all the designs being loaded are from the DC-proper, with some of the Oldsmobile RF series mixed in. Neo Zeon is once more almost completely unrepresented, on account of Haman's new policy of 'Fuck the rest of the world'. Then the alert calls out. Now

Erika squeezes her fist, then turn away, "It's always something..." Four green optics stare out at the unfolding battle as Erika surges forward, her machine kicking up vast amounts of water as it skims across it's surface. The camera pulls back, to reveal a heavily spiked machine of massive size, weilding a heavy blade in hand. "Valsion Kai, annihilating the enemy." The Super Machinery Humanoid accelerates, it's eyes flashing with menacing light.

Gym Ghingnham is not on a Killer Whale, because that is friggin' retarded. How dumb do you have to be to be in a /submarine/? Space battleships are the way of the future and, incidentally, the past. Basically it was a really long time ago and a lot more badass and he doesn't have the time (ha ha haaaa) to get into specifics. Or maybe spacifics, since, you know, ocean puns.

ANYWAY. Lets get back to our roots, shall we?

The world gets a lot more awful all of a sudden. The 'ENEMY REINFORCEMENTS' sound plays (you know, that rising 'danana nanana nanananana' sort of one) and an ENEMY UNIT appears at the edge of the MAP SCREEN. You can tell it's an enemy because it's in RED, unlike the Alpha Numbers and A-LAWS forces in BLUE, and the Trailer and Unaffiliated sorts in neutral ol' YELLOW.

"Oh look," Gym remarks to nobody in particular (or possibly to the Shadow Mirror/Divine Crusader forces that follow him everywhere), "target practice!"

MASTERY CONDITION: Don't get completely murdered by TURN X!

There is one really good thing about the Migarder. It works just fine in the water. It may not be a water ship specifically, but the thing is powered by salt water, so get gets along just fine in the water. As such, when the net catches the killer whale... there is very little time until the bug is crawling out on the bottom of the sea floor, it's back opening slowly. Vweeet-thud. Vweet-thud. Vweet-thud.

Oi Shinda sits inside of his Migarder, his arms crossed as the scanning systems flash to life, sensing for nearby targets that don't display the DC designation. There is a not!Balmarian drone sitting there on the bottom of the ocean. Watching you crazy non-DCers flail about in the water. It is not amused.

Much like Erika, Ascian isn't on Mars. He's been called away to mingle with the rest of the Divine Crusaders and see if he can get some extra supplies and assistance out of them. "I can't believe they took me away from their defensive lineup..." Ascian is muttering rudely at nobody in particular... in the cockpit. Duat responds; "I am certain that if you complete more missions, you may be more likely to be re-added to the roster, sir."

Then suddenly. Beep! Still on route to the Earth Cradle, Ascian had just arrived through means of the Urenbeck catapult. A little window goes up. A DC S.O.S. signal. "Well, there's a mission!"

It seems that Alia is going to be in for a slight surprised. Because, obviously, BAHRAM is present - though not in force. In fact, it is a single unit that suddenly is burning in through the atmosphere, coming straight down from space, with shields fully up, red embers flaring from its 'wings', and an additional stream of energy created by... what look like tendril shaped tailfeathers? That's right, Amenthes has gotten a small upgrade!

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Ascian Luddite, reporting for duty. What is the situation?"

 Gym Ghingnham transmits, "Target practice."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Then... why the S.O.S.?"

 Gym Ghingnham transmits, "Oh, the Federation is trying to trap a Killer Whale."

"Are we really working with the Crusaders on this one?" The voice in his head, asks.

Then it speaks up, speaking personally to him. "Holland?" The cockpit of the R909 closes, the canopy's translucent color fading to a somewhat dull red. "Working with them? Maybe that's what they'll say." The controls are twisted about, primed as he knicks a switch, the all green status being updated to Talho above.

"But when it comes down to it Hap, I'd rather they keep what's theirs then let /them/ get their hands on it." The launch catapult drops, cycling through to green until the red LFO is launched out skywards, to fall to earth. A flash of green and a twist of machinery, the R909 speeds off on a trail of green flourescent light.

Not minutes later, the target, that one giant whale of a ship already under assault. "Already at it-huh?!" His trail isn't the only one /there/. None of the others launched, the green trails of the KLF's mean only one thing. As the LFO nosedives closer to the water - and the @-LAWS prize. His hands tighten around the controls. It means a particular man isn't sitting back any longer.

"/Dewey/."

The Grungust Type-2 is plummetting towards the submerged Killer Whale, but it will never reach there uninterrupted. From the depths, something is rising, very very fast and very very unexpected; several of the Killer Whale crewmates might have noticed it on the radar as it rises past them, a pair of tornados wrapped around its shoulders.

The surface begins to spin, twin whirlpools suddenly appearing from water that once was calm. It defies all logic; for there to be whirlpools, there must be something pulling, right? Something drawing itself up from the water - but what could be down there that the DC doesn't know-

And then it emerges. Great yellow spinning drills reveal the source of the disturbance as they slide down, the distinctive (and horrible) orange color-scheme of that machine and the telltale blade it holds in its hand a dead giveaway as to its identity.

The Grungust Type-3 rises to meet its predecessor in the sky, to prevent it from crashing down into the sea and assault its target. The heavy blade swings up as a deterrant; though it hasn't elongated into its true and terrible form, anyone can tell whose blade it is - anyone with even passing interest in the One Year War knows that that sword belongs to the one and only Sanger Zonvolt, The Sword That Cleaves Evil!

The Type-3, water rolling off its body, raises its sword wordlessly towards the Type-2 and points directly at its head. The meaning is clear; the message is obvious.

Fight me, so I can test your strength, or you will never get past to your objective.

Sometimes, the day just doesn't feel complete without some form of re-entry from space.

Ibis Douglas reflects on this odd feeling in a manner totally approaching some kind of spacefaring zen as she hurtles towards the Australian coastline, paging through her mission brief as the autopilot does what it does best. Somewhere high in the sky over the land of Oz, big ol' glowing red ballute--safety first, after all--comes flying free as a pilot clearly with no eco-friendly sense whacks the release button and sends the giant poofy heat-shield tumbling to the land below. It's like someone killed the Michelin Man and dumped his body out of an airplane at 40,000 feet.

The sleek, angular form of the Lion-custom's cruise configuration comes barging into the scene like only a properly suicidal space plane ripping through the area in a showy, noisy flyby can do as Ibis stares deadpan at the radar, a horrible truth dawning on her slowly about this sortie.

Wait, is she supposed to engage hostiles /under/ the water? Well, maybe she can ... provide... air support... or something. She quietly gets the impression that, perhaps, someone hasn't thought through the decision to send her out here too carefully.

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Is that... Sanger Zonvolt!?"

Another one that's above the water is the gundam Altron. Despite his unwillingness to fight, he was convinced that BAHRAM was out to cause even bigger pains for the EFA. To Wufei, it's just another border dispute that took him away from reading. Well, once more into the breach, he guesses. Altron hovers over the water with it's arms crossed when his right side screen flashes, beeps and shows a familiar sight. The amenthes appearing from orbit. "Well well. I had a feeling he'd be here. Lets just hope he doesn't decide to get in over his head...." like picking a fight with Wufei.

"Turn X! /Shit/!" Arado swears. The Wildwurger stops its descent from going into the water, as he sees the machine. He frowns and brings the M90 around -- his machine fires verniers to turn it, slowly. Thruster burns make it shift in midair, as he reads the various machines coming in. His purple eyes narrow slowly.

"Let's do this!" he yells at Gym Ghingnham. The Wurger raises its rifle and opens fire -- a steady rain of shells pours out of the barrel, whipping off towards the somewhat legendary machine.

He checks the sensors on the nets as he does, eyes flickering to his cockpit. The nets are holding, for the moment.

"Sir, we've got an unknown LFO on our scopes..." The wing leader frowns beneath his mask, "An unknown LFO, in the middle of nowhere. He must be with the DC forces. Align in and destroy it!" The KLFs break from their position on Arado's wing, spinning through the invisible waves of trapar... Like sharks, they descend upon Holland...twirling and spinning. "Heh, he must be crapping his pants..." "Cut the chatter Crocus 3."

Alia is given a lot to consider, as Zefholm opens up several zoom-in windows to bring certain machines to her attention. The Turn X and Grungust Type 3 are given this treatment because they are major powerhouses on the battlefield, Amenthes since there's a reasonable chance its pilot will attack Alia, and a Terminus R909... "Holland?" It's a name spoken only to herself; Alia has no intention of confronting him, though she is surprised to see one of Renton's friends(?) taking the field against the @-LAWS forces. But as she brings Zefholm back above the water, she spots the towering Valsion Kai as well. The machine brings back memories, some clear; those of the time she helped destroy the original Valsion and Bian Zoldark... and others more vague but also more painful, remembering that 'she' fought against a Valsion Kai just a bit over a month ago. Despite her confusion over Holland's actions and less than joyful memories springing up, Alia takes action. She continues to have Zefholm rise into the air until it's well above the Valsion Kai, then spreads the Wind Elemental's wings. The gems on each wing-tip light up, then fire a spray of thin green beams down at Erika's machine!

It was unfortunate that Sanger was choosing to intervene in this operation, but Kusuha looks down at the Type-3 for a long moment as it rises from the water. The two machines slam together, the Type-2's foot crunching down onto the Colossal Blade with a loud clang, possibly even bowing Sanger's guard slightly before the older robot leaps away, thrusters keeping the beast of a machine just above water level. The Clacker Engine's output is still in the green, and everything else seems to be ready. If Sanger wanted to challenge her, she wasn't going to back down. But first... "This is Kusuha Mizuha to TLI. I'm performing a direct data feed uplink - prepare for combat data capture and upload. Combat target is the Type-3 Unit 2!" A single light flicks on, indicating that the data upload has been acknowledged and received. Her eyes flick up to her opponent, and Kusuha smiles once. The Grungust's hand snaps out, a loud clang of metal echoing across the ocean as it extends one finger towards its fellow super robot. "Very well then, Sanger Zonvolt! I accept your challenge! For the sake of the dream that I've helped to shape for Bullet and myself, I will take you on! "I-SOLID LASER!" The Type-2's eyes flash, and then a beam of energy erupts forth from those two lenses. Sweeping across the ocean, the beam creates a track of steam that bursts forth from the deep blue sea before finally sweeping towards the Type-3, and hopefully raising a line of explosions along its armor as it does so!

So much for a nice peaceful surveillance flight, with the notorious Turn X dropping in out of nowhere, and a bunch of other DC-aligned blips starting to pop up on the radar around the Killer Whale deep underwater. "Terrific," mutters Kazuma. "Mihiro, what're our options for hitting an underwater target?" He knows from experience that beam weapons tend to diffuse too quickly to do much good ...

"At full throttle, we can go through the water without being slowed down too much, I think ... we could ram the target, or go into Close Combat mode and try melee or hand-to-hand?"

Kazuma's grin almost makes Mihiro regret giving her brother a straight answer like that. "Ramming works for me ... engines to max thrust, we're going fishing!"

The Valhawk accelerates, plowing straight through the sound barrier, then dives and heads towards the underwater battlegroup, steering clear of the EFA's (or rather, Alpha Numbers') fishing net. Which means that hitting the Whale itself is out.

As luck would have it, the target of best opportunity as a result of this is the Migarder, and Kazuma wastes no time in trying to ram the thing. "Hey, stop hiding out down on the ocean floor and come up for some fresh air!" Kazuma transmits as he tries to ram his selected opponent.

Indeed, the other heavy machine's foot against the small katana-form of the Colossal Blade does push the Grungust Type-3 down; without a solid ground to stand on, it's at a huge disadvantage.

And of course, Sanger stands by while she enables the test feed. It's almost like he's waiting, to make sure she can...but no, wait, he can't possibly *know* about that, can he? Did he pick today of all days to challenge her just to make sure she gets the maximum possible workout from the Type-2? What kind of game is Zonvolt playing, here?

"I-SOLID LASER!"

The Grungust Type-3's eyes light up; twin massive beams lance forth to meet Kusuha's in mid-air, and the explosion of light and sound and color is dazzling as the two beams meet. There is a brief beam-war, Sanger pushing against the Type-2's eyebeams; physics aren't supposed to work that way, and they protest loudly as the two beams of energy struggle in the sky above the water. And then...

"BOOOOOOOST KNUUUUUCKLLLLLLLE!"

The mighty Grungust Type-3's arm swings back, eye lasers still at full power; the fist of Sanger Zonvolt's orange-and-yellow machine streaks forth below the energy beams, ready to punch a hole right through the Type-2's armor!

What's a girl to do?

Erika grips the controls of her machine tightly as she glares out across the battlefield, feeling angry and frustrated for many reasons. The attack on her homeland and the fact that she is here instead of there, Neo Zeon's continued 'fuck everyone' attitude, her previous failures. It all mingles together into one twisted knot in the pit of her stomache, driving her on. She just wants to vent this anger. Thankfully, Zefholm gives ehr a perfect excuse to do just that as it opens fire with it's wing beams, only to have them swatted aside with one broad swipe of the Valsion's blade. Erika pauses for a moment and frowns. "You were one of the people who engaged Ascian last time. You were there at Mars." The tone of voice is accusing as Erika hefts the Divine Blade in both hands, "I have a message for your masters. Stay away..." The Tesla drive bursts into bright radiance as the massive super robot surges forth, it's blade arcing up in a savage diagonal swing from hip to shoulder.

"FROM MY WORLD!"

Wufei starts seeing the battle erupt all around him, or at least that's what Altron's sensors tell him. "Damn. I had almost hoped this would be a quiet op. oh well." He taps at a couple of buttons to find the closest target he can find, or the biggest threat he can disable. Turns out, it's Turn X. "The Hell is Turn X doing here? Damn." In Altron's left hand is his double beam trident. The right hand changes into a dragon fang and RACES towards turn X.

