2022-07-20: LaPlace: Unchaining

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Yet, unbeknownst to G-Hound, things move within the back channels. The right chess pieces are moved, and NewTypes are gathered... as whispers that go unheard speak: LaPlace.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

December 7, Universal Century 0087

                                "Let go of me, Lieutenant Emma!"

                "Sarah, how long do you intend on...?!"

                                                "There's a possibility that Gryps 2 will be using their Colony Laser!"

                                "We're not going to make it!"


The Ghosts of the past are not so easily forgotten. G-Hound, the Armed Division of the Romefeller Foundation has captured one of the Sleeves' ace pilots.

The year, is Universal Century 0096.

In a move to retake this precious person, the Sleeves launch a reckless attack upon Space Fortress Barge. However, their opponent has prepared a trap, and awaits their arrival at Side 7.


Barge, an 8 Kilometer long Space Fortress, that almost suggests being constructed during the height of the Federation's short lived exploration era just through its sheer size and the resources needed in constructing it.

The massive gravity-producing cylinders of Barge move as two red units rush past eachother at high speeds. Crimson lights flash, as red particles are left in their wake. There's multiple units moving across the field. Construction vehicles are sparking up various sections of the dark Space Fortress. There's plentiful radio chatter, one recalling the two crimson units - which begin to return to the hangars.

Two Clop-class vessels float in front of the fortress, and there's multiple RGM-89DEW EWAC Jegan deployed across the battlefield. They are clearly waiting for the Sleeves to make what might be considered a 'foolish' move.


Within the Space Fortress, well past the hangars, an older woman looks inside of the chambers of the prisoner. A linoleum room. Drugs being fed into Marida Cruz's arm through the metalic chains on her body. Allowed to lay on a bed that comes out of the wall. Able to move, but on enough drugs that your average person would have trouble forming the memories to understand what is going on.

"Guard location well. Be on the lookout for unexpected behavior." The woman's harsh tone snaps at two soldiers, who quickly salute the Lieutenant Commander. Her steps then take her away, as she adjusts the pistol strapped against her chest, and begins to move towards the inner sections of Barge, where Gravity isn't so rigid. "He will come." She whispers to herself, adjusting a few straps. The aching metal of her prosthetics grinding against her body even within her normal suit. Her helmet hanging open and to the back.

As unbeknownst to her, back in Marida's room, the drug drip suddenly abruptly halts.

Behind a monitor, a man in a normal suit presses a last few buttons. They are surrounded by the corpses of two security officers within the chambers. Leaning over the console, they send a secure transmission; "All is ready." Before executing a wipe on the transmission records and picking up their pistol, and stepping out.


One of Barge's hangars opens, as the two red colored Mobile Suits return from their test run. Two construction vessels enter along with them, landing in order to pick up new supplies for the continued repairs of Barge. At the same time, another Mobile Suit is being prepared within the Hangar. An ARX-014 Silver Bullet is having their pilot being prepared in case they need to be deployed. The pilot is being loaded with a lot of wires attached to their helmet, as well as an additional computer within their cockpit that appears to be glowing.

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Suberoa Zinnerman is a close companion of hatred these past seventeen years - he has seen too much of the Federation's atrocities, felt their sting too close to home, for letting go of it to feel possible for him now.

That said, it has been a long time since it's burned so brightly as to make him angry instead of tired.

He checks his pistol for the third time since their plans went into motion - their plea for help to rescue their captive comrade having reached the PLANT and Full Frontal having promised support (though Zinnerman noted the 'Red Comet Reborn' avoided any particularly definitive words like 'reinforcements' in his transmission), all that's left is for the Garencieres Team to do what they do best: Something clever and unexpected, befitting a guerilla team against the systemic might and resources of G-Hound.

The second battleship is somewhat concerning to all crew, though. Against an unarmed freighter defended only by its mobile suit complement, two Federation battleships represents a significant force multiplier.

"She really wants you, huh, boss?" Flaste Schole remarks, glancing at Zinnerman out of the corner of his eye while keeping an eye on the Hyperion. The captain grunts by way of an answer, watching the Barge himself. "It shouldn't matter if the plan works. So long as everyone's looking where we want them to look, this should go smoothly."

Schole nods. "Ivan got a line on G-Hound intel, he'll make sure you've got the kit you need. You're sure about doing this one personally?"

"There's no question otherwise. While you or Gilboa are the two I would trust most with a rescue operation, Sokolov wants me, not either of you, so there's a fair chance she'd just shoot you dead. It has to be me."

"Speaking of dead, faking a bad landing /on/ an enemy battleship... it's been a long time since you've had to do anything like that, Suberoa."

"Don't worry. If I screw it up, I'll just haunt you."

There's a long silent moment before Zinnerman claps his old friend on the shoulder. "Let's get ready. We've got a trap to spring."

====================================================

The Garencieres Team deploys, four Geara Zulus clearing the hangar bay of their home freighter. In the lead machine, a custom equipped with a shield, additional maneuvering jets and multiple heavy weapons, Gilboa Sant assesses the situation. "Alright, folks. You know the plan. We buzz the Barge, and let whatever happens happen to G4. Remember, no matter how bad it looks, /do not/ attempt recovery. If we have to sacrifice one mobile suit to get Marida back, that's a trade the captain's already set on making."

Zinnerman speaks up, at this point, from the rear machine in the diamond formation. "Our weapons and wargear can be replaced, but the life of any crew of the Garencieres is irreplaceable. Don't throw yours away."

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

~*A Few Days Prior*~

The singing is gone, but Ouka remains awake. Or, perhaps more accurately, she's not quite asleep. Since leaving the airlock of the strange new PLANT colony she found herself in, her ReZEL has been on full burn heading back towards Earth. However she recalls Liam's last panicked broadcast: "G-Hound unit, STOP!"

While there are a lot of things Ouka doesn't understand, she is by no means stupid. She knows the sort of foe she was fighting. She knew the range at which she was facing her foe. She KNOWS the risks of fighting that foe at that range. She knows it was dangerous for her to leave... but she also knows just as well she couldn't have stopped herself if she wanted to. And she DID want to. But her body wouldn't allow her to move in any direction save the one that would push her towards completing her mission... and now she is alone...

... but not alone. There is a thing sowly consuming her ReZEL. It makes its presence known by how the machine autobalancing has smoothed out, how the engine output has increased. How the external optics no longer show static due to damage. She can see her destination, that beautiful blue sphere, growing before her. She knows how long it will reach it, perform re-entry, and make it to her landing site. She knows that DOWN TO THE SECOND. What she doesn't know is how much time she has left.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees a silvery light. Scale-like metallic growths spreading across a console, moving towards her left control stick, moving UP that left control stick. She wants to let go. She wants to scream.

... her hands remain steady, the ReZEL remains on course, and her mouth remains shut.

~*Present Day*~

Once again, Aurum-1 finds herself entering the cockpit of a ReZEL. A DIFFERENT ReZEL, mind. The one she was piloting that day had to be incinerated right there on the tarmac. She knows this is the case, and knows that this unit is safe. There's no logical reason for her to feel afraid or in danger while behind the controls of this unit. She also knows for a fact that she has been treated for the contamination she has experienced. That the only remnant of the infection is the strange skin pattern it had left behind - an unexpected reaction due to her DG Cell exposure, and its treatment.

And even that will fade with time, or so the doctors say.

Still as her arms rest on the control sticks she can't help but feel just a little bit more on edge than usual. She occasionally lets go of her left control stick, both to prove that she still can and to shake off the phantom pins-and-needles sensations she gets from where she was once infected. Occasionally she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, holds it, and releases it slowly into the confines of her helmet. Watching the screen briefly fog. "It's fine." She says while her outgoing is closed, "I'm fine."

After a recent discussion with Treize, within which the possibility of her being relieved of some of her G-Hound duties so that she could focus on enjoying summer vacation alongside the Tokyo-3 Municipal students, Ouka has felt the need to push herself even harder. The following conversation with Misato only encouraged her further to make sure that neither Seolla or Arado are put in her place. It's for that reason she is now flying her ReZEL within a scout wing, performing long distance surveillance for the Barge and its accompanying large ships.

She notices a blip off in the distance. A freighter of some sort? Odd... this seems to be a bit far from normal trade routes. It's when multiple other units deploy from the 'freighter' and its hangar that she realizes something is wrong. Especially when one is clearly heavily armed from this distance. <Munin Wing, abort scouting pattern, convert to WR mode, split up and return to home base. Transmit sensor data as soon as you arrive within range. I'll take up the rear in MS mode and provide your cover!>

With that, the wing of ReZELs will break up. The two on the main's wings will transform in their Waverider mode and take off, while the lead unit begins making her way back to the Barge more slowly in MS mode. A brave pilot... or a stupid one...

... perhaps we're about to find out which.

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

Sophia Mayhew Castellan stands at the front of her command island, hand on the railing, watching the goliath hulk of Barge take up so much of the space above the Hyperion's bridge. Hyperion is a bit on the larger side for standard vessels - all the better to house a frame designed for holding full-on firefights on-deck - but compared to the Barge, it's tiny. She blinks, once, and though her head never moves, she shifts her gaze, an emblem of red materializing in her left eye. So many lives...so many people. So many connections, even out here deep in the sky.

She blinks again. The glow fades, and she marches back to her captain's seat.

"Captain?" prompts Amata, her second in command.

"They're here," she announces, with no apparent evidence. "Power to weapons, prepare for combat. Helios, look alive!"

"Ah, is tea time over?" comes the quip from her escort ship's own captain. "Very well."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Captain Zinnerman had a strict role about never deploying child soldies. Whenever this was brought up, Banagher stayed carefully silent. It wasn't like he could disagree with a policy like that. And it wasn't that he considered himself an adult yet. But even so...

Banagher races through the hallways of the Garencieres. If he took advantage of the chaos of the fight beginning he could make it to Unicorn without Zinnerman ever giving him permission. The Unicorn awaits. Banagher can feel it with each step. It's ready. It wants to fight just as badly as he does.

"As fast as you can," Banagher murmurs to the machine, as he seals the Unicorn's cockpit. "We're going to save her!" Almost before his hands touch the controls, the Unicorn responds, powering up. Blue starlight trails behind the white mobile suit as it launches from the Garencieres.

"Marida!" Banagher yells. "We're coming for you!"

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

The plea for help had indeed made it all the way to the PLANTs and ZAFT. Where the militia's command structure was leaning towards regretfully declining the request for help. After all, their forces were already stretched thin in the war. And there were also whispers of new operations on the horizon. Even if they were able to spare anyone, given what they'd be facing, it was likely going to end up a net loss for ZAFT.

Then Rau Le Creuset stepped in, volunteering his own team for the mission as well as any other spare pilots that could join him. He made an impassionate speech about the need to not turn their backs on their Sleeves allies, as there may come a time when ZAFT needs THEIR help. It was enough to persuade command to agree. And thus the Le Creuset team was assigned to provide backup to the mission to rescue one Marida Cruz.

Of course, Rau's own interests in the mission aren't quite so noble.

The Nazca-class warship, Vesalius, approaches the Space Fortress Barge from another direction to that of the Garencieres force. The intent to split the attention of the defenders of the large station.

On the bridge of the Vesalius, the masked man himself, Rau Le Creuset, floats beside the captain's chair, looking out the ship's forward windows at the fortress in the distance. Seeing it really emphasises just how difficult this is going to be. But the gains should they succeed may very well make it worth it. It's gamble, but one Rau is confident in.

