veenknight343
Sweat poured down Samantha's face as she struggled for breath, continuing to outpace her pursuers as she made a beeline for the opened maintenance tunnel in the side of the colony cylinder. She continued to push the limits of her slap-dash mobile weapon's engines, even as the intense G-forces pushed her back into her seat and began to make her feel light headed. Tracers ripped by her as the pursuing Tommy's pushed their own mobile suit thrusters to the point of overload, firing everything they had in an effort to stop her from reaching her goal.
Yet at the back of Samantha's mind she knew they wouldn't succeed. She had avoided death so far, there was no reason it would take her before she could accomplish her goal. Inside the cockpit of the Swansong she smiled, an almost alien sense of happiness filling her and pushing out the fear the swelled in her stomach. For the first time since her father had been taken from her she was alive. A sense of purpose, a drunken sort of power high filled her head. Samantha could already envision it. Smashing through the other end of the maintenance tunnel, flying through the colony, crashing into the hanger bay where all the fat nobles and the so called 'royal's waited, and blowing up.
Just the mere idea of killing the people responsible for the ugly, corrupt world that had taken away her father delighted Samantha to now end. Deep down the idea of dying may have still scared her but knowing what she could accomplish by dying made her more then ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.
As she neared the maintenance tunnel entrance she saw something fly by out of the corner of her eye. Slamming on the controls Samantha attempted to quickly reverse her thrust and slow down. Mere moments later a bright light flashed in front of her as Ayame's grenade exploded in front of the maintenance tunnel, detonating in the spot where she could have been if she hadn't made an attempt to slow down. Flying through the heat and light, Samantha blindly flew towards the tunnel and laughed out over the communication channel.
"That won't work! None of it will! I'm going to kill your precious princesses and drag them into the afterlife with me. And you can all go straight to-"
As Samantha breached the obscuring smoke of Ayame's grenade she saw the mouth of the tunnel.
And the mobile suit perched directly above it.
Before Samantha could properly acknowledge it she flew straight into Galahad's spray of gunfire. 60mm and 90mm rounds through through the Swansong like steel rain, punching clean through the hull and internals before flying out th other side. Samantha's canopy cockpit shattered, glass and shrapnel piercing her body like a pincushion as her machine continued its forward movement. In an instant Samantha had passed through Galahad's gunfire, but that instant was more then enough to ruin everything.
Flying into the darkness of the tunnel Samantha felt the Swansong shake all around her, blinded and disoriented by the horrific pains piercing her body. Oxygen was rapidly leaving her normal suit with only the shattered helmet visor keeping her conscious. Blood poured down the front of her as she struggled to keep hold of the controls. Though she couldn't see it the Swansong was barely holding together, smoke and sparks erupting from the dozens of holes across its body and where one of its legs and bladed limbs had been.
"N-no. N-not yet! I-I'm so close! I'm so CLOSE!"
Blood urged up from her throat, running out of her mouth as the Swansong wavered in the tunnel, bumping into the tunnel walls and through sparks off as it ground against them. With her vision distorting Samantha dug her finger into the firing trigger of her control stick, spraying the Swansong's remaining bolt gun into the darkness. Small holes appeared in the darkness in front of her, beams of light shining through.
Samantha fought the pain and tried to keep the Swansong headed to the light, crashing through the other side of the maintenance tunnel.
In an instant the darkness was gone and there was light all around her. Below and above her were houses, roads, trees, and small pounds. Colors so bright and alien that Samantha couldn't tell what was going on.
Off in the distance she could see the large, primary hanger entrance to the entire colony where the Princesses and nobles were gathered.
However the hanger wasn't getting any closer.
Samantha found herself being pulled down, faster and faster. She pulled at the controls but nothing happened. Blood rushing out of her she looked to the side and saw the Swansongs wings were gone.
The world became a blur of color and movement as Samantha's Swansong spiraled out of control, smoke and flames erupting from its riddled hull. Inside the remnants of her cockpit Samantha grit her teeth, trying to pull herself out of the violent death spiral as the ground below her raced towards her. Tears filled her eyes as she began to lose consciousness. Eventually she let go of the controls and went completely limp.
"Daddy...I'm sorry."
The Swansong smashed into the ground and exploded.
Outside of the colony the Zern troops would be greeted to a bright light as a small circular section of the colony cylinder exploded outwards. Smashed buildings, broken asphalt, and people thrown into the cold vacuum of space as air began to quickly escape the colony. The shooting stopped and several Tommy's froze in place, the pilots staring in horror as they recognized some of the house wreckage that escaped into the cold blackness of space. Though no sound traveled in space the silence audible in that brief moment grasped the insides of the Zern troops that saw it.