Whilst still plummeting down through the atmosphere, the artificial intelligence begins to quickly line up its sensors and begins scanning for IFF signals. "It seems the Divine Crusader troops are already engages." It then suddenly flips up a vidwindow of Alia's unit. "Do you wish to take revenge, sir?" Duat asks him. "No, --" Ascian replies, "-- I will keep my promise. Even if she will not."

The combat computer then proceeds to give him a visual on the area below, whilst the Amenthes drops shields as they finally break out of the area of atmosphere that causes enough friction for it to need it, and the unit opens its wings further to gain more speed. "That one." As if he was choosing from a menu, Ascian chooses the Astelion. "Very well, locking on and centering the target."

The machine continues to plumet from the sky, the wind picking up and playing with the diamond-ended tendrils and shaking the machine around slightly, as they were reaching incredible speed. "We're not slowing down, Duat. I want you to deploy the sword. We will strike, then engage the shield and use the underwater area for cover." The Ender explains the initial battleplan to his machine and lays his hands more firmly around the controls, letting his throughs flow into the machine.

In response, the bioluminescent lines shine more firmly throughout Amenthes, and its right arm shifts into that of a sharp blade. And then, plummeting from the sky, breaking the soundbarrier with a loud blast, the machine comes straight down, weapon out and ready to slice off the two strange sword/rifle 'things' that are sticking out from its shoulders!

As Kazuma's valhawk dives into the water, Oi Shinda shifts his gaze up towards the sky. He smirks a bit as the hawk dives into the water. "A hawk in the water... how odd." The shielding of the Migarder comes up, the armored wings stopping the worst of the damage, leaving the dive only scraping the paint job of the multicolored beetle's armor. The reaction is immediate, an energy-based missile suddenly shooting out of the back of the Migarder, flying through the water as easily as if it was in the air, and exploding into an array of flower-like explosions.

"Fine. The water is difficult to maneuver in anyway." The Migarder's wings flap, while thrusters activate, propelling the Migarder upwards out of the water, attempting to ram the bird with it's front as it comes out of the water, more to take it with him as he gets out of the water, more than to actually deal much damage, as the Migarder was not designed for ramming things very much.

The Gespenst, it's almost scattered across the worlds like Shiro Armada or Ryusei are. But on this world they contiune to develop, contiune to grow. A new breed first appeared during the Balmarian war. It has retuened once more with Russel at it's control.

"Octo-2 here I'm moving into engage."

The machine's airborn and heading for the biggest contact on the field.

BGM Black History - Turn A

"The Turn X... that monster."

Russel dives in and opens fire on Gym with the assault rifle and says nothing to Gym. But Gym should know the goofy little Octopus on the machine's shoulder. It's that Gespenst pilot again, the one whose only claim to fame seems to be not dying against things like the Turn X.

If you ever called Holland a friend of Renton, Alia, that'd be more damaging than blowing any number of his rides up. A friend to that punk kid who doesn't know anything!?

Fortunately for him, and Alia, Holland's attention is mostly on the approaching KLF's; there comes a transmission to change that. "Holland!" Talho's voice an unwelcome distraction in dealing with family matters. Even if they're not Dewey they're /with/ him. "Reports are coming in. The Turn-X has been mentioned in a lot of them! It might be too dangerous-" Ghh. He grits his teeth.

"Just my luck. But it's too late to just pull back." Communication is cut, briefly. The standard dive the red LFO had been in doesn't change as the swarm of KLF's come at him, surrounding his position, cutting off any possible escape routes on the trapar that they all travel upon.

"All right.. if you're all going to group up on me like that, it'll be your own fault!" The board's directions twists almost 180 degrees upwards, the tip of the board aiming to slice into the KLF above him, making an escape route out of the poor soldier.

If he's with Dewey though, he's better off dead.

"BOOST KNUCKLE!" Kusuha shouts in return, and the Type-2 snaps its hand forward. The fist rockets out, roaring across the distance towards Sanger's own rocket punch. The two fists collide in mid-air, but its clear that the Type-3's stronger boosters win out this match. The Type-2's fist is battered aside, and Kusuha staggers as the Boost Knuckle slams into the chest of her machine, staving out a large chunk of armor in the process. The feed beeps once, and she nods. "We need to make it faster - able to withstand more than that," she states, almost as if she were speaking to herself. But just because she's taken one hit doesn't mean that she's done. The Grungust's other arm snaps around, and Kusuha shouts out, "And the second hand! BOOOOOOOST KNUCKLE!" A roar of flame erupts from the back of the giant robot's bracer as the Type-2's other fist drops free from its dock on the super robot's arm. This one follows straight in, a high speed impact that hopefully will force the Type-3 backwards, and down into the water. If she can get the height advantage, then she might be able to push the newer machine harder than Sanger might expect... "The Type-3 had to make design sacrifices to be made to Sanger's specifications - if I can get accurate data, then we can create something even greater!" Kusuha glances back at the battle, her lips tightening slightly. She doesn't want to leave the others to face an enemy as powerful as the Turn X if possible... so. "Sanger, I'll not hold back! If this is to be a challenge, then let's put it all on the line!"

Okay, that didn't work so well. Sure, the Migarder's on the surface now, which works out very nicely for Kazuma's preferred air-to-surface sniping and suchlike, but ... so far they haven't inflicted any significant damage on the DC machine, while the Valhawk's paint is looking a little singed. Not a great start to the fight.

Still, now the Valhawk is properly airborne once again, and after snap-rolling to help shake off some clinging water, Kazuma whips the interceptor-fast mobile unit around and starts strafing at the Migarder with the trustworthy ol' Laser Vulcans ... trying to line his shots up better this time.

Alia isn't too surprised when the Valsion Kai avoids her opening volley; her memories of its abilities are vague, but she does recall it can move reasonably well despite its hulking size... well enough to fly in for a quick blade swipe, which Zefholm glides aside from. Then another, heavier blow comes in; Alia considers trying to block it with her halberd, but isn't sure that's a good idea given the sheer size difference. She instead sends Zefholm gliding backwards, the divine blade meeting nothing but air. In the face of Erika's screaming fury, Alia responds very calmly. "You're right. I was there. I was there because you were in my home... and I truly hope that I will never again need to venture to Phobos. Conquering the people of Phobos, Deimos, or Mars itself isn't my goal. However..." Erika may well notice that Alia's voice is exactly like that of one Balmarian pilot she faced some time ago, as Alia's tone becomes more harsh. "So there is nothing to tell my 'masters', nor am I their unthinking attack dog. You wish me to stay off Mars? You will have it, but I haven't forgotten that in my last battle... one of your own demanded I take arms against the Federation that has done me no wrong, threatening even more attacks on people if I do not!" Anger takes hold in Alia at that point, her worries about Holland giving way to wanting to vent her own frustrations on Erika... or any DC here, but Erika is certainly the most convenient. Halberd twirling, Alia sends Zefholm charging at the Valsion Kai in an attempt to make a fly-by slash with its halberd's axe-head, and make a spinning cut upon going by!

Turn X is a monstrous machine. It's presence on the battlefield is enough to send veteran pilots scurrying back to the safety of battleship hangars and to make wisened captains alter the course of their vessels away from it's immediate vicinity.

Thank God for the folly of youth.

Automatic fire pours into the Turn X as it rushes forward. Solid shells from the two M90 Assault Rifles spray sparks as they gouge into the outer armor of the otherworldly machine. Gym's cockpit shakes slightly from the rapid impacts, but his course, his straight line, is clear.

The solid I-Fields begin to do their work. Turn X defies gravity and physics both, the remainder of the solid projectile rounds suddenly pushed off-course and spattering into the water. Turn X draws a sleek-looking black rifle from it's back rack and opens fire, the yellow beam parting the waves below by it's very proximity and powering towards the Gespenst, then swept across the Wildwurger's path. The beam peters out, and Turn X moves ninety degrees in another direction, no longer going at Arado--

Turn X's left arm sprays sparks from the Dragon Fang, and the mech itself races along it's length. It dives at the other Gundam and it's fist comes within a hair's breadth, the swing passing in front of it. Gym doesn't waste any time, deploying the Destruction Manipulator from his right arm, the thing splitting open and the claw disgorging a colossal beam of yellow-white energy.

"Heh! I like my opponents to have some /FIGHTING SPIRIT/!!" The beam saber cuts up, tip grazing the water, and then sweeps downward in a brutal overhand slash. The Kyaraps equipment frame opens at the top and fires a half-dozen missiles upward, the high-explosive warheads breaking into two groups and streaking at the Wildwurger and the Gespenst while he engages the Altron Gundam.

"What can you do, Federation?! Are there any TRUE WARRIORS among you?!"

"I COULDN'T AGREE MORE, KUSUHA MIZUHA! BOOOOOOOST KNUUUUUCKLEEEEEEEE!"

The first words Sanger's said to her directly, and they're a shout of agreement and a roared command! The second Boost Knuckle flies out to meet with the other rocket punch; its fingers open, and the two meet and are united in a pushing contest once more, the open palm against the closed fist! As the original boost knuckle makes its way back to the Type-3's arm, the second one breaks off to rejoin its brother. From the shoulder, the stored katana form of the Colossal Blade reappears, falling into the reattached hands; its fingers curl about the samurai blade, and if its eyes could narrow, they most assuredly would.

"I will not hold back - so HERE I COME!"

Sanger Zonvolt is an intimidating man. There's no way around it; intense, full of charisma and loudly-shouted words, tall, and well-versed in swordsmanship like the modern day samurai he claims to be, the man's fighting presence is simply intense enough to be called 'an experience'. And he knows it - so when the Grungust Sanshiki comes charging forward, blade raised, the roar behind it is a guttural, primal roar evoking a predator bearing down on its prey. It was a simple concept - throw the opponent off balance and leave your mark with your blade. He didn't need to go to the Zankantou's true form just yet; just the fear that it might be deployed was enough.

Along with the impressive sharpness of a mech-scale katana forged by Rishu Togo and the strength of the Type-3, anyway.

"We've got him no...what the AAAGH!!" Crocus 3 explodes in a beautiful, elegant pink explosion as Holland's manuever takes the flight entirely unexpected... The others scatter, peppering the area once occupied by their comrade with weapon's fire and resulting in glowing tracers joining the lush visual scenery of trapar and the unfortunately lumiscent remains of one of the squadron... "W-who the hell is this guy?!" "We have information coming in from Ginga Command... We are to destroy the subject at any costs." Miles away, Dewey sits on his command throne, watching as his children play. Lush games designed around people's lives, numbers and projections on the destiny of mankind. "The Turn X is there, Ghingnham must be bored...hrm, he might be able to solve a problem though... Inform them to utilize the appropriate operation." A dead eyed child nods, smiling an all too eager smile, "Yes, Colonel." Crocus leader frowns as he hears the orders, "Ginga Command has clarified our orders....follow on me." The KLFs chase after the LFO, spreading out in a wider dispersal with a tantalizing grouping of them moving at level speed...near Gym. The others release a punishing barrage of glittering missiles searing through the sky towards Holland, and attempting to drive him downwards...

Being back on the surface actually was good for the Migarder as well. It's maneuverability was better on the surface, beginning to fly above the surface of the water. And then the vulcan fires down at the Migarder. It peppers the Migarder, it's shield absorbing the worst of the energy damage. Oi chuckles softly, "You call that laser fire?" He taps the keys on the Migarder's control panel, unleashing a multicolor laser in return towards Kazuma's Valhawk. "This is a laser. It's beautiful, don't you think? By the way, I am Oi Shinda, of the Divine Crusaders. May our dance be a wonderful one." He grins.

"Actually, in fact, how about you have some more lasers." He presses a button, and the Migarder's multicolor shell begins to glow lightly, before firing a wide array of lasers towards the Valhawk, intent to singe it's paint job even further. Missiles were his thing, but right now, he felt like using lasers. "Are you aware of why this attack is happening, by the way? I'm a little lost as to it's purpose, beyond to attack the killer whale." He says.

The pilot of the fancy, shiny white Astelion furrows her brow at the red blip on her radar, looking at the rapidly-decreasing number next to the name denoting that it is in fact an enemy unit approaching at high speed! Distance, 2600! 2000! Are those metres? Feet? Perhaps we'll never know!

The fatal assumption Ibis makes is that she's the only person kicking it around the skies at this swim meet, and so it isn't until the very last moment when her unit's computer screams at her to move, for the love of god, that she actually realizes someone is trying to drop on her from above! "Oh, holy /shit/!" yells America's greatest would-be hero, hauling on the controls to try and get clear.

The Astelion goes into a wicked barrel roll and begins entering emergency transformation protocols! Wings twist and fold outwards into limbs, in painful and dramatic slow motion as the Amenthes bears down on it, trying to slice off the sonic breaker units. Ibis /knew/ having giant obvious fragile-looking bits poking out of the shoulders was a stupid idea, but noooo, Project Terrestrial Dream has to go and jam them on anyway. Still somewhat half-transformed, the white Lion-custom swings up and around with a bog standard burst railgun in hand, and there comes a kickin' moment where the Amenthes blade-arm and the railgun scrape along each other shooting sparks everywhere as the two fastest dudes in town shoot past each other at the speed of plot.

Ibis' eyes go wide with shock. Whether it's at coming so close at getting cleaved to bits or having done such a sub-badass deflection, well, you decide. Either way, the Amenthes and Astelion screech past each other in a shower of sparks and errant railgun slugs, and the now-humanoid Astelion whips about on a plume of electric blue flame, still waving that railgun around like it matters as Ibis tries to calm the hell down. Almost like an afterthought, really, the ordinance bays on the Astelion pop open and volleys of missiles come spewing out of it. It's sort of like a dumb animal's defense mechanism.

