Mariano felt fear.

For once in her time in Haven, she shook. Badly. Her confidence was shot to shit. But more importantly, she had to try to be strong, courageous for the final battle. The enemy was out there, right there! They threatened innocent lives and taunted them and more. But Mariano shrank from her duty. She heard what Adam said. She knew what Adam ordered them to do. And most of all, she was part of a team.

But she couldn’t, she just could not move. Not a step, not a movement of her hand, not even a twitch. But she did shake in her place. Her knees were transforming into useless branches that kept her up. Her arms were sagging as they trembled along the sides of her body.

And within her, her heart just performed like a wild drummer. She thought she would feel her heart burst out between her ribs, breaking the cage that held it in, that prevented it from doing what she feared. But more importantly, hopefully, it would stop her heart from shattering within if it could not come out violently.

She tried to snap out of it. On her own. But that didn’t work.

Mariano was paralyzed. It lasted for a moment until the Irish sang his song. It reminded her, barely, of what she had to do. Of what cause she was fighting for.

The lyrics was one thing. But the music was another. Both worked together to somehow snap her out of the grip fear had on her almostly as quickly as an ice cold bucket of water would if it had been poured over her head.

When courage barely triumphed for her against that feeling, she lifted her right hand, trembling as it was, and turned it into a fist and proclaimed on top of her lungs, “¡Vamonos!”

Later, much, much later, she found herself piloting her machine of war. Together with her AI and the core of her own rumbling, big-as-life tank, she felt some confidence return and a bit of courage to keep her going forward. Her tank left slowly but gradually picked up some speed so it was decently travelling, simply going towards the coast. Once it stopped there, Mariano ordered as she aimed at one of the guns of the missile cruiser and requested permission to fire from Adam. She said, “This is Covenant, I have locked on a target on the missile cruiser. Permission to fire?”

The 95mm Coil Gun was already humming with life, the AI and the pilot eager, anxious enough to fire on the enemy’s weapons. She was dealing with an itchy trigger finger now that she was waiting for the word to be said. She just had to wait. She was going to support them first, to give covering fire. Then she’ll get on that cruiser too.

The plan had been set. With the three of them ordered to attack the Red-Star ship directly for a disable-and-rescue mission, and that it actually seemed possible to do so, the choice was clear. They needed to be absolutely certain that their NCs were up to the task. Suiting up now - Hisako was no longer in the Red-Star uniform she had come in - they headed for the hangar and Terra immediately ordered that Id, Grand Sword Star, and Sahaquiel be fitted and calibrated for heavy signal jamming and emergency wire communications if any of them were lacking. While there was no guarantee that this would block out Osamu, it was what they needed to prevent anyone from doing anything with those tanks, even cause their own radar and such to foul up if at a high enough concentration. Terra explained while this was being done, in case there was any misunderstanding.

"Enemy sensors must be completely jammed for this to work. If the tanks have on-board systems programmed to react to specific scenarios, such as specific counter-measures, evasions, or just the auto-destruct, their guidance must be confused enough through the jamming to not have the input required to react. That is the only way in which Hisako can safely operate. If we cannot maintain a heavy jamming field to allow Grand Sword Star to cut through the necessary connections, we can't do anything to the tanks at all."

"It should only take one to do it, but I'm guessing we're all doing this, just in case."

"Correct. Anything can happen on the battlefield, so we may as well prepare for it. Naturally, our own communications will also be out of commission, and probably our own sensors, to a degree. Anything besides visual scanners may not operate properly, and we'll have to speak with wire-transmission, as needed. When they realize we're not there to simply destroy the tanks and leave, they will send someone to stop us."

Terra now turned to the Denver-Vegas pilot, specifically.

"Kxeyun, I know it's going to be a bit more difficult for Sahaquiel to get to the enemy ship. Just do the best you can and meet us there."

The time or preparation was soon over and the time of launching was at hand. Commander Narra was having them all synchronize their NC launches with the time of the kinetic barrier dropping, so that they would be in the area of it shutting down when they headed out at full speed. This meant that different mechs at different speeds would be launching later or earlier than Terra herself, depending on how fast they were normally. Terra could have punched it with her Overclock Engine, but there was no need to do that. Soon...it was time.



"Id Neural Combatant systems all green, preparing to launch."

AND GO!! The former Red-Star experimental mech launched from the base at high-speed, right along with the others. Her machine was built for speed, so it actually proceeded after Hisako and Kxeyun would have launched, all of them closing in on the barrier at the same time before it suddenly vanished, allowing them to pass through. There was a moment of exposure, and then someone called "Incoming!" over comms, but Terra did not stop. Their orders were to proceed directly for the Red-Star hovership, and to that end...the moment had been prepared for. A vessel had been tasked towards momentarily shielding them and Haven from enemy bombardments. A good plan. Terra broadcasted now on a secure Haven-only channel.

"Squad, prepare to jam frequencies upon confirmation of the targets. Haven combatants, be advised: My team will be out of radio contact for the duration of rescue. There is no other way to do it."

With that, Id was making its way towards the ship, presumably Grand Sword Star and Sahaquiel, as well. If for some reason Kxeyun couldn't make it, Terra wouldn't hold it against her. Right now, she wasn't holding anything against anyone, except maybe herself.

Mother, father... I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything for you before. I'm sorry that my plans could not include you. I'm jjust grateful for the chance to remove you from this mess.

All scanners were activated for now to locate these apparent super-tanks that Red-Star had deployed...

---

Kxeyun listens along, pondering her battle paths. Though, when she hears Terra's voice, the almost concerned look on her face shifts to a cheeky grin. "Don't worry! I've got this in the bag! I promise I won't be disabled as quickly as I was last time!" Unlike some of the others, Kxeyun is not nervous, worried, or scared. She's excited to be back out there and protecting what she cares for most. The girl then proceeds to climb into her NC and begin the startup procedure and, of course, the Denver prototype NC wasn't originally designed to carry out jamming weaponry, so the NC's OS freaks out. Though, it seems like the machine is acting a bit... Oddly.
​
MENTAL CONTAMINATION: ZERO PERCENT.
LINK STATUS: HEALTHY.
SAHAQUIEL: ONLINE.
COMMAND>START: INITIATED.
SYSTEM WARNING!!

Unrecognized hardware has been detected! Continue boot? [Y/N] Y
Command acknowledged. Booting continuing...

System: Identified Hardwire communication systems.
CommControl: Hardwire communication system online, established as HWCMM.
HWCMM: Online, ports empty. Idling.
System: Identified Heavy Jammer equipment.
CommControl: Warning! Jammer installed! Radio systems will be deactivated upon weapon trigger!
SysWep: Heavy Jammer added to weapon list. Name established as Wideband Jammer.
System: Continue boot...

SELF TEST COMPLETE.

When the coordinated launch occurs... Sahaquiel bolts at full speed with the others, tossing up soil and pavement, staying in formation. As soon as she reaches the barrier, it drops. The machine keeps running with the thrusters firing in sequence. The NC's shields raise as the visual sensors begin flicking about, trying to locate the tanks and other enemies. Based on Sahaquiel's movements, Kxeyun seems hellbent on keeping Terra safe.

Seamus was now focused on bringing heavy weapons into the field. He covered all ranges for his role, so the Fomorian NC was far from defenseless. Readying his cannon, Seamus radioed to his group with, "Preparing the primary weapon!" The long range particle cannon was aimed at threats to the group, however, he was conscious not to disable the missile cruiser for the boarding.

He was also conscious not to destroy the hostages, Terra's parents. While vehicles were easy pickings in comparison to NC's, numbers should be minded. Seamus however, deemed enemy NCs to be a bigger threat. As far as he knew, the NCs were more heavily armed than the vehicles. Exploiting his mech's versatility, the lad was ready to attack enemy NCs that were in the range of his particle cannon.

However, enemy ships that were a direct threat or hindrance to the the boarding crew would also be on Seamus' radar. He kept an eye out, cannon ready. "On overwatch!" At long ranges, he felt safer as Fomorian was a bit of a glass cannon. Just because he could dish out damage doesn't mean he can take it as much in return.

Perched on the massive dreadnought of Redstar, the Phoenix Inferno watched. Both forces scurried for deployment, being watched intently by the inhuman entity. Peering over the the edge of it's spot, it planned inhumane things for itself to do.

