2011-03-16 - Wyred For Destruction

! BGM CHANGE ! http://tinyurl.com/FOM-BlackOps

Tuesday, March 15th -- 17:30 Deimos Station, Mars Jhamal Grade Cruiser: The BAHRAM Spacefleet Battleship E.C.I.B.

"Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how exact those calculations need to be!?"

That was the first thing that came out of the captain's mouth when he received the orders surrounding the approach to the Neo USA Colony. "Look, I appreciate that I've been given this chance to command a vessel of my own. But this is beyond rediculous." The old man complains, pointing his finger at a pink haired teenage girl with sharp yellow eyes - who, in turn, is just grinning at him. "Are you telling me that you can't do it?" She asks him, "I have a few others I can call, but you were stated to be the most suited man for this job."

The old bearded man man throws his cap onto the floor, then points at another man, who proceeds to furiously stomp on it for the captain. "I will do it! But if any of my crew, or the citizens on that colony die, I am holding you responsible!" The old man points an accusing finger at the teenage girl, who just keeps on grinning with that evil look on her face. She bats the hand away. "Just get me results." The girl turns about and is about to wander out of the bridge before she turns around. "Oh, and you know who is in command now." The captain lets out a growl. "They're giving the rookie another chance?" He mutters.

Tuesday, March 16th -- 21:00 Earth Cradle -- Inside a Divine Crusader Freighter

The massive gates of the Earth Cradle are open, and a large freighter ship begins to push through. A series of Divine Crusaders are currently on board within its hangar, awaiting the unit to lift off. A single fighter is set facing the hangar, carrying a large container of sorts, that seems to be letting out a strange energy reading. Speakers suddenly blare in the hangars.

"Welcome to operation 'Wyred For Destruction', under the Martian Counterattack Initiative. We welcome your loyalty, or other reasons that may have brought you on board this freighter. Over the next half hour, we will be moving to the Neo USA colony and dock. Please make preperations. Half an hour after docking, the hangar doors will open, and target information will be directly sent to your systems." A voice calls out over the internal speakers.

The entire freighter begins to rock, and then finally blasts off from the Earth Cradle, lifting up into space and flying on a straight course for the Neo-USA colony.

21:34       Neo USA Spaceport -- Inside the Divine Crusader Freighter

"We have arrived at location. Please finish your needed preperations. The pre-mission operations are about to commence. Please make sure you are all well secured, as you may be shaken around a bit soon. And ignore the collision warning lights please." The ship is moored with the Neo USA Ring-colony, hangar-bay doors, though closed, connected to the insides of the 'city'.

! BGM CHANGE ! http://tinyurl.com/FOM-Sortie

21:50       Earthsphere Space -- BSB E.C.I.B.

"Starting deceleration procedures!" A massive warship suddenly appears amidst the earthspere, coming in at an enormous velocity. A cloud of white seperates, and a series of gigantic boosters immediately begin burning through fuel as the unit begins to try to decelerate at a rapid rate. Its aim alters slightly, with bursts of gigantic boosters at the side, until it is on a direct collision course with the Neo-USA Orbital Ring. Of course, this can't help but set off alarms all across the Earth Sphere! People all across different command systems scramb

Inside of this cruiser's hangar however, things seem rather... empty. The gentle glow of red Metatron bioluminescence stands out amongst a small series of Drone Orbital Frames - their eyes aglow, holding onto gigantic containers: very much identical to the container that was on board the Divine Crusader freighter -- which was still docked and closed off at the clueless colony.

The Jhamal class cruiser continues to expend massive amounts of fuel to slow down, getting closer and closer, until it finally halts a good couple of kimoters away from the actual colony. "Tssk. He chickened out." Ascian mutters inside of the Orbital Frame. "No matter." He taps a his fingers on the half-orbs, and a countdown begins whilst the large hangardoors open in front of him. The Orbital Frame drones quickly launch, rushing straight for the colony. Of course, those alarms that were ringing everywhere across the Neo-USA colony were now being joined by the sound of automatic laser fire blasting out into space.

The raptors, carrying the two large containers however, do not halt. They move around beautifully, guided by the systems on the E.C.I.B. A few get shot off, but the other raptors attached to the containers manage to continue on, until they all finally land on the outside hull of the colony. That's where the Amenthes suddenly comes into play; it pulls out a rather strange device from its vector trap and stabs what looks like a small drill into the hull... which then suddenly rips out the plating and gives direct access to the colony. Air begins to vent immediately, and the raptors quickly move in with the containers; Amenthes following, after which it turns about and sprays a gigantic amount of white webbing onto the hole, closing it off entirely.

22:00       Neo USA Starport -- Divine Crusader Freighter

The hangar doors open, showing a large wide open space that is the spaceport - which has its gates opened into the Neo USA colony directly. How they'd managed to accomplish that is anyone's guess. The fighter carrying the container immediately darts off. "Off you go people. Follow the fighter! And try not to get any citizens killed!"

22:01       Inside of Neo USA -- Wyred Headquarters

A series of large LEVs come walking out of the hangars, having been warned of invaders. That's just when suddenly, they catch a series of raptors dumping a twosome of containers into different corners of the base, and a fighter flying overhead dumping a third. The containers open... revealing...

A total of three big pulsing black blobs of energy. What the heck are these!? Whatever they are, large Orbital Frame drones suddenly scramble from them; cyclopses, mummyheads, raptors...

The Amenthes floats overhead, with its pilot making an ultimatum. "This is BAHRAM. You have been warned countless times not to interfere with Mars. This is another call for independance. But, knowing you're not going to listen to mere talks, we've come to bring the battle to you. This is not an ultimatum. This isn't a request for surrender. We're here to destroy WYRED!"

! BGM CHANGE ! http://tinyurl.com/FOM-Danger

 The Neo-USA Colony sends out an S.O.S. as it is under attack by the Divine Crusaders!

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Heh, mass destruction! Gotta love it!"

 Divada Kirador transmits, "This is actually a surgical strike, Misaki."

One of the Orbital Frames that appears is the Qareen. Laughing at the ship's names, as if he was in some cosmic joke, he speaks to his AI.

"Alright, switch us into battle mode, keep me informed of the feddies getting too close to me. I am going to cause some /destruction/!"

-Acknowledge. As a note GEIM system has been disabled.-

"Tch, yeah, I figured. I won't need it tonight!" he shouts, already in his trace system. Lines of metatron running down his arms and legs matching the ones running down the Qareen's body. Suriel moves forward, rushing towards the hangers of the facility, specifically the two closer to each other, aiming blasts of energy machine gun fire from his shoulders to rain down on the buildings.

"No fighting fair today, chaps! Just lay still while I blow you the fuck up!"

With a deep breath, Erika watches as the mission timer counts down, gripping the controls of her ReFined Desert Dom. All around her, the panoramic cockpit display shows the inside of the darkened transport and the other machines assigned to the mission of decapitating WYRED. Just one step amongst many towards the goal of freeing Mars from the EFA chokehold.

When the timer reaches zero, she braces herself and reaches up to trigger the auto-tuner of her helmet, causing it to darken noticably to prevent glare from blinding her. A moment later, the hanger cracks open and light floods inside, bathing her purple and blue RF-series. Right on cue, the Dom's hoverjets ramp up to speed and the machine kicks off a meter off the ground before rushing out the door, bazooka in hand.

"Here we go... for Mars!"

The Dom speeds off after the guiding fighter, pausing only slightly to twist around and blast the legs off of a WYRED Phantoma as she passes.

Huang Qin Shi has been on the metaphorical road a great deal lately - a lot of his work as commander of the Alpha Numbers can be done remotely, but some matters need to be attended to personally, such as clandestine meetings. Or formal appearances. Or carrying rocks. Repositioning the Yingzi every time he has an appointment is simply out of the question, and so Huang has spent much more time recently zipping around from place to place in his bizarre little machine, the Rasavatam. He has also learned how to doze off inside a cockpit, which is a neat trick to have.

