2025-06-14: A Gundam in the Frontier
- Cast: Koji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi, Lianne Moren, Aurora Dusk, Meifeng Hau, Orion Kessler
- Where: Side 4, Colony 9
- Date: U.C. 00100 06 13
- Summary: Both the Gaia Sabers and Satellicon have received word of a Celestial Being GN Drive and Gundam, left behind in the Frontier Side, and deploy to find it. However, there is a certain phenomenon that tends to occur around unattended Gundams...
KTS: Koji Kabuto has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi has deployed in MPMZ-17 Ichinana. KTS: Meifeng Hau has deployed in Acerby Type-D <Hau Custom>. KTS: Aurora Dusk has deployed in RX-94 Mass Production Nu Gundam <HADES Test Type>.
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
Side 4, Colony 9 - the kind of backwater space colony that doesn't even have a special name. Between its location, the constant wars in the Earth Sphere, and losing people to other, much better funded colony ventures, Colony 9 barely has a big enough population to sustain itself. When a Ringer thinks of the impoverished frontier, rare as that is, their imagination likely produces something like this colony.
It is an entirely unremarkable colony, with most of the industry it does have dedicated to either producing what it needs or producing things to trade with other Side 4 colonies for what it needs. The population is thus largely contained in and around a single large industrial district filled with factories and warehouses.
Its the kind of place nobody from outside has a reason to go to - unless you want to disappear, anyway. That must have been in the minds of the Celestial Being researchers and engineers who allegedly set up a lab here. Nobody would think it the resting place of a Gundam.
While the Celestial Being Gundams are not the cutting edge they once were, even a single true GN Drive is nearly priceless. So the orders for the Gaia Sabers deployed to find it are simple: Smash and grab. Find it, take it, make sure that nobody gets in the way. And try and do it fast, before the Space Assembly League or GGG respond to the intrusion into Side 4's space. When they arrive, the colony airspace is clear - not even local militia forces.
Satellicon, oddly enough, is in nearly the same situation. A new GN Drive - and its Gundam if possible - would be an incredible boon to their desperate fight. And more importantly, they cannot let a group like the Gaia Sabers or the Space Assembly League get their hands on it. But they are, unfortunately, not the first ones here.
/ / / / / / / / / /
A young woman in worn out clothes hums along to the song in her earbuds as she walks through the industrial district, away from a job well done. "...million miles a moment, my hearts on fire~"
Those songs always help her maintain a good mood, and Lianne is in one today. A simple job helping move things from one place to another had gotten her a good chunk of money, they hadn't even checked if she was certified for a Mobile Worker! She has enough for rent now, and that was always a good day. "Racing alongside yours in that place I was never meant to- ow ow ow!"
The song kept going, but Lianne's hum-along is interrupted by a sharp spike of pain behind her eyes. It comes on so suddenly she staggers, stumbling against a wall of a warehouse. Really, a migraine now? She lets herself rest against the wall, waiting for it to pass.
[Something's coming]
Lianne looks upwards - what are those glints in the sky? And why had she thought that?
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
The Photon Power Labs actually have good reason to be in even what some would call 'backwater' colonies in space. As one of the leading organization in energy generation, they have the ability to provide power for colonies that groups like the Gaia Sabers or even the Space Assembly League wouldn't think twice about - and it is that official business that brings them to Colony Nine of Side 4 today.
However, that's not the only reason for their visit today. Liu Mei Wang, previously an 'Observer' of Celestial Being, came to Satellicon with word of a Gundam produced by their previous allies in Celestial Being on the colony - requesting a quick transport mission to retrieve their Gundam. It's only unfortunate that she tipped off the Gaia Sabers of this same information - making a skirmish in the colony nearly inevitable.
Sayaka was somewhat skeptical of the mission in the first place, but studying the mysterious true GN Drives is a part of their remit, as is protecting the colony in case the Gaia Sabers or the Space Assembly League decide to come storming in. Hoping to avoid the devastation of a full-scale battle in the colonies, they've brought Ichinanas rather than their full sized Mazins to escort the GN Drive Gundam back to Satellicon...
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"The hell?" Koji mutters over closed comms as the two Ichinana move through the outskirts of the industrial facilities. "The usual defense forces aren't on duty. If there's a secret facility with one of those GN Drives in it, you'd think there would be some kind of token defense force."
"Speaking of," he continues, dropping his gaze to his dashboard, "still no sign of any trace particles. If that Gundam is here, it's been shut down for a long time."
An amber light pings on his HUD, and he grunts, flicking switches to recalibrate the Mass-Produced Mazin's Scrander Pods for better balance, the shoulder-mounted thruster pods swiveling slightly as the left one's thrusters spark for a moment to clear their exhausts. "These poor machines are starting to show their age."
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
In a place called Irkalla, a dark space is alight with a million monitors and a million more figures in shadow, each observing and tracking another world. Stark lighting falls on a legion of women in dark, close-fit robes. A monitor lights up, a signal from a (...supposed...) ally's information line. Time, place. Payload.