The machine seemed to quiver with excitement, as it pondered the possibilities. With each cruel thought, the NC's frame jitters. As waves crashed on the beach, it's impatience grew ever greater. The tail began to unfurl and move as its own beast, zipping and whipping around. The NC found itself on all fours, as it continue to observe. The Phoenix Inferno's optics were moving rapidly, until they came to a sudden stop.

It removed itself from the edge and became bipedal. The NC placed it's hands in a triangle shape, as if in deep contemplation. The tail continued to move around and even seemed to harass the NC for a bit.

Soon, the NC placed its hands to its side and deployed its wings. The malicious aura filled the area, the entity has come to a conclusion.

The NC lifted I into the sky, and swiftly flew into the hanger. The arrival startled the staff and a few pilots, as the NC barged in. Through a distorted speaker, the entity announced “I'm taking a few things”. Not looking to contest a sentient NC, the staff cleared way. Soon, the Phoenix Inferno and a few crates lifted by a few package drones sat at the entrance of the hanger bay simply waiting for the fun to start.

((Collab Post between Letter Bee, FalloutJack, Neozeon, and Senhara.))



Waves crashed on the shore, as a storm stirred in the sky. Naval forces approached accompanied by Kuei-ren. The Phoenix Inferno deployed from the floating fortress with a few carrier drones following with a few crates. The unit glids through the air towards the beachhead. The entity continued to scan the field of battle at a dizzying speed. Looking for the first of it's play things.

So, they tell you that the first casualty in any mission is the plan you were thinking of using in said mission. Well, THAT turned out to be true. No sooner had the trio of NCs - Id, Grand Sword Star, and Sahaquiel reached the beach than Phoenix Inferno-with-tail made its debut onto the scene. Terra knew that this whole ordeal wasn't going to be easy, but it was just damn frustrating to find a heavy adversary right off the bat. There was no way to avoid this one. It seemed to have them in mind...

"Hisako, I don't suppose you happen to know who they would put into that mech, now that Alexander is in a cage, do you?"

"No idea, sorry. I wasn't even privy to the level of information you had while still in Red-Star."

They both had weapons hot and ready for combat, but the Tailed Inferno would be making a move before them. That doesn't necessarily guarantee the same from Kxeyun, though. After all, while Alex wasn't in there and he wasn't even really their enemy, she had some history with this machine.

Sahaquiel quite literally slides into position, arms raised. She looks down the machine, squinting gently. "The pilot moves different from Alexander... Very different... They seem skilled though, best we don't do anything stupid. Sahaquiel's legs shift into a more sturdy position, keeping track of where Phoenix Inferno goes. "Keep your eyes on it, if we loose track for even a second, one of us could go down."

No sign of any units yet to arivarat the screen, Phoenix Inferno arrived to the shore well above the field of battle. After it positioned two of the transport drones for travel across opposite ends of the beach, then tore open both of the drones boxes which seny objects pouring out onto the beach. The drones proceeded to fly over their section of the beach, and as they traveled the contents spilled.

The Phoenix Inferno's optics flashed with light, and on que the objects, with their black coat and round shape, lit up with red lights. The beach was bathed in red for moment before the lights out off.

The Phoenix Inferno's tail showed signs of less movement, almost as if disappointed by the lack of response. It then opened the last remaining drone's contents and retrieved a few bandoliers from it and strewed them around it's self. It continued to soar around, looking to bait out Haven forces.

Well, this was unexpected... It hadn't picked them up yet.

"It hasn't spotted us."

"Or he's faking it to lull us into a false sense of security. It doesn't help that we don't have the strongest of long-range weaponry."

"We'll probably be detected if we move, so we're gonna have to fight, in any case."

"Very likely. Alright, I'll draw him to action. If he comes to the ground, Kxeyun, you get him. If he stays aiirborne, Hisako, try and drop him. Whatever the case, let's try and do this quickly, if at all possible. Any questions?"

Hisako had none. Kxeyun?

Kxeyun had none to speak. Sahaquiel simply stands there, watching Phoenix Inferno. "Who is piloting that thing... I haven't seen someone do that since Vulpiz painted his NC pink in the War Games... Stupid move, trained warriors wouldn't do that... No, this isn't just anyone, this is someone who lives on war. I have no questions but... I think they're more aggressive than Alexander, be careful."

The Phoenix Inferno's head swiftly jerked left and right, the NC's talons clasped and opened repeatedly. An aura of maliciousness filled the air, the suit arched back and gestured as if screaming. Soon, a sound is transmitted onto all frequency's. Over the communications was a horrendous screech. The sound was high in pitch and had a graininess to it. By far, it wasn't a pleasant sound.



Gah, that sound... It wants to pass the ears and straight into the brain. Terra attempted to filter it out so it wouldn't be as much a distraction, but if it WAS, then she would have to somehow work through it. Anyway, she had Id rocket right out into the open, towards the water like she was trying to cut past PI and lose him. Now, we would see... She was poised and ready to react to its attacks, but even still...anything could happen.

To Kxeyun, this was a very bad idea. The hand of Sahaquiel reaches up and grabs its head, whacking on it lightly a few times out of Kxeyun's instincts. She then begins filtering out the screech too. "Terra! I can't help if you get out into the water!" The machine steps forward, watching. The hands lower back down with the fins gently twitching, a sign that Kxeyun is not a happy camper.

Terra and the Id made good distance, however within proximity was one of the black spheres. There was a sudden explosion as the sphere detonated. No damage was rendered, because of the distance between the explosion. However, this was likely to stagger her and set the NC back a few meters from the sea.

The screeching subsided, as PI took notice of Terra's existence on the beach. The black ichors of it's aura spread like tendrils, as the tail perked up and started to whip about excitedly. On Terra's communications she heard a voice call out in a distorted and twisted tone, " Why hello there, ready to, well all sorts of things".

It then approached Terra at a hellish rate, acting like a crazed bat. It's speed and movement would cause pilots to pass out if not flat out die. It plummeted while firing it's ranged weapons at her with the goal of limiting movement and not striking Terra. The gap was closing fast.

Yes, that's very convincing, Kxeyun.

She thought this, not realizing that the Denver-Vegas pilot was being totally serious. The pod laid out ahead exploded, though, and Id jumped back to remain on the beach, shuddered by the proximity of the blast, but apparently not close enough to suffer any damage. The pilot of Phoenix Inferno took notice, and made a beeline for her, trying to cut off escape with his guns as he let out that taunt. Maybe he was unaware that she was the bait, or maybe he didn't care. Either way, Id's plasma rifle fired a propelled tube device from the barrel right below the main barrel as it opened fire. At the speed of his dive towards he, that would be a difficult thing to avoid, but even if he did...or even if he sailed through the blast...Terra was preparing to jet underneath him and rocket her way upwards with her free hand clawing with the Shatterfield activated. Or, to put it in another way, Shoryuken!

Meanwhile, Grand Sword Star had out its assault rifle. The group wasn't heavy on the ranged attack area of things, but it had its moments. Right now, Hisako was focused on targeting PI's drones and whatever else remote things he had deployed - if any remained - and taking them down, all while giving the enemy NC a full spectrum scan, to see how much the new Phoenix Inferno differed from the old one.

Sahaquiel stands there activating various subsystems, then finally decides to begin moving forwards to intercept Phoenix Inferno if he broke off somehow. The thrusters begin priming in case if a large jump is needed. The fins continue twitching, clacking against each other angrily. Sahaquiel wants to fight, Kxeyun feels wrong not charging forward and talking PI headon. Then again, she wants to fight Alexander. Quietly to herself, she mutters "Is it an animal? Can it even understand us?"

Taken notice of the projectile, Phoenix Inferno altered it's trajectory. It ascended while still approaching, the tail continued forward to strike the projectile to cause an early detonation. The PI's path lead it above Terra and I'd a few dozen meters. It flew erratically around Terra while completing it's objectives, more notable of the actions was the very fast strafing it made.

Phoenix Inferno then started to toss cannisters around Terra in a circle. A ring if smoke started to form around Terra. The communications opened up once more," tricky tricky, let's see how you handle this".

Well, the tail might be fucked. That was an incendiary explosive that Phoenix decided to strike. So, while the entire NC hadn't been coated in burn juice, the tail itself would probably shut down if it wasn't completely out of order already. None of this phased PI's pilot. It avoided the uppercut attack with some fast-paced movement, still airborne. When the smoke bombs dropped, Terra almost shot at them, but then a thought crossed her mind.

