Round 1, Fight 5: Neo Vatican vs. Neo Liechtenstein

[Cardi Doorl]

THIRD GUNDAM FIGHT
ROUND 1, FIGHT 5
NEO VATICAN vs. NEO LIECHTENSTEIN

- San Francisco Bay, San Francisco -

December 3rd, FC 16

An enormous crowd turned out to watch the match between Neo Vatican and Neo Liechtenstein. Although both fighters came from nations with small populations, the fact was that there were scores upon scores of people living nearby in the city of San Francisco eager to watch a Gundam Fight. The irony, then, was that this was the first fight of the finals in which natives from the representatives' nations made up a distinct minority.

The arena was a large floating platform out in the Bay, not unlike the waterborne platforms that would seen decades later in Neo Hong Kong. The platform allowed for a square kilometer and a half of area, much like the Madison Square Neo Garden on the other side of the country. The force barrier rose above it a similar height.

What differentiated it from the New York City arena, however, was that the barrier didn't have a bottom portion and extended to the bottom of the bay. As a result, the fighters have the option to break the platform and go into the water below (or send there opponents there) if they so wish.

A giant screen was suspended over the top of the force barrier to complement the many screens near the numerous spectators around the edge of the bay. The announcer came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fifth match of the 3rd Gundam Fight finals!

"This match will pit Michael the Just, representing Neo Vatican in the Templar Gundam, against Cheoco... er... Cheoco... chan..." he was clearly uncomfortable using the name she insisted upon rather than her actual surname, but so be it, "Representing Neo Liechtenstein in the Excelsior Gundam!"

The applause for both was about equal. Truth was, most in the audience, coming from neither nation, didn't really care who won and just wanted to see a match. The small number of people from either nation barely made a difference in how much applause each nation received.

"And now, will the two contenders please signal when ready!"

[Gambit01]

Michael cringed as he heard the audience's apathy in the waiting room; well, why should they care, it's not like San Fransisco had a large Catholic population.

Well, either way, it was time to fight; time to see if this, Cheoco-chan was pure enough to compete in the finals; afterall, country's almost always picked someone who best represented their nation's beliefs and attitudes. Mistakes were sometimes made, but by and large it was a rather effective way to determine a nation's worth.

What that might say about his own nation was not something Michael wanted to consider.

"Is the Templar ready?"

"Finishing up the final check-up now," came the reply from the pit crew.

Nodding, Michael walked up to the spiritual leader assigned to lead team Neo-Vatican, the previous represenative, Cardinal Simon.

Kneeling before the man, he kissed the pro-offered ring, and remained still in reverant silence.

"Do you know your duty, my son?"

"I do, Father."

"Then go, and God be with you."

--------------------------------------------------------

Stepping into the battlefield, Michael with held a sigh as the crowd gave only a polite acknowledgement; they didn't care about who was fighting, they cared only that there would be fighting. Frankly, it more then a little disturbed Michael.

Michael raised his lance to signal that he was ready as requested.

Shield in one hand with the crossbow underneath, shocklance held point down, Michael awaited his opponent.

[Heretic]

-Zedrich-

To Zedrich, Cheoco looked distracted as he went over a final check of the Excelsior’s system just before the match. Was she just nervous about being in the finals? Zedrich figured now was time for some encouragement, “Cheoco, I’ve done all I can to make the Excelsior ready, the rest is up to you. Now is our chance to prove ourselves to the world.”

Cheoco nodded absentmindedly before mounting up in the Excelsior’s cockpit.

-Cheoco-Chan-

Her Mobile Trace suit felt too revealing. Why? She had never felt this self-conscious in the suit before. Even hidden from view inside the panoramic cockpit of the Excelsior, she felt too exposed.

The remembered sensation of lips against hers without her consent caused her to shudder. Thankfully the Trace system hadn’t picked up the subtle movement. She had to focus. Pushing aside the confused emotions, Cheoco took up her starting position.

The area was too open for her liking, she would have to try her best to be quick. She took a quick draw stance to signal her readiness.

[Wingnut]

The Neo Frenchman in the referee cockpit had just received the readiness sign from the Vatican fighter and shortly after the Liechtensteiner pilot signaled her readiness.
'Well little girl, you may have made it this far, but the finals are a much different beast than the months prior. We'll soon see if you really have what it takes to be here.' After confirming that his own mech was sufficiently protected from leaks in case the fight went below the waves, the Neo France referee shouted
"Gundam fight! Reaaady? ...GO!"

[Gambit01]

At the signal to go, Michael gave a little bow to his opponent.

"Normally I'd allow a lady to go first, but under the cirumstances I think that is a little foolish, don't you agree? So if you don't mind...."

