[Log] The Round Table: Mayhem (Part 2)
Bit by bit the white Fulcrum seems to be winning the turning war. At the last second the red Hornet twists into an elaborate dive and attempts to escape, dropping altitude in a hard roll before steadying, content with his escape course.
He fails to realize that Matsunaga and his Newtype senses predicted the maneuver. A burst of gunfire rips straight into the Hornet's aft end, destroying it in a big fiery ball.
Pulling the jet into a bank, Shin scowls as he shoots towards the outskirts of the battle. Vapour trails flow from the tips of its wings, the jet streaking towards the clash between the Master Gundam and the Enkiduran. The course is quite deliberate -
-Mainly because he's using Enkiduran's bulk to disguise his approach. Thus as Viral moves to one side, Master Asia will be treated to the sight of an onrushing white MiG - and an onrushing missile lancing from beneath the right wing.
"Toho Fuhai," the White Wolf barks over the comline, "don't think I've forgotten about you!"
Shin Matsunaga misses Master Asia with his TOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO FUUUUUUUUUHAAAAAAAAAAAAI attack.
Rei, at least, has a much simpler problem. Survival. She strains herself as incoming fire comes in; the flickering light of the AT Field develops, but not right away. Foolish, she tells herself, distracting from such a proper pursuit. The controls slam forwards, and the Evangelion breaks into a run.
This means that the one-eyed thing is approaching the autocannon rounds. The relatively weak AT Field does not hold back when the velocities are this close; some of the armor plating cracks further, falling down in shattered jagged fragments and revealing something whitish beneath. Inside of the entry plug, Rei's teeth grit.
The Evangelion keeps moving, closer, closer. The rounds bite into it. Something splatters out, some kind of a liquidy underbody. The Evangelion has no weapon, casting the positron rifle aside carelessly as if it were merely a burden. It comes ever closer to General Sinclair, and finally one blue-clad hand raises upwards, high...
To slam down and grasp at the upper body of the Wyvern. That hand, of course, is very large, relatively speaking. Can the General evade it?
Rei Ayanami misses Sinclair St. James with her *grab* stun.
Hrist is more powerful than Lenneth is, according to Alicia. Though Superman manages to hold off her assault-Hrist manages to pull her sword back away from Superman and drops down before Superman gets to throw her away like a ragdoll! Unlike Lenneth, Hrist doesn't try to get Superman to comply with logic or negotiation. She either is as blind as Alicia suggests, or she is just too full of rage to care.
The quip about Lenneth's 'demise' seems to make Hrist cringe-as if the Man of Steel touched a nerve-but it's brief. She drops down without answering, aiming to bowl Superman over with a kick, slashing at his leg as she goes!
The blow from Justice's beam powered leg is more than enough to send the Endymion flying through the air - that was one of the strengths of carrying beam weapons when fighting in hand to hand combat - what would have just been a bad blow is instead made worse by the blow enhanced by the beam blade. And instead of simple 'damage', a good chunk of one of the wings has been sheered off in the process. The pilot hauls the controls around, stabilizing himself and swinging the Vulcan around.
...no, too close. The manipulator arm swings around, and locks the Vulcan gunpod into place along the bottom of one of the engine nacelles. And another support ship descends, it's locker ejecting open and deploying another weapon.
The Einhander swings upwards, and grabs the new weapon out of the air. And with a loud *snap-hiss*, the twenty meter long beam blade activates from the projector, and the Endymion swings around to take its own swipe at Athrun.
Kazuma Torisuma misses Athrun Zala with his You're not the only one with beam swords attack.
Hrist Valkyrie hits Superman with her Wow Woman attack.
Pink motes scatter away from the Master Gundam as it completes its spin and Viral rushes to the counterattack. The Undefeated of the East hesitates for an instant, then shifts his body slightly to his left, turning into the blow rather than avoid it, the twin blades biting deeply into the Gundam's right side. Dou iu imi da, indeed.
Toho Fuhai is not a Newtype. But he did sense something odd from Viral's attack pattern, and as the Enkiduran clears is sight line, Master Asia smiles. "White Wolf," he snarls, turning into another spin. Pink cloth slashes out toward the missile, intercepting it in mid-air, shrapnel and fire blossoming outward. The cloth snakes back into place as the old man completes the turn, roaring as he sends a spinning backfist for the MiG as it passes him by. "You came to save your subordinate after all...how admirable." The Gundam's right hand suddenly rockets out from its arm, sailing out in a flying punch aimed between the Enkiduran's eyes. "I don't suppose your kataribe passed on my message?"
Master Asia hits Shin Matsunaga with his Top Spin, Biyatch attack.
Master Asia misses Viral with his Roketto Panch attack.
<> The green and beige Hornets bank, selecting another target and converging into a diamond formation. They're soon lost to the melee, indistinguishable from the other dozens of jets battling over the Round Table's arid sands.
Others are forced into their own death dances. The Geist jets still pursue their beige Fighting Falcons, machine guns blazing as they fall on their prey again. Their prey seems elusive, though, forcing them to bank and dive, twisting wildly to try and get a target lock.
<> Isa rasps, slamming the airbrake down and stomping her aileron pedals. Her jet's engines gutter, and the ailerons force it into a tight turn. Warnings blare in her cockpit as the engines finally stall, starved of the oxygen they need to run. <>
The second jet abruptly banks up and to the right, even as the two Fighting Falcons circle. This time the beige aircraft try to make their own tight turn, enough to lock the seemingly crippled Geist jet into range.
But Isa's more wily than that - at the last moment, the jet's engines flare, afterburners glowing as the jet plummets towards the desert floor.
Hauling up against the flight stick with all her might, Isa grits her teeth against the ferocious g-force, stiffening in her cockpit, as though a little extra leverage might coax the aircraft to nose up sooner.
Sand whirls in a miniature sandstorm, kicked up as the first Geist fighter swoops down and over General St. James' Wyvern and rag-tag band. In a flash of silver and the Fulcrum's yellow serial numbering, Isa's jet is gone, already ascending to meet her quarry.
<> Isa snarls. <>
<> Liese is already on it, diving after one of the two Fighting Falcons. She takes the jet purely by surprise, plummeting from a higher altitude and using that surprise to launch a missile for the fighter. It corkscrews forward, its contrail white, before slamming into the jet's tail fin. It spirals towards the red earth, crippled.
Another plane rushes into help them - the black and yellow of one of the Siskele Fulcrums. The plane spirals seemingly at random, a crazy waltz, before straightening and roaring past Liese's jet. A missile drops from its wing, and the second Fighting Falcon goes down in a disorderly mess of fire and smoke.
<> Liese turns her jet back towards where the fighting seems most concentrated, eyes on her radar. <>
<> Domino chuckles, before swooping away to rejoin the formation he was in.
Isa's jet bucks forward to rejoin her wingman, the two Geist jets like shadows, barreling into the chaos like sleek black sharks through a school of fish. They skim the highest reaches, picking off the closest Osean jets they can find - one of the two Suerte jets, by color and make.
<> The man speaks with a Spanish-sounding accent. <>
The jet rolls and tries to descend, perhaps to lose them near the sand. But the Geist jets stick to it, engines screaming as they plummet after. One of the black and yellow Siskele Fulcrums chases along with them, falling neatly into formation. <>
No chatting? Fine. No chatting. The Man of Steel takes the kick, even getting his leg cut...
...his hands snap forward, trying to grab the outstreched kick with his own powerful, steel cable-hard hands....
"Hit a nerve?" Superman can't resist asking, because it's apparent he did.
Superman misses Hrist Valkyrie with his Grappling Style stun.
Until his dying day, Sinclair St. James will laud praises of the grand American sport of football. That's football as God intended it, American style, for you Europeans out there. His college days have served him well against larger opponents and Rei's Evangelion is no exception. As the massive hand reaches down, Sin's mk.2 Wyvern slides to the side, like evading a tackle. The General dodges to the left, pulling a power turn and skidding across the sand, barely under control as his mech strains to reorient itself towards the EVA, splashing autocannon rounds up at the side of its AT Field.
The Gargouille pilots, on the other hand, are not as skilled in maneuvering as their General, nor are they so reckless as to get that close to the mech three times their height. They spread out to make Rei's life difficult and prevent the large arms from swatting them all down in one wide sweep. Their rifles are raised higher then the barrel's need to be, taking arcing aim as the underslung grenade launchers open fire.
Sinclair St. James misses Rei Ayanami with his BOOM, hur hur hur attack.
What's this? Superman's hand swoops through Hrist's leg as if it wasn't even there as Hrist follows through in her maneuver-once she stands up again, she appears to have resolidified.