[i][color=red]What if they were fuel-air explosives?[/red][/i]

She could be wrong, but lost nothing by making certain. She activated her Overclock Engine and hit the ground, which of course consisted of loose beach and some content of water. Everything splattered away from her in every direction, even getting Id somewhat dirty in the process. The smoke and the devices it all came from naturally blew away, as well. Not a bit of fire involved, so nothing to cause an explosion if one were gonna happen. Id crossed its arms and looked up at PI.

[color=red]"Why don't you quit flying around and come at me like you mean it?"[color]

On cue, Hisako targeted the enemy NC's wings and engines and fired on full-auto to try and bring him do the ground. And yeah, they were the Star Impaler rounds.

Kxeyun smiles gently, watching all that's going on. She mutters, "Stupid stupid stupid... Your tail is dead now... Just like the old battle, eh?" The machine lowers back down, a foot slamming into the sand, ready to bolt. The only thing Kxeyun can do right now is watch, wait for a chance to maul Phoenix Inferno and rip out the joke of a pilot.

The Cerberus tail exited the ball of fire, the lance glew a dim white. The coating of chemicals seemed to steam off it. The tail was causing the atoms to separate, which greatly reducing the effect. However, there was burn marks on the lance showing some damage being delt. The tail shook itself for a moment, like it had been dazed.

Hisako's shots pelted PI's force field. A few shots broke through and hit a few of it's wing blades. The cost of this was it alerted it to his position. In response, Phoenix Inferno launched the effected blades at Hisako. The Phoenix Inferno used it's large claw to rip the second to the last bandolier and crushed it releasing a cloud if lead lined smoke to cover it, as it repositioned itself in the sky towards the sea.

As Phoenix Inferno engaged the enemy with supersonic speeds, Red-Star's conventional forces stirred into action behind the screen it provided; two dozen VTOL gunships were zooming to each side of Terra, Hisako, and Sahaquiel, firing a combination of lasers and railgun fire as they tried to flank and enfilade the trio.

But even that was merely cover for the waterborne drones that sped on top of the water itself, primitive but effective explosive devices meant to crash onto the shore, lighting up the beach with bursts of light and heat.

This was in turn a screen for a swimming swarm people clad in what seemed to be a power armor/diving suit hybrid, who lifted up anti-vehicle waterproofed coilguns and began firing super-accelerated rounds not of metal, but sticky incendary gel at Id and Sahaquiel, before turning around and circling away, the jetpack/minuature outboard motors on their backs allowing them accelerated speed as the fled affer firing a shot.

And after the VTOL gunships had fired two or three volleys of gunfire, they would flee as well, activating their own boosters in order to escape the wrath of the Havenites.

This was...all very unfair to Sahaquiel, let's be honest. Kxeyun just wanted to fight something and...they weren't letting her. Even the conventionals were all 'Going hot!' and then quickly 'Peace out!', and that sucked. It wasn't that they weren't fighting fair. It was just that they were barely fighting. With PI somewhat more-focused on Hisako, for the moment, Id opened fire on incoming Red-Star forces, so basically it was crowd control in the form of plasma rifle shots as Id generally zig-zagged to avoid fire.

Grand Sword Star was putting Phoenix Inferno between it and the Red-Star forces, taking pot-shots at Gunships that moved to get around the elite mech...at least until it launched some wing-blades at it. That warranted some evasive strafing while PI attempted to cover itself in lead particulates to hide its various signatures and traces from GSS's scanners. Not completely successful, but it made it difficult to see its schematic details in real-time, trace energy readings, and blocked normal visibility somewhat. She still HAD the schematics in memory now, and there was only some variation in the design. That helped to know. Also what helped was that Phoenix Inferno was sort of a floating smoke cloud now. Not exactly invisible, is it? More like somewhat indistinct. He still had to be at the center of that, and whatever emissions remained coming off of it confirmed. Terra spoke on their Haven-only frequency now.

"Hisako, this is getting irritating, and I don't irritate easily. Let's force him down, now."

"Any ideas?"

"We'll start with the tail. Follow my lead."

It happened almost immediately, Id and Grand Sword Star took off flying in a high-speed bank to round the Red-Star focus of forces. They made it look like they were just shooting down some of the riff-raff, to start with, but then Id went right for the tail with its Shatterfield hands and claws activated, to try and grab and pull, shields operating as a precaution against its energetic capabilities. Terra looked she was trying to pull and swing PI, but Hisako was suddenly coming in - sword drawn and charged - attempting to slice it off at its base and kick PI down to shore and the waiting Sahaquiel!

Despite PI seeing the maneuver being completed, the missing wing blades reduced flight capability. When both the fields meet, the Cerberus tail slipped out of grasp as the fields repelled one another. The Tail taunted the ID a little by nodding itself as to say, "no no no". The tail quickly coiled back into rest position on PI.

Hisako's slice, as a consequence, missed it's target, however PI was not able to ,or expecting, the kick. This caused PI to plummet down towards the beach. In response, PI shot both of it's shoulder mounted fusion cannons and it's ion pulse projector at the targets now in plain sight in the air. The air cracked and screamed as the energy sailed towards both Terra and Hisako. As PI made it's way down the entity spoke in crackling and unnerving voice over the communications[color=orange]" How very aggressive of you, not like the battle data...how interesting".[/color=]There was slight control of it's decent and went to land in a specific spot on the beach right at the waters edge.

When PI landed, it tucked in it's wings and prepared all weapon systems for engagement.



Kxeyun wastes no time at all, instantly running at Phoenix Inferno, shouting out "Contrary to your data on us, we're humans! We're kinda known for adapting on-site!" She seems to regard to Dark Hibiki as an animal, not human. The oversized mecha aims to barrel straight into Phoenix Inferno, going for the Ion Pulse arm, she doesn't care what he does in response. Based on her angle, it seems like she's trying to slam Phoenix Inferno into the water. "Say hello to a running fucking wall!" She seems excited, excited in battle... That doesn't make much sense, excited? Being excited makes people jump the gun, what is up with her?

It was unexpected that the tail would slip the grip because of of the two weapons' energy fields, but if they were incompatible, then it would be like a pair of magnets being pointed at each other with the same charge. They'll repel, slip past each other. Still, since the alternative was possible hand damage, we would have to decline and take our victories where we can get them. The point was to damage Phoenix Inferno and send it to the ground. Thanks to their teamwork, PI wasn't able to anticipate the kick and got thrown there anyway, right in front of Sahaquiel. The only problem there was...

"Dodge!"

...everything else. Yes, indeed, the two of them were out in the open, not only being targeted by the Red-Star forces, but by PI's fusion and ion attacks! The two of them both headed off in wide arcs to avoid taking shots from just about everything being shot at them, though neither one was worried about the lesser pelts, so much as PI's own personal attacks. The two of them split up and acted separately, once more. With Hisako working the crowd control for the time being - suppression-fire to prevent the masses from launching their attacks in too heavily. Terra was now on overwatch for the fight with Sahaquiel. At the instant that PI attempted to go airborne, Id was prepared to drop down and turn its wings and engines into shrapnel!

Phoenix Inferno, now much more aware of the situation, saw the head on charge from Kxeyun's and launched a few electrified nets towards her right. While PI side stepped to it's left, intending to lead her just a bit.

During that moment, the water behind Phoenix Inferno became turbulent. What breached through the water was a large mace being charged forward towards Kxeyun. The massive weapon obscured what was moving it, as it was seemingly accelerated towards her.

Once above the water, the Titan Breaker ignited It's back booster for added acceleration. Over the communications was just a maniacal laughing coming from PI.

Suddenly, the Viper Thrusters fire, redirecting Sahaquiel left, right at PI. The arms quickly lift to try and swat off if a net is about to hit her, the other arm lurching to impale PI in the big, overly deadly and lopsided arm, with shield piercers active. "Takes a bit more than that to stop me!" Her expression in the mech turns from a smile, to a grin. Terra, can notice a shift in her movements, they seem more determined and well placed than just before... The frontal lights are also dimming slightly, but for what reason?

