Meta lets out a sigh of relief as his ship safely arrives in close proximity of the Quatis fleet without any noticeable damage. However, the real danger would then present itself, as his sensor array detects an unknown number of large unidentified objects closing in on the solar system. He could worry about that later, but what did catch his attention was the threat of destruction from the Sporn and the incoming Sporn ship that was powering up its weapons. Several other notifications then appear on his helmet's HUD, however, he dismisses them to focus on the more important task at hand.
He starts up the Tempest's sunlight engines before maneuvering towards the hangar of the closest Quatis ship, intending to dock. He proceeds to contact Palin and let him know that he was going to be docking, right up until Palin contacted him first, apparently aware that Gavon's daughter was with him. She asks Meta a question, provoking a period of silence, before he quickly draws his pistol and blasts Sahmi with a stun shot before she could react. As she falls to the floor, now unconscious, he shoots an additional stun dart from his wrist gauntlet, just to make sure that she stays like that for a while. Meta then switches to the comms and speaks to Palin:
Meta: Our deal is fully intact, she was just a... problematic stowaway. I have subdued the girl and rendered her unconscious, and I will be attempting to dock in the hangar of one of your ships now. You may claim her at any time of your liking, do I have your permission to do so?
As he waits for a reply, he switches to Niner's comms and informs him to bring an escort of Instigators with him and escort Sahmi to the prison block.
Cody hesitated taking his aim off of LaBelle, but followed through with his orders as he saw several of Zahra's drones move towards the rat. The Halberd then began taking steps forward, moving closer to the battlefield but still keeping a respectable distance away. He then opened the Comms and sent a reply to Zahra:
Cody: Affirmative, moving to cover pilot Amarati now.
As soon as he was in range to eliminate any threats that would go after the NC, Cody deployed the Halberd's outriggers, anchoring it to the ground. The mass driver cannons also shifted to prepare for fire, as the sensor systems began looking for potential targets. The coordinated map that the squad had put together proved to be quite useful, giving away the locations of much more foes than how many the Halberd could originally locate on its own.
Through the external cameras, Cody could see Sahaquiel fighting against another NC that looked strangely familiar to him, although he could not exactly remember where he remembered it from. He decided against interfering with their fight and instead opted to take out the 5 RS reinforcement NCs that were coming to aid the red NC. After taking several seconds to lock on to its targets, the dual cannons unleashed a salvo of AP rounds, aimed straight at the nearest hostile. The first shot managed to punch a hole through the thin leg of the NC, and the second obliterated the cockpit and eliminated the NC, a lucky shot to say the least. The rest of the NCs stopped in their tracks, seemingly unaware of what just happened to their comrade, before continuing forward several seconds later. After spending a relatively lengthy time reloading and aiming, the Halberd fired another round of cannon fire. The second salvo hit the shoulder of another NC and the center of its torso, crippling it. The rest of the squad managed to figure out what was going on, and started retreating, with the damaged staggering away, trying to escape to the best of its ability.
Suddenly, Cody heard an extremely loud roar emanating from Sahaquiel, a roar loud enough to be heard without the need for external sensors even while inside his NC. He would then receive another message from Sahaquiel, proclaiming that mental contamination was at 94% and that it had gone berserk. He could also notice the NC now fighting with renewed vigor, seemingly getting the upper hand.
Going berserk?
Cody thought to himself
Never heard of it before... I'll have to look into it later.
Pilot Amarati's voice could then be heard on the comms, screaming insults that seemed to be directed towards her foe. Despite what was going on, he had full confidence that he could handle the situation at hand. He was still a good distance away from the actual fight, and if Sahaquiel were to turn on him due to the "mental contamination", he had enough firepower to keep it at bay. Cody would then open the team comms and send a message to pilot Trillanes, who was assigned to assist him.
Cody: Pilot Trillanes, you may move to support the others instead, I require no assistance here.
