2022-11-18: The First Star
- Log: 22 11 18 - The First Star
- Cast: Riika Sheder, Artemisia ka Britannia, Vitaly Sokolov
- Where: Side 4 - The Frontier Side
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-11-18
- Summary: Riika and her squad engage in what they had expected to be a simple scouting mission.
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
FRONTIER SIDE 4
LAGRANGE 1
The Frontier Zone is one of the most war-ravaged places in space.
Damaged heavily during the One Year War, it hasn't really been rebuilt in any sort of organized manner. Some areas are now cleared of debris, but other areas decidedly aren't, with fields ranging from 'slightly dangerous' to 'flying here is not a good idea' to 'don't get hit by space junk because you will die!'.
There are some Federation colonies in the clearer areas, but of the worst parts, nobody has ever spent the money and time to clean them up. It's a place where someone could hide and a place where junk goes to die.
Riika Sheder has been assigned to lead a squad into the ruined parts of the Frontier to find a location for ZAFT to use, either as a flight path to get to the Moon under cover or as a safe point to hide while making skirmishing strikes against both the local colonies and Lunar space. It's not glamorous work but someone has to do it. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be especially dangerous either; space debris is a threat, especially given some of it is electrified, but the Federation does not exactly field a robust defense of the area and there shouldn't be any shooting, except perhaps from pirates or scrappers.
'Shouldn't be'.
Unfortunately, Britannia has foreknowledge of the squad. The official statement is that they were picked up on approach, but followed instead of immediately attacked to see what they would do; if a ZAFT squad simply went missing in the Shoal Zone, no word would get back to High Command about the Federation bothering to defend it, and they might try it again.
At the moment, there are four ZAFT Mobile Suits deployed into the shoal zone: two GINNs, a GuAIZ (standard model), and Riika's tempermental and extremely yellow-orange GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type. There's a new logo on the wing of the GuAIZ EFT, something Riika feels mixed pride and embarrassment about: a flop-eared rabbit face with a pair of glasses and a rather angular RS beneath it, all on a hexagonal crest.
They're not far into the ruins. This is a place where it can be dangerous if you let your guard down, but it isn't actively threatening to fight in. Any pilot with space combat experience has been in worse, more dangerous places, but it's hard to get through at high speed, so it mostly serves to slow flights down.
"This sucks," one of the GINNs transmits to the rest of his squad.
"Farkas, would you stop complaining?" the GuAIZ pilot transmits.
"C'mon, Kat. Soldier's rights and all that. It's the right of any soldier to complain about what command makes them do, as long as they do it."
Riika flips her own radio on. "It'd be best if we kept it quiet, anyway. Just in case."
The squad moves on in silence, occasionally detouring or separating and then recombining to dodge something or investigate something else. They never get out of sight of each other, though.
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Previously...
In the aftermath of the JOSH-A affair, one of those affairs with no clear parentage given the fact that it was a complete and enormous fiasco, Artemisia ka Britannia did a little sitting nobly in Anchorage to facilitate survivors moving off with what royal patronage she can extend, and then she did what she actually wanted to do.
She went to find Riika Sheder.
Much of this was honestly rather *dull*. It involved *meetings*. *Signals analysis*. Artemisia was frustrated by this but she was more patient than many could be, because she knew that there was someone out there. It was confirmed that Sheder had returned to space, but that was not going to be where the trail ended, even if it was when some of the official support parted out. After all, *she* wasn't the one responsible for the fiasco, any more than the bomber who delivers the weapon is the author of its destruction.
Right?
Not by Artemisia's way of thinking.
She had contacted others who might be interested; who might perhaps enjoy the hunt as well. What songs they would sing, and what sort of a feast they might have in this, the vast and starry sea.
Artemisia kind of wishes it was a forest instead. Even plains would be fine. But you can't always get what you want. But if you try some times:
You might find:
You get what you kill.
They got here by hitching a ride with spare Energy Fillers (in case), and the great thing about Knightmare Frames is that they are very hard to notice when they are being quiet. There is, of course, the necessity of wearing normal suits, but that's actually just a precaution. Right now, Artemisia is finishing a small bulb of coffee brought from home, her Frame connected by diaphanous wire to the ECCM-kitted machine laying beneath camouflaged material at the 'top' of this piece of junk. Close enough to get voice communication.
'I hear them, your Highness.'
"Oh good," Artemisia says. "Polite of them to wait for me to finish dining. Signal the others." The message goes through the wire and discreet signal flashes inform the other elements of the ambush.