One of them turns around, and the whole room begins to blur together, the women sliding into each other and then to her, until only one steps out of the door. "Felicie, we have intel on a possible True GN Drive," Meifeng Hau says to the air, a window hovering in her righthand peripheral vision. "Get my Acerby on the pad, I'll be in my body in three minutes. Launch in ten."
"Oui," the System Administrator's personal operator replied, leaning forward in her virtual seat. "Will you require an escort?"
"One full System Security team. We'll use the Gaia Sabers GN-X III's, they have plenty. But tell the Sabers we could use a hand, too."
SOON:
A machine in black and white shoots across open space. Side 4 may not be beholden to the Gaia Sabers, but everyone is beholden to what a DEVA operator can do to systems with a laser uplink, and Meifeng's "polite" request to be granted access approves itself in short order.
Soon, another set of points come shooting across the colonial space, unannounced but spraying GN Tau particles all around. The head of the spear is an unfamiliar commando-like machine, lined in yellow like equipment harnesses with a blue visor over an almost Ulra-like robotic face. Its IFF identifies it as an unfamiliar model, EXM-H15D ACERBY.
The rest of the spear is an entire squadron of GN-XIIIs, just in case you were wondering if this is bad.
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Get in, get the Gundam - mainly the GN drive - and get out. A simple mission.
It's the simple missions that tend to go most wrong.
Aurora, too, is in a commando-like machine. Her mass production Nu Gundam, painted black, passes fairly well for belonging with the small Jesta squad travelling next to her.
As it turns out, they're not the only Sabers unit on this job. Aurora is soon informed by her handler that she's about to have company. Sure enough, she looks up and sees Meifeng's unit. One gesture from her machine later, the Jesta squad is merging alongside the GN-X unit. Not so close that their stealth is redundant, but not so far that they're not in the same area. A flexible element.
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
Maybe some other commanders would loudly declare their intention, or posture for the cowering populace.
Meifeng's Acerby does find a high point to stand, but she immediately motions wide. "Network traffic's from this area's subnet," she announces to the Gaia Sabers forces. "Estimates are at least 30 endpoints. Full intensity scan, I don't care what you break."
The whole team of GN-XIII's start landing around the area, intense scan waves starting to cook unshielded electronics. They start marching from one end of the sector to the other, with little care for the fear their unannounced presence may cause, even as one marches toward a suspect building with its GN Saber in hand.
KTS: Meifeng Hau has deployed as a Boss for 2 opponents. <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"Maybe it really was forgotten about," Sayaka considers, in regards to the lack of a token security force. "It's far enough out that the Space Assembly League wouldn't really make it their problem, unless they had a good reason to." She frowns. "I just hope the silence isn't a sign our intel got compromised at some point."
"The GN particles also cause a notable communication disruption, stronger than the average Minovsky Particle output... but we're hearing just fine for now." She adds. It really must have been inactive for a long time, then... "And no kidding! They're pushing, what, almost five years now? A new model would be nice..." But at the same time, Sayaka wonders if NUNE would take a remodel of the OCU's border garrison as another escalation at this point, considering the climate.
Suddenly, though, they get their GN particle readings - and the communications just as quickly begin to crackle. "Is that our unit?" The Ichinana's arm rests on its Mazinger Blade. "No... those are Tau Drives. It must be the Gaia Sabers! This isn't even their colony." Her grip tightens over her controls. "Dammit. They're going for the civilian sectors!" A NP Nu Gundam, a squadron of GN-X, and a strange commander unit. "They don't care how much damage they cause... "
"Meaning the Gundam can wait for now. Let's go, Koji!" Sayaka's Ichinana flies towards the GN-XIII team to break their attention from the rest of the city. It may be an old machine... but it should be enough to hold its own even against NUNE's finest.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Koji Kabuto with Coordinate! KTS: Koji Kabuto accepts Sayaka Yumi's Coordinate! KTS: Sayaka Yumi coordinates maneuvers, raising Koji Kabuto's Piloting! KTS: Best Defense! Koji Kabuto successfully reacts to Sayaka Yumi's Coordinate, taking 0 damage! <Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
For a few moments, Koji's sensors flash red, before static overrides the Ichinana's radar system.
"What the - " he looks up, and pales. "The Sabers are here. Look at that particle spread... We're going to have to rely on visual contact only."
His Ichinana draws an empty hilt, and section-by-section, pieces of blade socket out from within the crossguard to create a heavy sword - a Mazinger Blade. The two OCU mobile weapons have no distinguishing features, just their silver-blue armour and polarised-black cranial cockpit domes.
Sayaka points out that the Sabers squad is heading for the residential sector, and Koji growls. "Two days in a row? ... No. Following you in, Sayaka!" With the recent border violence fresh on his mind, he flicks switches and cranks his reactor output up to combat levels. The Ichinana's Scrander Pods flare, and the machine roars forwards on a weaving intercept course towards the GN-X preparing to cut through the building, going for a shoulder tackle to send the mobile suit flying.