No sooner than he had spoken, cannon fire whizzed past the Halberd, barely missing it. Several RS battle tanks had managed to make it to the back line, and were now opening fire on them. Fortunately, if they could hit him, he could hit them. He switched the payload of the launcher from ripper missiles to lancer missiles, which were more equipped to handle armores targets. As he armed the missiles, the panels on each side of the cockpit lifted up, exposing the missile tubes. Eight orange-colored streaks suddenly shot out of the tubes and flew across the sky. It didn't take long until they reached their target, ultimately exploding, shattering the ground and making quick work of the enemy tanks upon impact. The salvo did not manage to take out everything however, as the stragglers, two remaining Overlord tanks countered with a salvo of cannon fire. Two shots managed to reach the Halberd, but were stopped by the NC's energy shields, although they did do quite a lot of damage. Cody then switched to the heavy plasma cannons, as the Overlords had managed to move close enough to be in range. The dual barrels on each of the NC's "hands" glowed a bright blue, before unleashing four devastating bolts of plasma towards the two remaining tanks. Needless to say, they couldn't even dream of surviving direct plasma hits after already receiving a beating from the lancer missiles. After the RS battlegroup was eliminated, Cody would scour the area for more hostiles, and greet them in kind if they wanted to mess with them.
The man couldn't see it but Cody had a look of disgust on his face. Seeing one of his teammates quite intoxicated before battle didn't bode well with him. It didn't help that a few seconds later, he received a message that was calling all pilots to battle. He made an audible sigh as he thought:
Guess my breakfast will have to wait...
As Cody arrived at the hangar, he quickly located his NC and climbed up a nearby ladder to board the cockpit. After he jumped in, the canopy closed down on him and sealed itself, while the NC began activating its various systems for use. The HUD of the cockpit then flared to life as it showed the status of his NC:
As the Halberd performed final preparations, he could see his squamates already moving out. Although his NC wasn't as sleek or as fast as any of the others, it would give the Red-star forces an experience that they would never forget.
---
Cody surveyed the battlefield, confirming that the placements and locations coincided with the plans. He began sending the plans to the rest of his squad through his secure link to make sure that all of them knew what the plan was. As the first wave of Red-star NCs entered his line of sight, he primed his mass driver cannons for use. The feet of the Halberd then deployed hydraulic outriggers, designed to improve the stability of the mech, which then slam into the ground, anchoring it. The cannons then started following their newfound targets with their barrels. After Cody manages to get a secure lock on two NCs, one cannon suddenly fires, sending an armor-piercing round straight at the NC. The NC's torso was completely pierced as it fell limp, parts of it strewn all across the ground from the impact. A few seconds after the first cannon fired, the second followed, with the other NC following the same fate as the first.
After eliminating the two, he prepared to lock on to the next targets. Before he could do so, he then received two messages from the squad's comms. The first was from their team leader, Zahra, which said that there were cloaked hostiles present. The second message however, worried him more. It was from one of his teammates, he didn't know his name but he sounded like he was French. After listening, Cody immediately connected the dots and deduced that he was being taken over by Akiyama, the Red-star pilot he had heard about during the briefing. He immediately switched to a secure comm channel with the rest of his squad, all of them except for the one who was being taken over, and sent a message. He had a sense of urgency in his voice, it was calm yet still possessed a sense of worry and stress.
Cody: One of our squadmates' NCs is being taken over by Akiyama. I'm having my guns trained on him now, just give the word and I'll take him out of the fight non-lethally.
As he spoke he traced the source of the message and found the man's NC. He began aiming the mass driver cannons at him, specifically targeting his arms and legs.
Cody: Make up your minds quick. There's no telling how long we still have before he does turn.
After Terra finished explaining her backstory, Cody remembered hearing rumors about her during his time in Red-star. He had recalled hearing about his upper-ranking officers talking about soldiers trained from birth, who were apparently even more skilled and powerful than elite NC pilots. He was about to reply to Terra but stopped as the other pilot, known as Kxeyun, started talking about her origins before breaking down emotionally. He felt sympathy for her, but didn't try to comfort her, as he was afraid he would only make it worse. Instead, he stayed silent, watching Zahra and Terra successfully comfort her. He then takes the tablet and rises from his seat, walking over to the counter and ordering a few breakfast sausages along with an egg, before heading back to his quarters. Before he does however, he stops by the man that had asked him for the plans a while ago and handed the tablet to him.
