---

Isaac jerked Algernon forward as his controls became responsive again, not even getting a moment catch his breath as Zahra's drones were rapidly approaching. He needed a plan in case Osamu tried that stunt again; Isaac didn't believe for a minute that the Red Star pilot would keep his word. But first, he needed to get himself out of danger.

"I'm okay! I'm okay! Call these things off, s'il vous plaît!" he stammered into the comm frantically as Algernon dropped to all fours and raced for cover in the face of incoming fire. Looks like Red Star was shooting at him too - you'd think Osamu would've at least given an order not to target the NC doing Red Star a perverted favor. What a horrible deal this was. That smug brat was going to pay for threatening him. Algernon's claws dug in to the ground as its armor started getting clipped by incoming coilgun fire, sending its "tail" up to collide with one of the overzealous drones that swooped low for a disabling shot on the mech's legs. The EMP generator sparked on impact, sending the little machine to the ground like a moth on a bug zapper.

Isaac raised Algernon's rifle for a dedicated counter-offensive before the drones paused and diverted their flight path, apparently having been called off. Would've been nice if they'd gotten that order before they started shredding Algernon's plating. Battle damage already, and from his own allies, no less! Isaac was fuming. He gripped his controls tightly, falling back and away from the increasingly-near battle line. As far as he could assess, the Haven forces were already in a state of disarray, and it looked like that NC that was clashing with Alexander was going to end up disabled; not to mention, with the way Sahaquiel was erratically moving, he'd never get a clean shot on the Red Star ace. Wonderful, just when he'd been given a stake in this conflict, Haven started losing. He switched his comm back on, careful to keep the anger out of his voice when he spoke.

"Erm, thank you. I saw Akiyama inside their flagship, but I'm not entirely certain if that's his true location." Isaac hesitated; should he warn Alexei? No, too risky. "I'm- I'm not sure if I should say anymore, in case he's listening. Just try not to get pinned down, I think he's eager for slaves."

Deep breath. Focus.

He needed a target, lest he just start taking potshots at the supercarrier on the off-chance he somehow hits Osamu out of frustration. Isaac switched Algernon's lancer to its secondary firing mode, unloading a suppressive spray of plasma bolts on the largest group of Red Star forces in his line of fire. He'd need to thin their numbers for now, wait for an opportunity to strike at an enemy NC. And, worst case scenario, he could always just shoot Alexei and flee if the battle turned out unquestionably in Red Star's favor. Maybe if he overemphasized Osamu's importance to the Red Star war machine in his report, Paragon would harass him with assassins for the rest of his hopefully-short life.

---

OOC: Pls ignore this due to post revision.

((Collab Post between @Letter Bee, @Metatrooper and @Senhara))

Flashback, Five Years Ago

Daegu Base was once a bulwark of the struggle against Communism, an edifice of steel and concrete that carried a garrison of soldiers from the Pre-War US before the Apocalypse. Now, it was a stronghold of both Capitalism and Communism, as the Red-Star Ruling Corporation sought to control the human will. Cody Ang was stationed there in response to troubles in the 'eternally rebellious' Japanese Archipelago, and tasked with training the soon-to-be Slave-Pilots, most of them 'bred' from foriegn prisoners who have not been ransomed by their employers. Now, in the VR simulation room, Cody was faced with his newest pupil, a 15-year old boy named Alexander Sky who wanted to be a 'Comrade' as fast as possible.

Cody stared down at the cadet, looking at him with a piercing gaze through his jet-black t-shaped visor. Just by looking at his eyes, he could tell that the boy was truly determined to become a pilot, although only time would tell if he could truly become one. He approached the boy, still encased in his red armored battle suit and asked him "You got a name?"

Alexander blinked and said, "Alexander Sky, Master; I come from the Gansu Provincial Breeding Camp, where I was bred from Volkov stock. I am property of the Corporation and thus the property of all Comrade-Pilots I am assigned to. Thus, you are permitted to use whatever teaching methods you wish as long as there is no permanent damage to my ability to fight." A gulp, "But, normal procedure in Red-Star, set by our superiors, would be to start with a spar with Virtual Reality versions of our NCs."

Cody paused for a moment, moving his hand to the bottom part of his helmet, where his chin would be, making a thinking gesture. "I see. So I assume that you have handled an NC before?"

Alexander's reply was, "I was given the necessary implants early in my development, Master, but I have only piloted Simulations; an NC Core has been alloted for me, though, with an NC Body to come with it."

Cody then remarked, "Very well, we shall begin the session immediately. I will be judging your performance after." He then interfaced with the TABRIS AI system through his helmet, before giving a command to load an existing virtual battlefield, along with the NCs of both Cody and Alexander.

TABRIS responds to Cody with a rather calm female voice, soothing almost. "Loading battlefield V5." She then talks to the both of them "Battlefield V5 is being loaded. Please begin linking to your NC VR Chair. As per protocol, sim pain receptors are set to be full realistic... Any sim variable changes should be input now."

Alexander sat down on the nearest VR Chair, where the implant sockets were almost identical to the ones in a proper NC. The implants on his spine and neck, exposed through holes in his suit, connected with said sockets while a VR helmet was lowered onto his head.

The scene then switched into a clear and grassy steppe field, where Alexander was now in his Mech-to-be, Phoenix Inferno. Phoenix Inferno was now facing Cody's own Mech, waiting for the signal to fight.

Cody sat on his own chair as his NC, which he nicknamed the Halberd began to materialize in a virtual form. The implant socket then found connecting itself to a socket on his helmet, giving him a slight tingle at the back of his head in the process.

As the room shifted into the appearance of a steppe field, the two NCs appeared as well with a considerable distance between them. Cody then switched to TABRIS' comm channel before speaking. "TABRIS, give me a live feed of trainee Sky's cockpit."

The faux-AI responds, "Understood. Opening live feed." A little purple window displays on the HUD of Halbred, the internal area of it showing Alexander. On the top of the window the words "TABRIS CONTROLLED INTERFACE" is seen. She then promptly begins focusing on the sim with intent, no one knows who she is. She liked that, yet it was kind of sad.

Cody then activates the Halberd's weapons systems, before firing a warning shot from the mass driver cannons, right at Phoenix Inferno's feet. He would then arm the ripper missiles and prepare for Alexander's inevitable approach, curious to see how he will accomplish it.

Phoenix Inferno lifts itself high onto the air with a huge jump, a combination of anti-gravity systems and rockets carrying it to the skies. It then zig-zags downward, flying at Halberd at an angle, covering its own advance with blasts from the shoulder-mounted fusion cannons on the virtual model...

As the NC rises into the air, the Halberd unleashes a salvo of 8 ripper missiles and another 8 shortly after. The missiles lock on to Phoenix Inferno and start following it, surrounding the mech as they do so. Shots from the fusion cannons take some of the missiles out, but most of them managed to reach their target. While all of this was going on, the Halberd's arm mounted plasma cannons start tracking Inferno's position, while the missile launchers prepare another salvo.

Phoenix Inferno, covered in an orange cloak of energy, bursts through the cloud of smoke from the ripper missile launchers, barely singed due to the force-field. It dives at Halberd, then unleashes its own missile volley, releasing missiles loaded with electrified nets that stretched up to several square meters; enough to catch an NC. Most of them would be obliterated by the plasma cannons should they fire now, but at least three or four would land on their target.

As for Alexander and his mech, they would be gone from frontal view.

Blasts from the Halberd's plasma cannons obliterated most of the missiles, but around three manage to make it past the fire. It then releases a single salvo of ripper missiles once again, eliminating the rest of Inferno's missiles, with the remaining four rippers crashing into random areas due to a lack of a target. The mech's sensors would then scramble to quickly locate Alexander's position, as the mass driver cannons and plasma cannons move into firing positions.

Alexander was in the most obvious position; behind Halberd's back. He now dashes towards the mecha, hoping to make melee contact with it before it turned around.

The sensors manage to pick up Alexander's location as he's dashing towards Cody. "Clever." he says, right before activating the rocket boosters of the Halberd and suddenly boosts away backwards, colliding with Alexander. He hopes to stun him or knock him down to buy enough time to get his weapons ready.

It somewhat worked; Alexander was caught off-guard, but recovered quickly from the pain than expected. Turning on his Fusion cannons once more, he shoots streams of superheated gas at Halberd as it presumably turned around, impacting the opposing Mech's own energy shields!

As the Halberd turned around, it was greeted by a barrage of fire from Phoenix Inferno. In the process, its shields were heavily damaged and were rapidly being depleted, but at the same time, it opened Alexander to attack. While he was still getting fired upon, Cody in turn activated all of the Halberd's weapons, which were trained onto Alexander's position, blasts from the plasma cannons would be fired at his mech, while the missile launchers fired salvo after salvo of ripper missiles. The mass driver cannons on the other hand could not fire as the target was too close, but as soon as he moved away, he would regret it.

The forcefield holds for a few moments, but Phoenix Inferno is is soon wrecked by the volley of plasma and missiles, with Alexander screaming in agony in his cockpit/virtual reality helmet. It was time for the battle to be terminated.

A few seconds after Alexander started screaming, Cody terminated the simulation. The grassy steppe slowly faded back to the pure white of the VR room, while both NCs started dematerializing. Cody quickly unplugged the socket interfacing with his helmet and rushed over to check on Alexander.

The boy was breathing hard, crying as the VR chair detached his implants from his sockets. At Cody's approach, he shrinks away, saying, "I'm sorry, Master; don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

Cody grabbed the boy's hand and helped him up, putting his hand on his shoulder in the process. He saw the fear in the boy's eyes, knowing full well what Red-star did and would do to this boy if word got out that he failed. Cody then said, "There's no need to apologize, you performed excellently." He paused for a moment before speaking again, "Don't consider this a failure, I believe you have the potential to become an amazing pilot."

Alexander quiets down, his breathing relaxing. He then says to Cody, "You're kind, Master; you're really kind to a Slave like me." Facing him, the young man then asks, more firmly than he had formerly exhibited, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch." Cody said. "I was just taught that you should treat people like people." He thought about the report that he would give to his superiors later on, he could only hope that they were content with his description of Alexander's performance. He then spoke again. "Now, you should go get some rest. I can escort you to your quarters if you want."

The boy smiled at this, then, with mild shaking, looked Cody in the eyes, "Thank you, Master." Looking side to side, he then made a request, "Master... I really hope I am not taking advantage of your kindness, but Slave-Pilots are rarely given sweets; pastries and such. Can you... Have I... Have I earned some?"

He kept gazing at Cody, his eyes wide and slightly teary.

Cody stared back at his eyes, and stayed silent for a few seconds before an audible chuckle could be heard. "I do believe a reward is in order for your efforts today." He then starts walking towards the exit as he motions for Alexander to follow. "Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall." he says.

And with that, a friendship was forged.

TABRIS took note of what happened. She's curious "Cody's nice, too nice... Alexander though, I don't think he'll stand up... That pain that caused him to scream out, I don't think he'll get used to it." She ponders the events that just occured, taking a personal interest to Cody and Alexander.

Alexei received his orders from Zahra to provide support to Pilot Amarati, who had engaged the enemy head on. Alexei sighed.
"I wanted to be the suicidal idiot, but okay." He muttered offhandedly as he turned course on the move. He also felt better knowing that their squad lead was keeping monsieur LaBelle occupied, so he made the dash more out into the open, just as building behind him collapsed from a tank shell. Alexei grunted as he felt the force slightly, but was none the worse for wear as Vectis dashed in quadrupedal form. He assessed the combat map as he was in transit, and between him and Pilot Amarati were a few more hostiles; enemy transports and a tank. Alexei had confidence in his ability to engage just one tank, maybe even three tanks, but only so long as LaBelle wasn't so compromised to hinder his movement.

