TARRRPG Chapter 6: Point Alpha

[Strike Zero]

((OOC: This is probably my last post for a while. Until then))

“Anything?” Strike called out, pointing his flashlight down the dark hallway lined with doors.

Stellar’s head poked out from one of the open doors. She shook her head.

“Figures,” Strike said with a sigh. “Well, let’s move on to the next one.”

They had been moving down this long, dark tunnel for what felt like half a day, and it was rather unnerving. Despite the fact that there were no lights, each automatic door was fully powered and unlocked. It was especially unusual—why was there power, but no lights anywhere to be found?

“The next time I find Zephyr, I’m going to rip him a new one for destroying my mobile suit, and for trapping the both of us down here on top of that….”

Strike moved past Stellar and she fell in step behind him. The two of them approached the next door and it slid open as they arrived in front of it. Strike pointed his light into it, and again found… another completely barren room. As with the hallway, there were no lights, no furniture, not even any markings on the walls, just an empty room. This made it the, what, seventy-or-so they’d found?

“This has got to be the stupidest building I’ve ever seen,” Strike muttered. “At first I thought it was a bunker, but then we found some computer rooms and now this. What did we do to deserve being trapped down here…?”


- Two Days Earlier –

“Is that it?" Strike said as he spotted the canyon. He grinded his mobile suit to a halt as he approached the ledge. Stellar landed the Spartan Gundam right next to him.

It had been several hours since the two of them departed from the Osprey, and, based on the amount of fuel the intruder had had to burn once he left the ship, this was the most likely place for him to have retreated to. The only way to find out was to jump in, but even a complete idiot would have been able to realize that doing so wasn’t the best idea. Still, the same could be said for coming all the way out here on their own, so, Strike supposed it didn’t really matter too much anyway.

“Let’s go, Stellar,” Strike said, and with that, he leapt into the air and down into the canyon. About halfway down, he fired the Blu Duel’s thrusters to slow his decent. Stellar did the same. The two Gundams landed softly on the canyon floor.

It didn’t take too long for them to find what they were looking for, much to Strike’s delight. It was a giant iron door; easily three times the height of the Blu Duel. What lay past it, Strike couldn’t tell, since the inside of the facility was pitch black. He tried scanning it, but the sensors came up blank.

“Some sort of jamming device?” Strike wondered.

If he had taken a little more time to think, Strike would have realized that the best course of action would to send Stellar back to the Ceres, inform everybody of what they had found, and then return with a larger attack force. If they had done so, they may have found a way to avoid the calamity that was about to befall the two of them.

But they didn’t. Instead, Strike said, “We’ll enter together, but be careful.” The two of them began a slow march into the dark tunnel.

As they entered, his machine’s light filters auto-adjusted to compensate for the darkness, and Strike saw that he was in some sort of large hanger area. They had gone about twenty paces when all of a sudden, the structure’s interior lights blazed to life. The filters immediately powered down, but Strike had to cover his eyes for half a second to avoid going blind.

When he looked again, he found the mobile suit—and the man he had been looking for—staring him down from straight across the tunnel.

Strike immediately raised the Blu Duel’s rifle. The Gold Frame Amatu made no movement in response. Instead, his cockpit speakers crackled and a low monotone came through:

“I anticipated being followed… but I didn’t expect to be followed by only two mobile suits. You are Strike Zero, and the extended Stellar, correct?”

Strike frowned. Obviously, he was able to gather this during his time aboard the ship, but casual annunciation of their names still managed to unsettle him. There was also something odd about the voice. It had a strange reverberation, almost as if the man were speaking through a moving fan.

“It was a choice I made on my own. My team doesn’t know where we are at the moment.”

”Unwise of you to reveal this fact to the enemy,” the man responded.

Strike ignored him. “You were the one from the Osprey, correct? Tell me… who are you?”

”My name? Zephyr,” he replied. ”Officer of the Fandom, and member of the Dark Star Knights.”

“Dark Star Knights?”

An elite group of pilots, even among the Fandom. I believe you are already acquainted with Marlene Mayfield and Leon Bolt, two other knights, just like me.”

Strike remembered Marlene well—the pilot of the Bawoo he had fought in space. He didn’t know Leon personally… but he remembered him as the pilot of that black-and-red Variable fighter that had attacked them, along with Zabowski.

“I see. Well, now that introductions are over, there’s something I want to know from you. Why did you take Kayla Ryder’s body? Is it because she was a newtype? What do you plan to do with her?”

You are not in any position to demand answers from me, though I will say, you’re use of conjugation is incorrect. ‘Was’ denotes previous existence. She is not, however, yet gone from this world.

So he had revived her. Strike wasn’t sure whether or not Kyle would be happy to hear that—he still had yet to find out what Zephyr’s intentions were.

“If you’re not going to tell me… then I’ll force the answers out of you!”

Strike activated the Blu Duel’s twin rail guns and opened fire. The pair of red hot projectiles lanced towards the Gold Frame Amatu… and struck it dead center in its torso. Because of their accuracy, the shells tore through the Amatu’s body and out its back. A second later, its reactor burst into a brilliant fire blossom, and what was left of its frame twisting into a molten pile of scrap metal.

He stared at the smoldering former mobile suit in disbelief. He had expected the enemy to dodge or block or do something, but… the mobile suit hadn’t moved an inch. Almost as if…

“Dammit!” Strike cried, realization taking over. “He got me!”

”Indeed,” his voice continued. ”Truth be told, you did manage to get here in time. My preparations to leave this place are not yet complete. However, I knew that this hanger and the presence of my mobile suit would be more than enough to distract you… and to entrap you.”

As soon as he finished this sentence, the massive steel door behind them began closing, a giant metal plate descending from the roof at a rapid rate.

“Stellar! Move!” He cried. He turned and fired his thrusters, making a bee-line for the door.

”And again, you move as predicted.”

“What--?” was all Strike was able to say before a giant flash filled his forward monitor. In that instant, Strike realized what Zephyr had done—he had rigged explosives to go off once the door had lowered to a certain height. It was a perfect plan, since anybody would start running for the exit once it had started close. He truly played directly into his hand by coming here.

The next instant, everything went black.


The insistent banging on the outside of the cockpit hatch managed to wake Strike up. “Alright, alright…” he groaned into the external speaker. “Move away from the hatch.”

He waited a few seconds, and then hit the emergency release lever, blowing the hatch into the air and away from the Gundam. At that point, Strike checked himself for injuries. He didn’t feel anything broken, but his body was extremely sore. Painfully, he pulled himself out of the cockpit. He found Stellar sitting nervously at the edge of the opening.

“I’m alright,” he said reassuringly. Already, he could tell, the same couldn’t be said about his mobile suit. He took a deep breath, and began to survey the damage. The arms, as well as most of the armor were gone. There were deep gouges all across the body where chunks of shrapnel had embedded themselves inside the Gundam.