The alert came as Huang was climbing out of the atmosphere toward the orbital ring, arcing toward a rendezvous with his battleship as it rotated around toward him. After only a moment's hesitation, Huang altered his trajectory and began accelerating toward the colony, keeping a tight rein on the Rasavatam's external temperatures. His little silver unit is ill-suited to fighting inside a controlled environment - its most powerful weapons employ massive heat blooms that could devastate the oxygen-rich environment if he simply cuts loose. But if he doesn't employ the full power of his unit, he might not survive this encounter. The commander of the Alpha Numbers has a grim expression on his face as he slips in through one of the narrowing cracks in the colony wall.

And it was shaping up to be such a pleasant evening, too.

Arado is assigned to the Yingzi and, thus, Huang Qin Shi. He reported back to the Yingzi shortly after lunch today -- and then had embarked after Huang, to make sure that the Alpha Numbers commander was not left on his own. He was set to rendezvous with the Rasavatam just as it got out of orbit -- he had arrived earlier via shuttle.

The Wildwurger comes blitzing inward, blue light trailing from between the bound wings of the Personal Trooper. Arado leans forward in the cockpit; he makes a face, seeing the huge machine, and comes whipping in after the Rasavatam. The Wildwurger clutches the M90 in its hands, as Arado leans forward.

"I'm on your six, Huang," he transmits. "Looks like I showed up right on time, too, huh?"

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Hee hee, entire ship is babies."

 Ascian Luddite chuckles. "I knew you'd be amused by that."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Man, that is the best name ever. Who the hell came up with it?"

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Amante said that she wanted to call it the E.C.I.B. -- the captain didn't get it. She had to explain to him that she believed his entire crew were a bunch of babies."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "I feel sorry for the captain though."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Hahahahaha! It's true! What a group of pussies."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "The original plan was to ram the entire ship into the colony. But he chickened out. Maybe for the best though."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "Well, that plan was kinda dumb."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "Agreed."

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "If you are going to ram something into something, you should have just taped nukes to some old Zentrati ships and rode them in."

 Ascian Luddite transmits, "I think Amante just wanted to ridicule him. I agree with the captain's decision."

In DEFENSE of the Federation's holdings? The man named Holland Novak wouldn't do something like that. He would, especially not, be hired to protect the Federation as well. He'd much sooner be tried and shipped off to whatever jail they hold the more wanted people. Assuming he wasn't just killed. The Mercenary Novacaine, however, shares no such allegience against the Federation, or dislike of them.

Including poorly thought out names to work for the Federation the times they had the better deal.

The DOM trooper was assigned to guard WYRED for well founded fears, as demonstrated by the sudden attack made upon the facility. "Guess the weather was bound to change." Parts of WYRED LEVs bounce off the DOM as it rises off of the ground, bazooka hefted onto it's shoulder.

"More of a rainy day guy anyways."

Novacaine's Comm-unit has been disabled. A voice scrambler would take way too much effort and money, which is why there's an ascot wrapped around the switch. Holland currently minus one around his neck. The unit moves along the inner concrete walls as he scopes out the offensive. Let the guys who are actually into the Federation's cause be the first to die because of it.

The talking to himself? The silence is a killer. Even if he thought he'd prefer it after a while.

The Ark Hammer was on it's way back to Mars only a few hours before this operation began, but knowing that a Battlecruiser would more than likely destroy the entire colony instead of a single facility, was foolhardy in Divada's eyes. "My Lady, we have a visitor." A brunette says as she brings in another woman, someone Divada knew by voice only. "Remille Fortner?" Divada says as she turns towards the woman, and nods. "Miss Helmsley, you have the bridge." She says as she walked out of the bridge with Remille and into an elevator.

"Ascian Luddite has a plan to break the back of the assault on Mars. The plan is solid, IF everything goes as planned. Of course, we both know that all plans tend to have problems once the first shots have been fired, Miss Fortner." The elevator stops and two people, wearing military flight suits enter the elevator, and it resumes. "Miss Fortner. The Captains of Defender 1 and Defender 2. Their respective gunships will be escorting you to the facility, where they will provide a distraction. Your objective is simple, Miss Fortner. Bring down the Wyred facility."

Hours later, The first ones out of the cellars are two of the Defender Gunships in Robot mode, and they meant business. <> Both Robots stomped their way out carrying rather huge weapons, intent upon their use.

 Suriel Misaki transmits, "I mean, like a horse."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Mister Luddite...."

Koji Kabuto is standing in the middle of hot-dog line within Neo-America's vaunted 'Food Court Sector.'

It is a very long line.

"I hope this ends up being worth my time," the Ensign lets out an annoyed frump. In his hand is a heavily creased sheet of paper that forms his itinerary of the day. He's on a mission, of the delicious sort.

Ten of Neo-America's best cuisine, as outlined by the Neo Travel Channel's 'Food Paradise' programme. First, the hot dog place. Then, the fried bacon place. Follow it up by the hoagie place, the cheesesteak (cheezusteakyu) place, and fried chicken place. Somewhere along there, he'll locate the steak place and the hamburger (hambagyu) place as well.

It's a gluttonous calorie-laden adventure, fraught with nefarious ne'er-do-wells as Sodium and Transfats. Yet with every belly-busting bite Koji indulges in, he'll be brought closer to the understanding promised by great Dionysus, god of the vine.

He can be one step further on an epic of epic epicness, the realization of a dream concocted by a lecherous old grandfather so many years ago. With the passage of a few scant hours, Koji ends up with his hotdog. A smoky, meaty six inch Polish affair wedged between a poppyseed-adorned bun. A length of yellow mustard stripes this concoction and it is studded in jewels of white onion, neon-green pickle-relish, a pickle spear, slices of red tomato, fiery sport peppers, and a sprinkling of celery salt.

"OMMPF!" Koji muffles as he crams the hotdog into his big goddam mouth with nothing in the way of composure or politeness. A few juicy chews and all of a sudden, the ground beneath him wobbles. "..mmn?" he murmurs, confused. He's heard of earthshaking other things. Just not hot-dogs.

And the sudden gasps from the people around him, followed by the panicked pointing to a squadron of Orbital Frames sweeping across the Neo-America sky clue him in.

Koji stares, wide-eyed with surprise.. "Oh..." he mumbles around a mouthful of hotdog. "../thit/."

Rule 23: Koji Kabuto is always in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

SOME TIME AGO

Bass Nahor squints at the Raven's Nest's mission board.

URGENT: "Wyred For Destruction"

It took him half a minute to digest the parameters; less to decide how he'd handle it. As he walks away from the terminal, he fishes a cell-phone from his pocket, pops its back off and fiddles around with its inner workings for several seconds; it isn't until he's out of view of the terminal that he actually makes a call.

"Hey," he murmurs once the person on the other end picks up. "It's me; move Him to Facility L; the sooner the better. Something's come up." A beat passes; another; a third. Finally, he pauses in place, sighs, and correctively murmurs, "Make it the little brother. Yeah--yeah, I'm sure."

NOW

On the outskirts of Neo Las Vegas, Chibodee Crockett's neon effigy explodes; the only light shining in the place where it once stood is sharply golden, and it's racing towards Wyred's HQ.

Within the red and blue machine within the golden corona, Banjo Haran stands with his right fist gently resting in his left palm and his eyes closed; he only barely breathes in and out, rhythmic and steady the whole time. Meditation and inner tranquility were never a part of his piloting rituals, but that was before the Balmarians happened. Before he learned to fear himself and relearned disdain for his mad father's works. He tries desperately to center himself because if he doesn't, he may well lose control when the time for action comes.