For the moment, we're just calling Hisako occupied. Terra, on the other hand, was hanging in the air - dodging the occasional stray shot from the sea - waiting for something to do. She had relegated herself to supporting Sahaquiel in case of fast one's pulled, and...well...there was a fast one! Specifically, a NEW Neural Combatant had snuck into the area to pop up and try to double-team Kxeyun! We can't have that. In flies the Id mech, with Nova Accelerators firing. Titan Breaker probably got some sort of proximity alert for that...since there was this red streak coming in at high-speed, on an intercept course to shred its engine drive system to pieces AND kick the legs out from under it, in passing! That would seriously throw the mech around like crazy if it worked.



The electrified net was cleaved away, as Kxeyun made her strike. The PI tried to dodge, but the blade penetrated through the cockpit at such an angle where it didn't go through the suit itself. Once she had made her blow, the PI moved to grasp the enemies arm and hold it in place. The tail attempted to wrap the legs as well.

The distorted voice continues on all channels, "Now Hibiki, make your first true kill!" The Titan Breaker swung at Kxeyun with the 3 1/2 ton God Crusher. Terra's actions were not unnoticed, as one of the turreted fusion Cannons fired in her flight path . The shot meaning to threaten damage on Id if her path didn't divert away from TB.



The massive hammer did not go unseen either, Kxeyun panics, she's about to die. But then, that's when shit hits the fan. Rather quickly, the head casing retracts, revealing the mouth and pseudo-eyes underneath. The machine promptly issues a roar, firing the Viper Thrusters again, but in a pattern that sends them into a carefully controlled spin towards the right. The arms lift, sending Phoenix Inferno hopefully towards the unstoppable hammer!

Terra DID stop, but not simply because PI fired at her. For one split-second, she was gonna turn and tackle him, instead. He'd said Hibiki, and that drew a familiar chord in her mind. But then, she really had to get back because Kxeyun sent the NC and it's firing fusion cannon into a spin. Had to get above it and-

"Hibiki, get back!"

-bring Id down on the head of Phoenix Inferno with a kick that could either damage the head or accidentally send those two both flying, whatever happened! It might even catch her into the mix, for all she knew. Chaos knew no bounds, no rules. She just wanted to do something about this quickly and settle this now!

The God Crusher swung, it struck the side of the PI and destroyed it's left fusion cannon and possibly it's arm. However, it also struck the Sahaquiel in it's right shoulder crushing it. The force sent the pair careening over the sea toppling and spinning over the water.

An enraged entity filled the communications,"Hibiki! You dam idiot, that's the last time I trust you! The world will always hate you!"Those final words were the key to freeing Hibiki from the clause, however the Titan Breaker's cockpit opened up and the NC reached inside.

A young man was then flung onto the beach by the Titan Breaker's hand. They NC's Eyes then lit up red. Once that happened, the perturbed PI takes it's clawed right hand and activated it, reaching to grab the remaining left arm of the entangled enemy NC to destroy it.

"Not again!" a rather gender-neutral voice shouts out from Sahaquiel, however it can be identified as Kxeyun's voice with a voice filter. The NC's left arm tries yanking away, the head lurching down to try and bite the actual arm itself instead of the firing module, trying to sever the arm itself! "I WILL NOT HAVE THIS HAPPEN TO ME AGAIN!" The NC's legs quickly raise up and kicks at PI with all the force it can, either Sahaquiel jumps or PI gets launched.

So, Id missed, due to...well...the chaos, and landed on its feet where they'd previously been standing, not far from Titan-Breaker. It was truly an impressive machine to do some of the work for them, despite the harm done to Sahaquiel. However, whoever was controlling PI must have also a remote uplink to TB, as well, because...

Hibiki...

...it suddenly flung out its own pilot! Oh hell... It was an automated killing machine now, and if whoever was in charge was anything like Osamu, it'd run fairly well. However, Terra was - at the moment - properly angry. As a child, she'd tried to help Hibiki, and now he was trash on the ground. If there was any delay in initialization between remote access and action, Terra was using it to Overlock her claws again, and put a shatter-pulse against the Titan-Breaker! Like the wall of the base she initially came from it shouldn't be able to take this attack so well!

Phoenix Inferno considered the possible outcomes and settled. The Cerberus tail attempted to lance the the left legs knee.

To ensure that the tail landed it's blow, PI allowed Sahaquiel to bite down on the right arm. However, it overloaded the arm causing it to backfire in the enemy NC's mouth. After, PI quickly disengaged and deployed it's wings. PI plunged itself into the depths.

Titan Breaker, well aware of the incoming danger, began to sprint like Mercury as the thruster assisted. untill it found a spot it liked, and poised it self for the oncoming assult.

It was then that Osamu finally intervened, first by sending another flight of VTOL Gunships and Waterborne Exploding Drones... Then suddenly, the already-wounded Sahaquiel would freeze.



Titan-Breaker was built for assault and taking offense. And to its credit - although Terra did not know this right off - it had flake-away armor that reduces energy damage. Well, best use for it. Since it backed away and tried to take the attack with the best-footing possible, the shatter-pulse would be spot-on. It's not a long-ranged attack or could even project far from the hand-weapons of Id at all. Id's a melee-focused mech with speed and modular weapon use. TB was blasted with heavy sonic force from Id's briefly-overclocked core. The energy would put it under extreme stress and its anti-energy armor would be spent. The exact nature of its actual damages would be...hard to predict. They'd exist, but how much there'd be depends on its tanky nature. Terra would have done some kind of follow-through, but then everything seemed to go to hell as a glut of gunships and such arrived.

"Terra, I can't hold position! I'm getting swarmed and Kxeyun's stopped moving!"

"Take over here! I have to do something dangerous..."

So now, Id would suddenly back away from TB, and bugger off! This was riight in tune with Grand Sword Star descending upon it with sword drawn, having plowed and slashed through gunships to get right in the way, clashing powered blade with deadly hammer if necessary!

Terra was now acting according to plan...mostly. You see...there'd been a conversation prior to this, in which Kxeyun agreed that if Osamu were to try and take Sahaquiel, Terra should come in and do something about that. Id moved in to scoop Hibiki up, for his own safety, and moved to Sahaquiel. Id's communication wired snapped out onto the beast mech and offered an Enter command for the cockpit hatch. Kxeyun had cleared her for that prior, because of the trust she placed in Terra. Placing Hibiki inside, she got properly engaged...

A cloud of dust was blown away, so fast as to be unnatural. The sound of a meta-material knife being drawn, and then stabbed into Id's back.

Mako Shintai had struck again, having used Titan Breaker's engagement with Grand Sword Star to get at Terra's Mech!

Once the blast subsided, the God Crusher mace was fuming from the blast, and the Titan Breaker's head fins that stuck out were scorched off. When TB lowered it's mace, it saw that I'd had withdrawn. As if following orders from an unknown source, TB delved back into the sea. Off in the distance, PI could be seen returning to the hanger.

With a sudden utterance of "...bitch.", Id's engines, energy shield, and a swift turn to swipe claws and a foot around behind it engaged, pretty much all at once, leaving the mech to land funny, regardless of any contact or not. All Terra had gotten was the idea that Mako was gonna stab her mech in the back, and she just reacted.

"I know you're there, Mako. Leave now. The way I am right now, I won't even hesitate."

Seamus on his own initiative readied the particle cannon and provided supporting fire as needed. While he was aware of critical targets, he was also aware of drones, gunships, and even infantry with power armor as he scanned the area his allies were engaging. "Providing covering fire. I have the range." While he was careful not to shoot the hostages or the ship his allies were boarding on, he made sure that the drones, gunships, and power-armored infantry did not down his allies.

Full power was on his primary weapon. Seamus also readied the plasma ball launcher just in case. The missiles were for now not engaged as at the range he was in would not warrant a barrage of missiles. Though if more powerful enemies were there, he'd attempt to close the gaps to maximize the payloads. Bringing heavy weapons to the table was a wise move for now.

"Fuck. Okay, " She sighed as she stopped watching what the hell was unfolding in front of her and concentrated on her job. She had been waiting for too long and she got orders, whether she heard them or not, she had to do it. She took a deep breath and told her AI her instructions, "Okay, Covenant, let's go. Mark targets as I dictate them, " And thean she started dictating the targets, specifically telling the computers to target and lock on the guns of the ships and on other enemy threats. She calculated that with her smart rounds, she could take care of them with little worry of a misfire or missing the targets. Afterward, she thought that after using the smart rounds, she could switch to dumb fire and start engaging the less important ones. She bit her lip as she watched Seamus and his NC do their job. Fuck! And she was being useless, just watching the supporting fire and the rest of the action! She grunted and ordered, "All right! All targets, confirm lock, confirm solutions!"

