[Log] Experiments in Terror - Part 1 of 3
WHO: Toji Suzuhara, Rei Ayanami, Nono, Thraskar Davidson, Rook Bartley, Han Solo, Amuro Ray, Sanger Zonvolt, Gai Daigouji, Roy Fokker
WHAT: With Rook needing supplies, a group of Black Sheep travel to Invid Held Earth - and run into a mess of trouble.
WHERE: Brazilia - Invid Held Earth
WHEN: Friday, October 27, 2039
WATCH FOR: Every Horror Cliche OUT there.
Brazilia - South American Sector - Invid Occupied Earth
The South American sector took a big brunt of the Invid Invasion of Earth. It is mostly jungle and wasteland. The cities that were in the Argentine Quadrant were leveled, as were many of the RDF and Southern Cross military outposts. What's left are city ruins, rubble, and small, insignificant towns and villages. Rumors exist that Zentraedi actually still exist here, even working with the Human Resistance and Freedom Fighters.
The Brazilia Quadrant is a lightly populated area with some major industrial facilities and military bases, most of which was conquered by the Invid. Most of the factories, cities, towns and bases were obliterated. All that remains for the most part are scattered farms, cattle ranches and tiny villages. To the north is at least one slave farm and dome hive, and in the northwest, mountains start to rise in the distance.
There is one more oddity here. A never before recorded flowering plant exists /everywhere/ here. Most people don't know where the hell it came from nor do they care. Those that did make a note of it assume that it is a mutation of an existing Earth flower or an alien vegitation from the Second Robotech War. The plant grows freely and abudently like a weed, and is lethal to consume.
The Flower of Life is a plant which produces the seeds which blossom and create Protoculture. When grown, The Flower of Life is comprised of a mass of very thin green vines, some of which are capped by pink flowers. The plant, or a combination of plants, group into stalks which ascend at least 2 or 3 meters. The flowers expel spores, which resemble a golden dust, that cause dizziness and halucinations when inhaled by humans. At the conclusion of the Second Robotech War, the spores were accidentally released from the burial mound of the SDF-1 at Reflex Point, causing the Earth to become a fertile garden awaiting cultivation by the Invid.
The Flower of Life reacts to external stimuli very actively, in a manner that suggests awareness of its surroundings. Attempts to touch the Flower of Life will incite various defense mechanisms, such as pushing the approaching person away with its vines, whipping the person's hand with its vines, or retracting its flowers away from the person.
And indeed, there is a small room set aside on the SDF-1. With energy bars and bottled water. Punch and pie for after the battle. But, there's no Rook here yet - just a screen, a desk, and a bunch of empty chairs. Come on in and wait for the briefing, kids.
Toji Suzuhara comes in wearing, contrary to tradition, something other than the tracksuit.
Nope, this time he's wearing a black-and-blue PVC (or whatever the heck it is) plugsuit and grumbling the whole time. "Bad enough I have to wear this stupid thing at all, but in public too....I'm not part of a sentai team, dammit!"
He then turns to regard Rei with his usual neutral expression. "How the hell do you guys run around in this thing without dying of embarrassment, anyway?"
Rei is also wearing a plugsuit, although there is, for bonus points, a waterproof pressure bandage on her forehead. It looks ugly, but such is the sacrifice of recovery. It makes what curves she has abundantly clear.
"I don't understand what you are asking," she says to Suzuhara as she walks after him, cautiously taking small, even steps.
Nono waits patiently for Rei to be out of the way before stepping in as well - a far cry from her usual enthusiasm, she gives Rei a worried, sad look. She knew the girl was injured, badly, but this...
Feeling a pang of worry but unsure what to do about it (she senses her usual MO of 'mindless enthusiasm until the problem goes away' will not work today), Nono, dressed in the full uniform of Fraternity, steps up to a chair and sits.
She manages to go two whole minutes before beginning to fidget.
The door to the briefing room slides open, and the squadron's XO steps in. Lieutenant Davidson, unlike certain other people, is not dressed like a renegade Sentai hero. He's wearing a fairly sensible Concord flightsuit, a one-piece navy-blue garment that looks like a sleeker, more aesthetic version of a normal old spacesuit--sans helmet, of course. And it's not completely vac-sealed at the moment, considering the fact that his wings aren't covered.
He takes a moment to observe his people in their natural habitat; Toji's remark makes him smirk a little, though he grows a bit more concerned as he sees Ayanami. Is she coming, too? He hopes the answer to this is 'no', but he starts preparing for 'yes', just in case. "Meh, I've seen worse," he remarks, to the one sane, stable Eva-kid. "Take a seat, and wait for Bartley." Thraskar does just that, folding his wings up so they're not in anyone else's way and sitting a few rows back. He takes a moment to adjust his goggles once he's situated.
And Rook Bartley? She doesn't wear a plugsuit, and she probably wouldn't be caught dead in something like that. Instead, she's confined to a slightly bulky suit of CVR-3 body armor. She carries the helmet tucked under an arm as she sprints for the briefing room. She reaches out to sling herself around the doorway, skidding into the room with a lunatic grin.
"Awright! Sorry I'm late. I had to make a few last adjustments on this stuff, and it took a little longer than I thought it would." She gives the armor a sharp pat. "Anyway. I'll wait for a few more of you to show up before I start in on the briefing. This shouldn't be too hard. Just a run-and-grab mission. I need to refuel the Cyclone, and I guess it's something for you guys to do." Skid, stop. Oh hey, there's energy bars. Absently swiping one from the table, she bounces on the balls of her feet, shifting the helmet under her arm. See, she's not used to leading anyone or anything. It's a first!
Nono jumps out of her chair and stumbles away from Thraskar, whom she has never seen in person before, and eeps, "Talking space monster!!"
Thraskar blinks behind his glasses; he glances around, as if searching for the space monster, before turning to Nono. "Where?" he asks, shrugging his shoulders in a surprisingly human gesture.
Pause.
Thraskar then laughs--it's an amused-sounding hiss, actually. And then he walks over to Nono, offering her a hand. "Lieutenant Thraskar Davidson," he says, going over his little mental personnel dossier. "And you would be Nono, right?"
Bartley gets a smile and nod.
Rei doesn't look paler than usual, not that she could. She walks - just without as much confidence as she had in the past. She doesn't grab for support (although, of course, she may be staying near Suzuhara just in case).
She is bearing up, more or less. Despite this, she moves directly towards the chair nearest to the doorway, and sits with every sign of relief.
Toji Suzuhara hrms. "You don't think it's embarrassing? I feel like I'm on full display here." He waves as Rook comes in and leaves. He's not that freaked out by Thraskar anymore, but...well, he had a similar reaction at first, so he's not going to get on Nono's case about it.
He takes a seat near Rei, as he notices that she's following him fairly closely, but is too nice to comment on it. He does, however, smile slightly as Thraskar makes his comment. "...anyway, thanks sir." Well, there's one person who doesn't think the outfit is weird anyway.
Stomping into the room first is, well, a literal walking carpet. Chewbacca's presence is enough to alert anyone that may be worried about seeing evil creatures. Though, he doesn't seem particularly hostile. Just big, hairy and fangy. He roars softly at someone behind him, as he steps aside and posts up against the wall. He crosses his arms and looks around, taking in the sights that are everyone else.
Strolling in behind him, without any kind of 'special suit' like everyone else has, is none other than Han Solo. Nobody probably recognizes him, cuz he was using that whole Vyyk Draygo thing as a cover, but it made his life too complicated. So he's here now, in all of his Wanted glory. "Yo." is said towards anybody that might be paying any attention to him. He makes his way to the nearest chair, dropping down into it and scooting back towards Chewie. "So. What I miss?" is tossed to the room in general.
Nono looks Thraskar over a little warily because where she comes from, space monsters are all evil. But, after a moment, she takes the hand, and smiles. "Yes! Hello! I am sorry, you look evil."
Does this girl ever actually listen to herself?
"I'm Nono! I hope I will be able to help you, and I promise to do my very best!!" And then she glances over at Rook, waving at the arriving briefing person. And then Chewbacca shows up, and Nono looks like she wants to pet the Wookie. Someone should probably stop her.
"Talking space monster?" Rook glances around, evidently confused as Thraskar is. She's dealt with him before, and most of the shock's worn off. Besides, if something were going to get her attention, it would sooner be an Invid, and not this type of alien. Her eyes finally settle on Thraskar. "Oh, you mean him. Hah, whoops."
Peeling the wrapper away from the energy bar, the freedom fighter gnaws on it a bit while she waits for any others to show up. Tastes like cardboard, but at least it's something in her stomach. "Not much, Davidson. I'll wait a few more minutes before I get started, just in case anyone's late."
The Lieutenant does not comment on Nono's remark, either way; he turns to the entrance, eyeing Han and Chewbacca for a moment before noticing that Nono is looking at the Wookiee like he's some sort of overgrown cat.
"Briefing's going to start soon," he says, "Better take a seat."
Rei does not comment further, although she folds her hands in her lap, leans carefully against the back of the chair, and lets herself slouch. She looks briefly to Toji, but then down at her knees.
Chewie's oblivious to the possible NonoPetting, but the huge thing doesn't exactly look friendly. Careful.
There's no Gundam parked outside. Actually, there's a large Mobile Suit with track legs that looks large, bulky, and heavily armed. That would be the two-pilot Guntank, here being used instead of the damaged Gundam. In fact, two pilots have been sent by White Base. Next to Amuro stands the diminuitive, black- haired Guntank pilot, Hayato Kobayashi, who doesn't appear to be much taller than 4'5" or so. Poor guy.
Amuro's standing in for Ryu Jose, injured.
Sanger Zonvolt arrives in due time. He approaches with a quick step, walking along with his arms crossed behind his back. The white-haired man looks up once. This is the first time that he has seen many of his fellow squadmates up close. He certainly stands out for those entering - tall, easily over six feet, with white hair and a stern expression. Most notable, though, is the katana sheathed at his side. Rather out of place, that. He looks at the nearest person - Amuro and Hayato - and nods. "Major Zonvolt, reporting."
Nono begins slinking toward Chewbacca. This is the same girl who occasionally pokes 200-meter-tall robots that look like Japanese gang leaders in the eye, she's not afraid of a cute little bear puppy thing! She has a slightly mad sparkle in her eyes.
She will probably stop goofing off once the briefing starts. ...probably.
"Hey, Amuro. Major, uh, Zonvolt." Blink, that's a new one. Rook sweeps the room with a glance, before setting aside the half-eaten energy bar. She straightens, shifting the helmet under her arm. "Okay, you're probably all wondering why we're here. And I'll tell you that's because we're hiking off to Brasilia Quadrant, where I so coincidentally happened to hop Gates from."
Grin. It's not very pleasant.
"We're going to run a mission to the Garfish-class carrier, Archerfish. It's a busted carrier about fifty klicks northwest of the Gate. The Gate itself is located down in the ruins of a Mayan temple." She starts to pace, folding her hands behind her back, somehow managing to balance the helmet as well. "This is just a supply run. I need to refuel the Cyclone or I'm useless to all of you -- the fueling systems here are different. The Cyclone is about thirty years ahead of what the Commander's got. It runs on liquid fuel, but it's maddeningly inefficient... so, it's back to get a supply of protoculture. That'll keep it running another two months."
She pauses, waiting for any questions before continuing.
During all these entrances, Han swivels in his chair to look at the new entrance and such. He smirks and raises an eyebrow each time, but that's about all he can do as far as meeting them. He'll introduce himself on the radio or something later. Once he's clear and they're not going to turn him in for the bounty.
