Thomas A. Law - THE BLUE STAR

The barrage shook his suit and camera, leaving but stormy tails of dust in front of his optics. He was surprised but not by much, he had just barely put his shield between himself and the shots. Though he was being battered, his suit hurt and degraded, Thomas just smirked behind the impervious concentration that zoomed in on the enemy.

"I'm better than you!"

She seemed focused on hurting him and since she had found it smart to continuing firing on him, covering him in debris, Thomas instincts kicked in quickly afterwards. He pulled out his beam saber on the side of his guarding shield, picked himself up into a crouch, and igniting the saber slid out of the way of fire before retreating from the Sandesgeist.

My instincts were yelling for me to get out of dodge. But not from the Sandesgeist, he thought to himself.

Charging forward she charged ahead towards the gundam sandgeist though she stopped short at seeing the large dust cloud where they were not to mention the shots from Alice and her dober gun. She could make out that Thomas was guarding and Lindemann was pushing him back there was no way she could go in otherwise she risk getting shot at from Alice's barrage. Seeing no other choice she took out with her free hand a beam pistol and shot the sandgeist from behind. This was her only strategy taking a few more shots she stopped and jumped back sensing something bad was going to happen. Taking a eye of things from her new vantage point she saw Alice charging up her shot that was going to either damage Thomas if he did not make it out and or damage Lindemann but she doubted it would hit either.

Sensing incoming ranged attack from different directions the Gundam Sandesgeist did an incredible jump to avoid them all with the graceful move demonstrating her skills as both a builder and fighter. Figuring out where one of the sources of the ranged attacks are, she began to dash at Marie's position. Before the student will be able to react to her charge the tonfas on the Unicorn-based arm of the Sandesgeist created a shoted-shaped green-colour particle-based blade, destroying the pistol.

As Thomas was relieved of the attacks Peter brought his Byzantine Gundam to where Miss Lindemann once was to check the damages on the customised Unicorn. "Thomas, are you okay?" He asked him. The Byzantine pilot also heard Gary's voice. "Gary, I hear you clear. I agree that we need to work together." He made sure he was connected to everyone before giving a rough plan. "We win if we can give even a minor damage. We will attack herand when we do so, attack in a way she can't escape from."

"I need a clear shot get me a clear shot and this is over! I'll stay in cover until I'm needed! The GP-O1 isn't anything special Peter I don't want to have to use it's melee features unless I have too. I'm proficient with a shield and saber but not as well as I'd like. And firing from my current position will just expose my position." Gary responded hurrying to set up shop on the hill. He dug himself in and put one of his beam sabers on the ground so if need be he could simply discard his rifle and immediately pick up the saber for all the good it would do him.

"Roger accepting mission" Marie said as she moved back from the teacher and along the way dropped the remains of her pistol. Holstering her one katana at the hip she withdrew the two on her shoulders and got into a battle stance. "Ill try to buy time for your clear shot but I do not know how long I can last" she called out. Digging her right foot into the ground she calmed her breathing and charged forward right now she needed to buy time for Gary to get a shot in while she knew she wouldn't last long she would do her best to for her teammates. Swinging one of her katanas down she set out to try and buy time for Gary.

Thomas A. Law - THE BLUE STAR

Thomas nodded at Peter absently, his own thoughts focusing on Linderman and how excited he was to be fighting her. It was almost like fighting his sister, except this battle was a lot more chaotic and had a desperate factor to it. His Unicorn rose up to its feet as he dropped the bullet riddled shield to the ground and pulled out his second beam saber.

The chatter over the comms were in his ears and with his mind taking a repose, he was capable of actually responding. "I'll back up samurai girl," he told the others before bursting off to enter the fray with the girl. He knew he'd be a bit behind his teammate melee attack, so he would wait for the teacher to retreat or press forwards against the woman before slashing down on her--making the battle a two on one. His expansive movements were erratic but precise, risky but worth the cost. For every blow was meant to leave the woman exposed in one way or the other. Even more so with samurai girl's help.

Miss Lindemann reacted to Thomas' backattack as if she had a third-eye, parrying gracefully with her beam-shotel. "You are the Red Hot's brother?" She asked. Continuing to parry the attacks from two Gunpla showed her stamina that was professional level.

Peter observed the battle and looked to contact Alice now. "Alice, I need you to join the close-combat!" He ordered.
The Tallgeese Legion's camera shined in the moonlight. "Roger." She replied. The Mobile Suit placed it's vernier at full speed and prepared to charge with it's lance. As it was closing to the sight of the battle and when she was about to enter, The Gundam Sandesgeist immediately identified the new enemy and bisected it vertically with little haste.
Observing the damage from the Byzantine Gundam flying above the youth saw the caliber of the German champion. "Alice!" He shouted in vain. "It looks like she's not going to lose unless one of us is harmed." The Gundam transformed back into it's Mobile Suit mode and began descending to the battle. "Gary! Shoot now!" He ordered! "We sealed her exits!"