"What are you all doing!" A voice suddenly cried over the radio. "Move towards the hole, rescue anyone you can before they die from decompression! Get the emergency sealant systems online, move the emergency response teams to the hole! Everyone move, move, MOVE!"
Tommy's that had been chasing the enemy moments before threw their rifles aside and fired their thrusters full throttled towards the hole. Some pilots cried out names as fear and desperation broke through their training and composure...
The entire colony shook violently as a distant, rumbling sound reached the hanger. Inside nobles, guests, and soldiers alike struggled to keep their footing as the ground shook beneath them. Lycoris almost found herself thrown to the floor, only to be grabbed and kept standing by Asalia whose face blanched at the noise. The previously orderly and elegant crowd of people around them suddenly became noisy, fear and confusion visible in their eyes and audible in their voices.
"Everything is under control!" One high-ranking member of Princess Asalia's royal guard regiment shouted moments after a soldier had given them the news. "There has been a small incident aboard the colony the wall has been breached, however we have repair crews working on it as we speak. So please remain calm. We will be postponing the parade for a later date and-"
"Don't lie to us!" One noble shouted from the crowd, throwing his fist into the air.
"Yeah we're not stupid! Someone is trying to attack the colony, aren't they?" Another shouted.
"Please!" A hysterical woman cried. "What part of the colony was damaged? My children are waiting to meet me somewhere, I have to know if they're alright!"
The entire crowd began to writhe as panic and anger stirred them. Previously stiff, almost sleepy guards erupted from their straight stances, rifles and batons at the ready to keep the crowd back.
Lycoris clung to Asalia tightly as the Princess stared out at the crowd and listened. Moments before there had been cordial smiles and an air of civil restraint. Yet now she could hear the voices, the real feelings of those that surrounded her. She clutched the paper she had written her speech on, the one announcing the importance of peaceful discussion and compromise with the Venusians, and held it to her chest as the voices around her grew louder.
"Who attacked us?"
"Pirates?"
"No, it had to be those filthy Venusians! They bombed the colony!"
"No, they were trying to kill us. Trying to Kill the Princesses!"
"Those degenerate gas breathers! I'll make them pay, even if I have to do it myself!"
"I thought we were putting too much money into the military, but its clear we simply aren't spending enough. Do I have to give up my own money to ensure those filthy mongrels aren't killing us!?"
"Oh god my home. My family! Why the hell would anyone do something like this?"
Asalia looked down at the sheet of paper in her hands and crushed it.
"Princess Asalia?" Lycoris asked, noticing the seemingly blank look on Asalia's face as she discarded the paper to the floor and crushed it flat beneath one of her heels.
"Hmm?" Asalia looked to Lycoris, a cold expression on her face as she glanced at her 'pupil'.
"Is everything alright?" Lycoris asked, her voice shaking somewhat.
"No. But we're not in any danger if that's what you're concerned about." She replied in a dead, almost monotone voice.
"I-I meant if you were alright, Princess." Lycoris asked and Asalia only stared.
"Oh. I'm fine. I just realized I wasted my time on something. That's all. You should head back aboard the ship and get changed. There won't be any parade, or speech for that matter, today." Asalia began to walk away, her guards sticking close as the crowd around her continued to panic.
"What are you going to do?" Lycoris asked, watching as Asalia glanced back, her eyes dead.
"Nothing. I'm just going to have a talk with my bodyguard..."
"I almost took you for a coward, Crusher. Try not to be late again though. I'm not the kind of woman who handles disappointment gracefully." Cathrida half-joked, half-threatened over the comm line as her Turncoat bolted towards the opened western hanger door. Raising her double barreled MAG Shotgun, Cathrida took aim as the Redcoats stepped into the hanger spraying 120mm rounds. A sharp electric whine filled the air before she pulled the trigger, arcs of electricity jumping from the barrel as a high caliber slug was launched with a deafening crack.
The slug smashed clean through the leftmost Redcoat's chest, punching through to its backpack and igniting the fueled stored inside of it. As the Redcoat exploded, throwing the other Redcoat and the lead Tommy backwards, Cathrida fired her Turncoat's thrusters and flew through the explosion. The reeling Redcoat was briefly able to look up to see a black and red figure roaring through the fire and smoke before it was smashed backwards into the wall. Pinning the Redcoat to the wall Cathrida pressed the barrel of her shotgun up against its chest, ready to pull the trigger, when the Tommy rushed at her from the side and swung its saber at her.