He swivels backwards, just in time to see that Nono's trying to do her slinking thing. He raises an eyebrow and holds up a finger. "I wouldn't do that. He gets cranky after long flights." Han has no idea what she was planning, but she doesn't want her splattered across the wall or something. Han must've been listening to the debrief, because he's looking back at Rook with the quickness. "Two things. One, we're walking? And two... is this an every two month kinda' deal?"
"What is protoculture," Rei asks. She lifts her voice, although she doesn't change the tone; the effect is oddly flat. She does look up from her knees to ask the question, before looking back down at them.
Davidson quietly hopes that this 'Chewbacca' character is a forgiving sort. Or that Nono somehow develops some semblance of self-restraint within the next five minutes. There, hopefully that warning should dissuade her.
Thraskar then nods in response to Han's suggestion. "If it doesn't have an expiration date," the sesheyan says, "I'd suggest grabbing whatever you can. Unless it's possible for us to go back for regular supply runs, and from what I've heard that's not the case."
Sanger looks up, and takes it in. Her machine runs on a unique kind of fuel, and this fuel can be found in a crashed spaceship laying behind enemy lines. The rest can be inferred; it will be dangerous and will require force. The man rubs his chin once, in thought, before he gives Rook a nod. "I believe I understand," the Major says. He taps his katana's hilt, and then looks at Han. "If we are walking, then I am prepared."
Toji Suzuhara raises a hand.
"You mean with all the gates and crap around, you couldn't just get ahold of the original manufacturer? Or someone close enough?"
Yeah, so he's not particularly tactful. It's Toji; you expected him to be?
Nono blinks as the briefing starts. Awwww, no time to pet the Wookie! Later! She smiles happily at Han, and giggles. With no further comment she bounces toward a free seat, and sits, listening intently.
"Uhm..." she says, after Rook speaks. She holds up a hand, and asks, "Why not just get a whole lot? Why just get the two month supply?"
Both Amuro and Hayato are rather quiet, nodding in response and glancing at one another. They give a salute to the newcomer, too.
"We can walk if necessary," Hayato insists. "But we do have Guntank for clearing out brush, if you need it. It's not very stealthy, but it's hard to wreck."
"Oho?" Rook turns her eyes to Han, bright blue and crackling with the energy to go. She's all ready to go throw herself right into danger's maw, and without a second glance backwards. Her grin says so, at the very least, and she addresses his questions in crisp, but not unfriendly, tones.
"Well, you can walk if you want, but I suggest bringing something. You wanna walk through that brush? It's like walking through a solid wall of green. This place is wild, still. Overgrown. It hasn't seen city or pavement or concerete in God only knows how long."
"Second, yeah, this is a two-month deal. I'm hoping that, once it's full, Dr. Lang can have a look and see if he can't jury-rig something together for me. 'Cos really, trust me on this; I don't want to go in there any more than you do. I mean, these things see me and flip the hell out. Not that I mind. Makes killing them that much easier when they come to me." Grin.
Some people collect postage stamps as a hobby. Rook Bartley, on the other hand, kills Invid. The messier, the better.
"And what Davidson said's true. I'm not sure how many people there are gonna be there, if any. There's supposedly a rebel base somewhere around there -- don't worry, the rebels are gonna be on our side, if they know me -- but I'm sure they'd be happy to part with a few supplies."
"Good." This, to Sanger, and her attention turns to Suzuhara. "Um," she answers simply, blinking, and then glowering at the pilot. "Look. You wanna find a better way to do this? Go ahead. But it might take you /years/ to find the right Gate." She shrugs, resigned. "At least this is direct. Quick in, quick out. But if you wanna figure out some other way, or bail, then be my guest. I'm not forcing you to come."
Er, back to Nono. "Well, I'm gonna try to do that, but I don't know how much is left. Protoculture is pretty rare. It's hard to find entire cells intact. Hell, it's a crap shoot that we'll find anything." She shrugs. "I'm pretty sure there's enough for me to use right now, though." Several seconds pass in silence, and she reaches up to rub at the back of her neck. "...Look, I'm used to working solo; bear with me. I don't organize missions or whatnot." Aheheh. "Guntank? That'd be great. I'll need to bring the Cyclone with me anyway, because it's my only defense against these things. I'd suggest armor, if you guys have any. And for your sake, I suggest the armor from hell, or some serious firepower." She grins, eyes raking over each squadron member. "Any more questions?"
Something in the back of Thraskar's mind goes 'click' as Rook mentions the terrain specifics. Said something is also chafing at the bit to show the two-eyed ground apes a thing or two about how you /should/ fight in the jungle, but let's ignore it for now.
The Lieutenant makes a mental note to change into something more fitting, and check out a vehicle from the hangar.
"None yet," he says, to Rook. He's grinning.
"Well, Guntank is rather large," Amuro notes, "so it might not do much good if you're really going for stealth. But I'll let you judge when you see it, Bartley." He's wearing a ground uniform already, as is Hayato, and both are still being relatively quiet. This is, after all, Rook's plane. She knows the most about it.
"Hm. Jungle..." Sanger considers this for a moment. "How large are these Invid? I could bring the Type 0 or the Gespenst," the man declares. "The Type 0 would be very noticeable; it is fifty meters in height. The Gespenst..." He looks once at Amuro. "That would be comparable to the Guntank."
Han tosses his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair again, still not really worried too much about anything. Of course, he never really worries about anything. "I'll bet the Falcon could make the run." he states, before looking up at his carpeted partner in all crimes.
Chewie roars in agreement, before adding a slightly worried whimper onto the end of it. He's not quite sure he's up for this, any more. He's all hair, no armor.
"Relax. Jungles are your thing. We'll be fine. We always are." Pep talking his big buddy, Han reaches down and hooks his thumb into his belt. "Any way I can get paid /fully/ in advance? In case, y'know, the person with my creds, dies?" Oh Han.
Rei doesn't make any further comment, although she does look at Suzuhara out of the corner of her eyes. She hasn't noticed other arrivals; she is in the plugsuit, more or less as normal, other than a waterproof bandage on her forehead. She is not asking further operational questions; perhaps she's just backup, or else they wanted to make her go out and get exercise.
Toji Suzuhara hrms, folding his arms over his chest and considering. "I don't really know if Eva would be good for tromping through the jungle anyway....they'd probably see us coming from a kilometer away. What do you think, Ayanami?" Deferring, of course, to her greater experience in the matter. There is /some/ reason Asuka calls her 'Wondergirl', after all.
Rook leans back against the wall, letting the helmet drop with a hearty 'thunk' onto the floor and folding her arms. Yes, she's also grinning. "Invid? They range in size. Shock Troopers are pretty large. Troopers... they're standard fare. Ennh, I'd guess about... eh; fifteen, sixteen feet?"
The freedom fighter slides her gaze over to Han Solo. "If you think your ship can do it, then bring it. Couldn't hurt to have the extra firepower along for the ride." Han's question of earnings only brings Rook to roll her eyes, pointedly. "No."
To Nono, Rook offers a grateful smile. See? Cheerful support is appreciated. As is said cheerful support's firepower. In the meantime, she'll let Suzuharu and Ayanami hash out their issue amongst themselves; as they didn't really consult her directly. They know what an Eva can do, yes? "Great. It's appreciated, trust me. Anyway, that all from the peanut gallery? I'm ready to roll if you people are."
Sanger considers this for a moment, and then nods. The Gespenst would likely be best; he has the option of using something small and reasonable-sized. The Evangelion pilots do not. Furthermore, he has had more training and is considerably more flexible. Katina had just better hope that his Gespenst has all of the weapons left on it, or there very well could be bloodshed when he gets back to the hangar. "None here. Let's move."
"They will see you coming," Rei says, as she leans back in the seat, turning her head to look at Toji.
"They will see," she emphasizes, "-you- coming... and you have the AT Field."
Amuro and Hayato glance at one another, and nod. "We're ready," Amuro answers, being the more assertive of the two. "We'll get suited up and prepare Guntank, so just give the word, Bartley." And with that, the two start walking off again, letting Toji and Rei decide what to do with the EVAs, if anything.
"Ready," Thraskar says. His little inner strategist is wondering how the Guntank and Type O are going to hack through the jungle, to say nothing of the Eva. Well, they'll cross that bridge when they come to it, and the Corps has heavy turf-clearing weapons for a reason. ...Speaking of which, there's still a few military-issue skybikes in the Hiryu's vehicle bay, and he has clearance enough for some heavier munitions...
"I need to suit up, too. Meet you at the rally point in time for the sortie."
[Travel Spam Deleted]
The Gate to the Invid-held Earth seems rather quiet as the Intrepid heroes start through it. The area is large enough to even support the Milenium Falcon -- which means it's a lot larger that what it was when Rook found it. How can this be?
Half the temple has been completely blow away, ripped asundered and exposing the the Gate to the world. At the base of the Temple, a small Invid Squad is mixing it up with a detachment of Freedom Fighters.. the Shock troopers firing and trying to swarm the group of three Cyclone riders, and a single..
..yes, that is a Zentraedi woman. All 30 feet tall of her, wearing a tattered officers uniform, cut to handle the jungle weather better (read, cloth bikini) on one knee, firing an old GU-11 at the Invid. They are very outnumbered and outgunned, however!
Rei did not travel. She remains on the SDF-1.
She has a radio, though, in case Toji needs tutorial messages.
Roy Fokker is hanging out with Rei. "Cookie? Agrias made them."
"I will have one," Rei answers; she then does so.
Nono switches armor modes to Academy Mech.
The jungle crunches underneath the footsteps of Sanger Zonvolt's backup ride. The blue Personal Trooper walks along, its visor occasionally flashing red; it lifts up one hand, reaching over its back and pulling away his weapon of choice: a simple cylinder. "Is the temple supposed to be in this condition?" he broadcasts over the short-range radio.
The cylinder flares to life; a brilliant red blade of energy forms in the blink of an eye, before the blue Gespenst steps forward. Sanger's lips curl into a frown, inside of his PT. The Mark II's sensors do send off a few warnings; something is out there. He turns the machine's head, and then catches it.
A firefight. The enemy is clear to him: the alien, crab-like things. His lips draw into a frown again, and while he hesitates on the presence of the giant woman, he can see that some of those fighting with her wear combat armor. That is all he needs to know. He launches forward, charging the Gespenst into a quick, earth-shaking run. The beam saber is raised for a slash, and he leaps up towards one of the Shock Troopers. "I AM SANGER ZONVOLT!" he declares, over the loudspeaker.
The beam sword comes crashing down, slashing towards one of the cannons of the Shock Trooper. "THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt is also shouting into the radio. "I AM SANGER ZONVOLT! THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...I...."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "... Is it too late to leave him behind?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Lily Davies says, "Sounds like there's some evil getting smited over there."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Lily Davies pauses. "Smote? Smitten?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Smote."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Roy Fokker says, "Smooshed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "I dunno, that's one big sword...."
The Guntank is a surprisingly descriptive name for the Mobile Suit piloted by Amuro and Hayato; it stands a little shorter than the gundam itself, and while the upper half resembles a GM with chaingun arms, the lower half is set on tank tracks. It might look a little silly from a distance, but it's a formidable armor that has no problem navigating rocky or wooded terrain. Hayato sits on the bottom half cockpit, leaving the weapon controls to the Newtype up top.
He usually uses the top, so this weirds Hayato out, just a little.
"Hey, wait," Amuro's voice broadcasts, "that woman! Is she supposed to be-aaah, Major Zonvolt, wait!" Ever seen a Guntank chase after something?
It's kind of slow.
Sanger Zonvolt critically strikes Roy Fokker with his Beam Sword attack.