Vectis dashed around the corner and with the front feet tossed aside one of the transports. Before the tank could make reactionary fire, Alexei kicked the thrusters up and surged forward in the blink of an eye, and the beam sabre slashed through the armour and crew inside. He kicked his vertical thrusters up afterward to leap up against a building and strafe the transports and ground troopers' retaliatory fire, using the CIWs to engage the troops. It was only suppressing fire, and as Vectis leapt across the street again, he shot apart the last two transports before dashing around the corner, leaving the troops without any armour, light or heavy.

He then heard on the radio a woman's voice. He did not recognise it, but saw it came from the machine marked as Pilot Cassius, the jolly drunk. He smirked at Trudeau's report.
"Oui madame, on the double!" Alexei reported as he took up bipedal position amidst high cover, and with Impetus on primary, waited for Pilot Trudeau's mark. After battle mom took fire at the lead fighter and erased it from existence, Alexei acquired his targets immediately. "Vectis, targeted and firing!" Vectis pulled the trigger each time it locked onto a fighter, Impetus' beams searing through light armour and destroying enemy craft. He engaged other air squadrons as Maman engaged the lead squadron with her air superiority missiles, shooting down the fighters he needed to cripple formations and provide Cassius with the cover he and his 'lady' needed.

Alexei then checked his map to see if there were hostiles in the vicinity, as he expected the enemy air to have called for help in engaging at least the ground forces shooting them down. He looked up and saw on his optical sensors that two 'jets' had descended and transformed into ground NCs. Adaptable NCs, much like Vectis. Alexei snorted. He then saw that one had engaged Cassius' machine, and the other came to engage him. Wasting no time at all, Alexei kicked the thrusters up immediately, once again engaging the dust shroud to keep the cloaker NC in mind, as Vectis dashed into quadrupedal form to evade the dual-minigun fire. For the most part, Vectis lived up to its specialty of using high mobility to avoid damage. But from the stinging pains Alexei could feel jabbing at his left arm and leg, it appeared a few rounds managed to clipp Vectis' armour.

Vectis transformed behind cover, but only momentarily to formulate a plan as the high velocity rounds reduced the viability of the building's protection quickly by the second. Alexei checked his combat map for a split second and memorised it as he got Vectis to ready Impetus on secondary and fire two quick bursts to supress the enemy NC. The aim of his shots were wilder than any other shots he took, the first volley just dissipating across the field. However, Alexei quickly recalibrated his aim from the first volley and at that moment the second volley did more than suppress the enemy NC. The explosive rounds found their mark on the NC's left minigun and took it out of commission. Alexei saw this moment as opportunity. As the building fell apart, Alexei kicked the thrusters up to full throttle again, moving into quadrupedal form once more while the enemy recovered and reloaded.

"Va te faire foutre, bon monsieur!" Alexei cursed the degenerate hybrid NC, strafing it as it shot at him again. In turn he returned fire with Impetus' secondary bursts, before digging Vectis' paws into the dirt in a combat slide. His enemy focused fire on Vectis, as the minigun unleashed a barrage of bullets upon the wolf mid slide. Alexei seethed through gritted teeth as his blood boiled through his left side in tandem with projectiles shredding at Vectis' side armour. As soon as he saw his opposition finally reloading once more, Alexei then roared as he spurred Vectis forward. With assault cannons armed and firing alongside Impetus, the wolf dashed amidst the path of suppressing fire it had already laid down. The enemy's remaining minigun exploded under Impetus' firepower, and the assault cannon shots simultaneously took out his arms, then his legs with remarkable synchronicity.

Alexei then ceased fire for the split second, and directed all energy to both rear thrusters and Vectis' beam wings, charging the output to the max as Vectis surged towards his crippled foe. In that instant of passing, Vectis delivered a final leaping blow-- The beam wing searing through the NC's head. Fully crippled, and probably put unconscious from the amount of pain inflicted, the NC-- reduced to pretty much just the cockpit, collapsed on its side.
"Au'revoir..." Alexei bid his fallen foe. He panted for a moment, happy that he managed to disable rather than kill and opponent. He then moved Vectis toward cover, checking up on himself and then checking his machine's vitals after. Energy reserves were at 78% still, but Alexei knew he used up at least 12% on that last fight. Reckless, especially if there were more NCs incoming. He then scanned the map for his next engagement, and also to locate Cassius. He then looked on his optical sensors to see how the machine was faring against its own opponent.

((Collab between Letter Bee and FalloutJack))

Flashback, Four Years Ago

Alexander Sky had been initiated in flame, capturing three Denver-Vegas aces and their NCs in just three months of combat and destroying dozens of conventional vehicles. Now, the southernmost reaches of Japan had been reconqured from rebels and their American supporters, and stories of the young Slave-Pilot who had brought Red-Star such glory were spreading among the Chinese forces stationed in Kyushu, where Red-Star had retaken the Nagasaki Burrow and the Corporate assets stationed there. Alexander knew that freedom as a 'Comrade-Pilot' was coming soon, if only he can win more captures or kills.

But despite that, other thoughts occupied his mind. As he was allowed free time to walk the corridors of Fukoka Military Base - Another Red-Star stronghold - Alexander was... Worried. Worried that he might need to see 'The Room' once more. 'The Room' confirmed his loyalty by 'reformatting' his brain, but it also diminished his effectiveness in an NC. But what else to do when he had disloyal thoughts?

Reluctantly, he began to go to where Red-Star's instruments of torment and brainwashing were...

While Alexander had made a name of himself with his expertise, there was talk among both pilots and technician, of things overheard about the human-plus project. Years of work on the new process, and now...they were saying it was nearing completion. You would almost wonder why anyone would go to the trouble, when you could just train up someone - be they slave or comrade - to handle things, but then...this was no ordinary thing. They wanted a pilot that blew all current standards right out of the water, a human being who could not fail. Or even if they DID fail, it would be at a high cost for the enemy.

They never stated who their prime candidate was, but rumor had it that the NC model known as Id was their mech, and rumors of that machine had been flying, as well. Fast, powerful and flight-capable. Those were the words they used, and the pilot would be able to sync incredibly well with that. All of these things would not exactly prepare you for when you happened to...oh say...meet her just in the hall...with a bowl of ice cream.

Terra was, at the moment, absorbed. She didn't have to be, but there were two important facts right now that mattered a great deal. First, she could crank up her enjoyment of things just by thinking it. And second, she was focusing like this because, after having gotten through some recent testing, she needed a break to cool herself down. They were nearly done with calibrations, but there were hormones that she was having a hard time dealing with, at times. This was one outlet, but there were umm...others.

All Alex would see was a black-haired girl dressed in jeans and a short-sleeve shirt.

This young woman was certainly a Comrade-Pilot, Alexander thought. He could see it in the way she carried herself. That and Ice Cream was a rare privilege for Slave-Pilots. So he waited for Terra to come his way, then gave a slight bow before he asked:

"Comrade-Pilot, what brings you here?" He then felt compelled to remind her that, "This Slave-Pilot has been ordered to serve every Comrade any way they know how as long as it does not damage thier ability to fight."

Terra had not been entirely paying attention to her surroundings, of course, yet she wasn't in danger of bumping into things, either. She stopped when Alexander addressed her, her violet eyes shifting focus to find a slave pilot around her age standing there. Her eyes picked out details of her surroundings, not seeing an identifying serial number, then went back to him.

"Which section did I just wander into? And why are you talking in the third-person?"

There was no need to remind her what slave pilots were for. She knew well enough. The only real question was why this one in particular seemed to be drawing attention to himself.

Alexander did not react to her surprise, but answered promptly. "Oh, you are just a few corridors away from 'The Room', Lady Comrade. I was going there to recieve enlightenment anew to shed potentially compromising thoughts. Nevertheless, if you wish to administer punishment and incentive yourself, I am in no position to stop you."

He looked at her, briefly glancing at her face and form. She was beautiful... Just as he was handsome, his natural good looks and athletic build honed by diet and exercise. Alexander nevertheless hoped she would not force him to give... His body, not that it was his own anyway. The boy shuddered involuntarily, then took a step back away from her as he realized what he had done. Was this his end?

You know, it's funny he thought about that, because she actually had used some people that way. Slaves were the easiest to get, since they had to follow her commands, but there were some exceptions. It was these damn raging hormones. They too were stronger than a normal human, just like alot of parts of her, and when puberty set in, she couldn't just tell them to be quiet. It was a new faculty. It needed time to adjust. It was like being a child again, in that sense. Asking someone to go with her was, in essence, stress management, and frankly...some even enjoyed it. Right now, though, Terra was more confused, than anything. It even showed on her face.

"Why would I be wanting to do that? The Room is for modifying dissidents and traitors. You're here without guards, ergo you follow orders. Do you always follow orders that do nothing but harm you? They need more than loyalty in this place. He need careful consideration and cohesive thought. I don't think The Room will do much for one who would head there willingly."

Alexander blinked at that, and said, "But nevertheless, I have errant thoughts; and it is not my choice to refuse to follow orders." A pause, as he smiled slightly. "That said, I can follow a different and more recent set of commands if you are willing to give them."

She thought about this for a second, mildly annoyed by the single-mindedness or the pretense of single-mindedness he was showing. Then, she said...

"Follow me, and tell me what you were thinking."

...before starting to walk off. Had to finish this bowl. It was melting, after all.

A nod as the Slave-Pilot followed behind her, saying, "It is about my old mentor, Cody Ang. He had abandoned the cause and deserted Red-Star forces just last year, and I could not comprehend why." A pause. "I also captured three Pilots these past three months; all of them Denver-Vegas Imperialists. Two were of my own age group, and I feel... Regret and guilt that they are to be broken and used as Slave-Pilots. Should I not feel joy that they would be enlightened by pain to fight beside us in the future?"

This was an issue that hit somewhat close to home Not just because she was a part of Red-Star, mind you, but because she had used pain to enlighten some thick-headed people in the past, herself. They were doing things that were causing unnecessary harm, bullying. Beating the shit out of them tended to stop that. Terra shook her head.

"Slave-Pilots have one goal: To not be slaves anymore. Administering pain is a means of control. In essence, it is to make you more of a slave. These principles are incompatible, especially when you consider that it can affect pilot synchronicity. They don't dare try that on me because everything must be perfect for at least the trial run. Good pilots yield good results. Damaged pilots are erratic and unpredictable. Case in point, your mentor."

Alexander replied, "That makes sense, Lady Comrade. So my mentor was - is - damaged? But he's always been a Comrade; how can he have been damaged?"

She finished her ice cream and just held the bowl now, glancing over at him.

"You mean he was your mentor and you have no idea what problems he had, real or imagined? Maybe his student disappointed him. Or maybe other things..."

She seemed to be considering that, but then she added.

"Oh, and don't call me Lady Comrade. I haven't begun piloting yet. My name is Terra Laedo."

The boy was worked up to a fury, clenching and unclenching his fists as he cried out, facing her with a sweat covered brow, "I would never, ever disappoint Sifu Cody, Terra Laedo!"

Breathing hard, he would add a qualifier, "Not knowingly..."

He then looked down at his feet, his fists only lightly clenched now, "There was news about an airstrike, though, that his superiors ordered on a city being contested by enemy forces. Many of his comrades died there and the civilian population of the town." Alexander then faced her again. "But he would... He should not question orders like that anyway, and he shouldn't have left!"

"Why would anybody stay when you destroy what they want to protect? Pain does not make you happy to kill those of whom you value."

His anger did nothing but keep her wary in case he wanted to lash out, as she placed the bowl upon the ground.

"What is the most important thing in your life, pilot?"

Alexander's gaze firmed and tightened as he said, "My parents. I want to win their freedom and mine."

Terra nodded at this. It was something she could relate to more directly. She had her parents. They were kept around to share in decent living conditions like her and she was able to be raised like a normal human being. They did this...in order to manage her, she believed. Because she loved them, and Red-Star had power over them, they were all basically threatened.

"And if they were to die? What then? What happens when something you care deeply about is taken from you, or that you would be forced to sacrifice that thing, personally?"

The boy pursed his lips, "I am not talking treason."