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Meifeng Hau with Ichinana CQC Brawl! KTS: Meifeng Hau fails to engage guard against Koji Kabuto's Ichinana CQC Brawl! KTS: Best Defense! Meifeng Hau successfully reacts to Koji Kabuto's Ichinana CQC Brawl, taking 4125 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
<< Contacts. Two Ichinana types. >> Aurora calls in the incoming enemies. There's the complication she was expecting...
Sayaka's Ichinana breaks towards the GN-X formation... and Aurora takes that as her signal to engage. She ignites her beam saber, ignites her thrusters, and leaps into the air, slashing at the Ichinana as she goes. << No beam weaponry inside the colony unless authorised, >> Aurora reminds her unit. It's up to Meifeng to take point on that.
KTS: Aurora Dusk targets Sayaka Yumi with Beam Tonfas/Sabers Slash! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi engages charge against Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Slash! KTS: Best Defense! Sayaka Yumi successfully reacts to Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Slash, taking 3150 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
Meifeng's attention turns as her screens pinpoint multiple events - the GN-XIII squad gets jumped by a single Ichinana, and then a second gets right up in close with a body tackle that prevents too much more than heat damage to the exterior.
"Aggressive," Meifeng muses distantly. "Suppose they would be."
The Acerby leaps off the building it stands on. "Dusk! Handle the other one!" she orders, and then sweeps her arm up behind her. The black and white and yellow machine draws the bare hilt of a beam sword, which ignites with the muddy orange light of a GN Tau's power. It has a longer guard, curving up along the line of activation, giving it more of an English (actual) saber type of feel, and she fights more like it too with the heavy sweep she leads with to try and saw clear through the Ichinana's arm and disarm it at a stroke.
KTS: Meifeng Hau targets Koji Kabuto with Beam Saber 100 Slash! KTS: Meifeng Hau's Central Operations Support activates Trick and Strike! KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to engage evade against Meifeng Hau's Beam Saber 100 Slash! KTS: Best Defense! Koji Kabuto successfully reacts to Meifeng Hau's Beam Saber 100 Slash, taking 2925 damage! KTS: Meifeng Hau begins a Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
"Hey, you see that, or am I crazy?" Lianne asked a passerby, pointing towards the approaching glow.
They didn't even have time to start the raid sirens. One moment, a peaceful day. The next, a whole squadron of black mobile suits spreads across the colony. A GN-X lands right beside her, shaking the colony beneath it's feet. Lianne dives for cover as another mech she doesn't recognize barrels into it. Lianne staggers to her feet again, watching in dumbfounded amazement as the unknown mech gets into a brawl, before snapping herself out of it. Shelter. Need shelter. She helps a boy up from the ground and sets him off running, anywhere but at the feet of those mechs. She tries not to notice the blood stain under a nearby chunk of concrete and doesn't succeed.
Lianne tries to find the nearest shelter - but finds her path blocked by another GN-X, moving to support it's ally. She could run the long way to the next one - but as it turns from a one-sided crime to a battle, she needs to find somewhere safe NOW. Who knows how long she can dodge the debris and grappling mechs?
As the combat begins to rage in her peripheral vision, she tries to think if there were any other shelters nearby, running through the increasingly damaged urban area at full tilt. And... while there isn't a shelter, there is a maintenance passage she remembers. A door going down a set of steps and into the belly of the colony. Shed used it during one of her many odd jobs, and still remembered the password; technically she isn't supposed to enter. But laws kinda stop existing when lasers started flying, and while it isn't a shelter it would put meters of earth, concrete, and metal between her and the battle.
She dives in once she finds it, the sounds of battle echoing behind and soon above her, and starts running as fast as she can without a care for finding her way back - as far from the fight as she can get, taking turns by instinct. When she stops to take a breath, she realizes she has become completely lost. And she still has that blasted headache, but that bothers her less in a life or death situation.
The pain behind her eyes spikes again, and she puts a hand to her head with a groan as the walls shake around her. Lianne staggers forwards - into a doorway. Thinking it might at least have somewhere for her to sit while she recovers, Lianne steps in, looking up as the pain becomes less acute...
The room is really tall - twenty-five meters, Lianne would guess? Several stories, with stairs between them on either side; she had entered at roughly at the middle level. Around the space are a variety of big server racks and consoles - some of which look like they'd been half blasted away. There are a few Mobile Workers around for heavy lift duties - and the back of the room... are those giant metal doors?
Lianne realizes she is analyzing the room to avoid thinking about the monster staring down at her.
That's the Gundam face. Like, there's a lot of mechs but this is a very Gundam-y face. Annnd... that's a... very Gundam-y body. Like, sure, a lotta mechs have those these days but most of them dont have the word GUNDAM etched into their frame. Or the green orb-thingy in the chest that the Celestial Being Gundams had in all the footage. Also it was, big enough to nearly fill the room. That was pretty Gundam-y. Primarily yellow and white, though the lights in this room were ominously dim.
Lianne, half in a daze, walks down the platform - it's meant for boarding, some part of her noted. What is this doing here? How did it get here? Why was it left behind...? She doesn't know the answers to those questions. But when she raises a hand to touch it, that damned headache returns with a vengeance. [It doesn't matter why it's here - it's what those mechs above are here for.] Something inside Lianne realizes that with perfect clarity. So they won't leave... until they find it.