Erika frowns and grits her teeth... once again, someone is trying to take the moral highground against her, "What you /hope/ for doesn't matter! What /does/ matter is that you were there, and you helped the Earth federation oppress my HOME! So you can save your excuses, because I--" The blade sweeps up, forming a massive wall of steel that easily defelects the halberd. Moments later, the autocannons mounted in the Valsion's chest opens up. "AM TIRED OF THEM!" the blade shoves her away with ease as erika snaps up one arm. Energy begins to gather around the barrel mounted upon it, swelling and swirling with red and violet light before pouring out in a snaking beam of energy, "CROSS SMASHER!"

And with the Dragon Fang pulling Altron underwater, Wufei commits himself to the battle vs turn X. Activating the beam trident, Altron gets it's arm grazed by Turn X's beam saber in the middle of a very stylish pirouhette by Altron, to aim a slash at the opposing gundam's back. Hopefully, Altron's proximity to Turn X will cause the pilot to focus upon him and not the other two fighting him as well....

"Good timing, Russel!" Arado quips over the radio. The machine banks around as the energy rifle shots come at it. The Wurger ducks underneath it, the golden lance of energy going over the blue head of the machine. The boy's green eyes narrow, as he sees the Turn X break off and barrel down on the Altron.

He fires another short burst from the M90 -- a controlled blitz of automatic fire to cover him as he comes in closer. Missiles come sweeping in, forcing him to stop firing. The Wildwurger climbs, and the missiles come up at him, but catch up. Fireballs erupt along the bottom, searing and battering the heavy blue jacket armor.

"We're more than warriors, you son of a bitch!" Arado snaps, as he throws the M90 to the side. The same hand draws the metal sword free, with a cold shine along the edge of the weapon. Several thrusters cut -- and the Wildwurger comes dropping down at the back of the Turn X.

We're /ALPHA NUMBERS/!"

The blade cleaves straight down, at the head of the Turn X, as his machine sweeps downward.

Alia's own temper rises at Erika's remarks. "Then my own grievances amount to nothing? Pointing to your instigations, your initiations of force holds no sway on your heart, no justification of what you have compelled me to do?" She makes an ascent and then dive, Zefholm moving much like a rollercoaster to avoid the autocannon burst. A turn to fly to the side comes a half-second too late; Erika's follow-up blast sends the twin energy spirals into Zefholm, though Alia /almost/ got clear. What would have been a fatal shot to the body instead vaporizes one of Zefholm's feet and part of the lower leg, then Alia spins the Wind Elemental to face Erika's machine. "I understand. No matter our history, no matter our grievances, the DC view the people of my home as their property to abuse at your whim, and rail at us when we dare to retaliate! So be it, I am through trying to reason with you! Radiannnt..." That chant heralds Alia pointing Zefholm's halberd tip at the Valsion Kai, a pink circle of prana energy forming in front of the weapon. Arcane runes are visible around its edges, and with a cry of "BUSTER!", Alia slams the halberd into the circle. It becomes a wide beam about half as tall and wide as Zefholm itself, a sparkly-pink energy trail soaring across the sky in an attempt to gut the Valsion Kai!

"Kazuma Ardygun of the Valstork Family," Kazuma introduces himself as he snap-rolls like mad, trying to countersnipe the Migarder with a blast of plasma from the Beam Shot Launcher; unfortunately, the plasma does little more than flash-boil a small patch of the ocean's surface, but on the other hand, his crazy evasion does have the convenient side effect of denying the DC pilot any further damage to the Valhawk's armor. "And nobody hired me to help with anything, I just happened to be in the area and felt like pulling someone away from the EFA forces, especially with the freakin' *Turn X* showing up to play. So I don't know what their game plan is, really - can't help you there."

Yes, Kazuma just admitted to being in this fight *without a contract*. Let's hope the A-LAWS' purser on duty feels generous after seeing the Valhawk pitching in like this.

At any rate, Oi did just mention wanting it to be a 'beautiful dance' ... and with that in mind, Kazuma starts putting the Valhawk's maneuverability to use, 'dancing' through the air - very nearly flying *sideways* at points, in defiance of atmospheric aerodynamics and seemingly even of gravity itself, showering laser pulses and plasma bolts down on the Migarder ...

The missiles impact on the water and sends shockwaves throughout the area, shaking the Amenthes and doing quite the number on her shields. "Tssk... thought it was a slow target. I should read up on those files more often." Ascian turns his head up, looking at the sky above. For a moment... it's as if time comes to a halt, as the water goes still for a moment, and the sun sends beautiful markings of water throughout his cockpit. "Don't get distracted, sir." Duat warns.

"Right!" Ascian appreciates the A.I. for once in his life and shakes his head to get his attention back. "Sorry Duat. I just... cannot concentrate. I should be back there, at Mars. I worry about her."

The unit turns, a mechanical 'wizz'ing sound moving throughout as it remains under water and the tails begin to move. Water begins to bubble... the area getting hotter. "Let's see if our new toy works as well in real combat, as it does in practice." Ascian calls out.

The machine then suddenly rockets back out from the water, twirls around with its both arms spread out, and the tails flailing out to their maximum length - flinging water in all directions whilst the machine's sensors lock on now more flight-capable Astelion. The tails seem like they are literally on fire, crystals amidst the diamond end shapes coming together and forming a giant ball of what looks to be red energy, sparking flame-like embers. "How do we name this, sir?" Duat inquires.

"PHOENIX BURST FLAME!"

The ball of compressed energy, overflowing with red Metatron energy, flies straight at the Astelion and begins to expand the moment it's let loose from the unit!

The pink smoke that generally means the end of someone's life, at least dealing with a KLF. The refboard levels, twisting around as one of the shoulder cannon's fire, slamming into the R909. The LFO's impacted with a heavy thud, momentarily ruining his balance on it's board. It skids off the trapar waves, the green line ending abruptly behind it as the LFO plummets momentarily. The LFO lands heavy on the next beneath it, an eruption of trapar spraying out like the waves below them.

Thrusters kick, sending the LFO and pilot forwards, gaining altitude once again; heading right into the swarm of missiles. Against better judgement, the rifle clasped to the left arm is raised as Holland fires. A few missiles erupt before they reach him, the board and LFO twisting in the air as they detonate against the trapar, blasts shaking the LFO off balance just enough. The board skips, turbulence increases. Worst of all?

The missiles make contact. Thrown against the console, Holland stares at the 'warning' light far closer than he ever cared to. "A former SoF ace pilot tossed around this easily...!" He growls to himself, the R909's path towards the retreating KLF's renewing, the other half chasing him. The Gekko connects again.

"Holland! Don't go near Turn-X! That'll just-" Talho stares at the rather welcoming giant and red text 'END OF LINE'.

A small and jagged knife is pulled out of the side as the R909 closes in on the level KLF's, the blade dragged slightly behind the LFO as it shoots past them. Just as he shoots past the Turn X and the Wildwurger, leaving a tint of green behind them as they cross blades.

He has to send a message to Dewey. There's no coincidence they'd be backing off to somewhere even more dangerous to be alone.

Russel Bagman says, "Keep moving, don't sit still The Turn X can rip apart."

And it proves true, he's just a second too slow, the Gepesnt is glanced an a rip of it's right flank is riped away. He keeps his machine moving and keeps on firing from the m90. Data on the Turn X is pulled up and displayed most of the results end in ????

He keeps comming and fires off an barrage from the rifle with several grenades.

"Fighting spirit? Our actions speak for themselves. Where were you when I was fighting the Black and White Death Crosses!"

"The Type-3 might be a newer model, but no one can match my experience with the Type-2! And don't think you're the only one who can claim to have trained with Master Rishu!" Kusuha shouts in reply, the two dispatched fists from her unit swinging around and returning to their hard points on the Type-2's elbows. Rearmed once more, the blue haired girl braces herself for the onrushing Grungust - Kusuha's eyes narrow as she watches, waits... waits... "THERE!" she shouts - and both hands come together, catching the Type-3's sword in mid-swing and halting its progress instantly. The Type-2 pivots, its hands still clasped along the blade until the weapon is level with its waist - and then snaps its hands to the side, twisting the blade around in Sanger's hands and pulling the Type-3 forward. At which point it is easy enough to rotate one hip, put her shoulder into its torso, and... "OOOHHHYAAAAAA!" Kusuha shouts, and shoulder throws the massive super robot over one shoulder into the water. The Type-2 leaps away the moment it loses its grip on Sanger's machine, Kusuha already plotting out her next plan of attack. "Offset the thruster on the right arm by forty five degrees!" she shouts - the computer beeps once as it confirms the weapon profile change. "SPIRRAAAAAAL..." Several jets of flame erupt from behind the right hand, the torque enough that the fist is already turning despite being attached to the Grungust's hand. "BOOOOOOOST..." The fist drops free, already spinning rapidly as it builds up speed. "KNUCKLE!" Kusuha finishes with a shout, and the rocket punch shoots straight at Sanger, spinning about on its axis like a bullet as it seeks to strike home.

Kazuma has the air superiority for sure, as the plasma rains down on the Migarder. The Valhawk dancing around rather nicely in the sky above Oi. He can't help but marvel for a few moments. Until he snaps out of it, the Migarder flashing several warnings about hull damage and several missile chutes being damaged or destroyed. Oi frowns slightly, tapping a few buttons as the Death Blossom flies out towards the Valhawk -- and ... likely misses it entirely. They weren't homing missiles. Just missiles.

"So you're just in the wrong place at the right time. How interesting." Oi says. "Well then, I suppose I'll play your game..." He holds no qualms against the man in the Valhawk now. But then, he's still going to have to shoot him down. Speaking of homing missiles, the Migarder suddenly shoots a larger missile out of one of it's missile chutes, the missile moving a bit slower than the others... however, as the Valhawk moves, the missile does as well, homing in on it!

 Axel Almer transmits, "Geeehhh... this is Almer. I hope this signal's strong enough."

 Gym Ghingnham, over the distinct noise of cleaving, "Good evening, Axel. How's things?"

 Vindel Mauser transmits, "I was getting worried Axel. What is your status?"

 Axel Almer transmits, "Alive and on Mars. I got my MOSPEADA active and I took over an EFA sensor station to link up with you."

 Oi Shinda transmits, "Any idea why the EFA is even here, beyond to go after the killer shark submarine?"

 Lemon Browning transmits, "Almer, it's good to hear that you're safe."

 James Heller transmits, "Hey Axel, you done blasten off?"

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Hey Axel? While you are there... can you set up that sensor station to send information to BAHRAM?"

The boomerang blade slices through the KLFs as they attempt their luring technique. Dewey holds a glass to the side, almost disdainfully as a small boy in a far too puffy shirt pours out the libation. Thick and red, like blood as it pools in the glass. Dewey raises it to his lips as he watches the master lifter of the Gekkostate lose his composure, and fall...

He allows himself a brief smile as he peers through the gun cameras, a smile which turns to a slight frown as a blade comes crashing out... The head of the nearest KLF to Holland is torn away by the blade, the KLF itself spiralling down into the ocean and leaving an almost morbid trail of glowing trapar behind it... Two others in the Crocus wing fair about as poorly, the blade cutting off their lower limbs and sending them toppling down as well, even as they grab at their boards to attempt to slow their tumultous descent... Dewey watches the display as it switches to another gun-camera, and sips his wine... Crocus leader watches Holland, swallowing hard, "Remaining craft, its time for operational movement allegro-alpha-three!" The remaining KLFs, verge off in opposite directions, spiralling around Holland and his own craft...before they begin to race in, shark pack tactics again...

Some attempt to batter him, others strike with blades, others try to lure him still closer to the fracas between the Turn X and its opponent... Comfortable and safe, Dewey sips his wine, and watches... The nearby Ageha peers up at him, and then the screen, unsure of what to do or say...

 Axel Almer transmits, "Eh--oh!" He coughs. "Hey, Lemon. Hope I didn't worry you."

 Axel Almer transmits, "Briefly, Luddite. Briefly. I'm blowing it up soon as I'm done talking. I need to get to them or someone and get a lift off the planet."

 Gym Ghingnham transmits, "I suppose we could borrow a Jump-capable ship."

Maybe a missile lock would have helped the Astelion actually hit something with those shots, rather than just spraying and praying that they figure something out mid-flight. Maybe.

Ibis brings her unit into a holding pattern over the sea, quickly punching away at her ship's onboard computer for some kind of information about the mysterious, fast foe she's fighting! So caught up is she in trying to actually get a piece of useful information out of this stupid, stupid system with the bad UI that it isn't until it's too late that she notices the Amenthes exploding out of the water in a spray of ocean and, apparently, Metatron death rays.

The Astelion is pretty god damned fast, but not fast enough to get clear of the exploding sphere of Metatron energy. It zips backwards at full burn, which does approximately Fuck and All to actually keep it out of harm's way, and the resulting explosion grabs hold of well over half the unit's armour panels, sensors, paint and assorted knick-knacks and hurls it into the sea in a wash of molten slag and scrap.

It makes the return volley of missiles look really, really half-hearted by comparison. Zigzagging red-tipped warheads spiral around each other and home in on the Amenthes once more, trying to buy the already-beleaguered Astelion some breathing room.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I should be able to set you up with a transport. You just need to get into orbit. BAHRAM should allow you to use the Urenbeck catapult."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Axel Almer transmits, "Getting into orbit's the tricky part. I'll figure something out."

As if this is Kazuma's first time dealing with a homing missile? Rather than trying to outfly the thing, as soon as Mihiro warns him that there's an active target lock tracking them, he slews the Valhawk around to point at the missile and opens up with the Laser Vulcan, shooting the missile right out of the sky - and the rain of laser pulses goes on to batter at the Migarder's hull. "Good thought, but bad luck," he transmits to Oi. "Don't underestimate a Trailer!"

Meanwhile, Mihiro continues to pay close attention to her console, supporting Kazuma with relevant information as he focuses on flying and shooting. "Plasma Drive entering green zone," she reports. "We can hit Code: Phoenix now if you want to, oniichan!"

"Let's save that *just* a bit longer," Kazuma answers, eyeing the Migarder on his screen. "I want to make that count when we hit it. For now - take control of the Beam Shot Launcher and let's hit it together."