With that, he raised his shield, and the crossbow 'activated,' spreading its arms.

"VOLLEY RAIN!!!"

The muzzle of his crossbow became a repeated flashing light as Michael immediately takes control.

He then grabs his lance by the handle, and quickly starts to circle his opponent from the left.

[Heretic]

(OOC: would that be your left or my left? I’ll go with my left and edit if necessary)

"Gundam fight! Reaaady? ...GO!"

Cheoco heard go and moved to draw her carbines when she was caught off guard by the Templar Gundam’s bow. "Normally I'd allow a lady to go first, but under the circumstances I think that is a little foolish, don't you agree? So if you don't mind...."

Cheoco only caught on to what was about to happen an instant before the Neo Vatican Fighter shouted "VOLLEY RAIN!!!"

“OH NO!” Cheoco gasped. She tried to dodge to her left but not before two of the beam arrows struck her right side. One in her shoulder and the other slicing across the armor of her right leg. Aside from the melted armor, her leg was fine but the shoulder mechanism was damaged, leaving the joint locked in its position. That meant she couldn’t use her right side Carbine or even bring her right arm machinegun to bear without causing herself considerable pain.

In her mobile trace suit, Cheoco could feel the heat burning across her leg and then a stabbing pain in her arm. She resisted the reflex action of reaching across her body with her undamaged arm to hold the painful area. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to ignore the pain like she had when she had taken damage in matches on her way to the finals. She had to keep going.

As bad luck would have it, her dodge to the side also was carrying her into the path of her enemy and his ready weapons. She couldn’t draw her left arm carbine fast enough to counter, so she brought her left arm up, opened her left hand than closed it again quickly in a clenched fist, which was the signal to fire her left arm’s 90mm Machinegun. It wasn’t as accurate or as powerful as her 120mm Carbines, but hopefully it would by her just a little time. The machinegun chattered to life spraying 90mm rounds at her opponent.

[Gambit01]

Michael took in the two blows his Volley Rain attack had landed in stride, his mind processing the damage.

The leg is obviously fine, but the arm looks a little stiff; I'll have to get to her right and attack to see the extent of the damage done.

The smattering of cheers caught Michael's attention as the crowd roared it's approval.

Why are they cheering? Every blow on that machine the poor girl feels. Why are they happy about that? Don't they know that this is about more then a cheap feeling of entertainment?

The distraction almost cost Michael dearly.

When he looked back towards his opponent, he was greeted with the flash of a muzzle.

Time seemed to stand still, as he froze until the bullets were only feet away from his Gundam's head.

With a cry, he proceded to spin on his left leg; his cheek burned as he literally felt the bullets rip armor from his Gundam's head. completing his 360 spin, he charged forward again, striking out with his lance, aiming for the right arm to test the extent of its damage.

[Heretic]

The Templar Gundam’s spin gave Cheoco the time she needed. Releasing her clenched fist, the reached to her hip to draw her left side Carbine. But no sooner did she bring it up, the Templar was upon her, making a strike at her damaged right arm with its lance.

With no time to get out of the way, Cheoco activated the heat bayonet under the barrel of her Carbine and brought it up to deflect the lance. Sparks flew as the two weapons collided and the two Gundams locked together in a stand off.

Cheoco was in a very bad position, her left arm across her body holding the lance just far enough away from her damaged right side with the Heat Bayonet. She had to get out of that position. It wouldn’t take much more to push her off balance and send her sprawling on her back on the arena deck.

Her right shoulder may have been fused, but her elbow, wrist and hand still worked, albeit stiffly and painfully. She tried in vane to bring her right arm up enough to shoot at the Templar Gundam. But the pain was too much, she couldn’t do it. Instead she tried to point the barrel of her right machinegun at the deck behind her. Clenching her fist as she did before, the weapon fired. Its recoil moving up the arm caused an excruciating pain.

“EAAAAAH!!”

Cheoco released her fist to quiet the gun then pushed away with her upraised Carbine, willingly she let gravity pull her down. There was a bone rattling impact as the Excelsior hit the deck and broke through the damaged portion she had shot up.

Then came the *KURSPLASH!* when she hit the water. Before she sank beneath the surface, Cheoco snapped off two un-aimed shots at the Templar. Then she disappeared under the cold water.

Cheoco allowed herself to sink a bit further in the murky waters, thankful for the respite from the pain she had just put herself through…

[Gambit01]

Michael dodged back at the gutsy move by the Excelsior; despite not taking the time to aim, the bullets almost grazed the Templar Gundam.

He cursed as the Excelsior Gundam sank beneath the waves; that crazy girl, did she want to get herself killed?!

Still, the previous exchange proved something; her right arm was damaged, and badly. Not to the point of total uselessness, but certainly beyond the point of being a liability. With that in mind, he should be able to end this match quickly.