Rau turns around, pushing himself towards the lift at the rear of the bridge. He glances back at Captain Ades, "Keep the Vesalius at the edge of the combat zone. It'll be our ace should we need one." He just barely hears the affirmative reply before the lift doors shut.

Soon enough, the Nazca's central hangar doors opens, linear catapult extending outwards. A stock white and grey CGUE is the first to emerge, launched forward and out into space where the large thruster packs on its shoulders take over, propelling the machine forward. A few GINNS follow out behind the command unit, quickly moving into formation.

In the CGUE, Rau stares at the fortress ahead as it quickly grows in size. He opens a comm to the rest of the ZAFT forces on site, <"This isn't going to be easy. But keep your heads out here and you'll all come back alive."> He doesn't expect them all to come back alive.

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

The leader of G-Hound had been busy, a trip to japan, or was it spain, or perhaps he never left at all buried under paperwork, it was really hard to say. Now though it was certain he was riding on a transport vessel that he had been taking to oversee something on the Barge.

At least that was the plan, until the notice of trouble began to chitter over the comms, the pilot looks up at it's valuable cargo, "Sorry sir, I think we should retreat." Treize looks at the pilot and nods his head," I agree, this ship has no weapons and the parts you carry are indeed valuable. Please see to their safety." With that said he reaches over and picks up the helmet that matches his white and blue pilot suit. "Before you retreat, please release box number five."

The transport turns to make it back to a safer place but per orders a single cargo crate is left behind floating in space. Moments later a beam saber's blade rips the box apart from the inside and a Leo is revealed. It's not your normal looking Leo though, it appears to have a giant dish connected to the back of it's head. What Treize could be thinking who knows but he is on his way to the party.<"This is Colonel Khushranada, I am on the field moving towards the Barge.">.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

Serinas has the honor of accompanying the Red Comet Reborn! Just how much information was relayed how well from captain Talia Gladys, to Creuset and from le Creuset to the Sleeves, may have gotten a bit garbled. The sight of a second CGUE, known to be a ZAFT ace unit, and the detail that Serinas *has* something described as an "anti-ship impact cannon" at her disposal, may or may not be construed as a sign that this is just what the Sleeves need to deal with today's situation.

The truth is thet Serinas is a green troop who recieved this unit through unusual circumstances and she's only used it in real, serious combat *once*, and just because she *has* that beam gun doesn't mean she's actually specially trained in fighting against ships or anything like that. She's never directly engaged a battleship in live combat at all, and in no more sims than any other green ZAFT pilot.

But Serinas isn't worried about all that.

The Sleeves are the PLANTs' allies against the Federation, who threaten her new home and family, and this mission will somehow contribute to some plan that stops them? Good enough for her!

On the bridge of the Vesalius, Serinas is at home in zero-G, strapped into an observer's seat or casually holding a railing. She can see an enemy fortress through the forward window, but... the legendary Rau le Creuset is here! He probably does this kind of thing all the time, right? She just has to do her job and things will work out fine! And she'll probably learn all sorts of things from le Creuset when she reviews the battle data later! She may have showed some talent for it, but he's piloted a CGUE in combat much more than her!

Someone else might be nervous, but Serinas is confident that she'll do just fine. She's fought plenty of simulated battles, and all... four? of her real battles have worked out fine so far!

As le Creuset passes by to leave the bridge, she stands at attention and salutes, then follows him out. She smiles enthusiastically as the lift brings them down to the hangar. Then she pushes out of the doors to float alongside Rau to... She doubletakes between him, and her own CGUE which is over THERE. Oops. She blushes a bit, but can't change direction in midair. "Sorry! I'm so used to mine being the only one in the hangar so I... Yeah..."

That was embarassing, but she remains good-naturedly smiling as she pushes off the ace's CGUE to float over to her own, climbing in. The mobile suit steps out of the gantry, retrieves the beam cannon and stows it while the Red Comet Reborn steps onto the linear catapult and launches. And then it's her turn.

"Serinas Nikola, ZGMF-515 CGUE, launching!"

Serinas forms up with the le Creuset team as they approach the battlefield. She nods in response to his communication, taking it at 100% face value. With the Red Comet Reborn on the field, everything will be just fine!

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

- Within Barge -

Graspa Naill confirms his helmet is locked in place as the Silver Bullet activates around him. The flow of lights coming up to his helmet. Giving a thumbs up at the mechanics as they clear back.

The cockpit closes, and all the systems quickly boot up. He reaches up, thumbing a picture of his wife. "I don't know why they needed to transfer me so quickly to Barge." He mumbles, "But I guess they must be doing some kind of Cyber NewType testing."

The binders shift back, and he performs a few touches over the controls, as the grey machine passes by an enormous Beam Rifle of sorts, hanging from massive hooks above him.

Locking the unit into the Hangar's launch controls, he brings the thrusters to bear. "Control, this is Graspa Naill - Launching." The man rubs his chin a bit along the bottom of the helmet, to get rid of some beard itch, a second before the launcher engages, and the Silver Bullet is sent into space.


"Where'd they come from?"

"They came from a blind spot!"

"What do you mean a blind spot!?"

"Unknown freighter, please identify yourself!"

Pause.

"Unknown freighter, please identify yourself - or we will open fire!"

Four Geara Zulus are approaching Barge, as multiple EWAC Jegans begin to track them. One of them rather nearby to the Geara units, deploys a shoulder mounted beam cannon as the Jegan's second operator begins to aim for the Zulus units. It isn't long before a beam lances towards the lead of the formation, trying to spread them out!

But then a unit suddenly blasts off from the freighter that...

A laserlink is immediately re-established to Barge. Coming up on command's viewscreen.

<"Sir, it's... It's a Gundam!"> Displaying visuals on the Unicorn.


One of the Clop Class vessels immediately begins to move, and a series of ReZels rush for the position that they are coming from. Only to suddenly be halted by calls of ZAFT interference!


The Silver Bullet guns out of the Hangar and maneuvers right for the position of Suberoa Zinnerman's team, and the Unicorn. Wielding a Beam Cannon, it immediately opens up on the foursome - with the trail of the weapon aimed right for the Unicorn taking up the rear!

Behind him, the box within his cockpit begins to glow. Simulating a heavier Psyco activation within the Silver Bullet.

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

"Ah, crap," Flaste mutters, watching the starlight-blue of the Unicorn's particle trail as it blazes away from the Garencieres. "I figured you'd try something like that, kid." He keys the comms, getting commands out before things get rough and beam density forces the ships to close to knife-fighting range. "Banagher, I'm sure the Captain will have words for you when you get back - so make sure to get yourself back in one piece, is that clear?" He flicks over to the ZAFT frequencies. "ZAFT pilots, the Sleeves thank you for your assistance. Watch yourselves out there, okay?"

With the ease of a squadron of veterans, the Garencieres Team split apart as the Silver Bullet opens fire on them, swarming around the psycommu-modded mobile suit as the beam scores a hit against the Unicorn's white armour and passing by without firing on that incidental enemy. Their objective remains the Barge, and towards the Barge they accelerate, Gilboa starting to spool up his Geara Zulu's beam gatling gun.

Zinnerman, in the back of the formation, is planning his approach, the cockpit full of extra padding for his intended crash-landing. It will still be rough, he figures, but it'll let him get out of the mobile suit maybe just a little faster than G-Hound expect, and that's a big advantage for a mission like this. If he can leave the machine flyable after the forced crash, so much the better. Still... "Stay sharp, Gilboa. Something doesn't feel right."

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

A FEW DAYS AGO - - -

Trevor Teach, renowned(?) pirate(!) extraordinaire was sipping a frozen margarita through a jumbo straw stuck into a zero-G friendly squeeze-pack. 'Man,' he thought to himself as his singular eye fixed on the friendly (mmmmostly) training duel playing out just beyond the Garanceries' hull, 'That lady in the green machine is /really/ good...!'

Beat.

'Wonder if she's cute too...?'

At that moment, he detects the glare of a concerned father boring its way into the back of his head. This is, actually, a pretty normal sensation to pick up, in his experience.

SOMETIME AFTER THAT - - -

MARIDA CRUZ IS CAPTURED BY G-HOUND! It's a true and proper travesty. Getting captured like that never has a good ending. There are stories of what happens to powerful Newtypes who get captured by the Federation, even all the way out in the Belt. In fact, given the type of people who /end up/ in the Belt, they're pretty common out there actually. The news made his blood run cold-- but... this could also be an opportunity...!

RIGHT NOW - - -

Sometime before the Garanceries enters into engagement range, a lone shadow detaches from its hull. The Isadore floats languidly through space, impulse thrusters guiding it on a lazy heading towards the 'nadir' of the operational area. In the cockpit, Trevor Teach humms a cheerful shanty, waiting for the right moment to engage. Waiting...

Waiting.....

Trevor yawns mid-note and remembers to flick on his patented (in pirate circles) signal spoofer, appearing on active scans as some kind of wayward civilian craft approaching the combat zone. Maybe it's one of those space war journalists, or a particularly predatory space churro salesperson. Maybe it's... an ice frieghter, or a cream courier, or an ice cream conveyer, whose routing computer is just plain /off./

But, no.

It's none of those things.

It's...

Picking up speed. It's getting close-- /too/ close. It shows up on visual scans...!

It's /not/ a civilian craft at all, but it's too close to avoid now! It dives in from the Hyperion's underside, launching a rocket-propelled, INCOM-anchored claw to dig into its armor-- and allow for the mobile suit to approach at a far more rapid pace!

"Well hey, look at this! I've hooked myself a whale!" Trevor Teach, Pirate(!) and mercenary in service of the Sleeves(!!) says with remarkably dissonant good cheer, "Ahahaha! Wonder if today's when I turn my haul-luck around! Let's see if we can catch ourselves a ship today!"

But of course, Marida is the real prize here. Still, if he can disrupt the Federation's tactical assessments...

Well, that's kind of part of his job, isn't it?

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I couldn't just sit back and do nothing!" Banagher answers Flaste. "Don't worry, I'll come back safe."

The Unicorn senses the opposing Cyber-Newtype before its pilot does. It strains against Banagher's hold, the NT-D wanting to deploy. "Not yet." Banagher murmurs, gritting his teeth. "Maybe we won't have to fight them! Maybe-- agh!"

Banagher nearly bites his tongue, rocked forward in his seat by the direct hit from the Silver Bullet. Anger flashes, quick and hot, inside his mind, but he clamps down on it. The Unicorn would run rampant if he let his feelings get the best of him. Surely, the opposing pilot would understand he was on a rescue mission -- Marida hadn't done anything wrong!

"Silver Bullet pilot!" Banagher calls, over an open line. "I don't want to fight you! I'm just here to rescue my companion. She hasn't done anything wrong, she was kidnapped! Let me pass, and I won't hurt anyone!"

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

In her attempt to provide cover for her allies, Ouka's route back to the Barge is far more circuitous. Utilizing pieces of drifting debris as cover even in the depths of space she's able to break up and disguise her sensor signature. That means by the time she returns from her patrol route, the engagement has just begun in earnest with the forces unleashed by that mysterious freighter.