"Roger!" Mihiro switches modes on her console, taking manual control of the Beam Shot Launcher's aiming and firing subsystems, while Kazuma lines up on the Migarder and opens fire with the Laser Vulcan. Mihiro hesitates very briefly - less than a second, but watching how the laser pulses are hitting the DC machine ... and then fires the Launcher, the bolt of plasma searing down through the sky to hit, hopefully, on the exact same spot at the exact same time as another pulse from the Laser Vulcan - ideally, for enhanced damage against that spot in the machine's armor.

Sanger's machine is dodged, then hurled bodily by the Type-2; the heavy orange Grungust goes soaring into the sky, Sanger's fingers flying across the keyboard to stabilize it. He knew what was coming next; as he hears Kusuha call out the powerful Type-2's attack, the thrusters stabilize, and the Type-3 pivots upside-down as Sanger roars out his counterattack...!

"DRILL! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST KNUCKKLLEEEEEEE!"

The fire at its arm is a dead match for the Type-2's, except for one key difference - the shoulder-drill that swings down to lock onto the Type-3's arm as it soars off into the sky to meet the spinning fist. They collide in mid-air, a terrible, high-pitched mutual whirring sound as the two fists push against each other, before the drill slides away and towards Kusuha's machine-

-and leaves Sanger wide open to get punched right in the Grungust's stomach by the spinning rocket punch. It drills in, sparks flying as the VG armor is cracked along the chestplate; a direct hit, and a powerful one. In the cockpit, Sanger is rocked about by the force of the blow; warning lights go off as he grapples with the controls. Kusuha had gotten better; her determination and her experience with the Type-2 made him proud. To see how the EFA - no, the Alpha Numbers - had grown through the conflicts...it gave him hope, and reassured him that Bian Zoldark's path had been right.

BUT NEVERTHELESS! He could not hold back against this girl! He had no choice but to go all-out - or not only would the data suffer, but she, and her development, would do the same. There was nothing else but to get right down to it!

"You have improved," Sanger observes, "Master Rishu Togo has taught you well. And that is why I must challenge you to the absolute limit! DOUBLE BOOST KNUCKLE - COMBINED WITH ZANKANTOU!!"

The Boost Knuckles flare up at exactly the same moment, fire leaking from the wrists as they wrap about the blade and its hilt. The twin fists take off like a rocket; one hand flat against the back of the blade, the other wrapped around the hilt. The sword streams towards the other Grungust, and for the moment, Sanger Zonvolt was 'mostly' defenseless.

Mostly.

Would she take the opportunity - and would she see through his clever feint and avoid the counterattack he was sure to deliver?

Homing missiles? Oh, he knew how to handle those. Amenthes gives a nice lineup of the missiles as they come, splitting it into two groups. One before the other. The Orbital Frame's wings spread, and Ascian squints his eyes slightly. The bottom of the machine moves a bit further to the back, and its left arm shifts into the form of a rifle. "Lock on, complete." Duat reports. "Help me out, Duat!" Ascian requests and has the machine blast off straight at the missiles!

It launches a spray of plasma bolts, impacting on the front row of missiles, quickly thinning the numbers. "Faster, faster, faster!" The machine quickly makes little movements left and right, up and down, aligning the rifle shots more accurately to the missiles until only two are left. "Switch to full sword mode!"

The left arm reforms again, this time into the same shape as the right: a sturdy looking blade. And finding an exact middleground between the two missiles, he rushes straight between them, and flips 360 degrees across the horizontal axis, slicing the two projectiles along their midsts, and blasting further - leaving behind a beautiful explosion against which the machine's red eyes and red glow stand out beautifully, making it truly seem like a phoenix escaping from flames.

"I'm sorry about this, who-ever you are! But I have to have you leave! Please don't die on me!" The machine tries to go straight for the opposing unit and /halt/, full stop, in front of it with both weapons shifted into rifles again and unleashing a torrent of plasma bolts, following his opponent from that location with that attack, were it to try and dash away.

There is one downside to being a giant bug. Your maneuverability is crap. Even when airborne. And since the Migarder is 50 by 70 meters... well, it's a big target. The shots rain down on the armored shell of the Migarder, impacting the shield of the Migarder, and breaking through it to hit the hull itself, causing the armor to melt slightly, not quite slagging. The Migarder pings a few warnings as the shots impact. Oi hits several buttons to stabilize the Migarder so that it doesn't go spinning down into the water, but it doesn't fully work, the Migarder hitting the water and sinking down, a badly-aimed Laser lancing off into the distance through the air.

"That was a pretty nasty hit." Murmurs Oi from inside of his cockpit, pressing several buttons. "Ah, good. You've got the energy for it, Migarder?" Oi says. The Migarder pings in response, "MISSILE STORM, FULL CHARGE." Oi chuckles softly, and begins to tap buttons a few more, checking on energy levels, what's ready, what's reloading... and he nods slightly. "Alright then." He presses a red button in the center of the control panel.

And then from under the water, the surface of the water is disturbed, almost as if it was boiling. And then? The name 'Missile Storm' is pretty apt. A massive amount of missiles flying out of the water towards the Valhawk's shape in a slightly staggered pattern, a nigh-impenetrable wall of missiles that would... not be fun to dodge, but would be just barely possible. If the Valhawk was careful about it. Following the missiles, the Migarder raises out of the water, the missile tubes steaming slightly as it comes out of the water.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "That's a lot of missiles!"

The beam of magical energy lances our as Erika once more brings her massive blade up in her defense. Spell and sword collide as the arcane energies are deflected, spraying out in all directions away from the Valsion. "And the Earth Federation views Mars as THEIR property to abuse at THEIR whim and rail at us whenever WE retaliate! So take your so called moral high ground--" The Valsion Kai surges forward, pushing through the beam as it charges the Zefholm. The air roars as the giant blade cuts through up, carving a gash in the Elemental Lord's frame, "--AND SHOVE IT!" What follows next isn't another savage swing with the blade though, nor the unleashing of mass amounts of energy... but rather a hand. A very large hand, that reaches out to grab the Zefholm and crush it with sheer strength before pitching the machine like a crumpled up piece of paper into the the ocean.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "There's even more in store that my Migarder can manage! I have not managed to pull off the Ragnarok. It takes a long time to prepare."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "How much do those cost, a round?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "About a quart of saltwater, why?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "Tch! I am so sick of the Federation always acting like it has the moral highground!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I'm glad you are facing that woman... because I feel like I'd just... snap."

The Gundam is what Gym is most concerned about--no, /focused/ on. Gym doesn't /worry/. But Gundams... They have, historically, been fitted with the newest and most effective weapons. This one appears to be little different.

Altron's beam tridents shoot up, and Gym swats them aside with a contemptuous flick of Turn X's wrist... or, in this case, forearm. The Destruction Saber boils the sea away as it passes through it, shooting clouds of steam into the sky. He turns, and then looks up suddenly, the Wildwurger diving at him with it's blade--

CLANGGG!! The blade strikes the head of the Turn X and barely makes a dent in the armor. It drives it downward, the mech dipping towards the sea. What is it made of that it doesn't pierce it? Inside, Gym marks the I-Fields power use spiking--nothing good there, but nothing to give much of a thought. Turn X doesn't stay idle, swinging back in the same motion Arado approaches, the blazing yellow blade of the huge saber sweeping into the Wildwurger, ripping into it as far as it can, and then... cutting out?

A column of light blasts outward, past Arado and into the Gespenst peppering it with gunfire. The waves part below, the combat zone getting markedly brighter for a moment. Grenades detonate in the face of the beam, leaving a trail of explosions all around it before they can get to Turn X. The machine draws back and moves under the KLFs, Gym glancing up as they pass overhead. He whips the laser upward, but it peters out before it can vaporize any of them, proximity warnings screaming but not much else coming of it.

"Alpha Numbers?" Gym echoes. "Hah! Changing your name doesn't mean anything if your spirit isn't up to snuff." Turn X ascends, rising into the air on a column of what might be superheated air or what might be I-Fields pushing it. The Destruction Manipulator points downward, and at almost point-blank range, Gym unleashes another devastating energy beam at the Wildwurger--and, lined up, tears through the sky at the Gespenst in the distance.

"What was /I/ doing?" Gym scoffs. "Why, what any general would, when a situation like /that/ is well in-hand." He turns, presenting his back for only a moment and zig-zagging away and above Wufei. A weapon deploys off the Kyaraps pack, grasped and clutched on it's shoulder, a massive bazooka. He fires downward, into the water.

Explosions, incidentally, are /worse/ underwater.

"I was preparing the /counterattack/."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Saltwater? Neat."

Sanger doesn't make many mistakes in his fight style - he might be a bit too direct, but the holes there were only things you could exploit if you were in significant danger. Kusuha knew better than to jump straight in during this sort of battle. And so as Sanger launches his next strike - both hands on the sword? It wasn't something that he could guide easily, but he would be expecting a direct counter attack. So she should try and do something unexpected. And the one thing that his machine was lacking... was the ability to transform! "CHANGE! G-HAWK!" Kusuha shouts in a display that would probably make Ryusei proud, and the Grungust immediately reconfigures itself accordant to her request. The legs snap outwards, flipping around and forming the wings as the rest of the machine folds over. Powerful boosters send the Type-2 rocketing up into the air, soaring high over the battle as Kusuha takes advantage of being able to claim the high round. "You're doing well, Major!" Kususha shouts, a smile tracing itself over her lips. "But it's clear that the Type-3 is not your old sword! You've still not mastered every aspect of it, and I'll take advantage of that fact as best I can!" The Grungust transforms once more, this time over two hundred feet up in the air. The engines kick in a moment later, and the Type-2 descends from on high, one foot leading the way. "The Type-2 and I... will not lose! Not to you, the aliens, or anyone else! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" And she just tries to flying kick Sanger right in his machine's chest.

Despite Talho's repeated attempts at getting Holland to respond, quite numerous from the ever increasing number of communication hailings, Holland doesn't respond to any. In a way, it's a keep alive signal. As long as she has something that hits the craft, there's a chance he isn't dead.

Not that this level of stubbornness happens often, but it's a family matter. Sometimes you just prefer to keep things in the family.

The blade is twisted, slid back about the wrist of the LFO as Dewey commands the remaining section of soldiers to erradicate the deserter and military disgrace that is Holland Novak. Onset by all sides, Holland's grip tightens. A grin as small as the window of escape is hidden to all but the inside of the cockpit.

The LFO brakes, a small wave of trapar kicked off towards an approaching member of Dewey's squad as the R909 suddenly rockets upwards. What is a single flip of the R909 is a massive leap, nearly straight up, in altitude. The landing brings it down onto trapar above, the rifle flipped outwards.

They're all together and the waves only leave so many escape routes.

This time, it benefits him. "Do you think it'll be so easy to get rid of me, Dewey?!" A haughty attitude after such a close call. It's a shame he wouldn't hear it.

The threat of the Turn-X is made real again as the sea swells from the explosion.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "My Migarder is powered by salt water, and the missiles themselves are simply beautiful balls of explosive plasma! I don't fully understand it myself, to be honest, I found the Migarder in a glacier."

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

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "But... what is it with people and just 'randomly' finding unique mecha these days..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "It was not random. The Migarder is a relic that had been frozen for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. An experimental unit that I was test piloting crashed into it's location, defrosting the ice around the Migarder. I am lucky for that, in fact, I likely would have died if not for the Migarder's support systems."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "Examinations have found similarities between the Migarder and the Balmarian tech. But only some."

Alia stares as the sword turns out to be a fine shield as well, then repeats some of Erika's words questioningly. "Earth Federation? ...You misunderstand. It's true I'm operating alongside them, but only against our common enemy. My heart desires nothing more than to have no hand in the affairs of the surface world, and I only fight because the Divine Crusaders have forced me to! As soon as the DC make reparations and a good show of faith that they will leave us be... say nothing of my retaliation, for it is indeed that, I will remove myself from your battle." As the Valsion Kai flies in, Alia knows better than to try a halberd-to-blade slugfest with it; Zefholm is very high-performance, but it is not an Elemental Lord like Cybuster. She wisely glides aside so that no such 'gash carve' occurs, instead waiting for the slash and then trying to dart in with a halberd tip-thrust at the arm wielding the Divine Blade. If it strikes, she then attempts a flipping overhead slash with the halberd's axe-head, targeting the same limb. "I can be placated. But so long as the DC have initiated force against my home time and time again, then act as though I am the monster for fighting back, I will be your enemy. You must change your actions before I will depart!"

Wufei shakes his head as Turn X bats his trident away. He wasn't amused, but he saw Turn X taking a lot of damage. However, when the Gundam turns towards Arado, Wufei growls. "you're not done with ME yet!" He growls as he goes after the gundam.....aiming another dragon fang at it's back.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "As long as you don't start making me follow the rule of some stupid jerk-ass crystal, we're cool."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "I have no intention to do that."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Then, as I said, we're cool."

The Astelion whips backwards through the air above the ocean at breakneck pace, still trailing smoke and steam and the occasional errant panel tumbling end over end into the water below. It jukes, weaves, tries to make a right nuisance of itself while the pilot onboard tries to figure something out before she disappears in a fireball.

"God /damn/ it," mutters Ibis, eyes flitting this way and that as she tries to formulate some kind of brilliant piloting plan to get her out of this jam. "Stay in the game, you idiot. Focus!"

And then the Amenthes, fresh from scything through the hail of missiles very much like a boss, is giving chase once again and the Astelion is left looking very much out of it's element as it tries to dodge the oncoming storm of high-energy plasma bolts while going backwards and just a little bit sideways, as well. The natural response to this is to speed up, again, and the Astelion's boost drive fires in a feathered pulse of blue-white flame that hurls it violently to one side, going wide around the enemy Orbital Frame as it tries to keep a bead on her.