Only when his computers tell him that he's reached Wyred do his eyes open--and when they do, they're filled with strange, interloping OFs, and the Amenthes hovering above them all like the ringmaster of the Divine Crusaders' mad circus. With one more sharp, bracing exhalation, he grits his teeth and clenches his right fist; outside, Daitarn 3's smaller, sleeker cousin - the Lunar Titanium-alloyed Daitarn 1 - clenches /its/ fist, and the blazing aura around its body begins to subside. By the time it's reached the Amenthes, the golden glow is more of a bright contrail, casting bare shadows across the mobile fighter's sides and front.

"This is Banjo Haran," he flatly transmits once Ascian's statement is received, "You don't represent Mars."

Daitarn 1 then stops, but only because it's hovering a mere foot or two from the Amenthes--and only /then/ because its readied fist is lashing out to be buried in the Orbital Frame's belly. Even as it strikes, its other hand is reaching for one of the recharging racks at its sides to draw one of its four beam fan constructs.

"And you don't belong here; this /is/ a request for surrender. Please be grateful and take it."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Oh snap."

Puru Two can always be counted on to keep her promises. She said she'd help out with the whole mess on Mars, and a counter-offensive is the perfect opportunity. It sure is a lot more to her liking than hanging around there playing defense, just waiting for the place to get attacked again. The best defense is and has always been a good offense. She doesn't really know nor particularly care what WYRED even is, just knowing that it's gotta go is good enough for her.

When 'go time' arrives, the red Qubeley Mk. II launches in short order, but doesn't proceed in any particular direction right away, instead hanging back and taking stock of the overall situation. The mass destruction will be left to units better equipped for such, she's here to take out the more active opposition and keep them from interfering. That's the more interesting task anyway, there's no challenge in blowing up buildings. And if nothing in particular is causing problems for her, well, it's not like she even have to move from her position. Funnels can be employed to assist in taking out anything in any area that's experiencing problems, no matter how far away.

It's kind of uncharactistic, really. She's better known for diving head-first into the fray, regardless of how appropriate it is. But taking a more tactical approach to things is fine too every once in a while. A few Funnel shots here, a few Funnel shots there, her contribution to the assault is minimalistic, but effective in creating openings for the others.

This continues until a certain pair of units arrives to assist, one in particular drawing her attention. "Wildwurger... Arado," she deduces. The Zeon mobile suit turns to face the oncoming units, firing a single shot from its right-hand Beam Launcher towards the identified PT, missing intentionally, just trying to draw its attention. Another uncharacteristic move, since when doesn't she take advantage of whatever opportunity to get the drop on somebody presents itself?

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Better back up that walk bro, cuz Banjo Haran is going to kick your ass."

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

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

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Well, I am going back to destroying the mission."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Do what you do best, Misaki-san."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "The fuck is that -san shit?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "I dunno... somehow picked it up somewhere..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite drops down a comic. "Right then, I better get serious."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Hmm...now that you mention it, I need a kick ass name."

Remille Fortner was brought to the bridge to speak with Divada, mostly by request of the captain. As she stood at attention on the bridge, though slightly at ease with her hands behind her back. Those sapphire blue eyes pierced past the glasses she wore on her face. Her black raven hair nearly engulfed the lights around her expect for the tad bit if indigo blue that could be picked up; Just like those of a Raven's feathers when held to the light. At least to the concept of many artists.

As Divada spoke and approached, Remille easily turned on her military boots and followed. The black leather jacket, with the emblem of not only of the nest on the left shoulder, but also the frighteners on the left. The dark blue, black cameo pants properly kept; This was a military trained woman through and through. Even as she spoke in return, "Miss Kirador," She said easily, "What may I be of service of, ma'am?" Then came the instructions once they arrived in the elevator. Remille gave a gentle nod of her head and awaited for the captain to finish, "Yes ma'am. I will do my best to make sure the operation is successful."

There was no promises however; It was foolish to make a promise one could not keep and Remille, though a trained sniper knew mission runs like these could go very, /very/ wrong.

We the given queue and the escort, the midnight blue, almost black Armored Core leaps down and then with blue thrusters igniting behind it; The Machine launches itself toward the facility. Use only those sparse seconds to duck behind objects before leaping to the next to keep the Nightingale out of sight. Remille within was quickly scanning over the area of the map indicator, quickly attempting to assess the weak points in the facility. If she was to bring down the building, not only would she have to hit the weak structure points, but do so swiftly.

The clock was set and there would not be much time for corrections.

Adam Steiner was in the orbital ring on business. Specifically, his squadron of Banshees were being complimented by a second squadron of Valkyries fighters. Adam doesn't have pilots for them yet, but that detail can be worked out later. For now, Adam requested the fighters and the request was granted, so his ship has been docked for equipment transfers.

That's basically the work Adam was doing when the call came out to defend the colony. Due to the state of mech transfers, Adam only had machine available to actually be deployed in response to the SOS: Adam's own Berserker.

"You know something Spectre?" Adam transmits as his heavy battlemech stomps towards the scene of the attack, doing its best to stay away from things like trees or roads that could be damaged by its weight, "I'll be happy once we're finally /set up/ and don't have to pull whatever happens to be available to respond to emergency situations like this."

"You and me both," Specter responds, her voice sounding a little tired, but still about as cheerful as always. "I'll try and direct any reinforcements your way. It looks like all the action is a ways south of your current position. Good luck, Adam."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Remille Fortner transmits, "This is Remille Fortner, I am in route to target 1; Watch my back."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Roger that. I will see what I can do."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Defender 1 transmits, "We're with you, Nightengale. Defender 2, form up."

Fighting in a colony is ... distasteful.

There is a real danger fighting in a place like this, not only from the weapons and movements of her enemies, but also of unchecked fire from her allies. However, Sovi Reincam is a soldier-- an officer-- of BAHRAM, and there are more important things on the line.

With her ECS holding and her custom-painted Plan 1059 Codarl-m moving smoothly across grounds and streets, making way toward their target, the blue-haired Lieutenant keeps the machine practically invisible... and for good reason. The Metatron-crested woman shifts her grip on the controls in the Arm Slave's pilot's cradle, briefly thinking back on the other day-- arriving back on Earth to have a chat with Aoba.

And then business as usual.

"Mach 8, advancing on the target zone."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Good to have you with us, Lieutenant Reincam."

It was inside a colony it would be bad to bring the Gespsent to it so he's launched in the smaller and more nible Knightmare Frame he's testing for Lloyd at the moment. The machine speeds along through the streets of the colony. The hud displays the enemies tht are seeming to come out of nowhere.

"Bagman here I'm moving in. Damn Bahram."

He checks the ammo loads on his machine. ALso the lower impact weapons of the the Knightmare frames weapon. Okay, it was time to show them how they greet terrorists in America.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Try to keep damage low on the residential housing around the base."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Defender 2 transmits, "Yes Sir."

Fiona Graydon is, normally, stationed on the Kolyma, which is...around, somewhere, probably. Today, she is on Neo America, with Lloyd Asplund, her close friend and conf--

Wait, no, her tormentor and lunatic boss. More to the point, she is here testing something, because that's what she's always doing.

"Still, having this much open ground to test the landspinners in for colony combat is giving us some good ideas for how it changes the physics," Raji notes to her after her latest round of grousing. "These numbers...they're not quite the--"

Alarm! Alarm! Oh no! How dreadful!!

"Fiona! You've--!"

Twin pair of tire tracks are already racing off into Neo America's streets, Fiona swinging an arm back to claim the SMITE launcher off of the machine's back. "On it!" she calls. "Patch me into the military net, I'll handle it! Get Raul to warm up the Excellences, we'll do search-and-rescue once this is ended!"