She hears Colonel Treize's voice over local comms, and immediately the First Boosted Child's hands grip the control sticks of her unit just a little bit tighter. Once again she feels the phantom tingle in her left hand. She mutters to herself... "I'm fine." before opening up her outgoing comms once again:

<Munin Leader, Callsign Aurum-1 reporting back from patrol. Shifting from recon to combat stance. Engaging with enemy forces.>

A silvery light catches the corner of her eye. For a moment her breath catches in her throat... but then she realizes it's just the shape of stock white and grey CGUE. She doesn't give herself time for self-recriminations for how silly she feels. Instead she pushes both of her control sticks forward, opening the ReZEL's thrusters to full as the machine lowers the shield in front of itself!!

Ouka's unit attempts to ram Rau's CGUE with that shield. Whether she's successful or not, she'll pull back on her control sticks to maneuver the unit around to face the opposing unit. <CGUE pilot, you are violating the Barge exclusion zone. Any further approach will result in your destruction. Power down your weapons and go on standby, or else I will open fire.>

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize was watching everything unfold before him on the Leo's screen. It was similar to the Grief in some ways, to anyother Leo , but at the same time it was more detailed. He could see much more minor movements on the radars and the amount of data being displayed had to be filtered. A suit made specifically for Recon, it was wonderful.

The benefit of the large satellite dish was not just to receive data but to also emit data, these Leo's were meant to be able to defeat their enemy in electronic warfare and shut them down before battle can begin. They also were the best for supporting one's allies.

As the Leo comes in Treize puts out the announcement to tall in range, <"To all those who attack us, I am Colonel Treize Khushranda. You have shown aggressive actions towards us and therefore let it be known that we at G-Hound shall retaliate with full force, you have till this suit touches down on The Barge to stand down and surrender. Loss of life is not what we want."> With that said, Treize activates CBOZ-01 program.

The Leo's satellite begins to hum and vibrate as it emits a signal scattering the electronic signatures of himself and his fellow G-Hound units, just like those weird particles that the celestial beings have been using.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

Vitaly slowly closes her eyes for a moment as she arrives to the section that connects the Hangars and the Prison and Medical area of Barge. A large catwalk with railings bridges the two sections.

She lifts the pistol from her chest and inspects the weapon, ensuring that it's well cleaned. Which, of course it is. It's practically immaculate. But one doesn't become a Veteran by being careless, and only checking once.

The woman looks towards the singular door that allows one to go from the Hangar space into the area behind her.


<"What's the~? They're letting children pilot now!? ~Damn Sleeves~"> The Silver Bullet's pilot answers Banagher immediately, his anger rising quickly at this discovery.

<"You mean the Terrorist of Industrial 7? The pilot of that Quadwing? She wasn't kidnapped. She's a Prisoner of War! Now back off kid!"> It's not like the pilot before Banagher doesn't have a heart. But Banagher can feel that wave of anger coming towards him as the Silver Bullet drives straight towards him and engages his beam saber, coming down towards the youth as the yellow weapon engages its light and slashes down towards the Unicorn - seeking to halt him.

At the same time, the INCOM pieces of the Silver Bullet begin to engage. Splitting up slightly near the top as beam weapons begin to aim towards the Unicorn Gundam.


The secondary Clop unit has split off some of its ReZEL units, which are coming right for Barge's position. They've got physical weapons equiped in order to avoid damaging Barge itself, as they try to sweep into an obb-long shaped X formation in order to open a cross-fire on Suberoa Zinnerman's team, making sure they are positioned so they don't risk shooting eachother as well!

The heavy machinegun fire flashes light across the surface of the dark Space Fortress. And over in the distance, at the very edges of sensors, two more Clop classes can be detected. Pressuring the assault team by their mean approach. Though it'll be quite a bit before they are in actual combat range - it's clear that G-Hound wants to ensure that Barge is well protected.


Within the Hangar, the large Beam Weapon is being charged for a small test fire. And as Zinnerman's team gets close, they can see a lance of blue carving into the Hangar, only for multiple shields to activate and halt the beam. Some kind of crazy test is going on in there!

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

Rau blasts forward through space towards the fortress. Things are getting heated as battles start to break out around the station. Already he can see the Sleeves forces trading shots with some of the station defenders. Others moving into place to intercept ZAFT's own assault. One in particular pops up on his display, approaching from a wide angle. That one could be a problem if it catches them in a pincer move.

Plus the pilot of that unit appears daring, approaching on their own.

Rau transmits to his GINN squad trailing behind him, <"Continue forward and help our allies deal with the station defenders. I'll take care of this one and join you afterwards.">

The CGUE breaks away from its squad, turning to head straight towards the ReZEL. The two machines rapidly approach it other at high speeds. At the last moment, the CGUE raises its shield to mee the ReZEL's own. The two shields clash! Their respective angles cause them to scrape across one another without any appreciable damage to either.

The inertia of the two machines cause them to separate quite a distance before they manage to turn and stop relative to each other.

Rau listens to the demand to stand down from the other pilot. A ZAFT attack force, clearly advancing in attack formation to join its allies in an obvious attempt to recover their stolen pilot. And they're just going to stand down because one lone Federation pilot asks? Rau opens a comm channel in response to Ouka, <"Roger that. Standing down.">

Rau does not stand down.

The CGUE raises the machine gun in its right hand, firing off a burst while simultaneously bursting to the side to try and out maneuver the ReZEL.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

Someone is shouting on an open channel? She's seen them before....

...When kaiju attacked the colony! Serinas remembers now! That was the machine, AND pilot, that was initially helping and then started shooting at her ally. He talked like it was an accident, but... Well, it's something to watch out for. <"You're here on a rescue mission?"> she responds. <"Are you saying you're helping us, today?"> the half-Meltrandi asks, slightly skeptically. She may have to keep an eye out on... whatever he's doing.

Ahead of her, one of the Feddie mobile suits is trying to engage le Creuset. He can handle himself, but... <"I guess this is on me then. Don't worry sir, I won't let you down!">

There are demands to surrender as the second CGUE speeds towards the Hyperion. Why would they expect surrender? Serinas glares over comms, <"If we were going to surrender we wouldn't be fighting a war in the first place! We'd just have accepted being second-class citizens waiting for you to kill us slowly! If you didn't want bloodshed you wouldn't have blown up a colony!">

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

'Roger that. Standing down.'

Those are the pilot's words. The actions are another thing entirely. It's unfortunate that she didn't manage to connect with her initial attack. A bit of an impact might have helped her point across more clearly. She's not entirely surprised when the unit instead decides to raise the gun in his right hand and firing off a burst while strafing to attempt to flank her.

However it doesn't seem like this is the sort of pilot that is easily surprised by such maneuvers. When the machine gun raises the ReZEL raises its shield to deflect a few of the initial shots. But then, seeing the opponent's maneuver, the unit DROPS its guard to charge directly into the hail of rounds. The price is stiff - machine gun rounds tear deep gouges through the chest, head, and shoulder armor of her unit. However she is hoping her willingness to sacrifice her unit, albeit slightly, will be enough to catch them flat footed.

<Acknowledged... engaging hostile.> The voice of the ReZEL's pilot is calm, as it raises its shield once more. This time though she raises her own beam rifle to fire a rapid fire shot at closer range, attempting to get past the CGUE's shield as much as she can and hit her enemy directly in the center of mass.

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

"Ma'am, incoming craft? It's showing Civilian markings."

Sophia's eye lights up, casting her gaze in the indicated direction. "...Helios, we have a dog on our heels," she says, before the attack comes. "Be so kind as to send him to Hell for me."

Hyperion shakes from the impact - but Trevor wil find his armored claw has not dug as deep a hole as he thinks. This ia thickly armored ship, meant to handle full-scale melee.

Which is when Trevor discovers his own problem - a fast-moving escort ship has swept around under Hyperion as well, opening fire on him with a wave of rail cannon fire.

"It seems someone is unaware of Federation policy for false-flag assaults," the captain of Helios says, Desmond Siege flicking a few controls on the four-man bridge.

Meanwhile, back on Hyperion, another tactical assessment: "Enemy MS spotted, ma'am! Looks like a shipkiller weapon on there!"

"Have the Flags attend to it."

Soon, Serinas is intercepted by her own problem - a wing of Flags has rushed out from Hyperion's direction, bombarding her with fire from their linear machineguns!!

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Closer and closer the Garencieres Team approach the Barge, diving down towards its open hangar, when suddenly - "Incoming ReZEL squadron! Garencieres Team, break off!" Gilboa calls, hauling up on the stick. The Team breaks apart - except for the fourth mobile suit, which Zinnerman steers into the path of the fire on purpose, bullets sparking off the Geara Zulu's armour and blowing out thrusters!

"This is G4," he calls out, steering towards the Barge, "I'm hit and going down!" He activates the additional crash padding in his cockpit block.

The Geara Zulu plummets into the open maw of the Barge, a crash that rips off its legs and left arm as the remains of its chassis screeches across the deck. It smokes, but does not catch flame, its reactor undamaged.

"Godspeed, Captain," Gilboa mutters, before turning his attention to the Leo claiming to be piloted by the Commander of G-Hound. "Well, boys, in for a Hyte in for a Cool! Let's see if we can't tie up the boss a bit."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Marida is practically a child, too!" Banagher yells, bringing the Unicorn's shield up to block the second attack. "You won't stop me from bringing her home!"

Anger rises up again, and this time, he lets it overtake him. Between his anger and the appearance of an opposing Newtype, there was no way Banagher could hold his Gundam in check any longer. The Unicorn screams its victory, letting out a haunting sound that echoes across empty space. Red light pours from within its frame, casting odd shadows across his opponent. The single horn splits into two, fully revealing the Unicorn's identity.

Banagher means to reply to Serinas, but -- his own anger echoes back at him from the Psycoframes in his unit. It's all he can do to keep from shouting along with Unicorn, managing to keep it down to a snarl. "Rrr--ahh!"

Drawing its own saber, Unicorn rushes forward, its blue starlight mixing with a red, crystalline glow. "Get out of my way!" The saber is lifted, and comes down, aiming for the chest of the Silver Bullet.

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

The calm of the pilot he's facing does not go unnoticed by Rau. Nor does her apparent skill. The CGUE continues its maneuvers as the ReZEL returns fire. The ZAFT machine's shoulder thrusts twist this way and that as its pilot deftly maneuvers around them. But it seems Ouka is eventually able to catch up to Rau's movement as a shot pierces through part of the CGUE's leg.

It's not a serious blow and Rau isn't concerned. No, indeed he gives a light chuckle, comming to the ReZEL, <"You seem awfully calm for someone fighting for their life. Is that confidence, or has the Federation finally managed to produce robot soldiers?">

The CGUE bursts away from the ReZEL, trying to keep away and ahead of it. The attack that comes next is not from the rifle in its right hand, but rather the shield on its left. The barrels of the gatling gun poking out from beneath the shield spin up, unleashing a barrage of bullets towards the ReZEL.

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

> Roger that. Standing down.

Serinas switches one of her screens to the rear camera. <"Sir?!"> Why would he stand down?! <"What are you--"> Oh. He's not standing down. He's not standing down at all.

She has other things to worry about, incoming fire! The grey mobile suit adroitly barrel rolls out of the way of one or two lines of fire and then brings its signature shield forward to take most of the rest, Serinas gripping the controls tightly as the impacts make the cockpit shake around her. A few shells do hit the left leg and one even juust misses the shield and glances off the chest armor, making a particularly loud BANG she can hear through the machine.