"They're my SISTERS!" She screeches, "They ignored all my warnings and left me alone! You have supported Silmeria's rebellion, so it's not like this is betrayal!" She then, perhaps, makes a mistake. She throws a punch for Superman's chest. She is a magically charged being so she won't break her hand-but seriously, the guy has a six pack, Hrist. Show some sense!
Hrist Valkyrie gets a glancing blow on Superman with her *pok* feint.
<> The green and beige Hornets bank, selecting another target and converging into a diamond formation. They're soon lost to the melee, indistinguishable from the other dozens of jets battling over the Round Table's arid sands.
Others are forced into their own death dances. The Geist jets still pursue their beige Fighting Falcons, machine guns blazing as they fall on their prey again. Their prey seems elusive, though, forcing them to bank and dive, twisting wildly to try and get a target lock.
<> Isa rasps, slamming the airbrake down and stomping her aileron pedals. Her jet's engines gutter, and the ailerons force it into a tight turn. Warnings blare in her cockpit as the engines finally stall, starved of the oxygen they need to run. <>
The second jet abruptly banks up and to the right, even as the two Fighting Falcons circle. This time the beige aircraft try to make their own tight turn, enough to lock the seemingly crippled Geist jet into range.
But Isa's more wily than that - at the last moment, the jet's engines flare, afterburners glowing as the jet plummets towards the desert floor.
Hauling up against the flight stick with all her might, Isa grits her teeth against the ferocious g-force, stiffening in her cockpit, as though a little extra leverage might coax the aircraft to nose up sooner.
Sand whirls in a miniature sandstorm, kicked up as the first Geist fighter swoops down and over General St. James' Wyvern and rag-tag band. In a flash of silver and the Fulcrum's yellow serial numbering, Isa's jet is gone, already ascending to meet her quarry.
<> Isa snarls. <>
<> Liese is already on it, diving after one of the two Fighting Falcons. She takes the jet purely by surprise, plummeting from a higher altitude and using that surprise to launch a missile for the fighter. It corkscrews forward, its contrail white, before slamming into the jet's tail fin. It spirals towards the red earth, crippled.
Another plane rushes into help them - the black and yellow of one of the Siskele Fulcrums. The plane spirals seemingly at random, a crazy waltz, before straightening and roaring past Liese's jet. A missile drops from its wing, and the second Fighting Falcon goes down in a disorderly mess of fire and smoke.
<> Liese turns her jet back towards where the fighting seems most concentrated, eyes on her radar. <>
<> Domino chuckles, before swooping away to rejoin the formation he was in.
Isa's jet bucks forward to rejoin her wingman, the two Geist jets like shadows, barreling into the chaos like sleek black sharks through a school of fish. They skim the highest reaches, picking off the closest Osean jets they can find - one of the two Suerte jets, by color and make.
<> The man speaks with a Spanish-sounding accent. <>
The jet rolls and tries to descend, perhaps to lose them near the sand. But the Geist jets stick to it, engines screaming as they plummet after. One of the black and yellow Siskele Fulcrums chases along with them, falling neatly into formation. <>
"He wanted a piece of you, too. Why deny him when you're so popular?" Viral says flatly as Master Asia trash-talks him (twice) in someone else's direction. That's what makes it even more insulting...but he's not going to rise to the bait.
The white Gunmen flies as the Master Gundam begins its counterattack, pink cloth and shrapnel sailing every which way-but mostly in Shin's. The rocket arm is actually a surprise, and instinct serves Viral well here: he slashes his swords up and around in a perfect parry...and when it starts to drop, Viral attempts to have his mech kick it into a return punch (or flying, flailing arm-smash) into the Master Gundam.
He grits his teeth at the 'kataribe' part-but if Master Asia didn't listen to him the last time he told him to tell Shin his damn self, may as well just let Shin ask him here and now.
Viral misses Master Asia with his ARM....SMAAAAASH! attack.
"If you really believed that." Superman counters, as the punch bounces off of his chest. Yeah, he felt it, but in a, 'Wow, an exciteable puppy has jumped on my chest' sort of way. "You wouldn't be so upset about it. I think you know exactly what's going on."
"You were lonely." Superman takes a step forward, "You were feeling abandoned." Superman's arms pump back..., "And you let something terrible happen because you wanted a little attention. That's very human, Hrist."
Superman's hands blur forward, and CLAP, trying to slam into both sides of Hrist's head with a clap so powerful that, even if it misses, it'll send a shuddering wave of force so powerful that it's visible to the naked eye! "Which would be very understandable, if you didn't turn around and abandon your sisters to some fate that, I bet, you don't even know the full details of, just so you can boss around and threaten to destroy the spirit of a few ghosts." Superman whipes the blood off of his face, easing into a defensive crouch, "You know this is wrong, Hrist. Stop, before it goes too far."
Superman hits Hrist Valkyrie with his Clap On super.
Rei doesn't stop it. The hand doesn't work. She cannot - cannot -
Some hidden stress resistance inside of her cracks. Her eyes widen and she screams, abruptly and shrilly, possibly alarming those monitoring the battle frequencies. She doesn't stop either, even as the AT Field glows to visible heat-distortion size, the raining of fire not even touching the Evangelion as it rears up to full height once more!
Then it crouches forwards, leaning to grasp at the rifle arm of one of the Gargouilles. This unfortunate fellow will then be slung forwards, approximately towards the General's Wyvern and likely towards any other MSTs in the area. EVA-00's head jerks to the left as it does this, some kind of repetitive rhythm...
Rei Ayanami misses Sinclair St. James with her TINY MACHINES DO NOT MATCH MY MARKETABILITY attack.
It's not like the MiG is going to get close enough to take massive damage. Still, it does blast by, the backfist catching it just behind one of the wings and throwing it into a crazy spin. Pressed back hard against his chair, Shin growls deeply as he works the control stick, fighting to regain control of the plane. After a moment he's able to stabilize the craft, pulling it into a steep climb. The fighter rotates as it comes around, pulling off a textbook Immelmann loop to once again aim its nose towards the Master Gundam. This time it doesn't rush directly; the White Wolf banks one way, then the other, circling at a distance.
A scowl etches itself into his face, lips downturned behind his oxygen mask. "Funny guy. What're you talking about - what message?"
Having little else to say, Shin lines his targeting reticle up over the Master Gundam quickly, the white MiG rumbling around him as he brings it around again. The nose of the fighter doesn't center on Fuhai, though; the captain continues to lean into his turn, firing his machine guns just before the crosshairs sweep over Asia and continuing to fire for a split-second after he's passed. The turn continues even as the guns stop, the Fulcrum keeping its distance, banking and half-circling. He's not about to try and melee Toho Fuhai in a fighter.
Shin Matsunaga gets a glancing blow on Master Asia with his la la la la la-la lala la la la la la la-la lala la DA DA DA DA DA-DA DADA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAA NANANA NANA NA NAAAA NA KATARIBE DAMASHIIIIIIIIIIIII jab.
CLASH.
Twirling its double bladed saber around, the Justice allows the opposing saber to strike, but only against its own weapon. The energy blades flare as each tries to override the other.
"He's skilled, for one in such a bulky machine," whispers Athrun to no one in particular, quickly manipulating controls and keying in various inputs. He keeps the machine fighting against the other in a sheer contest of strength, but only to buy himself enough time...
For the sublight lifter flips up, which levels its shoulder cannons into place on either side of the Justice's head. Clearly, the pilot has no qualms with taking advantage of a particular situation.
That is made only more apparant as the cannons open fire, for it is only then that Athrun disengages the saber lock.
Athrun Zala misses Kazuma Torisuma with his Nothin' Says Surprise Like Shoulder Cannons attack.
The Master Gundam's right arm comes back in with extra speed, but the cable that holds fist and arm together retracts with sufficient speed to control the trajectory, and the limb slams back together with a thundering sound. Chain gun bullets scatter along the Gundanium armour, some of them penetrating as the old man inside grits his teeth in frustration. Viral and the White Wolf are both exceptionally skilled.
This could be most challenging.
"It was a simple message," he says, trying to sound pleasant. "A warning, if you will. Be mindful of your past, White Wolf. It is about to come back to haunt you." The Gundam's arms rise up to either side, palms out as if preparing for another rocket punch, but then large energy beams blaze out toward the Enkiduran and the Fulcrum, Master Asia turning his Gundam to track after the fighter's progress.
Master Asia critically strikes Shin Matsunaga with his Shooting Lasers And Spinning In Circles? attack.
Master Asia hits Viral with his What Is This, Gundam Wing? attack.
It was claimed that Hrist doesn't hesitate, that she will blindly follow Odin. To a large extent this is true. Odin's touch nigh but ensures Hrist will serve him to the end, but even the All-Father's control of Hrist is not absolute.
The powerful SMASH from Superman's hands slam into Hrist's head, it's not direct-but it doesn't have to be-the Thunderclap sends Hrist falling to the ground screaming incoherently.