"I... I'm not that much of an idiot, right? I can't do this."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
While Koji goes flying in for the GN-X suits, Sayaka gets intercepted by the Mass-Production Nu Gundam's approach. "Looks like they're trying to cut us off. I'll take on the Gundam!" Sayaka calls to Koji, while that beam saber comes slashing towards the Ichinana.
Rather than attempt to use any conventional form of defense, Sayaka simply uses the Ichinana's superior armour to charge into the beam blade - the cockpit is in the head, after all, so it's all right if the chest unit takes a little heat.
Deciding to keep the fight a melee considering the colony environment they're in, Sayaka draws her Mazinger Blade - using the nearby debris to gain some vertical momentum, before swinging the sword down into the Nu Gundam's limbs, to keep it on the back-foot. "This is not your colony. What are you after?" Sayaka engages on the comms, but she isn't expecting much of answer. It's probably the same thing they're after, in any case.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Aurora Dusk with Mazinger Blade Topple Strike! KTS: Orion Kessler has deployed in GNX-609T/BW GN-XIII Cannon. KTS: Aurora Dusk engages parry against Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade Topple Strike! KTS: Aurora Dusk moderately reacts to Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade Topple Strike, taking 3290 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Driving the GN-X back, Koji looks around, bringing the Mazinger Blade up into a ready guard. "People live here, damn you!" He spits, the machine's external speakers scrambling his voice. "Just back the hell off!"
A shadow passes over the Ichinana's canopy, and without thinking he fires the Scrander Pods again, this time jettisoning backwards as the Acerby's beam sabre descends, a strike that otherwise would have taken the Ichinana's arm clean off at the shoulder grazing the plate of its forearm guard. The Super Alloy Z armour holds... barely, and Koji turns to face the Acerby. "You the squad commander?" He demands, levelling the Mazinger Blade again. "You shouldn't be here like this. Leave now, or this gets a lot worse for you real quick."
Strictly speaking: This statement is insane. The two Ichinana are outnumbered and old machines besides, compared to the GN-Xs. Koji punctuates the point, however, by taking a swing at the Acerby, the heavy Mazinger Blade carving through the air with the certitude of good old-fashioned kinetic steel.
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Meifeng Hau with Mazinger Blade Lunge!
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
<< Acknowledged. >> Aurora gives Meifeng's order a curt acknowledgement.
Aurora frowns. The Ichinana might be an aging machine, but its toughness still holds up enough to cause her saber problems. She suppresses the impulse to lean into it like a clash and pulls her saber out of the Ichinana in time to parry the incoming blade, deflecting it from doing any real damage, but the impact of the blow accomplishes Sayaka's goal and pushes her on the back foot anyway.
<< Not your concern. This isn't your colony either. >> Aurora lashes out with a kick, trying to knock Sayaka off balance too before striding forwards and slashing at the Ichinana's chest in a wide arc. If she wants to try tanking hits, fine. Aurora intends to take advantage of that to do as much damage as possible.
Meanwhile, a Jesta has stumbled on a nearby building. "What's this?" The pilot uses their beam saber to open the building's wall...
<< Hey, you! Power down your reactor and leave the mobile suit!" >>
KTS: Aurora Dusk has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Aurora Dusk has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Aurora Dusk's I've Accepted the Machine that I Am activates! KTS: Aurora Dusk targets Sayaka Yumi with Beam Tonfas/Sabers Whirling Combo! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi fails to engage guard against Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Whirling Combo! KTS: Sayaka Yumi moderately reacts to Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Whirling Combo, taking 4680 damage! KTS: Aurora Dusk begins a Formation attack! KTS: Meifeng Hau engages parry against Koji Kabuto's Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Meifeng Hau successfully reacts to Koji Kabuto's Mazinger Blade Lunge, taking 2880 damage! KTS: Koji Kabuto roots his unit, coming to a standstill and leaving him vulnerable. <Pose Tracker> Orion Kessler has posed.
While he was advised to stay outside and check on SAL forces, the blanket of GN Particles around the area was starting to have him worried. Was the legendary Kabuto Koji really going to be fine? He knew he was a last minute addition for this, but what guy didn't want to miss out on the chance to go to space? Besides, he had to make up for his failure in the last operation. Orion continued to stare out at space for a few more seconds before coming to a decision. "Sayaka, Koji, I'm coming in to support you. SAL's been silent so far, and I doubt the two of you can handle it, so I'm going in."
His custom GN-X turned around very quickly, accessing the maintenance hatch into the colony. It was time to give the Sabers a taste of their own medicine. Though something was gnawing away at the back of his mind for a moment, a familiar presence and another that seemed lost... Was he lost? No, he's right here he needs to be, that much was certain to him, his mind flashing in a moment of clarity before a door into the colony opened for him, the bright light pulling him back to reality.
"Gaia Sabers, I'll shoot you down." He assessed his targets, spotting the more interesting units among the rabble, the Acerby and a Mass-Production Nu Gundam, a fully equipped one at that. "An irregular and a Newtype, this will be no cake walk, that's for sure."