She needs to help Trevor fight off the Hyperion. <"Don't worry, I'm here to help you!"> Well, she has a gun for this, so she should-- wait. Her *allies* all know about that, but her *enemies* don't (she thinks.) Maybe she should hold off on using it a little bit, then surprise the enemy once they underestimate how heavily-armed she is and she gets into a better position.

For now, the CGUE draws forth its usual machine gun, firing a few short bursts into the path of the flags as she tries to fly around them, continuing to get closer to the Hyperion. Her half-coordinator mind tracking so much at once, trying to find an angle of movement that'll get her in view of as few of the Hyperion's point defense guns as possible.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

<"And that means I should just ignore the people she got killed? Because she is a child?"> The man asks Banagher immediately when the youth cries out about Marida. That's when the Unicorn begins to transform.

He's pushed back by the force of the transformation itself, the psychowaves resonating and easily pushing away the weaker psyco-presence of the Silver Bullet. The INCOM units strain as the man grits his teeth.

Banagher's anger waving through space, infecting the box within the Silver Bullet, and causing the man to get aggitated even further! A spiral of anger!

<"So it's true, you are just another one of them!"> The man brings his saber forward, and then engages a shield on the Silver Bullet! The Unicorn's saber halted as the left hand of the Silver Bullet literally detaches from the unit and goes flying, trying to cut at Banagher's Unicorn from the side. The man unaware of what the NT-D system may very well do to the INCOM hand!


As the Geara Zulu comes crashing into the hangar, multiple technicians immediately approach along with two soldiers. Floating through the outer low-grav hangar. Large hoses immediately being deployed to ensure that there's no chance that the unit is going to explode in the middle of the hangar, while two G-Hound soldiers point their weapons at the cockpit...

And float closer and closer. Trying to interface with the cockpit itself to activate it and force it open, so they can arrest whomever is inside.


<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize frowns as it appears that no one is accepting of his words, no one stands down and he shakes his head, "To toss away ones life, is such a foolish action." True to his word though Treize does not open fire, he simply raises the Leo's shield as he continues on to the Barge. The Geara Zulu's opening salvo sounds like a thunderstorm from inside the cockpit but Treize himself doesn't blink or waiver.

Approaching the Barge, the Leo flips in the zero G and spins about landing to face those who fire upon him. <"It truly is a shame you have chosen this route."> Taking aim at the Geara Zulu, it appears that Treize has taken the bait of being tied up by Zinnerman. Raising the machine gun of the Leo, the bullets are sprayed in the direction of Treize's attackers.

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

The pirate is accused of using a false flag IFF...!

The camera zooms in momentarily on one of the Mobile Suit's unique components. It's a simple (and rather crude) looking casing built into its communication suite, labeled in big white paintstrokes: '"JOLLY ROGER" FALSE FLAG IFF.'

No, he probably knows exactly what happens to people who use these kinds of things on Federation ships.

"Hmmn? That's odd," Trevor muses to himself in the cramped confines of his cockpit, "Usually I get a much deeper anchorage. This some kind of new high-end armor, or is it just..." The strange mobile suit takes a moment t... stick its finger into the gash. What it finds has its pilot whistling in appreciation, "Well blow the Z-Master with a hairdrier, this thing is a damn /brick!/ Whatever the Feds are feeding their boats these days, it's growing 'em up big and str--"

A wave of dread washes across the pirate's consciousness. Almost before his hands reach his controls, the Isadore responds, kicking away from the Hyperion's hull. Its claw rattles and groans at its anchor point, INCOM line spooling out as it boosts away. A series of powerful railgun rounds scream through the space it had occupied only moments ago, each one capable of crippling the machine, if not worse.

"Hah, is that a bite-sized target I spy? You'll be /way/ easier to haul off!" Trevor grins, continuing to be an Absolute Hazard on open bands. "Eh?" The CGUE is... also there! "Oh! Ahoy there! Welcome to the fray! Haha!" The Isadore waves in greeting with its free hand, one which soon reaches for a beam weapon--

Specifically, a beam saber that's distinctly thicker and curvier than most. A beam cutlass, in fact. As the Helios darts by, he scythes in, using his anchor point on the Hyperion as a fulcrum to accelerate towards the smaller vessel. "Avast and engarde, smaller vessel," Trevor declares, swiping the cutlass at the Helios' external weapons batteries in deft, calculated strokes, "Let us see how you fare in a proper duel!"

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

The CGUE bursts away from the ReZEL, and the ReZEL bursts in a pattern that the two seem to be almost flying in sync with one another - both units trying to keep up with and outmaneuver the other. When the CGUE raises its shield to utilize the mounted gatling gun, the ReZEL also brings up its own shield but in an attempt to block the majority of the rounds coming its way. A few rounds to catch the armor in the leg, and one round managed to find a hole previously placed in a shoulder sending a bright warning sparking across Aurum-1's consoles indicating internal damage.

Ouka grimaces within her helmet, a few more lucky shots like that and she'll start losing use of her limbs. That's when the voice of the other pilot comes over her comms, remarking on her calm. Asking if the Federation managed to produce robot soldiers.

Once again she starts to feel that phantom pain in her left arm. She remembers watching the silvery scales crawling up her arm. Remembers the fear and pain. Remember Egret Feff talking about his 'Machinery Children' project.

Was that what he was planning? For her? For Arado and Seolla?

Pain lances through Ouka's skull, briefly seizing her mind and forcing her to loosen her grip on the thought at hand. Allowing it to slip back into the dark murk of her subconscious.

<What sort of soldiers are you, who aren't prepared to face life and death struggles?> She asks through clenched teeth, before pulling back on both of her control sticks to get a bit more range between her and her target. Spinning around with the inky black of space as her backdrop, drawing the ReZEL's Mega Beam Launcher with her unit's off hand. The inside of the barrel glowing bright before she fires!!

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

Impacts. Tremors. Lights flickering? Perhaps that is why the drugs stopped being pumped into Marida's body... Some power fluctuation or system error, or someone got distracted and put their elbow on the controls. Something like that.

Either way, Marida has been lying still, giving no reason for anyone to pay attention to her or her circumstances. As a prisoner, she has been a model one. However, prisoners of war are obligated to attempt to escape. So, as more awareness comes to her, her body regaining more and more of its feeling, Marida Cruz focuses on her surroundings, and also beyond them.

One. Two. Pull.

Marida pulls her arm just enough to dislodge the IV, even if that means a bleeding hole in her arm. She has gradually working at it with minute muscular contractions, forcing the tube to the very edge of where it has been inserted, for the sake of this moment.

One. Two. Pull.

And there's the other one. Now all that's left is the chains. Thanks to the lack of drugs inhibiting her, the Cyber Newtype is able to use her strength to its full potential now.

So, after waiting to see if anyone notices what she has done and comes to check on her, so that she can continue feigning being asleep, she opens her violet eyes and scans the room quickly.

Then...

One. Two. Three...

PULL.

Marida tears the chains attached to her cuffs out of the wall with a single brutal sit-up maneuver, no doubt tearing the muscles in her own arms in the process. But she is also free now, and she makes the most of that fact by leaping down from the cot she was lying on, building up speed, and then leaping up to 'run' on one of the walls, even if only temporarily, aiming for one of the cameras that has been watching her. Bracing herself between two walls, one foot on each, the clone of Elpeo Ple slams her fist into the wall mount the camera is perched on, damaging the wall itself. There's some broken knuckles.

SLAM!

Another punch. There go the rest of her knuckles and the fingers they're attached to. Wincing in pain, but determined to make the most of this opportunity, the fiery-haired woman rams her arm deep inside the wall to grab the electrical wiring.

If a power fluctuation disabled her IV drip, then perhaps there's some shoddy wiring in this area. Someone may have been cutting corners. As heavy as Marida feels in this gravity, she tightens her legs further to avoid slipping down before she's done, and begins the painfully slow process of seeing if she can cause another 'power fluctuation', and see what else malfunctions.

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

This is what state-of-the-art imaging technology gets you: Armament estimates! A captain with the eyes of the king also helps.

The bulk of the Hyperion is a slow-moving thing, but that's the purpose of the much speedier Helios. Trevor cottons to that quite quickly, it seems like, boosting away as the zippy Helios surges forward.

"These reactions...are that of a newtype," Desmond murmurs to himself, alone on a four-man bridge. He taps the controls with efficiency. Helios surges in, its own thrusters blazing brightly; it doesn't quite negate Trevor's maneuver but it does minimize his damage...while also, perhaps, distracting him from the set of rockets Helios has left /behind/ it, which spark up and ignite to drive toward Isadore and explode!

Hyperion's Flags, meanwhile, don't fare wonderfully before Serinas' approach, one of the machines taking serious damage and falling away. The rest clear space briefly, because on the bridge:

"That CGUE is coming our way," Sophia says, with no clear evidence but the glow in her eye. "Heavy cannons, fire."

The MASSIVE cannons on the forward flanks of the Hyperion swivel up, pointing toward Serinas all alone. There is no noise when they discharge, no great gout of fire or Minovsky bloom; these are railguns.

That does not make the gigantic slugs now on their way any less deadly.

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

There seems to be a pause from Rau's opponent after his words. Perhaps he struck a chord. Or perhaps she's simply feeling a little overwhelmed by their fight. He has to admit she has skills, but nothing he can't handle.

When Ouka does respond though, Rau picks up on a bit more emotion in her voice. Seems like it was the former. He chuckles some more, <"Us? Not prepared to face life and death struggles? We're the ones willingly assaulting a heavily fortified location.">

The ReZEL raises its Mega Beam Launcher and fires! The beam of light streaks out towards the CGUE. Rau quickly jerks his controls to the side, spinning around to face the beam head on. He then charges it! At the last second he rolls and bursts to the side, the beam blasting past the CGUE's torso. It burns a long groove into the side of the machine on the way, Rau ignoring the increasing damage reports as he continues to boost towards the ReZEL, <"I think we've proven our resolve! Can you say the same!?">

Finally Rau closes the distance, his machine stowing the machine gun at its waist and grabbing the hilt of the large sword on its back. It swings the weapon over, launching into a one two combo to try and knock the ReZEL's large launcher aside and cut deep into the machine!

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

The full power shot wasn't a clean hit, though it at the very least burns a deep groove through the armor!! Not enough to disable the unit... but perhaps enough to utilize in another opportunity. It doesn't help that the foe then chooses to follow-up the attack by getting close and striking out with the large sword it has upon its back!!

The first strike seeks to lash out at the mega beam launcher, and thankfully Ouka has enough presence of mind to prevent Rau from severing it in half though the resulting blow does knock it from her machine's hand. Then the follow-up blow aims to dig deeply into her machine. She's able to just barely maneuver the ReZEL's shield arm into place to take the blow instead of her chest plate. However the ferocity of the attack is such that it cleaves the shield, the arm, and then even digs directly into the armor plate!!

There is a rush of decompressing air into her cockpit. The First Boosted Child can see the silvery glint of the blade a mere foot from her face. Just a little bit less and it would have left her and her unit both cut in two. Instead both have survived... but only by the skin of their teeth.