The Drone Orbital Frames that are escaping from the compressed space orb, the 'Cellars', quickly rush through the large plaza of the WYRED headquarters and sway in and out between LEVs that are slowly heading out of the hangars. The slow white suits try to keep up with the movements of the small drones, and most of them are in fact equiped with melee equipment since they do not want to risk harming the colony floor. But against these quick drones, they are having a lot of problems. The raptors quickly circle the units, slicing into the backs and the boosters - pieces indeed jumping left and right - and one manages to almost fall on Holland's DOM Trooper.

A few of the drones turn their una-eyes up into the air, noticing the arrival of Arado and Huang, and let loose a quick rain of little red bolts, trying to catch their units. But that which flies their way is barely capable of keeping up with the skilled pilots. Another pack of LEVs head out of the hangars, carrying larger boosters, and begin to burn them up in order to raise to new vantage points and attempt to engage the Cyclopse units in melee.

The Amenthes, floating in midair with Ascian looking down on the mess that is being made down beneath, is keeping a good eye out on the walls and the incoming units -- but the civilians that much more. That's when suddenly a big 'WARNING' message appears on a screen before his eyes. His hands quickly plant down back onto the controllers, but it's already too late. "WHAT!? The Daitarn-1!?" Ascian calls out in surprise!

The Orbital Frame tries to turn about and lays its arms before itself to protect itself, but it barely seems the initial impact to become any less bad. The entire unit gets smashed back, and ends up being punched straight down onto towards one of the nearby hangars. It just barely manages to reinstate its thrust, spreading those wings and letting the red Metatron glow rush through its bioluminescent veins, before the unit's head turns up to look at the Daitarn-1. "I represent BAHRAM - protecting those oppressed on Mars! For years now, they haven't listened. They restarted a war against our planet! Do you expect us to just sit there and take it!? Is Mars not your home!? Help us!"

The unit raises its right arm up, quickly shifting into the form of a blade, and the unit rushes forwards. But just as it looks like it is about to go into a melee fight with his enemy, the unit pushes up again with a burst of speed, and leaves a series of red burning orbs in its wake which come flying at the Daitarn-1 from its tailfeathers - volatile orbs of Metatron energy that explode on contact!

In the meantime... "HEY!" The guy at the hotdog stand yells at Koji, holding up a bill for ten Yen. "What am I supposed to do with this!? GET BACK HERE!"

The Wildwurger takes off, through the hallways and corridors of the Orbital Ring, following tightly after the Rasavatam. His machine breaks into the open, leaving little lines of vapor cut into the air by the tips of the wings bound along the machine's back. The Personal Trooper's head looks down at Neo-America as it flies over, coming towards the high concrete wall along the southern border of the WYRED complex.

Puru Two's beam shot slices a few meters left of the Wurger -- slicing into an armored bulkhead, leaving a blackened scar in it, but not piercing through. His lips tighten into a frown and his eyes narrow. "Puru Two!" he transmits over the radio. "You made it out alive!"

He breaks off from the Rasavatam's lee, leaving a sharp turn of blue light in his wake. His machine turns into a spiral, and brings the M90 around, aiming it down at the red Qubeley. He turns until the concrete barrier is behind the Qubeley, from this angle, before he opens fire. Sparks and rounds explode from barrel, pouring down towards the other Mobile Suit.

"That still you in there?" he transmits.

Suriel lands right on one of the Hangers. Grinning, he drives his unit's pike into the top of the building, flaying away the layers of protective covering quite easily before opening a hole large enough to throw something through. His sword breakers fly off, flying inside of the building and starting to lay waste to various things inside, but specifically aiming to destroy mechanical help systems. Things that open doors, launch LEVS, or anything useful. Suriel himself, once he can accomplish, or semiaccomplish this, recalls the breakers back to him, and starts to float up, his body starting to glow that sickly greenish color.

Heheh...BURN!" he calls out, unleashing a wave of the greenish condensed space flame into the building, aiming to slowly start cooking alive the LEVs...and their pilots and technicians.

While Adam's big stompy robot heads on down the main road to the facility, his sassy support girl, Rachel Specter, is hard at work pulling down layout plans, coordinating defensive lines with local authorities, and working out possible enemy attack patterns, as well as trying to download all the information she can on whatever tech the enemy is using.

Really, the guys who actually /pilot/ the big stompy robots are the ones with the easy job.

Adam's initial plan is to circle around the perimeter, cutting off enemy reinforcements before sweeping in on a flanking maneuver. However, the plan changes a bit when Rachel pipes up in Adam's ear again.

"Adam, a local police unit just radioed in to say he spotted an unidentified machine close to your area. My radar sweeps aren't picking up anything though...It might be a stealth unit."

"Copy that," Adam responds back. "I'll go check it out."

A few short minutes later, Adam's Berserker comes around a corner, just in time to spot Sovi's machine quietly stalking towards the main battle zone. "You were right, Rachel. I see it now..Systems are having trouble picking it up." Luckily, BattleMech weapons are made to fire manually, with targeting systems only aiding with fire when available. Thus, even without a solid radar lock, Adam is able to send a pair of shining green lasers though the air at Sovi's machine.

"Mmmf," Koji wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. As far as people on the ground go, he's the calm eye in the midst of a frantic sea of panicking civilians. "It looks like.." he begins to deduce as he watches Crusader units sweep toward a section of the colony, "..they're going to the WYRED building!"

He bites his lip for a moment, "..I just need to ... get to my /robot/.." The spiky-haired teen looks left and right. "Oh. Right. I .. left them all on /Earth/. Craaaaaap!"

But someone is yelling at him! It's the hot dog vendor, who's holding up an offending piece of currency. "Uh... sorry!!" Ensign Kabuto waves his hand sheepishly. "Gotta go! Official Federation business!!"

Koji Kabuto takes off, having determined immediately after his revelation of being sans robot that he'll need some form of transportation. One of Neo-America's much-maligned public transport buses waits nearby, much to our hero's luck.

A quick dash and Koji is right behind an old lady trying to board the bus. "HEY!" he shouts over the woman at the bus driver. "Are you doing down to the WYRED building!?"

"Uh," the driver stares ambivalently back at Koji. "Nnnno. We're.. /trying to get out of danger/," he insists, "../not run headlong into it like some kind of idiot/." Once the old lady boards, the door shuts behind her and the bus takes off, leaving Koji firmly behind.

"/Shoot/," Koji whimpers. He looks around once more, trying to find some other solu-- wait! There's someone in a car!

"HEY HEY HEY!" Koji shouts as he chases down the automobile. "EXCUSE ME! SORRY! OFFICIAL FEDERATION BUSINESS! I-I GOTTA COMMANDEER YOUR CAR!" A quick shove and a yank of car keys later and Koji is behind the wheel, despite the awful truth of not even having anything even resembling a driver's license.

Rrrrroom, the engine rumbles. "It's two miles to the WYRED building. I've got halfa tank a gas," Koji takes a moment out to appreciate his surroundings. "A stomach fulla hotdog, bad guys are everywhere, I've got no robot to fight them in, and I just more-or-less stole this car." With just a faint hint of trepidation, he reaches for the transmission stick and yanks it back.

"/I got this/."

A late-NCA 119 model Cadillac rips across the roads with none other than KOJI KABUTO at the wheel. He's racing right into the thick of danger, throwing all caution to the wind!

And bonus: Frankenstein is on the radio.

DUN DUN DUN DUN, DE-DUN-DUN-DUN, DUN DUN DUN DE DUN!

"Holy shit!" Koji gasps as he stares overhead through the windshield. "Is that /Daitarn-1/? That's.. two Daitarns short of Daitarn-3!"