"Open wide and say boom mother trucker!" Gary said grinning as he fired four shots in consecutive order. Gary's shots were precise and aimed directly at the enemy's chest. Body shots were more likely to hit more than head shots. Two shots were directed at the enemy itself while the others were directed to the nearby left and to the right in hopes of hitting something in case it moved to either side. "Gotcha..." Gary grinned with satisfaction. He loved it when a plan came together.

The shots from Gary's rifle flew with precision at the sit of the battle. Miss Lindemann saw the incoming shots but with her exits sealed she realised she's done for. The first shots struck the Byzantine Gundam but the later shots glanced the Sandesgeist's cockpit.
Peter saw the large scratch made by the shot. "We won didn't we?" He asked. "I thought we can only win if I had to get some damage as well."
The teacher nodded. "You did win." She pointed out. "But you only did so because you all worked together." When the sage advice was given the announcementfrom the machine was given.

CONCESSION SIGNAL CONFIRMED
BATTLE ENDED

As the plavsky particle dispersal ended Peter claimed his Byzantine Gundam and immediately looked at the damage given in his model. Miss Lindemann picked up her Sandesgeist and walked to the students. "I will keep my word." She said to them. "You all showed some potential in teamwork and skills. I will get the school to register the club and register for the Under 19 national tournament." She wiped her sweat with her keffiyeh and to be honest the battle with the student reminded her how Gunpla battle is fun.

"Heh I won with GP-01. Hm it looks like I won't need to use my old pal after all. But hey don't we need to register for qualifying rounds in a regional before we get to the main tournament?" Gary said confidently feeling good that his suit was what decided the victory for their team. Of course he didn't have that big of an ego. He got lucky shots in a closed in space. He also didn't do any major damage meaning his weapon either hit poorly or it's power was below what he expected. Well he wasn't Jarrett so he could live with either of that. "You know if we go in feet all cold we may not be prepared for how hot the competition is."

Grabbing Fubuki she sighed as she now had to replace the pistols for it. Still she got out with minor damage though that was mainly due to the fact she had little part to play in the battle. "Also I do believe Gary is right we do need a qualifying round tournament before even thinking of entering a big tournament. Also we need to coordinate as a team more I am more of a ranged fighter but did not bring my main gunpla with me so used my spare." Marie stated as she looked to see the reactions of those around her still she supposed their victory was a good one all things considered.

Thomas A. Law - THE BLUE STAR

After reclaiming his Unicorn suit and its detached pieces, Thomas smiled at the conclusion of the battle. He had done a fair bit in securing victory though he would have liked to take her own by himself. With the way the battle went, he wouldn't do so well against his sister. Ms. Linderman was good but he honestly felt RED HOT was a few feet ahead of her when it came to combat.

He cracked his neck lightly and went to work on returning Brave Passion to its standby armament. "Forget all that, I say we skip straight to the main. If we want to become stronger, we need to face against strong opponents. I don't want to go up against weaklings. With Ms. Linderman's influence I'm sure she can find us some strong competition."

Thomas glazed over the others with a relatively carefree smile as he massaged one of his shoulders.

Miss Lindemann shook her head. "When I mean register to the national tournament I mean they will place us in the Northern California qualifiers." She pointed out. "Until the qualifiers begin I will train you and sometimes arrange friendly matches with other schools interested. I may call in a few favours from my old friends." She looked at Thomas. "I fought your sister once in one of the world tournament's rounds. We fought one on one and the battle was too long that they had to make it a sudden death. Send my regards to your sister." The teacher saw Marie. "We will be working on 'teamwork', the golden word for the following days. It will be good to have a ranged unit to even the composition of the team." She looked at Gary. "That will be what the training will be about. Everyone here has some experience but you all need to be able to coordinate together." Lastly she examined Peter's Gunpla. "Do you have a team name or something already? I need to know so I can register."
Peter had one name. "Maximum." He replied. "We will work together to get to the maximum potential."
She nodded. "Good." She answered. "Class dismissed." She said to the students as she left the store with her Gundam Sandesgeist in her toolbox again.

As the teacher left Layzner at the register was startled. A customer at the cash register had to snap him out so he can buy his HGUC Hizack. "Mister, you haven't scanned the barcode yet." He said.
The shopkeeper just remembered where he was. "Sorry." He apologised as he scanned and his register showed the price for the kit. "Have a nice day."