As much as he wanted to, as much as he hated to see his Gundam in this condition, Strike knew that there was no way for it to recover from this. The Blu Duel was gone.

Strike gently stroked a hand over the charred metal. “Rest in peace, my friend.”

He spent about a minute performing a silent eulogy, then stood and turned to face Stellar. “What happened to the exit. Please tell me it isn’t blocked.

Stellar pointed, and Strike looked.

“Well, sh!t.”

The entrance hadn’t been ‘blocked’ so much as ‘buried’. What looked like several tons of dirt and earth had fallen from the canyon wall and effectively made this place lost to the rest of the world till the end of time, or, at least, until somebody went at it with the best digging equipment in the world, which they didn’t have. Long story short, they were trapped, and there was nothing they could do about.”

Strike sighed a big sigh. “Well, only one thing to do now. You up for a little adventure?”


“Holy crap… have we actually reached the end?”

Indeed, the two of them had reached the end of the hallway and found instead of a single door, a large double door. They approached it and slid open with a grinding shriek.

“It’s still way to dark… “ Strike muttered. He pointed his flashlight and spotted a wide computer terminal in front of him. He approached it and started pressing buttons at random in an attempt to turn it on. If the place still had power, this thing was bound to be still running as well. Sure enough, the computer came to life, it buttons and one monitor glowing a pale, ghostly blue.

A single word scrolled across the screen: CATTELYA

“Cattelya? What the hell is that?” Strike said. At that moment, he suddenly realized that Stellar wasn’t beside him. He looked around and spotted her light off to the side of the room.

“Stellar? What are you doing?”

She had found some sort of lever off to the side. She pulled it and Strike cried out as a brilliant flash of light filled the entire room.

“Damn it all! Why does that… keep……….whoa.”

Apparently, what they had stumbled upon really was a hanger—the walls ahead of them were lined with mobile suits. They were all old GuAIZ models… but as of this moment, they were perhaps the greatest thing Strike had ever seen. They were their ticket out of this damn dungeon.

“Stellar, get a pair of those puppies up and running while I try and figure out how to open a way out of here.” Strike began madly tapping away at the keyboard while Stellar took off in compliance. It turned out to not be too difficult at all—he found the command to open the entry hatch and pressed ENTER.

Strike hadn’t expected the entire building to open up, but that’s exactly what happened. The entire building shuddered as a line of light appeared down the center of the roof. It slowly spread and grew as the two panels that made the room rescinded into the walls.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Strike said. He was about to sprint off when he remembered the data he had been accessing before. He quickly returned to it and burned everything he could find onto a small compact disc for later viewing.

As he sprinted around the hanger to one of the GuAIZs, something else caught his eye. Though it seemed like a hanger, there was an odd, open space in the middle of the room. Several docking clamps extended out of the floors and walls, all appearing to grasp at something that wasn’t there. It looked to Strike as though something big was supposed to be stored here, but was gone now.

That nagging feeling he’d felt when he’d first taken off on this mission was back. What could the Fandom have possibly been keeping here?

He supposed that he would have to find out later. He was starving and wanted to get out of here ASAP. He climbed up to the open GuAIZ, powered it up, and in just under a minute he and Stellar took off to the skies.


- Earth Orbit -
- Fandom warship Andromeda -
- Hanger –

Marlene exited the shuttle craft out onto the deck of the Andromeda’s hanger. She felt cramped—the hanger was small for a ship of this size, with less than half the MS capability of the Mother Wind. Though she supposed it made sense, considering the Andromeda’s primary purpose was stealth, not combat.

“Where is he?” she demanded of the first person she saw.

“P-Pardon?” the man stuttered.

“Where is Zephyr? I’ve been trying to get in touch with him, but of course this ship is completely off the COM grid, so I had to come here in person. I need to speak with him now.

“T-The commander is busy at this moment,” the man replied shakily, clearly rattled by Marlene’s stark demeanor. “But, you may be able to find him at the laboratory facilities in block D.”

Marlene ordered the soldier’s she’d brought along to stay with the shuttle, and she took off herself to find the elusive knight. After a few minutes, she’d arrived at the lab and let herself in. She spotted his unmistakable cloaked figure almost instantly.

“Zephyr! I need to speak with you at once.”

“I am preoccupied at the moment,” Zephyr replied.

“This is a matter of the utmost urgency,” Marlene insisted, her anger rising.

Zephyr turned towards the young female officer. “Well, you did bother to make the trip all the way out here. Very well. What is it?”

“Black Mage has defected. He stole the L-Gaim and joined up with the Divine Crusaders.”

“I already knew that.”

Marlene staggered back several inches. “You… what?”

“I found this out while observing the battle on earth when he engaged Leon. Very nearly killed him too. Though, that was nearly two days ago. News seems to travel rather slowly from the front.”

Marlene fought very hard to maintain control over her anger. “Well… the Star Prince has called for a gathering of the knights. He wants to figure out how to deal with this situation—“

“You really have no experience when it comes to these things do you?

“What is that supposed to mean?” Marlene seethed.

“Do you actually believe even half the knights are going to show up just because the Prince calls for it? Most of us either don’t care—in fact, I’m sure you and your friend Leon would be the only ones who do care—or have other matters they’re currently attending to, like myself.”

“What exactly are you working on that’s so important anyway?”

“A young officer named Kayla Ryder was killed in action on Earth. Shot by one of the Gundam pilots. I took the liberty of recovering her body from their transport and returning it here.”

Now Marlene appeared curious. “For what, might I ask?”

“Miss Ryder was listed as one of those who was suspected of exhibiting Newtype powers. I was not about to let those abilities go to waste.”

Now Marlene appeared angry again. “That’s all well and good, but you said she died? How is she supposed to be of any use to us?”

“Because… she is no longer dead.”

Marlen froze. “What?”

“Our medical teams were able to revive her. She is now in a state of suspended animation” Zephyr strode over to a large glass tube. It was filed with liquid and emitting an aquamarine glow. The person inside was slightly obscured by bubbles, but a quick glance at the monitoring equipment next to the tube revealed the occupant was indeed alive. “Apparently, the girl has incredible resilience,” Zephyr continued as he stroked a hand over the glass. “Perhaps it is because of her Newtype powers? Their nature continues to elude us even now…”

Zephyr glanced back at Marlene. “If you have no other business here, I must ask you to depart. The Prince calls for us, does he not?”

Marlene seemed well and thoroughly flustered at this point. “Very… well….” She turned and started back the way she’d come.

Zephyr turned back towards the tube. Soon, very soon, Kayla would be back with the living, with more power than she had before, than she ever would have dreamed of having. Zephyr could hardly wait to see the results.

Kayla was not, however, the only newtype he was interested in.