She knew it was wrong then too, but...
"Human?! HUMAN?!? Odin wanted Silmeria back, but she met her fate not from Odin-but from humans. Odin could not punish Lenneth's own rebellion nearly enough." She pulls back up to her feet, slowly and then becomes a blur of motion, sheathing the blade to draw her faithful spear-she lunges forward, aiming to stab Superman repeatedly with the weapon before slamming him up into the air with the shaft so that holy energies can burst into his body and tear him apart-this is very similar to what Lenneth tried to do to Master Asia.
Hrist leaps into the air, a lance of light solidifying around her head as she flings it for what may very well be the prone First Son of Krypton! The Undefeated of the East could handle this, but can the Man of Steel?!
"So he found a people who could do worse than what he could devise on his own! Humans!"
Hrist Valkyrie juggles Superman with her In the end, they're all Brunhilde combo.
Superman breaks Hrist Valkyrie's combo.
The tinted visor of Isa's helmet turns as she risks a brief glance out the cockpit canopy. The Sapin Super Flanker streaks ahead, trying to flee the three jets trailing behind it. They're just out of firing range, and perhaps he's hoping to keep it that way.
Coaxing her jet into a banking turn, Isa narrows her eye. This one's fast, perhaps a little faster than the mob of Fulcrums in pursuit. They'll have to try a different tack.
<>
The black and silver Fulcrum twists, contrails of vapor spiraling from the tips of its wings. Its reflective silver underbelly flashes in the sun as it rights itself, thrown into a rapid ascent. Heedless of the other fighters, Isa keeps her afterburners up, climbing at dizzying speed.
<>
<> Siskele Three sounds distracted, likely because he's caught a friend in the midst of the fray. A second Osean jet trails the black and yellow Fulcrum. <>
The second Geist jet banks smoothly, braking hard. The unfamiliar F-20A Tigershark is, predictably, painted in bright tiger striping. It streaks after the black and yellow Fulcrum, apparently too focused on Siskele's third to pay any attention to the Geist jet turning to appear behind him.
Liese punctuates her dissatisfied snort with a spate of gunfire, raking across the tail of the Osean aircraft. It isn't enough to destroy the airframe, but it's enough to send the plane skidding out of its original trajectory, rear elevator chewed up.
<> Isa doesn't look up from her HUD, waiting for the targeting reticule to stop jumping around. That Super Flanker sure is persistent. <>
<< "Nothing's getting through!" >> One of the MST pilots radios.
<< "What the hell's wrong with that thing?" >> Another asks.
<< "BACK THE HELL AWAY FROM!" >> St. James commands and gets instant compliance. << "Use high powered rounds, the explosives aren't working! Where the hell is my fire support?!" >>
As if in reply, both of the Banshees open fire, launching a pair of high powered rounds at the Evangelion's chest. The Gargouille pilot Unit-00 engages slams on his booster in an emergency dance, narrowly slipping the grip. The Gargouilles open fire, pouring rifle rounds as fast as they can dump the lead. And General St. James himself circles around, firing his auto-cannon like it was going out of style.
Sinclair St. James juggles Rei Ayanami with his ALL ZE (bullets) combo.
Rei Ayanami breaks Sinclair St. James's combo.
The two beam sabers colliding is enough to cause an explosion of sparks between the two machines. Of course, the Einhander is not exactly a machine that is well suited to melee combat - it just doesn't have the dexterity or maneuverability to keep it up for long, and it's own close range weapon is more often than not simply there to take advantage of the fact that few other fighters where it hails from are prepared for such an attack.
But as Athrun levels his cannons, the Endymion pilot sends out a remote call to one of his support craft - the first one which had deployed its gunpod - and Athrun will find that a quite different sort of attack is being made on him. As he prepares to fire his cannons, the support fighter comes plummeting in out of the sky, on a kamikaze run straight for Justice. It takes the full brunt of the blast from Justice, and keeps on coming, even as the Einhander breaks off.
The question is, does Athrun destroy it completely, or does the flaming wreckage make his day that much worse...?
Kazuma Torisuma misses Athrun Zala with his Support Sacrifice Attack attack.
And Master Asia finally handles passing that message on by himself. Serves you right, old man. Viral scowls as he glances towards Shin's unit; he doesn't regret not passing the message along, but he wonders if he'll be annoyed that he didn't tell him about this sooner. The beastman sweeps aside the thought, though, as the Master Gundam starts blazing out chi from its palms in a spinning laser shoot, and as any platformer knows (not...that Viral is one), those are a bitch to dodge. Viral learns that lesson well, as several of the blasts strike into Enkiduran.
He grits his teeth, though, and accepts the fire as he charges in, twisting the lithe Gunmen to at least dodge *some* of the incoming fire and keeping damage from getting too high. Once he's in range, the beastman will slash out with both blades in a parallel sweep, then move in a counter-circle for a dance-like maneuver aimed for the Master Gundam's arm and chest. If he's going to be shooting lasers from his arms, then better to damage them quickly!
Viral misses Master Asia with his STIRRING, EMOTIONAL CONVERSATIONS attack.
THUD.
The sickening thud of the spear hitting flesh screams through Superman's body, even as the Man of Steel is shoved into the air, covered by the blast of light, and flung down before even getting a chance to react. The raging girl's attack continues, as the holy energy screams down on Superman. "The power of the wicked..."
...smoke rises from the field, parting to show Superman, standing straight, the only visible wound being the one from the spear. It's as if the holy energy had no effect at all. "...cannot harm me!" Superman snaps, looking up at Hrist! "Your hate makes you weak, Hrist. You're angry, you're afraid, I can tell by listening to your heartbeat. But you're not a bad person. I can tell by looking..."
Into your soul? Clark isn't sure if he believes that, but. "Into what makes us different from rocks." Clark offers by explination, proceding to leap, and hurdle towards Hrist, holding his shoulder forward to slam into the girl! "So do us all a favor and turn the bitch faucet to 'off'!"
Superman gets a glancing blow on Hrist Valkyrie with his Sometimes Superman Swears attack.
The bullets slam into the Evangelion, blasting part of one arm-blade off with a searing explosion of what seems like rocket fuel. The machine itself doesn't seem critically damaged, and a moment later, the field around it expands - air pressure blasting out, not enough to affect something as massive as an MST but enough to throw a circular cloud of dust out around the Evangelion.
Rei breathes three times, quickly and wetly, and the Evangelion turns to face the General's unit. Then it turns again, a little more, before it lunges, trying to lead St. James's evasive maneuver as it slams one bladed knee forwards, to try and force the machine down and grind it into the hard, dry ground.
Rei doesn't hold back, even if she doesn't yet scream again. The Evangelion's multi-thousand-ton weight is placed into this effort; she does not want, it seems, to "defeat" the General, or "cripple his machine," so much as "smash him into a wet paste".
Rei Ayanami hits Sinclair St. James with her DIVING KNEE STRIKE super.
Say what you will about the Fulcrum: it's quick as hell. It's not quite quick enough to evade the gigantic laser, however. Shin senses it coming, his eyes narrowing, but even as he pulls the MiG into a roll he realizes might not be enough. He grits his teeth. The beam blazes towards the fighter... and just below it. It appears as though it doesn't hit anything.
A second look reveals that the pair of fuel tanks slung underneath the Fulcrum are completely gone, the hardpoints left as little more than smouldering stumps. The metal plates on the fighter's belly are charred and blackened, a few of them seeming ready to flake away. Internal systems flicker and go dead for a moment, the Fulcrum suddenly plummeting like a stone as its mechanisms overheat.
It takes him a nerve-wracking moment to right the Fulcrum, the rush of air cooling the jet and allowing the plane to come to life again. With a lurch Shin pulls the Fulcrum into a steep climb, regaining altitude rapidly, jet engines burning despite the fuel warning blinking on his console. Maybe he should've come in a Guarlion. "Fine. You've delivered your message. But you're not going to be around long enough to deliver on it."
Climbing past Fuhai's altitude, the MiG continues to ascend, G-forces pressing down on the captain. Yet somehow he's able to roll the fighter, sweeping to the side, then into a short dive, leveling off and unleashing a missile towards the Master Gundam. "We'll manage!" he shoots back to Isa. "If you want to support someone, try the Endymion!"
Shin Matsunaga misses Master Asia with his G Gundam has women? attack.
KATHWOOM!
The explosion envelopes the Justice, sending the gundam backward while Athrun snaps up the unit's shield to help absorb the brunt. Shrouded by smoke and debris, it may look as if the machine were destroyed.