Bartley painted a rather grim picture of her home plane, and Thraskar isn't exactly eager to see it in person--but he's got a soft spot a mile wide for people who've been stepped on by alien invaders, and he's just as eager to drive an elbow or two into said invaders' faces.
The irony--to him, at least--is that this time, the humans are the helpless populace, rather than the alien invaders.
A small green vehicle zips out of the gate not long after the Gespenst. It looks kind of like a motorcycle, with a reinforced windshield, some measure of armor plating to protect the driver, and adaptive camouflage of some sort covering the body. Thraskar... does not engage the enemy immediately; this might be because of the fact that his vehicle lacks any sort of heavy weapons. Or it might be because of the fact that he's trying to circle the area, and see if the Invid have anything else hiding nearby.
"See? What I tell ya'? Not a scratch." Han is mainly speaking to the Wookiee in the seat next to him, as he works those controls of the Falcon, gliding the huge freighter through the brush and out into... where all this other stuff is going on. Han flips a toggle switch, "Hey, Bartley? Want I should stick close to you? We can load the Falcon up with enough of whatever this is to keep you movin' for who knows how long..." He tosses that idea out there.
Chewie's working some controls of his own, though he's more focused on the monitors that are alerting him to the fact that there's, well, some big problems down below. Seriously big problems. He roars in Han's direction.
"I know, I know. I see 'em." Han narrows his eyes, refusing to look worried, while he boots up the Falcon's Laser Turrets.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson, over the sounds of rushing winds: "Keep those jokers off those people; I'm going to see if they've got anything else in reserve. If any of you have long-range scanners, now's the time to use them."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo smirks, "Piece of cake. Chewie?" There's a roar of affirmativness while Chewie kicks up the scanners.
The Cyclone roars.
In motorcycle form, it comes together to form a very nicely-armored motorcycle. Rather than Thraskar's ride, though, this one makes absolutely no effort at hiding itself. Red and white, its colors are pretty plain to see. The form armored atop it wears similarly-colored armor, with red and white.
Rook herself crouches over it, the Gallant firearm clutched in a spare hand as she races out from the Gate. Passing by Thraskar, she gives him a thumbs-up, then points forward at the Invid squadron. She's going on ahead. Gripping the Gallant, she urges the Cyclone forward even faster, giving it a good leap over a small ravine towards the clearing ahead.
She's silent, this time, and just contents herself with taking careful aim straight at one of the Invid. No announcement and nothing to give her approach away, engines aside. If necessary? Well, she'll just come back around and squeeze off another round.
Rook Bartley hits Roy Fokker with your Hay You Gise~ attack.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo, of course, has no idea what he's scanning /for/, but hey... scanning!
Nono's EVO-3 ground-based Military-issue mech - a dinky little machine that adds up to little more than a two-or-three-story-tall Terran Dominion SCV - follows after the main Black Sheep charge. It has a huge metal block with but a single hole in its upper lefthand corner. The block covers the spherical cockpit, to which the two arms are attached. It has a huge mech-scale backpack over its "shoulders", and is carrying some kind of gun in a holster on its thighs. "Aaah!" she squeeks, as she sees enemies. She's principally here to help with resupply, but she still does her part - tromping forward, Nono flips a few switches in the cockpit, then pulls a handle on her control bars.
From deep within the hole on the faceplate comes rapid-fire vulcan cannon fire, bullets blazing forward into the Invid mass. "Never fear! Nono is here to save you!!" she calls, deadly serious.
Nono gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with her ahahaha, like these ever do anything feint.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley, over the roar of a motorcycle engine, as well as wind, "I'll try to get some of 'em off the Zentraedi, for now. Looks like they need a break."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...Wait, why is there a Zentraedi there?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, apparently to someone off-mic, "...what do you /mean/ the Crawler can't go there? It was supposed to be made for this kind of thing!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "How about we kill whatever a Zentrudle is first, then ask questions..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley says, "Don't shoot! She's on our side! She's our guide. She's gonna take us there."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...Alright."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo sighs, "I've got a bad feeling about this..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "I don't."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "We don't have other options. We'll succeed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "That's right!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "... Right. Uh Huh. And I'm training to be a Jedi."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "REALLY?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "That sounds amazing!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, "Whose bright idea was it to build these things with batteries anyway?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley says, "Look, just don't shoot the Zentraedi. Just focus on the Invid, okay?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rei Ayanami says, "There was no other possibility."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "It's times like these that maps really come in handy."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's just hope an Angel never shows up on top of Mt. Fuji or something."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "OOC And now, the sign that you are all doomed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Anyway, Onii-sama is right! We WILL win! We can't possibly lose, because we have hard work and guts on our side!!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "Onii-sama?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Yes!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono probably has metaphorical stars in her eyes on top of the usual literal ones.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Onii-sama?"
The Invid were not expecting the attack from the rear. The Sheep get the element of surprise, and get the drop on them. Sanger's sword cleaves through the shock trooper he got the drop off, green goo spewing all over the place, before it explodes messily.
Rook's shoot blasts through another Shock Trooper, neatly holing it in the center of mass, as it worbles and falls, trying to land on the Cyclone pilot in the process.
In the meantime, another troopers descends upon the Zentraedi, cutting deeply into her, causing the GU-11 to fall to the ground with a clatter. Nono's blast catches this Invid, spinning it around, and allows one of the Cyclone riders an opening. This blue and white Cyclone transforms, and a pair of large blades come out of the hubs, which he shoves up into the Shock Trooper, ripping it apart. "Thanks for the assist.. whatever you are!" he stares at Nono for a moment.
The other Cyclone riders continue to mix it up with the Invid, as the Zentraedi holds a hand over the wound in her chest, and slumps against the wall of the temple. "..just in time.. Bartley." she gasps. "..they'll get you where you need to go.." And with that, she closes her eyes, never to open them again.
As the Invid swarm, one takes a swipe at Rook, the massive claw moving to knock her off of her Cyclone, as the Trooper commander fires off his plasma cannons at the most dangerous threat, Sanger. A few Invid, noticing the Falcon, start to fly up at it, ready to try to claw into it as well. The Guntank is not noticed.. yet.
Roy Fokker gets a glancing blow on Sanger Zonvolt with his You brought a sword to a cannon fight! attack.
Roy Fokker critically strikes Nono with his Swarm! attack.
Roy Fokker misses Rook Bartley with his Dismount! attack.
Roy Fokker gets a glancing blow on Han Solo with his Swarm! attack.
Thraskar's scan shows that in the immediate area, there's nothing to be found. No ambush party or the like - just a bit of hard luck for the squad waiting for Rook and company. Long range scan marks an REF vehcile (same code as Rook and the other Cyclones) is at - and the Invid in the immediate area.
Sanger had not been expecting to kill it one strike. When the green sludge splashes onto the Gespenst, he grimaces; it looks gruesome, especially as it looks a great deal like blood. However, the beam blade is pulled out backwards, before his sensors begin beeping rapidly. His eyes narrow, and he frowns suddenly. He has been locked onto.
He quickly hits his thrusters, leaping backward. The beam of plasma fire does connect, causing the leg armor to redden for a moment. He flicks a switch as he jumps upward, taking aim with his crosshairs. They lock onto the main body, and then he presses the trigger.
"Half-hearted attacks will do nothing!" he shouts, before he fires. A chestplate opens on the Gespenst, and a pair of missiles go flying free - shooting right towards the PCU.
Sanger Zonvolt gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his Split Missile jab.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Yes! Onii-sama fights for justice with his AGH"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Hm. --Nono, keep your eyes open! You won't win if you don't put everything you have into this fight!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Y-yes!!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Now, someone, follow my missile up and use that as a distraction! Bring this large unit down!"
Rook has just enough time to avoid the incoming swarm, tilting her bike nearly sideways in an effort to get away from those claws. They're big, they're sharp, and they're really quite painful. Never mind that they're also strong, and they'd probably crush her like a ragdoll if they got a good grip on her.
No, thank you.
She sees the Zentraedi fall, though, and there's a stream of vibrant cursing over the communications. Swerving the bike, she charges for the nearest Invid swarm.
"Hey! Ugly!" She shouts at the nearest Invid, rearing up the motorcycle and standing to aim a shot at another Invid. This would happen to be the one that tried knocking her off the Cyclone, because hey, she has a grudge against Invid. And with that, she blasts a round of energy ammunition off, hoping that the law of averages works on her side -- of that much fired, /something/ has to hit.
You get a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with your Chaaaarge~! attack.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley spits out a stream of expletives not particularly fit for reprint.
"Amuro!" Hayato can hear the Black Sheep frequency too, for the moment, as it'd be pretty impractical for only one Guntank pilot to be on it. "We're going in, alright?"
"Got it!"
"...Was that really a giant person?"
"Yeah, don't ask."
"Okay..."
Amuro's sure he'll have a lot to explain later as the Guntank rolls in, making is presence known by firing off machine gun rounds at the nearby Invid while moving in towards the others, hoping its heavy armor is enough to protect it from Invid counterattacks. After all, it can't dodge very well.
Amuro winces a little at the poor Zentraedi woman, and then hails the unfamiliar Cyclone rider over the radio. "Interplanar Peacekeeping Agency! We're here to assist!" REF is listed as an ally, right?
Amuro Ray gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his RATATATATATAT attack.
Nono suddenly finds herself under attack by an entire swarm! "Agh!!" she squawks. She has no effective melee weaponry - she merely begins to fight barehanded (well, with her mech), swinging the finger dials into a fist and then lashing out in all directions, trying to smash the Invid with frankly rather pathetic attacks. "I won't let you beat me!!" she says, loudly. "I'll prove myself! To everyone!"
Nono misses Roy Fokker with her SCVs Do Damage That Is So Small It Is Largely Theoretical feint.
What foolish Invid. The skybike comes to a halt a couple dozen meters away, and Thraskar reaches into one of his pockets. He withdraws a small, discus-shaped object, taps a depression on its upper side several times, and throws it like a frisbee at the cluster of Soldier Invid. Oddly enough, it changes direction several times during its flightpath--almost like it's actively looking for a target.
Assuming it's not shot down, it detonates--an Invid just might find its comm systems jammed a split-second before lightning starts crawling across its armor. It's just an EMP grenade, nothing /lethal/... but Thraskar doesn't have the clearance necessary for a plasma gun. Woe.
Thraskar Davidson gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his EMP Seeker attack.
Roy Fokker has been knocked out!
The Falcon's on the move, doing exactly what its supposed to be doing. Escorting. Han's on the inside, fiddling with controls and making sure the scan goes off without a hitch, whilst the the ship takes that damage its taking from those evil thing that seem to be trying to take hunks of his ship out. "See if we can hang in there, Chewie. Prep the EMP." Orders are given to his co-pilot, but he still doesn't start shooting back. No reason to. Air support is just that... support.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson says, "All right. Scanner's showing no hostiles beyond our current playmates. Han, you see anything from up there?"
The Invid that was after the Falcon is caught by Thraskar's attack. It explodes, falling to the ground in pieces. As it does so, things are not looking much better around the temple as the troopers find themselves under attack. While Nono was unable to land a blow on the Trooper Commander, the combonation of the attacks from Rook and Sanger rip the massive Invid apart, as it collapses to the ground, green goop oozing from the wound it took.
The remaining Invid are dispatched by a combonation of attacks from the Guntank and the three Cyclone riders. "Lieutenant James Lewis, Jupiter Division. This is Sergeant Betty Andrews and Sergeant Lee Won. Welcome to the crab cracking festival. You the ones that Kirova said we'd be meeting here?" Won, in the Sabre Cyclone, kicks an Invid Trooper and shoves the sabres up into it, as Betty opens up with a pair of missiles, finishing it off. In the meantime, Lewis's Battler sends a pair of missiles into the Invid, with the cannon from the Guntank destroying the last of the troopers. So far, so good, kids.