"All solutions confirmed, all targets locked on. Permission to engage?"

"Permission granted! Fire at will! Fire at will!"

"On the way!"

And the first smart round left the heavy cannon of the massive tank NC, a roar entering the sky as the round flew and was guided towards its target, one of the guns of the ships.

It hit. Mariano grinned then said, "All right. Load next round, engage next target....Target acquired, fire at will!"

Seamus used his cannon to provide even more supporting fire. While he planned on making it easier for his colleagues, he was ready to fight if needed. The Irish lad wasn't counting on luck this time. Skill was key at this moment. A levelheaded approach was taken as he joined in the barrage with Encarnacion. Suppress and slaughter may be the result as the boarding crew will have it easier thanks to the distractions provided by the cannon and the railgun.

Seamus used his cannon to provide even more supporting fire. While he planned on making it easier for his colleagues, he was ready to fight if needed. The Irish lad wasn't counting on luck this time. Skill was key at this moment. A levelheaded approach was taken as he joined in the barrage with Encarnacion. Suppress and slaughter may be the result as the boarding crew will have it easier thanks to the distractions provided by the cannon and the railgun.

At the moment after Seamus gave fire, Encarnacion followed his fire with another release from her giant cannon, the tank trembling just slightly as the recoil caused the breech to jump backwards, open and unleash its spent casing before the AI automatically reloaded the cannon and aimed at another target. Meanwhile, Encarnacion reached out to Seamus, saying,

"Hey! Irish! Should we move closer to the target?"

As the Halberd moved into the battlefield, Cody looked up and spotted a Red-star missile cruiser advancing on their position. Following Narra's orders, he made his way towards said cruiser and began formulating a plan to capture it. As it would be used as merely a platform, eliminating most of its weapons would be a good way to create a path, along with eliminating any of its NC escorts trying to defend it. To hijack the cruiser however, he would need the skills of a certain utility NC. Switching into the comms, he would send a message to both Theodore and Adam detailing his plan. He would also send another message to pilot Steiner informing her about the plan to capture the cruiser and to move to his position. Lastly, he would switch to the team comms and speak to his squad: Heads up everyone, our target is the missile cruiser up ahead. The plan is to disarm and disable it, and to turn it into a forward staging area for the assault on the carrier. Our job is to eliminate the cruiser's weapons and its escorts, while escorting pilot Steiner to the cruiser so she will be able to hijack it. Pilot Mustang and I will provide support fire and take out the cruiser's guns, while TABRIS and pilot Trudeau will escort pilot Steiner, any objections?

Haven Base plus Red-Star Floating Supercarrrier Kuei-Ren

"Understood..." Chelsea said, having observed the skirmish/duel between Terra's group and Phoenix Inferno/Titan Breaker. She was still afraid of the intensity of the fighting, but her tone was calm and even as she continued, "Waiting for the signal, Squad Leader Cody."

The conventional forces that had been supporting Phoenix Inferno and Titan Breaker were now withdrawing to the Missile Cruiser, which was fast suffering damage to its armament. Theodore and Lucille watched closely for any signs of the ship's retreating, with the former using his sensors to detect if the ship was being scuttled via overheating the reactor.

As for the latter, she asked, her voice audible through the comms, "General Commander, assuming that the Missile Cruiser can't move fast enough to withdraw, will Red-Star funnel more conventional forces to reinforce it? And if so, what sort of people do they consider expendible?"

More gunships appeared over the horizon, along with explosive waterborne drones, divers in submersible Power Armor, and two hovering destroyers with small but quick railguns and point-defense laser cannons, which began firing on the International Volunteers' positions, putting themselves in danger as they did so due to their closeness to their enemies.

"Everyone," Theodore said with a slight frown. "They consider everyone here expendable."

@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Metatrooper@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@ArmorPlated@Psychic Loser@Ubermensch:

<Snipped quote by Ubermensch>

At the moment after Seamus gave fire, Encarnacion followed his fire with another release from her giant cannon, the tank trembling just slightly as the recoil caused the breech to jump backwards, open and unleash its spent casing before the AI automatically reloaded the cannon and aimed at another target. Meanwhile, Encarnacion reached out to Seamus, saying,

"Hey! Irish! Should we move closer to the target?"

"If you're better there, go ahead. My primary weapon's useless at close range. Shoot and scoot!" Seamus was ready for hit and run tactics his ancestors were famed for. Fighting fair wasn't an option. "They'll try to get us with sheer numbers, but quality trumps quantity!" This was a prime moment to engage with discretion. After all, it was the better part of valor. Seamus moved Fomorian after every time he fired. It was harder to hit a moving target rather than a stationary one.

On the flip side, despite his particle cannon being an energy weapon, the Irish lad was still leading his targets and firing at the right moment, especially aiming for the marines. They may be easy to kill relatively speaking, but they can easily take down careless NC pilots. Glass cannons need to be shattered before they fire.

The Spaniard cursed the days those men were born. They would die under her threads or as the shells from her cannon crashed upon the top of their heads!

She growled at the hit that registered on her screens, red light filling the fighting compartment as she forced the tank to turn her hull towards the offender. The tank said: "Target - destroyer - 687 meters and closing - locked on."

"Fire."

And the cannon roared, another shell escaped the barrel at very high speeds, a line of red light following the shell until it struck the destroyer's bridge; the warship groaned painfully as it got hit, sparks flying out of the burning bridge as shrapnel from the shell caused fires nearby.

"Again, fire." She said. The cannon reloaded, aimed at a different point of the ship, and fired, a shell striking the hull, penetrating, and exploding once it found its way in the engine room. The mighty ship was crippled, and it was on fire. The Spaniard finished it off with another round through the hull, this time, for where she thought the ammunition stores were.

After she let the ship die, she turned to engage the marines with her machine guns while the main cannon engaged the other destroyer.

Things were not ideal, right now. They weren't BAD, but they could be better.

As of right now, they'd engaged and were successful in repelling Phoenix Inferno and Titan Breaker, though the order to disengage was a bit strange. Perhaps they were overloading and out of action for the day. Perhaps they were taking a few field repairs and would be back to fight again after a brief pit-stop. We don't know. Additionally, there was no further action from the Kitsune, Mako's mech. Where it was right now, we're not sure, but it might have also decided to leave, based upon Terra's broadcasted threat, or the fact that the now-free Grand Sword Star had a multi-spec scanner that might pick him up. Either way, the situation insofar as direct NC confrontation appeared to be over, for now.

That left their current problem: Id was okay, maybe a scratch from nearly getting stabbed by Mako, but Sahaquiel was damaged and still wasn't any good in water. Hisako came over in GSS to check on Id and Terra within.

"Terra, are you alright? I didn't see him. I was suppose to be watching you-"

"I'm alright, Hisako. Things are complicated right now, but it's okay."

"So, what happened?"

"The plan that Kxeyun and I hatched up worked, for the most part. Osamu took the bait to go after her in her NC and I had access to connect to her system. Hibiki's safe in her cockpit now, and Osamu is... Osamu's just another example of how Red-Star utterly ruins people. They've made people from the ground up under completely controlled conditions and they still can't do anything right."

Osamu seemed to turn against his masters, or that seemed to be the case, though he was still a piece of shit with the way he acted. Terra didn't want to think about it. One third of their team was still a land-bound and damaged NC. With a little field work from Chelsea or someone, Sahaquiel's arm would probably work again, at least. What Terra really hoped was that if Hibiki recovered while inside the clawing slasher-mech that he didn't freak out on Kxeyun.

IN THE MEANTIME, it looked as though the rest of their forces had taxed the missle cruiser's non-NC combatant reserves. What was once a tide was more a trickle now, with many retreating to regroup to a better defensible position, namely the cruiser itself. This was good because it took the pressure off of they who stood at this sadly-abused beachline. It ummm...lasted for maybe a couple minutes before you could see problems on the horizon. Fresh gunships, powerarmored troops, drones...

"Hisako, how's your ammo?"

"Holding, for now, but I've been taking out opponents at close range to stretch it out."

"My gun stays charged, but cooling system needs to kick in every now and again, so it isn't constant."