He very quickly targeted the Nu Gundam, a unit like that was more liable to cause damage with its remote weaponry. But he suddenly got a strange feeling, like something was pushing against his brain for a moment. Was it the Newtype inside doing that? "Sayaka, get back!" The GN-X Cannon charged up a shot, firing it at the Nu Gundam, but it was powered down so that if it missed, the shot would dissipate shortly after.
KTS: Orion Kessler has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Orion Kessler has activated the Foresee Spirit Command targeting Sayaka Yumi KTS: Orion Kessler targets Aurora Dusk with GN-X Cannon Low Power Shot! KTS: Orion Kessler's Rebellious Tendency activates Trick and Strike! <Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
Sayaka's Mazinger Blade strikes true, but unfortunately, thanks to the quick thinking of the Nu Gundam's pilot, it doesn't quite catch her off-balance as much as she'd hope - the Nu Gundam charging straight in for more with a kick, and then another saber slash. Sayaka's instincts are honed enough to know the kick is a feint, but the Ichinana's speed isn't quite up to snuff, so she's forced to take the full brunt of it all. It's only saved by, once again, its toughness.
But that doesn't mean Sayaka is ready to surrender. Far from it. A fight between a mass-produced Mazinger and a mass-produced Gundam is thrilling, and they can't let the Gaia Sabers have their way with this colony any more than they already have. "It's not, but you're the ones who started firing in a residential district! Or are you just going to cover it up with that supercomputer of yours again?" Sayaka strikes back, trying to regain some ground with her Ichinana after that nasty burn the Nu Gundam's sabers left on it torso.
This time, Sayaka plunges the Mazinger Blade down, using the extra mobility from dropping its weight to charge for the Nu Gundam again, to not-so-elegantly sock it in the face - followed by another punch and then a kick if it lands. As she does that, Orion comes in with some much welcome back-up. "What, you don't think we've got it covered?" Sayaka asks, as if she in Koji aren't in five-year old outdated mass-production units. "...Thanks for the assistance. Fire while I have them distracted!" The Ichinana flies out of the way, just in time for Orion's GN beam to make its mark.
At the same time, the Ichinana flies over a building, not far from the Jesta on the scene. "Power down their weapons, they said. Could there be someone else...?" Sayaka considers. Could someone else have found the unit they came to retrieve?
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Aurora Dusk with Ichinana CQC Brawl!
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
"Something like that," Meifeng replies to Koji. She turns her Acerby around, sword held out to the side. "I'm their administrator."
Looked dead on, the Acerby has a distinctly humanoid face behind a helmet's visor - a bit of an odd design flourish, perhaps. Mask-like, with wide blank oval eyes like an Ultra, it watches silently. "But you're wrong. I've got all the permissions I need. Something's here that I need to see. But I think you know that." Koji lunges at her and she snaps her blade up, yielding little ground as the Ichinana's forceful push catches and stalls as she catches the blade and forces the rush aside.
Then swings a second blade up - smaller, more dagger-like - and jabs it into the Ichinana's chest as it drives past.
A beam of light roars across the simulated sky. Felicie quickly piped in a bar, demonstrating that the provided charge posed no structural damage to the colony. But that still meant they had an unplanned shooter. "Zyair! Cover for Dusk!"
"Right!" comes a call from someone else in the GN-XIII squadron, who takes to the sky in a rolling pattern, then levels their GN Rifle at the origin point of that shot. "Third hostile!" Zyair calls down. "GN-X! Original model!"
"Local security," Meifeng murmurs. "...maybe...? Control, get on it."
Felicie sends her a little sticker of a puppy in a charming fascinator giving a thumbs up.
KTS: Koji Kabuto's The Rush of Battle activates! KTS: Meifeng Hau targets Koji Kabuto with Beam Saber 100 Combo! KTS: Meifeng Hau has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Koji Kabuto fails to engage evade against Meifeng Hau's Beam Saber 100 Combo! KTS: Best Defense! Koji Kabuto successfully reacts to Meifeng Hau's Beam Saber 100 Combo, taking 4650 damage! KTS: Meifeng Hau completes the Formation attack! KTS: Meifeng Hau targets Orion Kessler with System Security Rapid Rifles! KTS: Meifeng Hau's Central Operations Support activates Alert and Wall! KTS: Aurora Dusk engages block against Orion Kessler's GN-X Cannon Low Power Shot! KTS: Aurora Dusk's Beam Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Aurora Dusk moderately blocks Orion Kessler's GN-X Cannon Low Power Shot, taking 2029 damage! KTS: Aurora Dusk engages evade against Sayaka Yumi's Ichinana CQC Brawl! KTS: Aurora Dusk poorly reacts to Sayaka Yumi's Ichinana CQC Brawl, taking 5500 damage! KTS: Orion Kessler engages evade against Meifeng Hau's System Security Rapid Rifles! KTS: Best Defense! Orion Kessler moderately reacts to Meifeng Hau's System Security Rapid Rifles, taking 0 damage! KTS: Orion Kessler targets Meifeng Hau with GN-X Cannon Long Range Shot! KTS: Orion Kessler's Rebellious Tendency activates Valor and Trick! <Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Lianne mutters to herself as she clambers upwards. "Can't believe I'm doing this! Why am I doing this?" She manages to reach the opening, and tumbles into the cockpit, thankful a new migraine didn't strike while she was climbing. Maybe it would have been better if it had, actually! This is without a doubt the stupidest thing she has ever done!
