Round 3, Fight 5: Neo America vs. Neo Egypt

[Wedge14]

THIRD GUNDAM FIGHT
ROUND 3, FIGHT 5
NEO AMERICA vs. NEO EGYPT

- White Sands, New Mexico -


December 11th


Sunset at the sleepy desert community of White Sands New Mexico. The perfect sunset, the beautiful white sand. It was picturesque. Unfortunately there was not time to take pictures there was a gundam fight about to take place here!

The Neo Egpytians felt at home in this dessert. Well as about homely as a dessert could get. Luckily vendors where allover hocking their wares to both the Neo Egyptians and the massive crowd of Neo American's who showed up. No one would go thirsty and no one would go cold!

From aboard his lift the announcer flashed his pearly whites and began his job.

"White Saaaaaaaands New Mexicooooooooo!!! Can you feel the tension in the air?? This is going to be an outstanding match up!!!

Coming all the way from Neo Egypt we have Seth Mukantagara!! And his Gundam Osiris!!"

The cheers and applause was thunderously loud. Seth had a good and respectable fan base. One that really believed in him.

"And now....no need to introduce his opponent"

The announcer was right. The American's loved James Ranger. There was no point in introducing him because the pure volume of the noise the crowd would make would drown out even the most powerful of microphones.

It actually took over 2 minutes before the crowd of American's calmed down.

"Allright!! Let's get this fight moving!"

[Turinu]

Even though it was rushed, after the intense battle with the Corsair State the Gundam Osiris had managed to make a complete recovery. A fresh coat of shiny paint caught the dazzling sunset, reflecting it off its armor for a brilliant display of machinery. The armor and weapons had been repaired and replaced and the Gundam Osiris was once again in perfect condition.

Even though Seth had lost his two matches (he considered his draw to be a loss) he still managed to hold on to a great fan base amongst his fellow people, which was a good thing. His Gundam and himself felt right at home in this desert, more so than the last place he fought. If anything this was the type of terrain the Osiris was made for aside from the generally average terrains; he would be more than capable of adapting his movements to flow with this soft sand.

Not only that but after the fight with the Corsair he had come up with a few new ideas on how to implement his Extension Cloth against ranged opponents. Even though his mobile suit wasn't good at dealing with longer ranges he'd make sure his skill would cover the gap this time. It was time for the Gundam Osiris to score its first victory.

"Just be careful of his armaments. From what I've seen it carries a variety of guns on itself among other things. Depending on what he decides to do you may have to entire Burial Mode early to ensure a powerful defense" Isis said to Seth as he readied the fighter from the inside.

"As long as we're in a environment like this we'll be okay. Even if he has speed he might have a hard time moving through the sand depending on his abilities to adapt to such a place. If not, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with the range issues... hopefully. Because of the temperature I'll be limited in my use of heat mirages, but I should be okay." he responded, the cockpit hatch closing up as the insides began to boot up.

The Osiris's eyes lit up as it stood from its kneeling position, the sun reflecting off of its chest for a truly beautiful scenic view of the Gundam. Its fingers flexed and its beam katars turned on for a moment then turned off, as if making sure all the systems were okay after the last battle. After everything was clear the Osiris walked up to its starting position through the sand, waiting for the referee to start the battle.

[Psyden]

The blowing wind flaps the Cowboy Gundam’s poncho slightly as it sands atop a dune with the Sun setting slowly behind it. The silhouette of the Gundam stands with its head down, the shadow masking the already shrouded face as the Saddle Rifle, making its first appearance in the Championship, is held across its chest with both hands in a semi-relaxed posture.

“James, be careful. The Osiris Gundam was built with Desert Combat in mind, especially a sandy one like the Sahara. This terrain plays right into his hands. Luckily, the Sun’s setting and this play is cooling off, which means most of his special moves won’t work. He’s had a habit of setting his other arenas on fire, but he can’t do that here, either. The Osiris is also well rounded for the most part, but is not very adaptive and has weak sensors. But watch out when it enters its ‘Burial Mode’, when it becomes a D-Class mobile suit. Technically, the Osiris has no ranged weapons…”

“Technically?”

“Yes, the Extension Cloth, which looks like burial cloth, can be used like rope, with limited control. He can tie heat daggers to them and use them like Rope Daggers or he can make them into primitive weapons like staves or javelins.”

The eyes of the Cowboy flash green, momentarily lighting up the face before dimming to their normal level, making the glow just below the brim of the hat.

Chambering a round into the saddle rifle, James gets ready for the fight ahead.

“Let’s kick the tires and light the fires.”

Despite his almost cocky demeanor, James is actually concerned about this fight from the get-go. He is fighting an opponent in their territory, and just about on their terms. He is at a disadvantage. But while Seth is in his element, James has the hopes and dreams of America ridding on his shoulders.

4 more years!

[Psyden]

James reacts quickly, taking a step and skidding down the side of the down. Raising his rifle, he fires off 3 shots in quick succession, 2 at the head, and 1 at the upper body.

As he reaches the bottom of the sand dune, James begins running perpendicular to the dune and at an angle to the Osiris, making sure to keep as much as his advantage as he can.

[Turinu]

"Should've brought his shotgun if you ask me!" The Osiris's pilot said as it began to slide backwards down the dune.

The first two shots flew overhead as he descended behind the dune, the final shot ricocheted off of the armor on its shoulder as it began to move sideways to get behind the higher portion of the dune, leaving a fairly deep dent in the shoulder but not enough to break through it's more durable armor.

As soon as the Osiris was safely behind the dune, it knelt down and slammed one of its hands into the soft desert sand. Extension cloth began to shoot down beneath the surface, winding its way like a worm beneath the ground. The intense heat the cloth would begin to emit would begin melting the sand behind it and solidify it, as it searched out its target.

At the same time his right arm would release some extension cloth and begin to weave a bird shell-like pattern in the shape of a small buckler, solidifying just as it finished wrapping the last piece of cloth to form the shield. It would be his means of defense against such a rifle, at least for a little while until he needed to use more of his cloth.

It was time to show just how well the Osiris could utilize the desert to its advantage, starting with the elasticity of its burial cloth.

[Psyden]

With a series of deeps, the superimposed thermal image of a long object comes up on James’ screen, snaking its way under the ground.

What in Sam Houston’s name does this guy think he’s doing?

What ever it is, James has no intention of letting Seth complete his task. Running up to the top of the dune that Seth has taken cover behind, but being careful not to get too close as to be within striking distance of any of the Osiris’s weapons, aside from, of course, the extension cloth. He finds the Neo Egyptian with a hand in the sand and the other behind a extension cloth shield.

Is this guy really supposed to be such a threat?

Firing 2 rounds at the head of the Osiris, followed shortly by one to the exposed leg, hoping to get his opponent to try and guard his head and expose even more of his true target, the lower leg. If Seth doesn’t expose more of himself by guarding his head, then the match is over, anyway. And, it is not like the Osiris is going anywhere with so much of the extension cloth underground, which will effectively act to tether him to that spot, or at least the general area, depending how much of the stuff he can let out. With the snaking path it too, pulling straight out is probably out of the equation, as well.

As the Sun sets further, the desert rapidly cools. At its current rate, it will just above freezing after the sun sets completely.

(OOC: Remember, with the Saddle Rifle is only an 80mm, it is still a rifle, which means it fires that little bullet really fast for high-penetration. I hate to think that it would merely ‘ricochet’ off of armor unless it hit it at a shallow angle. Oh, and just so you know, rifle bullets are good at defeated woven body armor. PM me if you want details.)

[Turinu]

Unfortunately, while James could note that there was something coming from underground, the fact that where it would be coming up from was highly questionable.

We came to the decision that in this case he should be able to sense it remotely. But not be able to tell exactly where it is. He knows its coming but from exactly where I don't think he'd be able to tell.

Thusly, as the Cowboy Gundam began to move towards the Osiris, the Extension Cloth that was burrowed deep beneath the surface was quick to follow. Just as he reached the hill to fire off his first two shots at the Osiris, the shield was quickly pulled up to the defense. The bullets would lodge themselves into the thick, woven shield and leave deep imprints on the heated cloth; but just that. Almost as soon as they impacted against the shield with a loud cracking "thud", the intense heat brought about by the cloth would quickly melt the bullets that had dug themselves into the cloth, dropping the melted portions onto the soft sand below with another thud. The cloth would then expand back outwards where the two deep holes had formed, creating a irregular smooth surface on the small shield, where two minor indents remained.

Just as quickly as the third shot was about to be fired, an elongated spike would spire out from the ground like a drill, bringing with it an upheaval of sand, as it was aimed directly for the arm that was leveling the rifle at the Osiris's leg. As it came out of the ground the Osiris was already activating its thrusters and charging sideways away from the scope of the Cowboy, kicking up a large tail of sand behind it as it moved sideways across the desert surface. While the extension cloth did tether him down to the ground somewhat, it did not hinder his movements to duck behind a larger dune, the large tail of sand settling down to hide the extra cloth that had been brought out in order for the Osiris to move.

[Psyden]

As James is about to take his third shot, he shifts his weight slightly for better aim, but just before he can pull the trigger, warnings go off that the extension cloth under the ground had managed to follow him. Instinctually, James begins to raise his right arm and twist his torso away, as if recoiling from a striking Rattler. This shift in weight, and the upheaval of sand caused by the spike causes the sand on the slip face to give way, taking the Cowboy with it and out of the way of the spike. The Cowboy’s path down the slip face is not the graceful slide down portrayed in movies, but rather a tumble or a roll.

Pulling his rifle close, James has no choice but to ride the roll out until he reaches the slack between the dunes. Once the Gundam has finished the fall, James puts his left hand on his knee and pushes himself up, sand falling from the brim of his fate.

Sure enough, the Osiris has moved on to more cover.

Dusting off the poncho with his free hand, the rifle pointed down to the ground briefly, James thinks up a plan to end this fight quickly.

Smirking slightly, he starts trudging up the side of the next dune, the gentler slope of the windward side making the trip much easier. There should be some time until the extension cloth can resubmerge and attack again. Let Seth try. But for now, all James needs to do is get to the top of this hill and make visual contact with the New Egyptian, which judging by his sensors, should be about the time his diagonal climb reaches the top. Putting two more of the 80mm rifle rounds into the internal magazine, James utters 3 words that only Jo can hear.

“Sheriff Star, Go.”

The relatively small device falls from underneath the poncho and begins spinning, before going back to where the Osiris has taken refuge. It won’t arrive until James is set, and even then, if it stays low enough, it should be a hard target to hit.

As he comes to the top of the dune, he sees the Osiris hunkered down. The sand already burying most of the lose extension cloth.

“How long is you leash, I wonder…”

It is obvious he let out some in order to move around, but exactly how much is unclear. Just enough to move there, or is there enough slack for him to move more? James can’t answer these questions, but soon the Osiris’ ability to move will be a moot point. In a dune sea, there is no cover, no where to run from the air.

Loud enough for all to hear, James Ranger announces his next move.

“HIGH NOON ATTACK!!”

Reaching behind him with his left hand, James grabs the flare gun and points it high in the sky. The sun may be nearly set, and the stars may be starting to come out, but James will turn Night into Day as he points the run skyward and fires once, firing the flare straight up. An ember tail traces its path upwards. With a brilliant flash, the flare bursts to life with the glow of the Sun.

[Psyden]

5 beam blades erupt from the 5 points of the Sheriff Star as it spins at high speeds, so fast that the individual blades become indistinguishable from each other. The spinning beam buzz saw flies off towards the Osiris' head in an attempt to rip the face off.

Meanwhile, the Cowboy launches up into the sky, with its back to the solar bright flare. Aiming the saddle rifle, James fires off 15 rounds in quick succession. Dropping the rifle, the Cowboy Gundam grabs both revolvers and fires them, alternating from one to the other between each shot and manually cocking them as he goes for maximum accuracy. All the while, all four vulcans blaze. When the final revolver round is fired, the vulcans cease fire and the Cowboy holsters its weapons as the thrusters cut off, plunging the Gundam into free fall. Just before impact, the thrusters roar again, brief, slowing and finally stopping the Mobile Fighter for a fraction of a second a few feet above the ground, before finally allowing it to land on the ground.

The Sheriff Star, which had gotten clear during the barrage, comes back again to finish the job, should the Osiris somehow survive.

[Psyden]

The beam-bladed flying buzz saw rips into the Osiris Gundam’s head, taking a huge chunk of the of the face with it. As Seth covers the gapping wound in his Gundam’s head, the bullets rain in. With the shower of 60mm that comes pouring down like a deluge, comes 15 rounds from the saddle rifle, ripping into the arms, thighs, shoulders, neck, and chest (though all shots are placed far enough from the cockpit so as not to be remotely thought of as a threat to the pilot’s safety). Next comes the hail of large revolver rounds, smashing into the upper shoulders and exposed parts of the head.

As the bullets stop falling and the Cowboy Gundam lands in the sand, he is shocked to find that, while horribly managled, the Osiris is still operation. Not only is it still operation, Seth is still trying to proceed with the fight. James does not envy Seth at this moment. The sheer amount of pair that that man must be feeling… What James does next is an act of mercy. On command, the Sheriff Star renews its attack on the Osiris, severing the head in mere moments. Finally, the Osiris, headless, falls to its knees and powers down.

Grabbing the brim of his Stetson, and the Gundam mimicking his movements perfectly, James tips his hat towards his fallen foe.

“Via con Dios, Amigo. Via con Dios.”

James picks up his trusty rifle, and begins to walk away.

As if crying for the Neo Egyptian, the wind begins to pick up, stirring up the sand, and flapping the Cowboy’s poncho.

[Wingnut]

"This battle is now over. The winner is James Ranger and the Cowboy Gundam!"
On a separate line the referee signaled the crews of both nations that they could retrieve their fighter and Gundam as between the crowd and the audience, it would be almost impossible to be heard.

[Cardi Doorl]

Match Result: Neo America wins