Roy Fokker fully heals Roy Fokker with his End, Act I action.
Roy Fokker has been resurrected from knockout!
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "I got nothin'. Thanks for cleanin' her off too, guys."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson says, "No problem."
Rook turns the Cyclone again, kicking up leaves in a flat-sided turn. She lets the engines fade as she comes to a halt near to the group of Cyclone riders. Lifting the faceplate with a thumb, she peers at the three. Each one is given a scrutinizing stare. She shrugs, letting the faceplate slide back into place with a dull 'shunk.'
"Rook Bartley. Curatiba Village. I'm with these guys, but it looks like Kirova bit the big one back there. I tried to peel 'em off her, but it looks like we were too late." Her equipment may be from Jupiter Base, but she's obviously no military sort. "Tch. Crab-cracking, huh? Yeah, we're the ones."
She narrows her eyes, glancing over to the remains of the Zentraedi. "I didn't catch what she said before she died, but I'm guessing you were with her. Are you going to be the ones to take us in?"
"It would seem so," Sanger replies from his Gespenst. The tall mecha's head swings down and looks at the battlesuit-bearing Cyclone rider. The thin red light behind the visor again flashes once, as the cameras get a good look at him. "I presume you know where this location up ahead is?" he asks. "Or, someone who can get us there."
The skybike emerges from the canopy, induction engines humming as it settles to the ground next to the three friendly Cyclones. Thraskar takes a moment to survey the troops before his eyes settle on the dead Zentraedi. He murmurs something under his breath--"May Saint Michael lead her into holy light."--in Latin. Then he turns to Rook. "Our escorts now, hm?" And then, the other Cyclone pilots. "Have our friends been keeping nice and active, or is this the first you've seen of them in a while?" Something inside is demanding more prey.
Nono, as her enemy is knocked free, heaves a sigh of relief. She manipulates the finger toggles, and waves her thanks at those who assisted her. "Thank you, everyone!" she says. "This thing doesn't have very many weapons...but, is anyone injured? ...er, damaged? I can fix some of it..." She reaches back into her backpack and pulls out what looks uncannily like a mech-scale Band-Aid, which is exactly what it is.
The Falcon coasts up above the rest. Mainly because that's the best place for this giant thing to be... in the air. Han's just playing this whole thing by ear, since he's new to all this weird stuff. He'll just listen in through his radio and offer the occasional comment. But, basically, he's just here to ferry the protostuff, so he's not exactly looking to be in a firefight. He's not sure if the Falcon could handle that anyway.
The Guntank rolls forward, and this time, the first voice to come out of the radio speakers is the younger-sounding Hayato. "This is our first time in this plane, but don't underestimate us! We'll know how to handle those creatures," he insists sharply.
"Hayato," Amuro admonishes him, "that's not necessary! Ensigns Amuro Ray and Hayato Kobayashi, EFSF. We'll be providing artillery support here. Ah, no thank you, Nono."
Toji Suzuhara has disconnected.
"Yeah, we could have kicked their asses and waited for you, anyway." Lewis offers with a shrug of his shoulders. "This is our area of operations.." he glances over at Bartley, looking her over aprasingly. "You make that armor look good. Want to be one of us?" he asks with a smirk beneath the faceplate.
Sergeant Won lets out a breath, his faceplate tinted so that his face cannot be seen. "..come on, the base is this way, we can talk once we're there." he comments to the others."
Sergeant Andrews just nods her head, still not speaking. She's probably just shy.
"It should be a pretty easy trip to the Archerfish, and we'll talk there. We better get in before the weather hits, though." Lewis says dryly. "Wouldn't want your pretty mechs to rust in a sudden downpour."
Rook leans over the front of her bike, looking at once bored and amused, though the expression is veiled behind the faceplate. Lewis' comment earns a snort. She mutters something, but it's too quiet to really hear. Chances are good it's probably something unpleasant, anyway.
"Good. Wouldn't really want my pretty mech to rust in a downpour, either, would I?" The freedom fighter snaps a gaze at Lewis. Snort again. My, he's bold, isn't he? She shakes her head. Ah, whatever. They're here to help. "Yeah, let's get going. I'm sure there's more of those buggers out here, anyway."
"It would take more than rain to make the Gespenst rust," Sanger replies. The Major moves his vehicle forward; he wants his Personal Trooper as close to the point position as he can. After all, he prefers melee combat. The beam sword, however, is deactivated, and he does let them lead. If Invid show, though, he fully plans to leap right into action again.
Strangely enough, Thraskar does not revert to sarcasm as the pilots continue the conversation. "Lieutenant Thraskar Davidson, Concord Star Force," he says, as soon as he remembers the fact that he forgot to introduce himself.
"I don't think any of us will melt in it," he says, dryly. Now that his ride is no longer zipping all over the place, it's easier to see the end results of the Lieutenant's armory raid. A thick-barreled rifle is hanging by his side, a heavy pistol is holstered at his other side, and God knows what else is in those pockets. And when the group moves out, Thraskar takes up a flanking position, keeping an eye on the scanners and maneuvering his bike through the canopy.
Lewis is the first person in the entire history of the Universal Century to ever call the Guntank 'pretty.'
"Don't worry," Hayato insists, "I've driven Guntank through swamps. It's rust-proof." He has to take pride in his principal mech, after all. It isn't a fancy Mobile Suit like the Gundam or a power-hitter like Kai's Guncannon, or as flashy as the NT-1. "We can take some rain! But we'll get there." And Guntank rides off, with Amuro being fairly quiet, all things considered.
Despite this, Nono takes a position toward the rear of the group whenever they get moving - as largely a support person, she feels obliged to try and be as out of harms' way as possible. Still, she has her systems configured for sudden conflict if something should arise.
Two of the Cyclone Battloids transform back into the Cycle form in order to go with the others. Sergeant Andrews takes a moment, then remains in Battloid, leaping along the ground as she keeps up with Nono. To whom she finally speaks. "..you are not from around here.." she asks in a quiet voice.
"...how did you get here? It was not from space." she says quietly. And then she turns her attention forward.
Lewis, in the meantime, explains the situation. "Only twenty of us survived the nosedive of the Archerfish into the Earth. We've lost a good bit of our number since then - we're the only ones left. But, we almost made a big enough dent in the Invid that they leave us alone." he explains as the group passes a sign:
25th Jupiter Division
"Crab-Crackers"
Archerfish Base - Established 2038
As the group passes by the sign there's a crackling of electrostatic energy, which could easily be mistaken for thunder. "We're almost there. So.. you outsiders. You interested in joining up? We could use a few good people in our project.."
"I cannot offer such aid," Sanger replies, "though I empathize with your mission." This is very well what his Earth could look like, in the future, he realizes - if their defenses fail, the battleground could become the planet itself. They could lose the homeworld. He frowns, as he pushes forward on a lever, keeping the speed of the Gespenst level. He looks at the sign. "But I will help while I am here."
Thraskar's expression is difficult for the unlearned to read--it's a look of concentration and wariness, a state of mind that isn't quite aikai yet. He does not reply to Lewis' question for a good minute or so, as maneuvers the bike around the trunk of a large tree.
"If we had the troops to spare," he says, quietly. The too-calm little voice is suggesting that he start killing the bastards, while another too-calm voice is insinuating that this is karma, and karma's a bitch. "For now, I think I'll settle for making these bugs' lives miserable while I'm here."
"How we got here isn't important." Rook glances over to Lewis, then, listening to his explanation. That makes sense. The Invid would've gone on full alert the second they sensed something changed in their territory... or, in this case, if they sensed protoculture. And then, they wouldn't have spared any mercy in dealing with the intruders.
Rook sighs and shakes her head. She revs the Cyclone's engine to keep up. "Tch. Well, we can't chip in our lot, sorry. Would that I could, but I sort of owe these guys. And we've got business somewhere else. Just take us to where we need to go, and we'll make sure to take care of anything along the way." She glances over at them. "...Wait a sec. Isn't there supposed to be a hive close to this place? How do you keep the Invid backed off? They go nuts over REF leftovers."
Then, somewhat distracted... "Totally not complaining, Davidson. Kill all the bastards you want."
"I'm sorry," Amuro notes to the Cyclone riders, "but we're too tied up in our own war. But we'll lend you support here." He knows how it feels to be left on one's own, and even White Base has support from Matilda and the Black Sheep. He lets Rook give the 'explanation,' assuming that this plane's Gates are not a known phenomenon.
Nono looks over at Sergeant Andrews. A little video window pops up on Nono's screen, and Nono smiles into her camera. Her star-shaped pupils are strange, but her face is kind and perhaps a little...odd. Like she's a little older than she is. Or perhaps a lot. "I'm from Mars," she says. "But how we got here isn't that important, is it? I'm sorry we can't help you more."
Not, Nono thinks a little glumly, that I'm much use...
"..oh, I see." Betty says quietly. She still remains covered by her faceplate as she jumps forward, sighing to herself.
Swamp weeds here are deep, coming up the waist of the Gespenst. As they start to get closer, the group will notice that a rather large lake has formed in the impact crater where the Archerfish slammed into the Earth.
Lewis looks over at Rook, and just offers a grin. "..well, that was a touchy little situation. And then something happened that we just could not refuse. The ultimate advantage, as it was."
The group enters a clearing, where a Red Veritech Alpha from Jupiter base stands in Guardian configuration. There's also a few Cyclones sitting around, along with a second Generation Veritech Hovertank.
"You see.. there was only twenty of us, and a whole shipful of supplies." Lewis gestures towards the crates upon storage crates of boxes marked 'Fuel Cells'. Rook will know what was in there. "We found ourselves in a unique situation."
The skybike descends as it emerges from the forest, just barely skimming the surface of the water as it flies towards the Archerfish. Its pilot is wondering just how these people have kept the Invid off them; in Thraskar's experience, anything that comes in 'hives' is obnoxiously persistent. Like cockroaches, only with heavy weapons.
"Is that the fuel you came for, Bartley?" Thraskar asks. "...And hey, 's that a Veritech?" The pilot's vehicle comes to a stop a respectable distance from the boxes. "We've got a freighter in the air," the Lieutenant explains, for the benefit of Lewis and friends. "How much fuel can you spare her?"
"Twenty. So you were just a supply crew, then. Not a full force. But it's hard to believe there wasn't some kind of escort if you were carrying this sort of cargo." Rook glances over at the fuel boxes, and manages to curb the instinct to reach in and grab something. Not just yet.
"Yeah." Rook tosses her chin to indicate the boxes, and then pats the Cyclone with a hollow 'clank.' "That's protoculture, in there. Only thing that can keep this baby running. Her attention turns back to Lewis. Something about this situation seems vaguely odd, but she can't put her finger on it. But the fuel is a great comfort -- at least they had what she was looking for. "So what happened then...?"
The Gespenst stops, there, and looks once at the box. Sanger crosses his arms as he considers this for a moment, sitting back in the cockpit. "So you've been helping out forces that come by ever since? Lending what they do not have," he states. "How have you avoided being overran?"
"That does look a little bit like the craft Roy uses," Amuro notes, not aware that 'Roy' and 'Veritech' might be keywords here. "It's not bad-looking, either!" He shares the same vague sense of worry as the others, however, and he isn't sure if he's just being wary, or if his mind is trying to tell him something.
"You do seem to be in pretty good shape for people all on your own out here," Hayato comments, in an unreadable tone.