A slight angle of his head; enough for his eyes to glint with reflected light. It was clear he knew his answer to that and wanted to convey it to Terra with plausible deniability.

Now, she smirked, just a little.

"Well, if you're not talking treason, you couldn't possibly need any pain enlightenment. You understand perfectly what needs to be done."

Alexander smiled widely, and he stretched out his right hand, saying, "You're a smart person, Terra Laedo. Do you want to be friends?"

She crossed her arms a moment as her smirked deepened, and she said...

"Friends have names. It seems unfair that I don't have yours."

A chuckle, as he said, "Alexander Sky, from the Gansu Provincial Breeding Camp. I'm of Volkov pedigree."

He waited for her to shake his hand.

She took his hand and shook it properly, even smiled.

"Terra Laedo, human plus project. I was born to kill everyone."

This was spoken matter-of-factly, completely straight-faced. If they hadn't had the previous conversation, Alex would think her to be some kind of engineered psychopath. But this girl, this experimental pilot, had just helped him understand She was no more telling the truth than his not talking about treachery. Oh...big agendas... The future had ALOT in store...

A collaborative post between @AzenExile and @Selvariabell

---

On the whole,one would say that their strength is in their infantry, which fights along with the cavalry; admirably adapted to the action of the latter is the swiftness of certain foot soldiers, who are picked from the entire youth of their country, and stationed in front of the line."

- Tacitus

"The infantry is the shield of Spain."

- Queen Mariano

Legionary Lady and General Consolacion was grunting in pain as she watched the medic wrap a new roll of bandages around her wounded left arm. She was out of her armor while the medic and the rest of her personal guards were still protected, doing their jobs for her in this ruined clinic.

She had made this floor her headquarters and despite being several hundred meters away from the real battle on the ground, in this city, she and her subordinates were still being fucked over with artillery.

She heard the painful reports of rifles, carbines and machine guns while the medic finished his duties. She thanked him with a pat on the helmet before standing up and attempting to call on the support of other Spanish and Havenite units, even daring to call for help from any nearby NC.

Len hears her call for help, and with Cody's permission to let go, she shifts her focus to supporting the Spanish sector.

"Good riddance.", Len whispered to herself as she leaves Cody behind.

"Un momento, amigos.", Len replied on the radio.

It didn't took long for her to reach the Spanish sector, it is without a doubt the most fought after sector, the urban warfare as bad as that of Stalingrad, at least what she learned of it in the academy.

"Ah, Dios Mio.", Len uttered as she sees the close fighting between forces.

But there's no time to look in awe, she launched her drones to help with the fighting. Recon drones, armed with machine guns, not only enables her and her allies see what is on the corner, but also provide anti-infantry firepower.

As fighting intensifies in the sector, the Red-Star pours in more reinforcements to push home a breakthrough. Tanks, aircraft, even NCs were sent this way.

Len aims her laser drones on the tanks' vulnerable areas. As the crews bails out of their tank, Len remorselessly fired at the helpless souls.

"That's right, burn in hell you Godless maggots! Return to your maker!", Len taunts as she maniacally laughs.

As she enjoys killing the enemy, she disregarded her position, not noticing the enemy NC approaching her. The NC fired a shot, only to be blocked by Charlemagne's force field.

"Punyeta!", she screamed in shock as Charlemagne was jolted by the shot.

Len fired her laser arms to the enemy NC, unfortunately, the NC, probably piloted by a veteran, gets in close and proceeds to attack with his dao. She blocks the attack with Charlemagne's left arm, destroying the latter completely. She replies by shooting with Charlemagne's right arm laser at point-blank range. The NC blows up, but not before destroying Charlemagne's right arm, to make things worse, the explosion itself heavily damaged Charlemagne.

Leaving no choice, Len is forced to retreat, but the Red-Star's Air Force focused their attack on in the Spanish sector, insistent in breaching the line.

"Requesting air support, we're being overrun here!", Len radioed, trying to be as calm as possible.

Meanwhile, the air combat in Maman's sector lessens as most of the enemy air power is redirected to the Spanish sector. As she hears the radios from the Spanish troops and Len, she takes th opportunity to support the sector.

"N'aie pas peur, Maman est là pour aider nos frères Espagnols.", Mamam replies as she deals with an enemy wing.

"¡Gracias a Dios!" Cried out a Spanish Legionnaire as she and several other Spaniards turned to see reinforcements in the form of drones coming from an NC. An allied Havenite NC! They cried out with joy as they saw them in action, the Legionnaires loyal to the Queen and the rest of the Spanish troops, even those who volunteered from the city of Haven (so long as they were Spanish or even European).

Soon enough, despite the heavy, brutal fighting, the Spanish forces holding this sector began to put up a slightly better fight. At the time, a pair of attack helicopters with Spanish air force markings started to join the fight showering Red Star ground forces with rockets and missiles. They followed up with a volley of cannon fire and machine gun fire. Afterwards, avoiding enemy anti air and missiles from the ground, they tried to escape only to end up with one of their own being shot down by a Red Star air to air missile.

On the ground itself, Spanish armored fighting vehicles modified to handle urban combat started to lead the infantry in an offensive mission, hoping to turn the tide or at least keep holding as long as they could. Instead, it slowed down.

For now, Captain Consolacion was making contact with Len and Maman. She first spoke to Len, informing her that more air support may come their way. Then to Maman, she told her that she and her forces were holding the line but they really needed more help.

After dealing dealing with the enemy fighter squadron, Maman is now free to assist the Spanish sector.

"Maman at your service. How can I be of assistance, Capitaine de la majesté?", Maman addressed Captain Consolacion.

"Forget about the pleasantries, Ma'am. Maldita sea este ataque! Look, I need your help. Do something about our Queen! She needs your help more than ours! You are an NC and you'd be more able to save her from that NC more than us. She's been on our radio for more than enough times. Go!"

She responded before she put her own radio down and started to shout at a bunch of officers handling artillery.

"Affirmatif.", Maman replied.

Maman rushed in to support Queen Encarnacion, but is blocked by a group of enemy SPAAGs, determined to take her down. Maman is getting none of this, and fired her anti-surface missiles, taking most the SPAAGs down, while leaving the rest vulnerable to Spanish guns

With the immediate threat out of the way, Maman focus on supporting the queen and taking down TABRIS. Whith her Rhongomyniad fully-charged, she lines up on the TABRIS. She breathes slowly as she times her shot.

She pulls the trigger, and fired on the enemy NC.

---

The strike hits, completely shattering her left missile pod and injuring her shoulder, a grunt can be heard from the NC. She lets out her own EMP strike on the tank, an attempt to disable it... Then her shields raise, timed perfectly so her EMP wouldn't shut them down again. The building next to her is pushed a bit by the shield. Her right arm raises, and the SMGs reveal themselves, firing at Maman. She also begins to charge, shouting at Maman over comms "YOU HAVENITES WILL DIE FOR HURTING ALEXANDER AND KILLING HIS MENTOR! YOU UTTER FUCKING DICKBAGS OF HUMANITY!" Her body language while running reveals her emotions, indicating to Maman she has a highly unusual sync ratio. Her thoughts are racing, Haven must be crushed now. She heard Sahaquiel roar and heard Phoenix Inferno be slammed into the ground. She liked Alexander, yet an NC nearly killed him? Denver-Vegas at that?! She couldn't live with this, Haven isn't smart enough to win, all of this added to her belief that Haven killed Cody.

---

Hisako was thinking about many different things while trying to figure out the best course of action in terms of certain things. However, the one thing was clear she wanted out of this awful corporation, which treated her awfully and a mere object or tool. ”I understand Terra. I will enjoy being free of this awful collar… the fear programmed me really well. Let’s go help your friend, which was forced to do awful things by Denver-Vegas.” Hisako said, with a different emotion of relief. She was definitely happy about the whole ordeal and was truthful with Terra since she used to be a Red-Star Pilot. However, she hated who upgraded her shock collar with a security measure like it is. ”…. I hate him the most but he used me as he uses all the other slave pilots...” Hisako thought to herself. She snapped out of her thoughts so she could focus on doing maneuvers with Terra to reach the one that Roared really loudly.

The whole thing was definitely going to be different to release herself from the shackles that bound her, which was the electric shock collar around her arm. However, she looked at her console and specifically saw all the tools at her disposal to help Terra and not Red-Star anymore. Out of all the things she wanted to live free even with the regret of hearing her parents were killed. ”...May my decisions forever live with me.” Hisako thought to herself. She wanted to hit the disconnect the wire but Terra has to do it on her end since she connected to Terra’s NC and not the other way around. The GSS is going to be helping her get out of this awful situation altogether, until it will go away. However, she’s highly attached to this NC, which makes her think she hears the NC speak to her all the time even though it has no AI core.

She put her jacket back over the Shock collar in question since it is an awful reminder about ’who’ ordered its upgrade. The only thing that scared her it was upgraded when she was sound asleep, then they put it back on her with it upgraded. It’s kinda ironic, the same person who gave her jewelry bracelet was the same person who probably upgraded her shock collar to keep her more in line with the Corporation that tortures people and her. ”I can’t help being sick to my stomach that they would go to such lenghts to keep ‘him’ happy.” Hisako thought to herself. She kept her Assault Rifle on regular configuration since they will be going against Red-Star NCs, etc.

(Again, done with the permission of Stern Algorithm)
(Collab between myself and @FalloutJack)

---

"I've engaged the enemy NC, backup is not required. Maintain your current objective, but prepare to fall back soon. This is getting hairy for us." Zahra managed to speak calmly into her radio before the beast crashed into her NC. The force was astounding, though despite that, she held her ground, furrowing deep grooves into the ground behind her as she was pushed back a metre and a bit, before the enemy attempted ripping away her axe. Might as well give it to him. She let go in of it in an attempt to throw him off balance, even for a moment, before being hit by the spray of molten 'fire'. She managed to block the last part of the torrent with her wing tips, though the brunt of it seared into her NC's armoured front. This was going to be some fight, she thought silently, as more of her drones spread around the giant bear and opened fire in an effort to score a lucky shot, though most of them did little but scratch the armour.

There wasn't immediately all that much that Ursa could do about these drones taking shots at him. They weren't doing causing much harm, but like all things that dare to even lash out at him, Dread found them irritating, found the enemy mech to be trying what little patience he had. The release of the axe led to Ursa Nova stepping back to keep balance, and for its arms to smash down at the shaft of the weapon to snap it in half. As it released the now-inoperative axe from its mouth, and the chest-emitters ceased, Dread stared angrily at the enemy.

You think you're a clever animal trainer? A beastmaster? No one tames me. Not even the fools who think that FEEDING ME will ever make me tame. I will FEAST upon you all.

He snarled, Ursa was silent, save for its mechanized motions. Unlike the developers of Sahaquiel, the bear-like machine was not there to intimidate. It was there to kill. Dread started it now on a bound forwards, followed by it swiping heated fiery claws - left, right, left right - in an effort to rip and tear the enemy NC's defensives to shreds!

There wasn't much Zahra could do but attempt to fend off the arms. She had lost her only weapon, all she had on her was defensive measures, and even those were getting rough housed. She took the first few hits with her shield-limbs, backpaving with every hit, though still remaining in the enemies general vicinity. The combined attacks and previous fire damage took a toll, however, as soon the wings stopped reacting as fast, some even failing to respond altogether. Zahra grunted with effort as she took a particularly hard hit to the side, then jumped backwards in an attempt to get a bit of distance so her drones could reign fire from above. She silently started reciting verses from the Quran, fortifying her for what might very well be her last fight in Hisn-ul-Ghayma. She'd go down fighting, at the very least. She prepared herself, reaching to the side and yanking at some rubble to use as a makeshift rock-like weapon.

A rock? A ROCK? He only played with rocks as a means of extending Ursa's own reach, only they were molten wads of disaster, not the piece of some building thrust like a caveman trying to fend off a tiger. As though that could possibly help here... In response to the curious display, the bear actually stopped long enough to hold one of its palms out to project plasma flames at the implement, heating it up considerably and probably breaking it down most handedly.