"You represent a violent militia--you represent /one colony/ on Mars! One!" Banjo snaps as Daitarn 1 rockets directly upwards through the Metatron contrail. He knows full well what a danger it represents, but he has his fans to protect him; all the way up, a little concentration and careful tucking of his limbs against his chest prevents the mobile fighter from sustaining /too/ much damage as the Metatron orbs explode against its arms and the fluctuating golden planes sparkling between the outer edges of Daitarn 1's fans.

It still hurts like a motherfucker, though; anyone who's ever tried to block anything with his or her forearms would probably concur that it's technically a horrible idea.

By the time it begins to close with the Amenthes, red threads of lingering Metatron have comingled with Daitarn 1's contrail, and more still wisp away from its body like smoke. Banjo shuts the simple metal folding fans designed to direct his mobile fighter's movements; accordingly, Daitarn 1 shuts its fans, and crosses both armso ver its chest to boot.

"The Fed's done /plenty/ of wrong, but you--you of /all/ people talking about restarting wars? Please."

The moment it looks like Daitarn 1 and Amenthes will make contact, the mobile fighter shifts ever so slightly to the right and nearly cuts its speed completely; Banjo snaps both arms broadly to his sides, flicking his fans open as he does. Simultaneously, /Daitarn 1/ throws its arms out, brilliant gold sparking in its fans.

The arcs of its arms are meant to carry these weapons into - or through - the Orbital Frame's body.

"Maybe you shoulda tried a /conversation/ first," he coldly finishes.

Puru Two's reaction is pretty sluggish, that's not at all like her. The Qubeley moves way too slow to avoid getting pelted with rifle fire, although it does happen to turn in a way to make sure its critical areas are in no danger of being hit. It seems almost deliberate, as does her continued sloppy return fire. To someone who knows what she's capable of, it's pretty obvious that she's not trying - not yet, anyway.

By way of an answer to Arado, she claims, "That's the one freebie you're going to get. I owed you one. Or so it seems." She sounds a lot calmer than normal, that's for sure. Right after saying this, however, the Funnels she'd sent ahead return, not yet firing, but circling the Qubeley menacingly. She's not yet firing, because she has more to say.

"Seolla came to help me when..." When she was under Haman's control and forced to cooperate in her mad scheme to destroy the Earth. But this shouldn't need to be specified, and she'd rather discuss the specifics as little as well. "...when I needed it," she finally settles on. "She mentioned you, said she was there on your behalf."

That's when the Funnels suddenly start firing. Wanting to chat or not, this is still a battle, and she'd already said that she was done giving out freebies. If he knows her at all, Arado should be prepared for her to do things this way. At least the Funnels remain circling the Qubeley, and don't actively go after the Wildwurger yet.

The Newtype remains as calm as before, asking the simple question: "Why? I don't think I asked you to do that, did I?" The slightly odd phrasing and tone of the question might give away the fact that she's not actually sure if she did or not. She did ask certain people for help, but she can't remember if Arado was among those people. What she went through caused damage to her mind, and holes in her memory. She didn't used to worry about things she might have forgotten, but she's already found out she forgot a few really important things. It's made her somewhat insecure, unable to be certain that what she thinks she knows is the whole truth.

Of course, none of that is keeping those Funnels from keeping up the pressure all the same.

The battle erupts all around Erika as her Dom drifts around the rear of a hanger and skids into the base proper. A brief glance is thrown up towards the Daitarn-1 and Erika frowns... who speaks for Mars indeed? not that it matters, since the only time the Federation /listens/ is when it either wants something or wants to make a point. In either case, it's generally not good for Mars when they do sit up and pay attention for a change.

But she didn't come here to pick fights over philosophy. She came here to cut the head of WYRED, who is one of the groups responsible for the oppression of Mars.

her frowning and making of Marge noises in Bango's general direction is interupted though as she circles around the front of the hanger and practically runs into fiona's sutherland as it exits. It's sudden appearance prompts a startled yelp from Erika as she reactively pulls her trigger and sends a cascade of beams spraying out from the chest mounted mega particle gun.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Tssk... this is too much for Amenthes to handle..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Suriel Misaki transmits, "Are you seriously going to run now?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Heck no!"

For a moment, it doesn't look liek Sovi Reincam is "in the game," her eyes are a little distant and somewhat glassy, focused on what's in front of her yet not focused on any one particular thing. Not only is it a fantastic oxymoron, it's a sure sign that she's had to take another one of the pills from the small bottle that Leonard had given her, something to help clear her mind and ease the tension, something to make it a little easier to--

Radar and warnings buzz in her ear, and the blue-haired pilot twists the Arm Slave around. With a buzz and a distinct thrum of heat emerging behind it, the Codarl becomes visible as a broad, vertical line of force appears in front of it. Even while carrying a gun, the machine assumes a stance better suited to a martial artist than a pilot, the left hand carefully straightened and palm turned toward the Berserker.

The beams strike that field-- yet they immediately deflect across it's surface, all while Sovi thrusts her very /will/ forward-- and that force is sent slamming toward the BattleMech at full speed!

Inside the pilot's cradle, Sovi frowns. "Damn. So much for the quiet approach."

The Codarl emerges from it's invisibility with a dull humming noise and the stink of ozone; the red head and chest, yellow abdomen and inner thighs, the black accents-- and one hell of a ponytail mounted atop the back of it's head. Standing still for only a moment, the Arm Slave sprints toward Adam's Berserker, crouching down before a powerful lunge over it's head-- and aided by the lower gravity-- landing behind it.

Sovi twists the machine around as it lands, bringing around a pair of twin 40mm machine cannons... and both /fire/.

The dark blue Armored Core quickly sweeps around the area, hoping the two escorts she had continued to watch her back. The Red optical lens flickered from time to time, as the machine now was no longer using its thrusters, but using its own running speed to move. That in terms of Armored Core land speed was around 100 to 120 mph. You may as well be a sports car to keep up if not out right move faster then. The Machine quickly leaped to another location landing on a building, before then crouching down low. The sniper rifle in its hands then took aim and like a person; It was steadying its aim.

Remille within had her eyes on the sights to see exactly what her machine was seeing. She had to get the shot dead on. Once she fired the shot; She then had to move. To stand here would make her a noticeable target, no matter how good the position was. The glasses seem to flicker from the light off the yellow touch pad keyboard. The machines finger gently reflecting a slow trigger pull, the same trigger pull she was pulling on the stick.

In that final critical moment, she pulled the trigger. The silencer of the energy rifle kept the shot quiet, but the streak may be picked of light for those not to distracted impacting part of the building structure. The sniper was indeed sniping; She was sniping to remove the structure integrity of the building from the outside.

Quick after the shot was made, the Armored Core raced up to its feet, before leaping down back down to the street level. It was quickly moving to go to another position and once more attempting to quickly get out of sight.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam sounds a little distant. "I was detected by a BattleMech, I'm dealing with it first."

Suriel blinks...

Something was coming in, he turned, dropping the green field long enough to bring a shield around himself. The shot breaks around him as if Suriel was a boulder in a river. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow as he considered the mech infront of him...the liquid metal one...isn't that?

"Oh hey, traitor!" Suriel says, cheerfully enough. The pike comes out, spinning once and aiming right for him before a wave of sword breakers came out from his back, aiming to shot the man's mech full of holes.

"So are you going to scream the shit about justice too? Oh! How about how being a member of the school makes me some sort of victim? Come on, I want a good 'I am going to save you' speech. Come on, hero me up man!"

"I knew Seolla helped you..." Arado transmits. "She wasn't sure you made it out alive, but--you did, and--" He swallows. "I'm sorry I wasn't there myself. I was laid out with a broken arm, thanks to a bad missile hit."

It still didn't sit right with him, how he had not been able to see there. He hesitates, as he thinks about her question -- knowing what it's like to wonder about one's own memories, and wondering if she means that, or why he helped. He doesn't have a lot of time to puzzle that out, though, as the funnels open fire. Beams slice into the dark blue armor of the machine, leaving burnt gashes torn into it.