WHAT: With Rook needing supplies, a group of Black Sheep travel to Invid Held Earth - and run into a mess of trouble.
WHERE: Brazilia - Invid Held Earth
WHEN: Friday, October 27, 2039
WATCH FOR: Every Horror Cliche OUT there.
Brazilia - South American Sector - Invid Occupied Earth
The South American sector took a big brunt of the Invid Invasion of Earth. It is mostly jungle and wasteland. The cities that were in the Argentine Quadrant were leveled, as were many of the RDF and Southern Cross military outposts. What's left are city ruins, rubble, and small, insignificant towns and villages. Rumors exist that Zentraedi actually still exist here, even working with the Human Resistance and Freedom Fighters.
The Brazilia Quadrant is a lightly populated area with some major industrial facilities and military bases, most of which was conquered by the Invid. Most of the factories, cities, towns and bases were obliterated. All that remains for the most part are scattered farms, cattle ranches and tiny villages. To the north is at least one slave farm and dome hive, and in the northwest, mountains start to rise in the distance.
There is one more oddity here. A never before recorded flowering plant exists /everywhere/ here. Most people don't know where the hell it came from nor do they care. Those that did make a note of it assume that it is a mutation of an existing Earth flower or an alien vegitation from the Second Robotech War. The plant grows freely and abudently like a weed, and is lethal to consume.
The Flower of Life is a plant which produces the seeds which blossom and create Protoculture. When grown, The Flower of Life is comprised of a mass of very thin green vines, some of which are capped by pink flowers. The plant, or a combination of plants, group into stalks which ascend at least 2 or 3 meters. The flowers expel spores, which resemble a golden dust, that cause dizziness and halucinations when inhaled by humans. At the conclusion of the Second Robotech War, the spores were accidentally released from the burial mound of the SDF-1 at Reflex Point, causing the Earth to become a fertile garden awaiting cultivation by the Invid.
The Flower of Life reacts to external stimuli very actively, in a manner that suggests awareness of its surroundings. Attempts to touch the Flower of Life will incite various defense mechanisms, such as pushing the approaching person away with its vines, whipping the person's hand with its vines, or retracting its flowers away from the person.
And indeed, there is a small room set aside on the SDF-1. With energy bars and bottled water. Punch and pie for after the battle. But, there's no Rook here yet - just a screen, a desk, and a bunch of empty chairs. Come on in and wait for the briefing, kids.
Toji Suzuhara comes in wearing, contrary to tradition, something other than the tracksuit.
Nope, this time he's wearing a black-and-blue PVC (or whatever the heck it is) plugsuit and grumbling the whole time. "Bad enough I have to wear this stupid thing at all, but in public too....I'm not part of a sentai team, dammit!"
He then turns to regard Rei with his usual neutral expression. "How the hell do you guys run around in this thing without dying of embarrassment, anyway?"
Rei is also wearing a plugsuit, although there is, for bonus points, a waterproof pressure bandage on her forehead. It looks ugly, but such is the sacrifice of recovery. It makes what curves she has abundantly clear.
"I don't understand what you are asking," she says to Suzuhara as she walks after him, cautiously taking small, even steps.
Nono waits patiently for Rei to be out of the way before stepping in as well - a far cry from her usual enthusiasm, she gives Rei a worried, sad look. She knew the girl was injured, badly, but this...
Feeling a pang of worry but unsure what to do about it (she senses her usual MO of 'mindless enthusiasm until the problem goes away' will not work today), Nono, dressed in the full uniform of Fraternity, steps up to a chair and sits.
She manages to go two whole minutes before beginning to fidget.
The door to the briefing room slides open, and the squadron's XO steps in. Lieutenant Davidson, unlike certain other people, is not dressed like a renegade Sentai hero. He's wearing a fairly sensible Concord flightsuit, a one-piece navy-blue garment that looks like a sleeker, more aesthetic version of a normal old spacesuit--sans helmet, of course. And it's not completely vac-sealed at the moment, considering the fact that his wings aren't covered.
He takes a moment to observe his people in their natural habitat; Toji's remark makes him smirk a little, though he grows a bit more concerned as he sees Ayanami. Is she coming, too? He hopes the answer to this is 'no', but he starts preparing for 'yes', just in case. "Meh, I've seen worse," he remarks, to the one sane, stable Eva-kid. "Take a seat, and wait for Bartley." Thraskar does just that, folding his wings up so they're not in anyone else's way and sitting a few rows back. He takes a moment to adjust his goggles once he's situated.
And Rook Bartley? She doesn't wear a plugsuit, and she probably wouldn't be caught dead in something like that. Instead, she's confined to a slightly bulky suit of CVR-3 body armor. She carries the helmet tucked under an arm as she sprints for the briefing room. She reaches out to sling herself around the doorway, skidding into the room with a lunatic grin.
"Awright! Sorry I'm late. I had to make a few last adjustments on this stuff, and it took a little longer than I thought it would." She gives the armor a sharp pat. "Anyway. I'll wait for a few more of you to show up before I start in on the briefing. This shouldn't be too hard. Just a run-and-grab mission. I need to refuel the Cyclone, and I guess it's something for you guys to do." Skid, stop. Oh hey, there's energy bars. Absently swiping one from the table, she bounces on the balls of her feet, shifting the helmet under her arm. See, she's not used to leading anyone or anything. It's a first!
Nono jumps out of her chair and stumbles away from Thraskar, whom she has never seen in person before, and eeps, "Talking space monster!!"
Thraskar blinks behind his glasses; he glances around, as if searching for the space monster, before turning to Nono. "Where?" he asks, shrugging his shoulders in a surprisingly human gesture.
Pause.
Thraskar then laughs--it's an amused-sounding hiss, actually. And then he walks over to Nono, offering her a hand. "Lieutenant Thraskar Davidson," he says, going over his little mental personnel dossier. "And you would be Nono, right?"
Bartley gets a smile and nod.
Rei doesn't look paler than usual, not that she could. She walks - just without as much confidence as she had in the past. She doesn't grab for support (although, of course, she may be staying near Suzuhara just in case).
She is bearing up, more or less. Despite this, she moves directly towards the chair nearest to the doorway, and sits with every sign of relief.
Toji Suzuhara hrms. "You don't think it's embarrassing? I feel like I'm on full display here." He waves as Rook comes in and leaves. He's not that freaked out by Thraskar anymore, but...well, he had a similar reaction at first, so he's not going to get on Nono's case about it.
He takes a seat near Rei, as he notices that she's following him fairly closely, but is too nice to comment on it. He does, however, smile slightly as Thraskar makes his comment. "...anyway, thanks sir." Well, there's one person who doesn't think the outfit is weird anyway.
Stomping into the room first is, well, a literal walking carpet. Chewbacca's presence is enough to alert anyone that may be worried about seeing evil creatures. Though, he doesn't seem particularly hostile. Just big, hairy and fangy. He roars softly at someone behind him, as he steps aside and posts up against the wall. He crosses his arms and looks around, taking in the sights that are everyone else.
Strolling in behind him, without any kind of 'special suit' like everyone else has, is none other than Han Solo. Nobody probably recognizes him, cuz he was using that whole Vyyk Draygo thing as a cover, but it made his life too complicated. So he's here now, in all of his Wanted glory. "Yo." is said towards anybody that might be paying any attention to him. He makes his way to the nearest chair, dropping down into it and scooting back towards Chewie. "So. What I miss?" is tossed to the room in general.
Nono looks Thraskar over a little warily because where she comes from, space monsters are all evil. But, after a moment, she takes the hand, and smiles. "Yes! Hello! I am sorry, you look evil."
Does this girl ever actually listen to herself?
"I'm Nono! I hope I will be able to help you, and I promise to do my very best!!" And then she glances over at Rook, waving at the arriving briefing person. And then Chewbacca shows up, and Nono looks like she wants to pet the Wookie. Someone should probably stop her.
"Talking space monster?" Rook glances around, evidently confused as Thraskar is. She's dealt with him before, and most of the shock's worn off. Besides, if something were going to get her attention, it would sooner be an Invid, and not this type of alien. Her eyes finally settle on Thraskar. "Oh, you mean him. Hah, whoops."
Peeling the wrapper away from the energy bar, the freedom fighter gnaws on it a bit while she waits for any others to show up. Tastes like cardboard, but at least it's something in her stomach. "Not much, Davidson. I'll wait a few more minutes before I get started, just in case anyone's late."
The Lieutenant does not comment on Nono's remark, either way; he turns to the entrance, eyeing Han and Chewbacca for a moment before noticing that Nono is looking at the Wookiee like he's some sort of overgrown cat.
"Briefing's going to start soon," he says, "Better take a seat."
Rei does not comment further, although she folds her hands in her lap, leans carefully against the back of the chair, and lets herself slouch. She looks briefly to Toji, but then down at her knees.
Chewie's oblivious to the possible NonoPetting, but the huge thing doesn't exactly look friendly. Careful.
There's no Gundam parked outside. Actually, there's a large Mobile Suit with track legs that looks large, bulky, and heavily armed. That would be the two-pilot Guntank, here being used instead of the damaged Gundam. In fact, two pilots have been sent by White Base. Next to Amuro stands the diminuitive, black- haired Guntank pilot, Hayato Kobayashi, who doesn't appear to be much taller than 4'5" or so. Poor guy.
Amuro's standing in for Ryu Jose, injured.
Sanger Zonvolt arrives in due time. He approaches with a quick step, walking along with his arms crossed behind his back. The white-haired man looks up once. This is the first time that he has seen many of his fellow squadmates up close. He certainly stands out for those entering - tall, easily over six feet, with white hair and a stern expression. Most notable, though, is the katana sheathed at his side. Rather out of place, that. He looks at the nearest person - Amuro and Hayato - and nods. "Major Zonvolt, reporting."
Nono begins slinking toward Chewbacca. This is the same girl who occasionally pokes 200-meter-tall robots that look like Japanese gang leaders in the eye, she's not afraid of a cute little bear puppy thing! She has a slightly mad sparkle in her eyes.
She will probably stop goofing off once the briefing starts. ...probably.
"Hey, Amuro. Major, uh, Zonvolt." Blink, that's a new one. Rook sweeps the room with a glance, before setting aside the half-eaten energy bar. She straightens, shifting the helmet under her arm. "Okay, you're probably all wondering why we're here. And I'll tell you that's because we're hiking off to Brasilia Quadrant, where I so coincidentally happened to hop Gates from."
Grin. It's not very pleasant.
"We're going to run a mission to the Garfish-class carrier, Archerfish. It's a busted carrier about fifty klicks northwest of the Gate. The Gate itself is located down in the ruins of a Mayan temple." She starts to pace, folding her hands behind her back, somehow managing to balance the helmet as well. "This is just a supply run. I need to refuel the Cyclone or I'm useless to all of you -- the fueling systems here are different. The Cyclone is about thirty years ahead of what the Commander's got. It runs on liquid fuel, but it's maddeningly inefficient... so, it's back to get a supply of protoculture. That'll keep it running another two months."
She pauses, waiting for any questions before continuing.
During all these entrances, Han swivels in his chair to look at the new entrance and such. He smirks and raises an eyebrow each time, but that's about all he can do as far as meeting them. He'll introduce himself on the radio or something later. Once he's clear and they're not going to turn him in for the bounty.
He swivels backwards, just in time to see that Nono's trying to do her slinking thing. He raises an eyebrow and holds up a finger. "I wouldn't do that. He gets cranky after long flights." Han has no idea what she was planning, but she doesn't want her splattered across the wall or something. Han must've been listening to the debrief, because he's looking back at Rook with the quickness. "Two things. One, we're walking? And two... is this an every two month kinda' deal?"