Zephyr walked over to a console and picked up a clipboard resting on it. Attached was a series of notes of everything he had observed while on the Osprey, as well as a single photograph, featuring a young girl with red hair and wearing a pink pilot suit…

There were several Newtypes aboard the Osprey now. The ones named Zabowski, hellbore and Zangetsu were strong, but not particularly noteworthy. Emily Stormgunner though… Zephyr had witnessed the feat she had performed with Unicorn Gundam during Kayla’s failed self-sacrifice. Though it was still latent, it was obvious that the young girl possessed more power than neither she nor anybody else truly realized

He gently brushed his fingers against the girl’s slender face. “Emily…” he said. “You have no idea how much danger you are in.

“The Federation is ruthless. They will use you limitlessly for their own ends. But I… I will protect you. Just a little longer, and I’ll be able to save you.”

Zephyr then sent out a surge of Newtype energy of his own. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to feel it… to know that he was here…and looking out for her...

[SNT1]

--Slug--

It did not take very long for Slugger's situation to go from a possible simple interview aborad the ship to a rogue unit attacking like crazy into an all out battle. Complete with supposed allies firing at them!

But that GN guy went down real quick, thanks to maybe the overwhelming numbers of the units against it.

"Oi, where are my targets now?" Slugger quips, "I'm assuming I'm supposed to shoot someone not from the Federation eh?"

[hellbore]

-Hellbore-

Hellbore powered along toward the thick of the the fighting ahead of the Ceres and what he saw made him blanch. At least 30 Fandom units were attacking the small Federation group. His computer also identified DC forces engaging the Fandom. While the his group seemed to be faring fairly well, one mistake would be deadly.

He smiled despite himself and activated his multi-targeter. His computer began to lock on to the enemy group but was interrupted by an explosion that rocked his suit, causing no damage, thankfully, due to the TPSA. He looked around and three yellow mobile weapons, Metal Armors his computer showed, screamed from the cloud cover above. They opened fire from the hand carried weapons and mostly hit him directly. Again his Phase Shift protected him. He recover from the hit and took of trying to gain some distance between him and the Fandom MA's.

They followed him closely, their aerodynamic frame giving them superior handling. Shots pinged of his armor, showing their skill with the mobile weapons. He thought of something and gritted his teeth. He braced himself, and reversed his thrust. The Freedom stalled in midair and the Schwalg's shot passed him. He fired six shots at them and took out one. The other were ready for the move and juked around the shots. The enemy pilots banked around and came back at him. Hellbore was ready though and he fired his plasma beams at each of them.

He caught them mid-bank and the Metal Armors exploded violently and continued moving forward due to their momentum. Hellbore was already gone by them and joined in the battle going on closer to the ground.

[Lowind]

Dear readers of this RPG, I, Lowind hasn't been in the storyline for quite a while. And no, by the way I am not talking to anyone except YOU here. Owing to too much villain decay, even my narrator has chosen to leave for better career prospects. At any rate, looks like I will have to stick my head through the fourth wall for storytelling purposes from now on. Lets us continue with the story, anyway.

The Kamataichi (did i spell that right? *shrugs*) is presently about three kilometres away from the battle going on between the other characters. Apparently we have been assigned to be part of the third wave or something. Obviously I wonder why they would even bother, given the brilliant casualty ratio essentially like any other battle up to now.

Though, then again, this time round there may be a point to all this - I believe Lady Sterling is trying to replace the army with her new mobile doll toys. Don't ask why I know that though. I guess it comes as part of the knowledge of the fourth wall thing. Cue the ominous revelation music, please. Then again, if you had read up to this point you should know this anyway.

But I think that the second wave is overextended already. Time to join the battle. "Third wave, begin combat operations."

Man. That sounded even more corny than usual.

[Wingnut]

- Ceres -

The Ceres finally arrived on the battlefield and saw the massive battle first hand. Unfortunately, there were no areas where they could use the Tannhäuser because of how deeply the rest of the Gundam team was involved with the fight.
Fortunately they could help in other ways.

"Launch Templar squadron immediately." was Ryker's order.

The Ceres's centerline catapult opened its doors and swung into action. The elevator system started deploying the VF-11C units into battle at an impressive rate. In only a couple moments, all of the Templar pilots were airborne and locking on to the enemy Xeku series on their sleds with the long range missiles under their wings.

The aircraft quickly let loose with all their under-wing ordnance and then continued to follow up on their first strike by closing to range of their Super Pack missiles.

[SNT1]

--Slug--

It did not take long for Slug to get into the thick of the battlefield. With lightning-quick responsiveness, Antonio quickly relays the information to Slugger. One interesting thing to note---the plethora of Xeku Eins. It's as if Slugger's machine is just itching to take on those. But it's only among the many different mecha begging to be shut down.

Flying around, the ZetaPlus kept covering the Ceres guys with scattered fire from the beam cannons, until his senors spotted a couple of Xeku Eins relatively remote from the thick of the battlefield. "Heh," Slugger smirks, and at full velocity, attacks the first Xeku by rapid firing the beam cannons.

It quickly gets out of the way with dome burns in the leg, while the other one quickly set up a long range attack from its clay bazooka. Realizing the attack, Slug jerks to the right, hits a simple button and in a blink of an eye, turns into a mobile suit.

The ZetaPlus CX, custom-modified by Sidewinder, borrowed much of its extreme speed and mobility from aerobatic aircraft and specialized on those merits. Equipped with a Beam Smart Gun, Slug quickly aims and fires it on the second Xeku Eins, engulfing it with beam energy and evaporating it.

"Splash One!" Slug exclaims.

[hellbore]

-Cerberus-

The Kamaitachi was flying relatively close to ground to launched its newly picked up ground-pounders; 6 Deins with ground equipment. Jacob jumped out behind the Metal Armors and skimmed along the ground toward the Gundam team. The Kamaitachi also launched 5 BABIs to cover the ground forces.

A group of VFs from the Ceres buzzed overhead and launched missiles at the group of Deins. They launched the chaff dispensers high into the air and most of the missiles went after the decoys. The one that didn't where taken out with the Cerberus' gunpod fire or the 25mm machine guns of the Deins. The BABIs broke off after the Thunderbolts, firing their 22.5mm 4-barrel machine guns after the VFs.

Jacob turned to Sara and the look of extreme concentration on face told him everything he needed to know. The TE engine was fluctuating wildly and that could potentially be a huge problem. Jacob saw the last of the Xamel artillery units taken out by a weird white unit of an unknown type, before it moved on the the Xeku units from the Hellight. It then made a ridicilous pose, as if it where challenging the Fandom. Jacob gritted his teeth and pulled out the Radical Railgun and snapped off two shots toward the white mobile weapon. He circled the strange mech cautiously, waitin for an opportunity.

[Kylern]

-Thunderbolts-

While the majority of the missile fire was defeated a few made it through to meet their targets. The squad had split in two just like planed with four units in each team. The front team attacked the massive battleship that had first entered the battlefield. The second team had attacked the lightly armed transport and its new collection of units.

Element one of the Templar team had released their missiles on the enemy ship taking out a anti-aircraft guns as well other deck mounted weapons. The hail of missiles was just too much to shoot down with CIWS fire alone. Then the element once again split in two as they went to either side of the ship to deliver the rest of their arsenal as well as gunpod fire, pulse laser fire, and if need be poke a hole in the armor with their anti-mecha blades.