"Know despair, you lowly creature..."

This was merely a momentary delay, as he quickly allowed a heat purge from Ursa's systems, followed shortly by the machine lowering to all-fours, main engines opening up, and a quick burst of thrust to leap at the other mech! A good slam should show how futile this really was, followed by a good round of mauling, tooth and claw!

"I will do no such thing." Zahra uttered as she moved one of her wing tips to cover her fashioned rock. She was nothing compared to this beast in combat, but she'd give it something to remember her by. There wasn't anything she could do defensively as it closed the distance in one massive burst of movement, so instead she opted to fight rather than try to fend off the attacks. Using her wings as a buffer to the claws; though at this point they were all but ruined, she dashed in and in one final attempt of defiance, tried slamming the rock against the underside of the damnable creature's chin, either to damage it or to just generally annoy it, it didn't matter at this point. Her time was coming soon, she might as well make peace with it while she still had the chance.

Ash-hadu an laa ilaha illa Allah,
wa ash-hadu anna Muhammad-ar-Rasulullah.
(I testify that there is no god but Allah,
and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.)

What might be her final prayer was silently uttered, before she switched to her squad's radio.

"Pilot Chaplain, Oh-Cee, you have command until further notice. Get them all out of this hellhole."

A wild creature, this one was. It was hard to conceive of what sort of person existed in that cockpit to act as such, but it did so. Without true thought beyond the moment, with vicious instinct to kill and revel in its deplorable ways. No quarter would be spared, and no mercy could be found. Only the devilish ways of one who seemed to made of pure evil were here today. Remember? Dread would not remember the latest of his viceral conquests. He would not find any impact in his life by the smoldering wreckage of another NC. He would merely find it good and move on to the next foe waiting to be crushed. And with that, he did not let up in his strikes, and that beating the head with the rock only cause it to come down, breathing fire, as the hand ports and the chest ports all unlocked at once to envelope the whole of Hisn-ul-Ghayma in flames. The heat would be too much for its systems to compensate for, and the intense fire would be damaging in the extreme. One way or the other, this fight was about done. Perhaps well-done.

And indeed, the fight was over. Hisn, however tough, couldn't handle the overpowering heat, and fell backwards, smouldering, dented, and partially slagged in places, although the pilot compartment somehow managed to remain in-tact. Zahra herself was thoroughly incapacitated, and Hisn wasn't going to be used for a while, if ever.

As one, the drones that were surveying the battlefield fell to the ground, and with them, the real-time 3D feed of said battlefield. Rip Zahra and Hisn.

---

---

---

The roar of gunfire was momentarily interrupted by the sound of a raging Sahaquiel. Under normal circumstances, every pilot on the field would probably take pause and investigate, but they were under attack. To do so would be to invite death. Oh-Cee and the Red Star NC didn’t take their eyes off each other, and continued their fight, both pledging to investigate further once the other lay dead on the ground.

Oh-Cee continued darting around to the sides of the hostile NC, there wasn’t much else she could do. Whenever she got closer, she’d be pushed back yet again by the shear weight of fire coming towards her. The pilot, while probably not as experienced as either Cassius or Oh-Cee, had the advantage due to complete weight of fire. Bullets impacted against buildings as Oh-Cee moved ahead of the spray by half a second, able to keep her speed higher than the enemies aim by just a margin. She fired her shotguns more at every opportunity, and although each one struck the armour, they were either at such an angle to just bounce off, or just outright fail to penetrate more than the outer layer the NCs armour.

She felt a comms line be linked between the two NCs, and she heard a males voice come through to her.

”For fucks… stand still, you maggot! Fight me, stop running!” He sounded frustrated, at the very least. Frustrated, but aware. He was a pilot first and foremost, he was trained to be professional, even when dealing with extreme emotions. He brought his guns around in a cone in an attempt to catch Oh-Cee, but she was faster still, even with him rotating his mech to go with the guns.

”You sound frustrated, Hostile Pilot. Perhaps you should take a moment to cool yoursel-!” Oh-Cee was interupted by a lucky round ricocheting off the building behind her and taking the top part of her head off, pulling a gasp out of her, and a roar of anger from Cassius as his right eye just stopped working as blood rushed to it from the inside. When he opened it next, it was blood red, and had tears welling up on the inside, inhibiting his vision from it so much that he considered him one-eyed for the time being. Though it did help to sober him up a little. ”Th-tha-a-at was r-r-rude. Puni-punishment is deserv-erv-erved.” Oh-Cee stammered as she attempted rerouting power to stop a complete collapse of her systems after the critical hit, not to mention that half of her sensors were just murdered outright. She was half blind, albeit at a more extreme than Cassius. Pressing the opportunity, the enemy pilot swivelled on his axis, and tried leading Oh-Cee by several seconds, and against normal pilots and NCs, that would have worked, but Oh-Cee was nothing but an outlier.

She dropped to the ground, then almost reversed her speed, and darted backwards so fast, that even with all of the inertial dampeners active in her cockpit, Cassius still felt a crack in his back from the utter jolt of the movement.
The enemy pilot was stunned momentarily. Nothing should move that fast, especially not on the ground, right?
That was all Oh-Cee needed. She closed the distance between the two in the second it took for the pilot to shake himself out of his stupor and redirect his guns, and by then she was well within his effective firing range. That being said, she was fast, not impossible to hit. As his guns retargeted, her previously damaged left arm was torn off as a hail of bullets caught her the moment before she made contact with him, getting another pained gasp of pain from the AI, and another roar of anger from Cassius as blood vessels popped all along his arm from the shock. His arm pulsated with pain, and the tips of his fingers started going purple from the horrendous damage that he took. Oh-Cee fared slightly better, though just barely. She had still lost her arm, after all. She fired the last round in her remaining shotgun at the enemy NCs right arm, and at this range, she all but obliterated the gun, and most of his shoulder. She tossed aside the shotgun, then did a leaping run and punched down on the NCs pilot compartment as she came down, knocking him down to the ground, then fell upon him, oil and other fluids leaking out of Oh-Cee’s ruined shoulder. She punched it a couple more times, then positioned her leg in a way that pinned the remaining minigun to the ground, its rounds connecting with the ground and whatever buildings were in the background harmlessly. Small arms fire sputtered off of her torso as the enemy pilot’s anti-infantry mounted LMGs fired at her in a desperate attempt to get her off him, and although they caused grooves and dents in her armour, there wasn’t enough to properly dissuade or damage her more than what she had already gone through. With one final grunt of effort, Oh-Cee drew her knife, and plunged it into the side of the enemy NC, hearing a shrill shriek of fear and pain, before the pilot was silenced, permanently. She pulled out her knife, slick with blood, and put it back into her holster before picking up her discarded shotgun, and started reloading it one-handedly, which, while quite the feat in itself, was nothing compared to the stuff that just went down for her.

”Pi-Pi-Pilot Chaplain, ho-how are you fee-f-f-feeling?” Oh-Cee managed to stammer as she tried dealing with the error reports flooding her artificial mind. The loss of half of her sensors didn’t help, at all.
”Y’know what’m feeling, Cee.” Cassius looked at his ruined arm, which continued getting redder as more blood swelled to the surface of his skin, and grunted in annoyance and dulled pain. He wouldn’t be using that in the next couple minutes, if he survived that long, that is. ”Not usin’ m’arm anytime soon, same with m’eye. Think you can cover me enough?”
”O-Of course, Pilo-Pilot Ch-Cha-Chaplain. I may need s-some repairs after th-th-this.
”Gettit done. How’s errybody else doin’, darlin’?”
”I will check. One moment.” Oh-Cee allowed herself a moment to lean against a ruined building to go through the backlog of radio chatter since both her and Cassius were both much too busy earlier trying to survive to listen to it properly as it came in, and although she hears everything, she deemed it less than important at the time.
And then she listened to everything that happened.
And let out a distorted sigh.
A loud one too.

”Fucken whoreson, whaddawe do, Cee?” Cassius asked as he nursed his arm, which basically oozed blood out of tiny cuts that had formed from the severing of Oh-Cee’s own arm.
”I will ca-call the retreat. We will r-r-retrieve Pil-Pilot Mazgh-Mazghurri, she i-i-is still a-alive, though uncon-unconscious. Is tha-that acceptab-tab-tab-table, Pilot Chaplain?” She responded as she ran several million calculations, most of which came up as errors. Her servos whirled as she began moving once again, casting a glance down at the fallen NC, before she reached down and shoved her hand through the pilot compartment, further mashing the body in an attempt to get to the NC Core. Two seconds later, she pulled out her hand which dripped with pieces of broken human, and in her palm, the precious, beaten, but still functional core. Cassius opened up the cockpit to receive the package, grumbling under his breath about the bits of bone and brain that were scattered over his trousers, but refrained from anything more.
”Leave no-one be’ind, gettit done, Cee. M’too drunk t’think proper.”
”Of co-course Pilot Chaplain.” Oh-Cee closed her cockpit once more, before opening up a communication line with the rest of the squad.

”Pi-Pilots, you heard our co-commander. Collect o-our fallen comra-comrades and f-fall ba-ba-ba-back. Pilot Ch-Ch-Chaplain and I will c-c-collect Pilot Maz-Mazghurri.” Oh-Cee sent out the message, before she started making her way towards the fallen pilot. The air around tasted a bit more metallic for a second as she once again disappeared off of radar for the second time in one day.

---

The overall battle itself was almost at a stalemate. Yes, Haven had taken some losses in terms of NCs and overall ground-based armour, but Red Star, despite trained just as well on top of being more numerous than Haven, had taken more losses. They’d lost almost an entire NC battlegroup, and they’d feel that one long after the battle ended, victory or not.
Despite this, Red Star still held air superiority, while Haven itself was digging its heels into the ground and holding Red Star’s ground forces back, even pushing them back in some places. Of course, with the retreat of the allied NCs, that would change, but not straight away. They would hold for a while without support.

---

(@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Landaus Five-One@Metatrooper@Scribe of Thoth@Letter Bee@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@ArmorPlated)

---

The broken Kxeyun sits idly, looking around herself in the darkened interior of Sahaquiel. "What am I, where am I?" she questions herself. "Am I just a... Doll? Am I... Human? What is... Human?" she speaks and ponders quietly. Her hands reach out in the darkened interior, touching a screen. "Sahaquiel... Sahaquiel's eyes..." she mutters "Sahaquiel is good... Sahaquiel keeps me safe..." her lips move gently, a voice then speaks in her head. "But what is good? Isn't good and evil subjective?" she curls up and shrieks in surprise. "Who are you?" It responds. "I am you as you are me. You are broken and so am I. I am the mental image the link left behind." she seems... Reassured. "You are me? Then I am good... You are good, not dangerous..." The girl shudders. "Broken... Did I lose? My arms hurt... Feel exploded..." "Yes, you lost. I lost." the imprint says, probably of the 'Kxequiel' thing that fought Alexander. It asks "Why do you fight?" Something figuratively clicks into position and then she says with a refound non-childish tone "Because this is the world I want to protect." to be met with "Good..." It begins to fade from her mind, as she finds herself again. After figuring out what the actual hell happened to her... She slides back into her seat, pressing four buttons at once. New text flashes across the screen in front of her.

EMERGENCY POWER ENGAGED.......
NO LINK SYSTEMS ACTIVATED.....
EXTERNAL LIGHTS DEACTIVATED...

LOAD> BCKUP.CFG
LOAD> COMPLETE. SYSTEM START.
SYSTEM BOOTING INTO EMERGENCY

The visual sensors and radio startup. A semi-hurt voice rings out. "Hey guys, I'm not dead. Come get me please, I can't move this building-sized paperweight, plus I'd rather not become a Red-Star torture slave... Also, what happened since I went down? I heard something large smack into an NC." She doesn't seem to be totally herself, a bit self-concerned. Her hands move a bit, then she rapidly presses buttons, bringing up diagrams of her damage status. She mutters to herself "Ah I see, the nerves totally shot, force ejecting the link, causing Saha to shut down." The internal lights FINALLY startup, a deep amber hue. After rotating the diagram some and focusing on the head, she blinks. "I don't remember the head configuration changing... What the hell happened?"