A gloved thumb quickly nudges the weapon selector to the twin-linked machine cannons squirreled away in the white Lion custom's chest, and the Astelion daintily sidesteps great searing bolts of plasma as it circles about the Amenthes and opens up on it with 30mm HEAP gifts. In true action movie fashion, it first rakes a messy path through the water before getting anywhere /near/ the actual enemy.

"We're more than a name!" Arado snaps back, as his sword comes downward. The beam saber catches the machine in the left shoulder -- and hacks away half of it, leaving a glowing red hot line through the pauldron. Sparks explode, where mechanicals are revealed. On the Wurger's cockpit, numerous warnings flash on the cockpit, circles appearing around damaged mechanisms.

His machine twists around -- in a tight circle that takes it around the Altron and behind it, as the I-Field pushes the Turn X upward. Arado's eyes narrow, as he sees the beam coming in. It cuts into the left calf, splitting open the metal along the side.

His machine twists about, and chops at the Turn X. The blade strikes the armor to little effect, showering the air with nothing but sparks. He brings the other arm backward. "I'm not gonna let you whatever the hell you want to our world," he says, quieter. "Come on!"

The hand punches right at the Turn X. The I-Field blacks the chest and claw instantly, as the claw splits open -- and then /crushes/ downward, slamming together with a huge metal snapping noise.

"STAG BEETLE CRUSHER!"

Holland's blast strikes through two more of the remaining elements of the squadron... The heat sears through one, causing it to veer off and smash into the ocean, cartwheeling through the water. The other is less fortunate and its trapar line continues even as it disappears in a beautiful, horrible, cotton candy explosion... Crocus 1 grits his teeth as he turns his own machine, failing to keep up with Holland... The remnants of Crocus seem to fall back, luring the head strong leader of the Gekko state after them... Dewey swirls his wine slightly, before sampling its bouchet, "...young wines, so full of possibilities, untainted by this world...mmm." He looks at the gun cameras, and then over at another of his children. The Ageha nods, "Gunnery ships! FIRE!" THe KLFs break rapidly in three seperate directions, laying fire upon Holland even as lasers from battleships not even in visual range come raining down upon him... And he's stuck between KLF cannons, and huge beams of death... "Holland," Dewey sighs, "When will you learn to take your brother's advice?"

Wow. That sure is a lot of missiles. Kazuma's almost not sure how that many missiles fit in the DC 'waterbug' - but for two things. First, as noted, the Migarder *is* a pretty big target.

And secondly, if Kazuma allowed himself time for woolgathering when he's got that many missiles tearing towards him, they'd tear *THROUGH* him, Mihiro, and the Valhawk - so instead, he goes on full evasive, trying to keep the Valhawk's more durable portions towards the closest missiles when possible, and weaving, spiralling, and otherwise threading his way through a highly volatile and indeed explosive 'maze' down the teeth of the Missile Storm.

And as the Valhawk emerges from the trailing end of the Missile Storm ... it transforms, one of the legs (which had together formed the Air Force mode's forward half and nose) staying fully extended - as a sheath of crimson plasma erupts around it, streaming back to surround the rest of the Close Combat Valhawk.

"Nifty finisher, but here's one of ours - BURNING VALHAWK KIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!"

Excellent. Kusuha Mizuha was smart enough to see through his attack; the deftness of her instincts to CHANGE and STRIKE, the fluidity of her transformation and the cleanliness of her technique; as the Gust Kick slams into the Type-3 and rocks the heavy machine, as sparks fly from the meeting of VG Armors and the foot sinks deep into the metal, as cracks begin to spread around the 'defenseless' machine, Sanger's lips curl upwards in a smile, and the Boost Knuckles come screaming back, sword and all. They link on, sword still pressed outwards to the Type-2's neck; Sanger's eyes are focused, and his smile is the thin and predatory smile of a super-serious warrior who's just caught himself some prey.

"Your intincts are superb!" Sanger compliments, "And your skill with your machine is very impressive! But you made one mistake, Kusuha Mizuha!"

"You assumed your opponent's skill level - and fell right into this trap! DOUBLE!"

The twin shoulder-drills of the Type-3 fall forward onto the arms as oil leaks from the wound Kusuha's dealt. The Grungust screams warnings; Sanger ignores them. He knows the tolerance level of his new sword. He had tested it extensively; pushed it to the breaking point, and found it. And he trusted it.

"DRILL!"

The drills begin to whirr, at nearly point-blank range; the sound of their screaming, turning metal forms and the smell of the exhaust leaking from the covered wrists is the sound of destruction.

"BOOST!"

And the arms rear back, the barely-contained boost knuckles shaking, the drills screaming their metal song into the sky, and Sanger Zonvolt's eyes locked onto the controls.

"KNUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKLE!"

And the twin drills are thrust forward, at point blank range, towards the Type-2's chest; he would repay the wound dealt to him twice over in one shot!

Flying in towards something that constantly spits missiles and lasers is a questionably intelligent idea. Which is shown quickly as a laser is fired towards the incoming mechabird. The kick impacts solidly with the Migarder's hull, bypassing the defenses easily, and sending it impacting with the water, several sections of the waterbeetle's armor cracking and breaking in places, leaving a notable amount of damage on the Migarder's hull... and one of it's legs does not seem to be moving quite right anymore, twitching slightly and sparking. Luckily, the Migarder is flying at the moment. One of it's wings is damaged, but that doesn't seem to matter, as it stays aloft. It probably has flight systems hiding in it somewhere.

"Ugh, that was a nice hit. I have to admit-- for a barbaric melee attack, that was pretty classy!" Oi responds with a return compliment. His finisher wasn't used though. That was actually one of his weaker powerful attacks... not that he's going to say that. He grins slightly and then nods. "Alright then, let's continue this dance! Migarder, fire!" Several missiles suddenly fire from the Migarder's missile tubes, and they... twist together into one giant missile, which lances out to attempt to bury itself into the Valhawk's form at high speeds. And then? It immediately begins to explode, several explosions coming from the twisted spear of missiles, intent on damaging the internal systems by bypassing the Valhawk's armor with the initial spear.

"'Slighted', you say." Alia snaps back in a colder anger than Erika's shouting. "That's how you view it? That sending troops into the streets of my home, and using our citizens as hostages was a 'slight', then followed by threatening them again unless I obey you. It seems quite severe to me..." She has Zefholm abruptly descend and then jet forward, cleanly going beneath the Valsion and its fist... and continuing on, rising and spinning to have a possible shot on Erika's back. "I have nothing more to say to you!" This shout is accompanied by Zefholm pointing a palm at the Valsion Kai, conjuring up a horizontal tornado about half as tall and wide as any given mobile suit. It flies forth, trying to essentially drill through one of Bian's legacies.

Amenthes remains still above the water, the ocean beneath rippling gently under the almost mystic-like force of the compressed space. Duat follows Ibis accurately, and Ascian is breathing calmly. "I've not see you this calm in months, sir --" Duat suddenly comments, "-- what is the cause of this chance in your behavior?"

"It's simple, Duat..." Ascian looks at the radar as his opponent tries to get around him, and lets him do exactly that. The vid-window shows their process, how close they are... everything.

"-- I've found a reason to protect --" Ascian answers the artificial intelligence's question.

The machine's two wings suddenly shine... then burst into pieces and seperate into their many bit-like wings, whilst the right arm of the unit shifts into a sword.

"-- I've found a person --"

Ibis's shots start plunging into the water, getting closer and closer.

"-- who makes me better. --"

The wings suddenly change, portruding Metatron crystals and linger closely to the machine, turning around and following the enemy position.

"-- And that is why... --"

The Amenthes suddenly swings around, moves to the side by a quick burst of speed, generated from the feather-shaped metatron crystal at its legs.

"-- With her in my heart... --"

The bullets scrape over the extended blade, some of them bouncing off and are engaged by the forces of compressed space around the unit, flailing back in random directions - some right back at Ibis' machine.

"-- I WILL WIN THIS FIGHT!"

And then suddenly, the twelve wing-bits let loose a volley of red lasers that simply... defy physics in god knows how many ways. They bend, they slow down, they speed up, they rush through the water, only to come back up. They move in random directions, yet planned as they form a near spherical-cage which they finally all tighten... trying to lash into the Astelion.

"At this range, that won't work!" Kusuha shouts in reponse - she was prepared for a close range attack, and it was clear that Sanger wasn't going to let up. Well that was fine with her - she wasn't going to lose here either! As the first Drill Knuckle is swung around towards her, the blue haired girl grabs onto the wrist portion of the Type-3, right behind where the spinning drill has locked into the hand portion of the unit. The second arm is met the same way, and just before Sanger opens fire Kusuha shouts, "Sorry for the inconvenience! Double Boost Knuckle, FIRE!" The Type-2's Boost Knuckles launch the moment that Sanger's do, and the two non-drill mounted rocket fists from the older Grungust knock the drill mounted fists of the newer aside, all of them spiraling off to splash into the water for a moment before their systems register that there has been some sort of launch error. Kusuha narrows her eyes, the panel behind her lightning up as the T-LINK System in the Type-2 engages. "In any battle between skilled pilots, there are bound to be mistakes! And your next mistake, Sanger Zonvolt, was allowing me to get this close to you!" The Type-2's elbows grab onto the Type-3, preventing escape from this close of range as Kusuha fires up the Clacker Engine. The battleship generate spins up, sparks flying from its capacitor as it charges up for a major attack. "At this range, not even you can take a shot from the Maxiblaster and come out unscathed!" Kusuha cries out, and punches the air with her fist. The large crest on the Type-2's chest flashes, energy surging through the star shaped structure. "MAXIBLASTER, FIRE!" And a brilliant beam of white energy erupts from the Type-2, point blank at Sanger's machine.

The twister blasts away at the Valsion, buffeting it with savage winds as Erika unleashes rounds form her autocannons. Sadly, the twisting air scoops them all up before they can strike. "You ever thing that maybe the reason why your home was attacked was because you're always ASSISTING the EFA? Do you honestly think that all the times in the past you showed up and attacked us wouldn't reflect upon you and your people? You can claim neutrality all you want, but the fact is, you have been OPENLY helping the very people who are oppressing Mars! So why don't you get off your high horse and own up to your /OWN/ actions!" The Valsion charges Alia and the Zefholm, once more bringing the massive Divine Blade to bare as Erika sends it hurtling down in a single devestating cleave.

Alia, true to her last shout, says absolutely nothing in reply to Erika's remarks. She has refuted these claims repeatedly to no effect and sees no more point in any conversation; her conscience is clean. She flies in to meet the Valsion Kai, halberd ready as she starts to dive and come for an ascending cut... And Erika is following that move well. The Valsion's overhead strikes cleanly into Zefholm's body, sending it into a stall as sparks and metal fly. It nearly crashes into the water below before Alia regains control, glaring up at the machine now looming over her. Part of her wonders if this battle is worth it; the odds she'll be able to permanently destroy the Valsion Kai with so many DC present are low, and the only other strategic targets are either not so valuable, or completely implausible to attack. The thought of retreat does cross Alia's mind, but she opts not to act on it just yet; she still has a few tactics to try. Zefholm crosses its arms in front of itself as Alia chants, "Tempessst..." A vertical tornado as tall as Zefholm itself springs into existence, flying up toward the Valsion Kai. Then Zefholm's arms spread apart as Alia cries "DIVIDE!," the storm splitting into an identical copy of itself. The two tornados fly upward yet apart from one another, trying to converge upon the Valsion Kai and tear it!

'Questionably intelligent' is, according to some people at least, quite an accurate way to sum up Kazuma Ardygun and (sometimes) his piloting style. He's never let that stop him before, and he still doesn't now - sometimes crazy pays off.

Trying to shoot down the Missile Spear the way he was shooting down other missiles doesn't work quite well enough; by the time Kazuma can bring the Beam Shot Launcher to bear, the spear (however the *missiles* freakin' *combined* like that) is way too close and blows up in the Valhawk's face, all but literally - the explosion blackens the armor on the Valhawk's head and upper torso, not merely scorching but searing and burning away layers of armor ... but the Trailer unit is still battleworthy.

"Maybe I should've told you this before," Kazuma says, almost conversationally, "but I'm also Bit Colony's Gundam Fighter of official record. So you're going to have to live with some melee on my part ... but since you love 'dancing' so much, I'll try and make this worth your while."

Having been forced back out of melee range by the Missile Spear, Kazuma opens fire with the Laser Vulcans, starting to close on the Migarder again - then switches to the Beam Shot Launcher, beginning a precise zigzag as the distance dwindles. "Time for the full combo platter special ... Jade Flowsion, *GO!!*"

And on the last word, the Valhawk puts on a burst of speed, trying to swerve around *behind* the Migarder, embed the Beam Shot Launcher's muzzle into its chassis, and send it skywards with a bigger and more devastating blast. Not devastating enough to obliterate it on the spot, though ...

Instead, if the Migarder is indeed sent flying, the Valhawk puts on a burst of blindingly fast speed and *catches up in midair*, zipping past it with the Ray Blade activated and trying to slice into its armor before acecelerating upwards past Oi's machine -

And coming back down with a powerful kick, trying to aim the giant insect-like machine towards dry but vacant land, if there's any of that around. Otherwise, the shallows will do fine, as long as nobody/nothing is there. (And with giant robots, 'shallows' is relative.)

But Kazuma still doesn't stop there; the Valhawk dives fists-first, weapons stashed again, and aims to tackle the Magrider along the ground - whatever surface they're on now, with enough force to carve a furrow into the sand or dirt or rock for a modest distance. Only once friction overcomes the Valhawk's momentum does Kazuma back off ...

And he's STILL not done, the Valhawk's hands coming up to cup around a crackling, flaring sphere of raw plasma, channeled straight from the Valhawk's power core as he charges up its most powerful single weapon. "Take it ... AND *FLY*!!!!" yells Kazuma as he unleashes a Plasma Execution, trying to - true to his words - nail the Magrider with it and send it flying out over the ocean.