And then he heard them again.

Why are they cheering? Don't the understand what is going on here? She's in pain, and I have to keep causing her pain until she gives up! This is disgusting!

Perhaps it was the rising amount of anger, perhaps it was the desire to end this quickly, or maybe he had already decided before the audience again distracted him.

Whatever the reason, Michael dived in, and and charged at the Excelsior lance first.

[Wingnut]

'As I suspected, she is not strong enough to be fighting here. Even against a lower opponent like this one. Anyway time to get a better view and see her fall.' With those thoughts, the Neo France judge also jumped below the surface to continue recording the action.

((OOC: Yeah, this one is a bit biased against the female fighters and kind of a jerk about it too. But that just adds a bit of flavor to an otherwise bland character role.))

[Heretic]

The Excelsior wasn’t strictly intended for diving under water, but its search abilities were high enough that even in the murky waters Cheoco could see the Templar following her down. The water would lessen the effectiveness of her Ballistic weapons and her heat Bayonet didn’t have the length to contend with the Templar’s Shock Lance.

She would have to use it. The Excelsior’s Hyper mode. If she wanted until just the right moment she could catch the Templar off guard and the fight would be over.

It was an agonizingly slow wait as the two mobile fighters sank slowly deeper into the murk. Not yet…. Just a little longer.... The Templar’s lance was getting closer….

Now! Cheoco took her hypermode activation stance and began the arm movements. First strait out to her sides, then, taking a deep breath, she brought her arms in and in a circle to her chest with her fists together. Last, she exhaled as she quickly flung her arms out again, palms open. The sounds of the Excelsior’s reactor ramping up could be heard even in her cockpit , the coolant fins on the Excelsior’s back began to open and the water around her started to have a soft azure glow. But before the Hyper mode Start up could complete, the reactor switched back into normal mode, the fins closed and the glow faded away.

“But… Why didn’t it start?” Cheoco had no time to find the answer to her question; the Templar was upon her. The faith she had put in the Excelsior’s Hyper Mode had failed her. In the sickening slow motion of water, she couldn’t move from the lance’s path. She could see and feel the tip puncturing her right side. Either the lances shock or the sudden influx of cold water into the machinery caused something to short out. Oddly, Cheoco’s Trace Suit only registered it as a soft tingling. Then all sensation from the Trace System cut off abruptly as the lights from Cheoco’s panoramic monitors faded.

Her main power had failed, leaving her immobile and sinking in the dark.

(OOC: I’m counting on Michael, to be the hero right about now...)

[Gambit01]

'Chasing' after the Excelsior, Michael was finally able to escape from both the crowd and his nagging doubts.

It finally gave him the time to review his situation.

Ballistic weaponry down here is useless, and my lance is the longest reaching weapon in this contest. She has no choice but to make a move, and when she does, I'll activate my thrusters, manuver around to her right, and strike.

So fixated with this plan, that he almost didn't notice that his opponent hadn't made the least bit of an effort to dodge his oncoming lance....in fact, wasn't that a ready stance she was taking?

Oh no! Michael almost immediately came to the rather 'duh' conclusion. She's going to use hyper-mode!

Despite his panic, he was also a little disapointed; using hyper-mode at this stage of the match? Sure, it's the finals, but it is still only the beginning.

I should probably be less critical, he thought with grim irony, it may be a last ditch desperate attack rather then a calculated manuver, but she has me right where she wants me, and there's nothing I can do; too much of my strategy depended on her trying to move out of the way.

He closed his eyes and prepared himself to accept defeat....

....only to feel his lance meet resistance, tear through that resistance, and send out its electric shockwave.

Michael opened his eyes at the confusing turn of events, to see that the once bright lights in the Excelsior's eyes had dulled.

Her power went out? Why?

That didn't really matter. What mattered was that they were connected by the lance, they were still sinking, and one of them had become dead weight.

Any thought of casting the girl off and retreating to the surface to claim victory was so disgusting that it never entered even the darkest, most sinister corner of his mind.

No, I won't let it end like this; she's just a child and I WON'T LET HER DIE!

A glow began to surround the Templar Gundam, as he used his lance to draw the Excelsior close enough that he could grab it with an outstretched hand; he then withdrew the lance and cast it aside, confident that its own bouyancy would cause it to float to the top, and a recovery team was waiting to retreive any lost equipment regardless.

He then arranged for the heavier machine in his arms ala groom and bride, causing them to sink faster, but at this point, it hardly mattered.

"Hold on," Michael said, not even hardly caring whether he was heard or not. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

The wings spread, and the Templar Gundam had entered its own hyper-mode: Seraph Mode.