---

Chelsea heard what Oh-Cee had said over the squad radio, however, it shocked her a bit too much to hear that. It was a relief to hear the fallback order was given by Oh-Cee, however, hearing Zahra was defeated by whoever she was fighting against. In an instance she heard Kxeyun’s voice and felt a bit conflicted in who to rescue first. She then remembered that Terra will probably help Kxeyun, but there hasn’t been any radio contact from Terra in awhile. ”Roger That… Oh-Cee I will help out Encarnación and Madam in the city to get out of this hellhole. Kxeyun, I have a feeling deep in my heart that Terra will be helping you back to base.” Chelsea said, sincerely and truthfully. However, she’s a bit worried about Encarnación and Madam too since she did say she’ll repair the damage to the Tank in question. The entire thing what Kxeyun had said a bit worried her about her entire thing. ”Uuhh… Something is wrong with her… Berserking sounds terrifying. I do hope I am correct in my assumption about Terra.” Chelsea thought to herself. She couldn’t help but feel a bit worthless in this battle, at least she did have much work to help out after they get back to base.

The Fixer diverted it’s position to go back to Encarnación and Madam’s position to help the two out to return to base. Not knowing that one of them or both of them have been emp’d. However, her mind was racing only because of the fact because she needs to rush to their aid as quickly as possible. The only way that can happen is she’ll have to use the thrusters to leap closer to the city and their exact location, hopeful not to run into any enemy NCs. However, the likelihood of that happening is probably higher than most things. She activated her thrusters and landed hard but smooth enough to reach the city again, however, it’ll take her about another while to reach the large tank in question. ”At least the enemy didn’t attack me… I hope I didn’t jinx myself.” Chelsea thought to herself. However, she saw a sight in question, which was a bit mixed in terms she saw the NC that was specifically destroying the empty buildings that had no life signs. ”Uhhh fuck… Why did I have to jinx myself?” Chelsea thought to herself. Her look on her face was helluva worried about the whole thing.

Chelsea turned on her radio thing. ”Uuhhh, Tall helmet man can you give me some assistance… sorry if you said your name but… fuck I need help immediately. Because the crazy NC without any life signs is fucking with our allies.” Chelsea said with a tone in her voice of being utterly afraid of what’s going on right now. She kinda wished she wasn’t too quick, however, she hoped the tall helmet man could help right now. However, she was highly nervous and couldn’t really feel like speaking to the terrifying NC right now. ”Fucking hell… My mother always told me to take it easy but nooo… I had to run away from home because she was a coward now this shit...” Chelsea thought to herself, with a bit worried. The Precision Scanners did see the damage to NC that has no life signs, however, she didn’t have any hope to damage it since she only has two 20mm cannons. In terms, which is pretty simply she’s pale white as if she saw a ghost. However, the adrenaline made it unlikely for her to faint, but she was definitely having a panic attack within her NC right now. ”I am so screwed… I think I should start praying to a god since I haven’t done that since before now...” Chelsea thought to herself.

In an act of desperation she turned on her open comms directed towards the no life sign NC. ”Uu-Uuhhh please don’t kill me.” Chelsea said, highly nervously and couldn’t really understand why she had done it. She didn’t want to open communications with the enemy but its now or never, and she had to help the two who’s fighting the NC. However, she couldn’t help that her action today is probably going to get her reprimanded for what she had done. ”T-This is the first time I opened my communications to enemies… I hope no one else is listening to this communication.” Chelsea thought to herself. The last part of her thought was primarily about Osamu because that man scares her to no end. She shivered at that thought but it seems like the fear of the unknown makes her more afraid than knowing there was a pilot inside of that other red NC.

When Hisn-ul-Ghayma went down, its drones followed. Because of that, Red-Star saw an opportunity to press on an attack with some lesser forces, specifically from the air. A number of these found Id, and Terra did not take well to their presence. She did not take it well, to the tune of blowing them out of the sky with short, controlled plasma bursts. It sounded like a scene from Aliens, basically. Right now, Id and Grand Sword Star were moving towards what Terra assumed to be Sahaquiel's position. Alot had happened in the time it took to help out Hisako. They'd had no radio contact since she'd told GSS' pilot to create white noise interference around her machine, a full blanket of it. Afterwhich, with them moving around, their direct wire transmission was also detached, since any maneuvers while it was on beyond walking might sever it, and they needed to get moving more than a little. Why? Oh...because things were a mess.

Sahaquiel is disabled, Hisn-ul-Ghayma is on fire, and there's a machine with no apparent lifesigns going insane. Is it some sort of complicated drone? ...we'd better hope so. I'd rather not consider the alternative, at this point.

It was pretty easy to see situations with a bit of flight. Thankfully, interference with the enemy had made it possible for Sahaquiel to remain intact and without further harm than it had sustained. The NC with the unusual readings was relatively close to Kxeyun's position, but other NCs were engaging it. The REAL problem would be the bear-like machine that stood victorious in its battle against Zahra. It'd gone straight for their tactical support. Had he known or was it a lucky guess. Either way, they were suffering for it now. Still couldn't receive any radio messages... GSS had to remain at her side to stay safe from any Havenite attacking. As far as that goes, that's a 'Mission Accomplished' on the capture of NC pilots. Surprising, though...

As they approached Sahaquiel, Hisako would naturally get an Ursa Nova vibe from it. This NC was a beast. It was made to slaughter. It must've been in a fierce battle. At least, that's what Terra figured happened. Kxeyun was a Denver-Vegas bloodsport survivor. Presumably, that meant that competition this time was more than a little stiff. Terra now attached a communications wire to Sahaquiel as she grabbed the machine, pointing to Grand Sword Star with Id's fingers to do same while she attempted to contact Kxeyun.

"Kxeyun, it's me, Terra. I'm sorry, I've been on radio blackout. It was the only way to help out another defector. We're pulling you back to base now. Anyone that tries to take you away now will die. You're safe now."

Yup, that's how Terra Laedo assures people. She outright states her intention to kill anyone who interferes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



The enemy NC was finished. Ursa stood up on its back legs and did one last stomp of its carcass. Dread scanned the area, waiting for some sort of opposition or reprisal incoming, preferrably someone shouting 'You bastard!' or something like that. But...nobody came.

"Hmph. No one? Well, with friends like these, who needs ME to kill you?"

The bear rocket-jumped to stand on another building to be used as a vantage point. Naturally, it didn't last long - due to the weight - but he got a basic outlook on things. Things were not chaotic enough. Oh, there were fights going on, but the only stand-out one appeared to be Tabris. He also saw two red mechs. One of them bore a Red-Star ident-tag. You know, the friend-or-foe system that Dread pretty much ignored, for the most part. Thing is, though, it was useful in discovering that a friend was standing near a foe and they weren't fucking killing each other. He wanted to shout at whatever incompetent was over there, but radio contact was nothing-doing. He couldn't raise the pilot.

He considered going over there to 'straighten out' said pilot...which of course meant killing the enemy, dragging the pilot back to Red-Star, opening the cockpit, and beating the occupant. So much work... He could also kill them now. Pretty sure the other red one was Id, the NC of the defector. They'd like that. However, Dread had a far more insidious idea that he was surprised that Red-Star wasn't employing even now. Those fools wanted to just kill or capture NC pilots, and they weren't doing the obvious thing that would bring this town to its knees: Burning it to the ground.

"Heh heh heh heh... You can't be a Haven if you've got nowhere to live!"

Ursa Nova was indeed heading in the general direction of Id, GSS, and Sahaquiel...but Dread was in no hurry. Not while he could incinerate every building within range of his hand and mouth flames. It's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight!

---

Hisako followed Id very closely until she saw Sahaquiel, however, it made her reminded of the Ursa Nova in question. The pilot of that machine is a bit crazy and loves killing more than anything, however, she couldn’t help but feel a bit different. She saw specifically Id and Terra moved to help Sahaquiel in question, she did what she saw in movements. In terms of dragging it back to Havenite’s Base in particular. ”I have a feeling the Havenites will be interrogating me since I did defect from Red-Star. I will answer any and all their questions as long as I am freed from this torture device.” Hisako thought to herself. However, she decided to connect a communication wire to Sahaquiel and was a bit nervous. ”You must be Terra’s friend. I do hope we become friends. Even though I will have to be interrogated by the Havenites.” Hisako said, over the direct line comms. The tone in her voice was highly truthful and wanted to become completely free from the terror that is Red-Star.

She looks down at her PSA and notices a terrifying thing it’s more or less the chance of her survival was similar to how it was when she was in Red-Star. This freaked herself out and she moved her NC to specifically see why it went down so much. She saw it was Ursa Nova coming towards them, but destroying every single building while charging them. ”Fuck… Why did Dread have to notice things? I hate how he’s a monster…” Hisako thought to herself. However, she kept her NC specifically on Sahaquiel and wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. There was a small chance someone could distract Dread.

Hisako kept the communication direct line with Sahaquiel because she kinda wanted to hear the voice of NC Pilot in specific. However, she looked at her overbooster and didn’t want to activate it since it hurts every single time it is activated. It’s like forcing her to be a broken shell only to be used by Red-Star Comrades as if she is a plaything. ”Crap… I don’t want to use the Overbooster… because it’s pretty much my last resort or when superiors feel like activating it to punish me.” Hisako thought to herself. She couldn’t help but feel like the systems built in this NC was more a determent than a boon, which it took her only now to feel like they were using her as a tool. It terrified her to realize that, which it felt like Terra was trying to tell her. ”I should ask you for your name? Mine is Hisako Lyn Kobayashi soon to be ex-Red Star Pilot.” Hisako said, calmly. However, she wasn’t that calm in reality but speaking definitely helps with her utter fear, which is primarily why she’s better at hiding it than most people.

(Collab between myself, @Senhara, @Landaus Five-One, and @Selvariabell)



TABRIS keeps charging at Maman, however the call of the Repair NC seems to have gone unnoticed, the gleaming blade of the four meter long sword seems ripe to cut, any sane individual would back the hell away from a machine of this caliber.

Maman is not insane, while she is personally a veteran in melee combat, she is well-aware of Red Star's superior sync rates. What's more, her radio is crackling with the orders to retreat. Maman begins to disengage.

While Cody is still covering Kxeyun's downed NC, he receives a message from a certain repair NC on the comms asking for help. He hesitates, as he's still on orders to secure Sahaquiel and the fact that he's the only NC in the area that can do so. However, after receiving orders to retreat, and seeing two friendlies move towards it, he activates the Halberd's rocket boosters and speeds towards Chelsea. He then switched to the comms and sent a message to her, "Affirmative, pilot Steiner. En route to your location now."

TABRIS stops chasing Maman, seeing that they have backed off. However, that Repair NC still is there... She turns around on a dime and charges it, poised to chop it in half!

Chelsea saw the crazed NC make one of her allies back off, which felt like a definite bad idea at this moment. She heard over the communications, which was Tall Helmet man coming to her rescue that made her a bit better. However, she couldn't really respond since she has to run away from this crazy ass NC. She moved her NC just in time to not be cut in half by the sword, which the crazed NC was wielding. It felt a bit jarring to face someone with a much higher sync rate since yeah. Over open communications, "Uhh fucking hell what are you? God damn it I should have stayed in bed..."

The sword misses by inches, chopping the building next to her clean in half, the head continues to track Chelsea, Cody can faintly hear her transmission. "To treasure a life... is that something to laugh at? Everything is twisted... you, this world, all of it..." It seems she believes Haven will kill the ones she liked. She lunges at Fix-It again, an attempt to sever a leg this time. Despite the hidden anger in her voice, she moves with beauty unseen in the battlefield. Mesemerizing, if it weren't about to gut you like a fish.