Somewhere out there, the compressed ball of plasma destabilizes and erupts into a massive explosion of light.

No response from Alia. If anything, that annoys Erika even more since all the silence says is 'I'm so right I don't have to justify myself to you'. "Tch, whatever... If you ever come to my world again..." The tornados converge on Erika, but her massive super robot suddenly drops like a rock and crashes into the water before they can, taking refuge in the one place the howling winds can not find her. Then the Valsion emerges directly behind the Zefholm, it's arm practically trembling with the sheer raw power it contains. "I will kill you." The sky lights up with a terrible light as the Cross Smasher hurtles off into the horizon, parting the sea (and possibly Alia) in it's wake.

Russel Bagman is prehaps spared by Gym's lack of hyper focues or is he not. He replies at Gym for a moment, the only answer that wouldn't get even a midle reply? Was suprising to Russel. Gym was planning to hit the Balmarians at home? With a terrible weapon like the Turn X, it might just be able to make a mess before they could respond and then some. The Rifle shot is comming right at Russel. He charges at it, the Jet Magnum already charging, and he crosses the machine's arms. What good will that do? Somehow Russel comes out the other side damaged but still comming, armore burned away but the Jet Magnum is already primed. He's going to try to get into the Turn X's faces and just start wailing on it with the piston like weapon.

"You plan to hit some of their worlds, Gym?!?"

Her dodge actually catches Sanger by surprise; she really has improved, and he's made the same exact mistake she did and underestimated the skill of his opponent. The rocket-punch-parry is executed flawlessly; the arms of the other maachine wrap around it, locking it in place. It was a perfectly-executed trap; as the Maxiblaster explodes from her chest and pours over the VG armor, blackening the orange metal and melting the tips of the shoulders, the head's points; the Drill Boost Knuckle counterattack clangs off the Type-2 harmlessly as the Maxiblaster's assault continues, but Sanger zonvolt does not give up. He is pleased; she has learned so well, come so far.

"You are correct, Kusuha Mizuha!" Sanger roars at the top of his lungs, "In battle, any mistake could be your very last!"

And then the Type-3 is pressing its foot against her chest and kicking off, wrenching its elbow free with a brief burst of the rocket punch. The melted, damaged machine hovers there in the air for a moment, as the thing reaches up to the side to grasp its katana. Anyone who had fought Sanger Zonvolt knows what's coming next.

"BUT I DO NOT INTEND TO LOSE THIS BATTLE! HERE I COME - WITH THE FULL MIGHT OF MY ZANKANTOU BEHIND ME!"

The Grungust Type-3's katana suddenly extends; it looms into the sky, a great *thing*, a great hunk of liquid metal shaped like a broadsword suddenly hanging there in the air attached to an orange-colored Grungust. It turns to the side, displaying its gleaming blade; in the cockpit, Sanger focuses his mind and soul into his machine, carefully, carefully. The enemy Grungust had advantages his did not; it had abilities his did not. But so too did his have advantages that hers lacked - and there was no doubt which of them was the better swordsman, if only from sheer experience.

The targetting computer is switched off, as the battered, broken twin drills slide down onto the back of the Type-3 to bolster its rockets; the Grungust's eyes flash as the Zankantou rises into the sky, and it charges at Kusuha's machine with all the strength of the Sword That Cleaves Evil behind it. It is a skyscraper in the hands of a titan; a sword that was built to cleave ships, now bearing down on the enemy grungust, casting a great shadow across the battlefield. Undoubtedly, it would hit the water and cause serious problems for the DC ship, possibly giving those fighting Turn X their opening; it would definitely cause at least problems for those fighting under or near the surface, as the waves of the Colossal Blade's passing rocked the ground below.

But it was mostly going to give Kusuha Mizuha problems, because it was a giant freaking sword the size of a skyscraper bearing down on her at speeds extremely unpleasant for mecha survival, whistling through the air, backed by the roar of one of the craziest men ever to bear the title of Aggressor.

"ROAR, ZANKANTOU!" "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Whoops, looks like the reconfigured space exploratory vehicle is no match for the high-powered Orbital Frame! Who would've thought.

The Astelion is trapped, movements way too obvious, trajectory too linear, pilot too stupid to keep it from getting chased into a corner, still trying to spray Ascian's unit with minigun fire. Too little, too late. There's this awful moment of dawning comprehension when Ibis realises how she's totally wandered into the enemy's trap. Again. Again-again. There's a sharp intake of breath. Hands flit across the controls. Only one way out--

The battered, beaten Armoured Module raises a hand as minigun shells ricochet off of the Amenthes harmlessly, pinging back onto the white panelling and rolling away uselessly to join the casings in littering the ocean floor. Definitely not eco-friendly. The Astelion's missile bays seal shut and the machine cannons withdraw back into its chest, and that's right about when the boost and telsa drives fire at full burn and throws the heavily damage machine straight up and into the cage made out of god damned lasers, nothing but its own arms to shield it.

Which does a little. Sort of. It keeps it from being completely and utterly totalled, and the Astelion rockets away towards the relative safety of high-Earth orbit for an attempt at an escape. Ibis hangs her head and grits her teeth.

God damn it, Sleigh was right. She really /does/ have no business even trying to fight anymore. Maybe it's time to call it quits after all.

Alia blinks as Erika submerges, not expecting that. She starts to submerge as well, a maneuver that ends up saving her life; the Valsion Kai's blast strikes high, ripping through a set of wings, an arm, and the side of Zefholm's upper body instead of what would have been a dead-center hit. She winces in the cockpit, feeling the damage. Not as keenly and painfully as someone in a Gundam Fighter would, but Alia genuinely feels it and she realizes there is no reason to press this battle; a single Killer Whale and its escorts, even important escorts like the Valsion Kai and Turn X, are not worth risking death or capture by DC forces who would likely be all too gleeful in taking 'revenge' on her. Thus, Alia brings Zefholm out of the water moments later... visibly ravaged, but relatively in one piece and still skyworthy. Disappointment washes over her, but she doesn't want to die, her 'master' certainly doesn't want her dead either, and Alia has no deeply compelling reason to keep fighting. This is a victory the DC can have without deeply endangering herself or her home... so she flies away from the battle, prana 'sparkles' trailing from the damaged Zefholm.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "My target ran off. Who still needs assistance?"

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

The missiles combined like that because they are made of energy and only semi-solid. They're kind of like laser-missiles, but not. It's crazy alien technology. Just don't ask. "I understand, at least mildly. I dislike using melee myself, but one has to accept that not everyone can meet my standards of only using it as a last resort!" And not every Mech is designed purely for ranged combat like the Migarder is. There is absolutely no way that the Migarder can move out of the way of the attacks.

So instead, as the muzzle comes towards the Migarder, with surprising speed, the Migarder closes itself, turning slightly to present the most armored section of it's body towards the Valhawk. The muzzle impacts with the armor, burying itself slightly into it's armor. And then the Migarder is sent flying away from the Valhawk. Just as intended. It skips across the surface of the water like a particularly large stone, until -- the hit on it slows it's momentum, the blade cutting through the armor. The Migarder impacts the ground hard immediately after that, skidding a good few hundred feet and digging into the ground with the impact.

The plasma ball impacts with the Migarder, and it's sent flying over the Ocean once more... the shield absorbing the worst of the blast, even as the Migarder is completely consumed. As the attack ends, the Migarder decompacts itself, it's shell opening again as it comes flying in towards the Valhawk. "Is that all you've got? I imagine that's almost as disappointing for you as it was for me!" The Migarder flies in fast, attempting to ram into the Valhawk and grab onto it with it's clamps. And then something begins to charge between the V of the twin bits of beetle's wing protectors. "MAIN CANNON, ONLINE." Oi Shinda presses several buttons, aiming the cannon at an upward angle. "FIRE!"

From space, it may be possible to see the powerful lance of the main cannon's thick laser. The laser could potentially pass all the way out of the atmosphere before it fizzles out of existence. And unfortunately for Valhawk. If the clamping was successful... it would find itself unable to be blown out of the main blast of the laser.

Turn X is something else. The gash in the armor Arado leaves looks like the most any of them have managed to do, the I-Field and the ridiculous armor plating refusing to give. But something is wrong. It doesn't look as big as it did; in fact, it looks... smaller. Even in the short time the Wildwurger can see it, before Arado's eyes, the armor of the Turn X writhes and expands. The gash vanishes.

It is more than a little reminiscent of the Devil Gundam.

Sparks fly, the Dragon Fang shooting upward out of the waves again and grazing the mech. Turn X returns fire. The Destruction Manipulator lets loose another yellow beam straight down, blasting a hole in the sea big enough for the Grungusts to fly down with their arms outstretched and not touch either side. It hangs there for a moment before it begins to collapse inward in a massive deluge of seawater, the whirlpool stretching outward and tugging at the sub and the net. Gym's casual disregard for the lives of his allies is apparent when he is trying to smite his enemies like an angry god.

The Gespenst is another issue. Turn X gets it's face rammed in, the Jet Magnum blasting the helmet of the Turn X until it finally cracks. A yellow eye beneath it is revealed, but not much else; the Turn-type, it seems, is more than willing to take a few hits from the omnipresent grunt suit. Gym answers Russel with a laugh, long and loud, and then punches his Gespenst right in the face without any more preamble.

The huge claw that comes at the Turn X head-on deserves a little more attention, Gym thinks. The I-Field stengthens and catches the Beetle Crusher Claw before it can get to it, slowing it down--and then /Turn X/ does the same, it's left actual hand grasping one end of the claw and the Destruction Manipulator latching onto the other. It pushes, it's otherworldly, nigh-infinite power source surging energy into the limbs in glowing, almost delicate-looking golden tracery that spirals outward from the chest and fills the arms.

"Then you are going to have to do better than that, /boy/! SHINING FINGEEEEEEEERRRRR!!"

Turn X lets go and breaks off, but only for scant feet. The claw /catches/ it, clamping down and crushing even as the Destruction Manipulator opens wide, practically touching the chest of the Wildwurger. A brilliant golden light fills the inside of the weapon and suddenly shoots outward in a devastating wave, spraying intense heat and power into the air and then culminating in a titanic detonation. Gym can't see Arado through it, and Arado can't see Gym--did one get the other?

Turn X, when the smoke clears, rains into the ocean in pieces. They drop into the whirlpool, disappearing beneath the churning waves. It's only seconds of peace, though--yellow megaparticle beams sudden pierce the surface, firing into the sky, dragged over the surface of the water and swirling all around. Pieces of the Turn X surface, shooting upwards and spinning like a cloud of remote controlled death. Each leg, each arm, each portion of the torso, the /head/--they all have megaparticle cannons, they all have I-Fields, and they are all shooting across the battlefield and weaving a web of annihilation for anything foolish enough to venture close.

Inside the Turn X Top, Gym continues to laugh.

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "Wufei... this battle is lost. You should leave!"

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "Command will tell me to fight you next... and I don't want to fight you."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Ascian Luddite from Chang Wufei says, "You're not going to win with Turn X still flying, Ascian."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "This is not time for philosophy!"

<Radio> Tightbeam to Ascian Luddite from Chang Wufei says, "It's not philosophy, it's to show everyone that turn X isn't invincible."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "Break off, Wufei!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "That Chinese fool..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "He truly believes he can defeat the Turn X..."

It seems the battle isn't going quite well for the A-laws at the moment. However, Wufei was underwater, so he couldn't really tell. However, Turn X was in Wufei's sights and he was seeing red. Altron suddenly blast out of the water and flies straight for Turn X, completely intending to cleave the sucker in half if it didn't move.....

"So you'll challenge me with the Colossal Blade?" Kusuha asks, leaping away from the Type-3. She smiles for a moment, closing her eyes and resting one hand on the control panel in front of her. "Type-2, I'm depending on you. For the sake of forging a sword that Bullet and I can use to cut a path to the future together..." Her eyes snap up, and she takes hold of the controls with a determination that might surprise anyone who thought that Kusuha was content to living out her life as a simple nurse. "...I absolutely will not lose!" Even if the Type-3 is a massive machine, it cannot use its size to intimidate Kusuha the same way that it can other machines. Although it is an older model, the Grungust Type-2 is of the same lineage, and it is a mighty machine that knows no boundaries. She isn't going to give up now... no. "I will match your blade head on, Sanger Zonvolt! Come!" One of the shoulders of the Type-2 opens, the handle of a blade snapping down so that the Grungust can draw it forth with a single smooth motion. Kusuha swings the flared, chinese style sword around, sliding her robot's hand along the flat surface, energy crackling along the sword's edge as Kusuha gathers the power of the T-Link System into the blade. "There are two stars in the sky... Kusuha intones, her eyes focusing on her target. And the Type-2 rockets forward, dashing through the air towards Sanger at the highest speed it can manage. The blue haired girl focuses, watching for the singular moment where she can find her opening. The Colossal Blade comes in... And Kusuha swings her sword around, parrying the Colossal Blade in a tremendous shower of sparks as the two machines grind together, each striving to overcome the other. The T-LINK System interface flashes behind Kusuha, and she concentrates, gathering all the power she can manage. "I've met your blade! Now taste mine, Sanger Zonvolt!" she shouts. The Type-2 performs a twisting disengage, hops back a step... and rushes in. "KEITOU SHUNGOKUKEN!" she shouts, the Doomblade snapping around as she blasts right at Sanger, her blade snapping sideways at elbow height on the Type-3 Grungust.

The Migarder may be fast, but Kazuma makes most of his living by the Valhawk being faster and more agile, which requires paying a lot of attention - although to be fair, just seeing the Migarder COMING BACK HIS WAY after the Jade Flowsion is enough to put him (and Mihiro) on notice.

Even with that much of a heads-up, it takes a lot of what the Valhawk has left to boost away from the Migarder's grasping claws, and even then the thunder of its main cannon is loud enough to drown out anything Kazuma or Mihiro might try to say to each other in the interim.