But she can't just let them keep busting up the colony, can she? People are getting hurt.
She doesn't have to know how to drive a mobile suit right? She just has to get it out there and run away, and let whoever's out there take it away from the colony where they don't have to hurt anyone for it.
"On switch... on switch... GAH-" Lianne starts hitting switches, whichever ones feel right. When she hits one of them, she feels a sharp spike of pain, letting out a shout - but then the screen in front of her lights up, and the pain starts to subside. The GN Drive hums to life, a soft green glow suffusing the dim room. Screens scroll past on the console, rapid assessments of the mobile suit's status and readiness - and a name. "Gundam... Syken." Lianne mutters. This is the stupidest thing she has ever done.
She settles into the seat, and flicks the switch to close the cockpit up. Then she slowly and steadily steps away from the boarding scaffolds, ready to turn to face the door - and then blinks. Wait, what? It's like a blurry image coming into focus - suddenly all those switches seemed obvious in purpose, the controls completely natural. "...Huh."
She hears the doors open behind her - and the sharp, commanding voice of a pilot over speakers. She can see it over one of her rear cameras - one of the black suits that had first attacked. There, job done, she can get out. But despite her earlier intent... those black mobile suits. They'd been the ones going around wrecking things. Hurting people. The other ones had just about saved her and the civilians near her; they aren't trying to hurt people. Can Lianne really just let those dark mobile suits get what they wanted?
[Of course we can't.]
/ / / / / / / / / /
There is a moment of quiet after the Jesta's command - and then the mobile suit whips around. A beam blade hidden in the Gundam's arm slices the beam-saber wielding hand off. Before the pilot can respond, the Gundam shoves it over, barreling past it and into the air of the colony, looking down to assess the situation. As it does, the glowing green light on it's back intensifies - as an array of Bits deploy from it's rear and move to hover in a chevron formation around it.
Lianne blinks a few times - she kind of remembers the last minute or so, but it was kind of a blur. She'd been thinking about the action but she hadn't actually planned to do it, had she? And her head hurts again. But... fuck it, she's here now. That ship has firmly sailed.
KTS: Lianne Moren has deployed in GNY-005 Gundam Syken. <Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora manages to slip out of the way of the blade enough that it doesn't score a clean hit, but the Ichinana's blows leave indents in her machine. For an outdated machine, it's keeping up fairly well. Who is this pilot, anyway?
Orion feels a strange pushing against his brain, and Aurora feels the same thing on her end. "This pressure is..." Her Nu's arm, acting on her will modulated through the psychoframe, moves its shield arm up. Orion's lower power beam cannon shot dissipates against it, scoring the metal. << Beam weapons inside a colony? ...You're the terrorist from the train raid. >>
Aurora turns to her other foe, trusting Meifeng to cover her. A mass-produced Mazinger is an interesting opponent for a mass-produced Gundam. Aurora would be lying to herself if she didn't admit her blood was starting to boil... just a little bit. << Your partner is the one who fired a GN beam cannon inside a colony. We've been using melee weapons this entire time. >> She doesn't dignify the supercomputer comment with a response.
She moves to pursue Sayaka, bringing out her left hand's beam saber in tonfa mode, thrusting both beam sabers towards her enemy in a skewering motion. Hopefully, this will end the fight. If it doesn't, she's going to consider-
Hold on. << Gundam sortieing. It's... a GN drive type. Celestial Being make? >> Distracted from her attack on Sayaka, she directs a pair of Jestas to cover her as she flies over. << You, in the Gundam. Stow your funnels, power down your reactor, and eject, or I'll attack.
KTS: Aurora Dusk targets Sayaka Yumi with Beam Tonfas/Sabers Deep Pierce! KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Trust Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi has activated the Foresee Spirit Command. KTS: Sayaka Yumi engages evade against Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Deep Pierce! KTS: Best Defense! Sayaka Yumi moderately reacts to Aurora Dusk's Beam Tonfas/Sabers Deep Pierce, taking 0 damage! KTS: Aurora Dusk completes the Formation attack!
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
Lianne took a deep breath listening to the voice over the comms - more authoritative than the last one. A boss or something? Going right to the deep end, huh. Last chance to back out. But the destruction below made the decision easier. She flicked on the comms. <<Who even ARE you?>> Lianne demanded. <<I dunno about you, but I don't make a habit of following orders from random people who come in and start stepping on people!>>
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
Aurora elects to tell Lianne the truth. "We're Gaia Sabers and we're here for that Gundam. Give it to us and we'll leave." Something about this pilot is...
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The beam dagger plunges deep into the Ichinana's chest. On a Mobile Suit, this would be a killing blow. On the Ichinana, however, the blade penetrates through radiator arrays and heat sinks, not quite reaching the reactor chamber. Koji grunts as alarms blare in the cranial cockpit, and mutters "fine."