It doesn't take Cody long to detect the Fixer's signal on the Halberd's HUD, along with another signal, preseumably the enemy's. As he gets closer and closer, he could also hear another transmission over the open comms. Although the sound is faint, he seems to find the voice strangely familiar, but he's unable to pinpoint exactly whom it belongs to.

Chelsea saw the building got cut in half, which made her grumble a bit. She heard specifically what the Crazed NC spoke, still over open comms, "Uhh.. seriously? You are spouting some reverse bullshit at me..." She felt like, which was a Repair NC shouldn't be fighting an NC fit for Combat. Therefore, she tried to move her nc in away to dodge the attack, however, it would be tricky to keep up with the dodging affair since the crazed NC will get her sooner or later.

"When will you cease to be an annoyance?!" TABRIS says, louder. "Stand still so I can cut you down!" She seems to be adapting to the dodges, bursting her hover engines to get her close, too close for comfort. She slashes again, notably she's only using her left arm to cut and dice, her right arm stays pointed towards Chelsea, like a spear.

The Halberd then finally manages to get in range. Cody then quickly deploys the mass driver cannons before aiming right in front of Chelsea, in an attempt to create some distance between her and the hostile NC. Although the Halberd could detect both, the view of the hostile is actually quite blurry and yet it still seemed familiar to him, just like the voice he had heard earlier. He then opens comms and speaks to Chelsea, "I've arrived, hurry up and get behind me." The cannons then fire two AP shots, which would land right in front of the enemy NC.

Chelsea felt something from the crazed NC, like it wanted her dead because of how it said annoyance. Chelsea heard the Tall Helmet's mans voice over the comms, which made her sigh in relief. She spoke open comms, "Finally... thank god I'm saved.. if you hadn't come sooner I would be shish kabob probably by the crazed NC." She did notice how close the crazed NC was in front of her and felt a bit as if her life just flashed before her eyes. The Fixer, with her moving it tried to make sure it didn't get hit by her ally's weapons since it would be dumb to get hit by friendly fire by moving backwards.

"SHIT!" TABRIS shouts, jolting backwards by the cannon shells, she quickly triangulates the source and charges it, using her hover engine to move in an unpredictable manner "YOU DENY ME MY REVENGE ON HAVEN?! You're just as bad as the rest of them!"

As the hostile begins closing in on Cody, he readies the Halberd's plasma cannons and ripper missile launchers. However, after hearing her voice loud and clear on the comms, he suddenly remembered where he had heard it before. It didn't take long before the NC was close enough to be clearly seen on the Halberd's visual sensors. The sound of her voice, the dark, feminine, almost human form of the NC, and the way she moves, there was no one else that fit that category. Cody then focused all power to the shields and opened direct comms to the NC before saying, "TABRIS? Is that you?"

Chelsea moved her NC towards the tall helmet man's NC, since he did say get behind him. She activated her thursters to do a leap to make damned sure she will get behind the NC. The fixer's landing was pretty hard but she was barely able to not fall on her face in terms of her NC's repair arms since that would suck to break. She spoke over open comms, "Fucking shit... feels like I had gained bad luck or something."



The machine rapidly closes the distance, sword slamming down against the top of Halberd, the shield managing to hold off from her sword splitting his top open. She doesn't believe this, forcing her sword down into the shield more "You're DEAD! This can't be you!" She growls slightly, managing to look pissed off.

Cody stays silent for a moment, not even preparing his weapons, before speaking on the comms again, "I'll prove it to you, allow me to exit my NC and I'll show you." He hoped his plan would be enough to convince her as he waited for a reply, as the shields could only take so much before falling.

"Tch, anta baka?" That phrase was automatically translated to "What are you, stupid?" She seems displeased. "I'm forced to kill my enemies, you're my enemy." She forces the sword down a bit more. A bit more pressure and the shields would collapse.

As it seemed he couldn't convince her through words, and he didn't want to cripple her with point blank plasma cannons, he decided to take drastic measures. He pulled out the plug connected to his helmet and exited the cockpit as fast as he could. Cody then stood on top of the Halberd, his now blue combat armor in clear view of TABRIS. Taking off his helmet, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's me! I'm alive!". If the shields fell, they would release a small shockwave and push off the sword, forcing TABRIS to take another swing to take him down, hopefully that would buy enough time for her to realize that he wasn't lying.

She stops applying pressure when she sees him on visual, her other arm shoots a few rounds at the NC's foot, causing the shields to collapse yet... No damage was done to Halbred. She leans in as much as she can safely, saying through the loudspeakers "... There's no doubt about it, Cody... Buddy, I've found a reason to fight."

Chelsea had a bit of a feeling of what the hell is going on, like, why am I not dead yet? It was in her thoughts until she moved her NC and saw the aftermath. She learned the tall helmet man's name from specifically the crazed NC, which was going to kill her. Over open comms, "The hell? What is the hell going on...?" In her tone she was utterly confused but she'll never forgot Cody's first name after that. The look on her face was many different feelings, emotions and everything.

Cody let out a sigh of relief as his plan had worked, partially at least. He then yells back, "Long time no see old friend, what reason is that?"

"Now I know you're alive... But on the enemy team. It makes me want to fight to protect you... Why did you leave Red-Star?" She asks Cody, on comms she replies to Chelsea "I'm TABRIS, Cody used to be my friend back in Red-Star, he thought I was an AI at the time. I'm actually not alive, per say. It's a superposition, I am alive and dead at the same time."

Chelsea had a feeling of confusion hit her harder than the feeling of her not being dead, specifically at what TABRIS specifically said. She spoke over open comms, "Uhh... okay that's why you had a no life sign signature. That's kinda of crazy... Wait... what? Two Red-Star Defectors in Haven at the same time..." Her tone was a bit less confused but it had an air of confusion but remembering what Theodore had said about Red-Star Defectors and finally put two together that Terra & Cody were that. Because she was multitasking with her music in one of her ears, however, her headphones weren't on her head this time around.

He was initially surprised that someone like TABRIS didn't know the true reason why he left. "Red-Star finally got to me, ever since I joined I tried my best to turn a blind eye to their many faults and continue serving them. But when they ignored our pleas and killed my comrades... I didn't want to put up with their shit anymore." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm truly sorry if you think I died or if I betrayed you."

A gentle sigh escapes the machine's speakers "I'm the idiot for not seeing that sooner. Of course, I'm the result of a top secret project... One which... Is inhumane, seeing as the rest of you aren't cyborgs... It kinda wants me to help Haven now... I always thought Haven was filled with awful things." She says, contemplating things, such as the true meaning of her purpose.

"Well now you know the truth at least. Haven's not perfect but it's still not as bad as Red-star." As he stared at TABRIS, he felt sorry for her. She was another life ruined by Red-star, just like himself and many others.

She nods gently, then talks over loudspeakers "Hey... Repair NC... You know how you said there were two defectors?" The transmitters on TABRIS instantly reconfigure to act as a jamming dome. "Make that three. Let's go to our new home, yea?"

Chelsea heard TABRIS speak over the comms, which made her instantly smile and feel a bit like, did a NC just say a cheesy line that was in a movie. She spoke over open comms, "That's cheesy. But Yeah let's go, by the way my name is Chelsea. It's nice to meet you TABRIS." She felt like the horror from almost dying was done but she had a feeling if she gets out of this NC she'll faint. Because she looks paler than she did before getting on the battlefield.

Cody was, surprised to say the least, that TABRIS was already set on defecting right now. "Just like that huh? Well then TABRIS, welcome to Haven." He then slips his helmet back onto his head before climbing back into his cockpit. As he starts up the Halberd once again, he then detects another signal a distance away. The signal is then identified as an NC whose electrical systems have been disabled. He then realizes that it's a Havenite NC, which is also probably the reason why Chelsea was sent there in the first place. He then opens the comms and sends a message to Chelsea, telling her to retrieve the downed NC.
As he sits in his cockpit, he sees TABRIS moving back towards the Haven base and thinks to himself, 'This'll be interesting to explain to the commander later.'

Darwin City



Havenite Medium Tanks rolled out, firing at the Red-Star forces to cover the International Volunteers (and defectors)' retreat. These models had a miniature ECM (electronic countermeasure) system that caused missiles coming their way to veer away from the second defensive line. These were followed up by Havenite Gunships, floating craft equipped with black-market armor and weapons; in this case, Denver-Vegas missile launchers and Paragon laser weapons (obsolete ones; again, black-market).



These gunships would give Red-Star's own hovercraft an equal fight; they were outnumbered three-to-one by their counterparts, but had the advantage of being covered by Haven's own anti-air emplacements. Thus, the International Volunteers and Red-Star defectors had a clean path back to the Base.

Haven Base

Tabris would be taken to the hangar, where she would be fixed in place by scaffolding as part of an improvised 'interrogation and screening' program. Hisako's collar will be disabled, then sawn off by the Havenites, before the defector was whisked off into fairly comfortable custody for interrogation - her first one without torture. It was clear that Theodore had received news beforehand of the others' defections.

Sahaquiel and Kyexun will be in the repair bay and the hospital wing, respectively, and the latter will be allowed a camera and holoprojector in order to talk to Terra and receive messages from Theodore, who was now meeting the others in the Operations Room for a briefing.

In said operations room, the holograms were now of the situation in Darwin. Red-Star had begun entrenching itself in the outer portion of the city, but have made no move to drill down to the underground bunkers underneath the city - Not a True Burrow like Haven underneath Sydney, but still enough to shelter the civilian population; it was clear that Red-Star were going to attempt a full conquest before trying to re-enslave the civvies.

"I won't lie and say that we all performed perfectly," Theodore spoke, "We didn't. But let's focus on the bright side; we saved the Cores and Pilots of the two NCs we lost, and we gained two defectors at the same time with their accompanying NCs."

The holograms then changed to show a fleet of floating warships arriving southwest of Darwin City, streaming in from both the Outback and the Indian Ocean. These ships were painted white and brown, black and gold, and although their largest vessels were smaller than the Red-Star Supercarrier, the speed in which they arrived at was remarkable; they had moved into position faster than Red-Star's fleet.



"Another, unambigiously good thing is this: We bought enough time for the Haven Third Fleet to arrive, with word that they've destroyed a Red-Star force making for Perth; their wrecks now litter the Outback," Theodore then paused to allow the others to absorb the news.

He then fixed his gaze on them and said, "This means that we now have a chance not just of survival, but victory. Their morale is shaken by the failure of their vaunted brainwashing on two valuable pilots - and to them - even more valuable Mechs. And while we've lost one Field-Captain... We have a new one to introduce to you Volunteers."

Theodore pushed a button, and a side door opened, a signal for Adam Philips to walk in and introduce himself. Once he had done so, the General Commander of Haven then said, "Now, you know the drill: Bar, Coffeehouse, or... Actually, no Bathhouse unless you really want to get clean; I am not Osamu."

@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Landaus Five-One@Metatrooper@Scribe of Thoth@Sgt Vandingo@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@ArmorPlated:

Red-Star Floating Supercarrier Kuei-Ren

Osamu Akiyama was pissed. Hisako and TABRIS had defected on his watch, and he hadn't been able to get his desired Southshell Twink thanks to events beyond his control! And of course, Haven's 'fleet' had arrived only a few hours ago; this meant that Red-Star, despite their numbers, now had a chance of losing. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!

And he knew who was behind it too! He knew! Did that baka Alexander think he was stupid as well? Well, he wasn't; Osamu knew exactly what he was doing, sowing treason and spying for Haven like the uppity scum of the earth that he was!

Osamu would have dealt with Alexander sooner, but Hibiki was at stake. Hibiki, the person whom he had been mind-linking with every night for weeks. Hibiki, whose own pain echoed his own. Hibiki, whose dark side, implanted into him by that Serk-baka, was something Osamu did not want taking over the boy. Damnit, Alexander knew! Alexander had planted a weak spot in him!

Just murder them both - and Mako too, a voice inside him whispered. For a brief moment, Osamu drew up some papers; death warrants. Then he tore them apart and threw them into the trash bin. Why, why, why?! Why did I permit myself the weakness of wanting a family in Hibiki?!