...But Athrun doesn't really let that thought linger, for out of the smoke and haze, a twirling blade appears. It is a glimmering object forged of metal and energy, effectively functioning as a beam boomerang. As the smoke clears in the wake of the attack, the Infinite Justice can be seen hovering there, virtually unharmed save from some ash and smoke staining. There it waits, shield and twin-tipped saber at the ready.
Athrun Zala critically strikes Kazuma Torisuma with his Beam Boomerang - AWAY! attack.
Clark's shoulder smashes into Hrist's own shoulder. Superman's words seem to be hitting some sort of resistance. Hrist hesitates about half as long as Lenneth does. She doesn't have her mental discipline, and surely not the determination of Silmeria. What Buttercup has is power.
She rolls with the strike-hoping to slice into Superman's belly with the edge of the spear as she falls along below Clark.
One hand touches her head-as if a migraine had erupted there.
"She was placed into a mortal shell," Hrist tells Superman, her composure returning, "Much as Silmeria was supposed to. She was given the worst life that could be found. A slave to her mother, she would have been a slave to the world-"
Hrist Valkyrie misses Superman with her Odin was a little wary of rebellion after the first two attack.
The green bordered box beeps and dances around maddeningly, before finally settling on the retreating Super Flanker with a steady tone. One missile detaches itself from the black and silver Fulcrum's left wing, streaking towards its target with a puffy white contrail corkscrewing behind it.
<>
<> Siskele Three smoothly falls into formation, in the absence of Geist Three. The black and smoky yellow strikes a contrast against the elegant black and silver of the Geist planes, but all three are the same aircraft; and they maintain the same tight formation. <>
<> Isa answers, scanning her radar. There. The three jets bank into a smooth turn towards the Endymion and the Justice Gundam, machine guns of all three Fulcrums firing indiscriminately towards the latter.
<>
That means more bullets, invariably. At the edge of their range, the three jets climb, spiraling away from the Gundam.
<> Liese is the first one to comment as they bank to issue another charge, heedless of whether or not their initial volley hit.
<> Isa snorts, nosing her jet down a bit to swoop down on the Justice Gundam. All the while, they're careful not to get too close. Those things are deadly to fighter jets. All it takes is a mechanized fist to the cockpit, and it's all over. <>
<> Domino sighs, in feigned disappointment. <>
You miss Athrun Zala with your BULLETS jab.
"And yet." The Man of Steel presses on, relentless, "She still managed to be a decent person. She didn't use her duty as an excuse to be cruel." Superman's hand grabs under the spearhead, shoving the thrust out of his way, "And despite herself, Hrist, she gave a damn about the people she was watching over."
Struggling mid-air for a moment, Superman speaks, "I think, young lady, you needed to spend less time being jealous of Lenneth, and more time actually learning from her example. Unless..." And Superman tugs Hrist forward, trying to kick her right in her loli ribs! "...you like being Odin's talking weapon. I don't know, the lifestyle could appeal to you."
Superman hits Hrist Valkyrie with his Tough Talk, Tougher Boot attack.
"Is that so, White Wolf?" Master Asia asks with a smile. "I beg to differ...it has been so invigorating working with my new Zeon allies," he confides, sending another laser blast out to intercept the Fulcrum's missile, although he has to quickly withdraw the hand to avoid losing it to Viral's blade. "They have been so very informative!" The old man struggles to control his breathing as he falls back away from the Enkiduran, pink cloth flowing out in a series of artful patterns, chi hardening the edges in order to deflect the blades.
"Although," Master Asia adds as he fires twin blasts to both sides of VIral's mech, using the recoil to send him flying back away from the Gunmen. "Perhaps it is you who shall not survive to see that glorious day." More black chi darkens the Master Gundam's hands as the old man channels his power. "Ore no kono te ga hikatte unaru!" he proclaims, sparks crackling between his fingers. "Aku o taose to todoroki sakebu!"
The glowing hands each aim at one of his opponents. "DABURU!" he roars, and then the hands sail toward them as the rocket punches activate.
"DAAAAAAKUNESS! FINGAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Master Asia gets a glancing blow on Shin Matsunaga with his That's Right, I Can Grope At Range attack.
Master Asia misses Viral with his Yes I Called You Evil, And Yes I Realize I Am Eviler, But The Attack Speech Remains Technically Correct attack.
Luminous Sapphire says, "Yo ho ho! ...nah, lame. Sup?"
Korari Windsilver says, "Good evening."
Hrist isn't loli at all! She's a full grown adult! But that doesn't keep her from being smacked in the 'ribs' from Superman's boot. She bowls over, bowing down to Superman-seemingly defeated.
Pressing one hand to her injury, mysterious sparkles dripping out of the wound. "The tide...has turned?" She raises her head, "Of course I do not mind being Odin's 'talking weapon'. He is the All Father. He is the rightful ruler of Asgard."
But is she talking to Superman or herself? The Man of Steel might not have much chance to consider it because-remember that Sorceror Hrist summoned earlier? Well, Hrist sends her a mental command to attack-again!
MORE FORCE LIGHTNING! Since it seemed to work so well last time!
Hrist Valkyrie critically strikes Superman with her Nanami is really sorry about this Superman attack.
The Einhander pilot had been hoping for a bit more damage than that. At the same time, this meant that he was going to have to keep working to try and take down this strange red machine. It was certainly superior to performance to anything that had been massed produced by the Earth government or by Hyperion - it was a worthy enough challenge, and the Endymion pilot does what they all do best.
He bores straight in.
Putting the throttle all the way forward, the blue fighter rockets forward with a frightening burst of speed. Even as the boomerang is launched at him, he keeps on coming - the spinning beam blade slams into the right nacelle, causing a large explosion from it, but through sheer guts and quick power management, the pilot manages to keep his craft airborn. He waits, lining up the Vulcan Cannon once again - and just holds down the trigger, unloading the entire ammo supply in one long, continuous burst at Justice as he continues to bore in.
Kazuma Torisuma critically strikes Athrun Zala with his Take the bullets! ALL THE BULLETS! attack.
DEF. SUPPORT
Cpt. Usherwood's Gargouille comes smashing in, pushing the General's Wyvern out of the way as the Evangelion commences its berzerk charge. The Captain knows one simple truth about the war that forces him to do this. The General's life is important... his is not.
The chest of the Gargouille implodes on contact with the larger mech's knee, armor crumpling inwards like it were made out of festive paper. As the machine falls to the ground, utterly lifeless, the General struggles to maintain his balance after the panic maneuver. More high powered rounds are launched at Rei's Unit-00, trying to keep the pilot off balance and distracted from killing the General.
Sinclair St. James gets a glancing blow on Rei Ayanami with his Have Some Bullets feint.
This time Shin sees the glowing hand coming, though the Fulcrum isn't quick enough to completely avoid getting a piece of it. The Captain throws the craft into a bank; fortunately, the severed limb shoots on past without significant damage, merely leaving a score along one wing. It's a minor scrape, damaging but not overmuch. Scowling and longing for his ReGelg in the back of his mind, Matsunaga slows down just a little to give himself a smidge more time to react - and to save on the Fulcrum's limited internal fuel supply.
Whipping the aircraft into a roll, he brings it around into attack posture again, pressed back a little into his chair. "Former Zeon allies. We have no love lost for a calculating old patricide and his band of traitorous lackeys." The words conceal the concern building behind his scowl. What DID they tell him? Does he know that the daughter of Dozle Zabi is in Shin's care? Not even Gihren knew - did he?
But Dozle HAD said it aloud as he died.
He grinds his teeth, counting his remaining missiles - only two. The Fulcrum swings around again, unleashing one of the missiles. It streaks through the sky like a viper, looping and twisting, aiming to slam into the chest of the Master Gundam. "I've lived through a lot worse than you, Toho Fuhai; I don't give a damn HOW many Sinistrals you've got up your sleeve."
Shin Matsunaga hits Master Asia with his Hitcheck attack.
WHAM!
While in the process of trying to evade the sudden barrage from Isa's squadron, and having the revelation that those planes look startingly familiar, the Justice is hit. Not just once, but multiple times. The projectiles hammer into the Gundam's frame repeatedly and all over the place. In some places, these attacks eventually break through the phase shift, denting into the precious armor beneath.
This prompts Athrun to, of course, take this whole thing a little more seriously. Not that he wasn't before, mind you. He just has better things to do than ponder if three planes out of a hundred look familiar for one reason or another. Hitting his boosters, Athrun sends his machine out of the firing path at last, smoke trailing from the remains of that first craft still. Whirling the Justice around, he acts quickly. As fast as those planes are moving, time really isn't a convenience - so he draws his rifle again and fires. Quickly. It's almost an afterthought, so he focuses more attention on the behemoth of a craft below.
For that gentle giant, he opens fire with the cannons located in the Gundam's head. Bullets rain down in a blatant counter attack.