The Acerby's sensors detect a heat buildup in close proximity. Is the Ichinana's reactor cooking off?
Negative, the chamber is not breached. The heat buildup is coming from -
Planting the Mazinger Blade in the ground for stability, Koji reaches out to grab the Acerby's dagger arm, as the cracked and shattered radiator arrays on the Ichinana's chest begin to light up in a worrying hot red.
"Breast Fire."
The short-range heat blast bursts out from the old mass-produced Mazin's chest.
KTS: Koji Kabuto targets Meifeng Hau with Ichinana Breast Fire!
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
"In one of your own machines? You should really control your men better." Sayaka replies, to Aurora's comment about Orion in the GN-X. She can play dirty, too. The GN cannon being fired in a colony, even at low-output is sufficient in drawing Meifeng's entourage away from Koji, though. Leaving Sayaka to focus back down on Aurora in the Nu Gundam.
Aurora's next attack is brutal, perhaps enough to end the fight should it make a clean enough strike against Sayaka's already quite heavily damaged Ichinana - and perhaps it's the arrival of Gundam Syken that saves it, Sayaka pushing her thrusters past their limit to avoid a strike to the Pilder, or worse yet, the Ichinana's precious Photon Power reactor. "GN particles...? They're green," Sayaka murmurs, when Gundam Syken arrives - perhaps it also manages to capture Aurora's attention enough that her strike is not quite decisive, but it does claim one of the mass-produced Mazin's arms.
That must be the Gundam they came for... but who's in it? Sayaka tries hailing them. "Gundam pilot, can you read me? Do you know how to control that thing?" She asks, and then tenses when Aurora threatens the pilot, gritting her teeth. "...Because they won't show you any mercy, no matter how scared you are." The Ichinana turns back to face the Nu Gundam. "But if you're planning on fighting them... then at least you won't have to do it alone."
The standoff doesn't last much longer than that. "Hey, Nu Gundam pilot. Keep your eyes on me!" Sayaka taunts, before going for one last lunge against the Nu Gundam with the Mazinger Blade. Whoever was in that Celestial Being Gundam didn't seem like a trained pilot, but rather someone who stumbled upon it and got way in over her head. Sayaka gets that - even relates to it to a certain extent. But if she's going to be equally as reckless as they are in picking a fight with the Sabers, Sayaka feels like she has to protect them.
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
Lianne stares out the viewport. Gaia Sabers? Like, NUNE's Gaia Sabers. "I'd heard the rumors... but I wanted to think they weren't true. That's kind of depressing." She says. So much for that recruitment poster with Lillium on it... maybe the idol doesn't know about the kinds of things Gaia Sabers do?
A comm from one of the unidentified mechs came in and she accepted, listening. No mercy, huh? ...Well, she hadn't really expected any at this point. "I think I'm about to do a crime. So your help is really appreciated." She replies.
And then the Syken lunges at the mass produced Gundam, beam daggers bared.
KTS: Sayaka Yumi targets Aurora Dusk with Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Lianne Moren has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has gained proficiency bonus. KTS: Lianne Moren targets Aurora Dusk with Slash Sequence! KTS: Meifeng Hau fails to engage evade against Orion Kessler's GN-X Cannon Long Range Shot! KTS: Best Defense! Meifeng Hau successfully reacts to Orion Kessler's GN-X Cannon Long Range Shot, taking 4125 damage! KTS: Meifeng Hau fails to engage charge against Koji Kabuto's Ichinana Breast Fire! KTS: Meifeng Hau successfully reacts to Koji Kabuto's Ichinana Breast Fire, taking 4860 damage! KTS: Aurora Dusk has deployed as a Boss for 2 opponents. KTS: Aurora Dusk engages evade against Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade Lunge! KTS: Aurora Dusk successfully reacts to Sayaka Yumi's Mazinger Blade Lunge, taking 4320 damage! KTS: Sayaka Yumi roots her unit, coming to a standstill and leaving her vulnerable. KTS: Aurora Dusk engages evade against Lianne Moren's Slash Sequence! KTS: Aurora Dusk's Beam Wall L1 activates, negating 1000 base damage. KTS: Best Defense! Aurora Dusk successfully reacts to Lianne Moren's Slash Sequence, taking 0 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Aurora Dusk has posed.
<< I'll take one of yours if I ever need to blow up a colony, then. >> Snappy response, but Aurora is thrown off her game by having to defend against Lianne's sudden onslaught, and Sayaka gets her good too. << I'm reaching my operational limit. Pulling out. That pilot isn't a rookie, whoever they are. We might have to scratch this op. >>
She gives the Gundam one last rueful look. << No mercy next time. >> Then, she turns and retreats, leaving her Jestas to cover Meifeng. It's for the best, honestly. Her head is starting to hurt again.
KTS: Aurora Dusk's RX-94 Mass Production Nu Gundam <HADES Test Type> has been disabled.
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
Lianne blinks, getting back into a ready combat stance (why does she know how to do that? Doesn't matter right now) as she expects a counterattack and... the suit started to back off? She didn't pursue, just kind of dumbfounded, though her mech didn't show it. Wait, that worked?