It goes rocketing forward over the ground. Dust and pebbles blow out from around it, as he tosses the rifle to the side. The weapon spins over the concrete, sending sparks flying up into the air. "I don't know," he admits. "You mighta tried--but Seolla was there for me, and if I could have flown, I'd have been there too, Puru Two."

The hand grabs the sword between the barrels and pulls it free, sparks shrieking out. His machine jumps at the last moment. The concrete underneath blackens, as the sword unsheathes -- and then comes down in a straight slash aimed at the Qubeley's left arm. "You tried to help me, once," he says, "-- and I'll never forget that!"

The Two Defender Mechs easily keep up with the Armored Core Nightengale, thanks to wheels on their feet and, ironically, thair rocket packs. Both Defenders were capable of electroic warfare, so as long as they were in close proximity of Remille's Nightengale, she could avoid detection (if she couldn't already). As they were moving however, The second Defender unit passes a blue Gespenst at long range.

As they weave between building, Defender 2 fires a shot at the Gespenst. <<Contact, Blue Gespenst. Initiating our distraction.>> <<Roger that. Miss Fortner, keep to cover if you can.>> Right after Defender 2 makes it's shot, it ducks behind a building....

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Defender 2 transmits, "Contact, Blue Gespenst. Unknown configuration."

Huang Qin Shi knows that voice. The former Supreme Commander of the Divine Crusade emits a strangled, frustrated snarl as the first shots ring out, the counter-Haman protocols singing out the incoming trajectories of the sword breaker bolts by emitting soft chimes from the direction of the fire. But the Rasavatam is not as fast as it can be - the stern limits Huang has placed on the blazing temperatures also prevent him from benefitting from the liquid metal properties of its armour, the way the machine itself bends out of the way of attacks. All Huang has left to rely on is reflexes, muscle and metal - and the charred holes in the left leg and right abdomen indicate just how unsuccessful he is.

"If you knew me at all, boy," Huang snaps as the Rasavatam slides in, lashing out with a leaping kick that misses by a foot or more, "You'd know I don't play that game." Largely because it irritates him, but also because he doesn't really have the piloting skill to devote mental energies to repartee. He has trouble enough just making the machine move the way he wants it to, and months preparing for Trace Mobile combat has left his skills dulled. Huang channels the energy he would normally be burning up as heat into light instead, the Rasavatam's armour gleaming a bright and distracting white as he circles around again, lashing out a pair of slashing chops at the larger unit's knee joints.

Looks like the Federation got some help from Banjo Haran. The Daitarn one was on the scene, after all. Not as large or glowy as it's counterpart, but certainly just as telltale. Looks like he wouldn't get paid quite as much as he would like if things keep up.

So a channel is opened as the DOM of Novacaine bows down, momentarily cutting most of the power to it's weapons. Only, currently, to it's boosters. Keeping it afloat near the entrance as the Daitarn 1 bears down on the ship. The target?

The ship.

"Looks like things aren't going so well." He remarks. "Things might be able to change if we talk price."

The DOM trooper makes no other moves for the moment. The others are fighting it out for now.

Assault mechs are built for a lot of things. Their heavy armor is made to fracture under energy attacks to distribute energy so beam weapons don't punch straight though them. Their fusion drives can run for years without needing more fuel, and their cockpits have food, water and facilities to let the pilot remain active for days at a time.

Assault mechs usually aren't made to jump around quickly. So when Sovi starts hoping around, there's not much Adam can do except slow down, shift its direction, and charge right at Sovi again. Closing the distance between them works great for Adam, though. The bullets slam into the dense mech armor, shattering the shining silver and blue armor and sending shards of ferro-fibrosis metal off in clouds with each hit. However, the Berserker doesn't slow down even a step as Adam charges, this time bringing the heavy, shining sword held in the mech's right hand up in a fast sideways slash at the Arm Slave.

"Another attack by Mars terrorists in a civilian sector? Do you honestly believe you're doing any one any good with these?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Remille Fortner transmits, "Target 1 hit. Moving to Target 2."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Defender 1 transmits, "Acknowledged, Nightengale. We're drawing someone's attention, so keep hidden."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador transmits, "Reincam? Can you identify said battlemech?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "Forwarding visual feed."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Remille Fortner transmits, "Understood. I will seek shelter once Target 2 has been dealt with. Do not keep me waiting long. This is critical and errors can not be made."

Russel Bagman is comming in and comes under fire. But he's not in a gespenst. Hell he's not in a design natived to this dimension. The Knightmare frame fires back with a gatling gun of some sort and slides out of the way of the incomming attack. Russel locks on and fires back with the rifle it carries. Meanwhile he sends a radio to Fiona.

"Heads up incomming tatical feed."

WHich Fiona would get a moment later, though why is there a Chibi Gespenst on screen waving an American flag, who knows it vanishes as soon as the loading of the data is finished.

As for the crusaders. "Bagman here engaging hostiles. Will attempt to bring them down without reactor breaches."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Divada Kirador waits a few seconds. "Reincam, That battlmech is a Berserker. You are much faster than it is. It's also piloted by Adam Steiner. If you wish to truly cripple it, either aim for it's hatchet, or if you're feeling particularly sadistic...aim for it's crotch."

The chops come, and good thing he was an orbital frame or else this might be a lot more terrible. The joints crack, causing pain to shoot up his own legs, causing a small shout of paint reverberate his cockpit. Narrowing his eyes, he resets his joints and forces himself back, as Metatron's properties instantly heal the damage caused to the mech.

He charges forward, pike spinning as he aims to smack Huang's mech once, trying to stun him, before aiming to ram his shoulder into the opposing mech. If he can get it off balance, he aims to grab it by the head...

And drive it towards one of the hanger buildings, aiming to slam him through the top and into the ground below. "Hahaha! Nice! It's refreshing to hear that...but one problem! You don't get to call me boy until you can beat me, sucker!"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Remille Fortner mutters softly, "I would aim for the crotch."

Puru Two is now clearly taking the fight seriously. Her response is much swifter when Arado charges, immediately drawing both of her machine's Beam Sabers. One parries the incoming slash for the opposite arm, while the targeted arm thrusts forward, driving the energy blade into the machine's side.

Arado's words don't seem to cause much of a reaction either way, as she doesn't respond to his explanation. But she's definitely the kind who'd have let him know if she blamed him for anything. Silence can only be a good thing in that respect. It's just unfortunate that he can't tell her any more about what she may or may not have done.

His final remark, however, does get a response. "I was determined to help you once," she states simply, affirming the fact. She does remember that. She also remembers her dismay when he was taken away, and started to fight for the federation. "But then we became enemies." And then... things start getting foggy.

Not at all certain about her ability to win in melee against Arado and the Wildwurger, she pushes off from the PT using her weapons and one of the machine's feet, quickly replacing the Beam Sabers in the Qubeley's forearms and leaving both arms aimed towards her opponent. In the next instant, a quick barrage of small energy beams is released.

She doesn't want to let people know about her memory problem. She really doesn't. But she's also desperate to regain any knowledge that others might have about her. The latter ends up winning here. The Newtype girl would later be surprised herself about how she suddenly started asking a bunch of rapid-fire questions. "What about... after that? We met again several times, didn't we? What was I doing? What did we talk about?"

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Sovi Reincam transmits, "Respectfully, I will fight my own battles."

"We represent and protect a lot more than you might think, Haran! But sure. I understand that this might all seem like folly to you. And I wouldn't expect you, a single person, to understand the pain of an entire planet! The Cityships of northern Mars, the entirety of Hellespont, Vacilia County, Malgalityfel County - and many more. They are being supressed by the EFA. They destroy our food to starve us - they ridicule us and prevent us from making our own defensive fleet. Our planet has no proper way of defending itself outside of our militias and the /Earth's/ defense fleet. And you're telling us to try... /talking/ to them? You think we haven't tried? You think they /listen/? Are you out of your mind!? Get your head out of your fucking ass and get out of my sight! I can't believe I tried to save your ass when you were taken by the Balmarians. You aren't worth the air you are breathing!"

That's the kind of long rants that normally end up making the big baddy end up getting their asses kicked. And Banjo Haran only ends up proving this trope. As if telling Ascian to just shut the fuck up, the shine of golden crashes into the machine, flaying across its body and scarring the entire machine. "What the!?" Ascian calls out as the machine is pushed down into a nearby LEV hangar and miniexplosions start taking place all across the Amenthes. "What is going on!?" He demands to know. Duat tries to analyze it, but with the sensors in the head being disrupted by the incredible output of the golden shining fans, it is incapable of overcoming this overload to give Ascian any decent information.

The young man tries to pour as much of his concentration into his machine as possible, but with Duat being disrupted, he has to resolve to more extreme measures. "Disable Duat." He commands outloud - and at the same time pulls his fingers into the controls and feels as suddenly he is overwhelmed by information and things he has to handle. Without an A.I. there to help him, things suddenly get a lot more difficult, and the arms that are moving forward to try and create a shield begin melting - the SSA not able to cope at all with the sunlight. "Get out!" Ascian pushes his whole body forward, and somehow gets the Amenthes to listen; the unit suddenly shooting out against the floor - on its back - and crashes into a few clueless LEVs which had been trying to raise their Heat Axes at his unit. But he finally gets away, and finally rears back up from the gates of the LEV hangar, swinging the unit around.

"Shit..." Ascian mutters, as shielding flickers and the unit has trouble remaining a-hover. "I can't even tell how far she's gone." He mutters and turns his head towards the Daitarn-1. "This is crazy... the power of Metatron is not this weak. What's /with/ that machine?!" The red glow within his cockpit is starting to get heavier, and almost like a gas - it begins to spread further within. "Oh shit... shit shit shit." Ascian already knows what is coming. "Without Duat, I can't hold her back." His gaze quickly darts along the front of the machine, where he sees that Duat is not yet done properly booting down.

"Fine." The bluehaired framerunner turns his attention back to the Daitarn. "Let's do this... AMENTHES!" The eyes of the unit spring to life, and the wings spread outwards - metatron Crystals pushing from the folds. "Without Duat, at least we won't be limited. Together, we can do this!" He feels the flow of Metatron passing his eyes, like a rush of adrenaline going through his veins. It invigorates. The tailfeathers lash like tendrils, almost uncontrolled - red orbs forming at their ends and curling towards both of the hands of the unit - holding them out straight towards Banjo's unit. "You don't truly care for Mars! You are just as corrupt as those damn federation bastards I bet!"

The orbs grow, two of them, larger and larger - space compressing around weaponized Metatron energy. Due to the extreme amounts within them, energy actually begins to lead out in the form of red embers, shaped like feathers that dance down towards the ground. Truly looking like fireballs. And that's not the only thing looking like fire. Without Duat keeping the spirit within Amenthes in check, there is a whole glow starting to generate around the unit. Like a misty fire, crimson light falls from its bioluminescent veins and Metatron crystals.

"Take this!" The Amenthes speeds forwards as Ascian calls out, "Take my anger!" And he punches out towards the enemy unit with the first orb, which goes flying. Taking advantage of his unit's speed, he tries to quickly get around the Daitarn-1, and attempts to punch the second gigantic orb into its back - hoping it might have trouble defending against such an onslaught.

Defender 2 is hit in the shoulder as he ducks behind a building, but with that hit, comes a spray of blaster fire from the other Defender as it rounds a corner. Once the Sutherland (correction), get hit with the first shot, both defenders begin firing from cover, trying to catch the Sutherland in the cross fire. if only Bagman could hear the conversation going on between the ships.

Fiona Graydon skates through the Neo American streets at full throttle. These damn colonies, she thinks bitterly, the handling's all weird, but...she can't let these people get hurt, either!

And then she barges into the battle zone, and nearly slams into Erika's Dom. "Whoa!" Fiona yelps out, and veers sharply to the side, Knightmare swerving quickly and responsively. She spirals around on the machine's wheels, then gets a good look at the incoming attack. "Whoa!" she yelps, ducks to the side again - a blast sheers through some armor, but manages not to destroy anything too critical, and Fiona narrows her eyes, yanking back on the firing trigger; the Knightmare responds, snapping up with its heavy machine-gun lookin' thing, which spins up, and begins to fire a barrage of...

Missiles!? Very small missiles. Actually they look like the little minimissiles used in the Federation Split Missiles, because that is exactly what they are.

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Ascian Luddite transmits, "Tssk. I hate to say it... but... I could use some help here..."

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Defender 1 transmits, "It's a Sutherland. Strange. What's a Sutherland doing in here?"

The Cadillac speeds toward the battle, its driver throwing all caution to the wind. Ahead, the sight of a DOM Trooper brings a confused look to Koji. "I think that's..." he squints his brow, "..a Katharon model! What're /they/ doing h--- OH GOD!"

Alarm surges through Koji's body as he yanks hard on the wheel. His Cadillac swerves around, narrowly avoiding the intense burst of condensed particles that nearly vaporize him from existence. Koji cants his head and glances through the passenger's side window, staring incredulously at the Quebeley MK. II as it engages the PTX-015 Wildwurger. "Using beam weapons!? In a colony!?" he gasps in horror. "They're mad!"

Biting his lip, Koji continues speeding toward WYRED Headquarters, stopping only to yell at the pilot of the DOM Trooper. "HEY!!" he hollars through the rolled-down window. "YOU!! HEY!! COME ON I NEED YOUR HELP!! THERE'S PEOPLE IN THERE!! WE GOTTA GET 'EM OUT!!"

The cracks... closing over? Huang grits his teeth and lets out an annoyed breath. Not unlike the properties of his own Rasavatam when the liquid armour redistributes itself. But it's a property he can't make use of without a unit about a hundred degrees hotter than it is right now. "This..." is going to be a long fight, he finishes mentally. The Qareen careens forward, pike whirling, and Huang lets the tension bleed out of his shoulder muscles, trying to relax, focus on the other machine's movements.

Then things get strange.

The pike's rotation shifts and the Rasavatam is already moving, Huang turning the little unit to one side, allowing the butt of the weapon to slide by before he's even registered its passing. The engineer's third and fourth ribs give a sudden twitch of remembered agony along the right side, spikes from where he took a heel kick under a block he'd been holding just an inch too high. Huang's arms and legs move and the Rasavatam flows downward into an improvised slide, slipping between the larger machine's legs as it charges past him. Huang plants the little machine's feet and sends it leaping after Suriel, silver arms lashing out in a rapid combination, each strike aimed for the same tiny circle along the spine.

His brain catches up with him about half a second later, and the skin on his right palm crawls.

Oh, but if only it was a /beam/.

It is the truth-- if the attack were to be analyzed by sensors or scanning equipment, it would come up with utter blanks, a bright and shiny 'not found.' The force is potent, weaponized, and gone as quickly as it came, and Sovi is shooting Adam's Berserker in the back. She expected the armor to be a little thicker; flanking an opponent is textbook tactics for someone in a heavier, slower machine.

Sovi doesn't shy away or dance around the attack thrown back at her in response. The Codarl instead shifts it's weight, trying to /remain/ in close quarters while she stows the extra machine cannon across the small of the Codarl's back. The BattleMech's longsword screams high-pitched murder as metal scrapes across metal-- and the Berserker is just not /quite/ able to get enough of the Arm Slave to take a chunk out of it.

The footing shifts, a foot forward and a foot turned to the side. Remaining inside the space of the mech's reach but too close for a conventional sword to work, the Codarl's palm again thrusts forward-- but not to make a direct impact. Instead, Sovi draws in a deep breath and focuses straight forward...

... and another burst of unseen force erupts from the Arm Slave's palm, aiming to shove the Berserker backwards and trip it up a bit!

A machine gun from such a small unit isn't /too/ big a threat to a full scale mobile suit. A machine gun that fires missiles on the other hand? Heck of a lot more dangerous. Caught off guard in cramped quarters of the base by the little machine's surprising firepower, all Erika can really do is try to throw her arm up to block the exploding shots as she skids backwards to open terrain. The defensive maneuver saves her machine, but results in the loss of the arm at the elbow as the missile rain chews through the joint.

Thankfully, said arm is not the arm holding that ridiculously big bazooka.

With more room to move around in, Erika wastes no time in unleashing the bazooka's heavy firepower at the tiny Sutherland as she starts to weave between buildings, hoping to limit Fiona's firing opportunities.

The beam saber hits the metal sword. Solid state weaponry slams into coherent energy field, and the beam coating keeps the weapon from being shredded apart. Sparks and lightning explode where the two weapons connect -- but the second beam saber slashes into the waist. The metal burns, bends, and melts, exploding out the back. Sparks leap from cut electronics and the like, and the Wildwurger stumbles.

"We met in Jerusalem and Sanc, after that," Arado says over the radio. His eyes narrow, as he wonders -- suspecting memory problems, but not certain of that. His machine moves with speed and grace that it used to not, but he came a long way as a pilot. It weaves between beam fire, leaving the ground behind scathed.

"We argued about you piloting the Psyco Gundam -- and you liking sweet desserts," he says. "I thought they were messing with your mind. Remember that? You got pissed..."

He laughs, awkwardly. "I got you mad at me a few times."

He brings around the right arm -- and the beetle crusher, still clinched together. The solid wedge of steel punches out for the Qubeley's head, trying to rip right into it with the huge chunk of metal.

Russel Bagman keeps on skating trying to avoid the incomming fire and he actually /does/ avoid the fire while firing back he doesn't seem to do much to Defender 2. He pulls around and attemps to side ramp up the side of the building comes around and opens fire on the other unit as he pops out airborn on the other side. A pair of grenades and a long burst of fire greet the divine crusade. This time he says nothing and his weapons are clearly how he's talking today.

Suriel just doesn't stop moving forward, the percise strikes of the liquid metal robot follow, but he was just too fast to get a solid hit on. Strikes fall, but the Orbital frame seemed to be just one step too far...through luck, skill, or some combination there of. Probably more luck, but hey...better lucky than dead. Suriel turns, and activates one of his many powers...the unit seems to crackle with green energy for just a moment...it shifts, and you think you can see forever for just a moment...

Then it simply disappears. In reality, it had moved beyond human perception for just the briefest of moments. Instead, it had picked up three of the LEVs of the EFA side...

And they were being launched from on high, aiming to smash Huang into the ground again.

Suriel came in right behind them aiming to land ontop of each person, rapidly punching the lEV's just as much as he was trying to hurt the leader of the Alpha numbers... "COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!"

The Frightener had maybe one escort, maybe not. However either way she was on the move to her next spot to attack. The Armored Core was quick; Only using the thrusters when it had the cover to do so. Using its own leg speed when it could be spotted in the open. However with the action so close to the facility, the Nightingale had to move in closer and a bit more in the open then what Remille Fortner liked; She will make do however.

The Armored Core then crouched down low on its new found perch. The Sniper rifle raising up once more. Remille then glanced over at the monitor information for a moment to scan over the radar quickly with her eyes before she softly said something to herself in a mutter to the situation being played out. Her hand gently started to pull on the trigger once more. Nightingale's own finger did the same before once more another sniper shot was let out for the support structures of the facility. There was only a few more to go and only if the information was correct.

Only trouble was, the next target was leading her a bit to close to the building and that meant cover be even more scarce.

There is a load of beams, that's for sure. As they impact the ground, searing it, the DOM slides to the side. Not too far, however. Not too far to crush on Kabuto! It stops short, especially as the car suddenly shoots past. "The hell is that kid doing?!"

It's vocalized a bit differently though, without a com-unit.

"Well if I'm not getting paid to turn traitor, it looks like I'll end up doing something else today." The bazooka's stowed away. Be a hero, help rescue the people inside of the building!

Can't ever get away from having to play a hero!

The Trooper also helpfully holds the beam-shield above the Cadillac. Maybe it won't explode suddenly from stray fire this way. But the hell could a DOM do to get people out? Holland brings to life the beam blade if only to prime it for cutting.

"You got it, kid."

Defender 1 takes the hit this time and neither mechs are looking very good at the moment. They're succeeding in drawing the Sutherland's attention away from Remille, but they weren't doing very good when it came to providing a real threat. As Russel's attention turned towards Defender 1, the second Defender flicked a safety off and Fires a rather decently powered shot at the Sutherland, hoping to split it's attention..

<Radio: B - DC Tactical> Remille Fortner transmits, "Target 2 Hit. Moving to-- Tsk. Once I take out target 3 I will rotate around and assist."

Only the gameplan changes the moment Ken Marinaris starts talking over the Federal broadbands. Koji considers thoughtfully for a moment..

..and then leans out the driver's side window of his Cadillac. "H-HEY!" he shouts up at the DOM Trooper's pilot. "LISTEN, CHANGE OF PLANS. THIS GIANT-TITTIED GIRL FROM MARS WHO DEFECTED TO OUR SIDE IS TELLING ME THAT THE BAD GUYS ARE USING THESE MOBILE UNITS CALLED 'CELLARS' TO BRING IN ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS."

"IT'S A COMPLICATED STORY, I KNOW, BUT COULD YOU JUST DO US ALL A HUGE FAVOR AND DESTROY THESE CELLARS??" Koji slips back into his car for a moment, his hand rooting around in his pocket. A piece of candy falls out and his fingers catch onto something. Aha!

"THEY LOOK LIKE THIS!!" the Ensign hollars back at Holland as he pops back out of the window. He's got his cellphone in his hand, and a gorgeous picture of the Cellars and relevant tactical data is shown easily via its Super AMOLED display*. "JUST TAKE THOSE DOWN BUT HEY, LISTEN, WE'RE INSIDE /A COLONY/. DON'T USE A BEAM WEAPON OR ELSE YOU'LL KILL US ALL!"

"..OH AND THANKS!"

The blast of force knocks the Assault Mech backwards, and thanks to the neurohelmet, knocks Adam off balance too. Adam grabs the controls and pulls, almost trying to twist the machine machine on balance using his bear fists. The main purpose of a neurohelmet is to link the balance of the mech with the balance of the pilot, and good pilots learn to react with their hands and not their bodies. Adam rapidly twists controls, but the heavy mech is simply not agile enough to catch itself.

And then Adam hits the big shiny red button on the side of his controls. It's a new button. He hasn't even tested it out yet. However, a recent fight with Gym Ghingingham taught him it was necessary.

It activates the newly installed Tesla Drive.

Instead of being knocked backwards, the Berserker is knocked upwards, falling backwards but not hitting the ground, instead rising in the air where it can right itself. Yeah, Adam is all about making use of any available Earth technology, and almost any MechWarrior in the Inner Sphere would kill for this upgrade.

"Not good enough!"

Even before he's stabilized, Adam flies forward, making full use of the added mobility the Tesla Drive grants him in order to throw the full 100 tons of his mech into a controlled drive. Sword first, he throws his Berserker right at the hand that was outstretched towards him, aiming to ram the point of his straight straight though the arm of Sovi's machine, and cleanly bisect it all the way though.