Element two on the other hand had been side tracked and engaged by a bunch of Metal armors. Easily they climbed through the fire but now it was BABIs. Too bad for ZAFT but these pilots had experience in flying against the slow ZAFT airborn units and after a few entangling dogfights they were quickly able to gain the upper hand. One Thunderbolt was actually able to transform into GERWALK as the BABI chased it and with its blade drove it behind and into the larger mech. A sight to see but it was obvious they were trained to be the best.

-Kylern-

Trance was finally putting a strain on the pilot of the TEMJIN... He was physically battered from the attacks and it wasn't sure how long he could last flying like this. But the need to continue fighting drove him on in his semi-SEED like state.

Despite the interference by a new unit Kylern had already dispatched of several Zekus. He watched the other unit as it circled around him firing what appeared to be a railgun at him. No problem cause with a quick hard yank in the opposite direction the shots continued into the battlespace threatening the Zekus. Kylern was no above letting the enemy shoot their own friends...

But play time was over, he needed to finish this quickly before he collapsed. Weapon brandished he charged in with his boosters at full power. Then with an overhead slash he released a trademark energy discharge from the blade sending a wave of beam energy at the enemy unit. Then with his other hand he gathered a powerbomb. He was waiting to see what sort of movements the enemy made before sending the explosive energy core at the guy.

[Zangetsu]

Zangetsu thought that he shouldn't launch that the others would be able to handle it. But then he sensed him. "Lowind!" he yelled as he ran to the hangar. "Yo techs get my gundam on the catapult before I get back." he said as he went to put on his pilot suit. 'Hey Zaraki, wake up. You're friend is here.' he thought as he started to walk back to the hangar in his pilot suit. he quickly got into the cockpit as the gundam was put on the catapult. "This is Zangetsu Gundam Sonicscream taking off." he said as he was rocketed into the sky.

[Cybaster]

(Oi. So much to catch up on in 20 minutes... @_@)

-Masamune and Kirie-

The arrival of the additional reinforcements had been a great boost; The arrival of the *rest* of the Gundam Party, less so. Fortunately, Kylern had seemingly backed off --- giving Masamune time to deal with Kirie and his own doubts. As Kirie threw the Naginata behind the Musha Gundam and suddenly drew its Katana, Masamune sneered and raised the Hajingeki's hilt to parry; the blades met, and Kirie held it there, pressing the Musha Gundam forward.

"I am different from Oda Nobunaga, Kirie! I won't make his mistakes! I will *not*!" Masamune cried back, trying desperately to keep his ground. This time, the Musha Gundam was fighting with a ferocity he's never seen before --- one that surprised Masamune. "I'm not a tyrant! I'm---"

"You're burning down an innocent because they might be associated with the DC, Masamune! That's the same thing Nobunaga did when he burnt Mt. Hiei down, wasn't that right? An entire Monastery, hundreds of innocent Monks, women and children, just because some of them might've provided support to the Asai-Asakura Alliance..." Kirie sneered angrily. "Oh yes, Masamune. You remember that. It's hard not to. That gave Nobunaga his notoriety and made him feared. And hated. And you know what that did for him in the end, Masamune? That got him killed at the Honnoji by Akechi Mitsuhide, who finally had enough of his tyranny and betrayed his own lord---"

"Mitsuhide was a traitor who wanted to rule Japan! He didn't care about the people!" Masamune retorted, but found himself having trouble believing in it. "So what if he claimed---"

"Come off of it, Masamune! If Mitsuhide hadn't betrayed him, someone else would eventually, anyway! With Nobunaga it was only a matter of time. Who knows? Maybe Hideyoshi? How about Ieyasu? Or maybe even Shibata Katsuie, one of his most loyal? It's pretty hard not to hate Nobunaga because of what he did, what he believed could be done to win at any cost. You want to follow that path, Masamune? You want to destroy your own future in pursuit of your desires!?"

-Emily-

What *is* that guy's problem, anyway? It's like he can't decide on an alignment to play...he's trying to go from Chaotic Neutral to Neutral Good to Lawful Evil and back to True Neutral...or something...if I was a DM, I'd *so* dock so much of his XP right there and then his head will spin. Be careful, Kirie! <3 your Lawful Good Alignment!

Nonetheless, with Lune's words distracting her from Masamune, Emily couldn't help but smile fondly at Lune's fearless attitude even in the face of all that. Lune Zoldark, Emily decided right there and then, was one cool character.

"Right, I totally agree with you! Don't worry, Wingnut, I'll watch over her for a bit! Yaaaaaar!" Emily strained against her seat as she sharply pulled the Unicorn upwards, back towards Lune and Masaki with vulcans blazing at one of the last remaining Hambrabis, and spun the Unicorn around; its Beam Magnum drawn, Emily took a deep breath and, recoiling with the blast, sent an intense red beam flying along with the Cross Smasher, at the cluster of Geara Dogas ahead --- maybe if she could take some of those out, Wingnut and the others would have a better chance at taking out that Psyco Gundam.

"Oh, Lune, right? I'm Emily. How do you do? Hiya, Masaki!" Emily waved and cheered, all the while barrel-rolling out of a Beam Smartgun shot's way and countering with a second Beam Magnum burst, the intense red beam carving and devastating two other Xeku Eins Type IIIs that were just approaching. "Say hi to Kuro and Shiro for me! Now make with the Meteor Swarm already!" :D

-General Battle-

The new wave came in promptly and timely enough. Kylern, Alex and Masaki's attacks had managed to whittle down even more of the original wave, leaving only two Hambrabis, three Xamels and five Doven Wolfs; Lune and Emily had taken out three Geara Dogas and two Xeku Eins with their combined attacks, and Wingnut had began engaging the Psyco Gundam Mark II --- which had turned its attention on Wingnut and was firing a second volley at his ReGZ.

But despite the arrival of the Gundam Team, the new reinforcements now allowed the Fandom to pincer Masaki and Lune within a circle --- the Fandom formation fanned out, the Zaku IIIs and Xeku Eins Type IIIs moved into a semi-circle crescent and began surrounding the group from the southeast to west. The Xamels and Doven Wolfs backed off, taking up a defensive position on the hill crevasse against Kylern and Alex. The Doven Wolfs aimed their MPCs in unison at the former, Incoms now targeting the latter, and fired a single volley spread; The Xamels kept up their own barrage and kept up a stream of fire at Masaki, while the two remaining Hambrabis were likewise backing off defensively to take potshots with their Feyadeen Rifles at Lune, and the newly-committing Zaku IIIs promptly went for Kylern and Kirie, firing their Beam Rifles while circling erratically in mid-air for hit-and-away attacks (three of which narrowly missing the Musha Gundam from behind).

The Xeku Eins, in the meantime, were closing in --- the Type IIIs in their native environment, landing on the ground in unison and fanning out slightly to avoid getting caught by the Cross Smasher, and firing their Heavy Machineguns at the approaching Gundam Team from below, showering the Ceres' general area with machinegun fire as the Gundam Team deployed; The Type IIs were taking positions outside the general fighting range, aiming their Beam Smartguns at any Gundam Team members that had just managed to deploy as well.

As for the Geara Dogas, they were keeping their mission and near the Psyco Mark II, and on the ground and air they were rapid-firing a mass of Beam Machinegun and Sturm Faust fire at the DC Barlions --- keeping out of melee combat for as long as possible.

[dreacon]

Dreacon stood in on the bridge of the Grey Wolf with Captain Theo Rawn.

He stood looking out the Observation Window. "Now if i may be so bold, for one reason or another i have been placed in your Dimention, and the atempts i've made to get back on my own have failed. That said, i think that perhaps this is permenant." Dreacon said
He turned back to Theo. A man of equal rank, and as far as Dreacon could tell, far more trustworthy than the Fandom.
"That being said, i was wondering if there is any need for a Gundam Pilot within this federation. And if there is, I await your orders."

[Wingnut]

- Wingnut -

Somehow Wingnut had managed to fly through the enemy lines and reach the massive Psyco Mk. II.
Recalling that it would take some doing to get through the armor on that thing Wingnut armed and fired the mega beam cannon at the enemy unit.
Unfortunately he forgot about the reflector bits. A mistake that nearly cost him as they intercepted his shot and tossed it right back at him.
The only way now was to get in close but that wasn't happening thanks to the mass of beam fire the purple monster was throwing up.

However, unknown to Wingnut, the Ceres did manage to establish a clear line of fire between it and the Psyco Gundam. Only a moment later did a large multi-colored blast burst froth from the bow mounted positron cannon headed directly for the source of Wingnut's troubles.

The Fandom pilot saw it coming, but not in time to avoid it. He did however manage to use all of the reflector bits to block the blast, although they were too fragile to survive themselves.
This was the chance Wingnut needed.
Closing in once more and letting loose with all the remaining weapons Wingnut closed in for the kill.

But it would not be that easy. While the attack did blind the enemy, the pilot shot out both of it's arms and managed to grab the Re-GZ's arms just as it finished transforming into MS mode and then retracted them, bringing Wingnut in close to the enemy machine.

"What? Oh, damn. The remote arms! I forgot about those."
Wait. Yes!

While the arms were restrained, the right one had only grabbed the shield mounted on the Re-GZ's left arm. Wingnut jettisoned the shield and reached back to draw the hyper beam saber.

"Looks like keeping your enemies closer wasn't such a good idea after all!" cried Wingnut just before he implanted the large blade right into the head of the Fandom newtype weapon.

Victory would come with a price in this encounter as every beam gun on the Mk.II powered up to fire one last blast.
The only warning Wingnut had was the alarms that indicated a large energy buildup at close range.
I can't get free in time.
Thus the only thing he could do was pull the hidden handle between his legs. This sent the cockpit sphere out the back of the Re-GZ Custom with tremendous force and well clear of the Psyco Gundam Mk. II.

It was perhaps for the best that Wingnut never saw the actual final moments of the machine he had grown fond of as between the finger guns and the torso mounted scattering beam cannons, the shades of blue machine was filled with many large and small holes before exploding in the now dead hand of the purple giant of the Fandom.

- Lune -

The blond pilot had to admire what Wingnut had just done. It seemed that her words reached him easier than she thought. Even as she fired her own rifle to hold off the many attackers she sent a signal to the DC forces to make sure and recover the escape pod of the Federation machine.

She had little time to respond to the pilot of the white machine nearby as the Fandom forces had them in a tight situation.

"Masaki, get ready to make a run for the DC subs off the coast. We're getting out of here!"

Stowing the weapon for a moment, Lune got her own secret weapon ready.
First the vents on both arms opened with a red flare to each as Lune went through the motions to activate the most powerful weapon she had next to the Cross Smasher. Faster and faster she began to spin as more red energy came out of the arms and began forming almost a hurricane of energy just waiting to be released.
Once the power level was high enough, Lune did exactly that.
"PSYCHOBLASTER!"

The blast shot out countless tendrils of red energy that would take down many Fandom units, while at the same time leave any friendly units unharmed.

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai

Gai had been able to push in past the Xeku's he had been fighting; he had been hoping to give Wingnut some support but was only in time to catch the falling escape pod.

"Nice kill!"

Gai lingered for less than a millisecond before turning and speeding off toward the Ceres.

Alex Bloke

as Alex was speeding toward Kylern another enemy appeared. this mech was obviously a one off machine but the odd thing was what happened when his computer read the IFF signal from the machine.

someone had attached orders to the stored data on the mech

DO NOT DESTROY. CAPTURE AND BRING TO HQ.

the pilots should be willing to negotiate.

Masaki Adoh

Masaki was holding his own very well even with such overwhelming numbers. Then Lune suggested they get moving; Masaki couldn't disagree with the suggestion.

just as lune charged her own attack Masaki moved away and readied his own. He raised the sword in front of him and energy began to gather on the blade. The energy built and spread across his mech until finally the energy burst outwards .forming deadly thunder bolts that would target even more fandom mechs

[Cybaster]

-Emily-

"Oh, no! You okay, Wingnut?"

Otherwise, it wasn't cause for concern; Emily felt Wingnut alive, and well, soon after the explosion that destroyed the Psyco Mk. II, and Gai bringing him to the Ceres...between that, Emily had a feeling they'd be okay, as long as the Xeku Eins Type IIs don't do too much damage to the ship with their Beam Smartguns.

"Psycoblaster---!"

"Wait, wha?" Then as purple light harmlessly enveloped the Unicorn's cockpit all of a sudden, Emily winced, covered her eyes...and then whistled as Lune fired up her Psycoblaster --- that was a nice attack! Emily hadn't seen a Fireball spell that didn't roast allies just as well as enemies, but here it was. Another Arcane Caster also wins in her book, too, and Lune's attack was just in time; The forward wave of the attack completely caught the advancing wave of Zaku IIIs and Dodais as well as a quarter of the Xeku Eins Type IIIs on the ground, vaporizing them where they stood, in addition to the last remaining Hambrabis and probably the Schwelts as well. Some of the longer-ranged units were caught as well --- two of the Xeku Eins Type IIs that didn't back off in time had been shot down, and by now, there were two Xamels, two Doven Wolfs (between everyone's contributions), and thirteen Xeku Eins Type IIs that were taking up ranged positions and mainly firing at the Ceres.

However, the Geara Dogas were mostly untouched, having had been in reserve, and seventeen of those still remained...and with their primary escort objective destroyed by Wingnut, they were all advancing in unison towards the retreating Lune and Masaki, some drawing Beam Tomahawks to keep them pinned down, but most giving Beam Machinegun suppression fire as they advanced quickly.

Emily looked around, and nearly took a beam round in the Unicorn's torso for her troubles as she nodded to Lune---

Waaaaait...wha? I feel...is someone watching me? Wait, focus, Ems!!!

Snapping out of her sudden burst as her Newtype senses caught...something from afar, glancing at her from a distance, Emily shook her head --- and was confronted the reality of seventeen Geara Dogas again. She couldn't let them catch up to Lune. Emily gave her and Masaki a quick wave as they seemed ready to break into a run. "Okay, Miss Lune, I'll cover you both, too, just get going! Right..."

Then Emily turned forward, the Unicorn Gundam drawing its Hyper Bazooka in its other hand. "And now for you guys! You saw what Lune did, and what Masaki did, so now it's time for what I can do! Watch my XP-gaining Super Attack..."

Yeah, it's that one. The Unicorn Gundam sidestrafed, moving with the Valsione, and circled, the left Hyper Bazooka blazing in a tight circle around the incoming Geara Dogas firing shells all around, but not at, them...and then a second later, when the shells were almost at the middle, Emily focused, her eyes blazed, and she held her breath as she took a half-second's aim...

Win, Emily...

Time froze around Emily momentarily as that voice...

Win, Emily...give yourself the best chance...the best probability. And now...

Then suddenly as time flowed again, Emily felt a sudden, subtle change...for a second, Emily suddenly felt herself getting less wise, in exchange for being quicker, just in time for Emily's...

Triumph.

This was it!

"Kniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!"

Then Emily's Beam Magnum fired, and the beam seared forward at the frontmost formation of Geara Dogas, detonating all the shells right smack in the middle, and causing a massive explosion in front of the Unicorn Gundam that obliterated the first five Geara Dogas and three more of the Xeku Eins Type IIIs (of which there were still twenty-one left, now breaking and attacking various targets, five of them pursuing Lune and Masaki as well) in a burst of fire and energy. Emily whistled...and as she felt her Cha and Dex switching back, Emily blinked. Quizzically.

First the halo watching over her, then that voice and finally...Emily's stats changed momentarily? Wow. Emily frowned, moving the Unicorn Gundam between the Valsione and the pursuing Fandom units, dumping the empty Hyper Bazooka and firing her remaining bursts of Beam Magnum shots at the Xeku Einses below. Today had been a very weird day indeed...

-Kirie and Masamune-

"You've only seen yourself as the center of all, Masamune!" Kirie yelled, the Musha Gundam having shoved the Ryofu Tallgeese back and was pursuing, dashing, stabbing the Jumonji-Yari out in repeated jabs. In response, the Ryofu Tallgeese spun its Hajingeki around and around to block the jabs in succession, forced into the defensive. Masamune could say nothing, finding himself at a lack of words. "Even here, you act like you're some kind of royalty. A Daimyo. Do you still think people care about you being a Daimyo of Aizu?"

"S-shut up, Kirie! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't I, Masamune? You think everyone has to jump to your bidding...just because you benefit from it makes it right. Just because you have to go home, it's okay to sacrifice Lune. You're selfish, Masamune. A spoiled brat --- one ten times worse than Oichi can ever be!"

Masamune's anger flared, and he forced himself to regain initiative. "What part of shut up do you not understand, Kirie Morgan!?" The Ryofu Tallgeese suddenly lunged, grabbing the Hajingeki in a short haft with both hands, and slashed out at close-range; The Hajingeki caught the Jumonji-Yari behind the side prongs and batted it aside, but that was when the Musha Gundam suddenly pushed again, Kirie determined to meet his challenger blade-for-blade; With a burst of strength, the Musha Gundam suddenly moved its arms upwards, batting the Hajingeki back, and forcing the hilt horizontal as Kirie locked blades again, Katana and Jumonji-Yari pushing at the Hajingeki. "You think I have a choice? This is how this world runs!"

"'There are always new ways and new possibilities'. You said that in your first Samurai Warriors ending, remember, Masamune? What happened to your will to prove this to the entire world!?" Kirie's breathing grew heavy, poising himself for the final deathblow. "You're never afraid of anyone before, Masamune, always fighting on two fronts...not Nobunaga, not Shingen, not Kenshin, not *anybody*...so what happened there? What happened to you --- What the hell happened to your noble ideals as a Samurai, Date Masamune!?"

"I---"

*CLANG*

Finally, it was enough. Pushing and persistent, the Musha Gundam finally managed to push through the Ryofu Tallgeese's defences, pushing it backwards into a stagger. Masamune sneered as his instincts gave sharp warnings suddenly, hurriedly trying to recover and steady the Ryofu Tallgeese, but it was too late. The Musha Gundam charged, Kirie yelling not only with anger, but with hatred now...

The Hajingeki tried vainly to stab forward in retort, causing the Musha to roll out of the way, but Masamune couldn't retract the spear quickly enough. The Musha Gundam rolled left, the Jumonji-Yari batting aside the Hajingeki and causing the Ryofu Tallgeese's arm to swing right...and Masamune was left wide open.

Masamune gasped and, as the Katana blade of the Musha Gundam came at the exposed Ryofu Tallgeese, he gave one last shout.

"Imbecile!!!"

A second later, after the clang and the shudder that caused the Ryofu Tallgeese to power down and succumb to its damage, Masamune panted...and finally realized that he wasn't dead. The Musha Gundam had stabbed into the Ryofu Tallgeese's abdomen, right underneath the cockpit, severing the main power cables from the reactor and forcing the primaries to shut down; The Ryofu Tallgeese slumped to its knees soon after, with Kirie's Musha Gundam looking intently at its defeated foe.

Kirie Morgan had spared him.

That thought alone shamed Masamune than he ever cared to admit. He sneered bitterly. "Why did you spare me, Yukimura?" Masamune demanded. "I did not ask for your mercy and I do not deserve it. Strike me down! That's what you promised you would do, and I demand---"

"What part of 'shut up' do you not understand, Masamune?" Kirie answered, sighing derisively. The Musha Gundam pulled back a few steps, pulling the Katana blade from the Ryofu Tallgeese's body. "What good will killing you do, Masamune? Do you really want to be like Nobunaga? A tyrant? I can feel that you don't, either, Masamune...you fought better than this before, when you believed yourself with all your heart."

Masamune said nothing.

"Go, Masamune. Come back and fight me when you've found your way and know what you really want of your future. And maybe then we might not be enemies. Who knows?"

The Ryofu Tallgeese's secondaries kicked in then, and Masamune picked himself up, forcing his expression stoic. He would not give Kirie the satisfaction. "Imbecile...so you would spare me out of...what? Pity? A need for 'worthy' combat?"

"Think whatever you want. I'm just here to save Lune and Masaki." Kirie answered. "I want you to think about what you want, what you're here for. I won't fight you when you're second-guessing yourself."

"You'll regret it if you do, Yukimura."

"I'll live with it, Masamune."

Then Masamune laughed, and the Ryofu Tallgeese took to the air...just as the Sekitoba suddenly returned, catching Masamune, and galloped away, bringing Masamune away from the battle. "Then remember your words, Kirie Morgan. Samurai. You'll have to live with them for the rest of your life."

With Masamune dealt with, Kirie pulled the Musha Gundam back towards the Ceres, eyeing Lune and Masaki's escape and then checking on where Kylern was. Everyone please be safe.

"I will. And I won't back down from it, Masamune. Never."

-Helllight-

Between Wingnut destroying the Psyco Mark II, Kylern's havoc on the Doven Wolfs and Xamels, Lune's Psycoblaster, Masaki's Psybuster attacks, Emily's so-called 'Knife Eye Attack' and now Date Masamune being defeated and forced to withdraw, Feldman was in a panic, leaning back against his command chair. "...How...how many MSes do we have left!?"

"Fifty, sir! The Zaku IIIs and Hambrabis have been annihilated, our Xamel and Doven Wolf teams are almost gone, and the Geara Doga teams are suffering attrition, but the Xeku Einses are still holding ground!"

Fifty. Fifty...out of a task force made of one hundred and seven Mobile Suits and mecha. More than half annihilated, just like that. Still...they could win this, even with the Ceres having shown up. The Helllight just needed to do more...

Then he, too, spotted Lune and Masaki seemingly making a break on it, and the Unicorn Gundam following them closely. Feldman clenched his fists, sitting up and steeling himself; If the Helllight was truly gone and Sterling would have his head for the defeat, Feldman would at least take them with him... "Photon Particle Beam Cannon, lockon to the Valsione! We will destroy her and the Psybuster along with us...begin charging!"

"Charging commenced, sir!"

"Beginning lockon..."

After what seemed like forever, Feldman leaned forward in anticipation and anger. All this because of those two...but no more. No more. "Photon Cannons, status!"

"All go...target is locked...charging complete!"

"Very well..." Feldman raised his hand, looked at the Valsione one last time...and pointed his finger out. "Fire---"

Oh, no, you don't! Face-stabbing time, Fandom!

"---What!? Ignore it, fire! Fire now!!!"

[Wingnut]

- Ceres -

The mobile suits weren't the only things that were caught up in the chaotic battle.
The Ceres too found herself under heavy fire from multiple sources. Fortunately she was well equipped to defend herself against such an attack.
Anti-air missiles were the order of the day against the Xeku series units and despite having some shot down, they were keeping the blue machines from getting too close.

And for those that were not trying to get close, the Ceres was packing plenty of anti-beam chaff rounds to disperse the shots from the beam smartguns.

Of all the suits on the battlefield, the Gera Dogas seemed most out of their element. They were designed mainly for space combat with other mobile suits. With most of the Ceres;s complement of mobile weapons capable of flight, they found themselves stuck on the ground or on sleds.
Despite managing to get off a few pot shots, they were kept from getting too close by the many 40mm CIWS placed around the hull of their target.

Inside the warship, it was a rather bumpy ride. Every so often one shot would get through the defenses and rock the ship with a blast. Most of the Fandom forces seemed more interested in either Masaki and Lune, or the Ceres's own mobile weapons. Finally getting an accurate range and vector on the large Fandom ground ship, the "Isolde" 42cm triple cannon roared to life as her large slugs headed on a ballistic trajectory toward the Fandom mobile base.

The light of both the Psycoblaster and Cyflash told Ryker that the party was ending and it was time to leave or be stuck with the check.

"All ahead full. Set course to follow the Cybuster and Valsione. Recover our mobile weapons along the way as it's convenient." said Ryker.

"Yes, sir. Ceres to all mobile units. Begin pulling back to the ship and prepare to withdraw with the DC forces to the ocean.

- Masaki and Lune -

The photon particle blast was impressive in its destruction, however it was just too damn slow.
Between Masaki taking off in Cybird mode and Lune's naturally fast reflexes that gave her a natural double image, the blast had only managed to further scorch the Earth with it's force as the two elemental machines continued on as if they were never attacked.

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai

Gai landed the Overflag on the deck and lowered the pod gently to the floor while asking the techs to get him a new clip for his rifle. Wingnut's pod barely touched the floor when a group of techs started trying to get the pilot out.

Gai then reloaded his rifle and started to return to the battle field...

--nearby--

a small transport was headed for the battle at top speed. Inside was a new mech meant for Gai it had just been brought through and when hearing of the Ceres coming to California had been loaded and sent to them.

"Ceres this is transport HR-71; carrying a replacement machine for you guys how can we get it to you?"

[Cybaster]

(This part has been separated from the previous post and reposted for consistency.)

-Black Mage-

Just as the Photon Cannon blast left the barrel of the Bandaal's Photon Particle Beam Cannon, sending a gigantic, immense yellow beam flying at Lune, Masaki and Emily, an even larger blast of energy suddenly lanced from the northwest, through the battlefield atomizing the air as it went, and carved right into the Helllight from the right side out the left --- just as the Ceres own attack connected with the lower half of the Fortress, piercing right through the front to back in a cross-pincer. The bridge was one of the first to go; All Feldman would see of the result of his final attack was light, fire, and a lot of agony as the bridge was instantly atomized, followed by much of the top half of the Mobile Fortress from the combined force of both blasts, and finally the rest of the fortress was consumed by secondary explosions that ripped the Bandaal apart in continuous blasts as the blast that killed it died down.

Black Mage's L-Gaim was standing some ways to the northwest, moving forward, holding the Buster Launcher in its hands. "Can't say I didn't warn you. Just like carving a turkey...except using a RPG to do it...and the turkey last time was really various duck pieces stitched back together...and I ended up blowing up the table but hey! Perfectly like carving a turkey."

-Emily-

"Lune, watch out! To your left!!!"

Emily herself barely had time to somersault backwards as the large Photon Cannon blast came at them, and the beam passed right under her --- the Unicorn's armor seared and burned, the left leg melting straight off, and even as the beam passed down Emily felt her Unicorn suddenly growing sluggish, and she pursed her lips as she tried to regain control.

Then a second blast completely annihilated the Bandaal-class fortress that fired it before Emily could turn and see what happened. Another disturbing thought crossed her mind --- the Buster Launcher blast had passed dangerously close to the Ceres, nearly close enough to burn and melt off outside armor. Almost, but not quite. Emily turned to see how the Valsione and Psybuster fared.

"You okay, Miss Lune? Talk to me, pretty please?" Emily crossed her arms and opened a channel with the incoming L-Gaim that was moving right at the battlefield, and the Doven Wolfs, who were turning their Incoms on Black Mage. "Hey, I saw you earlier, didn't I...you're DC, right?" A pause. "Overkill much with that AoE 30d6 Force damage there with Ranged Touch and no Saving Throw for Half?"

Black Mage somehow felt a sense of bondship with Emily on the other line, but immediately also felt...that he was not going to like her much for some reason. "Well, the Fortress' gone, ain't it?"

"Well, yeah," Emily frowned. "But so's the whole forest over there!"

Black Mage blinked where Emily pointed; the forest near the Bandaal had been totally atomized by Black Mage's blast. "Well, you can't make an...uh, omelette without, um, destroying...a forest...or something."

"You could've killed the Ceres with that blast!"

"Yeah..." Was Black Mage's reply, the L-Gaim spinning and drawing its Lancer as an Incom shot grazed its Beam Coating, bouncing off, and the L-Gaim charged straight into its face and the blade of the Lancer crashed, fatally, into the Doven Wolf's neck. "But I didn't. Besides, now that the forest's gone...you're not lost."

"Huh?" o_O "You dingbat, we're in the air! We're *not* going to get lost either way!" Emily then slapped her forehead. "Gosh, do you need a map in .jpeg format or something? Or maybe a Divination spell?"

Black Mage sweatdropped. "...Right. I see."

-Kirie-

Kirie could only roll his eyes as he found himself in the middle of an 8-Bit Theater Tribute Scene above, and he slapped his forehead. Those were *his* lines Emily said! What was Kirie going to say now?

"Ummm...I guess...I like swords?"

That made Kirie sound like a complete doofus, sadly.

[Wingnut]

- Wingnut -

Wingnut felt a thud signaling that he was once again on the ground, and a moment later found himself on the hanger deck of the Ceres as the technicians opened up his pod.
"I'm all right guys, I can get out myself."
Looking back at all that was left of the Re-GZ Custom, Wingnut felt a little depressed as he really liked that machine.
So what am I going to get to replace it?

- Ceres -

"Transport HR-71, take the following route to rendezvous out over the water. The current battle zone over the land is still too dangerous."
The comm officer transmitted the course to the transport that would allow it to arrive safely and deliver its cargo.

"Templar squadron, please escort the transport to the Ceres as soon as you can."

"Roger that, Ceres" came the reply from Templar 1.
"Templar 4 and 5, cover that incoming transport like your lives depend on it."
"Yes, sir!"

[Cybaster]

-Emily and Kirie-

Both Emily and Kirie heard the order well enough; As Emily was *already* escorting Lune and Masaki, following it was no trouble for her. Kirie, however, nodded and pushed his Musha Gundam into a dash, switching his Katana to the Flintlock Pistol and firing at the remaining Xamels as he sidestrafed towards the Ceres' general direction. One of the beam blasts headshotted one of the last two Xamels, sending it crashing into the ground; Emily, meanwhile, had fired her second-last Beam Magnum shot in a bright burst of red, fiery energy, atomizing two more Xeku Eins Type IIIs that were getting too close from the ground in brilliant explosions, and was moving backwards hurriedly, her mind focused.

Except for one thing.

"Kirie?" Emily asked when she saw the Musha Gundam closing in as well. "What was that guy's problem? With the Alignment change and all...and how he didn't seem to want to fight as much as he did before anymore. It's like something's bothering him, he didn't really want to fight Lune, either, but...he felt he had no choice."

Kirie said nothing. If Emily felt that Masamune felt he had no choice, did that mean...?

"Kirie, what did you say to him?" Emily's Unicorn Gundam, in the meantime, gained altitude, taking aim with her last Beam Magnum shot, selecting a target. "To get him all doubtful and everything, I mean. That's a mean Circumstance penalty you gave to his AC and Attack, I mean...so it must've hurt."

It did, didn't it? Maybe... Kirie sighed at that, and finally shook his head in resignation. Maybe... Maybe I was too harsh on Masamune when I said he was like Nobunaga...nobody could be as extreme as Nobunaga, really, except Raven Sterling. Maybe he really didn't have a choice. The Fandom told him to do this or he'll...

"I..." Kirie's words caught in his throat momentarily; After awhile, he decided to tell the truth. "...I called him Nobunaga."

"...Buh?" o_O

"Oops, not a Sengoku Period fan, right? Sorry, Ems." Kirie sweatdropped. "Basically, I called him a tyrant who's willing to do anything to win, even sacrifice an innocent girl like Lune to the Fandom to earn his way home, to Aizu. I guess I was wrong, aren't I?"

"Nope."

Kirie blinked, momentarily losing focus. "...Excuse me?"

"You're not wrong," Emily sighed. "Just overexaggerated. Masamune isn't willing to sacrifice Lune to the Fandom...he's forced to. He doubted and so you used it to beat him, Kirie...but Masamune is willing to do anything to win, even if it's not on a Mobile Suit level. He just can't lose to anyone, can't stand losing...and he can't stand losing to himself. He's lonely."

"Lonely..." Kirie said nothing for awhile, regaining focus and moving into formation with Emily. "I...guess I understand, Ems."

Emily nodded in agreement. "So do I. Now, Black Mage over there? He creeps me out. Yes, you heard me, Black Mage!"

"Bite me!" Was Black Mage's answer.

"Hey, don't talk to Emily like that!" Kirie retorted, shaking his fist.

"Really now? Kid, have you tried thinking with knives stabbed into your head? I'm very willing to put that to the test if you bother me some more..."

As Emily and Kirie eyed the Valsione to see if anyone was coming up to attack Lune, they both unanimously agreed that Black Mage was a very creepy guy. But at least that Buster Launcher of his wasn't pointed at them...yet.

[hellbore]

-Hellbore-

Hellbore had been tied up with the Fandom air units high above the battlefield below. His firepower was overwhelming to the enemy mechs, and with the addition of the Templar squadron from the Ceres, the aerial battle was soon over.

Two bright flashes from ground level caught Hellbore attention and he quickly ducked out of the clouds. He was in time to see the Fandom land battleship explode spectacularly and collapse in on itself, leaving it no more than a smoldering pile of scrap. The retreat signal came over the comm and Hellbore made of the Ceres hanger.

Upon touching down, Hellbore heard and felt something snap in the ankle joint of the left leg. The Freedom almost keeled over before Hellbore caught it against the wall with a hastily out flung arm. Repairs wold later show that a stray bullet had nick the hydraulic system of the ankle and almost completely severed it. The extra weight once the MS had landed was enough to ause the joint to fail completely. The unfortuate side effect was that the right hanger door was completelt blocked by the Freedom, and would cause significant delay in the recovery of the remainder of the Gundam Party.

-Jacob-

Jacob quickly pulled back on the thrusters and the Cerberus jerked to a halt as the energy from the white mecha passed harmlessly in front of him. He snapped of two more shots from his railgun and launched his gunpods. The small remote weapons spread out and fired from both the left and right, two on each side, on above the other. He fired two more shots from the railgun and switched it to left hand. he drew a coating sword from the cannon on the back of his suit and activated it. Alarmingly, the blade flickered a few times before blazing to life. Sara groaned with the effort. The gunpods still firing, away the Cerberus hovered a few meters and charged at the white machine aiming to come from slightly above, and slash downward at the head of the enemy unit.