Peter looked at his team mates. "I hope Maximum is an okay name for everyone." He said to them. "I had to think of one on the spot. I can also say as long as we don't have anything else to talk about, we can leave too."

"Alright whatever if we need better team work then I suppose we better get to working on that. For the time being however I want to know what's next exactly. I kind of don't have a way home and I don't want to pay another taxi cab driver for a second time in a row." Gary said as he yawned boredom clearly crossing his face as he scratched his leg. He really found this all dull and boring it's not like anyone here had a lack of experience. Or at least a lack of some experience since the gunpla used today were rather good quality suits. "With all due respect Miss I just want something to do or I want a ride back to school or home."

Inside the hobby store,a small crowd started to congregating around an active battle field. 6 Individuals are involved in this battle which was not uncommon. What made it uncommon was its team ratio, it was 5 against 1 match. The battlefield was set to field 2, the desert where there is minimal cover for both sides. The 5 man team consists of various mobile suits from different series, "God" Gundam from the G Gundam series, Zeta gundam from ms z gundam , Aegis gundam from Gundam seed, Gundam F91 from Gundam F91 and Nu Gundam from Mobile suit Gundam Char's counterattack.
Their opponent was the Jagd Arche Gundam, a Gundam which was larger than an average mobile suit.

The Aegis Gundam and Zeta Gundam were airborne in their mobile armor mode scouting ahead with the other mobile suits following behind them. The Jagd Arche Gundam was standing completely still in the middle of the desert as if its user was waiting for something to happen. As soon as the large mobile suit was detected by radar of the two scouting units, a large beam stream was fired by the Aegis Gundam in its Mobile armor attack mode prompting the target mobile suit to dash to the left while releasing crimson particles. In response to this the Zeta gundam began firing its rifle in attempt to damage the crimson Gundam but it was all in vain since the Jagd Arche Gundam easily out-paced both large beam stream and the rifle shots. Not wanting to give up, the user of the Aegis Gundam fired a continuous beam at the Jagd Arche and started strafing it in hopes that it will catch up with the surprisingly nimble giant. In doing so, the desert sand began to disperse into the air creating multiple clouds of sand in the desert around the area of the Jagd Arche. Despite no longer having a clear line of site of their opponent, the two Gundams continued their onslaught by firing blindly into the sand clouds hoping to get a lucky hit while their allies readied themselves for any possible counterattacks that would come out of the sand cloud. A few seconds later, the Jagd Arche fires a crimson beam shot through the sand cloud using its GN launcher mounted on the right shoulder aimed at the Aegis Gundam while simultaneously using its right hand to grab one of its GN buster swords stored in the back and lob it towards the airborne Zeta Gundam . The Aegis Gundam took a direct hit from the GN launcher due to the user being too focused on strafing its laser to the point where the mobile suit was basically stationary, while the Zeta was stunned by the sudden counterattack that the user didn’t noticed that buster blade was flying towards the mobile suit. By the time the Zeta turn its head to face the direction of the enemy, the only thing that could be seen by the user was the edge of the buster blade before the camera feed cuts out due to the buster blade being wedged deep into the Zeta’s head and chest extinguishing its power source and thus causing it plummet towards the ground like a bird shot down during hunting season. As the Aegis gundam exploded and Zeta started free falling towards the ground a giant crimson gundam flies out of the sand cloud passing through the falling dead body of the zeta gundam to retrieve its blade using its right hand and continued its flight path towards the remaining mobile suits while releasing a massive amount of red GN particles causing the targeting systems of the opposing mobiles suits to go haywire and forcing them rely on manual aim which greatly decreases the accuracy of their ranged weapons. As the Jagd Arche flew towards the direction of the trio, the F91 started shooting its beam rifle at the titan of a mobile suit with extremely poor accuracy while charging towards it with its free hand holding an ignited beam sabre. As it got closer and closer towards the red mobile suit the F91 started spinning its sabre hand to create its signature beam buzz saw while the God Gundam charges up one of its signature moves, the “Sekiha Tenkyoken”. In order to follow up with attacks of its allies, the Nu Gundam detaches all of its funnels and began firing at crimson mobile suit with unrelenting waves of beams using both rifle and funnels. In response to this the Jagd Arche ignites its beam sabre mounted on its left leg to parry the beam sabre of the F91 while its right arm started to imitate the F91’s signature with its buster blade to block the barrage of beam shot coming from the Nu Gundam while also causing the sand to disperse into the air violently to the point where both the F91 and the Jagd Arche were basically inside a sandstorm. Afraid of possible friendly fire the Nu Gundam halted its relentless assault. At the same time the F91 activated its Back Jet stream feature to give it an advantage in the fight against the giant red mobile suit. Outside of the sandstorm the only thing can be seen were the occasional sparks generated when two beam sabres clashed. Reluctant to wait any longer for a clearer shot, the God Gundam unleashed Its “Sekiha Tenkyoken” into the sandstorm briefly revealing silhouette of two clashing Gundams inside the sandstorm before detonating causing large explosion to engulf the area creating an even large sand storm. As the sandstorm clears, a wreckage of the F91 Gundam can be seen lying where it had been standing a few seconds ago along with a trail of red GN particles leading to the sky prompting the two remaining gundams to look up only to see the Jagd Arche gundam unscathed by their attack. The Nu Gundam and God Gundam nodded to each other before they proceeded with their combination attack. The God Gundam started to glow Golden as its chest opens to reveal an energy multiplier, the wing-like field emitters on its back unfold as ring of energy forms around it while the Nu Gundam detaches it funnels once more to create its signature fin funnel shielding around the God Gundam. Moments later, the God Gundam began charging towards the Jagd Arche with the Nu Gundam following it close from behind. Seeing this, the user of the Jagd Arche launched its GN fangs towards the fin funnels. The GN fangs made quick work of the fin funnels, easily destroying each of them by ramming through them despite the best efforts of the Nu Gundams pilot to shoot the fangs down. Reluctant to give up the God gundam continued its charge despite no longer having the protection of the fin funnels. As soon as the God Gundam got to within a few centimetre of the Jagd Arche to unleash its “Erupting God Finger” attack the large Gundam simply side dashed to the left and swung its buster blade towards God Gundam knowing full well that the Gundam couldn’t alter its flight path at that speed in such a short distance. As a result of the God Gundam failed attack, it was bisected cleanly throughout the entire length of the Gundam causing it explode behind the Jagd Arche. Shortly after the explosion of the God Gundam, the Nu gundam came charging in with its beam sabre ignited only to be impaled by the buster of the Jagd Arche demonstrating its superior reach with its longer blade and limbs. With the elimination of all of the mobile suits in one team, the computer finally gave its signature announcement .
BATTLE ENDED
As the both teams began reclaiming their Gunpla , the crowd began cheering and chanting the nickname of the winner of the battle. “VERMILLION ! VERMILLION! VERMILLION!”
Raiyen walked towards leader of the opposing team and extended his right hand towards him while smiling with gratitude. Although the leader was disappointed that his team couldn’t beat Raiyen, he acknowledged the fact that it was a good fight and shook his hand.