Michael opened his eyes, and determination flooded out.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a burst of speed that put its earlier efforts to shame, the Templar Gundam rocketed out of the murky depths, the excess weight of the Excelsior only allowing it to go so far before it briefly paused in mid-air.

The audience hushed, as they could almost swear that they saw an angel...

Michael manuvered the Templar at an angle so as to get back on the 'stage'. Skidding to a hault, Michael panted from the effort of lugging around something a great deal heavier then he ever had to.

Hoping that her communication might still work, he tried to get in touch with the pilot.

"Are....are you alright?"

[Wingnut]

The Neo French referee was in a state of disbelief. This was certainly not how he had expected the match to go. Not even close.
It was only after the Templar Gundam had broken the surface did he come to his senses and realize that he was now alone below the waves.

The official then activated his own thruster arrays and rocketed above the water to find the Templar cradling the Excelsior on the stage floor.
Continuing to use the leg thrusters the Neo French referee got into a position where he could clearly see both fighters and activated directional microphone array on his unit in an attempt to listen in on any communication that may be going on between the two fighters.

[Heretic]

Since Cheoco couldn’t see what was going on around her with the Excelsior’s main power out, she had no warning as the Templar surged upwards and out of the water.

But inside her cockpit, she could feel the movement of her MS around her, particularly as the Excelsior was picked up when she fell backwards and landed on her rear-end. The rest was like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded.

At last the sensations of movement came to an end. Cheoco concentrated on activating her emergency power. It should have kicked in on its own but removing a panel behind one part of the panoramic screens revealed that some of the cables had been disconnected. Since she knew enough of how the Excelsior was put together, Cheoco managed to reconnect the cables well enough for her backup power to start, giving her lights, radio and limited view of what was outside. What she saw surprised her.

She was out of the water, with the Excelsior on its back and the Templar standing over her, but not aggressively. The way it was knelt down almost made Cheoco think that the Neo Vatican fighter was being protective.

"Are....are you alright?" a voice came over her radio from the Templar Gudam.

“I’m okay,” she opened up a video link and the Neo Vatican Fighter’s face appeared in a square on her screen. Another square opened up on the screen displaying the critical system damage. “But my Gundam isn’t doing so well. Main power is dead, I guess that means you win…” Cheoco did her best to avoid looking to broken up about losing, but it was hard to hide the disappointment in her youthful voice.

[Gambit01]

"I'm okay, but my Gundam isn’t doing so well. Main power is dead, I guess that means you win…”

Michael didn't need to be a priest to detect the disapointment in her voice, and frankly, he didn't know what to do.

So he improvised.

"Well, it beats death by drowning, doesn't it," he asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"Don't worry about it; everyone's guarenteed to loose at least once in this tournament. You just got yours out of the way on the first go! Now you have nothing to stop you from winning in round 2! Just try not to rely so much on your hyper mode and more on your own skills next time, 'kay?"

He actually wanted to talk to this girl; could she be one of those with a pure enough heart to compete in the finals?

He would have to look out for this Cheoco in the future.

[Wingnut]

"I'm okay, but my Gundam isn’t doing so well. Main power is dead, I guess that means you win…”
Well it was the end result he expected, however the way things got there didn't figure in to the Neo Frenchman's calculations.
"This match is officially over! The winner is Michael the Just and the Templar Gundam! Crews may now retrieve their fighters and Gundams."
'Although that would really only apply to the girl in this case.'

For some odd reason, the Neo French referee couldn't bring himself to gloat with self-satisfaction like he thought he would be at seeing Cheoco-chan defeated. Shaking the odd thought from his head he fired up the thrusters of his mech and headed back to his own nearby hanger.

[Heretic]

(OOC: sorry for the long wait, Hate DSL etc.)

"Well, it beats death by drowning, doesn't it,"

Cheoco blushed, suddenly feeling very silly for how she was acting.

"Don't worry about it; everyone's guarenteed to loose at least once in this tournament. You just got yours out of the way on the first go! Now you have nothing to stop you from winning in round 2! Just try not to rely so much on your hyper mode and more on your own skills next time, 'kay?"

What Michael said made sense, and she started to feel a little flutter in her heart thinking about how nice Michael seemed. “Thank you,” she said, which seemed strange in a way, considering Michael had just beaten her so soundly.

“Cheoco-Chan” Zedrich’s voice cut into the radio signal, “You can make eyes with the effeminate boy later, I’m coming to pick you up in the ‘Beowulf’, I could use a hand loading the Excelsior.”

Cheoco’s excitement was dimmed a little, but still, she was happy knowing that she had met someone new who might make a good friend.

(OOC: Exit stage right)

[Cardi Doorl]

Match Result: Neo Vatican wins