"What is protoculture," Rei asks. She lifts her voice, although she doesn't change the tone; the effect is oddly flat. She does look up from her knees to ask the question, before looking back down at them.
Davidson quietly hopes that this 'Chewbacca' character is a forgiving sort. Or that Nono somehow develops some semblance of self-restraint within the next five minutes. There, hopefully that warning should dissuade her.
Thraskar then nods in response to Han's suggestion. "If it doesn't have an expiration date," the sesheyan says, "I'd suggest grabbing whatever you can. Unless it's possible for us to go back for regular supply runs, and from what I've heard that's not the case."
Sanger looks up, and takes it in. Her machine runs on a unique kind of fuel, and this fuel can be found in a crashed spaceship laying behind enemy lines. The rest can be inferred; it will be dangerous and will require force. The man rubs his chin once, in thought, before he gives Rook a nod. "I believe I understand," the Major says. He taps his katana's hilt, and then looks at Han. "If we are walking, then I am prepared."
Toji Suzuhara raises a hand.
"You mean with all the gates and crap around, you couldn't just get ahold of the original manufacturer? Or someone close enough?"
Yeah, so he's not particularly tactful. It's Toji; you expected him to be?
Nono blinks as the briefing starts. Awwww, no time to pet the Wookie! Later! She smiles happily at Han, and giggles. With no further comment she bounces toward a free seat, and sits, listening intently.
"Uhm..." she says, after Rook speaks. She holds up a hand, and asks, "Why not just get a whole lot? Why just get the two month supply?"
Both Amuro and Hayato are rather quiet, nodding in response and glancing at one another. They give a salute to the newcomer, too.
"We can walk if necessary," Hayato insists. "But we do have Guntank for clearing out brush, if you need it. It's not very stealthy, but it's hard to wreck."
"Oho?" Rook turns her eyes to Han, bright blue and crackling with the energy to go. She's all ready to go throw herself right into danger's maw, and without a second glance backwards. Her grin says so, at the very least, and she addresses his questions in crisp, but not unfriendly, tones.
"Well, you can walk if you want, but I suggest bringing something. You wanna walk through that brush? It's like walking through a solid wall of green. This place is wild, still. Overgrown. It hasn't seen city or pavement or concerete in God only knows how long."
"Second, yeah, this is a two-month deal. I'm hoping that, once it's full, Dr. Lang can have a look and see if he can't jury-rig something together for me. 'Cos really, trust me on this; I don't want to go in there any more than you do. I mean, these things see me and flip the hell out. Not that I mind. Makes killing them that much easier when they come to me." Grin.
Some people collect postage stamps as a hobby. Rook Bartley, on the other hand, kills Invid. The messier, the better.
"And what Davidson said's true. I'm not sure how many people there are gonna be there, if any. There's supposedly a rebel base somewhere around there -- don't worry, the rebels are gonna be on our side, if they know me -- but I'm sure they'd be happy to part with a few supplies."
"Good." This, to Sanger, and her attention turns to Suzuhara. "Um," she answers simply, blinking, and then glowering at the pilot. "Look. You wanna find a better way to do this? Go ahead. But it might take you /years/ to find the right Gate." She shrugs, resigned. "At least this is direct. Quick in, quick out. But if you wanna figure out some other way, or bail, then be my guest. I'm not forcing you to come."
Er, back to Nono. "Well, I'm gonna try to do that, but I don't know how much is left. Protoculture is pretty rare. It's hard to find entire cells intact. Hell, it's a crap shoot that we'll find anything." She shrugs. "I'm pretty sure there's enough for me to use right now, though." Several seconds pass in silence, and she reaches up to rub at the back of her neck. "...Look, I'm used to working solo; bear with me. I don't organize missions or whatnot." Aheheh. "Guntank? That'd be great. I'll need to bring the Cyclone with me anyway, because it's my only defense against these things. I'd suggest armor, if you guys have any. And for your sake, I suggest the armor from hell, or some serious firepower." She grins, eyes raking over each squadron member. "Any more questions?"
Something in the back of Thraskar's mind goes 'click' as Rook mentions the terrain specifics. Said something is also chafing at the bit to show the two-eyed ground apes a thing or two about how you /should/ fight in the jungle, but let's ignore it for now.
The Lieutenant makes a mental note to change into something more fitting, and check out a vehicle from the hangar.
"None yet," he says, to Rook. He's grinning.
"Well, Guntank is rather large," Amuro notes, "so it might not do much good if you're really going for stealth. But I'll let you judge when you see it, Bartley." He's wearing a ground uniform already, as is Hayato, and both are still being relatively quiet. This is, after all, Rook's plane. She knows the most about it.
"Hm. Jungle..." Sanger considers this for a moment. "How large are these Invid? I could bring the Type 0 or the Gespenst," the man declares. "The Type 0 would be very noticeable; it is fifty meters in height. The Gespenst..." He looks once at Amuro. "That would be comparable to the Guntank."
Han tosses his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair again, still not really worried too much about anything. Of course, he never really worries about anything. "I'll bet the Falcon could make the run." he states, before looking up at his carpeted partner in all crimes.
Chewie roars in agreement, before adding a slightly worried whimper onto the end of it. He's not quite sure he's up for this, any more. He's all hair, no armor.
"Relax. Jungles are your thing. We'll be fine. We always are." Pep talking his big buddy, Han reaches down and hooks his thumb into his belt. "Any way I can get paid /fully/ in advance? In case, y'know, the person with my creds, dies?" Oh Han.
Rei doesn't make any further comment, although she does look at Suzuhara out of the corner of her eyes. She hasn't noticed other arrivals; she is in the plugsuit, more or less as normal, other than a waterproof bandage on her forehead. She is not asking further operational questions; perhaps she's just backup, or else they wanted to make her go out and get exercise.
Toji Suzuhara hrms, folding his arms over his chest and considering. "I don't really know if Eva would be good for tromping through the jungle anyway....they'd probably see us coming from a kilometer away. What do you think, Ayanami?" Deferring, of course, to her greater experience in the matter. There is /some/ reason Asuka calls her 'Wondergirl', after all.
Rook leans back against the wall, letting the helmet drop with a hearty 'thunk' onto the floor and folding her arms. Yes, she's also grinning. "Invid? They range in size. Shock Troopers are pretty large. Troopers... they're standard fare. Ennh, I'd guess about... eh; fifteen, sixteen feet?"
The freedom fighter slides her gaze over to Han Solo. "If you think your ship can do it, then bring it. Couldn't hurt to have the extra firepower along for the ride." Han's question of earnings only brings Rook to roll her eyes, pointedly. "No."
To Nono, Rook offers a grateful smile. See? Cheerful support is appreciated. As is said cheerful support's firepower. In the meantime, she'll let Suzuharu and Ayanami hash out their issue amongst themselves; as they didn't really consult her directly. They know what an Eva can do, yes? "Great. It's appreciated, trust me. Anyway, that all from the peanut gallery? I'm ready to roll if you people are."
Sanger considers this for a moment, and then nods. The Gespenst would likely be best; he has the option of using something small and reasonable-sized. The Evangelion pilots do not. Furthermore, he has had more training and is considerably more flexible. Katina had just better hope that his Gespenst has all of the weapons left on it, or there very well could be bloodshed when he gets back to the hangar. "None here. Let's move."
"They will see you coming," Rei says, as she leans back in the seat, turning her head to look at Toji.
"They will see," she emphasizes, "-you- coming... and you have the AT Field."
Amuro and Hayato glance at one another, and nod. "We're ready," Amuro answers, being the more assertive of the two. "We'll get suited up and prepare Guntank, so just give the word, Bartley." And with that, the two start walking off again, letting Toji and Rei decide what to do with the EVAs, if anything.
"Ready," Thraskar says. His little inner strategist is wondering how the Guntank and Type O are going to hack through the jungle, to say nothing of the Eva. Well, they'll cross that bridge when they come to it, and the Corps has heavy turf-clearing weapons for a reason. ...Speaking of which, there's still a few military-issue skybikes in the Hiryu's vehicle bay, and he has clearance enough for some heavier munitions...
"I need to suit up, too. Meet you at the rally point in time for the sortie."
[Travel Spam Deleted]
The Gate to the Invid-held Earth seems rather quiet as the Intrepid heroes start through it. The area is large enough to even support the Milenium Falcon -- which means it's a lot larger that what it was when Rook found it. How can this be?
Half the temple has been completely blow away, ripped asundered and exposing the the Gate to the world. At the base of the Temple, a small Invid Squad is mixing it up with a detachment of Freedom Fighters.. the Shock troopers firing and trying to swarm the group of three Cyclone riders, and a single..
..yes, that is a Zentraedi woman. All 30 feet tall of her, wearing a tattered officers uniform, cut to handle the jungle weather better (read, cloth bikini) on one knee, firing an old GU-11 at the Invid. They are very outnumbered and outgunned, however!
Rei did not travel. She remains on the SDF-1.
She has a radio, though, in case Toji needs tutorial messages.
Roy Fokker is hanging out with Rei. "Cookie? Agrias made them."
"I will have one," Rei answers; she then does so.
Nono switches armor modes to Academy Mech.
The jungle crunches underneath the footsteps of Sanger Zonvolt's backup ride. The blue Personal Trooper walks along, its visor occasionally flashing red; it lifts up one hand, reaching over its back and pulling away his weapon of choice: a simple cylinder. "Is the temple supposed to be in this condition?" he broadcasts over the short-range radio.
The cylinder flares to life; a brilliant red blade of energy forms in the blink of an eye, before the blue Gespenst steps forward. Sanger's lips curl into a frown, inside of his PT. The Mark II's sensors do send off a few warnings; something is out there. He turns the machine's head, and then catches it.
A firefight. The enemy is clear to him: the alien, crab-like things. His lips draw into a frown again, and while he hesitates on the presence of the giant woman, he can see that some of those fighting with her wear combat armor. That is all he needs to know. He launches forward, charging the Gespenst into a quick, earth-shaking run. The beam saber is raised for a slash, and he leaps up towards one of the Shock Troopers. "I AM SANGER ZONVOLT!" he declares, over the loudspeaker.
The beam sword comes crashing down, slashing towards one of the cannons of the Shock Trooper. "THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt is also shouting into the radio. "I AM SANGER ZONVOLT! THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...I...."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "... Is it too late to leave him behind?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Lily Davies says, "Sounds like there's some evil getting smited over there."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Lily Davies pauses. "Smote? Smitten?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Smote."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Roy Fokker says, "Smooshed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "I dunno, that's one big sword...."
The Guntank is a surprisingly descriptive name for the Mobile Suit piloted by Amuro and Hayato; it stands a little shorter than the gundam itself, and while the upper half resembles a GM with chaingun arms, the lower half is set on tank tracks. It might look a little silly from a distance, but it's a formidable armor that has no problem navigating rocky or wooded terrain. Hayato sits on the bottom half cockpit, leaving the weapon controls to the Newtype up top.
He usually uses the top, so this weirds Hayato out, just a little.
"Hey, wait," Amuro's voice broadcasts, "that woman! Is she supposed to be-aaah, Major Zonvolt, wait!" Ever seen a Guntank chase after something?
It's kind of slow.
Sanger Zonvolt critically strikes Roy Fokker with his Beam Sword attack.
Bartley painted a rather grim picture of her home plane, and Thraskar isn't exactly eager to see it in person--but he's got a soft spot a mile wide for people who've been stepped on by alien invaders, and he's just as eager to drive an elbow or two into said invaders' faces.