Artemisia is fed the signals feed. Wait... wait... listen... listen... As she seals the faceplate of her Normal Suit, settling back into the regally appointed luxury suit and reaching over for the auxiliary tracking controls, the Gloucester SKATHI leans... slowly.... oh so slowly, it takes nearly ten seconds... so that its left arm is 'visible' relative to the moving squadron.
Artemisia loads the round. She pants hard enough to put a little patch of condensation. The sighting is lined up. She waits another three seconds, before the excitement becomes uncontrollable and -
click
The launch is silent. An 80 kilogram projectile without chemical propulsion behind it, aimed dead center on the nearest unit - one of the GINNs - and Artemisia says, "NOW!" as she slams the power-up switch, the Skathi surging 'awake' even if it remains half-shaded. It's certainly going to be easier to detect now, and Artemisia runs her tongue over her lower lip as she composes her thoughts.
One thing had been made clear in Artemisia's statements: Leave the orange one for last, and look at that: It even has a logo now.
KTS: Riika Sheder has deployed in YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type. KTS: Riika_Sheder has deployed as a Rival. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Riika Sheder with Pilium Intrusion!
<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.
As the Rabscuttle continues its incredibly high velocity flight through space, Vitaly Sokolov is quiet for most of it. There's been a great deal of things on her mind as of late - and this is already another mission alongside the Brittanians. The fact that she is going this fast in a zone that is known to be so dangerous is perhaps a testament to what kind of woman the so called 'Winter Witch of Ravnui' is, even in her old age.
This is not her first visit to Frontier Side 4. In fact, there are no doubt countless corpses and wrecks in this entire zone that drift there thanks to this very woman.
What interest could ZAFT possible have in this region? More importantly, why would they be pushing this region instead of their own? Certainly, it's a place between Federation and ZAFT regions, but tactically it has lost so much of its value because of the sheer operational costs of being in this region. And why would Britannia not immediately engage?
She listens to Artemisia as she commands the squadron from the high speed support craft - the same Britannians she had dropped off just minutes ago before picking out a different approach vector on the matter. Awaiting communication by laser-link from some of the squadron members.
When finally, the target is revealed. She gets a visual on the unique GuAIZ, and the recognition is immediate. That is the machine that departed JOSH-A, warning them of the bomb within the base. She can't see the ace symbol as well from the limited feed. But Vitaly gets another one of those nagging feelings that has been haunting her for the past months.
But duty must be done. And this is a playbook she recognizes. As the Rabscuttle immediately shifts to a higher position, getting a reading. Multiple possible routes being drawn amidst debris towards the target. Almost like a shark moving through the waters, it quickly picks the most optimal route.
Then, moments after Artemisia's weapon is fired, and the inevitable burst of light springs, the Rabscuttle comes down with the intent of grabbing the GuAIZ in question with one of its massive claws, with the full intent of cutting it off from its allies. And the moment it makes contact - if it manages to make contact - she seeks to speak through contact-signal.
<"ZAFT Pilot - are under arrest. Do not resist."> A single sharp statement, followed by something that certainly doesn't sound like it is a request.
KTS: Vitaly Sokolov targets Riika Sheder with Hrududu II - Claw Grab! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Riika Sheder KTS: Riika Sheder's Physical Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia anchors Riika Sheder, forcing her into close range. KTS: Riika Sheder partially guards Artemisia ka Britannia's Pilium Intrusion, taking 1218 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 27662 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Riika Sheder! KTS: [Lucky] Riika Sheder's Ace Maneuver activates, and luck goes her way! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov anchors Riika Sheder, forcing her into close range. KTS: Riika Sheder parries Vitaly Sokolov's Hrududu II - Claw Grab, taking 1320 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 26342 KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has engaged Riika Sheder!
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
The GINN has a lot of advantages. It's fast, it's powerful, it can carry or mount a large variety of weapons and it's a lot less 'noisy' than a Minovsky engine (as, like many earlier ZAFT units, it uses a solar battery - of this group, only Riika's unit is actually emitting Minovsky particles). The Coordinator-spec controls means that it has fantastic maneuverability and control.
But it is not actually all that tough.
Two of the pilots see something out of the corner of their eye: Riika, who whirls her GuAIZ EFT around, and Farkas, one of the GINN pilots. "Schneider, move it!" Farkas calls, catching the flicker.