The Red-Star Political Officer was struck with indecision. Then an idea came to him. Turning on the intercom, Osamu said, "Bring me Alexander Sky, Mako Shintai, and Hibiki Laplace. As for that Dread guy, give him what he wants, inlcuding prisoners to murder. Also, if we have additional pilots, give them an extra ration of coffee or alcohol."

@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Landaus Five-One@Metatrooper@Scribe of Thoth@Sgt Vandingo@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@ArmorPlated:

((Post between @Letter Bee and @Neozeon0083))

Red-Star Floating Supercarrier Kuei-Ren

The Red-Star Political Officer was struck with indecision. Then an idea came to him. Turning on the intercom, Osamu said, "Bring me Alexander Sky, Mako Shintai, and Hibiki Laplace."

Before he entered the room, Hibiki had a sense of what was going on. Osamu emitted a feeling of agitation. He entered the room and found a remote area of the office to timidly be present for what was going to be said.

As Alexander and Mako entered, Osamu looked at Hibiki and snapped, "Don't hide in a corner! Stand beside Alexander and his nakama; I have something important to tell you three."

And with that, several sentry guns emerged from ports in the walls, before pointing at Alexander, but not Mako and Hibiki. Osamu then got up from his plush seat before activating his own desk's holoprojector, showing Alexander in the Virtual Reality Room. He then showed an image of Alexander's avatar in virtual reality space, wandering the twisted corridors of bytes and bits that marked the intersection of Red-Star's Virtual Reality network and the inter-corporate dark-net.

Alexander's Avatar then faded for a second, and reappeared in a Kurdish-style coffehouse, where he went to sit on a table in front of a brown-skinned, green-eyed man with black hair. Osamu then gestured at the holoprojector's sensors to bring up a second hologram, bringing up the info on Theodore Narra, General Commander of Haven; this was the person Alexander was having a virtual dine-in with.

"You think I wouldn't know?" Osamu looked at Alexander, "You think you're skilled enough in Virtual Reality to evade a Red-Star Political Officer? Well, you're not, and you're going to suffer for this, Alexander Sky!"

Alexander had stiffened, and glared at Osamu, saying, "What are you going to do? Torture me? Abuse me? Replace my memories like you've done with so many others? Five years created and it's hard to believe you've become such an utter abomination of humanity. And you've gotten Hibiki to watch as well, you psychotic brat."

Osamu released a breath, before saying, "Hibiki is actually what I want to talk to you about, actually, Alexander Sky. If I kill you, his beloved mentor, or harm you seriously, the 'Dark Hibiki' side his father implanted in him will take over more of his psyche. And that's a danger to both our sides, as 'Dark Hibiki' is an omnicidal maniac like Dread, only less restrained. But at the same time, I cannot abide the thought of Phoenix Inferno and its pilot sabotaging Red-Star from within once more, or even using the Ion Projector you were trying to get upgraded to sink the Kuei-Ren and then blast your way out to Havenite lines; that would be a propaganda disaster for us."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, before saying, "You really have a tendency to overplay your hand, don't you? Listen, you brat, you've just revealed that I have something you want, something you just can't take by force. What is it and why can't I take revenge for your abuse by just, you know, refusing?"

Osamu smiled, "You can't refuse because you care too much. Despite what I've said about your VR skills, they're impressive; same about your aptitude with the Neural Net. We're going to need both of those for what I plan next: Transfer 'Dark Hibiki' into Phoenix Inferno."

Hibiki looks puzzled by the reference to a 'Dark Hibiki'. Now in line with the others, Hibiki asks, "there is a Dark version of me?".

Hibiki looks side to side, as if looking for affirmation or denial. "But there is just one of me, right? Right?". The boy seems to be getting unnerved by the whole conversation. He visibly started to fidget.

Osamu looked at Hibiki and said, "Yes. And I'm saving you and Red-Star from it. I am not going to let Serk have his last laugh."

There was a firmness in his tone at that.

Still unsure of what is ment by that, Hibiki nods and continued to listen.

Osamu continued, "The AI in Titan Breaker is influencing your psyche, turning you into a monster - that is Dark Hibiki. But the Bio-Computer in my head is stronger than that AI; it will have to be. What I am going to do is to retrofit Phoenix Inferno with enough storage capacity to contain both Akuma - the AI - and Dark Hibiki. Then I and Alexander will transfer those two into Phoenix Inferno with Bio-Computer bullshit. Why am I doing this and why haven't I done this to Haven's NCs before if I were capable of doing this type of thing before? Simple: Because for once in my life I feel as though I have to do something just because it is... Because it is..."

Mako interrupted, "You can't be saying it's the right thing to do, Osamu-sama! We both know you don't care about right and wrong!"

The Artificial Human glared at Mako. "Yet I do. But only this once. When I saved Hibiki, I formed a mental link with him, saw his life under Serk and he in turn saw my own issues with being unable to protect my creator. So I am saving him, even if it costs me my... My... I can't say it."

Alexander says, "Your life. Or your powers, which if you lose, will destroy your usefulness to Red-Star."

The glare was turned to Alexander as Osamu snapped once more, "I know that! Now help me save Hibiki and you can stay clothed once I exhibit you in a cage for punishment. It's the best bargain you'll get."

Osamu trembled even as Alexander made eye contact with him, staring deeply. It was to the Artificial Human's relief when the Slave-Pilot said, "All right, I want to save Hibiki."

Hibiki's look of concern slowly shifted to one of terror and worry. He stepped forward to address the only friends he has kept so far, "Osamu? Alex? What are you talking about? I'm here, and I'm fine. What is this talk of you dieing Osamu?"

The boy's frustration had finally come to a head as he yelled, "Why are all you acting like this!?" He looks at Osamu, "Your life is far more valuable than mine! I have not done anything of Worth! If anyone should disappear, it should be me!" The welling of tears begin to form in his eyes.

Hibiki managed to calm down and with fists curled, he stepped back in line, "Why am I worth so much" he said under his breath.

Osamu walked towards Hibiki, and with his right hand, wiped away the young man's tears. "Because you remind me of myself. Because you also remind me of my father, the person I failed to protect. You're the first person I feel kinship with, because we're both creations of mad science. You are the only one who can spark such an emotion inside me, and the fact that you're too naive to take advantage of that... It makes me want to protect you more. We're family."

His gaze turned firm, "So accept the only sacrifice I am willing to make, or I will torture Alexander in front of your eyes."

Hibiki looks towards Alexander for a quick second, then looks Osamu in the eyes.

"No, I will not. If you do whatever you want to him, he still lives in the end, but if you have a chance of disappearing for my sake".

With a defiance Osamu has never seen before from the boy, he said, "I'd rather disappear into the abyss".

Osamu shook his head. "I'll do it anyway; you can't force me to do anything I don't want to - You don't have that power. Hibiki Laplace... You are like a brother to me and I will do what I can for you."

He then shoots Hibiki with the taser, hopefully stunning him. And with that, the Artificial Human walks off, ready to do the first good thing he has ever done in his life.

Hibiki's muscles convulse and clenched, as he fell to the ground on his side. He fought for consciousness for a second, as his eyes grew heavy, and thought escaped him.

The boy soon went too sleep.

---

Much later...

The Queen, as she was evacuated from the battlefield by her soldiers after she was saved by her allies, was quiet. As she was quiet during the long journey from Spain to Australia, she added to her silence with a prayer. Those sitting with her in the helicopter that was taking them back to the base observed that she had closed her eyes and wrapped her tired, shaking and dusty fingers around her rosary, a rare thing to have in this ruined world that did not seem to value the belief in someone higher.

She had prayed this way:

Thank you, Lord for giving me and my men mercy. Thank you for a well deserved and well fought victory. Thank you...for one more day. And most of all, may you bless the ones who saved me as much as they saved my men. Continue to look after us, the living, as you would care to keep the names of the fallen in your book of life. And on the other hand, forgive me for my sins for they have given us ruin.

Then she concluded her prayer with a soft set of words

"En el nombre del padre y del hijo y del espíritu santo. Amen."

Then she, without too much worry for her own self, kissed Jesus on the cross of her rosary, gently put it away in her pockets and looked to her men, speaking to them breathlessly

"Thank you for all you have done today. You have done so much for Spain, for Haven and for yourselves. God save Spain and Europe from the corrupt demons of this world."

---

When she arrived at the base, she was escorted solemnly by any available Spanish soldier to, first, the chapel of this location. She needed the comfort of Father Alfonso Céspedes. After that, she would pay a lonely visit to the bar. Although she may be a Christian, there was no ban on the drinking of alcohol. So long as she took care not to get drunk, she would be all right. She'd have to drink water too and eat something. She was shaking in the legs and hands.

And then she worried about her AI and her NC. That was when she realized that the Havenites themselves took care to bring them back. The compartment that housed her AI was taken by helicopter while the rest of the tank was hauled by Havenite light NC carriers.

For the news, she was glad. And once again, her eyes closed and she stopped just outside of the buildings to give credit to God.

Even though she wanted to visit the chapel first, she realized she had to pay respect to her superiors in the base.

---

"I won't lie and say that we all performed perfectly," Theodore spoke, "We didn't. But let's focus on the bright side; we saved the Cores and Pilots of the two NCs we lost, and we gained two defectors at the same time with their accompanying NCs."

Meanwhile, when Mariano found herself inside the room with the other pilots and their briefer, all she could focus on doing was listen to her own thoughts and the reports of her partner, the AI. She was told that the repairs would have to be done quickly. On the other hand, Mariano was encouraged to take a break and to simply focus on other things while the AI did the job on the tank. Mariano wasn't pleased at the news as shown by the frown she held on her face during the whole time she was in the room with the others.

Although she did offer some thanks to Chelsea and the others who saved her from TABRIS, the Queen felt odd. Like even though she had done something for the group, for Haven, for Spain, she shouldn't be here.

It didn't even feel great for her knowing that she was still in her dirty, ruined armor and uniform. It felt like she was insulting them. And as the din of the place took over her ears, it seemed like her mind could only push the sounds out.

"Another, unambigiously good thing is this: We bought enough time for the Haven Third Fleet to arrive, with word that they've destroyed a Red-Star force making for Perth; their wrecks now litter the Outback," Theodore then paused to allow the others to absorb the news.

He then fixed his gaze on them and said, "This means that we now have a chance not just of survival, but victory. Their morale is shaken by the failure of their vaunted brainwashing on two valuable pilots - and to them - even more valuable Mechs. And while we've lost one Field-Captain... We have a new one to introduce to you Volunteers."

"Now, you know the drill: Bar, Coffeehouse, or... Actually, no Bathhouse unless you really want to get clean; I am not Osamu."

For once, she felt...strangely angry. She felt that the Spaniards, her people, deserved to be mentioned too. That her forces had done much to defend Haven as the NCs did and as the Havenites did. Have they not done so much and traveled over so great distances to this land that welcomed them? Have they not lost as much as these Havenites did? What would they think if the Spaniards treated them this way in the defense of Valencia?

And only when she thought that it was safe to leave and when she probably got the more important things about the briefing did she decide to turn around and leave the room. She did so quietly as ever, only paying a salute and a swift set of words to let them know that she had to take her absence.

---

The Latin chant rolled through the air of the chapel of the Havenite base as the Queen entered it. She was the only visitor for today and she came in in her own person and clothing as she came out of this base to fight Red Star.

Dusty, dirty, ruined and torn. Her uniform was bloody thanks to wounds sustained by her body. Some trace of deep crimson was still left on the top of her lips, her neck and her collar bones. She had a nosebleed.

Her own boots too were damaged and her armor had taken a beating. Everything else about her, even her hair, was tainted by combat.

But in the chapel, the peace of the chant, the air and the solitude was enough for her. It was what she needed. What she wanted. What God gave her.