Cody: Copy those plans to your device, I'm still gonna need that datapad.
Cody received the cup of tea and glanced at it, inspecting it while remarking:
Cody: Is that so... Well maybe I'll want to pay him a visit sometime.
He started walking towards a nearby empty table to enjoy his drink and study the plans when the female pilot earlier spoke to him as he reached her table. He decided to take a seat at her table, before replying:
Cody: I have a straw for drinks, but for meals I usually eat in private.
Just as he finished speaking, the aforementioned straw appeared from under his helmet. He guided it to his drink, placing it in before sipping the piping hot tea. He paused for a moment before opening the plans on the datapad and moving it to her side of the table for her to see.
Cody: What's your name by the way? I apologize but I didn't happen to catch it a while ago.
A short time later, Another female pilot approached their table and started speaking to his tablemate. He left them both alone, simply observing their conversation while sipping on his tea.
Fortunately for him, the Commander General accepted his request and gave the plans to him. He thanked Narra, but decided to wait until they reached the coffeehouse before reading the plans. Suddenly, one of the other pilots, a large man with gray hair and a scar running across his cheek, nudged him and asked to see the plans later as well. He stared at him through his visored helmet and replied with a small nod, before keeping the tablet and joining the rest of the group in going to the coffeehouse.
As he walked inside, he recognized the barista. He had first met Joey Glory when he was still part of Red-star, he and his comrades actually went to him regularly during their off hours. He waited until the rest of the pilots were done before approaching him and casually remarking:
Cody: So when did you switch to Haven? Last time I checked, you were still satisfied working for Red-star.
He paused for a moment, for Joey to respond before speaking again:
Cody: Also, you have any Chinese tea? Haven't had any in a while
Cody's head jerked up as the alarm sounded. He was sitting down, head slumped down on a desk with his arms shielding his face in a light state of sleep before being awoken by said alarm. As he slowly got up from his seat, he performed a mental check of everything he had on him, making sure that he was prepared for anything. He grabbed his helmet and slipped it onto his head before locking it with his armor. His vision was now occupied by his helmet's HUD, showing the status of his surroundings and his own armor. He walked over to the door and looked back at the room one last time before opening the door and leaving.
A few minutes later he had made it into the Operations room, where the General Commander was waiting for them, along with two other female pilots who had made it there before him. He stopped beside the taller of the two female pilots, and proceeded to listen to the briefing. As Narra briefed them on the Red-star attack force, he was actually worried. A force that size could easily decimate the entire city had the shields not been there. But even with the shields it would be only so long until they fell. Fortunately, Haven did have reinforcements, in the form of a ground battalion and a fleet of carriers of support ships. Although they were outgunned and outnumbered by Red-star, they could manage to hold out if they play their cards right. However, what really caught his attention was the three Red-star operatives, specifically Osamu Akiyama.
If he captures one of our NCs, it could turn the tide of the whole battle against us... Cody thought to himself.
To the others in the room, it would perhaps appear that he was not paying attention to the briefing, crossing his arms and bowing his head slightly while staying dead silent. But in reality, he was absorbing all of the information that Narra was giving, thinking about potential scenarios and strategies. Suddenly, Cody snapped back into reality as the General Commander offered them choices for "pre-battle team building". He was surprised at Narra's odd, to say the least, decision for what to do before the incoming battle. They should be spending what valuable time they have for preparation, not for unimportant social meetings. It appears that his concern was not only limited to himself, as the girl beside him also voiced her concern. After she finished, he spoke for the first time since the start of the meeting.
Cody: I agree with her. Shouldn't preparations for the battle be our primary concern at this moment?
He paused for a moment before approaching Narra and producing an electronic tablet from his person and offering it to Narra.
Cody: However, if you insist that we participate instead in social activities, may I request that you give me a copy of the battle plans so that I may study and analyze it further?
Cody stands at about 6 feet, and has a lean, athletic build.