But they live through it nonetheless, so they'll be able to talk later. For now, a simple "You okay back there?" from Kazuma, answered by a brief "Uh-huh" from Mihiro, is all they need to exchange.

And then Kazuma goes on the attack again, deploying the Ray Blade and hypercharging it so that the shaft of 'cutting' energy is two or three times its usual size and intensity, and - with Mihiro attempting to confirm where the Migarder's cockpit is - Kazuma launches his attack, trying to deprive the Migarder of a large chunk of its structure.

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite gives a disappointed sound... "Wufei... I'm sorry."

Erika doesn't pursue. She's made her point after all. Instead, she briefly scans the battlefield to see if the situation calls for her assistance... then submerges the Valsion into the water once more to cut loose the trapped Killer Whale. It is slow going however. As big as the Valsion Kai is, it's not quite 'Killer Whale' big, and the net that snares the submarine is absolutely massive. She has to cut the cables one by one.

"The Devil Gundam!" Arado yells. "You--what the hell is this thing?! We destroyed the Devil Gundam! We destroyed everything about that monster!"

The huge beam of energy comes at him. The Wildwurger's claw tears back, metal burnt black along the edges and the arm. The beam blast rips outward -- and the Wildwurger suddenly surges upward. The armor is blackened and burnt along the front of the body, where the machine had taken -- if briefly -- the brunt of the energy blast. It rises upward, soaring at the Turn X's components, weaving and bobbing with the sword.

He chops several times -- and then a final, powerful thruster burst causes it to turn, and dive down quicker than the heavily armored Wildwurger has right to. The blade cleaves down after it, trying to split a leg in two.

The Amenthes moves slightly, its head following the movements of Ibis' machine as it rushes through the lasers and kind of... folds its arms and wings for a moment, the tailfeathers gently waving as the sea-breeze plays with them. Ascian is having a heated discussion with a particular person in a certain dragon-like machine. "Why can't this dragon not be my ally as well?" Ascian whispers.

Duat doesn't answer, it simply places a big red targetting reticule over it as it blasts from the water and tries to slice at the Turn X gundam. The framerunner lets out a sigh, and quickly looks at the vid-window, still fixed on the Astelion. "It looks like he will manage to get away fine. I wonder who he was... that mysterious pilot."

Head facing the front again, he lays his eyes on the Altron Gundam. "I warned you... why didn't you do what I said?" He suddenly uses the speakers. "Leave this battlefield, Wufei! You cannot win!" The machine, still hanging there, suddenly once again becomes aglow as Ascian's will passes through the bioluminescent veins of the machine.

The tailfeathers suddenly all form a small red flaming orb above their diamond-like shiny ends, quickly becoming larger. Flames form, the tails spread... each into a different direction beneath the machine. He grabs for his radio and opens a direct channel to Wufei. "DODGE THIS! AND GET OUT OF HERE!" He shouts through it and then pushes his will into the machine once more, the flaming orbs becoming bigger and bigger... and then flash straight towards the dragon-themed mobile suit, intent on surrounding it, impacting it, and generally setting it ablaze with the glorious destruction of Metatron energy.

Russel Bagman pauses that attack. "Wait what?! Where did you learn Domon's....."

Russel isn't quick enouh to get away from the eentire assault but he manages to avoid getting hammered to bits really. The Gespenst fires a split missile senind a swarm of missiles in reply. His comrades are stoll in the figtht and so is her. "It's a monster that has no place in this world Arado! I'll cover you!"

CP Canon online

Russel pulls a weapon off the back of his machine and it expands like an Knight's Orgua canon, there's a handle on the side and one hand grabs is as his machine hovers there and taking aim at Gym, he fires a dual salvo of split missiles s he attemps to sweep the canon across all the parts of the Turn X. Missiles plasma blasts.

"I seen too many innocent people die because of people like you!"

The ever present Gespenst is known for one thing at least. Picking up new tricks it seems the EFA has back engineered some of the Balmarian's weapon. The blast howeer is making the PT a little unstable it seems.

How that machine healed from his hit, the fact he saw what could have been part of the Turn A's face under the helmet. His eyes narro.

"The devil gundam and all the technology behind it will be erassed!"

The Migarder isn't really that fast. It's not that unreasonable for the Valhawk to outmaneuver it. Even when flying, the Migarder is more of a battleship then a maneuverable mech. However, it's JUST maneuverable enough to get out of the way of the blade incoming for it, releasing an almost half-hearted Death Blossom missile in response, the missiles exploding off in the distance in several beautiful flower-shaped explosions. It didn't really do much. "Hmm. Are you ready then, Migarder?" It's actually rather difficult to find the Migarder's cockpit. This is because the cockpit is hiding deep inside of the Migarder, with no real easy way to access it. There are no open windows, though there are an array of sensors that allow Oi to see what's happening around him.

"RAGNAROK ONLINE." Pings the semi-mechanical feminine voice of the Migarder, and then ... Oi smirks. He taps several buttons on the Migarder's control panel, before opening a comlink to Kazuma's Valhawk. "To give you a fair chance at survival, I would suggest that you start getting out of the area now." Oi says, leaving the channel open a moment for a response, before closing it.

The Migarder's wings immediately snap open, and then one massive missile flies up into the sky. It flies up incredibly fast... and disappears into the distance. It does not come down again. In the sky above the battlefield, there's a sudden explosion, and the battlefield is shaded by the resulting smoke in the air. And then? Then it seems as if the sky has been made out of missiles. Missiles impact the area around the Migarder and the Valhawk. There is no room to escape. There is no chance to survive. There is only an explosion everywhere. Welcome to Ground Zero. The Ragnarok has landed, and even the Migarder has curled up to defend itself from it's own attack.

Even more nameless soldiers sent against him by Dewey perish. If he was to stop fighting and spare them, then he'd be lost himself. He doesn't hesitate as the pink explosions fill the sky. The trail of a pale green light behind an empty board the sign of a man that was once there.

But it's Dewey's fault. Not his. An explanation as good as any. It's Dewey's fault; if only for these men.

The remaining KLF's open fire, but the R909 swerves on it's own line bobbing and weaving, turning onto other junctions in the trapar line. His old senses returning, the skill he once possessed as an ace gradually coming back to him, at least momentarily. "They're getting sloppy."

A communication breaks through as the counter reaches 1-0-0, "Holland!" The voice, Talho's comes over loud and clear. "There's a few ships stationed out ov-" She doesn't get to say anymore, the first laser streaking by the LFO, frazzling the communications. The blast almost as large as the R909 itself. "DamNIT!" Holland finally responds to Talho.

Staring directly into a beam of light, much like the first. The trapar wave will take him directly into it. Acting on instinct, the back of the board is kicked down hard, the board no longer riding the wave but plunging into it. The LFO and rider tumbles down as he works feverishly to place the board back under the LFO, managing halfway down. "Close one.." He remarks, staring as the third laser passes above.

His eyes are on the skies, staring upwards at the beam that missed him. But something's wrong. Something that he forgot about. Something that Talho hasn't. The view, as far away as the Gekko is, is unmistakable.

One of the KLF pilots manages to make use of the slightly distracted Holland, tearing downwards at the rogue pilot. "SHIT-!" What should have knocked him off the board never comes. A beam, a megaparticle cannon, tears through the KLF. The resulting pink explosion sends the R909 in a barely controlled roll, the LFO grasping the board, kneeling close to it as it clasps on tight.

The remaining KLF pilot, Crocus 1, takes aim. His position spoke quite well about his competence. He was quite the crack shot, the laser rifle taking aim at the cockpit of the LFO pilot under siege. Holland's eyes see the KLF as well as Crocus 1 can see him. "Tch....!!" He cringes.

Crocus 1 does not have time to /take/ the shot. A spiralling bit of the Turn X shoots upwards, drilling through the KLF. The board underneath sports a perfect hole, mirrored in the KLF as the piece erupts from the top. The machine's arms hang, a red liquid leaking from the destroyed craft. The pink explosion comes momentarily after, Holland's eyes wide.

Now he understands what Dewey was trying for. But so did someone else, the communication to the Gekko never have been cut from the last attempt. "HOLLAND!" A somewhat distressed Talho finally manages to get out. "He was luring you near the Turn-X!!" "I can /SEE THAT NOW/!" But it's not anger. It's frustration. Outwitted by his brother. Flown into a trap for these men to die like flies; him with them.

A beam erupts upwards, searing into the board. Thrusters kick, shooting the R909 fowards, a line of beams erupting before Holland. He twists and turns about some of them, diving and spiralling down one up until a piece of the Turn-X, or simply shrapnel from the explosions, slams into the board. It's knocked from under him; sent spiralling towards the ground. He falls with it to the tune of a maiden's scream, multiple beams impacting into the armor, searing the LFO, before it makes land fall. The saving grace was at the angle he fell, and while he lands it is not without damage, either.

It lands hard in shallow water, real waves now surrounding the legs and cockpit. Arms grasp the board, pulling it free from the crevice it made after pulling the machine up. Sparks shooting unsafely all the while. Coughing, Holland chokes out one word, full of hate this time.

"Dewey..."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Ascian Luddite from Chang Wufei says, "I'm not leaving until Turn X is Disabled."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "It's not going to happen!"

<Radio> Tightbeam to Chang Wufei: Ascian Luddite says, "You are NOT ready yet, Wufei!"

"Hmmm!" Sanger observes as Kusuha's blade comes up and parries the Colossal Blade, accepting his challenge head-on. It's an approving sort of 'hmm', the sort of thing that a master might do in the vague direction of his student, even though Kusuha wasn't really his student (though she was dating one of his master's students). It was the grunting acknowledgement of one who had come very far.

But the silently-deployed Drill Boost Knuckle comes in at the last moment, and its strike is just enough, just enough, to parry her Doomblade. She's come so far, but not quite far enough. Still - to face the Colossal Blade head-on was something that few would ever do willingly. That she had done so and come out victorious spoke of her courage and strength, and was more than enough of a test.

"Very well... I have seen your resolve! I concede this battle to you - but there is something I must do before I depart this battlefield!"

The Drill Boost Knuckle reattaches, and Sanger heaves the Colossal Blade up and onto the Grungust's shoulder awkwardly. The weight makes it sag for a brief instant, dangling there in the sky like some huge oversized thing.

And then it points at the Turn X.

"Warriors of Earth, allow me to give you this assistance - DIVINE CRUSADERS! PREPARE YOURSELF!"

The massive Colossal Blade rises once more... and the Grungust drops like a stone towards the water. The machine whistles as it falls, like an impending missile strike; it falls, so fast, so heavy, weighted not only by its own enormous size but by the immense sword.

"HERE I COME, KILLER WHALE! YOU KNOW MY NAME - BUT JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, ALLOW ME TO REMIND YOU WHOSE FURY YOU FACE!"

"YOUR EVIL ACTIONS WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED! NOT SO LONG AS I AM PRESENT IN THIS EARTH TO DEFEND IT!"

The blade falls, and it hits the water. There is an immense splash, a wave rolling backwards, but there is no slowing; no, this stone is going to hit full speed.

The Killer Whale Crew can start 'oh shit'ing right now.

"FOR I AM SANGER! SANGER ZONVOLT!"

"THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL! AND THERE IS NOTHING MY ZANKANTOU CANNOT PIERCE!"

Yeah, that Killer Whale's commander's eyes are wide enough to be dinner plates right now. The blade impacts the Killer Whale with an enormous WHOOM; water begins pouring into all decks, and alarms blaze as the heavy monstrosity that is the Colossal Blade slices through deck after deck like a hot knife through butter. Explosions rip out across the underwater ship; the Sword That Cleaves Evil strikes true, and all hands are already abandoning ship to avoid the underwater explosion.

As for the Sanshiki? It's nowhere to be found. Already, Sanger has disappeared - but a clever radar ping might show an enormous object deep below the surface of the ocean floor...something big enough to be, say, a Space Noah-class cruiser with an enormous drill?

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

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "FUCK!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite groans...

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Gym Ghingnham transmits, "Tch!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "... So -that's- what the Ragnarok looks like."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "The sub's... falling right on top of me! Tch... damnit... I don't... have... a choice..."

<Radio> Tightbeam to Ascian Luddite from Chang Wufei says, "I wasn't ready begin fighting either, Ascian! Shoot me if you must, but Turn X is a threat that needs to be taken down a few notches."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Miss Keese? Need assistance?"

That is a whole fragging hell of a lot of missiles. Fortunately for Kazuma and Mihiro, they're dispersed over an area rather than all descending right on the Valhawk - meaning that Kazuma can blow some of them out of the air while flying upwards and clearing a path so he won't be *at* ground zero when the raining missiles strike and detonate.

In the end, the Valhawk's a fair distance up in the air, and once the missiles have finished descending, Kazuma hits the transformation sequence, reverting the Valhawk to Air Force Mode. "Mihiro, shall we show him our appreciation for the fireworks with some of our own?"

Mihiro nods, "By all means, oniichan ... Heat field, full power! Code: Phoenix, engaged!"

The sheath of plasma flares out around the Valhawk again as Kazuma flies in pursuit of the Migarder, banking left, then right, as the heat field comes up to full power, apparent wings of fire extending from either side of the Valhawk to give it the vague appearance of a huge fiery bird -

And then he stops showing off and heads STRAIGHT for the Migarder at full throttle. "HEAT EDGE EXPLODER!! *GO!!!!*"

Unfortunately, Erika happens to be right NEXT to the Killer Whale when Sanger scuttles it, leaving her in a very precarious position as the submarine begins to sink. Right on top of her. When something that big desides it wants to go down, there isn't much that one can do to stop it, regardless of how powerful their machine is. The sub's disintegrating hull crashes into the Valsion, forcing it down and threatening to crush it... Erika takes the prospect... as well as one can. "FUCK!" The Valsion hits the sea floor, pinned under one piece of the sub. A much larger, most definitely more fatal piece lumbers down towards her and she gapes in horror. "The sub's... going to fall right on top of me!" She tries to force her machine up, but the wreckage holds fast and the large half of the sinking sub looms ever closer. Erika grits her teeth and shuts her eyes, "I... don't have... a choice..." From beneath the wreckage, a violet light shines as every charges into the Cross Smasher. Erika doesn't want to condemn all the people left in the sub to a violent death, but it's the only way she'll live. She adverts her eyes and pulls the trigger. The blast from the Cross Smasher easily cleaves through the wreckage pinning her, then scythes up through the waver, tearing away at the half of the sub looming over it. It begins to fall away, coming apart and spilling humanoid figures into the inky blue water. Erika forces her machine up, pushing through the cloud of dead men... and Erika looks up just in time to see a man land against the face of her machine and get caught. his blank stare looking at her through the viewscreen. A moment later it falls away and the Valsion emerges from the ocean. Erika summarily pukes.