The pilum impacts Schneider's GINN dead center in the torso and punches almost all the way through it. The point has come out the back even if the bulk of the weapon is still lodged inside, and the sudden impact is enough to knock it off course. The GINN spirals, not even trying to regain control.
"Schneider! - dammit, dammit! Returning fire!!" Farkas turns back and immediately opens up in the direction of the Skathi. He's off a little at first, but he starts tracking his beam shots at the half-undercover Knightmare Frame more accurately after the first couple. After only one shot, Kat in the GuAIZ joins in, using her more powerful beam gun to try to catch Artemisia from two angles, keeping an eye open for backup Knightmare Frames. They're usually in groups.
Riika, for her part, feels her heart catch in her throat. It's a worst-case scenario - the Federation, suddenly *here* to defend this junk pile? Why? How? That's the last thing she expected, and there's a large unit coming in, so it's not just some frames sent up here to salvage or a scrapper using whatever they had available -
Riika reacts to the large unit by suddenly drawing both beam sabers of the GuAIZ EFT. It might be called Firearms Type but it's perfectly effective at close range, as Vitaly finds out a moment later. She doesn't deflect the giant claw so much as smack it and deflect *herself* away from the grabbing hand, using microgravity to her advantage; once she's repositioned, she fires her thrusters, dragging her blades across the length of the arm as she tries to jet over and past the oversized machine, towards a larger floating piece of scrap.
She doesn't bother responding. What would she say? Instead, she speaks to her own squad: "Form up! We might need to retreat - "
"What about Schneider?"
"Schneider's probably dead! We lost his vitals," Riika says, a catch in her voice. "I'm worried about the rest of us!"
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder targets Artemisia ka Britannia with MA-M20 Lupus Beam Rifle Rapid Fire! KTS: Riika Sheder targets Vitaly Sokolov with MA-M01 Lacerta Double Beam Saber Dual Wield! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov parries Riika Sheder's MA-M01 Lacerta Double Beam Saber Dual Wield, taking 735 damage! KTS: Riika Sheder has engaged Vitaly Sokolov! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 28. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia rushes into the attack! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia partially guards Riika Sheder's MA-M20 Lupus Beam Rifle Rapid Fire, taking 2385 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 66.
<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.
Vitaly's machine keeps pressing the attack as Riika uses sheer skill to avoid getting caught up in the claws of the Rabscuttle. But in the same moment those two claws keep snapping at her, nipping at her heels like a pair of angry crabs, a second set of movement happens. It's the kind of coordination that should be impossible from two pilots. Yet here, four arms are moving simultaneously with beautiful coordination and precision.
Closer to the head unit, two beam sabers suddenly activate, halting Riika's flight across its claws - allowing her only to make a small bit of headway on her initial counter-attack. The red glow upon the claw arms showing very clearly that the damage will interfere with the machine - but those two beam sabers swing at her with far too much precision as they follow her as she moves around and tries to form up with her squad!
The entire machine however has a much larger turn-radius than the GuAIZ EFT afoords, meaning that as Riika makes some distance, it has to come around. But it does so pulling a curve that by all means, should be fatal to a normal person. Within the pilot seat, Vitaly grits her teeth as her pilot suit bloats up until she looks like she's prepared for a Siberian cold winter. The entire system restricting blood flow, while she cuts the curve short, and then continues to come 'swinging' after Riika's machine.
<"No retreat."> The woman tries to contact Riika with laser-comms. Trying to get something going. Any kind of reply. <"Surrender now, JOSH-A terrorist!"> Making a wild claim that tends to get the more hot-blooded answering.
KTS: Vitaly Sokolov targets Riika Sheder with Hrududu II - Long Blade Emission Assault!
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Artemisia fires the thrusters.
She has no idea what Vitaly said.
Instead, her comms come on and the laughter ripples out of her throat, a sort of giggle that turns into something more liquid and acid. "Good afternoon," Artemisia continues forwards.
"Do you remember me?" Artemisia has the slightly absurd result of using maneuvering thrusters in order to kind of pivot partway around the piece of wreckage she was using as a roost, with the ECCM KMF remaining, for now, in reserve - or perhaps having been ordered not to *mess with things*.
The downside of being a singular target is of course that it is relatively easy to see it, and to shoot at it. The KMF twists round on its axis which half-avoids one shot, but the second one strikes firmly on the right arm; paint chars and the limb seems to jerk partway out of true, although it does not draw more than a "Hnfgh!" from Artemisia in response...