She took ten steps before the altar of Christ the Savior of the world and then she went down on one knee, bowed her head and allowed her lips to speak the words

"Holy Son of God, allow me to enter into your presence and pray before you as I pray before your Father and the Holy Spirit. Grant me this mercy."

And then she raised her head, then her body. She crossed herself and said an amen before approaching the altar where there was a tiny vessel of holy water waiting for her. There, she dipped her right hand that trembled into the cool liquid, let it stay there for a moment and then took it out, allowing some of the holy water to clean her fingers. Then afterwards, she brought the holy water to her forehead, her shoulders and her heart. Then another amen left her lips.

Then she took six steps away from the altar, bowed her head and began to pray accordingly:

"SALVE REGINA, Mater misericordiae. Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te Suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria."

Then after a moment, she gave the holy Lord an amen, went on one knee momentarily and then rose up before going her way out of the chapel.

---

She made her way with nobody else, hopefully, to the bar. There, she gave her order gently. It was simple.

"A Johnnie Walker Mango Crush, please. And two glasses of water with ice. I also want a sandwich with pork. That's all. Thank you."

As she waited for her order, she took the time to rest her head on the bar, her arms serving as a pillow. She sighed as long as she could, letting out the stress with the air from her lungs. Then she closed her eyes and nodded off quite quickly, forgetting for a while her order and everything else...

(End of part 1)

@Letter Bee @Landaus Five-One

---

Chelsea was sitting in the Briefing room with a bit of a look of despair. She was utterly worthless on the battlefield, which she didn’t even do anything of note besides running back and forth. At least she didn’t die by TABRIS that’s like the only good news in the entire thing. However, she perked up when she heard Theodore speak up about their performance. She agreed with the performance in general, it wasn’t that good. ”Ugh… I feel like shit…” Chelsea thought to herself, somewhat deep in thought. She was still pale as a ghost from what happened before. The only bright side, was they survived the first battle against Red-Star.

She noticed the holograms, which were Havenite reinforcements. She gave a smile at, which was pretty much a good thing. However, it didn’t really help her recover from seeing her life flash before her eyes. She heard specifically what Theodore had said, which was that the 3rd Fleet destroyed a Red-Star Force making it for Perth. ”Oh, that’s definitely nice.” Chelsea said, with a bit quip on hearing the good news. She couldn’t really shake off the feeling of what she felt after she got out of her NC. It was an utter shock to her system to get back to base and almost faint but she didn’t. She still feels lightheaded from that event and looks at Theodore.

Chelsea specifically heard what Theodore said, every single word. This made her remember that Zahra is no longer in command of them. Her facial expression was a bit confused, however, she remembered Hisako was the second defector. ”Terra did most of the work to free Hisako from their brainwashing.” Chelsea thought to herself. She specifically looks at Terra when she thought that since if it wasn’t for her they wouldn’t have two Red-Star defectors. The other was specifically TABRIS, which Cody helped get on the Havenite side. It was specifically scary for her since she almost died to TABRIS.

She was couldn’t help but wonder who specifically was going to replace Zahra as Field-Captain. The only reason is because she was curious who it would be. She couldn’t help but give out a small sigh of relief with what he specifically said. ”That’s definitely true, no one wants to be Osamu.” Chelsea thought to herself. She couldn’t help but feel like she needed a drink to get over the specifics of her dilemma. It was a bit frustrating to deal with the entire thing, her almost fainting but feeling worthless didn’t help. She could always wondered how Caz got around with being so intoxicated. However, she decided it’ll be better to get a coffee at the coffee house than getting or becoming drunk. ”Sir, thank you for your words of wisdom.” Chelsea said, gratefully towards Theodore. The tone in her voice was grateful that Theodore is her commanding officer but most of the Havenite Commanders are similar.

Chelsea wanted to meet the new Field-Captain before leaving to the coffeehouse since she want to meet whoever they are. It’s pretty much obvious where she wanted to go since before the battle she did pick the coffeehouse before. She didn’t have her music on or nor her headset, it’s like having a life or death experience caused her to pay attention more than usual. ”I’ll definitely need to rethink my choices on certain things...” Chelsea thought to herself. She looks around the room to see what everyone else is doing.

---

---

Hisako saw the havenites disable her collar, which gave her a sigh of relief. The removal of the shock collar, however made her a bit grateful. She hugged the person who did the removal part. It kinda made the person blink at her mostly because of this defector hugging them for removing something. However, she couldn’t really help herself mostly because of the fact of all of it. The shock collar was upgraded by no other than one of the officers underneath Osamu. ”Thank you so much for freeing me from that terrible thing.” Hisako said, with a happy tone to her. The tone in her voice was highly grateful to the Havenites freeing her from that tool of torture and control. It brought her to tears since she couldn’t really lie about the freedom she feels now.

She was escorted by a group of Havenite Guards to get her swiftly to her comfortable custody for interrogation. They specifically told her that it won’t involve torture, which when they said that made her sigh in relief. It was the very first time she wasn’t tortured by her superiors or other slaves. ”The General Commander for Havenite must be very well verse in making sure everyone is comfortable or something.” Hisako thought to herself. She only thought that since she heard one of the guards specifically say Theodore’s rank a few many times. The escort finally reaches their destination and carefully sit Hisako down in one of the custody rooms, which is also an Interrogation room as well. It was definitely different from most custody/interrogation rooms in terms of Red-Star’s versions are much darker. She couldn’t help feel relaxed in the custody room since it was definitely brighter.

Hisako saw one of the guards was still in the room with her awaiting to be dismissed by an officer, which will be interrogating her. This custody room was pretty big, however, it made her realize that the only thing that the Red Star room had was a bed specifically for that kind of torture. It made her at ease that wasn’t a thing. ”I have to ask, what’s this building called?” Hisako asked a bit confused. She only knew of her primary objective, which was destroying the Kinetic shielding. It didn’t really help she didn’t know anything else about things since they kept her mostly in the dark because of the fact, she’s a female. Mostly in terms of how she was treated in Red-Star.

The guard looks at her specifically and smiles. “The name of this building is called a Custody Interrogation Building. There is a more specific name but that’s all I really can give you. Even though you defected cannot really tell you all the secrets. You have to be interrogated first, which is why I am waiting her for a Superior Officer.” He said, not really trusting Hisako’s word since he saw the logs between Terra and Her. The guard did feel sorry for her, however being a slave to the Red-Star Corporation. “I do feel sorry for your lot in life. But everyone makes choices even if they are quite literally forced to make those choices.” He added to what he said. In the sense he was telling Hisako that she was forced to make the choices she made and now finally has the freedom to do otherwise. It was hopeful what he said didn’t make the girl in question more confused than she was already.

She looks at the guard with an eyebrow up at what he said specifically. ”Uhh okay. I guess I will wait patiently for the officer in question to interrogate me then…” Hisako said, had a look of seriously. Her tone of voice was a bit annoyed and a bit shocked at the guard’s choice of words in terms of not trusting her. She couldn’t really help but feel a bit agitated at the guard in her room that had many sense of the word trying to show off his ego towards a defector. ”This guy doesn’t have a good attitude towards defectors. I guess he lost someone to Red-Star or something or he’s just an ass.” Hisako thought to herself. She just laid her head down on the table, which she couldn’t help but remind herself. It was mostly that she couldn’t help but remind herself of the past. She can’t really help but reminisce about the past even though all her past was heartache and torment by Red-Star as a whole. The entire fact she will never be a comrade hurt her the most.

((Post between @Letter Bee and @ArmorPlated))

Flashback

Theodore Narra, in Perfect Qamishlo, had repulsed the assult on Darwin's north just shortly before sounding the call to retreat; normally, he would stay behind for a while in order to make sure his orders were followed perfectly, but he had to go back to Haven Base now. The early defections of Hisako and Tabris had put his trump card, Alexander Sky, at risk; he knew it, and so he had to get the International Volunteers back in fighting shape. And to do that, he had to meet the Smoke-Bear convoy that had radioed an hour ago.

He radioed, "Field-Captain Adam Philips, do you copy? This is General Commander Theodore Narra, returning to base." A calm, gravelly voice responded over the channel, "This is Adam Philips, and I copy. I am not a Field Captain as of yet, Commander Theodore Narra."

Bringing his slow NC back to Haven Base's secondary hangar, he looked around said hangar to see Adam and his tribe had arrived and were already in the process of unoading their equipment into a hangar bay. Adam himself was standing to the side of the center vehicle, it's integrated radio's receiver held before his mouth.



The Smoke-Bears milling about the unpacking convoy vehicles stared as Perfect Qamishlo entered the hangar, a three-meter tall humanoid NC surrounded by massive ring, each flipping end over end around the same axis as it entered the hangar. One engineer whistled before muttering into his radio, "So that things' the Quamishlo, huh? One of the big-shot Three Reformers' finds-" The Smoke Bear was cut off by a comrade, "Hot mic on an open frequency, dumbass!" The channel quickly went silent. before Theodore himself climbed out of the central mech, standing atop a translucent sphere surrounding the internal mech.

Walking on the scaffolding that had automatically fixed themselves on the rings, Theodore met up with several mechanics and medics gathered at the edge of his mech, and said, "I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Chief Mechanic Cecily, who had been transferred from the main hangar, spoke, "A likely story, General Commander! We both know that despite the humanoid form at the centre of Perfect Qamishlo, that driving an NC like it is not normal for the human brain! No offense meant to our new arrival, though." Cecily glanced at Adam, who had taken the opportunity to break away from his tribesmen and was climbing onto the scaffolding from a nearby ladder. "A good Pilot knows his NC as well as he knows his own body. If Commander Theodore Narra is one such pilot, he will know his limitations." Adam affixed the Chief Mechanic with a stony expression, hands clasped behind his back.

Theodore smiled at that and said to Cecily, "Don't worry about it; as Adam says, I know my limits."

Walking towards Adam, Theodore said, "Pilot Philips, I am happy to see you." Pursing his lips, he said, "The other pilots of the International Volunteers will be here in a few minutes; I'll give you a briefing on the battle situation on the way to the Operations Room."

He gestured to Adam to walk beside him, before saying, "Once we get to the back corridors leading to the Operations room; we walk alone - this will allow us the needed privacy while saving time. Because as of right now, we're going to need to adapt to both failure... And unexpected success."

As they walked, Theodore indeed ordered both mechanic, medic, and would-be bodyguard to fall back, so that he can talk with Adam alone. The cameras and other surveillance equipment also turned away, a signal that Theodore relied only on himself and the consequences for Adam if the latter turned on him for protection.

Then Theodore gave Adam an unexpurgiated report, including his hopes that Alexander and Phoenix Inferno were the key to turning the odds against Red-Star. After that he said, "But, here's the important thing; the pre-emptive defection of Hisako - Who was expected to need Alexander to crack - and TABRIS - same - has disrupted said plans. What should have been an organized attack on the Red-Star flagship, followed up by a mass breakout attempt, has now turned into something more haphazard." A purse of his lips. "And the worst part is that Alexander, should suspicion focus on him, will either be killed, tortured, or even brainwashed once more into becoming our true foe."

He let Adam grasp the implications of his words, as well as the expression on his face. Theodore Narra genuinely cared for Alexander.

Adam's expression remained unchanged as he listened to Theodore's assessment of the conflict, the only change being that he actually looked at the Commander when he announced his informant's botched mission. "Priority should be to get the turncoats into fighting condition. Walking away with two cutting-edge Red Star assets alone is a large advantage. Losing them to defection is a morale disaster. Fighting them immediately after losing them? infinitely worse." He took a deep breath as he thought through the exact words he needed to use. "You need to assume this 'Alexander' is fully compromised. Knowing what Osamu is capable of, you need to view everything he does with suspicion. Even if he surrenders. Even if he personally shoots down his comrades. This screams "bait in a trap" more than anything, and if you want Haven to survive, it needs to come first."

Theodore nods as they reach the door to the Operations Room, "Indeed. Now, I'm going to brief the remaining Pilots of the International Volunteers of your coming; I'll give you a live feed so that you know when to introduce yourself."