As soon as the new tide hit, destroyers included, Terra ordered everyone to move, as their position would probably become a new bunch of sandy/watery craters from sheer volume of attack. She then added "Kxeyun, get yourself fixed up, quick as you can. We'll bring back that cruiser.". Because without an NC opponent, this was just a little easier for them now.



Id and Grand Sword Star took off, both flying in an arcing path to head in the direction of the two rail-gun destroyers.

"Carrier Khalid-ibn-Walid, if you can still give us all covering fire, it'll make this push alot easier!"

High-speed evasive flying, keeping the two destroyers between them and the missle cruiser to prevent any direct attacks from IT while slicing through or shooting apart gunships, or at least staying that just ahead of rail-gun and laser fire so their tracking gets the wrong targets. Once the two mechs were in position, it was time. Terra activated the Overclock Engine, Hisako activated the Overbooster. Both NCs dramatically-improved in speed and maneuverability to suddenly attack the rail-gun destroyers directly. Now right up-close-and-personal, Terra worked on clawing up the structure, weapons, and engines of her destroyer, and Hisako did same with GSS' sword. What they wanted was for these things to crash, but ideally...they would like them to plummet somewhere in the neighborhood of the missle cruiser, so that they had if not a direct impact...then enough cover to jump to THAT ship and disable everything on deck.

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

This wait was too fucking long. He hated it almost as much as he hated the contemptable people around him. Dread sat waiting inside of Ursa, watching the battle unfold on remote uplink. This was irritating as hell. Why did Phoenix and Titan disengage? What the fuck was Osamu doing? Throwing out the kid pilot like that was amusing, but where was the follow-up, you fool? Where was the carnage? Even that supposed assassin, Mako, was a failure. They were all completely useless.

And no sooner had he completed this thought...then a new display sprang to life. He was being contacted. The source, however...





Dread scowled. He knew this man. He hated him as much as the rest of the smug overlords of Red-Star. This one in particular was a behind-the-scenes man with his hands in many projects and places, smaller influences without being a particularly-strong figure within the organization. Nevertheless, he could move mountains with an avalanche caused by a single pebble. He knew how to apply proper stresses and motivations, gain trusts and allegiances, and was no slouch when it came to understanding the various technologies of the world. Much as everybody knew Dread ONLY as Dread, he knew this man as Director Phalanx.

"You know very well what's going on down here, why I'm not busy yet."



He frowned.



"What makes you think I want to take your errands anymore than I want to do theirs?"

Now, the man smiled, and it was genuine...in that it was quite pleased with what he was about to say...which in Dread's mind was good news.



He outlined the tale, and the more he said...the deeper Dread began to smile. The Director was calling because one of his subbordinates aboard the Kuei-Ren sent out a quick message: 'Osamu actions erratic. Orders requested'. So, with the machine-controlling artificial behaving less than predictably, it was time to cleansweep this entire thing. Dread was to take charge, illegally, using Ursa Nova as leverage to force compliance. The Director had assured others on the vessel prior to all of this mess that Dread was kept compliant via threatening the one thing he valued: His own life. So, with him in the one place that was safe from even perhaps decent NC snipers, he was now in a position to do whatever he wanted. Mainly, keeping him happy was the clincher, influencing him towards better behavior by letting him indulge himself harmlessly. So now, he was being asked to do something pleasant...and he would do it, not because Phalanx wanted it...but because ramming this carrier into Haven's shield while the engines go into critical meltdown would be FUN.

Would it crack the barrier wide open from the stresses of checking such a physical and thermonuclear impact? No idea. Would the fallout create endless trouble for those living there? Hell yeah. Would they take out a load of traitors, rebels, and the frankly useless chaff that is Red-Star staff? Definitely. Dread liked this plan, and he liked it more when his on-board computer stated that all he had to do to survive the blast was drop to the bottom of the water and WALK home.



"You know I don't actually take orders from you, right? I was already thinking of something like this from the start. I even worked the math out in my spare time."

Director Phalanx's smile broadened.



Transmission ended. Dread smirked as he began to power Ursa Nova up in earnest. Today was a good day...

Haven Base plus Red-Star Floating Supercarrrier Kuei-Ren

Mako was silent, intimidated enough not to attack Terra and Hisako. Not that he had any great interest in doing so, not when everything was falling apart for Red-Star. For a brief moment, he felt sadness at it, before flying back towards the Kuei-Ren - It seemed closer than before? He didn't notice, or care, about the conventional forces that were slowly being destroyed by the Havenite PCs as to him, it was a better fate than continuing to live in this rotten organization.

On the Kuei-Ren itself, Osamu sensed it, a change in the metaphorical wind. A feeling of renewed savagery coming from Ursa Nova signalled that he was losing control.

The common soldiers could see it too, as the guards around Alexander had stopped beating him. For the first time, Osamu felt the full extent of his long-suppressed anger towards his own side, as he inferred that Dread can only gain so much confidence if the artificial human had been overriden by his own superiors. Part of him felt: This is why it is futile to stand against Red-Star - They always get their way in the end!

Yet another part of him decided that It was time to stop being such a coward. His father had designed him for the liberation of his country, Occupied Japan controlled by the Chinese. Fear had held him back from following his purpose in life, and it was shameful fear of death.

But no longer. He can infer that Dread or the Red-Star Leadership were prepared to kill him for his actions anyway. So that removed his fear.

As Terra and Hisako disabled the floating destroyers, he said in public, for apperances, "Crew of the Kuei-Ren, let us not resist our doom. A good death is better than a good life. Let the Pilot of Ursa Nova have his fun."

But in private, he once again cast his mind out, seeking the Havenite NC Pilots. Only their General Commander would do this time. Seeking out Theodore Narra, he shouted to the Havenite Leader's mind: I've lost control of the situation or am in the promise of losing it!

The response to him was anger, personal anger at what he had done to Alexander. I will be honest, I've been expecting this since I learned that you were the de facto leader of the expedition, that you would not be up for the strain. Alexander inferred that your... Quirks aren't just the result of sociopathy or psychopathy, but a long-suppressed self-guilt at you being unable to fulfill your life's purpose of liberating Japan.

A slight smile, as a mental image of the Khalid-ibn-Walid began giving fire support to the 'International Volunteers'. Other flashes were also shown, of the Perfect Qamishlo's 'Haloes' spinning around like a gyroscope, crafting floating colonies of nanomachines in the air.

The very next second, said nanomachines were hurling themselves at the Kuei-Ren's deck and hull, the floating globs of silver-chrome carefully avoiding Terra's parents, Osamu, and Alexander, but devouring war machines, weapons, and portions of the hull but not human flesh; that was safe. Note that the reason the nanomachines avoided Terra's parents was because Theodore could not risk them blowing up while the nanobots destroyed the machines they were in. As for Dread's mech, it was able to burn away any of the globs of nanomachines that came near him.

Then Theodore explained the situation. "Havenite Volunteers, Osamu Akiyama has lost control of the Red-Star expedition. Be prepared for surprises. This will be the climax of everything..."

@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Metatrooper@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@Psychic Loser@Ubermensch:

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

The Kuei-Ren flew into the clusters of nanotech particles and did not turn or slow down. Anything that thought it could fire anything to disrupt the machines. Results may vary, but...let's just face it. They're nanites. If it doesn't do enough significant damage to a dust cloud of tiny metal robots, it's a minor inconvenience. Nevertheless, Theodore's attempts to eat away the sky-carrier were gonna take time, like maybe not enough. He was reducing mass, which would help in terms of the final impact, one hopes. But...he was also reducing the mass that the ship had to carry, making it that little bit faster, and that the meltdown explosion was the real issue here.

Life just doesn't play fair.

The missle cruiser was a wreck on deck, and with a pair of NC's wreaking havoc, it wasn't long before everyone who could abandon ship DID. Who'd wanna be around for this? This was a mess. It was chaos, and it was about to get worse. When the pilots of Id and Grand Sword Star heard transmissions and saw what was going on, Terra frowned.

"They stole everything from our country, even our own tactics."

She didn't need to say it, but we all know a Kamikaze when we see one. Except that the Red-Star pilot behind it all wasn't out to sacrifice himself. He was out to kill everyone he possibly could and potentially walk or swim home to brag about it. He was every biit a beast as that mech he was in... They needed to act now, without delay. Terra quickly opened a private line to Hisako.

"Hisako, when we get up there, do what you have to do to get my parents out, and then take them and run."