Miss Lindemann sighed. "Sure." She replied to Gary's demand to take him home. She got out her keys for her green sportscar, and looked at everyone else. "Anyone else need a lift home?" She offered to the other students. When some of them accepted the offer she made sure she knew the direction to their homes. The sportscar was decorated with a number of Gundam merchandise, mostly from Wing as her generation can suggest. As the engine was turned on she played some songs from the 1980s. She drove with great grace through the traffic, mapping out her route through the built-in GPS.

Peter observed the other Gunpla battle. It looked like the town has more than plebs after all.

***

The following days were filled with Miss Lindemann's intense training, which she devised out of her experience or from insanity. She gave exercises like tying together Gunpla to ensure better coordination. Peter was perplexed with the whole methods but accepted it nonetheless as something to do in order to win the Northern California Qualifiers. There was also some surprise with the sudden surge of popularity in the club with a lot more fighters signing up and also skilled. Among the new fighters is this guy named 'Vermillion' or something and a girl who goes by 'Cima'. He heard that Miss Lindemann will arrive soon and got some news. The registration for the tournament was done successfully to note.

Gary sat in the clubroom fiddling around with The O and his GP-01 along with a newer model he had built of the Titan Gundam MK 2 which wasn't nearly as good at the other two but was passable. He had put it together while waiting for his other club members to get done with their work and training. "Training really? As if there wasn't any other excuse to play with gunpla? What are we nine?" Gary grumbled to himself as he moved his O's arm up and down boredom making itself very apparent. Hey at least he knew their 'instructor' Miss Lindermann was a somebody if she had such a smoking hot ride like that sports car on a daily basis. Gary figured she had rented it but knew better now. "I wonder how big bro is doing? I'm sure he's beating someones ass somewhere. Jarrett's probably still doing volunteer work like the model student he is. At least dad's been keeping up." Gary said to himself silently as he eyed the GP-01 for a moment before smiling. "I'm getting sentimental all up in here it seems." Gary chuckled shaking his head.

