[IC] Evolution of Conflict: A Sci-Fi Mecha 1x1 FaithfulMuse and Stern Algorithm

[Stern Algorithm]

As Blue Team approached Enemy Group 5, the warships around the freighter were reluctant to leave formation as that would disrupt the jump. But as the got closer, some broke off from the group to engage. A battlecruiser and a carrier moved to block them from getting to the freighter. Legion began firing an endless salvo of beams at the battlecruiser but it was protected by a beam shield. The battle cruiser started firing its cannons at the mechs, but they weren't designed to target such small objects. The carrier released a swarm of dozens of strikecraft, bearing down on Blue Team.

"They think they outnumber us!" Solomon scoffed, commanding Legion to release all 18 demon bits, that flew towards the strikecraft, zipping around randomly. "What's the plan, Blue Leader?" Solomon asked, trying to concentrate on keeping the strikecraft occupied.

[FaithfulMuse]

"I don't know! I've never been in charge of such things before!" Claire said, slightly panicking, unsure of what to do. She was nervous and in charge and had no clue at all as to what would work best in a situation like this.

Blythe let out a frustrated sigh, joining Solomon in his attempts to keep the strikecraft busy. What was Maya thinking, putting Claire in charge right after she had seen how the other mission had affected her?

[Stern Algorithm]

Legion took cover behind Nyx, who was capable of taking more punishment. Together, they were slowly thinning the ranks of the strikecraft, but it wasn't enough. Desperate, but trying to keep his act together, Solomon shouted out, "Try this!" Legion glowed orange in certain places as a shockwave was felt by every human in the vicinity resulting in a mild headache. What happened as a direct result of this however, was that three enemy strikecraft disengaged and re-positioned themselves in front of Legion, protecting it. "You defend Asteria, I've got me some shields," Solomon told Blythe while wiping away some blood that had been trickling from his nose. "I've never been able to mind control three people at once!" Solomon reveled in his power as he sent one of the strikecraft that he was controlling on a suicide mission into the thick of enemy forces. It took out a few of its allies, who were reluctant to strike back, before they overcame their inhibitions and ended up destroying it. This was enough for the enemy carrier to order a retreat, causing all enemy strikecraft to return except for the two under Solomon's control.

"Great! If we can get past that warship, we should be able to find a way to halt the freighter from jumping," Solomon declared, though his voice was trembling slightly, "Let's go!" Legion zoomed towards the battlecruiser that stood between Blue Team and their objective.

[FaithfulMuse]

Although Blythe heard Solomon's voice trembling a little, she didn't ask if the guy was alright. Sure she was a little concerned about him, but supposed that it had more to do with how he was controlling two people at a time and less to do with him feeling seriously unwell.

Claire was as quiet as before again, trying to pull herself back together. Maya had put her in command with a reason and even though she didn't know what that reason was, she'd had have to act like a leader, or at least attempt to.

[Stern Algorithm]

Solomon pulled back all his bits and noticed that the enemy strikecraft had taken out quite a few of them. "Asteria, can you fix up my cog? I'm missing a few of my bits," Solomon said as he continued to fire at the cannons of the enemy battlecruiser which was deliberately firing in their flight path with the intention of slowing them down and preventing them from reaching the freighter.

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire nodded and quickly moved over to Legion to repair him. Finally, this was something she was good at.

Blythe moved in front of the two cogs, ready to defend the two of them if it was needed.

[Stern Algorithm]

As the team approached the battlecruiser, they got too close for the heavy cannons to be a threat anymore, but it brought them within range of point-defense guns, emplacements designed to take out attacking strikecraft, which turned out to be much more dangerous than the heavy cannons due to their accuracy and higher rate of fire. The team started getting pelted by bullets and beams, weaker than the cannons that they were able to avoid earlier, but still damaging. It wasn't long before another one of the strikecraft Solomon was controlling got destroyed. Fed up, Solomon sent the last remaining strikecraft to crash into a section of the battlecruiser, effectively crippling it. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Solomon said, while sending his bits to harass any point-defense guns that were still firing at them. once they neared the freighter, Solomon said, "Let's get behind it and destroy the engine, that'll keep it from jumping, then we move on to Enemy Group 6."