"I suppose that you've been busy," Artemisia continues, even as she tilts her head and raises her one eye upwards, watching, watching - is she going to be able to make that? No, not this pass. But then the other GINN adjusts its heading and Artemisia's Slash Harkens burst forwards, silent and still in the vastness of space --
As they arc to hook into the remaining GINN, Artemisia continues. "It wasn't easy to find you, you know! You're quite the - oh! Is that a RABBIT I see? Congratulations!" The most sarcastic congratulations possible, even if there's some underlying glee. "What an accomplishment! Perhaps they'll send the decoration home? Hmm-m," Artemisia continues, before the top of the Skathi TWISTS to try to sling the Harkens round to embed into that GINN.
"No," she says. "I think I *want* it," she says as the Harkens fly.
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Riika Sheder with Slash Harken Bludgeon! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov rattles Riika Sheder, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Riika Sheder fails to Parry Vitaly Sokolov's Hrududu II - Long Blade Emission Assault, taking 2430 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 23912 KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has engaged Riika Sheder! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov begins a Formation attack! KTS: Riika Sheder's Physical Wall L2 activates, negating 2000 base damage. KTS: [Spirit Defense] Riika Sheder's Combat Focus activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia enervates Riika Sheder, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Riika Sheder partially guards Artemisia ka Britannia's Slash Harken Bludgeon, taking 3120 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Let this moment last forever activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's The Hunter's Song activates, causing Deject! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Perfection of Movement activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 20792
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
That's one heck of a turn from the Rabscuttle, Riika thinks (though she doesn't know what the unit is called offhand, and she's automatically recording so she can check records later). You'd have to be a Coordinator or specially rigged to stay conscious through something like that; given how much the Federation hates Coordinators, it must be the second. Or automated, she supposes, but it doesn't move like an automated machine.
All of this is kind of happening automatically, in the back of her head. More of her attention is on, well, not dying, and the messages from Federation units. Most of the units here aren't on Minovsky engines - only Riika and Vitaly's are - so by combat standards the comms are clear. It's certainly not bad enough to jam up local links.
"I know the Federation believes everybody from ZAFT is a terrorist and frankly I'm not interested in participating in this conversation," Riika replies with some heat, before dismissing Vitaly's words (she can't exactly dismiss the whole woman, not in combat). "You've already killed one of us today!"
And working on two; Artemisia snags the GINN with remarkable accuracy, catching Farkas mid-gunnery. He lets out a sound that he would describe as a shout but could be uncharitably described as a shriek, his firing getting a whole lot more erratic as he tries to free himself - but the GINN is well and truly caught, the harken having lodged itself somewhere in the wing-and-back-thruster array and the wire looped around. Sparks erupt every time he tries to dislodge himself.
"I got you!" is Kat's answer to that. The GuAIZ pilot guns her thrusters, suddenly accelerating in a remarkably fast charge. Though it's not a common weapon, the GuAIZ mounts an extensional arrestor - very similar to the harken Artemisia herself is using, in fact, though with a two-fingered 'claw' and the ability to project a beam spike in the center. She fires both of them, one at Artemisia herself and one at the wreckage she was just on, yanking and dragging a chunk of it upward into the Knightmare Frame's feet while the other tries to catch the KMF's arm. If she manages either, she tries a precision shot with the MA-M21 beam rifle, close cousin to Riika's MA-M20.
Riika remembers Artemisia from Operation Spitbreak. She fought her there, too; she recognizes the pilum. She didn't think that Artemisia was quite that... focused on her at the time, but - "Look, why are you fixated on me? I'm just a test pilot!" Riika swings, attempting to parry the Hrududu arm; this time she's a little slow, and it takes a chunk of yellow plating off. Riika fires her own thrusters at that point, using the flight backpack on the GuAIZ EFT to slam herself back in her seat from the acceleration. She rotates midflight, firing the hip-mounted railguns backwards at the larger unit as it looks like nothing so much as the GuAIZ EFT somersaults.
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Dash Spirit Command and has disengaged. KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder targets Artemisia ka Britannia with MA-M20 Lupus Beam Rifle Maneuver Shot! KTS: Riika Sheder targets Vitaly Sokolov with MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Impact Shot! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia fails to evade Riika Sheder's MA-M20 Lupus Beam Rifle Maneuver Shot, taking 4900 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 20. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Spirit Spirit Command. KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder rattles Vitaly Sokolov, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Vitaly Sokolov blocks Riika Sheder's MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Impact Shot, taking 1890 damage! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 58. Vitaly Sokolov transforms to RX-123-P Gundam TR-S [Hazel Flare Proto]
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Artemisia approaches Farkas as he is left wrapped up in the dreadful KMF signature device. The great thing about these, really, is that unlike most elements of a KMF, they're *perfect* for fighting in space!