So that was it then - he'd withdrawn. Kusuha lets out a long breath, allowing herself to relax slightly as the Type-3 goes on its own little rampage, attacking the Killer Whale and probably doing a lot more damage than anyone might have expected from an enemy who had been 'tied up' for the time being. Kusuha sits back and gives Sanger a silent salute, watching as the Type-3 vanishes from the battlefield... and then she turns to her own preparations. She types quickly, finishing the data upload and saving it. The screen flashes, and responds: GRUNGUST TYPE-3 DATA UPLOAD SUCCESSFUL. DATA FORWARD TO TYPE-3 UNIT 1 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT. The Doomblade is returned to its storage rack, and Kusuha shifts the Grungust to its flight mode. A moment's reconfiguration, and the G-HAWK soars above the battlefield, looking for someplace to rejoin the fray and lend her allies a hand...

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese sounds vaguely sick, "I'm fine..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> James Heller transmits, "You okay you sound sick"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "I had... I had to shoot through the sub to escape being crushed by the wreckage."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Duat reports, "Casualty figures: about 40 men were lost during that attack."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Shh... Duat. Don't be so insensitive."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "You did what you had to, miss Keese. I'm sorry it had to be this way."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese may be holding back another bout of puking.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "But they probably were lost already."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "I... I know. Doesn't make it any easier."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I know... I'm truly sorry. Damn that Sanger..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "To think I looked up to him..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Oi Shinda transmits, "You did what you had to, my lady. Do not blame yourself."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I know a place on the way back to Mars that serves good booze... if that would help you forget about this?"

"..." Oi is almost in awe at the Ragnarok's activation. It was actually the first time he'd managed it. Each time the Migarder had gotten close, the battle had ended. He doesn't even care that it missed. He was more interested in watching as the plasma missile death rains down on the area. And then there's a Kazuma coming straight for him. With something that does not look nice at all. And it's ramming into his Migarder. And slicing right through it's armor like a knife through butter. A laser fires widely as the impact happens, and it causes Oi to grimace. "Well. This did not go as well as I'd hoped it will, but we both did our jobs." The Killer Whale was destroyed however. This mission was a failure.

"...Hm. Let's end this with one last light show." Oi smirks through the viewscreen of the Migarder. He's somewhat bluffing. The missiles were still cooling from firing the Ragnarok, so there was not much that he could do in the way of attacks. He presses one final button. And once again, a barrage of lasers fires towards the Valhawk. More and more and more, at least twenty shots total attempt to batter and blast the Valhawk's armor and shields.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Erika Keese transmits, "I'll pass. I'm not a very good drinker."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Wish there was something I could do for you..."

In a crowning moment of irony, the Valhawk does NOT weave its way through the laser barrage unscathed, but it plows through the onslaught with a lot more scorched armor, some melted - but the primary systems are all still online.

For now.

"You put up a good fight," Kazuma transmits as he shunts power from weapons to engines, and burns the heck out of there on a trail of hot blue-white plasma exhaust, smashing through the sound barrier (yet again) in the process.

Time for them to rendezvous with the Valstork, start the Valhawk's repair cycle, and endure some level of lecture from Blessfield about losing money .. but they DID get the cartographical/oceanographical data which they were out there for. And Mihiro's already compiling a request for reimbursement to the A-LAWS, with a telemetry record - hopefully they can actually get paid for the *fighting*.

Well. That was a good fight. Even with the other guy using melee, Oi couldn't help but smile as he lays back in the Migarder's cockpit, looking up at the roof of it, and the sky above through the Migarder's visuals. "This mission was a failure, huh... but at least I got to see the Ragnarok." Murmurs Oi. Before he turns his Migarder around, beginning to have it walk along the bottom of the ocean for the wreckage of the killer shark. Even damaged, the Migarder may be able to help with salvaging what remains of the submarine. It wasn't going back into combat. At least not yet.

The Turn X's pieces are everywhere. Wufei can't even find a good bit to strike with his tridents, glancing off a leg without doing much else as it flies past. The whirlpool he is in is making it hard to do /anything/ down there; he should consider surfacing, coming closer to Gym and getting into /his/ melee reach.

"You did, and it was a commendable victory!" Gym declares. "But this... Turn X is not from /your/ world! The civilization that crafted it did so out of tamed Devil Gundam cells and all the most advanced technology at their disposal! I would claim it is indestructable... but we both know how that would end, and I haven't yet tired of this battle, boy!!"

Gym is a little genre savvy, maybe.

Wildwurger comes down at the swarm of Turn X pieces, but it has the same problems that the Altron Gundam does: there are too many and they're going too fast. Each is bigger than a Newtype's remote, but they're all as mobile, all being controlled by either Gym or some kind of computer or maybe even some kind of god damn /ghost/ that he brought along with him, /who knows/? The leg spins out when he hits it but the gash seals almost immediately after he manages to land a good hit, and the Destruction Manipulator, still functioning at high power, dives at him like a thrown spear made of golden light, it's massive beam saber extended--

--and then it follows through, the beam extending longer and rending the sky on it's approach to the Gespenst. The missiles and the barrage of searing plasma rains across the Turn X, the sheer volume of firepower finally finding a target, hammering the mobile suit's component parts and driving them off. Gym grits his teeth, ready to open fire again--and then spots Sanger Zonvolt cleave the submarine they're here to save. He scowls. "Tch! Again? What a /waste/. Well then..."

Turn X's upper torso and Kyaraps frame collide, the Kyaraps pack launching a swarm of missiles again. They dive at the exposed Altron and come around at the damaged Wildwurger, the Turn X Top attaching while it spews explosives in every direction. Pieces begin to converge, to reattach... except for the one with the Destruction Rifle, surfacing behind the Gespenst and firing on it at point blank range.

"...if we can't have the submarine back, then I will take what entertainment I can from ALL OF YOU!"

Grunting as not only the Turn X hits him again, but the Amenthes sets his Altron momentarily ablaze, eating at its armor - Wufei gets ready for a last ditch attack. Charging the godly machine, he prepares to ram his shield into the Turn X gundam. Hoo rah.

As Kusuha cruises through the battlefield, she takes a moment to watch what the Turn X is doing. This machine is one she's not fought before - heck, the best she's seen is some nearly unwatchable guncam footage when the TLI scientists were trying to figure out how it worked. It isn't a lot to go on, but it's clear that the machine can operate even when disjoined. It begins reassembling, and Kusuha nods once - she might not be able to hit it very accurately, but she should be able to at least press Gym some and assist her allies. The G-Hawk transforms once again, returning to its usual super robot form in one swift motion. Kusuha skims the water, relying on her booster to keep her above the waves for the time being as she makes her attack run. "Grungust Type-2, joining the battle!" she shouts, the massive blue and gold robot shouldering its way into the field of fire. With this much mass, she should be able to help cover for some of her allies, and her armor is intact enough that she can probably take a few hits from Gym. But just taking the hits won't do - she needs to fight back as well. "I apologize for the late arrival, sir! But the Grungust and I will be your opponents as well!" she shouts up at Ghingnham, both arms rising up. "Double Boost KNUCKLE!" The two rocket fists roar away, racing straight at several pieces of the Turn X and trying to grab them out of the sky. And crush them if possible. Or even just punch them if that is an option.

Blinking as Turn X Separates into it's different limbs to shoot at all of his enemies, Wufei just.....makes a face. "no wonder Turn X is so powerful, people are too damned freaked out by Turn X to effectively fight him. Ugh. Well, let's see if I can bring a PIECE of him down." and with that, he fires off a dragon fang at the chest piece with it's flamethrowers firing.

With the forces lined up against Gym still, Holland can tell the remaining members of the @-LAWS might be too much for him to take. Alone and with the only remaining 'ally' the Turn-X and it's pilot, Holland agrees to listen to the shrill mix of both insults and concern that flows freely from Talho, now that the comm-unit has been damanged.

Most notably is the only damage that has been done to it in particular - the ability to mute or end communication.

The board rises, the R909 leaping onto it and taking off with a green trail of trapar following behind it as it pulls away from the battle between the Turn-X and the remnants of the the enemy forces. Holland notices one of the robots crash towards the Turn-X using a familiar technique.

His eyes narrow. But there is a bit of pride behind it, even if it's the 'enemy'. It's a mixed feeling.

"Returning to the Gekko - and it wasn't as reckless as you think Talho! I know what I'm doing!" He shoots back, only to be immediately onset by a different kind of combat and the fly home.

One that he simply /cannot/ win.

"They did /what/?" Arado repeats, stunned, slightly. He turns his machine, before it comes down at the ocean -- and his eyes lock onto the Destruction Manipulator displayed on his monitor. He considers what Shine tells him -- and he interprets it creatively. His fingers flip a few switches, and the battered and burnt blue armor explodes off the front.

His machine rolls hard to one side, the verniers sending it hurtling as the wings unfurl. His machine shudders and trembles, as the lightened load lets it rise upward. The beam lance shreds into its left side, close to the cockpit block. Monitors explode with sparks as it shorts out --- blasting into his face. Blood trickles down from cuts on his scalp.

The roll to the side saves Arado's life -- as his machine rolls away from it.

"Even if you're in the strongest thing ever built," Arado grunts, as his machine rises up. It snakes, twists, and turns. The Turn X's numerous pieces are lit up on his screen by a crosshair. "Even if you're the best pilot there is! I'll find a way to kick your ass anyways, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO!"

The Tesla Drive on the Wildwurger's back fires. Blue light flares out the back, and it turns and twists, in a tight spiral. The wings slash by the Turn X's individual bits as he passes, and then his machine turns. The metal sword is hefted up, reflecting blue and green light pouring off the battered, blackened Wildwurger. "Victim--"

Arado thrusts a hand control forward, and the Wurger's arm curls back and then forward, throwing the sword. It flies through the air, straight and true, for the Destruction Manipulator.

"--BREAK!"

The CP canon is cooling off he can't fire it right away, and it collapses again, still venting heat as it dows so, he getws the m90 in hand again but it's not quick ehough at this point. "It seems like that doesn't it!" Theres other things that just don't go away. Blue Cosmos, Zeon's just about worshiping newtypes as gods. Aliens with mysterious beefs against humanity, though Genome is very likely the cause of most of those. Russel opens fire, sending an netire clip of m90 rounds along with a heavy grenade.

"You sound like Tenzan."

Maybe there's something to be said for the lousy luck Ibis has been having as of late. Too much adrenaline to really start sulking over nearly getting the Astelion scrapped, /again/, still too close to the battlefield to try and sort through the battle data in detail, to try and get some better idea of what the hell exactly did such a number on her. She almost felt like a real god damned pilot when it came down to the wire against the Balmarians, but as of late. ..

The frenzy of mega particle cannon fire from downstairs brings her back to reality, as brilliant golden light whips past her cockpit, close enough to sizzle whatever paint might be left on the poor Astelion. Of /course/ people aren't going to stop shooting at you just because you're on your way out, Douglas, you dolt. Like a frightened, cornered animal, Ibis responds to this new development by doing everything she can to stay alive in a situation like this: fly evasive, fly fast, pray.

Well what do you know, it /worked/ for once. Lucky right when it counts.

Kusuha comes out of practically nowhere with the drill knuckles. The two weapons spiral through the swarm of Turn X pieces, but the Turn X is pretty much this stupid ghost-robot that cannot actually stand still. The pieces of it form up and repel them with rocket(to) pu(uuu)nches of it's own, deflecting the drills and launching a missile barrage at the Grungust before it can get closer.

But as we all know, it only takes a snowball to start an avalanche.

The dragon seeks the torso and roasts it with flamethrowers, the fire washing over the chest of the Turn X like a searing wave. Armor burns and melts, the sharp, sleek design warping visibly under the intense heat. It uses it's arm and a leg to try and deflect it, but it just makes it worse. The return of the solid projectiles and the grenade launcher do much the same, pounding into the now-malleable metal and ripping holes in it, right down to the...

...the nothing?

The inside of Turn X is hollow. The leg that has been torn into doesn't actually have anything inside of it. It's a shell made of DG Cells or something like it and there is exactly zero machinery keeping it moving. It does slow it down, though, and that's all it needs to do... because Arado is on the job, even if by all rights he should be in a watery grave.

Wildwurger, faster now, cuts the collecting pieces to shreds. They're damaging it faster than it can regenerate, hammering them and keeping them from going any further, keeping them from reattaching. Gym's control on the machine seems to waver from the damage, but it's more /him/ and less the mobile weapon that's having a problem. He pulls up--

The Destruction Manipulator is struck. The blade punches through one of the claws and lodges itself inside. The energy beam it prepared scatters, shooting across the sea and into the air like a cone of some kind of much more deadly fireworks. The dispersed energy proves just as devastating as anything else, but fortunately, nobody falls to it... this time.

"You're good... but I'm not done yet. We'll meet again, warrior--you and your 'Alpha Numbers' can count on that!"

Turn X's pieces fall into the sea. The head shoots past the Gespenst, narrowly missing it and plunging into the ocean, vanishing beneath the churning waves.

MASTERY ACHIEVED!