[FaithfulMuse]

Blythe nodded, following after Solomon without a moment of hesitation. As much as she hated to admit it, he did a good job at telling people what to do. But then again, maybe that shouldn't have been too surprising.

[Stern Algorithm]

Once behind the freighter's engines, Solomon set to work with his beams, cutting swaths of destruction, hoping to disable the tachyon harp and prevent the freighter from initiating a space-fold. "Looks like group 5's dead in the water, let's get to group 6, quickly!" Solomon said, unwilling to let half his prey escape. Group 6 was like group 5, consisting of one freighter protected by a battlecruiser and a carrier. Legion took position behind Nyx. Solomon waited for them to send out strikecraft, but instead, several well-placed shots from the battlecruiser's anti-ship cannons came their way, bathing the area in searing light, doing a tremendous amount of damage to all three cogs, though less to Nyx. Legion drifted, out of commission and missing several limbs, though the cockpit had remained intact, and communications were still operational as Blythe and Claire could hear Solomon cursing up a storm.

[FaithfulMuse]

"Claire, go help Solomon! I'll try to keep them busy!" Blythe said to Claire, who quickly moved over to Solomon and tried to fix his limbs again first. Nyx was also damaged though not as much, so at the moment, Legion was more important.

[Stern Algorithm]

While Legion was slowly getting its limbs back, the enemy carrier sent out its fleet of strikecraft to deal the finishing blow. It didn't seem as if Claire would be able to get Legion operational before the strikecraft arrived. Suddenly, the video screens of both Asteria and Nyx started flashing "Emergency Dock" while Asteria's targeting computer targeted Nyx, and Nyx's targeting computer targeted Asteria. An "Activate Docking" button appeared on both screens.

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire frowned, looking at the message that appearedon het screen. Not sure what to expect but assuming that they could at least try it, she activated the docking. Meanwhile, Blythe did the same thing.

[Stern Algorithm]

The two cogs flew at each other, their body parts rearranging. They slammed together without damage, uniting into a single cog. Asteria's healing nanomachines combined with Nyx's considerable armor to create an indestructuble, regenerating cog. In one arm was a shield, the other had a beam sword. Claire and Blythe's cockpits were brought together into the same space; they would have to coordinate to pull this off. The words "Themis Activated" flashed on their vidscreens as the enemy strikecraft rushed towards Themis and Legion to finish them off.

[FaithfulMuse]

Both sisters were caught by surprise for a short moment. They hadn't been aware that their cogs could do such a thing. They quickly focused back on what they were doing before, though. For now, that was far more important.
"You focus on defending, I'll take care of the offensive part." Blythe said, knowing Claire would be more comfortable with that. Claire nodded in agreement, and they quickly charged at the enemy strikecraft and swung Arthemis' sword at it.

[Stern Algorithm]

Seeing that Legion was damaged, many of the strikecraft tried to ignore Arthemis in order to destroy Legion, but that was a fatal mistake as Arthemis was able to destroy any strikecraft that attempted this. Seeing the effort as futile, they turned their attention on Arthemis itself, but Arthemis was able to soak up whatever damage the dealt, while dashing into their ranks, cutting them down left and right. With their numbers thinned, the strikecraft retreated.

"Wh-what was that?" Solomon asked, incredulous.

[FaithfulMuse]

"I don't know, our cogs somehow became one." Claire said, still not understanding it all, neither.

[Stern Algorithm]

"I-I see," Solomon said, just as confused, "Well, see if you can heal me, and let's take down that battlecruiser. I think the freighter's about to jump."

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire nodded and they let the cog head over to Solomon, trying to fix it, hoping it was still able of doing so.

[Stern Algorithm]

Because Asteria's healing ability was currently being used to maintain Arthemis' impenetrable armor, Arthemis was unable to heal Legion. An option appeared on Claire and Blythe's vidscreen allowing them to separate. They could either separate into Asteria and Nyx and heal Legion, or Arthemis could continue and attempt to take on the battlecruiser and stop the freighter by itself.

[FaithfulMuse]

Claire looked at her sister, who let out an annoyed sigh, not needing any words to know what Claire would prefer. Of course she would rather seperate and heal Legion. She would probably feel terrible if she left him behind. So without saying anything, Blythe agreed to seperate the cogs and to give Claire a chance to fix Legion.