Swinging upwards, Cathrida casually blocked the swing of the sword with her Turncoat's cutlass, her red-visored mobile suit glancing sideways as it did so.
"What the hell do you think you're going to accomplish here!?" The Tommy pilot yelled, keeping his blade clashed with Cathrida as the Redcoat's cockpit snapped open and the pilot leaped out.
"I have no desire or patience to explain anything to a worthless little tin soldier." Cathrida spat, suddenly dropping her blade away and jerking her Turncoat's knee forward.
The Tommy lost its balance and was kneed in the chest, knocking it backwards and giving Cathrida some space.
"Wait. That voice. You're-!"
"Die."
Cathrida raised her shotgun, another sharp electric whine filling the air. Hearing the noise the Tommy tried to move backwards and maneuver, but the tunnel outside of the hanger was too narrow. With a press of a trigger Cathrida's MAG Shotgun fired again, this time unleashing a thick spray of pellets. The wall of super sonic shrapnel smashed into the Tommy, tearing holes in it from head to toe and rending the cockpit into a twisted coffin of shrapnel. As the Tommy exploded, throwing out more heat and fire, Cathrida looked back to see the fleeing Redcoat pilot was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it..." She cursed before walking through the flames back into the hanger.
"Counter sniper fire! WE NEED COUNTER SNIPER FIRE!" One of the remaining Tommy's out front of the hanger cried as their team leader crashed to the ground, a hole clean through their cockpit. Looking back however through the haze of smoke and airborn debris thrown up by Scott's grenade, they saw the building their sniper had been perched on was reduced to a pile of rubble with their comrade's machine laying amidst the bricks with their cockpit smashed in. Quickly righting themselves as fast as they could the two Tommy's fired their thrusters, boosting and breaking line of sight from the hanger door.
Leaping from the light debris cloud the two Tommy's spotted Scott's customized COOL-Te. Raising their bullpups the two Zern troopers flicked their their folding Bayonets and began to charge
"You bastards will pay for-!"
Just as one of the Tommy's began to fire on Scott however something bright orange burst from the settling smoke cloud behind them. SMG in one hand and axe in the other, Laika's Scutson skated across the ground on its hover thrusters and charged shoulder shield first into one of the Tommy's backs. The attacking mobile suit was thrown forward, crashing chest first into the ground. Just as the other Tommy spun to face her however Laika fired the Scuton's shoulder thrusters, bolting sideways and making a low one-handed swing with her axe.
Her blade smashed into the Tommy's knee, the cutting edge and the momentum pushing it through the joint and severing the Tommy's right leg completely. Firing wildy the Tommy's rounds tore through several surrounding buildings before dropping its gun and throwing out its hands to catch itself. As it tried to push itself up however, Laika moved in and pressed the barrel of her SMG up against the cockpit before squeezing the trigger. 75mm rounds screamed from the barrel, the first few deflecting off the armor of the Tommy before indenting and punching clean through it into the cockpit.
As soon as the Tommy dropped, smoke bellowing from its cockpit, Laika boosted over to the remaining downed Tommy and delivered a swift kick to its side. The force of the impact flipped the Tommy onto its back, rousing the stunned cockpit inside and prompting him to shout over the radio.
"Wait! I surrender! I SURRENDER!"
Laika however didn't so much as pause as she raised her Scutson's axe overhead and brought it straight down on the Tommy, crushing the cockpit inward with its bladed bit.
Placing her Scuton's foot against the Tommy's chest, Laika pulled back on her axe and ripped it from the cockpit with a visible spray of blood and oil as she did so. As the last Tommy slumped over on the ground the area around them fell silent, the sounds of battle dying with the last of the enemies.
Laika didn't drop her guard, continuing to listen and 'feel' her surroundings. Yet it was clear that there weren't anymore hostiles in the area. Inside her she felt a twinge of disappointment. She felt unfilled, like only getting to eat a bite of a sweet cake instead of a proper piece, or the whole thing. As she began to turned to move her Scutson back to the hanger, Laika caught sight of Scott's COOL-Te and raised her SMG. She was ready to fire before she noticed what weapons the customized mobile suit was carrying.
"Wait, were you the one that threw that grenade?" Laika asked over the comms, lowering her SMG towards the ground. "I was able to attack those two from behind because of that. Does that mean you're on our side?"