In some ways.
Artemisia's head turns slightly as she looks out towards the remaining unit. Vitaly is engaged, yes, but will Vitaly take the head? No, probably not. That's Artemisia's judgment, and she turns her head back towards the GINN--
BLINDSIDE! Kat comes near to shedding royal blood at the launching of the fragmented material, which does strike the KMF and make it start twisting. The damaged arm is seized and Artemisia makes a snarl in the back of her throat as the Frame twists away from the beam weapon -- in the end its firing leaves another burning gash along the side of the machine, and Artemisia briefly turns her head. "Tch -- no fracture in the filler, thank god," she mumbles to herself
AND THEN!
It's time to come to life.
"Oh, is THAT all that you are," Artemisia answers Riika. "How silly of me! I must have been going blind, or perhaps I was simply not listening to that wonderful ENCOURAGING NARRATIVE of yours! Hold out, heroes! The fleet is coming to your relief! Ha ha, how brilliant - and then what you did! You've done something only ZEON has been able to manage for more than a fortnight at a time, little rabbit!"
oh no, a new name!
(artemisia's knowledge of geopolitical events may be imprecise, but britannia does have a record of spreading across the map like someone dropped a bucket of authoritarianiesque paint)
"Thanks to YOU, my father's realm is reduced!" At this point, Artemisia gesticulates with the less-damaged arm of the KMF -- wait, no, she was loading a round! Which is fired at short range, the solenoid bow chillingly silent in the void of space as Artemisia aims it towards the GINN she is attached to.
"It's not much, perhaps... but I'd *hate* to allow for the trend. Ha ha!! Have you seen the marks of what you did, from your perch in space??"
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Riika Sheder with Pilium Coup-de-grace! <Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.
Vitaly sneers a bit as Riika maintains unusual amounts of professionalism for ZAFT pilots. With so many of them being Irregulars, lacking typical combat instruction or ranks, this is earnestly surprising to her. But more importantly, it's not leading her towards the answers she's looking for. A personal attack retorted with a generalistic statement.
The old woman goes quiet, focusing on the battle itself instead, as the Rabscuttle suddenly begins to roll. Shifting its body as the GuAIZ EFT shows intense battle movements. The sudden thrust is hard to keep up with, even for this old veteran. So she turns the Rabscuttle's body to take the shots from the Railgun. The heavy slugs tearing across the larger unit!
Shot, then another - tearing through its body and creating a sudden small internal explosion that seems to slow the shuttle...
Only for something to suddenly rush towards the GuAIZ's position. And though Vitaly may not be prone to Jazz, there is something almost symbolic about another one of these old machines to take the field here within the Frontier Zone. As, with lightning bearing in the background, a well armored and older model Gundam pushes forwards. Ducking through some of the debris. There's sparks at its shoulder, showing that some of the railgun shot had pierced through the Rabscuttle and into the mobile suit itself. But it still moves, with those massive containers on its shoulders.
It spreads its fingers, firing upon her position with megabeam lasers, trying to trap her. All while Vitaly communicates with Artemisia; <"Princess. Retreat to a safe distance of five-hundred meters from the target."> - giving the Britanian princess and her allies enough time to retreat as she tracks a position between Kat and Riika...
And suddenly, one of the large shoulder-mounted devices opens. Two small manipulator arms pulling a large missile out from it, setting it onto a launcher that 'pops' up from its back.
It almost looks like one of those horrifying launchers that were used that cruel day that Junius 7 perished. As a massive rocket suddenly hurtles towards her...
With enough singular detonation force to tear through a group of battleships. Certainly enough concussive force to cause severe problems, even through a Phase system.
KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has activated the Accel Spirit Command and Has Engaged with Riika Sheder KTS: Vitaly Sokolov targets Riika Sheder with Long Tube! KTS: Riika Sheder fails to Evade Vitaly Sokolov's Long Tube, taking 8280 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 12512 KTS: Vitaly Sokolov completes the Formation attack! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Riika Sheder's Combat Focus activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia enervates Riika Sheder, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia rattles Riika Sheder, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Riika Sheder partially guards Artemisia ka Britannia's Pilium Coup-de-grace, taking 6720 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Let this moment last forever activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's The Hunter's Song activates, causing Deject! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Perfection of Movement activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 5792 KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Riika Sheder!
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Riika has always been professional. She's a soldier, sure, but it's just the way she is; reliable, dedicated (or stubborn, depending on who you ask), professional in her work as a warrior. It wasn't her original career goal, but if she's going to do it, she's going to do it right.
When Vitaly goes quiet, Riika does too, or at least doesn't engage with her. It's hard to *not* engage with Artemisia, loud and vocal as she is, though Riika is slightly taken aback by the vehemence in her words. She shouldn't be, she knows. But she has the vague feeling she's being credit (or blamed) for things she didn't really do.
"I - "
Artemisia fires. The bolt, fired at close range against an entangled target, penetrates entirely completely this time, transfixing the unit for a moment before shattering the back plate, sending a cone of shrapnel out the back side of the GINN. Farkas' GINN lurches from the impact, once, and then goes still, as half the battery was part of that debris. An explosion rocks the suit from the inside.
She's killing them. She's killing all of them - this squad was entrusted to Riika, and they deserve better from her. "Kat!" Riika transmits, on a private line. "Kat, get out! Bail into the shoal zone! Pull back!"
"After what she did to Schneider? To Farkas? I'll kill her first!"
"That's an *order*!" Riika raises her voice. "Kat, please just - watch out!"
She'd thought she'd left the Rabscuttle behind, but a tiny MS - no, a normal size MS, it only seems tiny in comparison - has ejected her outer shell, loading a giant tube launcher. Riika saw it, and fires the thruster to go straight 'up' from her current perspective.
Kat is a little slow. The explosion, spherical in space, erupts. Between her distance and the Phase Shift Armour, Riika is - not precisely unhurt, but she's at least in decent condition after the burst, the colours of the PS armour rippling as the power system cycles up and back down. Kat is not, as the detonation has blasted her not only with force but with shrapnel. Her GuAIZ looks like a blunderbuss hit it, little shards of metal sticking out of the armour or tearing chunks out of it.
"Get OUT!" Riika yells again. "I'll cover you!"
Kat finally does start to move, but not away - she goes towards Artemisia. The standard GuAIZ does not usually carry a beam saber, but she's got one, and she dives to strike at Artemisia in a reckless, last-ditch attempt to impale the Knightmare Frame front to back. "I'll kill you!" Kat howls at Artemisia, the pain and rage obvious in her voice. "Fucking Britannian Princess! You don't deserve Earth! Death to the Federation for what you've done to us!"
Riika, at a distance, cannot stop her. The most she can do is take aim herself, firing a staggered shot from her railgun at the Hazel Flare to try to keep it from following up.
KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder has activated the Strike Spirit Command. KTS: Riika Sheder targets Artemisia ka Britannia with MA-M01 Lacerta Double Beam Saber Single Slash! KTS: Riika Sheder targets Vitaly Sokolov with MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Staggered Fire! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov blocks Riika Sheder's MMI-M15 Xiphias Rail Cannon Staggered Fire, taking 1680 damage! KTS: Riika Sheder begins a Formation attack! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 30. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Wall Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia rushes into the attack! KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia partially guards Riika Sheder's MA-M01 Lacerta Double Beam Saber Single Slash, taking 1845 damage! KTS: Riika Sheder has engaged Artemisia ka Britannia! KTS: EN Regen activates. Your new EN value is 68.
<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.
There is almost a dispassionate look on Vitaly face as she listens to Artemisia. Speaking on the local band like that, listening to the woman with such unseeming rage for a Princess of such a great Empire. Well, that's what one might think, if one didn't truly understand what it means to be a Britanian princess or prince.
But while Vitaly was trying to goad Riika, she can tell that the Britanian truly believes it. There's something in that tone. That self-serving rage. <"Train pilots badly. Anger lead to bad decision. Bad decision lead to death."> Vitaly remarks as she hears one of the pilots declare she'll kill the princess first.
Certainly, they understand that they are outnumbered and out-skilled here. But there's something far more important here. And that is that one thing is very clear.
<"But this decision, not all yours. You are here because someone wish you to be here."> Vitaly declares firmly. She's certain of it now. Artemisia was hunting her, but even Britania does not normally have this much reach. Not to someone in ZAFT who just made Ace. Not to someone whose name she's heard before when it came to succesful campaigns. <"You will not kill Princess. And you will not be permitted to die either.">
The Hazel Gundam continues to approach Riika at high speeds. It's not at a speed like the Rabscuttle can hit, but its Minovsky Craft is no slouch! It sways rapidly between the shots coming Vitaly's way. More notably however, it shifts its position to interject itself between the Princess' Knightmare and Riika, before bursting into close range. The railgun tearing into its shoulders, ripping parts of its armor from the waist and legs. Ripping parts of the machine entirely apart. But each shot - Vitaly refuses to expose the machine directly for a killing shot as it tries to reach out to Riika once more, its claw moving right for the head of Riika's machine with the intent of ripping it off and using the beam-emitters within to rain megabeam energy upon the rest of the unit.
<"You have answer to unasked question.">
KTS: Vitaly Sokolov targets Riika Sheder with 3-Barrel Beam Cannon Fingers! KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has activated the Resupply Spirit Command targeting Artemisia ka Britannia
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
As she pulls up tight against the GINN, Artemisia lets out a loud breath into the microphone. That's what it was, right? Like, she's exerting herself or something. Yeah, it was probably that. There is then a ripple of color as the Knightmare Frame turns its head to look towards the charging GuAIZ.
Artemisia's lips pull back into a grin. "How flirty," she says, before kicking off the GINN and accelerating forwards INTO Kat's incoming charge. Doubtless Kat can see this happening, and may welcome it, but the problem is that the KMF is probably just a little deceptive -- they are, after all, smaller than Mobile Suits -- and so a swing that should have breached the central piece largely devastates the right arm, which, in fact, sparks and falls off all the way.
The Harkens fire to anchor.
The KMF is getting *quite* snuggly with the GuAIZ... and Artemisia speaks.
"That's it," Artemisia says. "Scream more. I want your rage. Scream at me! Scream about the injustice of your birth! The futility of everything. All of your training and your hard work, and it all fell apart here at the final ditch. That moment when you realized that you weren't the predator bird, sweeping over the plains and mountains of Earth!"
The solenoid-bow mount on the LEFT arm is perfectly fine.
And loaded.
It's slammed forwards against the cockpit and Artemisia lets out a little breathless giggle before
THIS time it makes a sound, anyway.
Afterwards, the Rabscuttle whisks by, having clearly gotten past where Artemisia's velocity is. And it dropped an Energy Filler, how polite! A Harken is shot over to snag it. "Sokolov! She's got drones or something! Cripple the machine!" Artemisia calls out while momentarily focusing on this.
KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Valor Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has activated the Alert Spirit Command. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia targets Riika Sheder with Pilium Coup-de-grace! KTS: Riika Sheder fails to Parry Vitaly Sokolov's 3-Barrel Beam Cannon Fingers, taking 5760 damage! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at 32 KTS: Vitaly Sokolov has engaged Riika Sheder! KTS: [Spirit Defense] Riika Sheder's Combat Focus activates, and her spirit endures. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia enervates Riika Sheder, reducing her Morale significantly. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia rattles Riika Sheder, making her next maneuvers more difficult. KTS: Riika Sheder fails to react to Artemisia ka Britannia's Pilium Coup-de-grace, taking 6720 damage! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Let this moment last forever activates, causing Sparkle! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's The Hunter's Song activates, causing Deject! KTS: [Dynamic Hit] Artemisia ka Britannia's Perfection of Movement activates, causing Nullify! KTS: Your unit's HP stands at -6688 KTS: Riika Sheder has been defeated! KTS: You're out of the fight. Consider using +eject to leave the battlefield. KTS: Artemisia ka Britannia has engaged Riika Sheder!
<Pose Tracker> Riika Sheder has posed.
Vitaly is speaking to her, but honestly, Riika isn't listening. She's trying to get under her skin - just like Artemisia but in a very different way. Of *course* the decision wasn't all hers - it was an order from ZAFT High Command! She verified it when she got it. There's quite a few reasons for them to be considering operations in the Frontier Side; with the loss in personnel after Spitbreak, they need to look at skirmishing and blitz attacks again.
Plus, she has more urgent things to think about.
Kat grinds the blade into the Knightmare Frame, trying to saw into it even as the Skathi moves under her blade. It's in close... so close, in fact, that the larger Mobile Suit is having trouble dealing with the small frame, like bringing a longblade to a knife fight.
Even in her fury, Kat sees what's going to happen before it does. She has enough time to close her eyes before Artemisia fires, though she tries to carve deeper at the last moment. If she took out a Princess of Britannia at the same time, it would be worth it.
In the end, it doesn't matter.
"Kat!" There's nothing Riika can do for her at this distance - nothing at all. She's watched the precise slaughter of the rest of her squad. Nothing she did could help them; nothing she can do here and now can avenge them. The Hazel's claw snaps out, and Riika interposes an arm, the yellow-orange 'paint' of the suit getting more intense as Riika manually overcharges the Phase Shift Armour.
She stops the suit from being crushed, but it does nothing for the beam emitters, which practically shell the left arm of the GuAIZ EFT. The hand is held on mostly by armour plates and scrap at this point - and then not even that, as Riika twists away, severing her machine's arm at the elbow and leaving Hazel Gundam holding the remnants of the hand and lower arm.
If Riika has a drone, she does not use it. What she does is fire the thrusters on her back-mounted flight system, the proto-Fatum. She flips a switch she's never had occasion to use before, a message appearing on her readout:
HiMAT ENGAGED
Every thruster fires simultaneously, slamming Riika back so hard in her seat that if she wasn't a Coordinator, she would have knocked herself out. Even now, as slight as she is, she can feel herself being weighed down heavily by the G-forces, compressed painfully, and unlike Vitaly she doesn't have a suit to help. Her vision does not distort, but it's hard for her to breathe; she can feel her ribs object and has to actively work to lift an arm, to inhale more than a tiny fraction of an inch.
But it *does* mean that she tears off at a speed almost no MS can accelerate at. She's picked a direction of relatively light debris, and is trusting to her still-operating Phase Shift Armour to save her from a glancing impact; she has three minutes of that left if she doesn't fire any more beam weaponry, and it's going to have to be enough.
"Kat, Schneider, Farkas," Riika says to herself, once she finally gets to slow down, her radio offline. "...I'm sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
Thunk.
It sounds like 'thunk.'
Artemisia, to be frank, shouldn't have come here. Granted that she carried herself, but Vitaly can probably assess her skill as being 'adequate' compared to the typical MS pilot. Her main advantages were, first, that she was able to bring a squad with her -- presumably *out of pocket* -- and this sort of bloody-minded determination that has left them with only one survivor.
And yet.
Artemisia has the presence of mind to click off her comms before she breathes out, "Oh, god," she says. "This is w-on-de-r-ful. Hah. Whew. Haha! Yes, yes... nnn; alright, alright, we're still in the hot zone Arte, what would mother say-"
Mother's opinion is not brought up. What does happen is that THE MYSTERIOUS THIRD KMF, which had been staking out another piece of rubble and who had a long range gun, is now firing it -- after Riika -- and fruitlessly, as it turns out, or at least any shots from the electromagnetic gun of no particular refinement will simply blap off of the Phase Shift Armor.
Artemisia turns her signals back on. She does *not* sound angry. It probably sounds weird because she has been angry for the last, approximately, three weeks. Perhaps most of her life.
"That acceleration... She's killing herself to deny us the suit, isn't she?" Artemisia says, with something like wonder. "Peres, can you track the trajectory? We could send an interceptor or something. Though," she muses, "ZAFT would probably send their own..."
<Pose Tracker> Vitaly Sokolov has posed.
The Rabscuttle quickly moves towards Vitaly's position, but when Riika rockets away at such breakneck speed... the woman considers whether or not she should chase right now. On the one hand, she believes that the Rabscuttle is uniquely qualified to outrun the GuAIZ. On the other hand, the Princess would be left behind. And she's her ride.
Picking her up... she won't be able to dock with her. More importantly, if she went to full acceleration...
She rather not have the death of a Princess on her record.
The woman guides the Rabscuttle to pick up Artemisia as the signal comes, and begins to approach her. <"No, she hurting self, to deny us herself. She is a smart soldier. Surviving a battle is more important than victory here."> She points out.
<"Do not chase. Wait for another opportunity."> Vitaly remarks, considering that...
<"It will come again. She has forces moving against her.">
<Pose Tracker> Artemisia ka Britannia has posed.
It's quite plausible that Artemisia could summon help -
But then again she might not. Those KMFs may have been able to do what needed doing at this range. How long would they hold out, waiting for rescue? And what if that rescue was a ZAFT ship?
This literally does not occur to Artemisia, who is in fact floating gently. Her tongue threatens to loll out of her mouth, though thankfully she doesn't have video on. "Hm," she says. "Yes. - Wait."
Her eye widens.
"Then she's alive?"
"The little rabbit has run away?"
"*How terribly droll*! Alright, then - shall we gather up our litter, while we're still here?"
After all, maybe they can learn something from what remains.