Age: 31
Personality: Cody is calm and collected, he prefers analyzing and planning out a battle beforehand rather than rushing in. He believes that battles should always be fought with a plan in mind, and abhors those who rush into battle blindly. Although he usually works alone, he is more than capable of working well and communicating with a team. However, he can still commit some mistakes and misunderstandings when working with others. He is always seen wearing his full armor in public, as he feels uncomfortable taking it off unless he’s around people he trusts.
Backstory: Born in the city of Hong Kong, Cody Liu had been fascinated by NC's ever since he first laid eyes on them. He grew up studying and learning about them, and when he was old enough, joined the Red Star NC academy in Beijing. Finding himself with a fair sync ratio of 75%, he passed pilot training with flying colors and was assigned the pilot of an unknown NC that Red Star had salvaged with its body intact. Proving himself to be a valuable pilot, Cody was soon promoted to lieutenant and fought across many fronts for Red Star. But during a mission defending a border city from a Volkov Industries attack, the population of the city, along with several Red Star NCs and one of his close friends were killed by a massive airstrike that was authorized by his superior officer despite his objections. He ultimately deserted the army and forged a reputation as a mercenary. Recently, he had heard news of a large-scale Red-star attack on the city of Darwin. Cody felt something inside him, despite not receiving any noticeable rewards it benefits from defending Darwin, he volunteered. Perhaps it was his hidden feelings of anger towards Red Star, or maybe a sense of justice in defending the innocent inhabitants of the city. Nevertheless, he's there now, ready to fight for the defense of Darwin and Haven as a whole.
Tactical Preferences and Skills: Cody prefers staying in his mech, blasting away at foes from a safe distance due to the nature of his NC. His speciality is taking down targets as artillery, but performs equally as well at mid-range. He very rarely engages in melee combat, but knows how to reposition himself and keep the enemy away long enough for him to regain an advantage. Outside of his NC, he is adept in marksmanship, with his favourite firearms being assault rifles and heavy weapons such as rocket launchers and miniguns.
Notes: Cody really appreciates food, and eats rice with nearly every meal.
---
Codename: Halberd
Body-type: Bipedal
Type of NC: Light Artillery/Minor anti-air/Long-range
Equipment and armaments:
Heavy plasma cannons: The Halberd posseses 4 Heavy plasma cannons, 2 mounted on each arm. Used primarily for mid-range and close-range combat, the cannons pack quite a punch and have a decent fire rate as well. The only problem they face is that they are relatively quick to overheat, and thus, must be carefully managed.
Ripper missile launchers: Two ripper missile launchers surround the cockpit of the mech. They possess 4 tubes each, and can fire a salvo of guided ripper missiles, which can be used against ground targets, but are more effective against aircraft. Alternatively, the ripper missiles can be replaced with lancer missiles instead, which function more like anti-ground artillery.
Mass driver cannons: The Halberd's most powerful weapons are its dual mass driver cannons, located on its back. They function best as long-range anti-mech weapons, and can fire armor-piercing rounds at incredible speeds. Although they possess immensely long range, they fire slowly. It is usually loaded with armor-piercing rounds, but can be loaded with different types of rounds as well, such as incendiary rounds.
Shield generators: It is also equipped with energy shield generators to protect it from enemy fire. The generators produce a slightly more durable shield as compared to other NCs.
Rocket boosters: Should the Halberd ever need to escape, it is equipped with 4 rocket boosters located on the back of the vehicle to boost its speed by a large margin. The boosters are quite powerful and can move the Halberd fast enough to outrun interceptor type NCs. However, the boosters guzzle down large amounts of fuel, and thus must be carefully used to ensure the Halberd does not run out.
Notes: The Halberd stands at about 7 meters high. It possesses moderate armor and a moderately fast walking speed. Its primary weakness is its lack of powerful close-range options, as it functions as a light artillery and anti-air unit. The heavy plasma cannons are deadly at close-range but have difficulty in aiming at closer targets as well. The Halberd's only option is to use its boosters to quickly enlarge the gap between it and its attacker, but once it runs out of fuel, it is incredibly vulnerable.
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