The irony--to him, at least--is that this time, the humans are the helpless populace, rather than the alien invaders.
A small green vehicle zips out of the gate not long after the Gespenst. It looks kind of like a motorcycle, with a reinforced windshield, some measure of armor plating to protect the driver, and adaptive camouflage of some sort covering the body. Thraskar... does not engage the enemy immediately; this might be because of the fact that his vehicle lacks any sort of heavy weapons. Or it might be because of the fact that he's trying to circle the area, and see if the Invid have anything else hiding nearby.
"See? What I tell ya'? Not a scratch." Han is mainly speaking to the Wookiee in the seat next to him, as he works those controls of the Falcon, gliding the huge freighter through the brush and out into... where all this other stuff is going on. Han flips a toggle switch, "Hey, Bartley? Want I should stick close to you? We can load the Falcon up with enough of whatever this is to keep you movin' for who knows how long..." He tosses that idea out there.
Chewie's working some controls of his own, though he's more focused on the monitors that are alerting him to the fact that there's, well, some big problems down below. Seriously big problems. He roars in Han's direction.
"I know, I know. I see 'em." Han narrows his eyes, refusing to look worried, while he boots up the Falcon's Laser Turrets.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson, over the sounds of rushing winds: "Keep those jokers off those people; I'm going to see if they've got anything else in reserve. If any of you have long-range scanners, now's the time to use them."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo smirks, "Piece of cake. Chewie?" There's a roar of affirmativness while Chewie kicks up the scanners.
The Cyclone roars.
In motorcycle form, it comes together to form a very nicely-armored motorcycle. Rather than Thraskar's ride, though, this one makes absolutely no effort at hiding itself. Red and white, its colors are pretty plain to see. The form armored atop it wears similarly-colored armor, with red and white.
Rook herself crouches over it, the Gallant firearm clutched in a spare hand as she races out from the Gate. Passing by Thraskar, she gives him a thumbs-up, then points forward at the Invid squadron. She's going on ahead. Gripping the Gallant, she urges the Cyclone forward even faster, giving it a good leap over a small ravine towards the clearing ahead.
She's silent, this time, and just contents herself with taking careful aim straight at one of the Invid. No announcement and nothing to give her approach away, engines aside. If necessary? Well, she'll just come back around and squeeze off another round.
Rook Bartley hits Roy Fokker with your Hay You Gise~ attack.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo, of course, has no idea what he's scanning /for/, but hey... scanning!
Nono's EVO-3 ground-based Military-issue mech - a dinky little machine that adds up to little more than a two-or-three-story-tall Terran Dominion SCV - follows after the main Black Sheep charge. It has a huge metal block with but a single hole in its upper lefthand corner. The block covers the spherical cockpit, to which the two arms are attached. It has a huge mech-scale backpack over its "shoulders", and is carrying some kind of gun in a holster on its thighs. "Aaah!" she squeeks, as she sees enemies. She's principally here to help with resupply, but she still does her part - tromping forward, Nono flips a few switches in the cockpit, then pulls a handle on her control bars.
From deep within the hole on the faceplate comes rapid-fire vulcan cannon fire, bullets blazing forward into the Invid mass. "Never fear! Nono is here to save you!!" she calls, deadly serious.
Nono gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with her ahahaha, like these ever do anything feint.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley, over the roar of a motorcycle engine, as well as wind, "I'll try to get some of 'em off the Zentraedi, for now. Looks like they need a break."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...Wait, why is there a Zentraedi there?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, apparently to someone off-mic, "...what do you /mean/ the Crawler can't go there? It was supposed to be made for this kind of thing!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "How about we kill whatever a Zentrudle is first, then ask questions..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley says, "Don't shoot! She's on our side! She's our guide. She's gonna take us there."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "...Alright."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo sighs, "I've got a bad feeling about this..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "I don't."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "We don't have other options. We'll succeed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "That's right!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "... Right. Uh Huh. And I'm training to be a Jedi."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "REALLY?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "That sounds amazing!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, "Whose bright idea was it to build these things with batteries anyway?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "..."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley says, "Look, just don't shoot the Zentraedi. Just focus on the Invid, okay?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rei Ayanami says, "There was no other possibility."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "It's times like these that maps really come in handy."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Toji Suzuhara says, "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's just hope an Angel never shows up on top of Mt. Fuji or something."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "OOC And now, the sign that you are all doomed."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Anyway, Onii-sama is right! We WILL win! We can't possibly lose, because we have hard work and guts on our side!!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Amuro Ray says, "Onii-sama?"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Yes!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono probably has metaphorical stars in her eyes on top of the usual literal ones.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Onii-sama?"
The Invid were not expecting the attack from the rear. The Sheep get the element of surprise, and get the drop on them. Sanger's sword cleaves through the shock trooper he got the drop off, green goo spewing all over the place, before it explodes messily.
Rook's shoot blasts through another Shock Trooper, neatly holing it in the center of mass, as it worbles and falls, trying to land on the Cyclone pilot in the process.
In the meantime, another troopers descends upon the Zentraedi, cutting deeply into her, causing the GU-11 to fall to the ground with a clatter. Nono's blast catches this Invid, spinning it around, and allows one of the Cyclone riders an opening. This blue and white Cyclone transforms, and a pair of large blades come out of the hubs, which he shoves up into the Shock Trooper, ripping it apart. "Thanks for the assist.. whatever you are!" he stares at Nono for a moment.
The other Cyclone riders continue to mix it up with the Invid, as the Zentraedi holds a hand over the wound in her chest, and slumps against the wall of the temple. "..just in time.. Bartley." she gasps. "..they'll get you where you need to go.." And with that, she closes her eyes, never to open them again.
As the Invid swarm, one takes a swipe at Rook, the massive claw moving to knock her off of her Cyclone, as the Trooper commander fires off his plasma cannons at the most dangerous threat, Sanger. A few Invid, noticing the Falcon, start to fly up at it, ready to try to claw into it as well. The Guntank is not noticed.. yet.
Roy Fokker gets a glancing blow on Sanger Zonvolt with his You brought a sword to a cannon fight! attack.
Roy Fokker critically strikes Nono with his Swarm! attack.
Roy Fokker misses Rook Bartley with his Dismount! attack.
Roy Fokker gets a glancing blow on Han Solo with his Swarm! attack.
Thraskar's scan shows that in the immediate area, there's nothing to be found. No ambush party or the like - just a bit of hard luck for the squad waiting for Rook and company. Long range scan marks an REF vehcile (same code as Rook and the other Cyclones) is at - and the Invid in the immediate area.
Sanger had not been expecting to kill it one strike. When the green sludge splashes onto the Gespenst, he grimaces; it looks gruesome, especially as it looks a great deal like blood. However, the beam blade is pulled out backwards, before his sensors begin beeping rapidly. His eyes narrow, and he frowns suddenly. He has been locked onto.
He quickly hits his thrusters, leaping backward. The beam of plasma fire does connect, causing the leg armor to redden for a moment. He flicks a switch as he jumps upward, taking aim with his crosshairs. They lock onto the main body, and then he presses the trigger.
"Half-hearted attacks will do nothing!" he shouts, before he fires. A chestplate opens on the Gespenst, and a pair of missiles go flying free - shooting right towards the PCU.
Sanger Zonvolt gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his Split Missile jab.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Yes! Onii-sama fights for justice with his AGH"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Hm. --Nono, keep your eyes open! You won't win if you don't put everything you have into this fight!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Goony Bird Nono says, "Y-yes!!"
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Sanger Zonvolt says, "Now, someone, follow my missile up and use that as a distraction! Bring this large unit down!"
Rook has just enough time to avoid the incoming swarm, tilting her bike nearly sideways in an effort to get away from those claws. They're big, they're sharp, and they're really quite painful. Never mind that they're also strong, and they'd probably crush her like a ragdoll if they got a good grip on her.
No, thank you.
She sees the Zentraedi fall, though, and there's a stream of vibrant cursing over the communications. Swerving the bike, she charges for the nearest Invid swarm.
"Hey! Ugly!" She shouts at the nearest Invid, rearing up the motorcycle and standing to aim a shot at another Invid. This would happen to be the one that tried knocking her off the Cyclone, because hey, she has a grudge against Invid. And with that, she blasts a round of energy ammunition off, hoping that the law of averages works on her side -- of that much fired, /something/ has to hit.
You get a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with your Chaaaarge~! attack.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Rook Bartley spits out a stream of expletives not particularly fit for reprint.
"Amuro!" Hayato can hear the Black Sheep frequency too, for the moment, as it'd be pretty impractical for only one Guntank pilot to be on it. "We're going in, alright?"
"Got it!"
"...Was that really a giant person?"
"Yeah, don't ask."
"Okay..."
Amuro's sure he'll have a lot to explain later as the Guntank rolls in, making is presence known by firing off machine gun rounds at the nearby Invid while moving in towards the others, hoping its heavy armor is enough to protect it from Invid counterattacks. After all, it can't dodge very well.
Amuro winces a little at the poor Zentraedi woman, and then hails the unfamiliar Cyclone rider over the radio. "Interplanar Peacekeeping Agency! We're here to assist!" REF is listed as an ally, right?
Amuro Ray gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his RATATATATATAT attack.
Nono suddenly finds herself under attack by an entire swarm! "Agh!!" she squawks. She has no effective melee weaponry - she merely begins to fight barehanded (well, with her mech), swinging the finger dials into a fist and then lashing out in all directions, trying to smash the Invid with frankly rather pathetic attacks. "I won't let you beat me!!" she says, loudly. "I'll prove myself! To everyone!"
Nono misses Roy Fokker with her SCVs Do Damage That Is So Small It Is Largely Theoretical feint.
What foolish Invid. The skybike comes to a halt a couple dozen meters away, and Thraskar reaches into one of his pockets. He withdraws a small, discus-shaped object, taps a depression on its upper side several times, and throws it like a frisbee at the cluster of Soldier Invid. Oddly enough, it changes direction several times during its flightpath--almost like it's actively looking for a target.
Assuming it's not shot down, it detonates--an Invid just might find its comm systems jammed a split-second before lightning starts crawling across its armor. It's just an EMP grenade, nothing /lethal/... but Thraskar doesn't have the clearance necessary for a plasma gun. Woe.
Thraskar Davidson gets a glancing blow on Roy Fokker with his EMP Seeker attack.
Roy Fokker has been knocked out!
The Falcon's on the move, doing exactly what its supposed to be doing. Escorting. Han's on the inside, fiddling with controls and making sure the scan goes off without a hitch, whilst the the ship takes that damage its taking from those evil thing that seem to be trying to take hunks of his ship out. "See if we can hang in there, Chewie. Prep the EMP." Orders are given to his co-pilot, but he still doesn't start shooting back. No reason to. Air support is just that... support.
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson says, "All right. Scanner's showing no hostiles beyond our current playmates. Han, you see anything from up there?"
The Invid that was after the Falcon is caught by Thraskar's attack. It explodes, falling to the ground in pieces. As it does so, things are not looking much better around the temple as the troopers find themselves under attack. While Nono was unable to land a blow on the Trooper Commander, the combonation of the attacks from Rook and Sanger rip the massive Invid apart, as it collapses to the ground, green goop oozing from the wound it took.
The remaining Invid are dispatched by a combonation of attacks from the Guntank and the three Cyclone riders. "Lieutenant James Lewis, Jupiter Division. This is Sergeant Betty Andrews and Sergeant Lee Won. Welcome to the crab cracking festival. You the ones that Kirova said we'd be meeting here?" Won, in the Sabre Cyclone, kicks an Invid Trooper and shoves the sabres up into it, as Betty opens up with a pair of missiles, finishing it off. In the meantime, Lewis's Battler sends a pair of missiles into the Invid, with the cannon from the Guntank destroying the last of the troopers. So far, so good, kids.
Roy Fokker fully heals Roy Fokker with his End, Act I action.
Roy Fokker has been resurrected from knockout!
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Han Solo says, "I got nothin'. Thanks for cleanin' her off too, guys."
[Y-Black Sheep Squadron] Thraskar Davidson says, "No problem."
Rook turns the Cyclone again, kicking up leaves in a flat-sided turn. She lets the engines fade as she comes to a halt near to the group of Cyclone riders. Lifting the faceplate with a thumb, she peers at the three. Each one is given a scrutinizing stare. She shrugs, letting the faceplate slide back into place with a dull 'shunk.'
"Rook Bartley. Curatiba Village. I'm with these guys, but it looks like Kirova bit the big one back there. I tried to peel 'em off her, but it looks like we were too late." Her equipment may be from Jupiter Base, but she's obviously no military sort. "Tch. Crab-cracking, huh? Yeah, we're the ones."
She narrows her eyes, glancing over to the remains of the Zentraedi. "I didn't catch what she said before she died, but I'm guessing you were with her. Are you going to be the ones to take us in?"
"It would seem so," Sanger replies from his Gespenst. The tall mecha's head swings down and looks at the battlesuit-bearing Cyclone rider. The thin red light behind the visor again flashes once, as the cameras get a good look at him. "I presume you know where this location up ahead is?" he asks. "Or, someone who can get us there."
The skybike emerges from the canopy, induction engines humming as it settles to the ground next to the three friendly Cyclones. Thraskar takes a moment to survey the troops before his eyes settle on the dead Zentraedi. He murmurs something under his breath--"May Saint Michael lead her into holy light."--in Latin. Then he turns to Rook. "Our escorts now, hm?" And then, the other Cyclone pilots. "Have our friends been keeping nice and active, or is this the first you've seen of them in a while?" Something inside is demanding more prey.
Nono, as her enemy is knocked free, heaves a sigh of relief. She manipulates the finger toggles, and waves her thanks at those who assisted her. "Thank you, everyone!" she says. "This thing doesn't have very many weapons...but, is anyone injured? ...er, damaged? I can fix some of it..." She reaches back into her backpack and pulls out what looks uncannily like a mech-scale Band-Aid, which is exactly what it is.
The Falcon coasts up above the rest. Mainly because that's the best place for this giant thing to be... in the air. Han's just playing this whole thing by ear, since he's new to all this weird stuff. He'll just listen in through his radio and offer the occasional comment. But, basically, he's just here to ferry the protostuff, so he's not exactly looking to be in a firefight. He's not sure if the Falcon could handle that anyway.
The Guntank rolls forward, and this time, the first voice to come out of the radio speakers is the younger-sounding Hayato. "This is our first time in this plane, but don't underestimate us! We'll know how to handle those creatures," he insists sharply.
"Hayato," Amuro admonishes him, "that's not necessary! Ensigns Amuro Ray and Hayato Kobayashi, EFSF. We'll be providing artillery support here. Ah, no thank you, Nono."
Toji Suzuhara has disconnected.
"Yeah, we could have kicked their asses and waited for you, anyway." Lewis offers with a shrug of his shoulders. "This is our area of operations.." he glances over at Bartley, looking her over aprasingly. "You make that armor look good. Want to be one of us?" he asks with a smirk beneath the faceplate.
Sergeant Won lets out a breath, his faceplate tinted so that his face cannot be seen. "..come on, the base is this way, we can talk once we're there." he comments to the others."
Sergeant Andrews just nods her head, still not speaking. She's probably just shy.
"It should be a pretty easy trip to the Archerfish, and we'll talk there. We better get in before the weather hits, though." Lewis says dryly. "Wouldn't want your pretty mechs to rust in a sudden downpour."
Rook leans over the front of her bike, looking at once bored and amused, though the expression is veiled behind the faceplate. Lewis' comment earns a snort. She mutters something, but it's too quiet to really hear. Chances are good it's probably something unpleasant, anyway.
"Good. Wouldn't really want my pretty mech to rust in a downpour, either, would I?" The freedom fighter snaps a gaze at Lewis. Snort again. My, he's bold, isn't he? She shakes her head. Ah, whatever. They're here to help. "Yeah, let's get going. I'm sure there's more of those buggers out here, anyway."
"It would take more than rain to make the Gespenst rust," Sanger replies. The Major moves his vehicle forward; he wants his Personal Trooper as close to the point position as he can. After all, he prefers melee combat. The beam sword, however, is deactivated, and he does let them lead. If Invid show, though, he fully plans to leap right into action again.
Strangely enough, Thraskar does not revert to sarcasm as the pilots continue the conversation. "Lieutenant Thraskar Davidson, Concord Star Force," he says, as soon as he remembers the fact that he forgot to introduce himself.
"I don't think any of us will melt in it," he says, dryly. Now that his ride is no longer zipping all over the place, it's easier to see the end results of the Lieutenant's armory raid. A thick-barreled rifle is hanging by his side, a heavy pistol is holstered at his other side, and God knows what else is in those pockets. And when the group moves out, Thraskar takes up a flanking position, keeping an eye on the scanners and maneuvering his bike through the canopy.
Lewis is the first person in the entire history of the Universal Century to ever call the Guntank 'pretty.'
"Don't worry," Hayato insists, "I've driven Guntank through swamps. It's rust-proof." He has to take pride in his principal mech, after all. It isn't a fancy Mobile Suit like the Gundam or a power-hitter like Kai's Guncannon, or as flashy as the NT-1. "We can take some rain! But we'll get there." And Guntank rides off, with Amuro being fairly quiet, all things considered.
Despite this, Nono takes a position toward the rear of the group whenever they get moving - as largely a support person, she feels obliged to try and be as out of harms' way as possible. Still, she has her systems configured for sudden conflict if something should arise.
Two of the Cyclone Battloids transform back into the Cycle form in order to go with the others. Sergeant Andrews takes a moment, then remains in Battloid, leaping along the ground as she keeps up with Nono. To whom she finally speaks. "..you are not from around here.." she asks in a quiet voice.
"...how did you get here? It was not from space." she says quietly. And then she turns her attention forward.
Lewis, in the meantime, explains the situation. "Only twenty of us survived the nosedive of the Archerfish into the Earth. We've lost a good bit of our number since then - we're the only ones left. But, we almost made a big enough dent in the Invid that they leave us alone." he explains as the group passes a sign:
25th Jupiter Division
"Crab-Crackers"
Archerfish Base - Established 2038
As the group passes by the sign there's a crackling of electrostatic energy, which could easily be mistaken for thunder. "We're almost there. So.. you outsiders. You interested in joining up? We could use a few good people in our project.."
"I cannot offer such aid," Sanger replies, "though I empathize with your mission." This is very well what his Earth could look like, in the future, he realizes - if their defenses fail, the battleground could become the planet itself. They could lose the homeworld. He frowns, as he pushes forward on a lever, keeping the speed of the Gespenst level. He looks at the sign. "But I will help while I am here."
Thraskar's expression is difficult for the unlearned to read--it's a look of concentration and wariness, a state of mind that isn't quite aikai yet. He does not reply to Lewis' question for a good minute or so, as maneuvers the bike around the trunk of a large tree.
"If we had the troops to spare," he says, quietly. The too-calm little voice is suggesting that he start killing the bastards, while another too-calm voice is insinuating that this is karma, and karma's a bitch. "For now, I think I'll settle for making these bugs' lives miserable while I'm here."
"How we got here isn't important." Rook glances over to Lewis, then, listening to his explanation. That makes sense. The Invid would've gone on full alert the second they sensed something changed in their territory... or, in this case, if they sensed protoculture. And then, they wouldn't have spared any mercy in dealing with the intruders.
Rook sighs and shakes her head. She revs the Cyclone's engine to keep up. "Tch. Well, we can't chip in our lot, sorry. Would that I could, but I sort of owe these guys. And we've got business somewhere else. Just take us to where we need to go, and we'll make sure to take care of anything along the way." She glances over at them. "...Wait a sec. Isn't there supposed to be a hive close to this place? How do you keep the Invid backed off? They go nuts over REF leftovers."
Then, somewhat distracted... "Totally not complaining, Davidson. Kill all the bastards you want."
"I'm sorry," Amuro notes to the Cyclone riders, "but we're too tied up in our own war. But we'll lend you support here." He knows how it feels to be left on one's own, and even White Base has support from Matilda and the Black Sheep. He lets Rook give the 'explanation,' assuming that this plane's Gates are not a known phenomenon.
Nono looks over at Sergeant Andrews. A little video window pops up on Nono's screen, and Nono smiles into her camera. Her star-shaped pupils are strange, but her face is kind and perhaps a little...odd. Like she's a little older than she is. Or perhaps a lot. "I'm from Mars," she says. "But how we got here isn't that important, is it? I'm sorry we can't help you more."
Not, Nono thinks a little glumly, that I'm much use...
"..oh, I see." Betty says quietly. She still remains covered by her faceplate as she jumps forward, sighing to herself.
Swamp weeds here are deep, coming up the waist of the Gespenst. As they start to get closer, the group will notice that a rather large lake has formed in the impact crater where the Archerfish slammed into the Earth.
Lewis looks over at Rook, and just offers a grin. "..well, that was a touchy little situation. And then something happened that we just could not refuse. The ultimate advantage, as it was."
The group enters a clearing, where a Red Veritech Alpha from Jupiter base stands in Guardian configuration. There's also a few Cyclones sitting around, along with a second Generation Veritech Hovertank.
"You see.. there was only twenty of us, and a whole shipful of supplies." Lewis gestures towards the crates upon storage crates of boxes marked 'Fuel Cells'. Rook will know what was in there. "We found ourselves in a unique situation."
The skybike descends as it emerges from the forest, just barely skimming the surface of the water as it flies towards the Archerfish. Its pilot is wondering just how these people have kept the Invid off them; in Thraskar's experience, anything that comes in 'hives' is obnoxiously persistent. Like cockroaches, only with heavy weapons.
"Is that the fuel you came for, Bartley?" Thraskar asks. "...And hey, 's that a Veritech?" The pilot's vehicle comes to a stop a respectable distance from the boxes. "We've got a freighter in the air," the Lieutenant explains, for the benefit of Lewis and friends. "How much fuel can you spare her?"
"Twenty. So you were just a supply crew, then. Not a full force. But it's hard to believe there wasn't some kind of escort if you were carrying this sort of cargo." Rook glances over at the fuel boxes, and manages to curb the instinct to reach in and grab something. Not just yet.
"Yeah." Rook tosses her chin to indicate the boxes, and then pats the Cyclone with a hollow 'clank.' "That's protoculture, in there. Only thing that can keep this baby running. Her attention turns back to Lewis. Something about this situation seems vaguely odd, but she can't put her finger on it. But the fuel is a great comfort -- at least they had what she was looking for. "So what happened then...?"
The Gespenst stops, there, and looks once at the box. Sanger crosses his arms as he considers this for a moment, sitting back in the cockpit. "So you've been helping out forces that come by ever since? Lending what they do not have," he states. "How have you avoided being overran?"
"That does look a little bit like the craft Roy uses," Amuro notes, not aware that 'Roy' and 'Veritech' might be keywords here. "It's not bad-looking, either!" He shares the same vague sense of worry as the others, however, and he isn't sure if he's just being wary, or if his mind is trying to tell him something.
"You do seem to be in pretty good shape for people all on your own out here," Hayato comments, in an unreadable tone.