Emily advanced down the sidewalk at a brisk pace, cradling the box that housed her Gerbera Tetra Omega. It was a customized version of the standard Gunpla carrier; colored crimson with deep emerald tiger stripes along its length to match the Gunpla inside. At the center of the top flap, the Greek symbol for Omega was inlaid into the surface. She carried the box gingerly at all times, safeguarding the source of pride within. Hopefully it would see some use today and earn another tally on its shoulder.

The news had reached Emily of a Gunpla team starting up within the school; a much-needed addition after three years without one. Previously, she'd have to contend herself by finding matches elsewhere, but with Gunpla battlers popping up at Von Braun High, it would be much easier to practice. She momentarily scolded herself for lacking the initiative to start one on her own; had she done so, she might not be so starved for competition.

Layzner's front doors clanked open, followed by the welcoming ding-dong of a typical storefront motion-sensor. Emily stepped in, eyes darting from the shelves of Gunpla kits to a back room. Behind the glass panel stood a handful of kids, not much younger than herself, who were gathered around a Gunpla Battle machine.

At the front desk, Kelley tossed a glance at his store's newcomer, looking up from his work. "Hello! If there's anything I can do, give me a holler." Emily approached the counter, still focused on the battlers at the end of the store.

"Hi there," she replied, setting her Gunpla box on the top of the counter. "I heard that some new students from the high school were starting a team and use your store to practice." She gave a nod towards the battle room. "Is that them?"

Kelley looked back and gave a nod, grinning. "Sure is! They come here often; bring some life to the store. A little exposure is good for business, y'know?" His eyes wandered to Emily's striped box and his expression changed. "Oh- You're the one they call Cima, aren't you? I'm pleased to have you at my store! I've heard a bit about your exploits." He dug through an old stack of newspapers, presumably articles on Gunpla, and pulled out a old issue with a photo of Emily holding a triple-stacked trophy. "You won the last regional tournament!"

Emily couldn't help but return the storekeeper's smile, allowing herself a hint of fulfillment. "You seem to keep up-to-date with everything Gunpla around here. I live a town away, so I haven't looked inside your store much. I may as well visit more often if I can expect a reception like this!"

The storeowner chuckled, returning the paper to its place in the pile. "I'd appreciate your business! If folks see someone of your caliber hanging out here, I just might see more sales. But anyway, that's the group you're looking for. Can't speak for them, but I don't suppose it'd hurt to go say hello."

"Thanks," Emily replied. With that, she walked over to the battle room, giving the door a knock and brandishing her Gunpla box through the glass panel. "Are any of you up for a real battle?"

Thomas A. Law - THE BLUE STAR

T H E O P T I M I S T
"You're depressing," Thomas muttered as he laid across the arms of a chair pulled out from the table, his legs swinging as he craned his neck towards Gary. "Everything has some ultimate downside for you. That has to be a very sad way of living."

Just as he did so often--even when things were lively--he turned a pondering gaze towards the Unicorn Gunpla standing on the table. Its blue shoulder guard and horn had been repainted to a practiced perfection, his build coated to realistic gleam. Every since that battle and the training they've been going through, he'd started thinking that perhaps Brave Passion wasn't as perfect as he believed. He was quick and agile from never relying on ranged weapons but now he was seeing it as a major disadvantage. Especially against opponent's like Miss. Lindermann.

With a sigh and a heave, he fixed his position in the chair and scooted his chair up, pushing back Brave Passion with careful hand. He laid his chin on the table and stared at his sister's masterpiece. "We'll get better, Brave. We'll get better."

Then his mind strayed to the usual addiction, he raised his voice so that the others could hear him in the Club Room. "Who's up for some training? I'm really in the mood for some epic Gunpla Battling." His arms stretched up high as he twisted his arms and wound them around one another.

"What the hell I don't have the right to grumble to myself about training on something I've done all my life? Get over yourself man I don't call you out on your heavy handed BS excuse for attention seeking crap. Long story short I won't patronize you if you don't do it to me." Gary said starting to get fed up with this guy. He's been hanging out with him for a total of two days and he's already ready to hate his guts. That was really freaking fast. Whatever if he want's to get in a measuring contest so be it. But at the end of the day Gary just wanted some peace and quiet or an actually decent opponent to fight against. Miss Lindermann seemed to be skilled or so she claimed to be at least but she held back and most of the others here weren't as tactically sound as they could be. Being the all-rounder 'jack of all stats master of none' that he was it made Gary cringe when he saw such heavy handed one sided tactics it left you vulnerable.