<Pose Tracker> Meifeng Hau has posed.
Zyair takes a ferocious reply shot from that shrouded attacker, but the GN-XIII stays up.
Whatever Meifeng's about to do about that is interrupted by the Ichinana, far from destroyed, revealing its trump card. She hears it through the steel, reverberating through the Acerby's slender frame: Breast Fire.
"Oh--" she breathes, before the whole machine is engulfed in obliterating light.
The rest of the GN-XIII squad is caught up as their target arrives. "Low-entropy GN Drive!" "Are these readings for real!?" "Full system activation!" "Bracing for intrusion--!"
"Enough."
The hand Koji is holding goes limp as the Acerby simply flies away without it, the shoulder blasted to slag by the close-proximity Breast Fire. Meifeng hovers in midair for several seconds thanks to the properties of GN, and then says, "We might be able to win a fight, but the goal is a capture operation. We'll recalculate and try again."
The Acerby's alien gaze lingers on the Ichinana for some seconds, then over to the arisen Gundam. Then, she swings her remaining arm up, with its full-size beam sword, and sheathes the thing overshoulder, and flies away. "Photon Power," she murmurs to herself. "It might just..."
"Felicie," she says, calling for her personal operator's attention. "Pull everything Gaia Sabers have on the Photonic Power phenomenon."
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
As the Gaia Sabers begin to retreat, Lianne takes Gundam Syken down to meet the two mobile suits she'd seen fighting (she'd noticed beams coming from a long distance away - was that one of theirs too?). <<So. Uh. I think I just did treason.>> She says awkwardly over the comms. <<Please tell me you aren't also bad guys?>>
<Pose Tracker> Orion Kessler has posed.
"Well, depends on your definition of bad guys. But in your case, I'd say we aren't." The custom GN-X Cannon that was firing from several meters away slowly approached, hovering in the air to avoid stepping on anyone or anything by accident. "We're Satellicon, but more relevant for the machine you're in, Celestial Being. But don't worry, we're nothing like whatever the news probably says about us."
Orion soon felt the odd sensations disappearing from his mind, that pressure was alleviated and now there was an odd calm now. Was it the new Gundam? No, he's probably just tired from having to hurry into space, that's all.
"I will say though, the Space Assembly League's probably on their way now, and I think they're going to be just as welcoming as the Gaia Sabers. So, you're probably better off with us for now."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji frowns as the unfamiliar machine calls for a retreat and the GN-Xs follow suit. "... Who calls themself an 'administrator' of a combat unit?" He remarks to himself, catching up to the unknown pilot's introduction at last.
He goes over his machine readouts, frowning. "Hm, firing the radiator arrays while they were damaged slagged them. That's going to be a problem." Indeed, the front of his Ichinana is smoking uncomfortably. "Still functional, though."
He clicks his comms open to the GN-X that was covering them - Orion's. "Thanks for the backup." He avoids using names, for the moment.
Finally, the object of their investigation - the now active and piloted GN Drive Gundam. Koji stows the Ichinana's weapons and raises its empty hands in the universal gesture of non-hostility. "I'd - " He glances at the image of Sayaka on his dashboard readout, and grins. "I'd like to think we're not bad guys. Shooting at neo-Titans is a good way to get on my good side, though."
He nods over to Kessler's GN-X. "Good point. The League response will be here shortly, we need to make ourselves scarce."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.
The Nu Gundam decides to retreat, and Sayaka decides not to acknowledge the comment about blowing up a colony. Classy as ever, the Gaia Sabers. Instead, she focuses on Lianne. "Are you all right?" She asks the pilot. "I'd love to hear the story behind how you found that suit, but it can wait." Is the Amuro Ray phenomenon really just going to keep repeating forever?
"You don't have anywhere to go back to, do you? I have to warn you - we aren't any friends of NUNE, either." She smiles back to Koji, when he says his piece. "But if you're not willing to fall in line with their regime... then we're more than glad to take you under our protection. I, for one, consider that to be much more important than even the Gundam itself."
"I don't want trouble with the Space Assembly League, either. We'd better get out of here sooner than later." Sayaka agrees with Orion and Koji. "...Are you coming with us?" Her Ichinana, damaged, but still operational, gestures to Gundam Syken. "We'll introduce ourselves in full when it's safe... but we call ourselves Satellicon."
<Pose Tracker> Lianne Moren has posed.
"So this really is a Celestial Being gundam... I mean, I thought so when the glow wasn't red, but..." Lianne mumbles. She shakes her head. "I think I've heard of Satellicon in the news. It said you guys are terrorists." She pauses a moment. "It also says the Gaia Sabers are the good guys, though. So why can't two things be wrong? Good guys don't do stuff like that just for a fancy mech." It was scary to think of joining a group like Satellicon - fighting against the regime. That wasn't for her, she was a normal girl.
But a normal girl in a giant robot, now.
"I think I just did a lot of bridge burning in the last ten minutes and the only thing I'm gonna miss in my apartment is the posters. So... if you're okay with having me?"