"Terra-"

"No time to argue. We were told to rescue them and that's the way. Don't come back until they're safe."

"Alright...but, later on..."

And here, the pilot smirked, knowing what was on the other's mind.

"Of course."

The two of them flew up to meet the scene at level with the Kuei-Ren, to see the two super-tanks on deck...and to see Dread in Ursa Nova...waiting for them not far behind...

And it was then that Lucille, who was protecting Theodore, made her move, saying to Terra and Hisako, "You two, do what you have to do! I'll slow down the ship!"

With that, she dives for the prow of the Kuei-Ren, trying to push it back with the strength of her NC, while several globules of nanobots from the Perfect Qamishlo attach themselves to Lucille, forming a fire-resistant coat that also enhances her strength - The nanobots were forming minature motors to add more strength to the mech. Manbij strained its own fusion reactor, hoping that Terra and the others would hold back Dread!

In the meantime, Alexander would vanish from the deck, the only clue to his disapperance being a sudden 'woosh' before the young man vanished. Mako had chosen his side.

Okay, Terra had to admit that she hadn't thought of a way to deal with Alex also being on deck. The shock of seeing Hibiki was still fresh in her mind. So many 'Left Field' situations happening to her since she left Red-Star. She assumed that Dread would just burn him to death while she watched. He certainly looked prepared to do it, but then with a 'Whoosh!', he was gone! Who...?

An invisible foe... Had to be...

Dread was certainly non-plussed by this action. He had certainly been looking forward to killing Alex at the last minute, but someone snatched him away! Well, this was further proof that you just can't rely on anybody. In fact, these two tanks were looking a might bit cumbersome and unnecessary... Raising Ursa's hands, the bear-like mech prepared to burn the tanks and set off their self-destruct protocol. No sooner had he done so, however, than there was a heavy transmission jam from multiple sources, principally the two NCs before her. It was actually disruptive to some of the nearby nano-clouds, but then there weren't many near this part of the ship because of Ursa and because of tank avoidance.

Only a second or two after that, Id had gotten in the way of his plasma flames, its own shields overcharged to cause the spray to spread out all over the place, anywhere but its destination. So, as Dread could see, the battle was engaged. Pity he couldn't transmit anything right now. He never got to talk to these people when they were about to be destroyed... Now, Ursa Nova moved to grab those dangerous arms of Id's so he could try his hand at tearing them off. No, Id was going to back slightly off as the shield disengaged and avoid those claws. Really, both off their NCs had lethal hands. It was difficult to get near him with all this flame-spewing madness. Even a backhanding could lead to the grinders on his mech's arms taking a shot.

Not to say he didn't TRY that. A hit from the vibro-blades of her suit jammed one of them up nicely. Terra made sure to open fire on him with her plasma rifle to keep his attention while Hisako operated.

As Alexander vanished, Mako sent out a simple message, "I'm defecting. I'll dive in once Terra's parents are free."

Terra, Hisako, and Dread couldn't hear that. The jamming in their immediate area was for the sake of the operation, so that the tanks - which were randomly firing, quite inaccurately at things - could not register any sensor input to self-destruct. Hisako was making progress. She could only work on one at a time, but because of both her scans and the prior leak of schematics, she was dealing with this rather quickly. The first tank fell silent, input cut while unable to trigger the on-board triggers.

"One down..."

Meanwhile, Terra occupying Dread meant that she was the subject of his target practice! He began scooping molten chunks of deck and slagged equipment for a few lobs, and just when Terra thought a heavy-handed one left him open to attack, her flying lunge to tear open his back led to him using just one jump-jet to spin and deflect her like some martial artist!

Of course, you'd take the training... You balk at every form of command, but when they offer you new ways to kill...

Exposed now, she had little else to do but hold up her shield against the torso-mounted flamers. Ah, but then, he needed to shield himself while his heat-dispersers were at work. Perfect! Terra overcharged Id's claws and stru-





Terra was nearly thrown off of the ship by the blast. Hisako had just barely managed to pull the second cockpit as the blastwave came. Both of them were knocked back, automatically in flight mode to stabilize. Communications were also up, as Terra heard...

"What the hell was that?"

Ursa Nova's mouth was smoking. That'd been a mouth-blast, but it was much more powerful than it'd been before!

"An Overcharger... It's got an Overclock Engine."

"But that's yours! Where'd they get one in such short notice?"

"Oh, that's easy... They had a spare that didn't work, a prototype just lying around, waiting to be fixed. And it's a perfect fit for my machine."

Well...that was... Son of a bitch! He was charging up another attack!

"Hisako, get out. Get out, NOW!"

She didn't want to, but for the sake of the lives she was carrying, Grand Sword Star turned tail and flew for safety.

In the meantime, Dread's Ursa Nova felt a few impacts at its back, as Mako shot it from behind with his NC-sized shotgun. Osamu, meanwhile, chose to intervene, having made his own choice.

"My country... I can get it back. All I just have to do... Is this!" He directed a sharp mental assault at Dread, syncing with Ursa Nova, trying to make him feel emotions that the sociopathic pilot was not able to conceive of before. Foriegn concepts flooded Dread's mind, even as Ursa Nova's moves began to become more sluggish. "Nihon forever!" Osamu screamed out, making his final betrayal and its cause clear.

He cannot be forgiven. He won't be forgiven. What he had done to Alexander and Mako was too vile for that. But the fact remained that Osamu was done with serving the people who had killed his father and ruined his country. So he attacked Dread with his mind alone, even as Mako shot another round of magnetically-boosted shotgun shells at Ursa Nova's back.

And good god, what Osamu had to face in there! The man who loathed and despised human beings, barely even considering himself one of their wretched filth... In his own mind, he considered himself nothing less than a predatory creature that MUST be feared or MUST destroy that which does not cower before it, so naturally he was twisted and horrible inside the neural interface. Mako pelted him externally, not doing much damage, due to the heavy armor, but Dread was feeling it, and he felt Osamu distorting his grip on Ursa, and every inch of him hated enough that after a moment, one thought most certainly DID get through:

"KILL!!"

Dread raged in rejection of what Osamu was flinging at him, trying to expunge the artificial being in a trial by fire. At the same time, he was now turning to blast the source of the nearest irritant: The shotgunner! The chances of hitting Mako with precision was unlikely, but the mouth was not going to fire for accuracy. You're in the splash zone, boy! The deadly maw of the predatory NC opened and-

Clink!

Something was shoved into it, jammed in there, last second! Id flew away at maximum speed as the plasma flames detonated her rifle in said mouth. There were even a few grenades leftover! Hopefully, Mako was getting out of that explosion, but even if not...it was a damn good boom.

It's just a shame it didn't kill the rat bastard...

Looking back, Terra saw that Ursa wasn't down. It was harmed - the mouth looked messed up, servos inoperable - but she'd kinda' been hoping that her damn gun going off in its mouth would blow off its head! No such luck... At best, it looked like it wasn't gonna be mauling anyone with those teeth anymore, but Dread was obviously still kicking. In fact, he...pounded right through the deckplates? Why...? And uhh...that was when the ship lost some of its front stabilizers... It was getting prow-heavy and harder for those holding it up to maintain like this!

And just when one of the disabled tanks started sliding, something picked it up from below - Yeah, you know who. - and threw it at her, firing plasma bursts to make its explode as designed!

Osamu screamed, the once-coward striking back at this one person who was worse than him. You want fire?! He thought, I'll give you fire! He pressed on, his own rage matching Dread's, centered around the opportunities he had wasted, the vile things he had done and been party to. And of course, what he was fighting for now.

Hibiki and Nihon! he thought as he lashed out, burning Dread with his own inner fire. This feels good! So this is why the enemy fights!

Mako, meanwhile, obviously veered away from Ursa Nova's exploded head - 'Alexander-senpai's' life was more important to Mako than other people, even after making the decision to defect.

Theodore, meanwhile, was directing the fight against the rest of the Red-Star fleet, which was fighting to the end or commmitting themselves to suicide explosions and charges.

Dread and Osamu's conflict was going to be ever-growing, with the pilot growing ever-more wild and enraged as it went on.

"You want to play with fire, boy?! I don't BRING the fire! I AM THE FIRE!!"