Athrun Zala misses Isa Reichert with his Take That! jab.
Athrun Zala misses Kazuma Torisuma with his Token Gundam Head Bullets attack.
He fails to realize that Matsunaga and his Newtype senses predicted the maneuver. A burst of gunfire rips straight into the Hornet's aft end, destroying it in a big fiery ball.
Pulling the jet into a bank, Shin scowls as he shoots towards the outskirts of the battle. Vapour trails flow from the tips of its wings, the jet streaking towards the clash between the Master Gundam and the Enkiduran. The course is quite deliberate -
-Mainly because he's using Enkiduran's bulk to disguise his approach. Thus as Viral moves to one side, Master Asia will be treated to the sight of an onrushing white MiG - and an onrushing missile lancing from beneath the right wing.
"Toho Fuhai," the White Wolf barks over the comline, "don't think I've forgotten about you!"
Shin Matsunaga misses Master Asia with his TOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO FUUUUUUUUUHAAAAAAAAAAAAI attack.
Rei, at least, has a much simpler problem. Survival. She strains herself as incoming fire comes in; the flickering light of the AT Field develops, but not right away. Foolish, she tells herself, distracting from such a proper pursuit. The controls slam forwards, and the Evangelion breaks into a run.
This means that the one-eyed thing is approaching the autocannon rounds. The relatively weak AT Field does not hold back when the velocities are this close; some of the armor plating cracks further, falling down in shattered jagged fragments and revealing something whitish beneath. Inside of the entry plug, Rei's teeth grit.
The Evangelion keeps moving, closer, closer. The rounds bite into it. Something splatters out, some kind of a liquidy underbody. The Evangelion has no weapon, casting the positron rifle aside carelessly as if it were merely a burden. It comes ever closer to General Sinclair, and finally one blue-clad hand raises upwards, high...
To slam down and grasp at the upper body of the Wyvern. That hand, of course, is very large, relatively speaking. Can the General evade it?
Rei Ayanami misses Sinclair St. James with her *grab* stun.
Hrist is more powerful than Lenneth is, according to Alicia. Though Superman manages to hold off her assault-Hrist manages to pull her sword back away from Superman and drops down before Superman gets to throw her away like a ragdoll! Unlike Lenneth, Hrist doesn't try to get Superman to comply with logic or negotiation. She either is as blind as Alicia suggests, or she is just too full of rage to care.
The quip about Lenneth's 'demise' seems to make Hrist cringe-as if the Man of Steel touched a nerve-but it's brief. She drops down without answering, aiming to bowl Superman over with a kick, slashing at his leg as she goes!
The blow from Justice's beam powered leg is more than enough to send the Endymion flying through the air - that was one of the strengths of carrying beam weapons when fighting in hand to hand combat - what would have just been a bad blow is instead made worse by the blow enhanced by the beam blade. And instead of simple 'damage', a good chunk of one of the wings has been sheered off in the process. The pilot hauls the controls around, stabilizing himself and swinging the Vulcan around.
...no, too close. The manipulator arm swings around, and locks the Vulcan gunpod into place along the bottom of one of the engine nacelles. And another support ship descends, it's locker ejecting open and deploying another weapon.
The Einhander swings upwards, and grabs the new weapon out of the air. And with a loud *snap-hiss*, the twenty meter long beam blade activates from the projector, and the Endymion swings around to take its own swipe at Athrun.
Kazuma Torisuma misses Athrun Zala with his You're not the only one with beam swords attack.
Hrist Valkyrie hits Superman with her Wow Woman attack.
Pink motes scatter away from the Master Gundam as it completes its spin and Viral rushes to the counterattack. The Undefeated of the East hesitates for an instant, then shifts his body slightly to his left, turning into the blow rather than avoid it, the twin blades biting deeply into the Gundam's right side. Dou iu imi da, indeed.
Toho Fuhai is not a Newtype. But he did sense something odd from Viral's attack pattern, and as the Enkiduran clears is sight line, Master Asia smiles. "White Wolf," he snarls, turning into another spin. Pink cloth slashes out toward the missile, intercepting it in mid-air, shrapnel and fire blossoming outward. The cloth snakes back into place as the old man completes the turn, roaring as he sends a spinning backfist for the MiG as it passes him by. "You came to save your subordinate after all...how admirable." The Gundam's right hand suddenly rockets out from its arm, sailing out in a flying punch aimed between the Enkiduran's eyes. "I don't suppose your kataribe passed on my message?"
Master Asia hits Shin Matsunaga with his Top Spin, Biyatch attack.
Master Asia misses Viral with his Roketto Panch attack.
<> The green and beige Hornets bank, selecting another target and converging into a diamond formation. They're soon lost to the melee, indistinguishable from the other dozens of jets battling over the Round Table's arid sands.
Others are forced into their own death dances. The Geist jets still pursue their beige Fighting Falcons, machine guns blazing as they fall on their prey again. Their prey seems elusive, though, forcing them to bank and dive, twisting wildly to try and get a target lock.
<> Isa rasps, slamming the airbrake down and stomping her aileron pedals. Her jet's engines gutter, and the ailerons force it into a tight turn. Warnings blare in her cockpit as the engines finally stall, starved of the oxygen they need to run. <>
The second jet abruptly banks up and to the right, even as the two Fighting Falcons circle. This time the beige aircraft try to make their own tight turn, enough to lock the seemingly crippled Geist jet into range.
But Isa's more wily than that - at the last moment, the jet's engines flare, afterburners glowing as the jet plummets towards the desert floor.
Hauling up against the flight stick with all her might, Isa grits her teeth against the ferocious g-force, stiffening in her cockpit, as though a little extra leverage might coax the aircraft to nose up sooner.
Sand whirls in a miniature sandstorm, kicked up as the first Geist fighter swoops down and over General St. James' Wyvern and rag-tag band. In a flash of silver and the Fulcrum's yellow serial numbering, Isa's jet is gone, already ascending to meet her quarry.
<> Isa snarls. <>
<> Liese is already on it, diving after one of the two Fighting Falcons. She takes the jet purely by surprise, plummeting from a higher altitude and using that surprise to launch a missile for the fighter. It corkscrews forward, its contrail white, before slamming into the jet's tail fin. It spirals towards the red earth, crippled.
Another plane rushes into help them - the black and yellow of one of the Siskele Fulcrums. The plane spirals seemingly at random, a crazy waltz, before straightening and roaring past Liese's jet. A missile drops from its wing, and the second Fighting Falcon goes down in a disorderly mess of fire and smoke.
<> Liese turns her jet back towards where the fighting seems most concentrated, eyes on her radar. <>
<> Domino chuckles, before swooping away to rejoin the formation he was in.
Isa's jet bucks forward to rejoin her wingman, the two Geist jets like shadows, barreling into the chaos like sleek black sharks through a school of fish. They skim the highest reaches, picking off the closest Osean jets they can find - one of the two Suerte jets, by color and make.
<> The man speaks with a Spanish-sounding accent. <>
The jet rolls and tries to descend, perhaps to lose them near the sand. But the Geist jets stick to it, engines screaming as they plummet after. One of the black and yellow Siskele Fulcrums chases along with them, falling neatly into formation. <>
No chatting? Fine. No chatting. The Man of Steel takes the kick, even getting his leg cut...
...his hands snap forward, trying to grab the outstreched kick with his own powerful, steel cable-hard hands....
"Hit a nerve?" Superman can't resist asking, because it's apparent he did.
Superman misses Hrist Valkyrie with his Grappling Style stun.
Until his dying day, Sinclair St. James will laud praises of the grand American sport of football. That's football as God intended it, American style, for you Europeans out there. His college days have served him well against larger opponents and Rei's Evangelion is no exception. As the massive hand reaches down, Sin's mk.2 Wyvern slides to the side, like evading a tackle. The General dodges to the left, pulling a power turn and skidding across the sand, barely under control as his mech strains to reorient itself towards the EVA, splashing autocannon rounds up at the side of its AT Field.
The Gargouille pilots, on the other hand, are not as skilled in maneuvering as their General, nor are they so reckless as to get that close to the mech three times their height. They spread out to make Rei's life difficult and prevent the large arms from swatting them all down in one wide sweep. Their rifles are raised higher then the barrel's need to be, taking arcing aim as the underslung grenade launchers open fire.
Sinclair St. James misses Rei Ayanami with his BOOM, hur hur hur attack.
What's this? Superman's hand swoops through Hrist's leg as if it wasn't even there as Hrist follows through in her maneuver-once she stands up again, she appears to have resolidified.
"They're my SISTERS!" She screeches, "They ignored all my warnings and left me alone! You have supported Silmeria's rebellion, so it's not like this is betrayal!" She then, perhaps, makes a mistake. She throws a punch for Superman's chest. She is a magically charged being so she won't break her hand-but seriously, the guy has a six pack, Hrist. Show some sense!
Hrist Valkyrie gets a glancing blow on Superman with her *pok* feint.
<> The green and beige Hornets bank, selecting another target and converging into a diamond formation. They're soon lost to the melee, indistinguishable from the other dozens of jets battling over the Round Table's arid sands.
Others are forced into their own death dances. The Geist jets still pursue their beige Fighting Falcons, machine guns blazing as they fall on their prey again. Their prey seems elusive, though, forcing them to bank and dive, twisting wildly to try and get a target lock.
<> Isa rasps, slamming the airbrake down and stomping her aileron pedals. Her jet's engines gutter, and the ailerons force it into a tight turn. Warnings blare in her cockpit as the engines finally stall, starved of the oxygen they need to run. <>
The second jet abruptly banks up and to the right, even as the two Fighting Falcons circle. This time the beige aircraft try to make their own tight turn, enough to lock the seemingly crippled Geist jet into range.
But Isa's more wily than that - at the last moment, the jet's engines flare, afterburners glowing as the jet plummets towards the desert floor.
Hauling up against the flight stick with all her might, Isa grits her teeth against the ferocious g-force, stiffening in her cockpit, as though a little extra leverage might coax the aircraft to nose up sooner.
Sand whirls in a miniature sandstorm, kicked up as the first Geist fighter swoops down and over General St. James' Wyvern and rag-tag band. In a flash of silver and the Fulcrum's yellow serial numbering, Isa's jet is gone, already ascending to meet her quarry.
<> Isa snarls. <>
<> Liese is already on it, diving after one of the two Fighting Falcons. She takes the jet purely by surprise, plummeting from a higher altitude and using that surprise to launch a missile for the fighter. It corkscrews forward, its contrail white, before slamming into the jet's tail fin. It spirals towards the red earth, crippled.
Another plane rushes into help them - the black and yellow of one of the Siskele Fulcrums. The plane spirals seemingly at random, a crazy waltz, before straightening and roaring past Liese's jet. A missile drops from its wing, and the second Fighting Falcon goes down in a disorderly mess of fire and smoke.
<> Liese turns her jet back towards where the fighting seems most concentrated, eyes on her radar. <>
<> Domino chuckles, before swooping away to rejoin the formation he was in.
Isa's jet bucks forward to rejoin her wingman, the two Geist jets like shadows, barreling into the chaos like sleek black sharks through a school of fish. They skim the highest reaches, picking off the closest Osean jets they can find - one of the two Suerte jets, by color and make.
<> The man speaks with a Spanish-sounding accent. <>
The jet rolls and tries to descend, perhaps to lose them near the sand. But the Geist jets stick to it, engines screaming as they plummet after. One of the black and yellow Siskele Fulcrums chases along with them, falling neatly into formation. <>
"He wanted a piece of you, too. Why deny him when you're so popular?" Viral says flatly as Master Asia trash-talks him (twice) in someone else's direction. That's what makes it even more insulting...but he's not going to rise to the bait.
The white Gunmen flies as the Master Gundam begins its counterattack, pink cloth and shrapnel sailing every which way-but mostly in Shin's. The rocket arm is actually a surprise, and instinct serves Viral well here: he slashes his swords up and around in a perfect parry...and when it starts to drop, Viral attempts to have his mech kick it into a return punch (or flying, flailing arm-smash) into the Master Gundam.
He grits his teeth at the 'kataribe' part-but if Master Asia didn't listen to him the last time he told him to tell Shin his damn self, may as well just let Shin ask him here and now.
Viral misses Master Asia with his ARM....SMAAAAASH! attack.
"If you really believed that." Superman counters, as the punch bounces off of his chest. Yeah, he felt it, but in a, 'Wow, an exciteable puppy has jumped on my chest' sort of way. "You wouldn't be so upset about it. I think you know exactly what's going on."
"You were lonely." Superman takes a step forward, "You were feeling abandoned." Superman's arms pump back..., "And you let something terrible happen because you wanted a little attention. That's very human, Hrist."
Superman's hands blur forward, and CLAP, trying to slam into both sides of Hrist's head with a clap so powerful that, even if it misses, it'll send a shuddering wave of force so powerful that it's visible to the naked eye! "Which would be very understandable, if you didn't turn around and abandon your sisters to some fate that, I bet, you don't even know the full details of, just so you can boss around and threaten to destroy the spirit of a few ghosts." Superman whipes the blood off of his face, easing into a defensive crouch, "You know this is wrong, Hrist. Stop, before it goes too far."
Superman hits Hrist Valkyrie with his Clap On super.
Rei doesn't stop it. The hand doesn't work. She cannot - cannot -
Some hidden stress resistance inside of her cracks. Her eyes widen and she screams, abruptly and shrilly, possibly alarming those monitoring the battle frequencies. She doesn't stop either, even as the AT Field glows to visible heat-distortion size, the raining of fire not even touching the Evangelion as it rears up to full height once more!
Then it crouches forwards, leaning to grasp at the rifle arm of one of the Gargouilles. This unfortunate fellow will then be slung forwards, approximately towards the General's Wyvern and likely towards any other MSTs in the area. EVA-00's head jerks to the left as it does this, some kind of repetitive rhythm...
Rei Ayanami misses Sinclair St. James with her TINY MACHINES DO NOT MATCH MY MARKETABILITY attack.
It's not like the MiG is going to get close enough to take massive damage. Still, it does blast by, the backfist catching it just behind one of the wings and throwing it into a crazy spin. Pressed back hard against his chair, Shin growls deeply as he works the control stick, fighting to regain control of the plane. After a moment he's able to stabilize the craft, pulling it into a steep climb. The fighter rotates as it comes around, pulling off a textbook Immelmann loop to once again aim its nose towards the Master Gundam. This time it doesn't rush directly; the White Wolf banks one way, then the other, circling at a distance.
A scowl etches itself into his face, lips downturned behind his oxygen mask. "Funny guy. What're you talking about - what message?"
Having little else to say, Shin lines his targeting reticle up over the Master Gundam quickly, the white MiG rumbling around him as he brings it around again. The nose of the fighter doesn't center on Fuhai, though; the captain continues to lean into his turn, firing his machine guns just before the crosshairs sweep over Asia and continuing to fire for a split-second after he's passed. The turn continues even as the guns stop, the Fulcrum keeping its distance, banking and half-circling. He's not about to try and melee Toho Fuhai in a fighter.
Shin Matsunaga gets a glancing blow on Master Asia with his la la la la la-la lala la la la la la la-la lala la DA DA DA DA DA-DA DADA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAA NANANA NANA NA NAAAA NA KATARIBE DAMASHIIIIIIIIIIIII jab.
CLASH.
Twirling its double bladed saber around, the Justice allows the opposing saber to strike, but only against its own weapon. The energy blades flare as each tries to override the other.
"He's skilled, for one in such a bulky machine," whispers Athrun to no one in particular, quickly manipulating controls and keying in various inputs. He keeps the machine fighting against the other in a sheer contest of strength, but only to buy himself enough time...
For the sublight lifter flips up, which levels its shoulder cannons into place on either side of the Justice's head. Clearly, the pilot has no qualms with taking advantage of a particular situation.
That is made only more apparant as the cannons open fire, for it is only then that Athrun disengages the saber lock.
Athrun Zala misses Kazuma Torisuma with his Nothin' Says Surprise Like Shoulder Cannons attack.
The Master Gundam's right arm comes back in with extra speed, but the cable that holds fist and arm together retracts with sufficient speed to control the trajectory, and the limb slams back together with a thundering sound. Chain gun bullets scatter along the Gundanium armour, some of them penetrating as the old man inside grits his teeth in frustration. Viral and the White Wolf are both exceptionally skilled.
This could be most challenging.
"It was a simple message," he says, trying to sound pleasant. "A warning, if you will. Be mindful of your past, White Wolf. It is about to come back to haunt you." The Gundam's arms rise up to either side, palms out as if preparing for another rocket punch, but then large energy beams blaze out toward the Enkiduran and the Fulcrum, Master Asia turning his Gundam to track after the fighter's progress.
Master Asia critically strikes Shin Matsunaga with his Shooting Lasers And Spinning In Circles? attack.
Master Asia hits Viral with his What Is This, Gundam Wing? attack.
It was claimed that Hrist doesn't hesitate, that she will blindly follow Odin. To a large extent this is true. Odin's touch nigh but ensures Hrist will serve him to the end, but even the All-Father's control of Hrist is not absolute.
The powerful SMASH from Superman's hands slam into Hrist's head, it's not direct-but it doesn't have to be-the Thunderclap sends Hrist falling to the ground screaming incoherently.
She knew it was wrong then too, but...
"Human?! HUMAN?!? Odin wanted Silmeria back, but she met her fate not from Odin-but from humans. Odin could not punish Lenneth's own rebellion nearly enough." She pulls back up to her feet, slowly and then becomes a blur of motion, sheathing the blade to draw her faithful spear-she lunges forward, aiming to stab Superman repeatedly with the weapon before slamming him up into the air with the shaft so that holy energies can burst into his body and tear him apart-this is very similar to what Lenneth tried to do to Master Asia.
Hrist leaps into the air, a lance of light solidifying around her head as she flings it for what may very well be the prone First Son of Krypton! The Undefeated of the East could handle this, but can the Man of Steel?!
"So he found a people who could do worse than what he could devise on his own! Humans!"
Hrist Valkyrie juggles Superman with her In the end, they're all Brunhilde combo.
Superman breaks Hrist Valkyrie's combo.
The tinted visor of Isa's helmet turns as she risks a brief glance out the cockpit canopy. The Sapin Super Flanker streaks ahead, trying to flee the three jets trailing behind it. They're just out of firing range, and perhaps he's hoping to keep it that way.
Coaxing her jet into a banking turn, Isa narrows her eye. This one's fast, perhaps a little faster than the mob of Fulcrums in pursuit. They'll have to try a different tack.
<>
The black and silver Fulcrum twists, contrails of vapor spiraling from the tips of its wings. Its reflective silver underbelly flashes in the sun as it rights itself, thrown into a rapid ascent. Heedless of the other fighters, Isa keeps her afterburners up, climbing at dizzying speed.
<>
<> Siskele Three sounds distracted, likely because he's caught a friend in the midst of the fray. A second Osean jet trails the black and yellow Fulcrum. <>
The second Geist jet banks smoothly, braking hard. The unfamiliar F-20A Tigershark is, predictably, painted in bright tiger striping. It streaks after the black and yellow Fulcrum, apparently too focused on Siskele's third to pay any attention to the Geist jet turning to appear behind him.
Liese punctuates her dissatisfied snort with a spate of gunfire, raking across the tail of the Osean aircraft. It isn't enough to destroy the airframe, but it's enough to send the plane skidding out of its original trajectory, rear elevator chewed up.
<> Isa doesn't look up from her HUD, waiting for the targeting reticule to stop jumping around. That Super Flanker sure is persistent. <>
<< "Nothing's getting through!" >> One of the MST pilots radios.
<< "What the hell's wrong with that thing?" >> Another asks.
<< "BACK THE HELL AWAY FROM!" >> St. James commands and gets instant compliance. << "Use high powered rounds, the explosives aren't working! Where the hell is my fire support?!" >>
As if in reply, both of the Banshees open fire, launching a pair of high powered rounds at the Evangelion's chest. The Gargouille pilot Unit-00 engages slams on his booster in an emergency dance, narrowly slipping the grip. The Gargouilles open fire, pouring rifle rounds as fast as they can dump the lead. And General St. James himself circles around, firing his auto-cannon like it was going out of style.
Sinclair St. James juggles Rei Ayanami with his ALL ZE (bullets) combo.
Rei Ayanami breaks Sinclair St. James's combo.
The two beam sabers colliding is enough to cause an explosion of sparks between the two machines. Of course, the Einhander is not exactly a machine that is well suited to melee combat - it just doesn't have the dexterity or maneuverability to keep it up for long, and it's own close range weapon is more often than not simply there to take advantage of the fact that few other fighters where it hails from are prepared for such an attack.
But as Athrun levels his cannons, the Endymion pilot sends out a remote call to one of his support craft - the first one which had deployed its gunpod - and Athrun will find that a quite different sort of attack is being made on him. As he prepares to fire his cannons, the support fighter comes plummeting in out of the sky, on a kamikaze run straight for Justice. It takes the full brunt of the blast from Justice, and keeps on coming, even as the Einhander breaks off.
The question is, does Athrun destroy it completely, or does the flaming wreckage make his day that much worse...?
Kazuma Torisuma misses Athrun Zala with his Support Sacrifice Attack attack.
And Master Asia finally handles passing that message on by himself. Serves you right, old man. Viral scowls as he glances towards Shin's unit; he doesn't regret not passing the message along, but he wonders if he'll be annoyed that he didn't tell him about this sooner. The beastman sweeps aside the thought, though, as the Master Gundam starts blazing out chi from its palms in a spinning laser shoot, and as any platformer knows (not...that Viral is one), those are a bitch to dodge. Viral learns that lesson well, as several of the blasts strike into Enkiduran.
He grits his teeth, though, and accepts the fire as he charges in, twisting the lithe Gunmen to at least dodge *some* of the incoming fire and keeping damage from getting too high. Once he's in range, the beastman will slash out with both blades in a parallel sweep, then move in a counter-circle for a dance-like maneuver aimed for the Master Gundam's arm and chest. If he's going to be shooting lasers from his arms, then better to damage them quickly!
Viral misses Master Asia with his STIRRING, EMOTIONAL CONVERSATIONS attack.
THUD.
The sickening thud of the spear hitting flesh screams through Superman's body, even as the Man of Steel is shoved into the air, covered by the blast of light, and flung down before even getting a chance to react. The raging girl's attack continues, as the holy energy screams down on Superman. "The power of the wicked..."
...smoke rises from the field, parting to show Superman, standing straight, the only visible wound being the one from the spear. It's as if the holy energy had no effect at all. "...cannot harm me!" Superman snaps, looking up at Hrist! "Your hate makes you weak, Hrist. You're angry, you're afraid, I can tell by listening to your heartbeat. But you're not a bad person. I can tell by looking..."
Into your soul? Clark isn't sure if he believes that, but. "Into what makes us different from rocks." Clark offers by explination, proceding to leap, and hurdle towards Hrist, holding his shoulder forward to slam into the girl! "So do us all a favor and turn the bitch faucet to 'off'!"
Superman gets a glancing blow on Hrist Valkyrie with his Sometimes Superman Swears attack.
The bullets slam into the Evangelion, blasting part of one arm-blade off with a searing explosion of what seems like rocket fuel. The machine itself doesn't seem critically damaged, and a moment later, the field around it expands - air pressure blasting out, not enough to affect something as massive as an MST but enough to throw a circular cloud of dust out around the Evangelion.
Rei breathes three times, quickly and wetly, and the Evangelion turns to face the General's unit. Then it turns again, a little more, before it lunges, trying to lead St. James's evasive maneuver as it slams one bladed knee forwards, to try and force the machine down and grind it into the hard, dry ground.
Rei doesn't hold back, even if she doesn't yet scream again. The Evangelion's multi-thousand-ton weight is placed into this effort; she does not want, it seems, to "defeat" the General, or "cripple his machine," so much as "smash him into a wet paste".
Rei Ayanami hits Sinclair St. James with her DIVING KNEE STRIKE super.
Say what you will about the Fulcrum: it's quick as hell. It's not quite quick enough to evade the gigantic laser, however. Shin senses it coming, his eyes narrowing, but even as he pulls the MiG into a roll he realizes might not be enough. He grits his teeth. The beam blazes towards the fighter... and just below it. It appears as though it doesn't hit anything.
A second look reveals that the pair of fuel tanks slung underneath the Fulcrum are completely gone, the hardpoints left as little more than smouldering stumps. The metal plates on the fighter's belly are charred and blackened, a few of them seeming ready to flake away. Internal systems flicker and go dead for a moment, the Fulcrum suddenly plummeting like a stone as its mechanisms overheat.
It takes him a nerve-wracking moment to right the Fulcrum, the rush of air cooling the jet and allowing the plane to come to life again. With a lurch Shin pulls the Fulcrum into a steep climb, regaining altitude rapidly, jet engines burning despite the fuel warning blinking on his console. Maybe he should've come in a Guarlion. "Fine. You've delivered your message. But you're not going to be around long enough to deliver on it."
Climbing past Fuhai's altitude, the MiG continues to ascend, G-forces pressing down on the captain. Yet somehow he's able to roll the fighter, sweeping to the side, then into a short dive, leveling off and unleashing a missile towards the Master Gundam. "We'll manage!" he shoots back to Isa. "If you want to support someone, try the Endymion!"
Shin Matsunaga misses Master Asia with his G Gundam has women? attack.
KATHWOOM!
The explosion envelopes the Justice, sending the gundam backward while Athrun snaps up the unit's shield to help absorb the brunt. Shrouded by smoke and debris, it may look as if the machine were destroyed.
...But Athrun doesn't really let that thought linger, for out of the smoke and haze, a twirling blade appears. It is a glimmering object forged of metal and energy, effectively functioning as a beam boomerang. As the smoke clears in the wake of the attack, the Infinite Justice can be seen hovering there, virtually unharmed save from some ash and smoke staining. There it waits, shield and twin-tipped saber at the ready.
Athrun Zala critically strikes Kazuma Torisuma with his Beam Boomerang - AWAY! attack.
Clark's shoulder smashes into Hrist's own shoulder. Superman's words seem to be hitting some sort of resistance. Hrist hesitates about half as long as Lenneth does. She doesn't have her mental discipline, and surely not the determination of Silmeria. What Buttercup has is power.
She rolls with the strike-hoping to slice into Superman's belly with the edge of the spear as she falls along below Clark.
One hand touches her head-as if a migraine had erupted there.
"She was placed into a mortal shell," Hrist tells Superman, her composure returning, "Much as Silmeria was supposed to. She was given the worst life that could be found. A slave to her mother, she would have been a slave to the world-"
Hrist Valkyrie misses Superman with her Odin was a little wary of rebellion after the first two attack.
The green bordered box beeps and dances around maddeningly, before finally settling on the retreating Super Flanker with a steady tone. One missile detaches itself from the black and silver Fulcrum's left wing, streaking towards its target with a puffy white contrail corkscrewing behind it.
<>
<> Siskele Three smoothly falls into formation, in the absence of Geist Three. The black and smoky yellow strikes a contrast against the elegant black and silver of the Geist planes, but all three are the same aircraft; and they maintain the same tight formation. <>
<> Isa answers, scanning her radar. There. The three jets bank into a smooth turn towards the Endymion and the Justice Gundam, machine guns of all three Fulcrums firing indiscriminately towards the latter.
<>
That means more bullets, invariably. At the edge of their range, the three jets climb, spiraling away from the Gundam.
<> Liese is the first one to comment as they bank to issue another charge, heedless of whether or not their initial volley hit.
<> Isa snorts, nosing her jet down a bit to swoop down on the Justice Gundam. All the while, they're careful not to get too close. Those things are deadly to fighter jets. All it takes is a mechanized fist to the cockpit, and it's all over. <>
<> Domino sighs, in feigned disappointment. <>
You miss Athrun Zala with your BULLETS jab.
"And yet." The Man of Steel presses on, relentless, "She still managed to be a decent person. She didn't use her duty as an excuse to be cruel." Superman's hand grabs under the spearhead, shoving the thrust out of his way, "And despite herself, Hrist, she gave a damn about the people she was watching over."
Struggling mid-air for a moment, Superman speaks, "I think, young lady, you needed to spend less time being jealous of Lenneth, and more time actually learning from her example. Unless..." And Superman tugs Hrist forward, trying to kick her right in her loli ribs! "...you like being Odin's talking weapon. I don't know, the lifestyle could appeal to you."
Superman hits Hrist Valkyrie with his Tough Talk, Tougher Boot attack.
"Is that so, White Wolf?" Master Asia asks with a smile. "I beg to differ...it has been so invigorating working with my new Zeon allies," he confides, sending another laser blast out to intercept the Fulcrum's missile, although he has to quickly withdraw the hand to avoid losing it to Viral's blade. "They have been so very informative!" The old man struggles to control his breathing as he falls back away from the Enkiduran, pink cloth flowing out in a series of artful patterns, chi hardening the edges in order to deflect the blades.
"Although," Master Asia adds as he fires twin blasts to both sides of VIral's mech, using the recoil to send him flying back away from the Gunmen. "Perhaps it is you who shall not survive to see that glorious day." More black chi darkens the Master Gundam's hands as the old man channels his power. "Ore no kono te ga hikatte unaru!" he proclaims, sparks crackling between his fingers. "Aku o taose to todoroki sakebu!"
The glowing hands each aim at one of his opponents. "DABURU!" he roars, and then the hands sail toward them as the rocket punches activate.
"DAAAAAAKUNESS! FINGAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Master Asia gets a glancing blow on Shin Matsunaga with his That's Right, I Can Grope At Range attack.
Master Asia misses Viral with his Yes I Called You Evil, And Yes I Realize I Am Eviler, But The Attack Speech Remains Technically Correct attack.
Luminous Sapphire says, "Yo ho ho! ...nah, lame. Sup?"
Korari Windsilver says, "Good evening."
Hrist isn't loli at all! She's a full grown adult! But that doesn't keep her from being smacked in the 'ribs' from Superman's boot. She bowls over, bowing down to Superman-seemingly defeated.
Pressing one hand to her injury, mysterious sparkles dripping out of the wound. "The tide...has turned?" She raises her head, "Of course I do not mind being Odin's 'talking weapon'. He is the All Father. He is the rightful ruler of Asgard."
But is she talking to Superman or herself? The Man of Steel might not have much chance to consider it because-remember that Sorceror Hrist summoned earlier? Well, Hrist sends her a mental command to attack-again!
MORE FORCE LIGHTNING! Since it seemed to work so well last time!
Hrist Valkyrie critically strikes Superman with her Nanami is really sorry about this Superman attack.
The Einhander pilot had been hoping for a bit more damage than that. At the same time, this meant that he was going to have to keep working to try and take down this strange red machine. It was certainly superior to performance to anything that had been massed produced by the Earth government or by Hyperion - it was a worthy enough challenge, and the Endymion pilot does what they all do best.
He bores straight in.
Putting the throttle all the way forward, the blue fighter rockets forward with a frightening burst of speed. Even as the boomerang is launched at him, he keeps on coming - the spinning beam blade slams into the right nacelle, causing a large explosion from it, but through sheer guts and quick power management, the pilot manages to keep his craft airborn. He waits, lining up the Vulcan Cannon once again - and just holds down the trigger, unloading the entire ammo supply in one long, continuous burst at Justice as he continues to bore in.
Kazuma Torisuma critically strikes Athrun Zala with his Take the bullets! ALL THE BULLETS! attack.
DEF. SUPPORT
Cpt. Usherwood's Gargouille comes smashing in, pushing the General's Wyvern out of the way as the Evangelion commences its berzerk charge. The Captain knows one simple truth about the war that forces him to do this. The General's life is important... his is not.
The chest of the Gargouille implodes on contact with the larger mech's knee, armor crumpling inwards like it were made out of festive paper. As the machine falls to the ground, utterly lifeless, the General struggles to maintain his balance after the panic maneuver. More high powered rounds are launched at Rei's Unit-00, trying to keep the pilot off balance and distracted from killing the General.
Sinclair St. James gets a glancing blow on Rei Ayanami with his Have Some Bullets feint.
This time Shin sees the glowing hand coming, though the Fulcrum isn't quick enough to completely avoid getting a piece of it. The Captain throws the craft into a bank; fortunately, the severed limb shoots on past without significant damage, merely leaving a score along one wing. It's a minor scrape, damaging but not overmuch. Scowling and longing for his ReGelg in the back of his mind, Matsunaga slows down just a little to give himself a smidge more time to react - and to save on the Fulcrum's limited internal fuel supply.
Whipping the aircraft into a roll, he brings it around into attack posture again, pressed back a little into his chair. "Former Zeon allies. We have no love lost for a calculating old patricide and his band of traitorous lackeys." The words conceal the concern building behind his scowl. What DID they tell him? Does he know that the daughter of Dozle Zabi is in Shin's care? Not even Gihren knew - did he?
But Dozle HAD said it aloud as he died.
He grinds his teeth, counting his remaining missiles - only two. The Fulcrum swings around again, unleashing one of the missiles. It streaks through the sky like a viper, looping and twisting, aiming to slam into the chest of the Master Gundam. "I've lived through a lot worse than you, Toho Fuhai; I don't give a damn HOW many Sinistrals you've got up your sleeve."
Shin Matsunaga hits Master Asia with his Hitcheck attack.
WHAM!
While in the process of trying to evade the sudden barrage from Isa's squadron, and having the revelation that those planes look startingly familiar, the Justice is hit. Not just once, but multiple times. The projectiles hammer into the Gundam's frame repeatedly and all over the place. In some places, these attacks eventually break through the phase shift, denting into the precious armor beneath.
This prompts Athrun to, of course, take this whole thing a little more seriously. Not that he wasn't before, mind you. He just has better things to do than ponder if three planes out of a hundred look familiar for one reason or another. Hitting his boosters, Athrun sends his machine out of the firing path at last, smoke trailing from the remains of that first craft still. Whirling the Justice around, he acts quickly. As fast as those planes are moving, time really isn't a convenience - so he draws his rifle again and fires. Quickly. It's almost an afterthought, so he focuses more attention on the behemoth of a craft below.
For that gentle giant, he opens fire with the cannons located in the Gundam's head. Bullets rain down in a blatant counter attack.
Athrun Zala misses Isa Reichert with his Take That! jab.
Athrun Zala misses Kazuma Torisuma with his Token Gundam Head Bullets attack.