Wrenching free of the blade that sought to end her, the remnants of the ReZEL's shield and shield arm are broken off and left sparking and broken in the space between the units. Engaging its thrusters, the unit spins as it maneuvers to seize the lost but otherwise undamaged Mega Beam Launcher from where it is floating in space:

<If it's only a matter of resolve...> The voice of the woman is calm, as the unit spins around to face the CGUE and raise the mega beam launcher. With her cockpit monitors destroyed, she no longer can rely on the unit's eyes to aim for her. Instead she must use her own. No doubt Rau will be able to see the helmeted face of the ReZEL's pilot, golden eyes flickering through the faceplate. <... then you had no chance from the start!!!>

The barrel glows, aiming the shot directly towards the head of the CGUE!! Choosing to try and disable the unit rather than destroy it entirely.

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

Eyes like Sophia's are what those in the business would call 'cheating.'

But in her defense, if you don't cheat and get away with it at least a *little* bit, you're probably not going to be long for the world.

Desmond does not have the Eyes of the King, but he is nevertheless experienced enough to know a Newtype when he sees one-- and Trevor Teach is by most metrics, a Newtype. Is it by the blessings of nature and the void of space that he manages to avoid being blown to smithereens by a near-point-blank rocket salvo? Not... quite.

The Isadore's eyes flash behind its translucent, glassy visor. Its arm swipes high, yanking its reinforced shield-slash grapnel claw out of the Hyperion's hull. Movable thrusters and a spooling cable winch alike drag the claw back in, whipping it up and /through/ the incoming rockets. The missiles explode, blossoming into perfectly spherical infernos of heat and light. For a moment, it almost seems as though the Isadore had been consumed entirely...

...But pirates do not die easy.

The lingering explosions suddenly bulge and deform, a smoldering form hurtling out of them like a demon out of hell itself. The Isadore's armor is a mess of embers and ash, lingering flame roiling from its body as it emerges from the explosion. "Hahaha! Damn, that almost killed me, you bastard!" Trevor laughs, his lips pulled back into a fierce grin. His interest in the Hyperion seems to have abated at the moment, but at the expense of it being /keenly/ aimed directly at the Helios and its sole helmsman. "Nicely done! Real nicely done! If you weren't a Feddy, I'd ask if you wanted to join up with my crew!"

(Trevor, at least in this neck of space, does not actually /have/ a crew.)

Another weapon falls into the Isadore's hands-- This one looking like the offspring of a crossbow and a heavily modified rivet gun. White-blue flame erupts from the mobile suit's fixed wing thruster column, sending it on a jagged, perhaps even erratic course-- one with the Helios at its terminus. One after another, projectiles like oversized rivets fire at the Helios, each one aiming to dig into its outer hull...

...Before opening up, releasing metal particles that hang in space like spores from a particularly grotesque mushroom... and revealing a trio of pylons that each begin emitting a coruscating blast of high-voltage electricity.

The Isadore carries a series of Leader-type weapons, the descendents of Zeon's original designs... As ammunition for his bolt-thrower.
KTS: Trevor Teach targets Sophia Mayhew Castellan with Plasma Leader Bolt!

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

Eyes of the king indeed.
Serinas smiles just slightly, pleased as so many of her shots hit the Flags and even drive one off. The Zentradi part of her feels *good*. Now, she's almost in position... The CGUE spins around to face the Hyperion and pours on the speed, trying to get too close for those big guns to--

Suddenly, everything is spinning around Serinas, and there are internal damage warnings flashing on her screen. Externally, the left leg has been shot clean through, the shield has been badly dented, and there's an impact dent in the CGUE's abdomen with a hole in the armor where the railgun slug has lodged itself inside.

No time to think. Her Zentradi instinct is to stabilize herself and keep going. Her coordinator mind judges the paths of the Flags in an instant -- they're not coming for her right now. Go go GO! Strike your foe!

The CGUE switches weapons from the common machinegun to... a gun of some kind, angles itself perpendicular to the Hyperion's hull, and fires! The weapon spotted by the eyes of the king is a relatively compact heavy beam cannon. No unique prototype or anything like that, it's just mounted in a modified housing right now. Still, it's designed to punch into ships, and as Serinas darts this way and that, dancing through the void to try and keep those railguns from drawing a bead on her again, she keeps firing, again and again, trying to punch through that hull!

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

Banagher is beyond caring what the other pilot thinks, both of their feelings feeding into the spiral of rage and pain. He urges the Unicorn forward, charging into the Silver Bullet's attack. All Banagher could think was how this man wanted to hurt Marida. To hurt her, to hurt her! "Rrrgh--!"

Right as Unicorn comes within striking range, a flood of words appears on Banagher's screen. "La+" is emblazoned in one corner -- shaking Banagher from his rage. "What..?" Line after line of text races by. The Gryps War. Operation Maestrom. In early 0087...

Was this a clue as to the location of the Box? "Captain..!" Banagher calls, his eyes wide. "Something is happen-- AHH--!"

The Silver Bullet strikes clean, sending Banagher reeling. He chokes on his words, the Unicorn forced back from the sheer strength behind the enemy's beam sabers. He had to focus. Rescuing Marida... staying alive... both of those were more important than the Box. They had to be! Deep in one pocket hides a vial full of dried, somewhat crushed cherry blossoms. He had to see her again, the person he was doing all of this for--

"Audrey." Banagher whispers, gritting his teeth. Unicorn pulses all the brighter, reaching out with one hand. In a heartbeat, it's stolen away the Silver Bullet's INCOM hand, saber and all. "This is for Audrey!"

Unicorn rears up, brandishing its own saber. The gleaming red comes down on the Silver Bullet at the same moment as the stolen INCOM hand -- a complicated dance from the both of them, darting in and out of range before striking.

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Sparks fly as the Garencieres Team take glancing hits from Treize's machine gun barrage, but they hold steady. "Hawks!" Gilboa barks, and each Geara Zulu draws and activates a heat hawk before rushing at Treize to try and cut his modified Leo apart!

Aboard the Garencieres, Flaste frowns at some of the readouts and opens a channel to Rau's barely-flyable CGUE. "ZAFT mobile suit, stand by for reactor output optimisations pursuant to your combat status. Transmitting now."

=== THE BARGE'S HANGAR ===

Suberoa Zinnerman's head stops spinning, the additional cushioning in his cockpit having proved its worth. He checks over his gear - then pauses. A presence he can't see, but can /feel/, a vortex of spite approaching his cockpit. He waits until it's almost right on top of him, having already released his seatbelts, then yanks the manual release for the cockpit, allowing the large cushioning to fall out first before he drops to the hangar deck.

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

The ReZEL's Mega Beam Launcher fires at close range.

The beam engulfs the CGUE's head entirely. Vaporizing it, the main cameras within, the neck and a small part of the machine's torso below.

The CGUE floats backwards, still. Its sword drifting away from its open hand. It looks like Ouka has won.

Looks can be deceiving.

The CGUE's hand moves rapidly, quickly retrieving the stashed machine gun at its waist, raising it up and firing a single, impressively accurate shot towards the center torso of the ReZEL.

Inside the cockpit of the CGUE, Rau watches as his screens, showing complete static, finally switch over to backup cameras in the machine's chest to show him the results of his return attack. His reply to Ouka, <"I don't leave anything to chance.">

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

As Marida awakens, she finds that those cameras that were previously watching her - the ones with the little red 'active' lights - show... off? That's odd. Sure, maybe someone accidentally stopped her drip. But for the cameras to have 'accidentally' been turned off is perhaps a bit too much of a coincidence.

When she rams her fist through the metalic wall and tears out some of the plating to get at the electrical wiring, it isn't long before she ends up /zapping/ herself...

And then...

CLICK.

The door of the chamber unlocks, as the magnetic lock ends up disengaged, and slowly opens just a little bit. Revealing a metalic wall. And beyond that, a little further down, there's a porthole that gives a view on the space beyond.

      • SHHEWWWWWWWWWWW ***


A beam of light flashes past the window, indicating a fight is happening outside!

She can also hear a "What the?" from the two armed guards standing right outside of the door, one of which moves to look into the opening door, weapon first, peeking through.


A vision. Text appears. And at the side of Banagher's console, he even gets to see a small shot of Gryps II. And enormous Colony Laser, controlled by the Titans.

People crying out. Then, a flash of blue, as the Laser fires. A long beam that cuts directly into a colony at Side 2. Spearing through one of its wings, tearing through to the other side. The Colony crumpling up...

As Banagher spits out the word Audrey.

<"What the hell! Hey, stop that!"> The pilot of the Silver Bullet demands, as the Unicorn takes control. The very hand of the Silver Bullet being pulled away from him! The saber, still connected to the wire of the Silver Bullet, comes for him. The Unicorn comes for him.

The man cries out in fear, and instinct seems to take over! Another wave of Psyco Waves pulse between the two. Red light shining off of them. The line to the left arm is cut, tearing the entire 'stolen' hand off, only to get torn to the shoulder by Unicorn's arm.

<"You bastard!!!"> The man remarks, as Banagher suddenly gets an image of who this man is fighting for. The image of a blonde woman holding a young child against her chest, smiling away.

As the shoulders of the Silver Bullet open up, and an utter outpour of missiles come through at such low-range between the two of them!


Zinnerman causes the cockpit of his Geara Zulu to eject. Slamming into the head of the soldier trying to get in, crushing his helmet, and bringing the other soldier with him almost.

The old man gets to the hangar floor, and the soldier who was still standing to the side of the Geara Zulu quickly grabs his machine gun, and tries to open fire on Zinnerman. At the same time, the old man can spot a nearby exit - with multiple signs on it.

Of course the Federation would sign where to find things nicely. How convenient!

<-- Mess Hall ---
--- Jail Cell -->

Medical --->


Whether he shoots the soldier or not, pressing forward towards Marida - whom he might have started sensing by now; her stirring presence. He can also sense something else ahead of him. Spite. Waiting for him.

The reason why that woman isn't on the battlefield right now. Waiting on him...

On that catwalk. For that door to open.

Gun aimed for him, but not yet firing. Welcoming him with silence, and a cold eyed stare.

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize raises his shield as his opponents come in and attack him, with multiple opponents it is bound to be that the shield would not catch every attack. Perhaps he needs to look into one of those new bit shields that Anaheim has been advertizing. Either way for now his machine gun is sliced in two and the Leo has a good chunk missing out of it. "I see, people who understand true battle."

Tossing away the now inoperable machine gun, the Leo draws forth it's beam saber and points it at the opponents before he pulls the blade in, taking a fencing pose <"En Garde">.

The Leo plunges forward skillfully moving as if the battlefield had just changed and getting up close to his opponents , the booster on the back of the Leo cherry red. With only a momentary stop to take aim Treize plunges the beam saber toward its first target.

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Zinnerman is rolling as he hits the deck, hearing the second guard start to go for his machine gun. From the deck, his pistol barks once, and blood sprays from the soldier's knee. The guard goes down; Zinnerman goes /up/, sprinting for the conveniently-labelled door... And pausing for just a moment, that grim, spiteful presence looming in his peripheral sense.

The Witch awaits beyond that door, he knows. Taking cover against the bulkhead, he hits the pad to open the door and waits.


The multi-barreled beam gun on Gilboa's Geara Zulu has finally reached optimal torque. "Team!" The Garencieres Ace calls out. "Circle the target, let him have it!"

The three suits pull back - not far enough to escape a determined reprisal from Treize, but far enough to be able to maneuver around him - and switch back to their ranged weapons. They spin around him on multiple orbits, squeezing their weapons' triggers tight and bombarding his Leo with beam and solid projectiles from all directions!

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

The memories of the Gryps War flood through Banagher from the La+ program. He goes stiff, overwhelmed with the fear and pain of this event from so long ago. "N--nhh..." This is exactly what Leina had meant -- the horrors war could bring, from the Federation and Zeon both. Banagher's hands fall from the controls, coming up to cover his face. Overwhelmed, tears fall from his eyes.

Thankfully, Unicorn guides itself up and around the Silver Bullet's missile barrage, but then goes still. It still needs Banagher's instruction, and the young man is paralyzed by what he's seen. As if to add to this, the image of the enemy pilot's family appears before him. "S--stop!" Banagher shouts, bringing his hands back down to the controls. "You have a family! Why are you fighting? You can't -- leave them! They need you!"

Banagher doesn't expect this to work, really. The other man is just as taken by rage as he was a moment ago. Grief radiates from the Unicorn so powerfully it seems to even dim its ruby glow. "Why -- why do people have to hurt each other? No one wants this! I just -- I want Marida back with her family! I want YOU back with YOUR family! I--!"

Light bursts from the sides of Unicorn's helmet, vulcans firing as Banagher tries to pull away from combat. He would go get Marida, and bring her home. That would be the end of it. No more hurting anyone.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

As the guard pokes their head in to see what's going on, weapon first, Marida remains up above, straddling a corner of the room. That electrical zap from the wiring, she just adds to her list of grievances. The mission comes first. She has to focus on completing her objective. That's what she was taught. She was taught it so thoroughly that it seeped into her bones and become lodged in her soul. Even if the soul may be absent, kept captive in a ruined Qubeley somewhere, the training remains.

So she gives it a few seconds before she acts. Waiting patiently, ignoring the pain of her broken hand, torn arms, the lingering pain of electrical burns, the bleeding of her wrists where the IVs once were, and all the aches and pains of combat yet to heal.

Then she leaps down, swinging her arms overhead with precise timing to try to smack the guard's weapon downwards with the chains that once bound her, and then yank upwards so that they swing underneath and around, wrapping up the gun. Once she lands, she lands running, yanking to her side with the chains to try to pull it from the guard's grasp as her leg swings up towards his face.

If all goes to plan, she'll have taken out one of the guards by trapping his head between the door frame and her knee, and she'll have herself a weapon to assist in her escape.

And she'll need it, because she's in the very guts of enemy territory.

<Pose Tracker> Ouka Nagisa has posed.

The ReZEL did not stop moving after its shot, attempting to capitalize on the opponent being blinded by the removal of its head. Discarding the mega beam launcher it reaches down to draw a beam saber and plans to finish dispatching her opponent...

... but that's when CGUE raises its gun directly towards her. Not towards her unit, but towards her. For the first time during this entire fight the Boosted Child's eyes in complete shock. Her machine's too damaged. Her momentum too high to cancel. She has no choice but to try and use her speed to dodge but... the barrel of the machine gun ignites, the bullet travels directly towards her head, and only by the slimmest of margins does she manage to bring up her machine's remaining arm to block the round!!

And more rounds come. Shredding the unit's remaining arm, and raining shards of heated metal across the ReZEL's chassis and through the gash in its chest. Several of those heated pieces of her own machine come to find her, piercing her suit in several places and cracking her helmet! It does not shatter... though she can both hear and feel the air being sucked from within her suit.

The ReZEL now spins uselessly in space, surrounded in a cloud of its own broken body. The pilot is still awake... and very aware of her own vulnerability. Her greatest potential asset is perhaps the other pilot would assume she is dead... however...

'The CGUE's hand moves rapidly, quickly retrieving the stashed machine gun at its waist, raising it up and firing a single, impressively accurate shot towards the center torso of the ReZEL.'

Somehow, the First Boosted Child doubts that's enough. Still her unit is completely disabled, she's injured and running out of air. There's only one real opportunity for her even if it's one with a great deal of risk. Her hand reaches up to grab the cockpit retrieval beacon, and wrenches the device free...

... the broken remnants of the cockpit block's door are kicked open. In one hand, Ouka holds the cockpit beacon. In the other she pulls free the thickest piece of broken ReZEL armor she can manage with one hand. Standing upon the surface of her disabled machine she glances through her cracked faceplate towards Rau's CGUE, before attempting to kick off in such a way the destroyed wreckage of her machine is between her and her foe! Once she puts a bit of distance between herself and her own unit she will activated the beacon. Then she will wait, makeshift shield in hand, and hope that allies come before her foes do.

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize is jostled in the Leo as alarms begin to alert while he raises the shield to protect the cockpit of the Leo. That poor shield is taking a beating though, a few more hits and this shield will look like swiss cheese. However it hods for now, mostly. The attacks don't just do damage to the shield, the armor of the Leo is slowly being stripped off the unit. However that's not a horrible thing, the unit is getting a bit faster with every piece of armor.

Taking a moment Treize licks his lip and tastes blood, he must of bit his lip in the barrage and takes it as a hint to retreat from the barrage and pull back away from the attacks. That is until Treize uses the benefit of 0-G to dash upwards and then back down towards the Geara Zulu.

Now though he isn't slowly down, he swings out the blade wide and then as he approaches the leader of the trio as he slashes wide, and using the lack of gravity keeps the spinning going as a second hidden blade is revealed slashing out to catch the target if it tries to evade.

<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

"He'll still be up," Desmond mutters to himself. He pilots Helios in combat by himself, partly as a display of skill and partly because man I already got too many NPCs to deal with, OK!!

And there he is, as Trevor caws at him on the next approach. "Well, I appreciate the sentiment," Desmond replies, smoothly. "But I'm afraid I have my own responsibilities."

The electric blast comes ROARING through the Hyperion next. There's no avoiding that kind of damage, and the line goes completely dead for some time after it, the Helios floating limply in space.

"Helios is down! Some kind of electrostatic weapon! We've lost comms and support data!" comes the report on Hyperion's bridge. "Damnation," Sophia mutters, her eye blazing. Motes floating in the darkness, but she feels the Bond of aggression between her and her foes, the intent of malice that binds their spirits and fates. "And the other machine?"

"Switching out weapons for -- Reading a massive energy surge!"

"Face the Deck toward it! BRACE!" Sophia roars, and Hyperion's emergency thrusters fire to flip the ship /forward/, baring the airstrip-like topside to the attack. The Hyperion is peppered by GIGANTIC blasts from the Shoulder Cannon, the entire ship rocking as shock after shock rips through the entire thing, /bouncing/ it in space.

But the bridge holds, stabilized seats keeping everyone in position. "There's that ship killer," Sophia mutters. "Status!"

"We took most of the hits to the Fighting Deck, ma'am, but it's pulverized! The KMF hanger is toast, too!"

Sophia bites out a curse, tracking to Serinas in the sky, lip curling. "Full salvo," she spits. "Obliterate that machine."

"Aye, ma'am!"

All six Heavy Rail Cannons swivel up toward Serinas, electric blue death gathering in the depths.

Which might be a nice diversion for trevor, before he realizes the Helios has swung the whole way around the battlefield, and is now bearing down on him, a fire on an unsecured hull breach blazing from the side, with a ceaseless barrage of missiles and rail fire.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

<"Suberoa Zinnerman."> The woman remarks. <"I do not need to be a NewType to know it's you, beyond that door. Step out, with your hands up."> There's a pause, and the 'clack' of a weapon being grasped by two hands.

<"You know that I do not miss, Zinnerman. Step out, and surrender. You know your team will not survive for much longer. You are outnumbered. And this foolish operation of yours is doomed to fail."> The cold woman's voice rings through the chamber that connects the hallways. The catwalk that is still undergoing some construction supporting her.

Her stance is impecible. Ever the soldier.


<"If I do not fight, there will be no more family. The horrors that /your people/ have brought on this world is enough proof of them. I fight so they may have another day!"> The man answers. It's very clear that this man is a military man. One who has been raised on duty.

The right hand comes up, shielding the cockpit block as the Vulcans go off. However, in that moment the Silver Bullet pilot is stopped from chasing Unicorn. Allowing Banagher to get some distance between the two of them, before the Silver Bullet pilot goes after him again.

<"I won't let you cause any more harm!"> As he rushes after Banagher's Unicorn. Another flurry of missiles rocketing after the Unicorn in an attempt to stop it from getting to the Hangar bay!


The machine gun is slapped up by Marida, and it fires into the ceiling. Luckily, nothing ricochets! But in that moment, she manages to wrap the gun up, and she goes running. The second guard tries to fire at her, demanding; "HALT!" Only for the chains to send it skidding away and getting kicked in the face! The first then ends up with his head right up against the door frame.

She's out, and alone in the hallway. Honestly, it almost feels... 'empty'. Like there aren't as many guards as there should be. But more importantly, even through the fog, beyond... she can sense it no doubt.

Zinnerman! And he's in trouble!

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

One Geara Zulu loses a leg; the other, both its arms, to Treize's whirling dervish. Gilboa manages to duck his customised machine out of the way of the assault. "Damn it. Alec, Kwani, get the hell out of there before he finishes you off! I'll hold him back!"

Murmured assent is swiftly followed by the two Garencieres Team pilots limping back to their home freighter, as Gilboa turns his attention fully to Treize. "Come on, Captain, get her and get out of there, we're running out of time...!" He breaks out his Heat Hawk again, keeping all Treize's attention on him as he swings.


Zinnerman hears Vitaly's demand for surrender, and... detaches the mag from his pistol, holding it out in the doorway by the barrel before dropping it and turning onto the catwalk, hands behind his head (the better to hide the tazer he just slipped from one of the pouches on his normal suit). "Alright, Winter Witch. You've got me. So now what."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I haven't -- caused any horrors." Banagher murmurs, realizing there's no way he's getting through to this man. Echoes of Leina's pain flash through his mind, and Banagher grits his teeth. "I won't start today." Banagher turns the Unicorn, fleeing from the Silver Bullet. Light prickles at the edges of his awareness, an early warning of the missile being fired after him. Banagher urges the Unicorn to race ahead, but it's too late -- they strike him dead on. Yelling in fear and pain, his heart races as he feels the Unicorn fading from his awareness.

Red lights dim, then go dark, the NT-D folding back into itself. The Gundam's V fin snaps closed into a single horn. It's all Banagher can do to guide the falling Unicorn toward the Hangar where he knows the Captain and Marida are. It crashes through, landing next to Zinnerman's mobile suit, leaving Banagher with the wind knocked out of Banagher. He stays there for long moments, stunned, half-collapsed over his console.

A beckoning sensation wakes him from his half-stupor. Marida. Zinnerman. They were in danger. Blearily, he sits up, managing to get the Unicorn's hatch open. He came here to help them. He wouldn't stop now, not until everyone's home safe. "Marida --" Banagher reaches out as best he can, blood dripping from his nose beneath his helmet. "Someone's waiting for you!"

As his vision clears, Banagher can see Zinnerman at the door to the hangar. Banagher runs to him, stumbling a few times. "Captain!" He freezes once he gets close -- noticing Vitaly holding the gun. "Wait, I know you!" He cries, stepping forward slowly. "You -- offered to train me, remember?"

<Pose Tracker> Rau Le Creuset has posed.

Rau's main cameras are gone. His backups don't exactly have high resolution. But it's still enough to see his gun fire rip into the ReZEL and cause it to go dead still.

Of course, given he just pulled a similar move, he too is not going to just leave it at that. Can't be too certain.

The CGUE moves to retrieve its heavy blade once more, then turns to face the ReZEL. It raises the blade up to strike.

Rau's system alerts him to a nearby signal. A pilot retrieval beacon. The pilot ejected. Rau pauses in his attack against the now empty machine. He taps his finger thoughtfully, pondering the situation.

The CGUE stows its heavy blade, turning around to face in the direction of the ZAFT warship. Rau radios the Vesalius, <"Ades, I'm returning. My unit suffered greater damage than I expected. But I'd like you to send something to our Sleeves allies..."> The CGUE blasts away from the still ReZEL, head back towards its ship.

Shortly afterwards, the Garencieres receives a text transmission from the Vesalius, simply reading: 'It seems only fair.' Along with the coordinates for the pilot retrieval beacon.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

Marida wasn't planning on taking out the second guard at the same time as the first, but she isn't going to shun the happy event. She has her suspicions about how empty the place is, even with the obvious combat ongoing outside. But Marida remains on-task at all times. So she begins making her way through the halls, taking only the time to tear off one of the cuffs to free up her good arm, and then sneak-runs her way through the halls.

Clumsy wiring is one explanation for her escape. But another might be that she was intended to escape. If that's the case, either there's a Sleeves mole onboard or...

Marida's nearly superhuman physical abilities have her closing in rapidly on the familiar presence she distantly feels. She isn't some walking Zinnerman radar, so she has to pause to catch her breath and focus on her intuition while scanning each new area she enters. But eventually, she closes in on her savior's location. The hangar? If that's where they've kept the Kshatriya, then all the better. It means she isn't leaving her Mobile Suit behind in enemy hands when she leaves.

A redhead peeks around a corner, looking out towards the more empty space, rifle held ready, and tracks the barrel across the area, only to dip slightly when Marida is surprised by Banagher's voice. She has only heard it a few times. On the radio when they first met, fighting their way out of Industrial 7, and a few times since. They've yet to meet face to face. And what hell of a way to finally meet. Marida tracks back towards the person Banagher is yelling at, and narrows her violet eyes at Vitaly.

Still, though she could take aim and fire... She doesn't. Instead... She waits. The lack of shoes in these medical scrubs gave her better traction when climbing the walls, and it has allowed her to move nearly silently up to this point. But she doesn't take advantage of her position. Instead, she waits to see what the Winter Witch, Banagher Links, and Captain Zinnerman do next.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

Vitaly Sokolov glares at Suberoa Zinnerman with vile disdain as he so easily gives up. And when he steps out, she fires one warning shot above the door's entrance. Quickly leveling the gun towards him again.

<"Step forward ten paces, and then get on the floor, with your hands behind your back."> Vitaly demands from him. There's a sense of flutter in her emotions though. A sense of... relief. Perhaps she's overestimated him.

<"Then, I am taking you in to answer for your crimes at Industrial Seven. It's clear that you have ties to Zeon to this day, and now even ZAFT is interfering on your behalf. That girl must be rather special to you."> The woman considers as he gets closer.

<"Though I did not know you started to keep people under such terms, 'Master' Zinnerman. To do that to a child. How far did you indoctrinate that girl into your unwinnable war?"> She demands to know from him.


The Unicorn Gundam is abandoned into the hangar, and goes still - crashed right next to the silent body of the Kshatriya - indeed in the hangar. Graspa Naill, the pilot of the Silver Bullet, turns towards the battlefield. Believing that soldiers have it from there.

Banagher has to walk a bit past the hangar doors to get to where Vitaly and Zinnerman are. He will spot one dead soldier laying in the hangar on his way out. Next to him a soldier with a gunshot wound in the beg, trying to triage it.

When he sees Banagher running, he shouts; "Wait!" But he can't grab for his weapon fast enough to stop the young man.


        ~"Captain!"~
 
        ~"Wait, I know you!"~
 
        ~"You -- offered to train me, remember?"~

"The Gundam Boy?" Vitaly Sokolov lets out a surprised sound. "What are you doing he~ Captain?" Surprise quickly turns into anger. "You're not with the Federation? You're with /them/?!" The woman demands to know accusingly and turns her gun towards Banagher...

Unawares of Marida entering the catwalk area behind her. Surrounded on all sides.

"Stay right there." She demands of Banagher, as she begins to approach Zinnerman, turning her weapon towards him now. "I am arresting this man. After that, we'll have a /talk/."

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

Yes, yes, YES! She is doing well! Victory is almost here! It is so *satisfying* to see the impact cannon's shots tear through the enemy's hull, and it's one big step closer to the success of this mission, which is one very little step closer to saving the people of the PLANTs... and all of the Earth Sphere, really, as the Federation is just as cruel to many of its own citizens.

Right now, battle is where she *belongs*. It's like her mind is running perfectly, instincts, focus, and tactics all in tune...

The canons turn towards her. This time, she sees them, something in her just knows to go THAT way, and she does, the CGUE flipping through the void, the railgun rounds flying past and avoiding clipping it by a mere dozen feet.

She doesn't even consciously realize what kind of damage that would have done until her mind gets a chance to catch up, and THEN a heart-pumping surge of adrenaline hits her. Part of her is calculating the chances of survival when close to that many hypervelocity kinetic impacts. Part of her is just elated. THIS IS BATTLE.

PRESS THE ATTACK. FINISH THEM! Coordinator brain logically calculates the best attack. Keep blasting? Get in even closer and slice? Attack the Helios so Trevor can help? Shoot the railguns?

Zentradi brain says GO, CRUSH THEM!

There's no way she'll take out most of the railguns. Close in she's begging for Flag strafing runs. She needs to give them more to focus on, and maybe whatever the hell Trevor just shot is something that can mess with their sensors, too.

Serinas pours on the speed, closing to the ship and then veering off, just trying to fly full-speed right into the Helios, suddenly-deployed armblade-first! <"Thanks for the help!"> She calls to Trevor. <"But we can't let them lock us down like this!">

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"I -- I'm not with anyone, I'm just trying to find --" Banagher closes his mouth. Bringing the Box into this would only complicate matters. He's never had a gun pointed at him before -- at him, personally, without his Gundam around him. It's far scarier than he thought it would be. Breath catching in his chest, Banagher freezes.

But a moment later, Banagher brings one trembling hand to his chest, taking a few breaths. "No. I won't let you hurt him, he's a good man!" Slowly, then at a running pace, Banagher moves in front of Zinnerman, holding his arms out as though to shield the man. He stumbles, again, partway through -- one of his legs must be injured from the crash -- but determination shines in those golden eyes.

His free hand goes into the pocket of his normal suit, grasping the little vial of flower petals tightly. Audrey, he thinks, I won't die here. I'm going to see you again, I promise...

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize raises the shield against the leader as he moves in to the meet the orange axe and a good chunk gets cleaved off as does a good piece of the left arm. Sparks fly before the hand is ejected from the rest of the body, Treize would rather lose the left hand then the entire body. Meanwhile the corner of his eye Treize has noticed, the pilot signature of Lt. Nagisa has vanished, takes a deep breath he steadies himself. War is truly painful.

Nothing can be done till the opponent infront of him is stopped and for now he does not falter.

Raising the working right hand, beam saber in hand he dashes forwward, the attacks are vicious and yet there is an icy calm behind them. The Leo stabs several times in a way to lead the opponent and push his opponent to the right position until he sees the moment he needs and stabs forward to end this fight. Just needs to strike that single weak point, the cockpit of the mobile suit.

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.


Gilboa's teeth are gritted as he holds fast against Treize's assault, beam sabers ripping his custom suit inexorably to shreds. "Alright, then, G-Hound Boss," he snarls, spooling up his beam minigun again, "Let's see how you handle this!"

A barrage of violet particles hails down from the staggering, limping Geara Zulu, burning a deadly path towards and /through/ Treize's Leo!


"If you want someone to blame for being Marida's 'Master', take it up with Glemy Toto; I can't answer for the crimes of dead men," Zinnerman answers Vitaly "Only try to repair the damage they do." And there were many men who hurt Marida - many he left dead or wounded that day when he took his vengeance for Fee and Marie. For the first time, this close, Banagher gets a sense for the old anguish driving the Captain. "As for Zeon..." He shrugs. "That's where everything that's left of my life is, after the Globe City raid." He can see Marida behind her, but he firmly does not look at her, instead forcing himself to stay calm as he mentally reaches out to his surrogate daughter, holding eye contact with Vitaly all the while. "There is no forgiveness for what happened that day, but I'm not going to lose anything... or any/one/ else." That said, he gently rests one hand on Banagher's shoulder. "It's alright, Banagher. It's going to be okay." He returns that hand to behind his head, maintains eye contact with Vitaly, and starts walking towards her, reaching out with his rudimentary awareness to make contact with Marida.

Five paces. Six paces. <'Be ready, Marida.'>

Eight.

Nine.

<'Now!'>

Ten - and Zinnerman does not stop, instead exploding into a rush towards Vitaly, a move that would be suicidal - were it not for his crewmate behind her. The tazer he palmed earlier is ready to be jabbed into the Winter Witch's cybernetics the second he has an opportunity.

<Pose Tracker> Trevor Teach has posed.

Plasma Leaders are in fact designed to do /exactly/ that to electronics. Terrible things, that is. Warcrime-level things, one might even say, if the electronics had enough capacity for thought and intelligence that they'd qualify as 'sapient.' That's an important distinction to make! Especially these days.

That said, technically speaking, there's actually relatively little /hostility/ radiating from the Isadore. That's not to say that its pilot feels no sense of aggression towards either the Helios or the Hyperion-- he wouldn't be here, doing /this/ if he didn't feel compelled by the pounding blood in his ears and the rushing heat in his face. But there's something more there, something that the Eyes of the King might even be able to perceive: Greed. Avarice. Desire.

The desire to own that ship. The desire to have its crew.

"You..." Trevor mouths, the confusing din of battle failing to draw his attention from watching the Helios list, burn, and then light back up again. Coming for him /again./ "Hah... Haha! You're really something else!" He laughs, his voice swelling with... genuine admiration? "I'd buy you all drinks if you weren't trying to kill me! Heck, I might do that anyway, just because! I don't know whether that's courage or just plain relentlessnesss, but I like it."

"Still. If I'm going to be buying anyone anything..." Trevor slowly breathes in, inhaling as the space between the Isadore and the Helios fills with high-velocity railgun slugs and a truly magnificent swarm of missiles. 'I need to survive,' are the unspoken words. His awareness expands, reaching out into the sphere of space surrounding him, into the void. Being a Newtype means more than just being capable of what some might call a transcendent means for communication, it also means... Awareness. Being so keenly /aware/ of the surrounding universe that seemingly supernatural maneuvers enter the realm of possibility. Moreso...

Moreso, given certain other circumstances.

"Isadore," Trevor exhales, his limbs relaxing even as his fingers play across his joysticks' controls, "I trust you. Let's do this." The machine's eyes, behind its visor, ignite.

The machine moves. Its thrusters blazing with plumes so bright and so wide that they seem to extend like a condor's wings into the surrounding void. "Survive," Trevor whispers. Then again, stronger, "Survive!" The machine's limbs launch into motion, its bolt-thrower replaced by a beam spreadgun, its shield detatching and whirling about on its wire like a living thing, its cutlass shining in the dark. It moves, the shield grabbing hold of an incoming rocket, throwing it into its brethren and transforming the lot into a blooming bouquet of destructive force. It dances through the railgun storm-- impossible to fully avoid, it absorbs the momentum from one shot, then another, each time turning it into rotational velocity to send it hurtling away from tracking barrages at the cost of entire chunks of armor. Another shot comes close to spearing the cockpit through, only to be flash-sublimated at the last by a sweep of condensed plasma, dissolving into a haze of metal vapors that coat the cockpit in molten ferromagnetic material.

Again. Again. It moves. It survives. The machine in that moment is a living thing. Finally, an opening in the barrage. Its beam cannon lifts, ready to fire through the gap--

When Serinas just, bodily slams herself into the flank of the Helios, shattering their violent dervish-dance. Trevor's heartbeat hammers in his ears, in his throat. He finally allows himself to breathe, "Yeah? Probably a good idea." A message beeps across his transmitter, an emergency broadcast from somewhere nearby-- and a request for retrieval from none other than the Garanceries itself. Trevor looks back at the Helios and Serinas, and... Smiles. "Right! Well, thanks for freeing me up! I've got another job to do. You make sure not to kill that ship, you hear? I like the people onboard. They've got way too much guts to blow up /here./ The big one, you can do whatever to. Heck--" The Isadore, its visor dark, turns its charging weapon towards the Hyperion and discharges, even as its thrusters kick in to send it hurtling across the battlefield. "Let me give you a hand on my way out!"

As for what 'another job' entails...

A shadow descends upon Ouka Nagisa. It is most certainly /not/ a Federation mobile suit. "Ahoy there!" Trevor chimes, "I'm your driver for today. Kindly keep your arms and legs /inside/ my friend's giant metal fingers, please and thank you!"

(And this is how Ouka Nagisa is kidnapped by a pirate, nicely completing the circle of pilot-napping.)

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

The sound of a rifle cocking comes from above and behind Vitaly as Zinnerman doesn't stop advancing. A distraction, yes. But not just for Vitalty. "Captain, wait." Marida calls out as she lowers her stolen rifle and drops down from the catwalk. Zinnerman may have already lunged forwards, taser in hand, but she is now standing on the hangar floor, rifle pointed at Vitaly's back, and she is sending back her own intent. She felt the intention behind Zinnerman's actions. The unspoken message was received thanks to the feelings that connect them. She looks calmly at the man who came to rescue her with calm, unwavering violet eyes.

Hopefully, Zinnerman stops in time. Perhaps Banagher might even be the one to pull him back before the weapon lands. Even if he doesn't, even if Vitaly is taken out, Marida doesn't fire. She just moves closer, holding the rifle in the crook of her right arm, her broken finger exercising trigger discipline. A cuff around her wrist, blood running down the attached chain, and similar signs of injury may be visible, staining the once-sterile scrubs.

These likely don't encourage hesitation to strike on the part of Marida's adoptive father. But she asks him anyway, with words, with feelings, and with her eyes.

The same person who captured her, she is asking her rescuers not to harm.

<Pose Tracker> Treize Khushrenada has posed.

Treize rushes forward trying to not give his opponent a moment to get away from his blade. That is how he totally misses the minigun barrage, focused to much on victory he rushes in to it until it is to late and while he tries to evade there is nothing else he can do. His unit is ripped apart and the remains and Treize simply end up floating in space. The colonel himself unconscious in the unit and in need of some medical attention but nothing to life threatening.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

Vitaly stiffens when Banagher gets in front of Zinnerman. The Winter Witch of Ravnui... flinches. Within her heart lies hesitation, but it's quickly buried by duty. Her weapon still pointed at Zinnerman, means it is not pointed at the boy.

She shifts the pistol just enough, and bites; "Step aside boy, this isn't game! That man cause death of hundreds. There are no good men in war!" Glaring him right in those determined eyes.

But Zinnerman is getting up, speaking. Correcting mistaken information. Glemy Toto. It's clear she is listening, but with a closed heart in this moment. There's too much threat to listen with an open one.

<"Get on ground Zinnerman! I will not warn again!">

Suddenly, Zinnerman rushes. Pushing past Zinnerman.

She hears behind her, Marida's voice. She tries to move, tries to defend herself. It all happens too fast.

PSSHHHEEEEW!

Vitaly squeezes. She never misses.

But, Zinnerman feels no pain. The bullet did not hit him! The tazer comes forward, and it crackes against Vitaly's normalsuit. Connecting against some of the metalic pieces, it sparks and causes a wave of elecric energy to pull through the woman, causing her arms and legs to spasm and the woman crumples to the ground, grimacing!

But behind him... he might just hear a sound of pain.

As a red line is cut along Banagher's shoulder, right through his suit. It only grazed him, but it's still bleeding. The bullet that had been shot having passed just along his right shoulder and cutting into his arm.

<"Z~z-z-z~inner~M-m-man..."> Vitaly's anger has turned from ire to true /seething/.

Whatever the case may be. Whatever plea Marida wishes to offer for Vitaly Sokolov, they are running out of time! Reinforcements are arriving for G-Hound, and unless they move quick, they will lose their opportunity to get back to the Hangar and depart on the Kshatriya and Unicorn Gundam!

<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.

Marida, of all people, pleads for clemency on Vitaly's part, and Zinnerman...

... Always intended that. Even with Banagher injured.

He disarms the Winter Witch, pointing the pistol at her head. "The Federation took something irreplaceable from me, while I was doing my time," he growls through gritted teeth. "But... even so..."

He releases the mag and tosses the weapon over the side of the catwalk. "I will not take from your family what was taken from me. Marida, help Banagher. We're desperately short on time." He turns his back and starts walking back to the hangar.

"Go home, Vitaly Sokolov. Don't waste what time you have left chasing ghosts."

<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.

"Captain..?" Banagher lowers his arms, looking up at Zinnerman as he slowly walks toward Vitaly. He furrows his brow -- feeling the storm of emotions from the older man, blocking out Marida's presence. He jerks back in fright at the sound of the tazer, the gunshot -- then cries out, grabbing his shoulder.

Shock radiates out from the young man. He truly hadn't believed Vitaly would shoot him, so convinced their brief meeting would protect him. Golden eyes are wide with surprise, before he whirls around at the sound of reinforcements. "We -- need to go! I can carry someone in the Unicorn if you need me to!"

As the Captain begins to walk away, Banagher trails behind him, glancing back at Vitaly crumpled on the floor. What had happened between her and Zinnerman..? "...sorry." He offers to her. "I hope you'll be okay."

With that, Banagher runs after Zinnerman and Marida, grimacing in pain.

<Pose Tracker> Marida Cruz has posed.

Marida couldn't stop Zinnerman, and she couldn't stop Sokolov. And because she didn't pull the trigger, Links almost died. She grits her teeth and looks away for a moment, grimacing guiltily. At Industrial Seven, her actions led to the destruction of Banagher's home and the deaths of civilians, whether she was defending herself or not. Now her inaction almost did the same. But she puts her pain away with all the rest of it, and pauses by her ex-captor, lingering.

"You said that you had people who believe in you, and support you. I know what it feels like to have those people taken away. So I won't take you from them." Then she actually puts the rifle she stole down next to Vitaly, implicitly a sign of trust. 'If you recover in time to pick this up before we go, you can shoot us in the back. Or you can take care of yourself and go back to the people who believe in you.'

Marida hates shooting with broken fingers anyway.

She runs after the Captain, using her good arm to help Banagher along by trying to wreath it through the younger teenager's and semi-haul him with her, making up for his bad leg with her two powerful ones.

<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.

Vitaly stares at Suberoa with angry eyes as he disarms her and points the pistol at her head. <"Damn Sleeve. Do it."> She snaps at him... only for him to throw the weapon over the side. Anger once again turns to confusion.

Behind him, Banagher says sorry. She can't even tell him she didn't mean to hit him. Well, she could. But she's not going to. Her heart is what won't let her.

Marida steps past her, putting the rifle next to her. She won't recover in time to use it, for she absolutely would chase them down. She isn't someone to be trusted with such a weapon in a situation like this. She doesn't have the kind of trust or belief that carry the likes of Zinnerman and his crew.

She remains there, as the trio get out into the Hangar, and eventually make it away just in time before G-Hound reinforcements arrive in the form of another set of Clop classes, launching ReZEL units in order to lock up the region's defenses.

As the Winter Witch of Ravnui seethes within the halls of Barge. 


<Pose Tracker> Sophia Mayhew Castellan has posed.

"No contact!" fire control yells back, and Sophia grimaces, finding herself wishing she'd gone out herself.

Maybe this is what the Princess was talking about, that day...

Regardless, she makes no effort to hide her Geas flaring, paying attention to the thread of connection binding her attackers to the ship, and thus the ship to her. And she realizes the problem. "Helios, they're on you!" she barks.

Desmond huffs a displeased noise at that. The smaller ship shifts its stance, moving thicker plating on the sides toward Serinas' armblades. That does exactly what she wanted - causing serious damage along the flanks. "Can't hold her together longer, Captain," Desmond says. "I must return." Measured, as always. The Helios' boosters flare and she swerves away, toward the Hyperion's boarding ramp. Ever faithful that the Captain will find her way out of this.

"Notify Barge we're breaking formation. We can't take more of this!"

"Roger!" Amata yells from the XO spot, because she's in charge of comms today for some reason!? "Barge, this is Hyperion! We are unable to sustain further combat, we are disengaging!"

A decision only reinforced as Trevor's beam spread blasts more holes in the bottom of the boat, exposing fires and emptied rooms.

The Hyperion breaks away hard; she's a big, slow ship, a proper gunship, but with all the chaos going on, when she puts on all the gas she has, she's able to break for the far end of the field and, hopefully, safety. 

<Pose Tracker> Serinas Nikola has posed.

Her ally is free. Now she can get back to taking down that ship. Serinas's CGUE turns, aims, her finger poised over the trigger...

They're retreating.

There's... no need to do more, is there? She's not bloodthirsty. She might have a little lust for battle, but shooting a retreating enemy isn't a *battle*, now is it, that's just violence.

Serinas takes a deep breath. Her focus and awareness, before entirely on the battle, expand and consider what to do next. Stopping that ship from shooting the Sleeves was her objective, and it was accomplished... Trevor's going, and so should she.

But there's an emergency beacon behind her.

Serinas turns her back on the retreating Hyperion, retracts the CGUE's armblade, and stows the Bifors AA-76/QD Anti-Ship Impact Cannon. She tries to get a visual on that beacon. Zoom in.

A pilot. With holes in their suit! Bleeding!

Alarmed, Serinas speeds THATAWAY, after Trevor.

<"You've... you've got her? Hang on, there should be suit patches in my emergency kit..."> She starts the cockpit depressurizing, then unbuckles her piloting harness and retrieves a small case with things like a flare and suit patches in case she's ever shot down and, say, finds herself in a damaged cockpit with a torn suit. Then she opens the hatch and carefully, slowly, kicks off across open space (Trevor's there if she misses, after all,) grabbing onto the Isadore's finger, then tucking the tip of her boot between the fingers and pulling herself into a kneeling position next to the unconscious(?) Ouka, patching the most hole-riddled areas.

<"That will have to do... Hurry!"> Serinas pushes herself back to the CGUE and closes the hatch behind her.

She'll follow the Isadore, just to make sure, unless someone says that will make getting back to ZAFT ships a problem, in which case she'll with concerned reluctance break off and head back to the Nazca.

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