It was because of this that he didn't notice yet that while the explosion had engulfed Id, the energy shield made it curl around the NC, rather than impact it, it seemed. It was going to be dueling overclocks here, soon enough. Anyway, he had not noticed that part, but he DID see the flicker of motion on the periphery and flung the other tank at it! The tank bisected as Grand Sword Star sank its sword through it. Quite an effort, given the size, but then Hisako had initiated her own overbooster to get here and amp up her mech's performance.

Occupied by this, Id lowered to the ground, then flew at Ursa for some fly-by slashes. No good. Dread had activated shields to cool his mech and deal with his own mental disruption. If they could only see his synchronization rate... It was all over the place! One minute, he'd be in total control, and therefore more vulnerable to mental feedback. And in the next, it was lower and he might feel nothing. It was maddening! Dread didn't like it much, either. He activated jump jets and ALL flame weapons to ruin everything around him while Ursa did a quick 360-degree turn. He was out of his mind! Terra and Hisako were dodging shots while getting on a Haven-only comm-channel.

"If he keeps this up, the ship may end up going up ahead of time!"

"I wish. I mean, maybe. He has heat-dispersion to prevent overheating his mech, but then he also redlines it, practically, for more output. Plus, he's got an OverClock Engine. If we can push him into charging too many things at-"

"Terra!"

If? IF?! He already did it! Without warning, Ursa Nova hit the jets AND the shields on Overclock mode, trying to hit Id right out of the park...and into about a million pieces. Hisako had been at the right angle to see the engines powering up, and flew full-force at Id to knock it out of the way. Got out of the way herself...mostly. Terra had been knocked out of the sky and onto the deck, straightening itself out as Ursa revealed that it could get itself back onto the carrier with its own jets. They weren't meant for flight, but he wouldn't be taking a dip in the ocean, it seemed. Terra looked to Grand Sword Star lying before her...both legs shattered. Dread had acted just as she was thinking about taking advantage of his machine's flaw. Was it an accident, or did he just think 'This is what a strategist would be thinking now, so I'm gonna break her concentration'? She couldn't tell. Years of predicting people's actions and trains of thought, and she hadn't seen it coming!

"Hisako, are you alright?"

"Rrrgghhh... No...! My legs are gone! The pain is incredible..."

"You've done enough, now-"

"No, it's okay! Let him think I'm helpless! We'll surprise him!"

"That's a stupid plan!"

"Only because of the risk, but I trust you to carry it out."

"Alright...but only for that."

She knew what Hisako was thinking. It was risky as hell. She'd rather risk her own neck, at this point, but the GSS pilot wanted another swing at the opposition, so Terra made like she was keeping Dread from getting at helpless prey.

"SHUT UP, DREAD!" Osamu shouted as Mako picked him up as well, but didn't put the young artificial human into the cockpit. "I AM DONE BEING THE INSTRUMENT OF MY OWN COUNTRY'S OPPRESSION!"

But nevertheless, he paused his assault on Dread, letting Terra and Hisako handle this. Theodore seemed ot have the same idea, as Perfect Qamishlo diverted its attention to other battles...

The interface of the NC was reverberating with Osamu's shouting, but Dread wasn't having it. He had found his center, the simple things, the rage and the darkness, the howling joyous laughter of crushing one's opponents to dust. They could not stop him... He began to approach Id and Grand Sword Star.

"That is enough from all of you... No more talk. No more touching moments and last-minute stands. Time to burn. Time to scream. Time...to DIE."

When he came upon Id, he blasted it with firebombs from his chest unit to force it to shield, then just Haymakered it right out of the way with flaming claws alight! This ship, half-eaten and partially exposed, was going into that shield to explode GLORIOUSLY! These people were going to DIE in the biggest bang they ever saw! But before that, he was going to crush these two, one after the other, in Ursa's bare hands and listen to them gurgle their last... Grand Sword Star, too grand a weapon for that slave they kept around, spouting their propaganda. Just another pointless idea among many in the Red-Star group. This, he was gonna enjoy...

And that's certainly what he would've liked...if he'd remembered GSS was a flying mech and still retained full engine control right now. Hisako spun her NC around and slashed into Ursa's chest before rocketing away! The flame emitters there were completely useless now! Had a nice slash in the armor too. Oh, Dread was certainly livid now, but he had a problem. He had a BIG problem. He and Ursa Nova had to deal with Terra and a plan. Grand Sword Star got out of sight so that Dread couldn't reap anymore retribution.

"That's enough for me. I'm de-synncing and pulling out. Meet you and Kxeyun at the coffee shop later? ...or maybe the bathhouse?"

"Perhaps. I've got shit to do, first."



Id hovered at the ready, and prepared to take this war machine apart.

Almost immediately, Ursa leapt at her with an overcharged engine boost. Terra disengaged engines and re-engaged once she fell below its path and kicked up with both legs, knocking the bear mech further aft on the carrier. Dread landed and charged a mammoth mouth attack. Seems that part wasn't out of commission! Id overcharged its own engines and rammed at its feet, shields up regular, so it fell forwards, blasting the heck out of deck, not any part of her. Dread flipped Ursa into a backhanded strike with its remaining grinder, catching Terra off-guard and damaging an armo, but no follow-up mauling would occur. A foot smacked both arms out of the way, followed by a rapid-punch combo, and a catch of the arms at the wrist as Ursa jetted at her, causing them both to tumble further back.

Alright, he's in position. Now, the tricky part...

Id wasn't badly damaged, but it wasn't as durable as Ursa Nova. Ursa was damaged, but it had alot keeping it together. Terra began to overcharge Id's claws. In response, Ursa was preparing another one of those heavy-handed ram attacks that broke GSS's legs. Id slammed its claws to the ground and broke the deck to pieces, and the two of them fell towards the carrier's engineering section. When they hit the floor, though, Dread de-powered his Overclock Engine.

"You must think I'm a simpleton. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to engage full power HERE?"

"No...but I am."

Terra pushed her NC systems to the limit and did as Dread did as a risky option, only while he had power-rammed with brute force or fired a huge nova-blast that only he could survive unscathed, Terra did something a little more risky: A consecutive overcharge. It was close to charging all three systems at once, which could blow the entire mech up, but maybe just surviveable... Id thrust overclocked claws into Ursa Nova, right where its power core had to be, causing it to lose containment. Dread had tried to stop her, and there were lacerations in the armor where the hands just busted on past with its sonic forces and impacted the chest. Then, overclocked shields to survive the sudden explosion, followed by overclocked thrusters to get the hell out of there, straight up and out of the Kuei-Ren.

Once out, Terra adopted what had to have been Dread's plan of getting out alive. She dropped like a stone into the ocean, where her overloading NC would get a chance to cool off and NOT explode around her. De-syncing from her interface kept her from feeling the full shock of the impact with the water, allowing the mech to cushion her, instead. The sky-carrier's premature meltdown was visible from even down here... It was going to be a mess to clean up, but at least didn't impact Haven's shields or any part of the continent. And hopefully, even the fallout was more maneageable.

"I need sleep... Today was just...too much."

And with that, the battle was over. Mako planned to surrender himself, give back Alexander, and hand over Osamu to the Havenites at the first opportunity, then rest...

NCQ - Epilogue

Darwin was saved. Theodore had his Pilots to thank for them, but the complications that had arisen took some of the sweetness out of his victory - Said complications were that his victory was due to Red-Star's dysfunction than Haven's capabilities. And even Red-Star can address their own dysfunction if humiliated enough. Australia was safe from the MegaCorps' onslaught, but for how long? He had to admit it - This state of things only lasted so long because the MegaCorps had lost some of their savviness.

But for now, it didn't matter. They had won and Haven and the International Volunteers lived to fight another day.

-------

Alexander was safe. Alexander was healthy. Alexander was prepared to leave the life of torment he once lived behind him, Mako at his side. But as he sat on a chair in Joey Glory's cafe - access to that was a privilege granted him by his status as a Havenite Intelligence asset - he felt as though he wanted to stop fighting. He was just... Tired, he guessed. Tired of all the pain and suffering.

But he knew that even if Theodore might allow it, retirement would be cowardice. So he will keep on going. At least the 'International Volunteers' were getting rewarded - He heard that Theo was personally handing them their promised monetary rewards and various military honors.

Perhaps he can catch up with Terra after this ceremony was over...

@AzenExile@FalloutJack@Metatrooper@Selvariabell@Senhara@Neozeon0083@Psychic Loser@Ubermensch: